These include the Coen brothers’ delightful spoof of the Hollywood dream factory “Hail, Caesar!” and Penny Lane’s inventive semi-documentary of an infamous snake-oil salesman in “Nuts!”, both of which speak to ideas reflected throughout this list. While I’ve expanded the list beyond the usual top 10 to encompass 16 titles, there are plenty of others than didn’t quite make the cut. Movies that challenge conventions, throw people off and leave them uncertain about what they just experienced are often the ones most deserving of celebration. None of them were safe commercial bets in fact, their cumulative box office figures might paint a dreary picture of this art form’s commercial viability, but that picture’s only one small piece of a much bigger puzzle. This year, every single finalist for my list of the year’s best surfaced at a major festival and, in most cases, found its way to theaters later on. The film festival circuit provides an ideal alternative to conventional channels for discovering movies worth talking about all year long - and, if they’re lucky enough to land distribution, they quality for year-end celebration on lists like this one. Sure, it was a weak year for movies that stand out mainly due to star power and sizable marketing budgets, but those options represent only a small fraction of the marketplace.
To really assess the state of modern movies, one look beyond the obvious. In an age of binge-viewing, a preponderance of must-see premium cable shows and, hell, even smartphone apps that command far more attention most feature-length achievements, the true range of quality cinema is often obscured by the noise of an ever-cluttered media landscape.
Every December it bears repeating: Anyone who thinks this was a bad year for movies simply hasn’t seen enough.
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