A retrospective of the year, collated from our community’s collective activity. What impeccable taste you all have!
Read more about the Year in Review on our blog.
A staggering portrait of compassion and how evil is the sum of a million small apathies. Historic in all respects. —
davidehrlich
Quentin Tarantino has written and directed the most painful, racist, hateful, brutal, wonderful, and entertaining film of the year. —
Simone
This is neo, neo-realist fare with performances that are distinctively raw and natural. We build a certain empathy … and it’s hard to monitor where your allegiances lie. —
Rod Sedgwick
This year’s jury at Cannes couldn’t possibly have made a better choice. … A love story with a deep, emotional charge, and a modern masterpiece. —
Ole Holgersen
A haunting, absurd and frightening glimpse into a period of Indonesian history that has still not been condemned by its own country. — Account removed
Everything that was somehow weird in the Nolan trilogy finds its answers in the Miller trilogy … Nolan did my favourite adaption of Batman, but this right here, this is Batman. — Account removed
As dreamy as it is taught. As beautiful as it is horrific. … The way it sets up the story at the start, through overheard whispers, off-screen conversations and background noise is brilliantly clever. Yes, it has been done before, but here the director makes it seem new. — Account removed
What a contrast with those summer blockbusters that offer “thrills” where computer avatars punch each other through buildings while untold thousands die just outside of every frame. Here, there’s only maybe 20 characters, but every single life matters. —
Matt Singer
11,608,352
5,679,054
1,825,427
670,002
390,557
86,199
“This trilogy requires a leap of faith. A leap of faith into Middle Earth and Jackson’s vision and style of filmmaking. I took that leap with confidence with the first film and this one proves, to me at least, that that was a wise choice.”
“Terming this a masterpiece would be derogatory. This is a divine work. A divine experience. The way it was shown, with all its fantastical and brilliant imagery of astronomical expanses, the genesis of life with the soaring opera voices, was surreal, deeply affecting and life changing.”
“I don’t need to see the rest, because there’s no conceivable way anyone could top Spike Jonze’s brilliant and timely satire. This is this year’s Eternal Sunshine. This is this year’s Lost in Translation. This is this year’s Punch-Drunk Love.”
“A throwaway line; spoken without thought. What was that? Sorry, move closer. Small talk, but getting bigger. A laugh. Intrigue. An invitation offered; a pause, then an invitation accepted. The magic of the night.”
“I wonder if a small part of Nicolas Winding Refn regrets making Drive. If he does, I imagine it’s the same regret any director feels after making such a suddenly drastic impact on popular culture and then trying to follow it up with a smaller, more personal film.”
“Beyond the confines of star ratings, beyond reviewing, possibly even beyond the boundaries of Earth itself — this movie doesn’t shoot you in the face so much as it opens up a wormhole from which a 2.5-hour blast of fire and profanity engulfs the entirety of humanity.”
“Russell is not just borrowing Scorsese; he’s also openly stealing from Scorsese’s descendants Wes Anderson and Paul Thomas Anderson. He’s willing to crassly grab things without shame, to make his characters into cheap whores and buffoons and still give them a happy ending because why not.”
It’s Tarantino’s Frankenfilm; a marvellously stitched-together monster of a movie that just won’t settle until it’s killed everyone involved. … I’ve concluded that it’s my 12th favourite film of all time. —
Simon Ramshaw
*Based on 2013 appearances
*Based on 2013 appearances
*Based on 2013 releases (and Django!)
Being named the critics' greatest film of all time in Sight And Sound magazine, and being praised to the heavens by the magazine at every opportunity, was probably one of the worst things that could have happened to Vertigo. —
🇵🇱 Steve G 🇵🇸
The propagandistic undercurrent of this thing — with its shameless (and mostly harmless) jihadist imagery, muddled pro-interventionist leanings, and end-credits dedication to our post-9/11 military — is an absolute perversion of Star Trek’s inherent idealism. — Account removed
A contradictory and confusing beast — a film that constantly trips over the line between the sublime and the ridiculous, whilst managing to alienate and enthrall [in] the same scene. — Account removed
Has the distinction of being the worst thing Molly Shannon has ever been in. —
Mary Conti
That’s a wrap — what did you see, what did you miss, what did you love, what have you just added to your watchlist for January?!
Once again, our deepest thanks to everyone who participates on the site for helping to make the Letterboxd community ever bigger and better. We truly couldn’t do any of this without you.
See the full lists for each category and read the news post.
