Best of 2020: Albums

As strange a year as it was, there was still some really great music released in 2020 even if that meant not being able to see it performed live. There were a handful of great EPs by Wye Oak, Day Wave, Wild Nothing, sir Was and Angel Du$t but also no shortage of really good albums.

10) Lewis Del Mar - AUGUST

It was really difficult to omit some of the albums that made my honorable mention list but I had to make room for sophomore album. I was a big fan of their self-titled debut but enjoyed the follow up AUGUST even more. Great album from beginning to end that feels like a full album instead of a random series of songs.

Listen to Rosalie (CH. II)

9) Bartees Strange - Live Forever

I wasn't familiar with Bartees Strange until I saw an exchange on Twitter between him and The Antlers as there was an homage lyrics from the album Hospice in his phenomenal song 'Mustang' which was probably my favorite song of the year. Live Forever is a great album and bold debut from an exciting young artist.

Listen to Mustang

8) Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters

Fetch The Bolt Cutters was Fiona Apple's first album since 2012 and it came out mid-April when most everyone was stuck at home. It was instantly lauded as a classic and was given the first Pitchfork's first perfect score in a decade. It's extremely raw but beautifully written.

Listen to I Want You To Love Me

7) Glass Animals - Dreamland

I'm not sure any musician had a more interesting and productive 2020 than Dave Bayley of Glass Animals between his quarantine covers and his made at home music videos. None of that would've mattered if there wasn't good music to back it up and Dreamland is great.

Listen to Heat Waves

6) Washed Out - Purple Noon

The most relaxing and calming album I listened to this year was Washed Out's Purple Noon which was a much needed respite that I indulged in many times during this crazy year. Songs like 'Paralyzed' are reminiscent of Sade without feeling like a carbon copy.

Listen to Paralyzed

5) Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher

Phoebe Bridgers is an artist who has the unique gift of writing like a singer-songwriter but possessing an angelic and powerful voice. After working with Conor Oberst for Better Oblivion Community Center then  Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus for their project boygenius, Phoebe Bridgers wrote the terrific album Punisher as a follow up to her 2017 debut Stranger in the Alps (which is one of my favorite album titles in recent memory due to the deep cut reference to The Big Lebowski). Punisher is an outstanding sophomore album that hooked from me the moment I heard it.

Listen to Garden Song

4) Future Islands - As Long As You Are

Their album Singles was my favorite album of 2014 and from the sounds of it, I think I even enjoyed their follow-up The Far Field more than the band did. That said, As Long As You Are feels like a return to form and maybe their most mature album to date.

Listen to Waking

3) Fleet Foxes - Shore

Shore was released in September without much notice or promotion but it was a welcomed surprise. I enjoyed Shore the first time that I heard it but it was in subsequent listens that came to really love the album. There are no bad songs on Shore and there are a handful of tremendous ones.

Listen to Can I Believe You

2) Hum - Inlet

This might be a somewhat biased ranking as Hum has long been one of my favorite bands- I almost flew out to Austin in 2011 to see them play Fun Fun Fun Fest and I nearly postponed a trip to Toronto because they were playing Southern California (thankfully I was able to drive to Solana Beach the day before their LA show and still make my 7 AM flight). Inlet is their first album in 22 years since Downward is Heavenward which one of my all-time favorites. They haven't missed a step after taking off nearly two decades and I cannot wait to see Inlet live.

Listen to Cloud City

1) Westerman - Your Hero Is Not Dead

There was never a challenger for my favorite album of 2020 after hearing Your Hero Is Not Dead. It's a rare accomplishment for an album to crack my all-time top 10 in the first year of its release but that's what Westerman's debut masterpiece has done. It has been well reviewed but it feels like I'm somewhat on an island with my adoration from for the album so give it a listen and let me know if you agree that it's a high water mark for the decade to come.

