The Past Is Behind You But Which Way Is Forward: Lee's Best Movies of 2019

I still vividly remember being a teenager and feeling like the year 2000 was so far away. Then we got there and the expectation reset for 2020. The time before hitting these milestone years was filled with anticipation and deep wonder for what our lives would be like and how the world would have changed. In the early 2000s, I made the mistake of trying to plan how my life would turn out, with all my hopes and dreams going in a completely different direction than I could have imagined. This led to too much time spent longing to go back and start it all over again. The best movies of 2019 identify deeply with this idea of coming to terms with who and where you are, for better or worse. How does one move forward when your feet are still pointed back? It's a loaded question, one that was explored in a variety of exciting, tragic, and hilarious ways. Every year has a abundance of good movies, but I felt a deeper connection to this one, maybe due to it being on the heels of a new decade. The path goes both directions...I am hopeful about discovering which one points ahead. I wish the same for you.

Lee


Movies Logged: 106

Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order): Avengement, The Beach Bum, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Clemency, Cold Feet, Cold Pursuit, The Dead Don't Die, Diane, Ford v Ferrari, Happy Death Day 2U, Honey Boy, Hustlers, In Fabric, In the Shadow of the Moon, IT: Chapter 2, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, The Lighthouse, Midsommar, Queen & Slim, Ready or Not, Richard Jewell, Rocketman, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Terminator: Dark Fate, Vision Portraits





30-21

30) Altantique (Atlantics) dir. Mati Diop
29) Booksmart dir. Olivia Wilde
28) Ash Is Purest White dir. Jia Zhangke
27) Dragged Across Concrete dir. S. Craig Zahler
26) Dolemite Is My Name dir. Craig Brewer
25) Homecoming: A Film by Beyonce dir. Beyonce Knowles, Ed Burke
24) A Hidden Life dir. Terrence Malick
23) Crawl dir. Alexandre Aja
22) J'ai Perdu Mon Corps (I Lost My Body) dir. Jeremy Clapin
21) Little Women dir. Greta Gerwig





20-11

20) Ad Astra dir. James Gray
19) Transit dir. Christian Petzold
18) High Flying Bird dir. Steven Soderbergh
17) Fast Color dir. Julia Hart
16) High Life dir. Claire Denis
15) Uncut Gems dir. Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie
14) One Cut of the Dead dir. Shinichiro Ueda
13) Border South dir. Raul Paz Pastrana
12) 3 from Hell dir. Rob Zombie
11) Toy Story 4 dir. Josh Cooley


TOP TEN



10) Dolor y gloria (Pain and Glory) dir. Pedro Almodovar

A career best Antonio Banderas reflects on his childhood and film directing career in this stunningly beautiful semi-autobiographical portrait of aging from one the world's finest filmmakers.





9) Under the Silver Lake dir. David Robert Mitchell

Modern day Los Angeles attempts to give purpose to a life solely lacking in this delightfully twisty and unpredictable slacker noir. Everything means something is you make the effort...even the minimal amount.





8) Aniara dir. Hugo Lilja, Pella Kagerman

There were a handful of exceptionally cerebral sci-fi movies in 2019, but none of them stuck with me (and haunted me) as heavily as this one. Aniara is an existential nightmare, a journey beginning with hope that slowly and terrifyingly declines the other direction. Of the many complex questions the movie asks, the one that I have yet to shake is, at what point do the machines we've created to bring us comfort realize there is no longer any comfort to give?





7) Glass dir. M. Night Shyamalan

Who could have guessed that the final chapter in Shyamalan's superhero trilogy would be the most emotionally and politically rich? Glass was, for me, the boldest and most challenging big screen blockbuster of 2019, a movie that takes huge chances and pulls most of them off effortlessly.





6) The Irishman dir. Martin Scorsese

A master storyteller, with the help of three cinematic icons, tells an epic saga of a life that felt well lived until it was reflected upon. Frank Sheeran (Robert DeNiro) proudly recounts the details of his career, but the further he brings us to the present, the deeper we understand how sorrowfully it will end for him. The Irishman features a performance from Joe Pesci that is as terrifying as his turn in Goodfellas (but for completely different reasons) and a final shot that has burned itself into my brain for oblivion.





5) Knives Out dir. Rian Johnson

My third time seeing Rian Johnson's absolutely delightful Knives Out, I was still discovering new clues and relishing in off screen dialogue I had somehow missed the previous times. This is the year's biggest entertainment, a meticulously crafted, brilliant performed whodunit with razor sharp dialogue and an unexpectedly sweet story at its center. I can't wait to see it again.





4) Her Smell dir. Alex Ross Perry

There were a lot of amazing performances by women in 2019, but Elisabeth Moss's work in Her Smell towers highest of all. The movie is a searing portrait of an out of control rock star, played by Moss, whose self destructive behavior is at its most critical. We see her at her very worst, with director Alex Ross Perry refusing to let us look away, and then through her recovery. Both parts are intensely powerful, though the emotional core shines through most as Moss's character, Becky, tries to heal herself. In a year filled with incredible final scenes, the one here is a gut punch and leads up to a last line that is well earned and deserved.





3) Marriage Story dir. Noah Baumbach

A triumph of writing, performance, and direction, Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story is his best film to date, a thoughtful look at how two people who love each other, but are not a good match, do their best to navigate a divorce without drawing blood, something that proves impossible as they get deeper into the process. We witness as they each slowly unravel, leading to them saying things they don't mean and making decisions they didn't plan to make. It's often very difficult to watch, though we never doubt they want what's best for each other and for their child. Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, two of my favorite actors, will have a hard time topping their performances here, and they're aided by a stellar supporting cast including Laura Dern, Alan Alda, Ray Liotta, and Julie Hagerty. Like many of Baumbach's movies, it's heart-wrenching and occasionally very funny.





