The NFL isn't the only realm defined by parity: No single film towered above the others in my estimation this year. Several relegated to the honorable mention list could have easily cracked the top 5.
So in a break with tradition, I've listed my Top 10 films alphabetically this year. In truth, ranking a movie third-best rather than seventh-best is a pretty arbitrary exercise under any circumstances, especially when you're mixing in massive releases with documentaries, international fare and American indies. The whole apples and oranges thing comes to mind.
Bon appetit, and happy viewing.
'71: Though set 44 years in the past, this white-knuckle thriller about a British soldier (Jack O'Connell) trapped behind IRA lines in Belfast is the perfect film for our age of unconventional warfare. The moral lines are blurred, the tension is almost unbearable, and the cast is first-rate, particularly the ferretlike Sean Harris (also great in Macbeth). (On DVD and Blu-ray)
Best of Enemies: Remember when televised political punditry was really smart? Yeah, it's been a while. This deliciously verbal documentary takes us back to the intellectual steel-cage match between William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal during the 1968 presidential nominating conventions. These guys truly hated each other, which only made their TV face-offs all the more riveting. (On DVD and Blu-ray)
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution: Director Stanley Nelson couldn't have asked for better timing for the release of his revelatory and even-keeled doc about the Panthers, who were practicing open carry and insisting that black lives matter decades before our current state of affairs. The film has a healthy sense of skepticism to go with its portrait of the Panthers as a crucial component of 20th century African-American life. (On DVD and Blu-ray Feb. 16)
Carol: When Todd Haynes is on, as he is in Carol, his films work on multiple levels at once. This is a fiercely smart deconstruction of '50s forbidden love stories, but it's also achingly romantic in its own right. Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara were the most potent one-two punch of the year. (In theaters Christmas Day)
The Hateful Eight: You can feel Quentin Tarantino relaxing and stretching his legs out a little in this long but taut, profane, viciously funny and utterly gorgeous chamber Western that plays like a combo of The Petrified Forest and Ten Little Indians. If you want to dig a little deeper, you'll find a twisted tale of unlikely Civil War reconciliation. (In theaters Christmas Day)
Mad Max: Fury Road: Imagination and execution collide with brute force is this kinetic sensory feast, which builds on and in many ways outdoes one of the all-time classic action movies. But this isn't just spectacle: Charlize Theron's Imperator Furiosa is a heroine for the ages in a story that argues, in few words, for the strength and tenacity of women. (On DVD and Blu-ray)
The Revenant: If you find a better-looking movie, from this year or any other, do let me know. Director Alejandro González Iñárritu and Emmanuel Lubezki (closing in on his third consecutive cinematography Oscar) create a harsh universe of frozen but roiling nature, red in tooth and claw. The story, of hubris, greed, survival and revenge, is as elemental as a classic myth. (In theaters Jan. 8)
Spotlight: A united front of great acting, in the service of a deftly told and vital story. Mark Ruffalo's nervous curiosity and Michael Keaton's bedrock skepticism play off each other like partners in a waltz. Spotlight is right up there with The Insider among the best journalism movies since All the President's Men. That is elite company. (In theaters)
Tangerine: If you find The Danish Girl a bit too stuffy and tasteful, try this energy-infused screwball comedy about transgender prostitutes navigating love, hate and points in between on some seedy Los Angeles streets. It's also known as the film that was shot on iPhones, but you'd never know it from the color-blasted palette and widescreen compositions. It's a rush. (On DVD and Blu-ray)
The Walk: The first act is OK. The second act is fun. The final act is transcendent, an uncanny conjuring of Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between the brand-new Twin Towers. Robert Zemickis' tactile recreation of the towers, and his mastery of cinema's illusory powers, moved me as deeply as anything onscreen this year. The Walk is both a joyous celebration and a howl of mourning. (On DVD and Blu-ray Jan. 5).
Honorable mention: 45 Years, American Ultra, Amy, Beasts of No Nation, The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, Clouds of Sils Maria, Creed, Diary of a Teenage Girl, Dope, The End of the Tour, Ex Machina, Far From the Madding Crowd, Going Clear, Hitchcock/Truffaut, Inside Out, Love & Mercy, Macbeth, Room, Sicario, Shawn the Sheep, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Steve Jobs, Straight Outta Compton, Trumbo, Truth, Youth.
