For this year’s Top 11 best films (I really didn’t know which one to cut!), I won’t be listing the obvious titles we’re seeing everywhere. We all know BLACK SWAN is awesome, TRUE GRIT was great and RABBIT HOLE was the perfect role for Kidman. They were also the last ones out and we’ve forgotten what was released last January. So instead I’ll be listing here some of the films I loved and didn’t get much word out, because it only played in festivals or didn’t play in Canada yet. Outside of big commercial releases, these are the film I had the best time watching. They either ended up playing at Fantasia or I’m very upset they didn’t , especially the 3 films from Denmark.
EASY MONEY (Sweden): A very nice mix of Inaritu and Mann, a crime film with emotion and great acting. I can’t wait for the sequel. If this film doesn’t become cult there’s nothing to save us.
SUBMARINO (Denmark): Vinterberg’s last film got away from comedy to give us the bleakest film of the year, and also one of the best. There is no reason for that film getting ignored like it’s been.
R (Denmark): The film takes about the same starting point as A PROPHET but where one goes epic, the other stays close, with a documentary eye and an ending where all goes to crap.
BROTHERHOOD (Denmark): Mix-up BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN and AMERICAN HISTORY X, can you guess it doesn’t end well?
THE SILENCE (Germany): Such an impeccable camera, such just storytelling, acting, editing. An interesting exploration of the psychology of a murder and of lasting grief.
OIL CITY CONFIDENTIAL (UK): I knew nothing about Dr Feelgood, came out of the theatre and bought their records on iTune. A great music doc that goes personnal. On that note, LEMMY was pretty great too.
HEARTLESS (UK): A horror / fantastic film with a lot of heart and a very dreamy Jim Sturgess.
TONY (UK): Follows a very weird serial killer in London. A very small film with a big acting performance.
RUBBER (US / France): OK, maybe it’s a bit too long for what it is, but the opening sequence made me totally ecstatic. I’m now part of the cult of No Reason.
A HORRIBLE WAY TO DIE (USA): A very interesting twist on the serial killer genre where the characters have depth, the mixed-up narrative keeps the attention up and the end has a good twist. Super-shaky-close-up camera alert though!
DREAM HOME (Hong Kong): An interesting mix of psychological drama and slasher film, with great darkly humorous and very gory sequences.
