Here we are again, at the end of another year of relentless downloading and watching. I'll skip the requisite intro on how it's been a particularly awful year, since I have that for my theater year-in-review coming out on Monday.
I started a Letterboxd, finally, and according to my log I saw 285 films between January 1 to December 31, 2020, and I know that count's off by at least one or two shorts that aren't in the site yet. That number also doesn't include the TV series I consumed, including six seasons of "The Americans" (nothing compares!) and "Schitt's Creek"; four seasons of "Insecure"; two seasons of "Ramy," "What We Do in the Shadows," and the horrible "The Kominsky Method"; the disappointing "Lovecraft Country"; the mixed-bag "Little America"; the not-quite-there-yet "P-Valley"; and the lazy fourth season of "Fargo."
The same annual disclaimer: This is a list of my favorite titles from this (2020) and the previous (2019) year, the latter to account for the "leftovers" that get screened quite late in the Philippines (such as Gerwig's "Little Women" and Mendes' "1917") or not at all. This is NOT a best-of-2020 list--but you may as well read it as such. If you're viewing this piece on desktop or mobile, there's a side bar to the right that lists everything I watched in the last 366 days. And if you're wondering why I've combined film and TV--which I started doing only last year--well, why not.
In order--though except for numbers one to four, the ranking barely matters, I think--my top 10 films and TV of 2020:
1. 'So Long, My Son' (dir. Wang Xiaoshuai)/ 'A Sun' (dir. Chung Mong-hong)
A tie between these two Chinese-language masterworks, because why not? Both films are basically redemption stories, about sons clashing with their fathers, about parents struggling and failing to understand their children. If there's anything you need to know about Chinese culture, it's that family is everything--salve and source of scorn, beginning and end of the stories that matter--and both films get that with penetrative accuracy. "So Long, My Son" is almost a history of the Mainland writ small, from the Boluan Fanzheng era up to the 21st century, as seen through the eyes of two families; "A Sun" is a genre-bending stunner from Taiwan, following the lives of one family in the aftermath of a grisly crime. Each left my Asian heart full; each, despite running over two-and-a-half hours, left me wanting more.
2. 'I May Destroy You' (BBC/HBO; dirs. Sam Miller & Michaela Coel)
The best shows don't only make you laugh, or cry, or laugh and cry; they also offer illumination, a new way of seeing things--and if you're lucky, a whole enough glimpse into another, better path forward. This is one such show.
3. 'Little Women' (dir. Greta Gerwig)
Pinnacle of literary adaptation. In the immortal words of one Saoirse Ronan, "Women!" Still can't believe this lost the Oscar, BAFTA, and WGA for Adapted Screenplay to, um, "Jojo Rabbit"!
4. 'PEN15' Seasons 1-2a (Hulu; dirs. Dan Longino, Andrew DeYoung & Sam Zvibleman)
Seasons 1 to 2a, that's right, because all 17 episodes so far have been nothing short of great. Coming of age has never been this fun, or funny. And also sad. And absorbing to witness.
5. 'Aswang' (dir. Alyx Ayn Arumpac)
This is not a movie. This is our lives now. #WhenWillDaddyDigzDie?
6. 'First Cow' (dir. Kelly Reichardt)
Reichardt really said, No to lazy viewers! Best Picture 2020, yes please.
7. 'Insecure' Season 4 (HBO; dirs. various)
Exceptional in the way it captures the tenor of real, functional-dysfunctional, mature-immature adult relationships. Shoutout to Natasha Rothwell's Kelly, MVP supporting character.
8. 'Spontaneous' (dir. Brian Duffield)
Perhaps the most precise approximation of young love and/or falling in love in 2020. The teen rom-com, macabre humor, the apocalypse and post-apocalypse rolled into one.
9. 'Mank' (dir. David Fincher)
The year's most clear-eyed, crushing yet compassionate depiction of the creative process. Vision! Talent! Commitment!
10. 'The Vast of Night' (dir. Andrew Patterson)
If the sensations of Shelley's "Ozymandias" were distilled into a thrilling gabfest of a movie.
* * * * *
Thanks to Letterboxd for simplifying life for me. Here are the rest of my 5-star titles for the year, in alphabetical order:
'The Crown' Season 4 (Netflix; dirs. various)
Best season yet, largely because the series finally realized how it works best when it treats the Windsors for what they really are: spoiled brats who have no place in this world, except as fodder for gossip. And not one less-than-excellently written episode here!
