Update 2/21: I missed Time by Garrett Bradley! Her name threw me off. 4.5 stars. So well done - very likely to win best doc.
Not even close. 2020 was such an odd year. I both saw more movies than 2019 and felt far further behind. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 26 this year, as opposed to 40 in 2019 and 42 in 2018. That said, so many higher rated films than the rest of my viewing on average.
In order to clear out my list on letterboxd and start 2021 fresh (stars from my initial ratings, ranking them comes from now):
Portrait of a Lady on Fire - Céline Sciamma - 5 stars. A goddamn masterpiece and my favorite film of 2019 (had to wait for it to come out in 2020 to see it).
Mouthpiece - Patricia Rozema - 4.5 stars. Yay! Finally got to see this and it is staggeringly good. I loved it so much. One of the rare theater adaptations that both keeps its theatricality/suspension of disbelief and is cinematic.
First Cow - Kelly Reichardt - 4.5 stars. First Cow!
Nomadland - Chloé Zhao - 4.5 stars. I haven't decided if First Cow or Nomadland is my favorite film so far this year. (I'm giving myself till Sundance to finish catching up on 2020 films. I think. When is Minari coming out???)
Babyteeth - Shannon Murphy - 4.5 stars. I loved this so much. Featuring 3 of my favorite actors - Eliza Scanlen, Ben Mendelsohn, & Essie Davis, this didn't go anywhere I expected it to. The ending knocked me flat.
No Crying at the Dinner Table (short) - Carol Nguyen - 4.5 stars. A beautiful film about grief and openness.
Near Dark - Kathryn Bigelow - 4 stars. Grimy country vampires!
Shirley - Josephine Decker - 4 stars. "I don't smote."
Emma - Autumn de Wilde - 4 stars. Love love love. It's a total bonbon and I found it utterly charming and delightful. In fact, maybe I'll watch it again tonight.
Athlete A - Bonni Cohen & Jon Shenk - 4 stars. Just completely horrifying recounting of the abuse all of our gymnasts went through that allowed them to be sexually abused on top of it all. Also features the San Francisco Girls Chorus on the soundtrack.
One Night in Miami - Regina King - 4 stars. A less successful theatrical adaptation, but the strong cast, particularly Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm X and Eli Goree as Cassius Clay, shine through.
Lucky - Natasha Kermani - 4 stars. Such a simple, yet effective premise. Brea Grant is terrific and it's a very tight thriller.
Forgotten Roads - Nicol Ruiz Benavides - 3.5 stars. A lovely film about an older widow dealing with her grief, falling in love, and finding community in coming out. Rosa Ramirez is in every frame of the film and gives a wonderful, understated performance of a woman finding joy.
Under Covers (short) - Michaela Olsen - 3.5 stars. Very charming.
Summerland - Jessica Swale - 3.5 stars. The film is formulaic, but Gemma Arterton gives a fantastic performance as a misanthrope forced to take in a child during WWII on the gorgeous southeastern cliffs. (Surprisingly does not turn out to be a witch...)
Laggies - Lynn Shelton - 3.5 stars. I had always meant to see this (Sam Rockwell) and when Lynn Shelton passed away I finally watched it. I found the pacing a little odd. Individual scenes were good, but the character development I found jumpy? Like - Sam Rockwell's decisions around Keira Knightley seemed a little out of left field? And why did she go back and then leave her fiancé? But the leads are charming. And the rom-com bit with Sam and Keira is good.
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) - Cathy Yan - 3.5 stars. Margot Robbie is the best. I loved how kinetic this was. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is great. Not a great comic book film, but also - who knew it was going to be better than WW84???
Tragic Jungle - Yulene Olaizola - 3.5 stars. Very oblique and incredibly beautiful shots of the jungle. Unfolds like a myth.
Shiva Baby - Emma Seligman - 3 stars. I loved how real this felt. It captured that very particular unease of being at a function with your parents, having to play up to the other guests, and navigating changing dynamics with childhood friends. (And, I imagine, a very particular Jewish parental pressure.) Of course, then it had the very unusual situation of running into your sugar daddy and his wife at shiva... This one has really stuck with me.
Bye Bye Body (short) - Charlotte Benbeniste - 3.5 stars.
The Old Guard - Gina Prince-Bythewood - 3 stars. Very straight forward film considering it has a much more intriguing premise (can you even call the third act a twist if it's that obvious?) Always happy to watch Matthias Schoenaerts and Charlize Theron (I covet her hair in this film), but the loveliest surprise was that it gave us the best new superhero in ages; a gay, Muslim romantic!
I Carry You with Me - Heidi Ewing - 3.5 stars. So frustrating. If this had ended 20 minutes earlier, with just a coda/end titles, it would have been a perfect film. '...something something happy endings are just stories that haven’t finished yet.'
Cowboys - Anna Kerrigan - 3.5 stars. Beautiful locale shots and Steve Zahn is great, but the film revolves around a child actor, who... just is no Tatum O'Neal. When you want to smack the main character upside the head for much of the film...
Wonder Woman 1984 - Patty Jenkins - 2.5 stars. So disappointing! I really love the first film. This one is just a mess.
The Rhythm Section - Reed Morano - 2.5 stars. So bad.
Mercury's Retrograde - Zohar Dvir - 2 stars. This just really grated on me.
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