All right-we will be this week (likely on Tuesday if my plans are correct) unveiling my Top 10 of 2020. However, in every year but this year especially, I see a lot of movies, and not just ones from the 2020 calendar. In 2020 I saw 288 movies, some repeat viewings but many classics (or not so much) that I had never seen before, and I don't want to let something like chronology get in the way of celebrating great cinema. As a result, I've included below my Top 10 films of 2020 that I saw for the first time (that didn't come out in 2020). Enjoy (titles are listed alphabetically)!
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
dir. Otto Preminger
A complicated look at sexual assault (and a surprisingly modern take considering its Classical Hollywood roots), this is a 3-hour film that never feels long, and has amazing work from Jimmy Stewart & Lee Remick.
Cabin in the Sky (1943)
dir. Vincente Minnelli
Ethel Waters steals the show in Vincente Minnelli's first musical, a landmark musical featuring an all-Black cast, and a picture that proves that "happiness is just a thing called Joe."
Honeyland (2019)
dir. Tamara Kotevska & Ljubomir Stefanov
A hands-off documentary that is so rich you almost feel it's a narrative feature; it's a challenging look at poverty, loss, & our ill treatment of the planet.
if... (1968)
dir. Lindsay Anderson
Malcolm McDowell shows early shadows of Alex DeLarge in this boarding school drama, a movie that even 50 years later is shocking in its frankness about sex & violence.
Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)
dir. Max Ophuls
Impossibly romantic, Joan Fontaine & Louis Jourdan are iconic as two lovers who alternate between passion & indifference in this forgotten masterwork.
The Misfits (1961)
dir. John Huston
A more avant-garde western than you'd expect given the stars, The Misfits is a look at the faded west & its fight against modernity. Career-best work from Marilyn Monroe & (dare I say it?) Clark Gable.
Paper Moon (1973)
dir. Peter Bogdonavich
A gemlike father-and-daughter buddy film (on screen & off), that gives both of the O'Neal's their best work. Proof that A+ chemistry, writing, & cinematography can always sell a picture.
Paths of Glory (1957)
dir. Stanley Kubrick
Kubrick gives us one of the best "war is hell" examples brought to cinema, with a look at the cruel politics of battle (and the finest performance from Kirk Douglas I've ever seen).
The Red Shoes (1948)
dir. Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
One of those films that is spoken about in near reverent tones by cinephiles, Powell & Pressburger's magnum opus lives up to the hype: a modern, gorgeous tale of tragedy.
The Wind (1928)
dir. Victor Sjostrom
One of the greatest silent films I've ever seen, Lillian Gish gives the performance of a lifetime as a woman driven near mad by the harsh winds of the prairie.
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