'Driveways' (dir. Andrew Ahn)
Perfect little gem of a film. RIP Brian Dennehy.
'Fan Girl' (dir. Antoinette Jadaone)
A pleasurable, moths-drawn-to-the-flame electrocution. I love mess!
'For Sama' (dir. Waad Al-Kateab & Edward Watts)
My pick for Best Documentary Feature at the 92nd Oscars. Maybe doctor biases at play here.
'The Forty-Year-Old Version' (dir. Radha Blank)
I couldn't stop laughing, 1.
'Honey Boy' (dir. Alma Har'el)
Ninety-minute father-and-son emotional roller coaster. Excellent cardio substitute.
'Kalel, 15' (dir. Jun Robles Lana)
This greatly offended my devout Catholic mother, which is maybe the best endorsement for this all-around incredible film.
'Never Have I Ever' Season 1 (Netflix; dirs. various)
Pinnacle of wholesome teenage comedy-drama. (Is there such a thing?)
'Never Rarely Sometimes Always' (dir. Eliza Hittman)
Gut-wrenching parable of our times, and a masterpiece of a fuck-you to all the male garbage of the world.
'Overseas' (dir. Yoon Sung-a)
That this documentary about Filipino women training to become OFWs is set in my hometown, the subjects speaking my local tongue, only made it cut even deeper.
'Rewind' (dir. Sasha Joseph Neulinger)
Best non-Filipino horror film of the year. Also my pick for best non-Filipino documentary of the year.
'Schitt's Creek' Season 6 (CBC/Pop TV; dirs. various)
Peak "Schitt's Creek," as it completely let go of being just superb sitcom (a transition that began mid-Season 4) to become something more poignant.
'Sorry We Missed You' (dir. Ken Loach)
Chekhov's piss bottle. If this is really Ken Loach's farewell at Cannes, what a way to go!
'Unbelievable' (Netflix; dirs. Lisa Cholodenko, Michael Dinner & Susannah Grant)
Pinnacle of the police procedural. Merritt Wever: robbed of an Emmy!
'Watchmen' (HBO; dirs. various)
Pinnacle of superhero comic adaptation. Jean Smart: robbed of an Emmy!
'What We Do in the Shadows' Season 2 (FX; dirs. various)
I couldn't stop laughing, 2.
PLUS--22 more titles not to sleep on, listed alphabetically:
'And Then We Danced' (dir. Levan Akin); 'Babyteeth' (dir. Shannon Murphy); 'Borat Subsequent Moviefilm' (dir. Jason Woliner); 'Cheer' Season 1 (Netflix; dirs. Greg Whiteley, Chelsea Yarnell & Arielle Kilker); 'City Hall' (dir. Frederick Wiseman); 'Dark Waters' (dir. Todd Haynes); 'Elehiya sa Paglimot' (dir. Kristoffer Brugada); 'End of the Century' (dir. Lucio Castro); 'Fourteen' (dir. Dan Sallitt); 'Gulis' (dir. Kyle Jumayne Francisco); 'How To with John Wilson' Season 1 (HBO; dir. John Wilson); 'I Hate Suzie' Season 1 (Sky Atlantic/HBO Max; dirs. Georgi Banks-Davies & Anthony Nielson); 'Normal People' (BBC Three/RTÉ One/Hulu; dirs. Lenny Abrahamson & Hettie Macdonald); 'Saint Frances' (dir. Alex Thompson); 'Schitt's Creek' Season 5 (CBC/Pop TV; dirs. various); 'Sound of Metal' (dir. Darius Marder); 'Unorthodox' (Netflix; dir. Maria Schrader); 'Waves' (dir. Trey Edward Shults); 'We Are Who We Are' (HBO/Sky Atlantic; dir. Luca Guadagnino); 'Welcome to Chechnya' (dir. David France); 'What We Do in the Shadows' Season 1 (FX; dirs. various); 'The Wild Goose Lake' (dir. Diao Yinan)
* * * * *
I don't have a performance of the year for 2020--because a case can be made for each of these 25, in alphabetical order:
1. Riz Ahmed ('Sound of Metal')
2. Jennifer Aniston ('The Morning Show' Season 1)
3. Maria Bakalova ('Borat Subsequent Moviefilm')
4. Rose Byrne ('Mrs. America')
5. Elijah Canlas ('Kalel, 15' & 'Babae at Baril')
6. Viola Davis ('Ma Rainey's Black Bottom')
7. Brian Dennehy ('Driveways')
8. Charlie Dizon ('Fan Girl')
9. Julia Garner ('The Assistant')