Listen to Blue Comanche

Honorable mention:

The 1975 - Notes On A Conditional Form

Bonny Light Horseman - Bonny Light Horseman

Caroline Rose - Superstar

The Front Bottoms - In Sickness & In Flames

HAIM - Women in Music Pt. III

Jim-E Stack - EPHEMERA

Little Dragon New Me, Same Us

Mac Miller - Circles

My Morning Jacket - The Waterfall II

Run The Jewels - RTJ4

Soccer Mommy - color theory

Tame Impala - The Slow Rush

Best of 2019: Film

This was an incredible year for movies. The movies that made my honorable mention were all very enjoyable. I struggled terribly with the list and particularly which movie to make the 10th spot because I knew that I would be leaving off a couple of excellent movies.


10) Knives Out

I really struggled with this spot on my list because I left out some great movies including several that are nominated for Best Picture but I had more fun watching Knives Out than almost any movie this year so it landed in this spot. In an interesting twist on the whodunit genre, Knives Out gives away a very large piece of the puzzle early on but only later does it reveal the exact circumstances behind how and why the death in question occurred. The cast is absurdly talented and each character feels very realized for a movie of this genre.

9) Uncut Gems

I was kind of late to join the party of those who were already celebrating the Safdie Brothers. I had heard from multiple people including my friend Travis that their previous film Good Time was excellent. I kept putting off watching it but I wanted to see it before Uncut Gems came out so I watched it and was blown away. Uncut Gems has the same tone which engenders the feeling of having a panic attack while watching. Adam Sandler is great as the jeweler and degenerate gambler Howard Ratner whose compulsive behavior take him further and further down the proverbial rabbit hole.

8) The Art of Self-Defense

The Art of Self-Defense is an incredible dark black comedy starring Jesse Eisenberg as a nebbish vulnerable man. After being attacked while walking home, he enlists in an adult karate class that becomes more serious and bizarre as the time goes on. I would recommend watching without seeing the trailer because it gives away far too much but it's a wonderful small movie that made me laugh as much as just about any movie last year.

7) Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

I love when Quentin Tarantino has a new movie and I hope the rumors of him retiring after his next movie are not true. That said, I can also acknowledge all of his movies since his long time collaborator and editor Sally Menke passed away (shortly after Inglorious Basterds) have been too long. I really enjoyed Once Upon A Time in Hollywood but couldn't help but think that it would have been better if the final cut was a little shorter. The performances by Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt are both great and the young actress played by Julia Butters is driving force behind just one of several incredible scenes throughout the movie.

6) The Lighthouse

Following up on the success of The Witch from 2015, director Robert Eggers goes in a somewhat different direction with The Lighthouse. Shot in black-and-white with a 1.19:1 aspect ratio, The Lighthouse feels like it was made in another era with the two leads Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe both turning in remarkable performances. It has been described as a psychological horror film and it's hard to classify but if you're looking for something very different then I strongly recommend you watch The Lighthouse.

5) Peanut Butter Falcon

We're currently in a renaissance for Shia LaBeouf who also wrote and starred in Honey Boy which was another tremendous movie last year. However, Peanut Butter Falcon was a much more pleasant viewing experience than Honey Boy which was at times painful to see the autobiographical struggles of LaBeouf's destructive family life as a child actor. Peanut Butter Falcon has LaBeouf befriend a young man with Down syndrome after he escapes from a nursing home. A modernization of the Huckleberry Finn stories, Peanut Butter Falcon was one of the most enjoyable movie-going experiences of recent memory.

4) Jojo Rabbit

The opening of Jojo Rabbit is so over the top and filled with slapstick humor that I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy it. It is above all else a comedy but it has wild shifts in tone and features nothing but German characters who inexplicably all speak English with varying degrees of bad German accents. The odds were against my enjoyment of the movie for the aforementioned reasons but the relationships between Jojo and the two female characters in the film have a striking amount of emotional resonance for a movie that also has a young boy talking to an imaginary Adolf Hitler. By the time it was over, I was surprised by how moved I had felt by a movie that started off so silly.