2) Parasite dir. Bong Joon-ho

No one mixes comedy and horror quite like Bong Joon-ho. The shift is jarring, but never without purpose. In Parasite, he and his acting muse Song Kang-ho, along with a top notch cast, have created one of the very best indictments against the 1% that I have seen. Scathing, unpredictable, and often jaw droppingly crafted (there's a sequence in the middle of the movie that is one of the most beautifully staged and edited of the year...hell make that the decade), Parasite is unflinching in its vision of the danger that comes with wealth...and what happens when those who don't have it get a taste. The less you know going in, the better. I was polarized.





1) Once Upon A Time...in Hollywood dir. Quentin Tarantino

I saw Pulp Fiction opening day in the theater, and the charge I got watching it was like nothing I'd experienced before. I was clearly in the hands of someone who loved the movies and wanted to share that with me in any and every way possible. With every movie since then (and Reservoir Dogs before it), Quentin Tarantino has continued to do that. Mileage may vary to be sure, but the passion for filmmaking, storytelling, and character has always shined through. If Pulp Fiction seemed like the perfect movie to be made by a cinema obsessed 31-year-old, Once Upon A Time...in Hollywood serves the exact same purpose for him at 56. It feels like Tarantino's entire career has been building to this, his magnum opus about the place where dreams are made during a time when the tide was shifting. The movie vividly and lushly captures the sights and sounds of Hollywood in 1969...we don't just experience it, we live in it. When Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) drives through the city, radio blaring, we can feel the wind blowing through his hair and the intensity of the neon lights that hit his eyes. At the center of the story is a friendship between Cliff, an aging stunt man, and Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), a former TV star struggling to stay relevant and recognized. The movie is set against the backdrop of the Manson murders, most specifically the time leading up to when his followers killed Sharon Tate and a group of her friends. Margot Robbie plays Tate in the movie, and it's an astonishing performance in that we witness a snapshot of the life of a happy, caring person through very little dialogue. Instead, we see Sharon dance, we see her sleep, we see her pick up a hitchhiker, share a conversation, and then part in a warm embrace. But the peak of our time with Sharon comes when she discovers a movie she's in is showing and she watches it with an audience. The joy on her face as people react to her onscreen (the footage of the real Sharon Tate is used) is one of the best moments in any Tarantino movie. I mentioned that the movies of 2019 were ripe with stunning final images, but the one that concludes Once Upon A Time...in Hollywood has stayed with me the longest. It's a moment that's as comforting as it is haunting, crafted by a filmmaker who's spent a career bringing us characters he loves, but this time has done it with more humanity and warmth than ever before. The movie is a sublime marriage of writing and direction...often times Tarantino's obsession with dialogue can overshadow his images. Here, what we see often speaks louder than what we hear. Once Upon A Time in Hollywood is a career defining movie. If Tarantino indeed only does one more movie, it will have mighty big shoes to fill.



Thank you for visiting Hell and Beyond!

(c)Hell and Beyond, 2020.

"The More You Drive, The Less Intelligent You Are." - Alex Cox's Repo Man

Like the best 1980s works of John Carpenter, Alex Cox's Repo Man is just as timely in 2019 as it was upon release 35 years ago. Fascinatingly enough, certain aspects feel even more timely now. Cox's influences are made apparent right from the start, as Iggy Pop's punk theme dominates the opening credits, only to shift to a more western style score (courtesy of Steven Hufsteter and Humberto Larriva) once the first scene begins. The first character introduced is J. Frank Parnell (Fox Harris), and he is driving the Chevy Malibu that will become the object in great demand throughout the movie. It is of note that his glasses have one clear lens and one dark, as if to suggest one eye is blind while the other sees. In other words, we're never getting the whole picture. Frank gets pulled over by a motorcycle cop who happens to have a pine tree air freshener hanging from his windshield, the first of many recurring images the movie will present to us in regards to consumerism. The officer requests to look in the trunk and once it is opened, a bright light emerges and he evaporates, nothing left but a pair of smoking boots. This disorienting scene perfectly sets up the tone of the movie, which will gleefully and mischieviously play by its own rules. More on the trunk contents later.

It's fitting that we meet the movie's anti-hero, Otto (Emilio Estevez), working in a grocery store, surrounded by products. Even though they are generically labeled (every item, right down to the champagne, has a white label with black type), Otto's co-worker, Kevin (Zander Schloss) energetically sings a jingle from a 7-UP commercial ("America's drinking 7-UP!"). Even while putting price tags on unmarked cans, there's still no escaping product placement. Otto's manager fires him after he uses vulgar language, only leaving once the Latino security guard pulls a gun on him (if you watch the bottom left corner of the frame as Otto leaves, you can see the security guard twirl his gun like a cowboy, showing the influence of American culture, though the uniform and the false sense of power that comes with it may be as close as this person of color will ever get to the American Dream).

Down on his luck in more ways than one, Otto catches the attention of Bud (Harry Dean Stanton), a haggard repo man looking to find new recruits. He lures Otto into stealing a car, the perfect match for a young punk who can score some cash taking a person's most prized possession away. The repo outfit is called "Helping Hand," an obvious jab at the treatment of the working class. Bud and the other repo men seem to barely be middle class (if that), yet they still prey on those struggling to get by just as they are. Otto only agrees to become a repo man once he sees how lousy the other options are (while looking at the want ads, Kevin exclaims, "There's room to move as a fry cook"). Naturally Otto, like everyone else, wants to know how often he gets paid ("Work on commission. That's better than getting paid."). First though, Bud must teach him the Repo Code, a series of guidelines such as, "Only an asshole gets killed for a car." Otto learns the hard way that this could even be a concern after being shot at, maced in the eyes, and during a house visit where he tries to take a car that's on a jack. During the latter, we get a glimpse of how Otto has started drinking the Kool Aid, as he is now wearing a suit, has a brief case, and is still going to a take an African American woman's car even as she tells him that she's behind on payments due to being in the hospital. Otto's transformation is a gradual one: it starts with T-shirts and a blazer and eventually develops into dressing, as Bud describes it, "like a detective...they dress kind of square."

