Lists Archives | Deep Focus Review https://www.deepfocusreview.com/topic/lists/ Movie Reviews, Essays, and Analysis Fri, 03 Jan 2025 14:01:23 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.2 https://www.deepfocusreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/cropped-DFR-Favicon-5-32x32.png Lists Archives | Deep Focus Review https://www.deepfocusreview.com/topic/lists/ 32 32 Top 10 Films of 2024 https://www.deepfocusreview.com/top-10-films-of-2024/ Sat, 28 Dec 2024 19:56:50 +0000 https://www.deepfocusreview.com/?p=28240 Making a Top 10 Films of 2024 list is challenging after such a great year at the cinema—one of the best in recent memory. I felt overwhelmed while compiling my list of the year’s best films. It’s good to have options. But with too many, you begin to feel like Anxiety from Inside Out 2—one of the many films I wanted to make room for but couldn’t—and slowly unravel from the possibilities. The year offered an array of movie choices, from blockbusters in the multiplex (Dune: Part Two, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga) to a wealth of independent and mini-major releases (thank you to A24 and Janus Films for an especially excellent release slate). A few of my favorites of the year barely received US distribution outside of the dwindling arthouse theater sector (Close Your Eyes, Good One). But unlike recent years, I noticed that not one film on my list debuted on streaming—an odd development that doesn’t necessarily signify a meaningful pattern, but it remains curious.  Regardless, here is my list, along with a Runner Up. The ranking would probably change if I were asked to make the list again in a week or so, but that’s just the […]

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]]> The Scrappy Independents of Mumblegore https://www.deepfocusreview.com/the-scrappy-independents-of-mumblegore/ Mon, 21 Oct 2024 01:41:58 +0000 https://www.deepfocusreview.com/?p=23104 When I started writing film criticism in the mid-2000s, the horror genre was at a creative low point—what I consider the worst era for horror of my lifetime. The 1990s slasher resurgence spearheaded by Kevin Williamson and Dimension Films had petered out with Scream 3 in 2000, and Hollywood had started to explore cynical new trends to reflect the world after 9/11, the US invasion of Iraq, and Abu Ghraib. Caught in a cycle of torture porn, bleak found footage, and often soulless remakes, the genre saw few titles escape this pattern of angry and mean-spirited pictures, which often left everyone onscreen dead. Many boasted awful characters I couldn’t wait to see die, and when they did, I felt empty for having endured the experience. It reached the point where I began to dread new entries in the genre. And admittedly, I often undervalued exceptions to this strain of mainstream horror dominating theaters. Mumblegore movies were among those I overlooked or missed altogether; though, in the 20 years since the sub-subgenre first arrived, I’ve come to cherish its scrappy minimalism.   To situate mumblegore within the realm of early 2000s horror and understand why such titles were overshadowed by the decade’s […]

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]]> Top 10 Films of 2023 https://www.deepfocusreview.com/top-10-films-of-2023/ https://www.deepfocusreview.com/top-10-films-of-2023/#comments Sat, 30 Dec 2023 13:53:07 +0000 https://www.deepfocusreview.com/?p=23534 Listmaking is a fun, somewhat obligatory, and ultimately meaningless exercise. Not a year goes by that I don’t look back at a list and think this or that title should be swapped. Why did I rank that one so high? I put what on the list? Sometimes, after publishing my list, I see a movie from that year and regret not having it in my Top 10. If I remade my lists from previous years, they wouldn’t look like they do today. If I remade the list below again tomorrow, it would probably look different as well. But it’s today, and it’s time to rank my favorite films of 2023. So here it is, such as it is—my ranking of the top films from the last year. At this moment, I stand by the list. Tomorrow, I make no promises. To see my list of the Top 25 Films of 2023 and read additional commentary on the year, join DFR on Patreon. HONORABLE MENTION: Perfect Days Wim Wenders recaptures the arthouse magic of his earlier work in the New German Cinema movement with his latest feature, which he co-wrote alongside Takuma Takasaki. In an almost silent performance, Koji Yakusho stars […]