3) 1917

Easily the most stunning achievement in filmmaking from 2019 was 1917. Director Sam Mendes and cinematographer extraordinaire Roger Deakins pull off an incredible feat in making the audience feel as though the entire movie is one continuous two hour shot. Birdman employed a similar technique which was brought to another level in 1917 as it followed two soldiers travels during World War I. The story is very simple but the execution is flawless led by Deakins who shows that he's still world's greatest living cinematographer.

2) Midsommar

Full disclosure- Midsommar is not for everyone but for me it was near perfection. Writer-director Ari Aster who garnered acclaim for his previous horror film Hereditary returns to the genre for Midsommar which is a beautifully shot but deeply disturbing film. Florence Pugh, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress this year for Little Women, is tremendous as Dani. I won't detail any of the plot because it's best of you don't know what it is about but if you like the horror genre and don't mind some graphic imagery then Midsommar is the movie for you.

1) Parasite

Sometimes it takes years and numerous viewings for my opinion on a movie to shift. I very much enjoyed Parasite when I first saw it on Halloween of last year but my expectations were a bit off-kilter. I had heard from numerous people who I respect that it was the best movie of the year and to go into with as little knowledge about the plot as possible. I followed that instruction and for some unknown reason based on the title and the poster shown above, I thought it was a zombie movie. I'm not spoiling anything by telling you that it is not a zombie movie- at least not the kind that you might be thinking or I was expecting when I entered the theater. Parasite is one of the most original and metaphorical movies I've ever seen and after giving it about three months I went to see it in the theater again with a much greater appreciation for the layers of details and humor sprinkled throughout by visionary writer-director Bong Joon Ho.

Honorable mention:

Avengers: Endgame
Booksmart
The Farewell
Ford v Ferrari
Honey Boy
The Irishman
Joker
Long Shot
Marriage Story

Shazam!

Us
Yesterday

Best of 2018: Film

I had high hopes for this movie year as four of my ten favorite films were released by early April but the summer and fall didn't quite live up to the bar that was set by those early releases. That being said, there are several movies on my honorable mention that could have easily been in the top ten list.

10) Black Panther

What is good is not always popular and what is popular is not always good but occasionally those two intersect- as was the case with Black Panther which was not only the the highest grossing film of 2018 but also one of the best. From director Ryan Coogler (Creed, Fruitvale Station) came one of the most interesting and entertaining movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sometimes what holds back a comic book movie is that the stakes seem frivolous and the motivation of the antagonist seem manufactured just to propel the plot but that's absolutely not the case with Black Panther who's antagonist Killmonger has genuine motives. It also features a star-making performance from Letetia Wright who was subsequently the best character in Avengers: Infinity War.

9) Annihilation

Annihilation is a movie that I have had a difficult time describing since watching it. Writer-director Alex Garland in his follow up to the stunning debut Ex Machina adapted Jeff VanderMeer's novel. Not much information is given to the audience in the opening act of the movie which is intentional but the story structure plays with time flashing forward and back as what happens to the characters as they enter "The Shimmer" unfolds. Garland has a cinematic eye as he demonstrated in Ex Machina and Annihilation is also buoyed by a great cast, outstanding visual effects and a terrific score.

8) Green Book

There has been some recent criticism of Green Book and while acknowledging that it isn't without some flaws it's still a very entertaining movie that has an inspiring message. Viggo Mortensen gained around 40-50 pounds to embody Tony Lip while Mahershala Ali spent several months taking piano lessons to portray Dr. Don Shirley. It's very much an odd couple road trip movie but it has severely elevated stakes as it tells the story of world class African-American pianist Dr. Don Shirley embarking on a concert tour of the Mid-West and Deep South in 1962 which was just before the Civil Right Act was passed. Shirley enlists the help of Tony Lip to be his chauffeur and bodyguard as he completes the tour. Peter Farrell who is primarily known for his comedies like There's Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber definitely injects a good amount of humor into the film but it's grounded by the two excellent performances of Ali and Mortensen.

