Dec 1, 2015

Current top 10

1. The Look of Silence
2. Carol
3. Phoenix
4. Mad Max: Fury Road
5. Taxi
6. Inside Out
7. It Follows
8. Heart of a Dog
9. Jauja
10. Girlhood

 

Dec 8, 2015

@Charlie Strangelove i actually watched tangerine last night for the first time and rly enjoyed it. echo your thoughts about how organic the story and characters are -- all the more remarkable given how kinetic the film looks/feels. that said, a part of me questions whether the critical embrace around the film IS bc of its implicit politics. kind of how people raved about kids are alright a few yrs back

anyway, ive taken the liberty of publishing my top ten, etc. on huffpost. take a peak:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-hoglund-/my-2015-film-awards-ballot_b_8743732.html

 

Dec 1, 2015

1.) Mad Max: Fury Road
2.) The Look of Silence
3.) Inside Out
4.) The Assassin
5.) Blackhat
6.) Victoria
7.) Phoenix
8.) Meru
9.) Lost River
10.) Mistress America
11.) Ex Machina
12.) It Follows
13.) Queen of Earth
14.) The Tribe
15.) Clouds of Sils Maria

Haven't seen too many standout performances so far, but Moss in QOE, Hoss in Phoenix, and Binoche in Clouds have been my favorites.

 

Jan 10, 2016

There are some key films I haven't seen, but at 78 films seen this year (US release dates), I probably have seen enough for reasonable lists.

Best Films
1. The Look of Silence
2. Phoenix
3. Carol
4. Mad Max: Fury Road
5. Taxi Tehran
6. Creed
7. Inside Out
8. 45 Years
9. Anomalisa
10. Heart of a Dog

Honorable Mention: Girlhood, It Follows, Chi-Raq, Jauja, Clouds of Sils Maria, The Kindergarten Teacher, Timbuktu, Mistress America, Hard to Be a God, The Assassin

Full list: http://letterboxd.com/aversaci/list/2015-ranked/

Key Films I haven't seen: Horse Money, In Jackson Heights, Li'l Quinquin, Eden, Amour Fou, The Experimenter, Magic Mike XXL, End of the Tour, Black Mass, Bone Tomahawk, The Mend, Straight Outta Compton, Love & Mercy, James White, Tu Dors Nicole

Best Actor
1. Michael B. Jordan, Creed
2. Tom Courtenay, 45 Years
3. Jacob Tremblay, Room
4. Samuel L. Jackson, The Hateful Eight
5. Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs

Best Actress (Couldn't limit to just 5)
1. Rooney Mara, Carol
2. Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
3. Nina Hoss, Phoenix
4. Cate Blanchett, Carol
5. Arielle Holmes, Heaven Knows What
6. Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
7. Brie Larson, Room

Best Supporting Actor
1. Oscar Isaac, Ex Machina
2. Sylvester Stallone, Creed
3. Benicio Del Toro, Sicario
4. Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation
5. Michael Keaton, Spotlight

Best Supporting Actress
1. Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria
2. Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
3. Rose Byrne, Spy
4. Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
5. Hana Saeidi, Taxi

Best Director: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road; Runner-Up- Todd Haynes, Carol

Best Cinematography: Edward Lachman, Carol; Runner-Up- Roger Deakins, Sicario

Best Score: Carter Burwell, Carol; Runner-Up- Rich Vreeland, It Follows

Best Screenplay: Charlie Kaufman, Anomalisa; Runner-Up- Phyllis Nagy, Carol

Great films I saw in 2015 that weren't yet released in US: Right Now, Wrong Then; The Lobster; Cemetery of Splendour

 

Dec 8, 2015

@Charlie Strangelove Caught it last month. Very dope, although I can't say I'm as big a fan of it as you are. While its representation of trans people is to be admired, comedic subplots and their eventual payoff too often take away from the immediacy of the concept, disrupting the mood established by the vibrancy of its visuals and characters. For all that Baker gets out of his camera work, characterization, and locale, the impact of the rather serious subject matter is traded in for hysterics, leaving the inherent dramatic weight of the story lost in capturing the vivacity of his performers. Tangerine ultimately ends up finding emotional resonance through those hysterics in its final stretch, but by then its thrown away too many possibilities for profundity to give much significance to its technical artifices.

It's currently #16 for me in 2015, but I just wish there was something more to hold onto after the fact.

 

Dec 2, 2015

96 2015 films ranked: http://letterboxd.com/kamahmed/list/2015-ranked-1/

Not including films released in origin country pre-2015. (Jauja, Phoenix, etc. Bleed f---ing out of it with Kaguya, I didn't even consider it 2014)

oversights: Hard to be a God, Timbuktu, About Elly (if it counts), Carol, Girlhood, Heart of a Dog.

Top 10 (well, 11, cause I'm cutting and pasting top 10 and my #1 isn't on letterboxd).

1. Innocence of Memories.

• 
  1. The Assassin
  
  
• 
  2. Cemetery of Splendour
  
  
• 
  3. The Forbidden Room
  
  
• 
  4. Right Now, Wrong Then
  
  
• 
  5. Room
  
  
• 
  6. Fury Road
  
  
• 
  7. Invention
  
  
• 
  8. Embrace of the Serpent
  
  
• 
  9. Murmur of the Hearts
  
  
• 
• 10. Queen of Earth

Creed might make an appearance. It'll be 9-11 placing after i let it sit (watched a few hours ago)



Favorite performances?

Cynthia Nixon in James White
Shu Qi in the Assassin
Charlotte Rampling in 45 Years
Günes Sensoy in Mustang
Saoirse Ronan in Lost River (or Brooklyn I guess, but I liked her performance in this more)

Jan Bijvoet in Embrace of the Serpent
Sigurður Sigurjónsson in Rams
Michael Eklund in Eadweard
Christopher Plummer in Remember
Paul Dano in Love and Mercy





Favorite trailer?
The f---..?

 

Dec 1, 2015

seeing revenant, anomalisa and possibly hateful 8 later this week but:

Spotlight
Mad max ury road
Carol
creed
Ex machina
Bone tomawhawk
room
Inside out
Bridge of spies
Beasts of no nation

current top ten