Best Movies Of The Year in a Few Words

Best movies of the year, little analysis:

10. Tangerine
Shot on iPhones, so raw, but also funny, tense, moving.

9. Brooklyn
Quiet tension as big/important as any violent thriller.

8. Bridge of Spies
See previous entry, and Spielberg DOES IT AGAIN!

7. The Revenant
The hard work is on the screen.

6. It Follows
A serene horror film, eerily beautiful.

5. Spy
Rose Byrne in everything, now.

4. Ex Machina
Frankenstein for Apple era.

3. Spotlight
Great journalism, movie.

2. The Hateful 8
Excruciatingly amazing.

1. Mad Max: Fury Road
C'mon.


Other stuff:

Outside of critical reflection:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
I can't really put Star Wars on any list. I can see its flaws and holes and whatever else makes it not very unique. Whatever. I was predisposed to get all giddy at hearing the theme and stuff like "Chewy, we're home." I'm going to watch it more often than any other movie on the previous list (save maybe Mad Max).

Best surprise:
The Peanuts Movie
If you got all up-in-arms about the uses and abuses of Charles Schultz's timeless characters, as I did when I saw the first trailer, don't worry. This is a movie that succeeds in using the good-natured humour and philosophy of Peanuts in a way that celebrates Charlie Brown and the gang, with absolutely no Madagascar-esque pop-culture B.S. for the "in-the-know" parents. Even if it gets some of the basic facts wrong - I get why they put Linus and Lucy in the same class, but come on - it's not enough to sink it.

Biggest disappointments:
Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man
These movies stank. I eat this Marvel Cinematic Universe garbage up with a spoon, but Ant-Man wasn't very funny or all that original, as I was hoping with this different type of hero. And Age of Ultron just rehashed everything from the first Avengers. You could almost see Joss Whedon getting super tired of all this stuff half-way through. No longer will I get my hopes up for all-CGI action hero blockbusters.

Most looking forward to for 2017: 
Captain America: Civil War
It looks really cool.