7) Eighth Grade

First time writer-director Bo Burnham nails the awkward angst of a young girl trying to find herself who is expertly played by newcomer Elsie Fisher. Burnham gain notoriety as a YouTube performer at the age of 16 and then transitioned into stand-up comedy. It was clear in his Netflix special Make Happy that he had a unique voice but he's solidified that position with Eighth Grade. The story follows Kayla Day (Fisher) who makes motivational videos and like many young people has valuable advise to dispense even though she's not necessarily able to follow it. It's a heartwarming story about friendship, father-daughter relationships and finding yourself in the world that will make you laugh and cringe along the way.

6) Isle of Dogs

I was and still am an enormous fan of Fantastic Mr. Fox which I think is one of the best animated films of the last 20 years so I was very excited when it was announced Wes Anderson would be returning to the medium of stop-motion animation. Isle of Dogs tells the story of a young boy from Japan who wants to get his dog back after an evil mayor banished all the city's dogs to Trash Island. The voice cast is star studded and amazing. Anderson has even outdone the visually stunning achievement of Fantastic Mr. Fox.






5) A Quiet Place

If you had told me five years ago that two of the best and most inventive horror movies of the last decade would be made from Jim from The Office and one of the guys from Key & Peele, I would have had a hard time believing you but that's exactly what has happened. First time director John Krasinski stars with Emily Blunt in a post apocalyptic world where monsters roam the world that are drawn to you by noise. The premise sounds far fetched but the execution of the idea and the acting is so excellent that within the first few minutes you are fully invested. Most of the time when you think about sound design and effects in a film you think about added sound but A Quiet Place shows just how effective a lack of sound can be in ratcheting up the tension.

4) BlacKkKlansman

Spike Lee has made some truly great movies (Do The Right Thing, Malcolm X, 25th Hour) but he had been in a bit of a dry spell that officially feels over after BlacKkKlansman. It chronicles the true story of the African-American police officer from Colorado Springs, CO Ron Stallworth as he infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan. John David Washington who portrays Stallworth and Adam Driver as his partner Flip Zimmerman are both excellent. It's unfortunate that the story of racism has any degree of resonance today but it feels very of the moment especially with the way Lee ties together the story with recent events.

3) Mandy

Mandy is not going to be a movie for everyone. It's deliberately paced, ultra violent and extremely bizarre but damn if I didn't love it. It's a beautiful shot film and has a terrific haunting score by the late great Jóhann Jóhannson. Nicolas Cage has made some questionable choices over the past decade but he's still one of the most interesting actors working today and his full array of ability is on display in Mandy. I won't spoil the plot because like most films the less you know going in, the better but it's a movie that has a very basic structure but is told in a way that is wholly unique. This feels like the kind of movie that if it hasn't already will soon develop a cult following and I'm already on board.

2) Roma

I have a weird theory that almost all great directors eventually make a movie in black and white. Of course, the early masters made films in black and white but even when color films became prevalent most of the great directors have made films in black and white (Kubrick, Scorsese, Spielberg, Nolan, Coppola, Lynch, Lee, Stone, Burton, Aronofsky, Soderbergh, Baumbach, Payne). Cuarón has now added his name to that list. Roma is not only beautiful to look at but it tells the story of Cuarón's childhood from the point of view of his nanny. Cuarón is such a talented director that he can make parking a car more tense than most action sequences in blockbuster summer movies. It's not a film that is action packed but it's so grounded in reality that when the stakes are raised in dramatic scenes the result is some of the most harrowing filmmaking of 2018 or any year.

1) A Star is Born

It has happened before but I can't recall the last time I saw a movie in the theater more than twice before seeing A Star is Born three times. It's not an original idea- in fact, it's the 4th time the movie has been made. That said, the reason it's been done so often is that the story arc is classic and that's one of the things that draws in. Bradley Cooper as a first-time director does an amazing job injecting new life into the story and the original music written for the film is far better than it needs to be for a movie like this. Cooper along with cinematographer Matthew Libatique also create a fantastic visual look. Cooper, Lady Gaga and Sam Elliott all give tremendous grounded performances. The final act is heartbreaking and stayed with me for a long time after the initial viewing.