Otto has a love interest, or in his case, someone to have sex with and receive sexual favors from, named Leila (Olivia Barash). She too, is looking for the Malibu, specifically because she is convinced there are "aliens" in the trunk. All Otto cares about, and all the other repo men for that matter, is that the car is worth $20,000. It's fitting that this in-demand car is a Chevy Malibu, because what's more All American than a Chevy and what better representation is there for paradise than Malibu? In other words, this car represents the American Dream, and it is always out of reach for the characters here. As for the "aliens" in the trunk, at one point, someone asks if they are illegal aliens, a distinct parrallel to immigration since many people crossing the border must hide in the trunks of cars and, given what happens when the trunk of the Malibu is opened, they are automatically considered dangerous. Their needs are never considered, only apprehending them (as we see from the white men in suits who are always trying to stop Leila's efforts to rescue them from the trunk).

The movie takes place in a western city, presumably a border one, and focuses solely on the hardships of those struggling. Bud, who has been in the game for a long time, looks down on not only the wealthy but also the poor. Like anyone else, his goal is ultimately to have enough money to "sit around and let everyone else do the work for a while." Yet the characters are always quick to take opportunities for granted because they are too busy chasing a shallow and unattainable Dream. After jacking a car, Otto finds some wrapped gifts in the back seat and tosses them out the window. Soon after, it is revealed they were filled with stacks of $100 bills. Instead, a book titled "Dioretix: The Science of Matter Over Mind" (linked to Scientology) is a worthy back seat discovery, though in the end, it is valued just as much as the Bible. Organized religion is mercilessly attacked in Repo Man, beginning with Otto's parents, former hippies who have been literally hypnotized by a televangelist and have given all of their money to his "cause" (supposedly sending Bibles to El Salvador). When this same televangelist approaches the Malibu with a large Bible, the car retaliates by setting it on fire ("Holy Sheep Shit!"). Another visual clue is a sign in a convenience store window that reads, "Drink $3.16," suggesting that religion is, like everything else, a product being marketed and sold to the masses to separate us from the few dollars we have.

Capitalism has eaten this city alive, as we see from the state of the streets and the homeless and deprived people who roam them. There are never any recognizable landmarks or tall buildings...instead, there are shots of sewers, garbage blowing in the wind, and torn posters of white male politicians giving a shit eating grin that carries nothing but empty promises. And it's those smiles that have kept the population from achieving "happiness." The closest they get are yellow smiley face buttons or wrist watches, a blink-and-you miss-it effort to mask the illusion that everything is fine. At one point, a group of punks are seen stealing prescription drugs, leading us to wonder if it's just an easy way to get high or if they are suffering from lack of affordable health care (or both). The leader of that group, Duke (Dick Rude), always refers to their robberies as a "job," and late in the movie has a talk with his girlfriend about settling down, getting a house, and having a baby. After all, "everybody does it, so it seems like the thing to do." Even though Duke and his gang are anarchists, they still have been influenced by the society that shaped them. The same could be said for Otto, at least at the start, but as the movie reaches its conclusion, the blinders have been removed, thanks to a ride in the Malibu with Frank ("You ever feel like your mind is starting to erode?"), and Miller (Tracy Walter), the guy responsible for emptying the cars out once they are delivered to "Helping Hand." Miller's theories on...well everything, might seem like insane rambling, but he's one of the only characters we meet who boasts about a love for reading (which he does on the bus due to the fact that, "the more you drive, the less intelligent you are"). By the time the movie reaches it surreal and bonkers conclusion, Otto's journey has come full circle. As Duke lays dying and tries to blame society for what he became, Otto corrects him with the reminder that they are both white kids from the suburbs. The system caters to them above any others, making Repo Man an unapologetic attack on the hypocrisy of white privilege.

I notice that I've made Repo Man seem like a grim experience, and it is the furthest thing from that. It presents its ideas through a series of radically inventive comic scenes, characters, and dialogue, much of which is delivered with more than hint of deadpan. This is a satire, first and foremost, an large extended middle finger to Reagan era politics. Alex Cox may not be an American, but he clearly saw how the policies of the '80s were affecting not just the United States, but the world (we briefly glimpse Reagan's involvement in Nicaragua, which Cox would explore fully in his equally gonzo Walker). Even though Repo Man was well received upon its release, it still feels ahead of its time, an ingenious and loosely constructed comedy that, like the punk rock music that seems to have inspired it, is not concerned with how much sense it makes on the surface or how pretty it looks, so long as you are shaken by what lives in its core. I've seen it at least 20 times, with no two viewings being even remotely close to the same. Yet the final scene always carries the same jarring and electrifying effect. When Otto finally climbs into the glowing green Chevy Malibu for a ride into the night sky, the first twinkling lights we see are those of the bank skyscrapers that hold the people beneath them hostage. In letting go of the material world and all that it entails, Otto is able to see what lies beyond it, shooting straight for the stars and finally achieving enlightenment. At long last, he is no longer a punk kid from the suburbs, or a repo man, or any other label from an unforgiving society. He simply exists, and this unprecedented movie experience proudly makes us believe there is nothing better than that.


Thank you for visiting Hell and Beyond!


(c)Hell and Beyond, 2019.

Another Day in Paradise: Lee's Best Movies of 2018

I have struggled greatly with what to say for my opening remarks on my favorite annual tradition, but after several well meaning but (at least to me) unsatisfactory attempts, I have decided to keep this brief. The largest reason for this is because everything I was wanting to say has already been done so by others and with more pathos. So, what I will leave you with is that 2018, like most years, had a wealth of remarkable cinema. It was a tremendous challenge putting ten in an order of favorites, as each movie spoke to me immensely, and in different ways. The best movies of the year had such passion, outrage, beauty, ugliness, and in some cases, joy. Boundaries were pushed and tested by filmmakers familiar and also by new, exciting, diverse voices.

