The Top 5 Films of 2016

(at least this way I have plenty of time to think it over…)

1. Divines

This film is devastating, fair warning. It’s also fun, funny, absurd, thrilling and scary.  Filmmaker Houda Benyamina is bringing a lot to the table, and the scene of Dounia taking Maimouna for a ride in her “Ferrari” is a cinematic standout. While an air of dread hangs over the film, I was able to relax a bit once I realized Dounia is invincible. But invincibility isn’t enough.

2. Hidden Figures

Varying degrees of racism on display here. The Jim Parsons character, Paul, is the most in-your-face racist, sexist jerk. Your basic deplorable. Then there’s Kirsten Dunst’s Vivian, who feigns empathy but abdicates responsibility with a heavy sigh and a “my hands are tied”, while claiming “I’m no better off than you.” Finally, Kevin Costner’s Al, the kind of person who “doesn’t even see color,” but has to have flagrant injustice spelled out for him before he’ll wake to it.

3. The Love Witch

The meticulous recreation of ‘60s style, down to the film stock and the lighting, and every tiny detail, that Anna Biller achieves is so absorbing that the most jarring moment in the movie is when someone pulls out a cell phone. Realization dawns that this is not actually a period piece, but a piece in the style of a period.

4. The Handmaiden

Lush beyond belief, every frame is carefully crafted, posed, and lingered on, sometimes uncomfortably so. An indulgent film in every possible way. But there’s irony in a film whose story hinges on the insidiousness of the male gaze, but can’t avoid partaking in the same.

5. Under the Shadow

An entry in the new wave of “social horror” films, this one a skillful metaphor for the oppression of women in society at large, with the specificity of post revolution Iran heightening the effect. Very creepy ghost story, with nary a drop of blood spilled. Also the second film on this list to feature Jinn.

6. As I Open My Eyes

7. Miss Hokusai

The crashing wave painting is one of the most famous images of Japanese art - an image so predominant, one forgets there’s an artist behind it at all.  His daughter was equally skilled, and this is a somewhat fictionalized account of their lives.

8. The Mermaid

Typical Stephen Chow insanity, a loony toons cartoon brought to life, but, also typically, with wild tone changes become super heavy and serious at a moment's notice.

9. Our Little Sister

10. The Fits