Honorable mention:

Boy Erased
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Cold War
Deadpool 2
mid90s
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
Game Night
The Sisters Brothers
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
Vice
Widows

Won't You Be My Neighbor

Best of 2018: Albums

Some years my lists has a bunch of returning favorites making appearances which is logical because my favorite bands are favorites for a reason. However, this year there is a lot of new artists crashing the list of my favorite albums of the year.

10) Typhoon - Offerings

Their first album of new music since 2013's brilliant White Lighter was worth the wait. I was hooked on the single 'Rorschach' which came out a couple months before the album. The album was released in January so it got a little lost in the shuffle for me as I was still catching up on 2017 albums. However, when I came back to it later in the year, I was struck by how rich it was and what a complete album it feels like instead of just a collection of songs.

Listen to Empiricist

9) Bob Moses - Battles Lines

I knew very little about Bob Moses when I saw them open for Miike Snow a few years ago but I enjoyed their set enough to start keeping tabs on them. From the two songs they released in advance of Battle Lines, I was fully on board with this release. The opening track 'Heaven Only Knows' sets the tone and the rest of the album follows the lead for 48 minutes of great songs which ooze cool.

Listen to Heaven Only Knows

8) The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships

The highlights from A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships are spectacular. However, not all of the 15 tracks completely work for me as the front half of the album stands out more than the last. The 1975 first came to my attention with a series of EPs released in 2012 which became the basis for their self-titled debut album. Their second album i like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it (yes, that's the actual title), confirmed they weren't just a flash in the pan but A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships is their most complete album to date.

7) Wye Oak - The Louder I Call The Faster It Runs

Wye Oak has been one of my favorite bands since I first heard Civilian in 2011 and saw them live for the first time shortly thereafter. Jenn Wasner's voice to me is otherworldly and brings me a calm like just about no one else making music today. I also appreciate that Wye Oak never wants to make the same record twice despite the success of their prior work. Shriek was a complete departure Civilian and after releasing Tween in 2016, the latest effort The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs is very clearly a Wye Oak album but has soundscapes that are completely unique from their prior work.

Listen to Lifer

6) The Decemberists - I'll Be Your Girl

I'll Be Your Girl is a truly interesting album because it jumps around from song to song with wildly different tempos and instrumentation. It works for me as a whole but it's an album of high highs and some tracks which don't quite click for me. 'Once In My Life', 'Severed', 'Everything Is Awful' and 'Sucker's Prayer' are all highlights that were excellent to see live in March when they kicked off touring the album.

Listen to Once In My Life

5) Janelle Monáe - Dirty Computer

Janelle Monáe didn't release an album for nearly five years as she was pursuing a budding acting career that included roles in Hidden Figures and Moonlight. This album was well worth the wait. Within the opening moments of Dirty Computer, her vocals harmonized with Brian Wilson let you know that this album is something special (full disclaimer: I'm a sucker for anything that Brian Wilson lends his voice to). The album has all kinds of influences and soundscapes but there are some heavy homages to Monáe's mentor Prince.

Listen to Make Me Feel

4) Mac Miller - Swimming

For some unknown reason I had lumped Mac Miller into a group of young rappers that I didn't think I would enjoy. I was recommended Swimming shortly after it was released in early August and was an instant fan. Sadly, Mac Miller passed away just a few weeks later and I'll never know how that album would have affected me had he not passed away but it does carry a bit more gravitas knowing just how personal his music as he openly and frankly talked about his addiction and depression. It's also incredibly well produced as he enlisted musicians Jon Brion, J. Cole, Dev Hynes, Thundercat and John Mayer among others to help write and produce the album.

Listen to Ladders

3) boygenius - boygenius

Clocking in at just 21 minutes, this is probably the shortest album (technically EP) to ever make one of my year end lists but it's quality over quantity. boygenius is the moniker for three extraordinary singer-songwriters (Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus)  who collaborated to make these gorgeous six songs. Individually, all three of them have tremendous voices but working together they make a beautiful angelic chorus.

