due to the lost year of 2020, i couldn't put together a year-end list. but since it's Oscars weekend, here's my belated ranking.
1. Promising Young Woman
a relentlessly inventive and gripping film that's not afraid to take on a tricky topic - and nailed it. Carey Mulligan is brilliant here.
2. The Trial of the Chicago 7
an Aaron Sorkin screenplay is always mesmerising, but here he takes another step up from Molly's Game as director. the politics is a bit distant, but he proves once again he is the master at litigation scenes.
3. Beasts Clawing at Straws
an Asian film so advanced in all aspects it won't be out of place in Hollywood. the misanthropy hurts it a little, but it's a thrilling ride that benefits from the perfect casting.
4. The Man Standing Next
how to not love this film when it takes a genre i like and so painstakingly and gorgeously put it together?
5. The Comey Rule
a film whose importance was magnified by its timeliness. more impressively, it takes some very dry events and dramatises them a few notches.
6. 消失的情人节
probably the most refreshing film of the year. it has all the hallmarks of a good Taiwanese film - breezy, heartland and warm.
7. Nomadland
a beautiful film that's so realistic you'd think you're watching a documentary. it's heavy stuff disguised as light - just don't fall asleep. Frances McDormand and the non-professional actors present the dilemma of acting - is good acting maximum acting or when you stop acting?
8. Mank
it's not Citizen Kane level, but the dialogue is a riot. the old-Hollywood style is both the charm and the curse.
9. Tenet
if only it wasn't so incomprehensible, it would've been a classic. the ideas and the direction were groundbreaking. after Interstellar and Tenet, we now know Christopher Nolan's limit. dial back a little and i still believe he could become the greatest filmmaker ever.
10. Minari
an unvarnished look at the struggles of the outsider. that also means at times it can feel too heavy.
worst sequel:
Wonder Woman 1984 Peninsula
