THE TOP 5
- Promising Young Woman
“A mind-blowing and brilliant masterpiece of moviemaking about a woman bent on revenge after her best friend is raped in college. Built on the foundation of a career-best performance by Carey Mulligan, this is the kind of thought-provoking and game-changing film that, by itself, warrants a semester-long class at film schools. It will leave you curled up in the fetal position, sure, but it’s as close to perfect as you can get. The best film of 2020.”
- Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
“Though it will be remembered as Chadwick Boseman’s final film, it should be instead remembered as the vehicle for his finest work, hands-down. Not only does he hold his own alongside the phenomenal Viola Davis, but Boseman also gives this film (chronicling a day-long 1930s recording session) the perfect amount of humanity, gravitas, and flat-out power. Don’t be surprised if both actors win Oscars in April. Phenomenal stuff.”
- Time
“This poignant and superbly crafted documentary about one woman’s struggle against the justice system may just be the best thing I’ve seen all year. Creative and captivating, it’s as much a masterclass in storytelling as it is an eloquent and powerful voice for reform in this country.”
- Sound of Metal
“Riz Ahmed stars in a heartbreaking drama about a punk drummer who loses his hearing. At its core, it’s a fairly standard coming-to-grips flick, but Ahmed’s stellar performance turns it into something great, and writer-director Darius Marder and sound designer Nicolas Becker give us something wholly unique and well worth a watch. What A Quiet Place did for suspense films, Sound of Metal does for human drama.”
- Mank
“Director David Fincher (working from a script by his late father) paints a masterful portrait of the Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, as Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried lead the way in what may be the most perfectly “old Hollywood” movie ever made. It’s brilliant on every level (cinematography, production design, acting, directing) and deftly pushes the envelope of esotericism on its way to becoming as fantastic a biopic as you could hope for.”
THE REST
- Hamilton
- Soul
- Wolfwalkers
- Tenet
- Palm Springs
- Ammonite
- Uncle Frank
- Black is King
- Yes God Yes
- I’m Your Woman
- I Am Greta
- The Climb
- The Wolf of Snow Hollow
- Charm City Kings
- The Way I See It
- Howard
- The Outpost
- Sylvie’s Love
- Freaky
- The Trial of the Chicago 7
- News of the World
- The Last Blockbuster
- The Croods: A New Age
- Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions
- Run
- Let Him Go
- On the Rocks
- American Utopia
- Love and Monsters
- Spontaneous
- Kingdom of Silence
- Enola Holmes
- Unpregnant
- Mulan
- I’m Thinking of Ending Things
- Class Action Park
- Get Duked
- The Go-Go’s
- The Rental
- Greyhound
- The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart
- The Prom
- Happiest Season
- Belushi
- Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
- The Informer
- Holidate
- BLACKPINK: Light Up the Sky
- The More You Ignore Me
- Save Yourselves!
- A Call to Spy
- The Devil All the Time
- The Argument
- Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren & Stimpy Story
- Made in Italy
- Summerland
- Radioactive
- The Sunlit Night
- The Old Guard
- Wonder Woman 1984
- The Midnight Sky
- Godmothered
- Over the Moon
- The Witches
- Clouds
- Dick Johnson is Dead
- Lost Girls and Love Hotels
- #Alive
- The Babysitter: Killer Queen
- Love, Guaranteed
- Bill & Ted Face the Music
- The Sleepover
- The Only and Only Ivan
- I Used to Go Here
- Dreamland
- The Devil Has a Name
- Ava
- Project Power
- Wild Mountain Thyme
- The Place of No Words
- Hubie Haloween
- Unhinged
- An American Pickle
- The Beach House
THE BOTTOM 5
- Hillbilly Elegy
“It’s hard to think of a recent movie that seems more concerned about award nominations than this Oscar-bait family drama set in the white-trash hills of Kentucky… but don’t be fooled. Amy Adams and Glenn Close are phenomenal, sure, but the movie itself is an overwrought mess that tries way, way, WAY too hard to check all the right boxes. Bless your heart if you don’t feel like you’ve just been played for 2+ hours.”
- Operation Christmas Drop
“Netflix welcomes Christmas three weeks before Thanksgiving with this uneven Hallmark knockoff. Of course, the impossibly beautiful male and female leads hate each other at first, and of course, they wind up basking in the glow of each other’s love. The tropical setting is a nice escape, but it’s not hard to imagine that the real-life story that provided the backdrop is far more compelling and deserves far better than this schlock.
- Rebecca
“The latest unnecessary and ill-advised remake of a classic is as forgettable as they come. The suspense is non-existent, and the filmmakers seem more intent on making every frame look like a spread from Vanity Fair. Skip it and watch the 1940 Hitchcock version instead. Or, better yet, read the book.”
- The Binge
“Sure, having a Morgan Freeman sound-alike narrate the proceedings is a nice touch, and a very clever musical-theater interlude shows what kind of brilliant the film could have been. None of it is enough to keep The Binge from crashing and burning in spectacular fashion, however. They may have been hoping for the next Superbad, but instead, we all just get something super bad.
- Desperados
“The worst thing isn’t the scene with Wesley (Nasim Pedrad) touting masturbation to a nun, the bit where Desperados director LP (Lauren Palmigiano) has Wesley mark the passing of days by showing her birth control pills dwindling, or the bit where pedophilia is played for humor (involving a 12-year-old and a sex toy). It’s also not the out-of-nowhere plot that features Heather Graham as a lesbian shaman who seduces Anna Camp’s Brooke (just for laughs?), or even the fact that, despite all of this, Wesley doesn’t end the film sad and alone, as she so rightly should have. No, the worst thing about Desperados (and this is saying something) is that Wesley, at one point, gets slapped in the face by a frolicking dolphin’s erect penis. That actually happened. And if it isn’t clear by now, Desperados shouldn’t have.”