Listen to Souvenir

2) Vacations - Changes

It's strange to hear music some heavily influenced from artists of the past that somehow comes out sounding fresh and vital. Changes feels like it was buried in a time capsule from 30 years ago and it might be the closest thing we ever get to a new album from The Smiths. I stumbled across 'Steady' before the album was released and fell in love with that song but worried the album might let me down. Changes did not disappoint me and I listened it probably as much as any other new release in 2018.

Listen to Steady

1) Foxing - Nearer My God

I was only vaguely familiar with Foxing from their previous album Dealer. Nearer My God is their opus. Like most truly great albums, my favorite song changes with almost every listen and when I start the album, I almost always listen to the entire thing. Foxing incorporates a lot of unique instrumentation and dabbles in so many sounds it's difficult to pinpoint the album as a genre but that what I love about it.

Listen to Heartbeats

Honorable mention:

Car Seat Headrest - Twin Fantasy

Hammock - Universalis

Hippo Campus - Bambi

Hop Along - Bark Your Head Off, Dog

Kimbra - Primal Heart

Lord Huron - Vide Noir

Mitski - Be the Cowboy

Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats - Tearing at the Seams

Panic! At The Disco - Pray For The Wicked

Pusha T - DAYTONA

Best of 2018: Songs

Another gone by with a tremendous amount of great new music. For the 11th consecutive year, I've created by best of the year playlist which each of those years has had been 100-250 songs by different artists who released music that year. If you'd like to listen to my Best of 2018 Spotify playlist, please check it out. As per usual, I don't repeat songs from the same artist or same album to make sure that my list isn't just comprised of my two or three favorite albums.

30) Nothing - Zero Day
29) Vacationer - Being Here
28) Big Red Machine - Gratitude
27) Bayonne - I Know
26) The Dig - Moonlight Baby
25) Lana Del Rey - Mariners Apartment Complex
24) Twin Shadow - Saturdays (feat. HAIM)
23) SG Lewis - Coming Up
22) Troye Sivan & Jonsi - Revelation
21) Bob Moses - Heaven Only Knows
20) Janelle Monae - Make Me Feel
19) Kendrick Lamar - All The Stars (with SZA)
18) Foxing - Lich Prince
17) Wild Nothing - Letting Go
16) Leon Bridges - Beyond
15) Chance the Rapper - 65th & Ingleside
14) Local H - Innocents
13) boygenius - Souvenir
12) ZHU - My Life (feat. Tame Impala)
11) Mac Miller - Ladders
10) The 1975 - Love It If We Made It
9) Hop Along - How Simple
8) Dawes - Telescope
7) Lord Huron - Ancient Names (Part I)
6) Childish Gambino - This Is America
5) Kimbra - Everybody Knows
4) Vacations - Steady
3) Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats - You Worry Me
2) The Decemberists - Once In My Life
1) Mini Mansions - Works Every Time

Best of 2017: Film

This is not necessarily an indictment on the movies on the list this year as they're all deserving but I'm not sure that in a decade they'll all be looked back on as great movies. I normally have a hard time whittling the list down to 10 and this year I had a hard time stretching it to 10. That said, I very much enjoyed all of the following movies.

10) Dunkirk

Christopher Nolan has been the driving force behind some of the most truly inventive movies of the last twenty years with Memento, The Prestige, Inception and The Dark Knight trilogy. With Dunkirk he succeeded in trying his hand at a film based on historical events. The story based on the evacuation of over 300,000 allied soldiers from Dunkirk, France is told in such a compelling and gripping way that you may find yourself watching with intense focus despite knowing the outcome of the historical event.

9) Wind River

Writer and director Taylor Sheridan announced his arrival by penning the screenplay to Sicario which was directed Denis Villeneuve and one of the very best films of 2015. He followed that up with a screenplay for 2016's Hell or High Water. Sheridan has now shown he's also a capable director as evidenced by Wind River which another one of his films that are being dubbed as neo-western. Wind River is a deliberately paced and beautifully shot thriller that has a climax as good as about any movie from 2017.

