FAV per YEAR (movies)

10 years mark. Is this the best horror since The Babadook?

This is a damn real horror movie, like an old school one, the tension is here from the very beginning, with that dark music, the colors tone, to the end.
Luckily this is not the reign of dull jump-scares, this is the right place for a lot of anxiety.

Direction is the real jewel here, every single scene and sequence is 'open' to something we don't know, like, why there's this open door on the background, something is going to happen, maybe not, maybe... keeping the pace at such a great level for a scary movie.

There are a couple of cliches of horror but hey, for sure the next scene isn't going to end with cookies and honey.

Also good job Nic Cage, again, he reminded me of certain famous villain and it is a good thing.

I'm generally not a fan of historical dramas, I have something not cool for those dresses, forced 'old' atmosphere and way of talking, but this movie was not about them, it has a solid plot and the epic vibe of the story helped making all more engaging.

Mads Mikkelsen has the main role here, and that is a blessing for the movie. What I really like about him is something every good actor (and every good 'worker' in general) should have and do, a constant self-improving attitude doing his job.
He has a brilliant career filled with awards (a César among them) but when I see him on the screen I always feel he's trying to learn more and do better as an actor.

The synopsis of this film was really meh, but someone told me to watch it, so I did it just to spend a night.
Still this seemed to be a different film made by an Arabian director.

I was left shaken, this film is like a spiral into madness and the desert setting made it all more and more unsettling, my heart was pounding, I love the Italian word for it 'cardiopalma' and this is really a cardiopalma paced movie.

I also understand that this is not a film very fit to pleasure a large audience, it's like an headache but that's the intention of the director and I'll definitely keep an eye on his future works.

Yeah it talks about that.
Maybe it's not the first time for a director to tell this kind of story but it is (to me) the first time it is done so well.

The movie has a good pace, is not messy at all and the psychological tension here is a crescendo, which is perfect to represent something that it start from an interest to become a dangerous and kind of self harming obsession.

"You should see this movie, it's about Nan Goldin her activism, it's directed by a very good documentarist and of course it was huge at Venice" told me an artist-friend of mine.

It's good film about this great living photographer, it's true but I also found it to be a very powerful means of expressing her voice and spreading awareness about a serious social problem that it was like an elephant in the room.

I was already an admirer of Nan Golding as an artist, but now I really realized the fact she's great as a person and this same reason influenced and boosted her talent. Her struggle, her consciousness, her soul.
She IS HUGE and this 'portrait' made by Laura Poitras was really on point.

It left me just with a question: imagine the impact of this film if it was about a MALE popular artist made by a MALE big director.
There's still glass ceiling to break... That's for sure.

Sad story inspired by real story.
I watched this movie because it's about borders, immigrations and xenophobia but I wasn't expecting for it to have such a rich narrative style, great photography and to be overall this good.

It struck.
After this I had to search for the other movies directed by Cristian Mungiu, I didn't remember his name but yeah, I got it.

Oh man, here again with a Denis Villeneuve rework on a classic sci-fi film.

Dune pt. 1st was just so good and really epic, and I didn't even noticed how those celebrities acting there are/were so off-character/out-of-place for a film with such a majestic and ambitious vibe.

Sadly pt.2 was really underwhelming in comparison and the story is still ongoing.

I can't say I'm a fan of chivalric poems nor I'm an expert at all of Celtic and Gaelic romance, still I find the legendary tales set in those lands have a certain glamour.

This is the case of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, so I was curious to see this movie but at the same time I was a little afraid cause I've already seen a lot of cool and solid mythology turned to crap with a theatrical transposition.

Also I was not so fond on Dave Patel taking on this role, which instead did a good job. Cinematography, costumes, music etc was also very apt, as usual I liked their consistency.

Wes Anderson, the great Wes Anderson (not for me).
He's a good director and has a very distinctive style, that's for sure, his films are entertaining and visually super well done, but to me they're kind of all of the same.
That's an hyperbole, but you know what I mean, maybe I'm not the only one in the world thinking this of his work.

The Isle of Dogs was just different, if Anderson is usually over the top with is irony and attention for details, this was over-over the top.
It was one of the most hilarious movie I've ever seen.
My 2 cents.

Yorgos Lanthimos had already directed very interesting movies and received accolades and well deserved awards for them but since The Favourite his career reached a new level, success and audience wise.

This black comedy is visually stunning and has all of the good tricks typical of Lanthimos but it's also of 'easier access' with a great pace, a very entertaining plot and dulcis in fundo received a major blessing with the amazing performances of the three main actresses.

Here it is, June 2024, it started with The Square by Ruben Ostlund.
Everyone's recommending their 'best films of the last decade' and I was like IDK.
As usual.
I watched a lot of cool movies, but I was able to recall just one of them that I'd surely put in my 'top 10 of 10 years' list.

The Square.

Still there are others that I really find worth of a top10, at least 'their year top10'. The Isle of Dogs, the Favorite, RMN and so on.

Guilty pleasure of mine, I find it one of the most interesting movies of 2017, and I consider it underrated.

I liked the performances of the various actors/characters, the escalation from false kindness to the social tension among them.
I think the script and direction were good too, cause the tone it's mostly not loud, almost delicate but that's the real face of the hypocrisy that permeates the villa where it all takes place.

The movie was made and came out at certain time, while some infamous and controversial things happened (Cecil the lion etc) so even if the pellicula is not a political statement of globally outstanding themes, what it addresses is handled with great efficency.