I wrestled with a lot of demons in 2018 as we watched the world continue to crumble due to so much hatred and negativity. Often times, the movies were the best way out. When it came down to it, the best movie of the year for me was the one that left me in awe, dazzled my eyes, rattled my brain, and made me weep more times than any other movie I saw. It was a movie I walked into the theater to experience without much anticipation. Funny how that works. I suspect it will come up again at the end of this year when I make my best of the decade(!) list. Anyways, read on, let's discuss, and I'll see you at the movies!

-Lee


Number of 2018 movies seen: 107

Notably Missed: Bisbee '17, Blaze, Burning, Cold War, The Green Fog, Monrovia, Indiana, Shoplifters, The Tale

Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order): Annihilation, Aquaman, Blindspotting, Happy as Lazarro, Hotel Artemis, Incredibles 2, Let the Sunshine In, Mission Impossible: Fallout, The Predator, Upgrade, Wildlife, Won't You Be My Neighbor?, Zama




30-21

30) Suspiria dir. Luca Guadagnino
29) Widows dir. Steve McQueen
28) The Other Side of the Wind dir. Orson Welles
27) The Favourite dir. Yorgos Lanthimos
26) First Man dir. Damien Chazelle
25) Support the Girls dir. Andrew Bujalski
24) Leave No Trace dir. Debra Granik
23) Revenge dir. Coralie Fargeat
22) The Endless dir. Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson
21) A Quiet Place dir. John Krasinski




20-11

20) Private Life dir. Tamara Jenkins
19) Eighth Grade dir. Bo Burnham
18) Can You Ever Forgive Me? dir. Marielle Heller
17) Sorry to Bother You dir. Boots Riley
16) The Mule dir. Clint Eastwood
15) Hereditary dir. Ari Aster
14) Paddington 2 dir. Paul King
13) Game Night dir. John Francis Daley, Jonathan M. Goldstein
12) Roma dir. Alfonso Cuaron
11) The Rider dir. Chloe Zhao

TOP TEN


10) The Sisters Brothers dir. Jacques Audiard

Brotherhood is tested by violence and greed in an elegantly shot and acted offbeat western.




9) Mandy dir. Panos Cosmatos

Toxic masculinity and the fragility of the male ego are explored through an acidic fever dream with Nicolas Cage as a heavy metal album cover come to life.




8) The House That Jack Built dir. Lars von Trier

An artist turns the mirror on the ugliness and misogyny of his body of work with an uncompromising and deeply affecting look at his, and our, perception of art and the consequences it carries.




7) Hold the Dark dir. Jeremy Saulnier

Atmosphere unleashes our most primal instincts, blurring the line between truth, consequences, and the narrative that spreads from one ear to the next.




6) First Reformed dir. Paul Schrader

Is faith enough to save us from the cage our soul is trapped inside, with all of its fear, anger, and doubt?




5) BlacKkKlansman dir. Spike Lee

Sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying, but you still cry, because for every small victory, there are still many, many more to be won.




4) If Beale Street Could Talk dir. Barry Jenkins

Beauty and love can survive injustice, even as it continues to grow and infect what matters most. In the darkest moments, they can be the most potent of weapons.




3) You Were Never Really Here dir. Lynne Ramsey

Hope might seem like a blank wall when your experience consists of violence and trauma, but it can still emerge at the moment you least expect.




2) The Ballad of Buster Scruggs dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Fate's sense of humor is as sharp, cunning, and unpredictable as its cruelty.




1) Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse dir. Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman

Disappointment and rejection can lead to strength and possibilities. This movie is everything for everyone.



Thank you for visiting Hell and Beyond!

(c)Hell and Beyond, 2019.

Lost in the Woods: Lee's Best Movies of 2017

Lost, indeed. I think a lot of us felt that way this past year. Every time we watched or read the news, outrageous and horrifying events were taking place, affecting so many in ways they never thought possible. And never wanted to. It's why I have the day job that I do...to use the privilege that I have, that so many others are denied, to help knock down these barriers that have been built between us. It's tough. I lose sleep over it, although I cannot imagine how it is affecting those marginalized by it. If there was ever a year that movies were a perfect escape, it was in 2017. The best movies of the year, I think, reflected our current anxiety...the desire to be loved, accepted, trusted, and to survive. Outside of that, the need to be remembered and that we mattered. There were some fantastic movies...so many, in fact, that for the second year in a row, I have made a Top 30. So, read on, agree, disagree, and let's discuss. I'll catch you on the flipside.

Lee


Notably Missed: BPM (Beats Per Minute), Nocturama, Princess Cyd, Thelma


Dishonorable Mention: Alien: Covenant, All Eyez on Me, The Circle, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Kong: Skull Island, Sleepless, Snatched, The Void


Wish I'd Loved: Baby Driver, Colossal, Dunkirk, Good Time, I, Tonya, Ingrid Goes West, It Comes at Night, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Okja, The Shape of Water


Honorable Mention: The Assignment, Beatriz at Dinner, The Big Sick, Brad's Status, The Disaster Artist, I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore., IT, Landline, Last Flag Flying, Logan Lucky, The Lure, Maudie, Most Beautiful Island, Song to Song, Split, Wonder Woman





30-21

30) Call Me by Your Name dir. Luca Guadagnino
29) The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) dir. Noah Baumbach
28) Marjorie Prime dir. Michael Almereyda
27) John Wick: Chapter 2 dir. Chad Stahelski
26) Personal Shopper dir. Olivier Assayas
25) Logan dir. James Mangold
24) Raw (Grave) dir. Julia Ducournau
23) The Beguiled dir. Sofia Coppola
22) First They Killed My Father dir. Angelina Jolie
21) Coco dir. Lee Unkrich





20-11

20) The Blackcoat's Daughter (February) dir. Osgood Perkins
19) The Lost City of Z dir. James Gray
18) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri dir. Martin McDonagh
17) A Quiet Passion dir. Terence Davies
16) Star Wars: The Last Jedi dir. Rian Johnson
15) Brawl in Cell Block 99 dir. S. Craig Zahler
14) Mudbound dir. Dee Rees
13) Rat Film dir. Theo Anthony
12) The Work dir. Jairus McLeary, Gethin Aldous
11) The Florida Project dir. Sean Baker


TOP TEN



10) Get Out dir. Jordan Peele

Film critic Walter Chaw accurately described it as a documentary. Smart, subversive, terrifying. With each viewing, the remarkable performances of Daniel Kaluuya and Betty Gabriel reveal even more layers.