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]]> https://www.deepfocusreview.com/top-10-films-of-2023/feed/ 1 The Scream Franchise https://www.deepfocusreview.com/the-scream-franchise/ Sun, 01 Oct 2023 22:49:24 +0000 https://www.deepfocusreview.com/?p=23127 The Scream franchise is among the most iconic and influential horror series in cinematic history. It also might have the best track record. Other slasher franchises have uneven results, often with euphoric peaks and embarrassing valleys, leading to that series fading away only to be rebooted later. However, Scream continues to deliver a thrilling experience for horror enthusiasts by deconstructing the genre from the inside with each new entry. If the series runs into a roadblock, the filmmakers pivot and try something new, often as a reflection of what’s happening in the horror genre at the moment. While each sequel adapts and reinvents itself, together, they satirize horror without neutralizing their function as slasher whodunits. That’s the franchise’s magic.  Horror maestro Wes Craven directed the first Scream in 1996, revitalizing the slasher genre and setting off a new wave of teen horror films, often penned by its screenwriter, Kevin Williamson. An instant critical and commercial hit, the film’s success stemmed from its genre-savvy references, clever self-awareness, suspenseful storytelling, and memorable characters. The original tapped into the zeitgeist the way few horror films have, ensuring—with its two immediate sequels by Craven, a flurry of imitators, and spoofs in the parallel Scary […]

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]]> Top 10 Films with Ambiguous Endings https://www.deepfocusreview.com/top-10-films-with-ambiguous-endings/ https://www.deepfocusreview.com/top-10-films-with-ambiguous-endings/#comments Fri, 05 May 2023 14:23:41 +0000 https://www.deepfocusreview.com/?p=20173 By design, ambiguous endings have a way of hanging around in the mind For me, an ambiguous ending is different from the sort of unresolved conflict in David Fincher’s Zodiac (2007), where investigators never catch or clearly identify the killer. I would also disqualify the open-endedness found in The Graduate (1968), where the runaway couple’s future and happiness remain in doubt. It’s also not the kind of conclusion found in Do the Right Thing (1989), where the lingering moral uncertainty serves as a social prompt to the audience. Rather, my way of identifying an ambiguous film ending centers on cryptic conclusions that challenge the viewer to understand what happened in the narrative, often leaving the explanation up to individual interpretation. There are a few similar lists online, and I looked at then for inspiration. Some of what I found gave me ideas. Many of them showed me what not to do. Most of the lists I came across featured titles like 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) or Blade Runner (1982), two films with equivocal endings, to be sure, but they do not resist clear interpretation. When I watch those titles, I am so convinced of what happens because they’re so […]

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]]> https://www.deepfocusreview.com/top-10-films-with-ambiguous-endings/feed/ 2 Top 10 Films of 2022 https://www.deepfocusreview.com/top-10-films-of-2022/ Sat, 14 Jan 2023 14:34:30 +0000 https://www.deepfocusreview.com/?p=21821 If you see enough movies, then there’s never been a bad movie year. There’s always plenty to make a Top 10 list. However, some years are better than others, and 2022 was a good year. This means, as ever, I struggled to finalize my list, leaving the result to feel somewhat random in my mind. I’m not married to the order of the top five or so titles, which are completely interchangeable. If I could justify to myself having five movies tie for the number-one spot, I would, but I can’t—so accept this list with a certain amount of arbitrariness.   For a more comprehensive list, join DFR on Patreon to see my list of the Top 25 Films of 2022. What made your list of favorite films from 2022? Share your list in the comments below. HONORABLE MENTIONS: X & Pearl 2022 was a great year for horror, and Ti West’s two films about fame, desire, repression, performance, and liberation were among the best. They’re the first two parts of a soon-to-be trilogy released by A24, and together, they’re greater than the sum of their parts. They’re also West’s best films yet, thanks in part to his close collaboration with […]