A black comedy bsed on the true life and career of the famous/infamous ice figure skater Tonya Harding.

The screenplay here is just good and entertaining and the main actresses and actor were really into their roles, Tonya, her mom, her boyfriend, and all the other dumb and low educated people involved here.

I think this is also the role who changed the worldwide recognition of Margot Robbie, or at least how I perceived her.
Apart of that, for a non-USA-person this is sadly a realistic depiction of a certain large part of USA people (that influenced Europe too...)

Blade Runner, 1982 is one of the most iconic sci-fi movie ever, a cult like few others that still influence the genre after 40 years.
Like many other futuristic universes is set in a future that is already past and it's veeeery different than real life, but that's another story.

Anyways, as often happens when they announce a sequel or reboot for something like that the result may be outrageous.
Luckily this wasn't the case, and it seems Denis Villeneuve was the right person to do that, and I admit he's really working very well with other sci-fi titles.

Blade Runner 2049 was a worthy sequel for Blade Runner. That's more than enough I suppose.

Not entirely sure if this deserves to be on a fav-best list, cause it's nice yeah but not that amazing.
Even if I love fantastic universes, dragons, monsters, aliens and the like, I don't consider myself an enthusiast when it comes to this genres of movie.
I watch many of these, cause I'm interested and curious 'bout them but in the end I'm often "nah".

It's the case of kaijus, I don't even watch them, usually and the idea of Gojira or Kong doesn't entertain me.

Who watched this Shin Gojira knows it. It was maybe the first time that I really felt the pain and the grotesque of this gigantic monster, also the scene of the destruction of Tokyo it was really terrific and terrible at the same time, it was like watching a real and inescapable mass-scale horror.
This was not 'my' usual monster film, nor a regular disaster movie, this was really about suspense and dread of what is going to happen after 'this current scene'.
Which is the point of Gojira, after all.

A good drama about guilt and grief as felt by working class people living their struggles in a small town.
The script is kind of simple but it works with coherence with the setting and the great job made by the main actors.

I really liked how they expressed the shift of emotions facing their problems while dealing with old and new people in their life.

I'd say this is a very 'Sundance' kind of movie, in a good way.

Another Denis Villeneuve entry on my list, Arrival is an instant classic, cause it tells the typical "close encounter with the third type" in an unusual way.
I'm sure you can read plenty of good analysis of this movie here on listal and everywhere on the internet.

The whole film it has a very fascinating way to tell a story about language and communication with "something different" from us.

Oh man, easy choice here.
Mad Max, the original saga starring Mel Gibson is a classic of action-dystopia movies each chapter so cool even today.

When Fury Road came out decades after, fans shivered cause reasons but from the very first scenes this movie was like an epiphany.
The world of Mad Max was still there, rough and desolated like its inhabitants, just 'upgraded' thanks to good CGI and special effects.

Praise to the actors, so iconic in their main and supporting roles, praise also to the pace, not a single second is wasted on a 'filler' action, everything is so over-the-top and so entertaining.
To me "Mad Max: Fury Road" was (is) at least one of the best action movies released in the second decade of 2000.

This film was very interesting to me, cause part of my work as an artist is influenced by Mesoamerican mythology and iconography.
I'm Italian by the way, this is set in Amazonian area so a bit on the South, still the vibe was that.

Technically speaking is just a joy for the eyes, rich in visuals and photography, but it also tells 'its' story from a different point of view.
It is set on the path of two European scientists at some decades of distance one from the other, but we FEEL more the words, silences and actions of the indigenous shaman.
I can't even say if he's really the protagonist here, cause maybe the main act is the whole meaning and sentiment of the people living and who-used-to-live in and nearby the rainforest.

I also very much appreciated (this is a personal interpretation that could be very wrong) that even though the two European men undertake their journeys decades apart, first the old man and then the younger man, their roles could almost be reversed, merging their consciousness as if they were the same person.

A fascinating film.

Babadook came out at a time I was really really bored by contemporary (at that time) horror movies. Luckily the wave has recently changed, anyways...

2010s and about was the time of many awful jump-scare-slasher-franchising, some of them are still around with their nine-tenth-twelfth chapter and stuff, you know. I just don't watch them, cause luckily there's also good scary stuff now.

When I watched Babadook it was like drinking fresh water after time, finally it was a popular horror that deserved all that chit-chat. Just this, this is a valid reason to make it on my list.

I think it's fair to add Creep here, cause to me it was kind of unusual, maybe the only low budget found-footage horror with a very coherent and effective plot.

The story here is very simple, the characters are just 2 people, the victim(?) and the abuser(?), the mood is quiet, but everything builds it up, kind of slowly (not boring) adding single pieces a time to complete a jigsaw puzzle.
Every piece adds an unsettling detail, or maybe not, maybe it's just a doubt on what about is going to happen next, just like a good scary movie should be.

Also, Mark Duplass is here.

Let's start 2013 list with Bong Joon-ho, at the time it was already a well known director basically everywhere, with Barking Dogs never Bite, Memories of a Murder Mother and most of all The Host which immediately became worldwide popular.

Snowpiercer was another well deserved success, also featuring Hollywood stars. and projected the director to a real status among the black-humor authors.

The movie is super entertaining, a gold amongst action genre and tbh I have a thing for frost settings. After 10 years Snowpiercer stand very well the test of time, and influenced plenty of films and tv series, some of them still in development.