9) A Cure for Wellness dir. Gore Verbinski

Gore Verbinski is our gutsiest genre filmmaker working right now, and his latest swings for the fences like no other movie this year. If its stunning visuals were not enough, the movie also manages to be a bracing commentary on wealth, power, and healthcare. Kudos to a major studio for backing this project. Hopefully its box office failure will not keep other movies this bold from being made.





8) Faces Places (Visages Villages) dir. Agnès Varda and JR

Two brilliant visual artists travel through France, sharing the importance of memories while creating new ones. Everyone deserves to be a piece of history.





7) Murder on the Orient Express dir. Kenneth Branagh

The happiest surprise of the year for me. Not just sweeping and epic in scope, the movie also compellingly explores guilt and redemption. That the next volume has been greenlit makes me absolutely giddy.





6) Lucky dir. John Carroll Lynch

Small town life perfectly realized while also being a sharply observed meditation on mortality. I am a bit saddened that more people aren't talking about how lovely and wonderful this movie is. Thanks to his incredible body of work, Harry Dean will always be with us.





5) Dawson City: Frozen Time dir. Bill Morrison

Film is a powerful tool, as it has the ability to preserve and understand our past, present, and future. An endlessly fascinating and eye opening documentary.





4) A Ghost Story dir. David Lowery

Does so much with so little, and profoundly so. Its only misstep is in a heavy dialogue scene, which speaks volumes to the potency of its images.





3) Columbus dir. Kogonada

Architecture provides comfort, sparks conversation, gives us common ground. A familiar setup is made strikingly new due to Kogonada's exquisite use of space. We get a real sense of how the atmosphere affects his characters as we see how they affect each other.





2) Phantom Thread dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

Shades of Hitchcock and Cronenberg are woven into this tapestry of creation and obsession, the latter of which has become a PTA specialty. He's crafted an elegant work, full of surprises, rich performances, and unexpected laughs. Daniel Day-Lewis is fantastic, as expected, but the real MVP here is Lesley Manville. She says so much by saying very little.





1) mother! dir. Darren Aronofsky

This movie burrowed its way into my brain and refuses to leave. Its images haunt me, its layers astound me, its tenacity disturbs me, its very existence excites me. It is equal parts brilliant and pretentious, unapologetic and audacious. I have had longer conversations about it and spent more time unpacking it than any other movie I saw in 2017. There's not question about it...it encapsulates what I love about the movies. The fact that it explores artistic expression and creation and makes them living, breathing entities is just icing on the cake. And that doesn't even scratch the surface of what mother! is about. Love it or hate it, it will demand you discuss it and you will not soon forget it (I never will). Another masterwork from one of our bravest directors.



Thank you for visiting Hell and Beyond!

(c)Hell and Beyond, 2018

Finding the Truth, Ruth. My Complex Journey with Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing

*CONTAINS MULTIPLE SPOILERS*

In the summer of 1991, as I was preparing to enter the ninth grade, my parents decided to send me to a boarding school in Newport, Rhode Island. I was not a good student, you see, as I preferred to daydream, write stories, and watch movies as opposed to studying. I was raised in an upper/middle class household where I was basically spoon fed everything I could possibly ever want and need, so why should I care how well I did in school? I was the poster child of white privilege...dad is a lawyer, mom stayed home, and we had an African American housekeeper. Yep, I was that kid. Anyway, due to my bad grades, my parents felt that sending me far away with other equally privileged screw ups would whip me into shape. While that summer certainly did not improve my grades, my blinders were removed to reveal an existence I had no concept of until then: racism. Up until that point, the only hateful acts I knew were when boys, all white, got in fights on the playground or called each other "stupid." All of that seemed so small in retrospect to what I was about to witness during my time away from home.

My first day on campus, one of the kids referred to the Asian students using a slang term I was not familiar with. There was only one, yes one, African American student in the program, and my roommate had told her she couldn't sit with us at lunch because it was a "segregated" table. Once she left, another kid called her the "n" word, which I'd heard but never knew what it meant. I was pretty shocked. Why were these kids so angry? The idea of different races had never even crossed my mind before, let alone that you wouldn't like another person because of their skin color or nationality. How had I been so unaware? Interesting then, that at this school with so many white kids who didn't like other races would be the first time I saw Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing. Since I'd been movie obsessed since about the age of eight, I'd heard of it, the controversy around it, and because of Siskel & Ebert, I knew it was supposed to be great film. Most of the movies shown up to this point had been goofy comedies or balls-to-the-wall action movies...we'd just left the '80s after all, so I was not even close to being prepared for what I was about to soak in that day.

The TV room in our dorm was small, and there were a limited number of chairs available. By the time I wandered in, right as the opening credits were beginning, it was already packed so tight that I had to stand in the corner behind the door and hope it stayed shut so my view would not be blocked. Two hours later, I was absolutely mesmerized, as my senses had been overloaded as they never had before by a movie. Or any piece of art, for that matter. My body was numb and I was boiling hot, partially from the room being overcrowded, but more so because Ernest Dickerson's exquisite cinematography made me feel, even seeing it on a tiny TV screen, like I was truly living that day in Bed-Stuy. If I recall correctly, I was the last one out of the room. It was the first time in my life a movie experience had left me literally paralyzed as I tried to process it. I was exhausted, overjoyed, exhilarated, sad, and angry, all in equal measure. The difficult part was going to be sorting through it.

