Well it's that time of the year again when I make lists that a few people look at, here's a long list of the films that I enjoyed that were around cinemas (and online) this year.....
49. Filmworker - dir. Tony Zierra ★★★½
The story of actor Leon Vitali, who after appearing in Barry Lyndon, became Stanley Kubrick's assistant for decades after
48. Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story - dir. Alexandra Dean ★★★½
Recounts the life of the Hollywood actress but also shines a light on her other life as an inventor
47. Casting - dir. Nicolas Wackerbarth ★★★½
German comedy about a director making their first film for TV and strugglig to cast the main roles
46. My Friend Dahmer - dir. Marc Meyers ★★★½
The formative years of the American serial killer
45. Sweet Country - dir.Warwick Thornton ★★★½
An Aboriginal kills a white man in self defence, in 1920's Australia, a posse is set up to track him and his wife down when they go on the run
44. Golden Exits - dir. Alex Ross Perry ★★★½
An Australian arriving in New York changes the status quo of everyone she meets
43. Thoroughbreds - dir. Cory Finley ★★★½
Two childhood friends reconnect and soon murder is on their minds
42. Making The Grade - dir. Ken Wardrop ★★★½
Director Wardrop with another slice of Irish life, this time looking at people learning to playing the piano and their teachers
41. Tully - dir. Jason Reitman ★★★½
Theron's excellent as a mother struggling to cope with her life until a night nanny arrives to help her out
40. A Quiet Place - dir. John Krasinski ★★★½
Tense horror thriller where the monsters find their prey when they make any loud sound
38. Aurore - dir. Blandine Lenoir ★★★½
A French dramedy about a menopausal woman who loses her job but then when everything seems to be unravelling meets the old love of her life
37. 120 BPM - dir. Robin Campillo ★★★½
The story of members of ACT UP Paris, an AIDS advocacy group in 1990's Paris, trying to get the government and the pharmaceutical compaines to help stop the disease through protests
36. L'Atelier (Workshop) - dir. Laurent Cantet ★★★½
A novelist runs a workshop to help young aspiring writers and becomes concerned about one aggressive writer
35. Black Panther - dir. Ryan Coogler ★★★½
It's a Marvel origin flick with a very different flavour and all the better for it
34. Sink or Swim (Le Grand Bain) - dir. Gilles Lellouche ★★★½
French comedy about a bunch of depressed or lonely men who form an unlikely synchornised swimming team
33. Black 47 - dir Lance Daly ★★★★
Angry revenge drama set during the Irish famine, shoutout to lead actor James Frecheville, an Australian who gets the accent right and even speaks 'as Gaeilge'
29. Brad's Status - dir. Mike White ★★★½
A Mike White dramedy about an insecure father who takes his son to tour some colleges but which stokes up some bad memroies and feelings for him
28. The Prince of Nothingwood - dir. Sonia Kronlund ★★★★
Meet Salim Shaheen, a man who has managed to make over a hundred films while living in war torn Afghanistan
27. Coco - dir. Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina ★★★★
The latest Pixar, this time about a young musician who ends up in the Land of the Dead by mistake
26. Hereditary - dir. Ari Aster ★★★★
A grieving family are beset by more and more disturbing occurences, tense
25. The Shape of Water - dir. Guillermo del Toro ★★★★
Sally Hawkins shines in the tale of a woman who discovers an amphibious creature at her job at top secret research facility
24. Rosie - dir. Paddy Breathnach ★★★★
'Inspired by too many true stories' Rosie tells the story of a family struggling to cope after being made homeless.
