The 25 best features and shorts I saw on screen this year:
L’AMOUR FOU (Jacques Rivette)
DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST (Robert Bresson)*
DOOMED LOVE (Manoel de Oliveira)
THE DRIVER (Walter Hill)
FLOATING WEEDS (Yasujiro Ozu)
FRANCISCA (Manoel de Oliveira)
THE GOLDEN EIGHTIES (Chantal Akerman)
A HERO OF OUR TIME (Michael Almereyda)
HOUSE OF BAMBOO (Samuel Fuller)*
ISHTAR [Director’s Cut] (Elaine May)*
JUDGE PRIEST (John Ford)
LOVE AFFAIR (Leo McCarey)
MAN’S GENTLE LOVE (Jean-Paul Civeyrac)
MOONFLEET (Fritz Lang)
THE MOVIE ORGY (Joe Dante)
OXHIDE & OXHIDE II (Jiayin Liu)
REMEDIAL READING COMPREHENSION (Owen Land/George Landow)
THE SCENIC ROUTE (Mark Rappaport)
THE SUN SHINES BRIGHT (John Ford)
TO SLEEP WITH ANGER (Charles Burnett)
THE TERRORIZERS (Edward Yang)
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (James Benning and Bette Gordon)
WINTER KILLS (William Richert)
YOLANDA AND THE THIEF (Vincente Minnelli)
[* Indicates seen in a previous version, aspect ratio, or have renewed interest after seeing on screen]
Very honorable mentions: AN AMERICAN GUERILLA IN THE PHILIPPINES (Fritz Lang), BEAT THIS! A HIP HOP HISTORY (Dick Fontaine), THE BOX THEORY (Owen Land/George Landow), CASUAL RELATIONS (Mark Rappaport), CHAIN LETTERS (Mark Rappaport), CLOAK AND DAGGER (Fritz Lang), THE COOL WORLD (Shirley Clarke), FANTOMES (Jean-Paul Civeyrac), FLOWING (Mikio Naruse), HUMAN DESIRE (Fritz Lang), IN SPRING (Mikhail Kaufman), INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (Don Siegel), JE T’AIME, JE T’AIME (Alain Resnais), JUBILEE (Derek Jarman), THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP (Powell/Pressburger), LOCAL COLOR (Mark Rappaport), MIDNIGHT RUN (Martin Brest), NEW YORK, NEW YORK (Martin Scorsese), ON THE MARRIAGE BROKER JOKE AS CITED BY SIGMUND FREUD IN WIT AND ITS RELATION TO THE UNCONSCIOUS OR CAN THE AVANT-GARDE ARTIST BE WHOLED? (Owen Land/George Landow), PAT GARRETT & BILLY THE KID (Sam Peckinpah), RAPE (Yoko Ono), RISKY BUSINESS (Paul Brickman), SECRET BEYOND THE DOOR (Fritz Lang), SERIE NOIRE (Alain Corneau), SMOKING/NO SMOKING (Alain Resnais), TEA AND SYMPATHY (Vincente Minnelli), WIDE ANGLE SAXON (Owen Land/George Landow), and YOU AND ME (Fritz Lang).
