Thursday, December 31, 2020

Best of 2020 Part 1

If you have read Unseen Films for any amount of time you know I see way too many movies every year and as a result my best of the year lists go way beyond a top ten or even a top twenty five. My lists are so long that they come in two parts The Best and The Best of the Best. This is the first part- a list of some truly great films.

PRISON WITHIN- this is a great film about how the trauma of life hurts us and even makes us do things that send us to prison.

FAIRYTALE-A fairytale film abut finding out who you really are and living your life to the fullest

BASTARD'S ROAD- the last thing I thought we needed was another feel good film about a vet reconnecting with his fellow soldiers and life-until I saw this film and knew we need this film right now.

CRESCENDO- deeply moving film about a half Israeli half Palestinian orchestra that uses music perfectly to add to the themes and emotions.

IDENTIFYING FEATURES-This film is just getting released now widely and this tale of a mother looking for her son will wreck you. It has haunted me since January.

HIGHER LOVE-What will you do for the person you love and your child. Real raw and a punch in the chest

PIROTECNIA- what starts off as a look at the men who tried to kill the President of Columbia becomes something greater and more resonant to the world.

THE SPECIALS- The story of two men running a day care for people with special needs had me openly sobbing several times. Movies rarely get better than this.

BURNING GHOST- a man caught between the here and the here after interacts with people on both sides. Another film that makes you go WOW

RUNON- short film about a mother and her son in a bus terminal that I watched repeatedly-like for two hours over and over again because it took me somewhere else

BUNDINI- portrait of the man who coined the phrase "Float Like a Butterfly and Sting Like a Bee" needs to be expanded into a feature.

A BETTER YOU- A wonderful short film about a man who decides to judt be himself

LAST FERRY TO GRASS ISLAND- The story of a hit on an island just off Hong Kong. It heralds the arrival of a new force in cinema

Performances in SWERVE/DIRTY GOD The lead performances in these two films rock and deserve Oscars

SPUTNIK - A sci fi horror film that bends the genre and make you shiver

BATHWELL IN CLERKENTIME-  Third film in the Clerkenwell trilogy is a delight

THROUGH THE NIGHT- eye opening look at a 24 hour day care and the family that runs it.

499- glorious mixing of fact and fiction will make you reconsider what you thought you knew.

PAINTED BIRD- Film version of a literary classic truly shows the ugliness of war and humanity

LOOKING FOR A LADY WITH FANGS- Magnificent mediation on life had be arguing with a number of people who didn't get it. I got it and carry it in my heart

THE MORTARY COLLECTION- one of the very best horror anthologies ever made

ON BRUHL- glorious portrait of a community center that welcomes everyone set up in the middle of a city festering with neo-nazi's

FATMAN- Mel Gibson is a kick ass Santa Claus. Straddling genres it speaks volumes about life

UNIVERSE- Portrait of a jazz musician and his efforts to record a piece written for Miles Davis

BOYS FROM COUNTY HELL- Just when you thought the Vampire legends couldn't be improved upon....

COSTUME FOR NICHOLAS- deeply moving film about the need to dream and be yourself. It will make you go misty. This heralds the arrival of a Ghibli level animation studio.

PAPER TIGERS- wonderful buddy film that says a lot about growing old and the relationship between fathers and sons

MADIGASIKARA- Fantastic look at Madagascar that has one of the most crushing openings ever where a mother talks of burying her dead child just outside the door of her home. It goes up from there and it will change you forever.

THE DISSIDENT-a look into the uglier side of Saudi Arabia and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi-it buckles your knees

Jimmy Olsson's ALIVE is a film about a woman in a wheelchair who sets up a Tinder profile and to say more would be telling. All you need know is the ending is one of the best endings of any film in years and it will make you smile and laugh with will earned emotion.

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