Festival releases don’t count.
NYC theatrical is what makes it qualify as a 2015 release.
I confess that Noah Baumbach having two very good movies this year makes it difficult for me to put either one in the real race for me. Maybe I’ll adjust that down the line. (And if I do, I’m #TeamMistressAmerica.)
I also confess that Experimenter and Stanford Prison Experiment box each other out, too. This is ridiculous, but it’s how I feel. (Frankly, I don’t think either are quite good enough for top ten status, anyway. Maybe Experimenter would make top 25.)
Anomalisa is good but, yeah, that’s top 25 zone, sorry. Same with Room.
Mad Max: Fury Road isn’t on this list and was never a mile near it. You all need to calm the eff down with that.
The contenders for top 10 are:
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, Roy Andersson (This has a shot at the #10 slot.)
About Elly, Asghar Farhadi (Love this movie, but I suspect it’ll slip out of the top 10.)
Carol, Todd Haynes (Probably in there.)
Clouds of Sils Maria, Olivier Assayas (I have a hunch this doesn’t quite make it, but we’ll see.)
The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Marielle Heller (This ends up in the top 5. Top 3.)
The Duke of Burgundy, Peter Strickland (Oh, yeah.)
Eden, Mia Hansen-Løve (I see this coming in around 8 or so.)
Ex Machina, Alex Garland (Has waned a bit for me, but probably still in there.)
The Forbidden Room, Guy Maddin (I dunno. We’ll see. It’s wonderful, but it IS long.)
Heaven Knows What, Josh Safdie & Benny Safdie (This movie only gets more exciting the more I think about it.)
The Kindergarten Teacher, Nadav Lapid (I can’t stop thinking about this movie. But top 10?)
The Martian, Ridley Scott (We’ll see.)
The Nightmare, Rodney Ascher (A lock for 8 or 9. I love this movie, even if no one else does.)
Sicario, Denis Villenueve (Great movie, but top 10? We’ll see. I dunno just yet.)
Son of Saul, László Nemes (Contender for best of the year.)
Plus five possibilities I haven’t seen
45 Years, Andrew Haigh (All signs point to me loving this. I’ll be seeing it very soon.)
The Hateful Eight, Quentin Tarantino (No freaking way. But I did love Inglorious Basterds so let’s give it a shot.)
Li’l Quinquin, Bruno Dumont (By all accounts, I will lose my mind for this. I gotta fit it in before the end of the year to check.)
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, J.J. Abrams (I’d like at least one movie on my list that’s a big, fat Hollywood movie, and a space movie at that! Will it be this or will it be The Martian? Or neither? Or both!)
Steve Jobs, Danny Boyle (I haven’t gotten off my ass to this yet. Likelihood very low, but keeping an open mind.)
