12. THE REVENANT – Pssst, don’t tell anyone but we have gotten a number of pretty great westerns in the last year or so. THE HATEFUL EIGHT, SLOW WEST, BONE TOMAHAWK and THE KEEPING ROOM were just a few films belonging to the genre that were released in 2015. And thankfully, 2016 seems likely to follow suit. And yet, westerns, much like musicals, tend to send people running for the hills, no pun intended.

THE REVENANT is one of the best of the bunch. Emmanuel Lubezki shot virtually all of this film with natural light and his cinematography is unparalleled by any other film from last year. Playing like a Terrence Malik film with a more straightforward but no less rambling storyline, it’s an often beautiful and painful journey in which the icy terrain echoes the dwindling moral compass of its characters.

 

 

11. MAGGIE – Two zombie movies on one list? How is that even possible? Maybe because MAGGIE gives this tired subgenre a genuine heart missing from most other films of its type.

In this film, a hard-working father (Arnold Schwarzenegger) must deal with the worst possible hardship as his daughter (Abigail Breslin) contracts a fatal virus. He knows he only has a certain amount of time before the disease will take her, turning her into something terrible. He tries to make her last days as peaceful as possible, afraid he will not be able to do what must be done when the time comes.

Call it the Death of Superman. For the past three decades, Schwarzenegger has been an icon. And it’s because he is such an overpowering specimen that attempts to cast him as an everyman have failed in the past. But now, as we’ve all grown a little older, an indie film does for Schwarzenegger what all the blockbusters struggled to accomplish. They have made him into a human being, one facing a terrible situation. Schwarzenegger himself turns in an amazingly subtle and touching performance. Breslin continues to impress as a young girl coming to terms with the early and inevitable end of her life. MAGGIE is that rare great horror film that remembers to populate itself with people, not victims.

 

10. CAROL – Set in the 1950’s, CAROL tells the story of a shopgirl (Rooney Mara) who begins a relationship with an older woman (Cate Blanchett) in the process of a divorce. The two enjoy each other’s company and wonder how long this can last as the young girl wonders if this is the future for her, and Carol fears what effect this will have on her ability to see her child. Together, the two try to grasp some happiness and beauty out of a bigoted and unsympathetic world.

When Todd Haynes announced this as his next film, my big fear would be that he would simply repeat what he had already done in FAR FROM HEAVEN. That Douglas Sirk-inspired film also dealt with forbidden relationships in the midst of middle 20^th century prejudice. It’s an excellent film but there was no need to cover the same ground twice. Fortunately, Haynes is such a gifted filmmaker that CAROL really does feel like its own film, and what a great film it is. Blanchett is great as usual and Mara gives what might be her best performance yet. A beautiful picture from beginning to end.

There’s still more. Check out Numbers 9-7….