As with last year, as the default projectionist for many series at 2220 Arts, countless theatrical experiences in the past year were on home turf, where we hosted several Los Angeles debuts for undistributed films, or preview screenings for works on the cusp of weeklong runs. I still have a festival backlog of titles that haven’t hit the city, or only made it for a one-off screening or a few days at one of the farflung Laemmles. It was a strong year for cinema.
Meantime, here’s a short-list dozen of viewings that still pluck a memorable string, or feel complicated in a lasting or worthwhile way.
- Afire – Christian Petzold
- All of Us Strangers – Andrew Haigh
- Anatomy of a Fall – Justine Triet
- Fremont – Babak Jalali
- Full Time – Éric Gravel
- Human Flowers of Flesh – Helena Wittmann
- Man in Black – Wang Bing
- Reality – Tina Satter
- Roald Dahl Quartet – Wes Anderson
- Sister, What Grows Where Land is Sick? – Franciska Eliassen
- The Eight Mountains – Felix Van Groeningen + Charlotte Vandermeersch
- The Zone of Interest – Jonathan Glazer
And another twenty or so that were impressive to see or hear, or think about with friends:
- Asteroid City – Wes Anderson
- A Thousand and One – AV Rockwell
- Coma – Bertrand Bonello
- Enys Men – Mark Jenkin
- Fallen Leaves – Aki Kaurismäki
- Foragers – Jumana Manna
- Holy Spider – Ali Abbasi
- How to Blow Up a Pipeline – Daniel Goldhaber
- Infinity Pool – Brandon Cronenberg
- May December – Todd Haynes
- Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros – Frederick Wiseman
- Oppenheimer – Christopher Nolan
- Orlando, My Political Biography – Paul B. Preciado
- Our Body – Claire Simon
- Poor Things – Yorgos Lanthimos
- Rewind & Play – Alain Gomes
- Rye Lane – Raine Allen-Miller
- Saint Omer – Alice Diop
- Showing Up – Kelly Reinhardt
- Will-O-the-Wisp – Joao Pedro Rodrigues
- Youth (Spring) – Wang Bing
I’ve still yet to see the new Rohrwacher and Radu Jude films, and missed Trenque Lauquen when it came through. Some of the films that others loved this year, like Past Lives, felt inert and sketch-like to me, and the Scorsese overlong and in need of subtraction – it’s simply too much time to spend with this actor stable – DiCaprio et al.
Though perhaps I agree with Richard Brody (strangely) that this was really the year of Wes Anderson – while many write him off on house style (or too much thereof), I thought he really landed this year in his sweet spot of literary adaptation and full-dimensional book design / expanded cinema. He should become a Dahl competist.
Peeping Mot 