23. Custody (Jusqu'Ã la garde) - dir. Xavier Legrand ★★★★
Tense drama about a son at the centre of his parent's very bitter divorce
22. Widows - dir. Steve McQueen ★★★★
Based on a Lynda La Plante ITV drama, four women deep in debt band together to pull off a dangerous heist
21. Summer 1993 (Estiu 1993) - dir. Carla Simón ★★★★
A young girl from Barcelona struggles to adjust when she moves to live in the country with her uncle and aunt
20. American Animals - dir. Bart Layton ★★★★
From the director of 'The Imposter' comes this docudrama hybrid about heist movie obsessed young men who try to pull off a real life heist off for themselves
19. Apostasy - dir. Daniel Kokotajlo ★★★★
Compelling English drama about a family of Jehovah's Witnesses pulled apart by one of the daughter's 'transgression'
17. Cold War (Zimna wojna) - dir. Pawel Pawlikowski ★★★★
Set in the 1950's, a couple struggle with life and love on both sides of the Iron Curtain
16. The Old Man & the Gun - dir. David Lowery ★★★★
A film that uses all the charm and nostalgia of its main actor to full effect, Lowery continues to impress with every film
15. BlacKkKlansman - dir. Spike Lee ★★★★
Based on the story of Ron Stallworth, an African American police officer who successfully infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan. Funny, taut and angry.
14. Sorry to Bother You - dir. Boots Riley ★★★★
A surreal film about a struggling telemarketer who discovers a way to rise up the ranks, genre defying, visually stunning
13. Game Night - dir. John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein ★★★★
Fun studio cemedy (they still make 'em!) that has the added meta layer of being a David Fincher tribute
12. Loveless (Nelyubov) - dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev ★★★★
A divorcing couple search for their son who ran off during one of their arguments, from the director of Leviathan, so bleak but powerful drama.
11. Roma - dir. Alfonso Cuarón ★★★★
Cuarón's monochrome tribute to the women who raised him, every scene and shot packed.
10. The Square - dir. Ruben Östlund ★★★★
The director of ‘Force Majeure’ turns his attention to the art world, where a museum curator’s work and home life begin to unravel and he struggles to try and save face
9. Private Life - dir. Tamara Jenkins ★★★★
Bittersweet comedy drama about a couple struggling to conceive and trying everything they possibly can to have a child, Kathryn Hahn is outstanding
8. C’est la vie! (Le Sens de la fête) - dir. Eric Toledano, Olivier Nakache ★★★★
Hilarious French farce about a team of dysfunctional wedding caterers trying to keep the show on the road while catering for a massive wedding at a French palace
7. Phantom Thread - dir. Paul Thomas Anderson ★★★★
A weird unconventional period drama where two of my favourite scenes revolved around asparagus and mushrooms
6. Lady Bird - dir. Great Gerwig ★★★★
A coming of age drama that feels way more authentic than most, every single scene with Metcalf and Ronan together are perfect
5. Shoplifters (Manbiki kazoku) - dir. Hirokazu Koreeda ★★★★½
A warmly told tale of a family of small-time thieves living on the fringes who take in a young girl they find out in the cold one night
4. You Were Never Really Here - dir. Lynne Ramsay ★★★★½
A nightmarish revenge drama elevated by its director, sound designer and lead performance from Phoenix
3. Isle of Dogs - dir. Wes Anderson ★★★★★
Wes Anderson returns to stop motion animation with this charmer set in a Wes Anderson-ified Japan where all dogs have been banished to their own island and one boy tries to get his dog back
2. Leave No Trace - dir. Debra Granik ★★★★★
A tale of a father and daughter trying to live off the grid and away from society, the two leads, McKenzie and Foster are incredible
Varda, one of cinema’s greatest directors delivers a goodbye of sorts where she teams up with artist JR travelling through France and making giant murals of the communities and people they meet along the way.
Previous winners:
2017 - Manchester By The Sea - dir. Kenneth Lonergan
2016 - Room - dir. Lenny Abrahamson
2015 - Force Majeure - dir. Ruben Östlund
2014 - We Are The Best! (Vi är bäst!) - dir. Lukas Moodysson
2013 - Stories We Tell - dir. Sarah Polley
2012 - Beasts of the Southern Wild - dir. Benh Zeitlin
2011 - Blue Valentine - dir. Derek Cianfrance
2010 - Inception - dir. Christopher Nolan