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]]> Top 10 Films of 2021 https://www.deepfocusreview.com/top-10-films-of-2021/ https://www.deepfocusreview.com/top-10-films-of-2021/#comments Wed, 19 Jan 2022 15:00:00 +0000 https://www.deepfocusreview.com/?p=20262 2021 turned out to be stellar, largely due to the year-end influx of festival favorites and pandemic holdovers. Had you asked me in September what kind of movie year 2021 was, I would have said, “Average at best.” But almost every week in the fourth quarter—the last few weeks in December, in particular—introduced something special, to the extent that my Top 10 list went from a foregone conclusion to a downright challenge to compile.  Then again, every year is a good year for movies. In my 15 years of writing on Deep Focus Review, I haven’t experienced a single bad year of moviegoing. Some years have been better than others, but none of them have been bad—not when you see hundreds of movies. So it always ends up feeling like a struggle to organize my favorites and, after a couple months, there’s usually a title or two that I regret not placing higher on my list.  With the impermanence of best lists in mind, here is my list of the Top 10 Films of 2021, plus a couple of extras. What’s on your list? HONORABLE MENTION: PG: Psycho Goreman The audience for Psycho Goreman is narrow. If Troma-style gore and […]

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]]> https://www.deepfocusreview.com/top-10-films-of-2021/feed/ 2 Top 10 Surreal Horror Films https://www.deepfocusreview.com/top-10-surreal-horror-films/ https://www.deepfocusreview.com/top-10-surreal-horror-films/#comments Thu, 18 Nov 2021 15:00:51 +0000 https://www.deepfocusreview.com/?p=20108 This Top 10 List is currently posted on Patreon. Support Deep Focus Review by becoming a Patron, and you’ll get exclusive access to this review and many others published on Patreon first. Patrons also get access to: • Exclusive Blog Posts • Streaming recommendations every Friday • Polls to pick the movies reviewed on Deep Focus Review and Patreon • Pick your own “Reader’s Choice” review (at the Screenwriter tier or higher) • Polls that decide the next entry in The Definitives Become a Patron!

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]]> https://www.deepfocusreview.com/top-10-surreal-horror-films/feed/ 1 Top 10 Film Noirs https://www.deepfocusreview.com/top-10-film-noirs/ https://www.deepfocusreview.com/top-10-film-noirs/#comments Thu, 14 Oct 2021 13:01:07 +0000 https://www.deepfocusreview.com/?p=19967 This list is currently posted on Patreon. Join Deep Focus Review’s Patron community, and you’ll receive exclusive access to this piece and many others published on Patreon first. Patrons also get access to: • Exclusive weekly blog posts • Streaming recommendations every Friday • Polls to pick the movies reviewed on Deep Focus Review and Patreon • Pick your own “Reader’s Choice” review (at the Screenwriter tier or higher) • Polls that decide the next entry in The Definitives Become a Patron!

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]]> https://www.deepfocusreview.com/top-10-film-noirs/feed/ 1 Top 10 Films of 2020 https://www.deepfocusreview.com/top-10-films-of-2020/ https://www.deepfocusreview.com/top-10-films-of-2020/#comments Fri, 08 Jan 2021 02:04:29 +0000 https://www.deepfocusreview.com/?p=18252 By now, you’ve read countless assessments of 2020 as a traumatic and unprecedented year. I won’t bother recapping the numerous troubling developments the world over in the last twelve months, except to say that the film industry was dramatically reshaped as well. All of the changes—theater closures, release delays, and the new push toward streaming—didn’t make compiling a list of the year’s best films any easier. Some titles on my list resonated more because they reflect today’s world in powerful ways. Other titles just struck me with their bold filmmaking. As always, it was a challenging list to compile. And if it’s anything like most years, I’ll probably wish I had changed the order or added something else by tomorrow. With that in mind, enjoy!  What were your favorite films of 2020? Share your thoughts in the comments below.     To see my list of the Top 25 Films of 2020, join Deep Focus Review on Patreon. Become a Patron! RUNNER UP: Never Rarely Sometimes Always Reportedly, Eliza Hittman explored this story as a reaction to the Trump presidency and the increasing threat against women’s health and reproductive rights in America. She tells it with an eye toward social realism, portraying […]

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