8) Baby Driver

Writer-director Edgar Wright had the seeds of the idea for Baby Driver in his head for over a decade and after attaining success with Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, he was able to make it a reality. Baby Driver is a difficult film to describe as it is one cohesive story told with the backdrop of songs played by the protagonist Baby who is a getaway driver. There is tremendous music and fantastic stunt driving.

7) Thor: Ragnarok

I was not a big fan of the first film in the Thor franchise despite my affinity for a large portion of the cast and I skipped the sequel Thor: The Dark World because it seemed like more of the same. However, from the moment I saw the trailer for Thor: Ragnarok, I had a feeling that this was going to be different. Director Taika Waititi who one-half of the creative team behind the terrific mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows was at the helm and his unique sense of humor has fingerprints all over the movie including the character Korg who is voiced by Waititi. The action sequences aren't groundbreaking but they're done well and entire movie is about as fun as anything Marvel has done save for maybe Guardians of the Galaxy.

6) Blade Runner 2049

To me, film is first and foremost a visual medium. Director Denis Villeneuve and cinematographer Roger Deakins accomplished an  absolutely stunning feat with Blade Runner 2049. They managed to maintain the visual style of the original Blade Runner from 1982 but expand the visual palate and the universe. The film moves at a very methodical pace but if you let yourself absorb the imagery it can be a remarkable experience.

5) Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri is not a movie without flaws including it's unwieldy title but it is a tremendously well acted and very original film. Writer-director Martin McDonagh first came up with the idea more than 20 years ago when he was on a bus tour of the southern United States when he saw two billboards making a plea for an unsolved crime. What the film does very well is slowly peel back the layers to let the audience know the exact circumstances surrounding the crime and its investigation or lack thereof. Frances McDormand is magnetic as the grieving mother desperately seeking resolution.

4) I, Tonya

Craig Gillespie, the director of I, Tonya, had directed a handful of interesting films in the past but he was known as an award winning director of commercials. Which makes it no surprise that I, Tonya which chronicles the life of disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding moves at a breakneck pace. Gillespie makes no secret that he was influenced by the films of Martin Scorsese, particularly Goodfellas, but it's an homage which feels unique and not like a carbon copy. The entire cast is brilliant in portraying some truly unlikable and vapid characters but maintaining just enough humanity that you stay invested in the outcome.

3) Logan

There's often been an unfair disadvantage to comedies and action films when it comes to being judged for awards and best of the year lists. Logan is most certainly not a comedy though it has comedic elements and I wouldn't classify it as an action film even though it has plenty of very well choreographed action sequences. Logan elevated itself above the comic book movie genre for what was an excellent family allegory and surprising moving film.

2) Lady Bird

This year it was really to choose my number one movie because Lady Bird toggled back and forth as my favorite movie of the year to the point where I almost considered a tie. Lady Bird is such a distinct point of view from a clear voice that it doesn't matter the story is told from the perspective of a young woman in her senior year of high school. There is not one false note in the film which is a semi-autobiographical perspective from writer-director Greta Gerwig who grew up in Sacramento, CA. It's a phenomenal movie with excellent performances from the entire cast.

1) Get Out

Sometimes a film comes along at the exact right moment and becomes a part of the zeitgeist. It's possible that audiences and critics had been waiting years for Get Out and the timing wouldn't have played a huge role but it seemed to me that it came along at the exact right time. Get Out was made for a modest $5 million although it doesn't feel low budget in any way and it went on to make over a quarter of a billion dollars worldwide. First time writer-director Jordan Peele, known primarily for making up one half of the comedy sketch duo Key & Peele, had been a long time horror fan and Get Out was his passion project. Get Out is not your standard horror film as it turns the genre on its head playing very much likely a darkly humorous episode of The Twilight Zone. My description is purposefully vague because if you haven't seen Get Out, you should go in knowing as little as possible and it's one of the more enjoyable films to watch in subsequent viewings than any in recent history.


Honorable mention:

Atomic Blonde
The Big Sick
The Darkest Hour
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
The Lego Batman Movie
Logan Lucky
Phantom Thread
The Post
The Shape of Water
Split
Wonder Woman