I lied awake that night, constantly replaying the movie's climax in my head, wondering why Mookie threw that trashcan through the window at Sal's. It didn't make sense. I was so perplexed. Sal didn't start it. And he didn't kill Radio Raheem. So why take it out on him? It would be another decade or so before I finally understood. But we'll get back to that. Aside from challenging me as no movie ever had, I'd never seen a movie with so many diverse characters, each so distinct and memorable, even if they weren't all likable. I would study the movie from a technical standpoint for many years to come. I became a fan of Dutch angles and begin to use them in my high school shorts whenever I was attempting to create tension. I got Do the Right Thing on VHS that following Christmas, and I watched it as often as I could. If film can be a religion, Do the Right Thing had become my Bible. I always anticipated the climax with fear because it always struck a nerve and I couldn't figure out why. I tried to get my friends to watch it, but they didn't want to see a "Black" movie (unless it was I'm Gonna Git You Sucka!). As my teenage years progressed, racism and prejudice became more present in my life, not just around me but directly as well.

My friends and I were the equivalent of Pino, Sal's son, when it came to people of other races. If you were a celebrity we admired or someone we went to school with, you were just like us. Everybody else was lumped into whatever stereotype had been created for them. If a bike was stolen, it must have been a Mexican. If someone was cheap, they were labeled as a Jew. If you didn't have a girlfriend, you were automatically Gay. A best friend's mom used to tell him if he didn't make good grades, he would have to go to a public school with all the poor Black kids. That was my life and as far as I knew, it was normal. I had been led to believe that other races were inferior and a threat to me, especially Black people. My friends and I had a whole collection of racist joke books. And yet, because of Do the Right Thing, I was beginning to expose myself to more Black culture. At this point, all the art I had sought out was created by white people and only focused on white experience. I got my first CD player the same Christmas that I got Do the Right Thing, and one of my first purchases was Public Enemy's Apocalypse '91: The Enemy Strikes Black (which I had to keep hidden from my parents or they would take it away as "propaganda"). At first, it was difficult for me to follow the lyrics, but one thing was certain...these guys were pissed off. But why? You couldn't understand the lyrics to angry music by white artists either, mainly because it was a bunch of screaming. However, when you read the lyrics, it was just a bunch of trivial bullshit. Not so when I read the lyrics for Public Enemy or even N.W.A., who I had listened to in junior high and thought it was hilarious that they cussed so much. Looking at it in a different context, thanks to Spike's movie, I realized that what they were saying was no laughing matter. But was it right? Could these guys really justify all this rage? Surely it was all their fault that their lives and the lives of other Black people were under such scrutiny. After all, even the characters in Do the Right Thing, straight down to the one Spike plays, were openly racist. I was still missing a key piece to this puzzle. When I went to college several years later, I would finally see firsthand that racism was not the casual joke my friends and I had made it out to be.

I spent my freshman year at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and it felt like the largest place on Earth. Outside of my summer in Rhode Island all those years ago, this was the longest I had ever been away from my sheltered and privileged life, a life that I was naively expecting to continue once I left home. I pledged a fraternity, which was a decision I would grow to regret long before the semester was over. Many of the members were the first exposure I'd had to honest-to-god "rednecks," and they proudly wore that title in everything they said and did. If it went against being straight, white, and male, it was an offense. I wore a purple shirt and was told never to do it again because it meant I was Gay. I had to take a survey during pledge week, and one of the questions asked if I believed lynching was an "old tradition" or "good fun." I was taking a class called American Lives, and one of my assignments was to read Malcolm X's autobiography. When the fraternity saw me reading it, a powder keg went off and the only reason I didn't get the crap beat out of me was because it was for a class. I'd always thought making fun of other races was harmless as long as you kept it among friends. These guys were living proof that it wasn't and never had been. If the other pledges came to my dorm room, I hid my copy of Do the Right Thing. Spike Lee actually came and spoke on campus shortly after Clockers was released, and I made sure no one knew I was going to see him. It was the first time I ever had the experience of being "star struck." So much so that I couldn't even work up the nerve to ask him a question, which in the long run didn't matter because I was in awe just to be in the same room with him. In hindsight, it was for the best, as the questions I so desperately wanted to ask had answers I needed to figure out on my own.

Needless to say, I quit the fraternity and was hazed the rest of the year for it, mostly with messages left on my answering machine that are too vulgar to recreate here. At this point, I had never considered how someone must feel when being called one of the names I'd so casually thrown out at my white friends in the past. But now that someone was doing it to me, and it was obvious they were not joking, I had my first true moment of clarity. I left Alabama after that year grateful that I had learned something about how cruel people could be, for no other reason than to make themselves feel bigger than they really were. Once I got home, I began to see it existed all around me...I had just been naive to it before because it was something I had not taken seriously. Do the Right Thing does such a brilliant job mixing the funny bits with the sober ones that often it was tough for me to find the line, at least until you get to the climax. I now had a new way to examine it. And I did.

