To quote the critic Tasha Robinson: “What I look for most in cinema: an intense emotional experience I can get behind and something visual that’s distinctive and memorable.”

On this page are my annual top 10% among new-to-me movies. For the rest, you can check out my letterboxd account. Beginning in 2023, I’m also doing a project to watch all the entries on the 2022 Sight and Sound Greatest Films of All Time list; blogging a bit about that project here.

2024

I saw 64 new-to-me movies this year, but 13 of those were from the Sight and Sound list. I want to consider those separately, since otherwise they will dominate the list. That leaves 51 other new-to-me movies. Here were my top five.

I Saw the TV Glow: The complete package – great to look at, great acting (though it took a rewatch for me to think so), great soundtrack, great conceit, and all in service of exploring an important facet of the human experience. It took a rewatch before I decided I really liked this.

Poor Things: I liked it a lot in the moment, and liked it even more when I realized after the fact that you could see the whole thing as a riff on Eve getting kicked out of the Garden of Eden (her creator is literally named God) and learning to make your way in the Fallen World.

Black Narcissus: This made me realize I’ve probably been unfair to Powell and Pressburger’s other movies. The other films by them I saw because they were on Sight and Sound’s list of the top 100 movies, and I judged them accordingly. That’s a high standard to be held to, and I didn’t typically think they quite meet my expectations! Black Narcissus, on the other hand, I went in knowing almost nothing about. As it got going, I expected a Sound of Music style movie where the strict heroine loosened up, learned to love, and left the convent. Nope! Much more surprising and interesting.

The Fall: Kind of the ultimate “film is a visual medium” movie.

Wicked: I grew up listening to musicals like Les Miserables, and have a soft spot in my heart for their bombastic and overly emotional style of music. Wicked was never my favorite of the lot, but by focusing on the better half of the play and giving me 50-foot black capes, I think this might be my favorite movie adaptation of a musical.

2023

I saw 57 new-to-me movies this year. But 23 of those were from the Sight and Sound list, and I want to consider those separately (it’s wall to wall bangers). That leaves 34 other new-to-me movies. Of that lot, my top three were:

The Banshees of Inisherin: A three tiered story about eccentric weirdos feuding, who are also an allegory for civil war, that’s also about loneliness.

Tár: Another movie that supports multiple interpretations; but some of these conflict!

The Quiet Girl: Seemingly simple (but perfectly executed), but I find I can’t quite express how I feel about it.

2022

I saw 57 new-to-me movies this year. The top five were:

The Lost Daughter: Tense and deeply moving portrait of a rarely examined experience – the ambivalence of parenthood.

Pig: Quietly magical realism that’s sad and poignant rather than whimsical. Crazy that it works.

Night is Short, Walk On Girl: A champion in the “one crazy night genre.” Because it’s animated, the possibilities are limitless. Pure bubbling fun.

The Northman: A visually striking horror movie told from the monster’s perspective.

Barbarian: *spoilers* The first half of this is just about perfect: without recourse to gore or cheap tricks, the tension was calibrated to exactly my breaking point. Where do you go from there? The movie makes an unexpected pivot that left me feeling completely unmoored – I had no idea where this thing was going. Sadly, the plane kind of crashed out at that point, but the exhilarating feeling of the first third has stuck with me.

2021

I saw 41 new-to-me movies this year. The top 4 were:

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind: God-tier world building; fully realized, unsettling, grace and horror. 

Manchester by the Sea: *spoilers* Is there a way to marry an unflinching portrait of deep grief to a hollywood redemption arc? Maybe not, but you can get close by closing with a small nod to the possibility of hope and change.

Sorcerer: This movie is merely fine until they get on the road and begin their journey. At that point, it goes to a place of pure tension and animal survival.

Wolfwalkers: Wonderful looking ode to friendship between girls who can turn into wolves. Holds a strange power over my own kids.