Everyone in the movie is prejudice, to be sure, but Spike Lee carefully reveals it in layers throughout. The "heat" has always been under the surface, but it takes a scorcher of a day to cause an actual eruption. What's most honest in the way the movie portrays its racism is that none of the characters feel they are wrong for being prejudice. It clearly is the other race's fault. Look at when ML rants about how the Koreans opened a business in a Black neighborhood before he was able to. Or Radio Raheem getting aggressive with the Koreans because they have trouble understanding English when he needs new batteries. Or Sal's stubborn refusal to put any pictures of Black people on the wall in an Italian owned business. Or on the flip side is Buggin' Out's insistence that he do so (I debated for many years who was on the "right" side of that argument). Or how the white man driving through the neighborhood arrogantly assumes the Black kids will pour water on his car...and then the police assume they will strip it clean. Or, in the movie's funniest instance, when the sole white man who lives on the block accidentally steps on Buggin' Out's new Air Jordans. There are many more examples, but what makes the movie so powerful is that no one is innocent and in some cases, such as the one I just cited about the police, and we'll see it again at the end with the death of Radio Raheem, it's hard not to hold prejudices when the world is constantly holding them against you. While it may not be right, sometimes it's the only defense one has. This is particularly telling during the climax when, after Sal's has been burned to the ground, the Korean store owners fear their store will be next. Sonny swings a broom while yelling, "We're the same!" in hopes he will not be attacked. ML responds by putting his hands on his chest and exclaiming, "Black!" He wants Sonny to understand that no, they're not the same, because if Sonny had attacked Sal for destroying his radio, he would have been put into the back of the cop car alive. One of the movie's most arresting images is of Radio Raheem dead, on the ground, his brass knuckle reading "LOVE" visible in the bottom corner of the frame.

The movie is very clever in the way (almost) all of the characters are as likable as they are unlikable. They all have at least one moment where they are on the defensive. They all prove to be as selfish as they are sincere. And some of them even prove that their kindness is not as genuine as it may have appeared. In other words, they're real people, and Spike Lee wisely does not play favorites (his Mookie is a lazy employee and a bad father). I am still taken aback when five different characters, each of a different race, stare directly at the camera and spit racial slurs at the audience. We, the viewer, get to see how it feels to be insulted from multiple perspectives, the result of each equally numbing due to how specifically hateful they are. Most movies that tackle the subject of racism (just look at Crash, which inexplicably won the Oscar for Best Picture where Do the Right Thing wasn't even nominated) are about going down a checklist and having all the characters recite painfully overwritten speeches and learn valuable lessons that are supposed to make us nod our heads in agreement that racism is bad but in the end, we'll shake hands and ride off into the sunset. The approach of Do the Right Thing proves why it is still as relevant today as it was when it was released almost 28(!) years ago...because it shows our inability to take responsibility for our prejudices. The line between "right" and "wrong" is blurred and always has been. Instead, we continue to point fingers and the result is a finger being pointed right back. It's having to listen to truths we don't want to hear and admit that yes, there are people out there who are not treated as people because they don't fit into the original vision of "The American Dream." And that, I finally discovered, is why Mookie throws the trashcan. If the American Dream can't belong to everyone, it should belong to no one. Sal's feeling of entitlement ("You gotta do what you gotta do.") for a man's death shows a sense of superiority that was never his, even though he believes this simply because the people of the neighborhood "grew up on my food." Originally, Mookie and Sal had a more civil resolution to the burning of the pizzaria, which would not have stayed true to the movie's message. Instead, they have to agree to disagree and go on with their lives. Yes, a new day begins, as hot as the last, and whether or not the right thing has been done will depend on the eye of the beholder. Spike Lee cleverly confirms this by presenting two quotes before the end credits, one by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the other by Malcolm X. Both would have applauded Smiley's triumphant moment of taping their picture to what's left of the Wall of Fame at Sal's...the bigger question is would they have applauded what it took to make it happen.

I have seen Do the Right Thing at least twenty times since 1991 (I watch it at least once a year, most recently on Spike Lee's 60th birthday). While I began to seek out art (mainly film and music) from other cultures while I was in high school but even more so after my time at The University of Alabama, my understanding and empathy of the world that existed out of my white bubble comes from Do the Right Thing. The more I watched it, the more my preconceived notions evaporated. After I got home from that eye opening first year of college, I still had plenty of exposure to prejudiced conversations with white friends. And I must admit that when I began condemning the behavior I had once practiced, there were people close to me who didn't believe I was really serious. They called me a hypocrite. They accused me of jumping on the liberal bandwagon. They told me minority problems were not my problem. Yet, they ARE my problem. They are and should be the concerns of everyone regardless of race, now more than ever. Spike Lee's film educated me and prepared me to open my eyes and ears and listen, really listen, to what others have to say. That their voices matter just as much as mine does, and it is my responsibility to face the heat instead of going inside where it's cool and comfortable. Prejudice will always exist...as long as there are multiple races, cultures, religions, etc., there's no way around it. But how do we get to a place where we no longer have to use it as a weapon against each other? Where we don't automatically judge people because they look or love or worship a certain way? What makes Do the Right Thing so incredibly timeless is that it is able to ask these questions in challenging, thoughtful, uncompromising ways, provide no easy resolution, and also manages to be one hell of an entertainment at the same time. It is the movie that not only changed (and still changes) the way I look at movies, but managed to change my life as well. I don't know if there will ever be another quite like it. If so, I doubt it could achieve the grace, power, and humanity of Do the Right Thing.


Thank you for visiting Hell and Beyond!


(c)Hell and Beyond, 2017.

Turning Off the Blinders: The Best Movies of 2016

2016 is the first year I can recall that most of us are eager to forget. It was filled with loss, deep division, and the most controversial presidential election of my lifetime. In addition to dealing with the discomfort of reading the news, I experienced a midlife crisis that led to a relationship ending and resulted in the most severe battle with depression I have ever tackled. There was no one to blame for any of the pain but myself, as I was collectively bottling everything up as if preparing for a disaster of epic proportions. But then one morning, a book showed up on the front of my car that offered a new perspective and caused me to send my stress stockpile out to sea. I realized that I had been approaching life from a toxic angle and that, no matter what I was faced with, I could deal with it in a productive and positive way.

As has always been the case in times of turmoil, I knew I could rely on the movies. And not only were they there for me throughout this endlessly soul sucking year, they brought with them much to admire, to unpack, to smile about, to cry about, to be scared about, to be thrilled about, and to reflect upon. Movie after movie left me exhilarated in ways familiar yet completely new, as filmmakers, seasoned and novice, brought their A-game as I have not seen in years. I was overwhelmed by the number of movies that found a way to leave a mark. So you can imagine my surprise when 2016 came to an end and there were critics that complained about it not being a "good" year. Huh? Surely they are mistaken, or they only went to the movies during the summer season, or...

It got me wondering if the dark cloud hanging over 2016 had somehow tainted the way people looked at the movies they saw. It certainly makes sense, but is also makes me sad, because the crop of movies that appear on the list below expanded my passion for the medium in an epic way. So much so that for the first time, I had to create a Top 30! Film critic Walter Chaw did his Top Ten with 50 movies, 5 in each slot. Although I applaud him for that, it felt like much too daunting of a task for me. As we enter into 2017 and an uncertain era for the United States, here's hoping our cinematic art finds fresh and exciting ways to challenge and entertain us. Because you never know...when it's all said and done, the movies may be our only escape. See you in theater!

LJCIV


Notably Missed: Fences, Right Now, Wrong Then, Toni Erdmann

Wish I'd Loved (in alphabetical order): The Accountant, The BFG, Captain America: Civil War, Free In Deed, La La Land, Nocturnal Animals, Rogue One, Sully, Triple 9, Under the Shadow

Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order): 20th Century Women, 31, Blue Jay, Donald Cried, Don't Breathe, Everybody Wants Some!!, The Fits, The Handmaiden, Hell or High Water, Hush, Kubo and the Two Strings, The Lobster, The Love Witch, Loving, Moonlight, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, The Shallows, Sing Street, Zootopia




30-21

30) Midsummer in Newtown dir. Lloyd Kramer
29) 13th dir. Ava DuVernay
28) 10 Cloverfield Lane dir. Dan Trachtenberg
27) Love and Friendship dir. Whit Stillman
26) Swiss Army Man dir. Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
25) Krisha dir. Trey Edward Shults
24) De Palma dir. Noah Baumbach, Jake Paltrow
23) Cemetery of Spendor (Rak ti Khon Kaen) dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul
22) Don't Think Twice dir. Mike Birbiglia
21) Green Room dir. Jeremy Saulnier




20-11

20) The Edge of Seventeen dir. Kelly Fremon Craig
19) Manchester by the Sea dir. Kenneth Lonergan
18) Elle dir. Paul Verhoeven
17) Midnight Special dir. Jeff Nichols
16) The Invitiation dir. Karyn Kusama
15) Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee Kids dir. Jonathan Demme/
Lemonade dir. Kahlil Joseph, Beyoncé Knowles
14) Hail, Caesar! dir. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
13) Little Sister dir. Zach Clark
12) Tower dir. Keith Maitland
11) The Nice Guys dir. Shane Black


TOP TEN



10) The Wailing (Goksung) dir. Hong-jin Na

Police procedural thriller, slapstick comedy, and chilling supernatural horror gracefully collide in one of the few movies that earns its comparison to The Exorcist. Uncompromising and unforgettable.




9) Knight of Cups dir. Terrence Malick

Existential musings have never been this dreamlike and carried such a heavy burden. Malick continues to age like a smooth whiskey.




8) Little Men dir. Ira Sachs

Understanding the decisions of adults is hard...especially when you're a teenager. Sachs adds pathos to an overcrowded genre.




7) Jackie dir. Pablo Larraín

A haunting and visually lush portrait of grief. Natalie Portman mesmerizes as her Jackie fights to be not just a First Lady, but a strong and capable woman.




6) The Neon Demon dir. Nicolas Winding Refn

Femininity examined through a prism of colors, as Refn unflinchingly explores the way beauty is gazed through the eyes of both genders, and the ugliness that can result. Horrifying, intoxicating, and dazzling.




5) The Witch dir. Robert Eggers

The second of three movies in the top ten dealing with a struggle of faith, this one standing out for how it shows the sins of the father becoming the sins of his children, particularly a daughter at the age of womanhood. Harrowing in execution and undeniably tragic in its conclusion, there's never been anything quite like it.




4) Cameraperson dir. Kirsten Johnson

A career retrospective that carefully reveals itself as a snapshot of its creator. We are invited to see through Johnson's eyes as she connects us (and herself) with the lives of others, known and unknown. It's a remarkable achievement.




3) Silence dir. Martin Scorsese

A passion project that was well worth the wait, Scorsese has crafted a movie that effectively questions the necessity of suffering on behalf of a God who does not directly answer our cries for help. The filmmaker's life long search for answers translates to the screen with true conviction.




2) Arrival dir. Denis Villeneuve

Clever, thoughtful, and emotionally wrenching, Villeneuve has finally found a narrative that fully compliments his distinct visual style. It's a rare blockbuster that asks big questions and doesn't portray extraterrestrials as hostile. Amy Adams gives a performance for the ages. We are with her every step of the way, even when we're not sure which direction the movie will take us.




1) Paterson dir. Jim Jarmusch

The first time I saw it I greatly admired it. The more I talked about it and the more I thought about it, the more I loved it. Seeing it a second time only solidified what I already sensed...this movie is a masterwork. Jarmusch, a filmmaker always deeply connected to his characters, fully envelopes the audience into the life of Paterson (Adam Driver, perfect in every way), a bus driver who finds the magical moments in his job, appreciates his surroundings, and even takes time to write poems about them when he has free time. He lives with a dreamer (Golshifteh Farahani) who has different passions but still supports his as he encourages hers. Daily routine is portrayed as something to savor; all you have to do is open yourself up to the world to discover why. Like the poetry Paterson writes and reads, every moment of this movie flows through us, bringing with it a sense of calm and quiet happiness. This is Jarmusch at his wisest and funniest. The movie places us in a reality we don't want to ever leave. What an incredibly rare gift that is.



Thank you for visiting Hell and Beyond!

(c) Hell and Beyond, 2017.