10. Jack Dylan Grazer ('We Are Who We Are')
11. Zoe Kazan ('The Plot Against America')
12. Paul Mescal ('Normal People')
13. Cristin Milioti ('Palm Springs')
14. Elisabeth Moss ('The Invisible Man')
15. Josh O'Connor ('The Crown' Season 4)
16. Catherine O'Hara ('Schitt's Creek' Seasons 5-6)
17. Billie Piper ('I Hate Suzie' Season 1)
18. Aubrey Plaza ('Black Bear' & 'Happiest Season')
19. Florence Pugh ('Little Women')
20. Gina Rodriguez ('Kajillionaire')
21. Amanda Seyfried ('Mank')
22. Jean Smart ('Watchmen')
23. Meryl Streep ('Let Them All Talk')
24. Merritt Wever ('Unbelievable')
25. Yong Mei ('So Long, My Son')
PLUS--25 more performers whose works I wholly recommend:
Ben Affleck ('The Way Back'); Paulo Avelino ('Fan Girl'); Antonio Banderas ('Pain and Glory'); Elizabeth Banks & Ari Graynor ('Mrs. America'); Reed Birney ('The Forty-Year-Old Version'); Hong Chau ('Driveways'); Olivia Colman ('The Crown' Season 4); Carrie Coon ('The Nest'); Paul Walter Hauser ('Richard Jewell'); Ethan Hawke ('The Good Lord Bird' & 'Tesla'); Lucas Hedges ('Let Them All Talk' & 'Waves'); Nicole Kidman ('The Undoing'); Shia LaBeouf & Noah Jupe ('Honey Boy'); Phi Palmos ('Kintsugi'); Charlie Plummer ('Spontaneous'); Jeremy Pope ('Hollywood'); Amit Rahav ('Unorthodox'); Saoirse Ronan & Timothée Chalamet ('Little Women'); Wu Chien-ho & Liu Kuan-ting ('A Sun'); Ramy Youssef ('Ramy' Season 2); Renée Zellweger ('Judy')
* * * * *
5-Letterboxd-star, non-2019/2020 titles that I saw for the first time in 2020:
'All About Eve' (1950, dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
'Batch '81' (1982, dir. Mike de Leon)
'The Big Lebowski' (1998, dir. Joel Coen)
'Kisapmata' (1981, dir. Mike de Leon)
'One Cut of the Dead' (2017, dir. Shinichiro Ueda)
'A Rustling of Leaves: Inside the Philippine Revolution' (1988, dir. Nettie Wild)
* * * * *
FILMED THEATER
With live theater shut down, avid theatergoers like myself had to content ourselves mostly with filmed recordings of past shows. Here are the 5-star productions I recommend you run after, if you've yet to catch them (years indicate the cinema release or streaming premiere):
'Act One' (2015, Broadway premiere, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center)
Loved this play and loved this production, but I loved the physical casting most of all. Tony Shalhoub as Older Moss Hart, Santino Fontana as Younger Moss Hart, and that kid as Kid Moss Hart is the definition of 'family resemblance'.
'All My Sons' (2011, West End revival, Apollo Theatre)
One of those casts you wish you could have seen live, with Daniel Lapaine's George Deever as the standout.
'Company' (2008, Broadway revival, Ethel Barrymore Theater)
My definitive "Company." 11/10 would recommend to anyone who wants to get into Sondheim, or musical theater, or both.
'Coriolanus' (2014, London revival, Donmar Warehouse)
Talk about sense of fcking space.
'Falsettos' (2017, Broadway revival, Walter Kerr Theater)
Stephanie J. Block losing the Tony for Featured Actress in a Musical is what? Homophobic.
'Hamilton' (2020, Broadway premiere, Richard Rogers Theater)
My hot take: It's pretty good.
'She Loves Me' (2016, Broadway revival, Studio 54)
Shallow and pretty and intent on having an all-around old-fashioned good time. Come for Laura Benanti, stay for Zachary Levi. The Tony for Scenic Design (beating "Hamilton") was the definition of justice.
'South Pacific' (2010, Broadway revival, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center)
Revelatory revival of an old dame, thanks to Bartlett Sher. And Kelli O'Hara--a goddess on earth.
'A Streetcar Named Desire' (2014, London revival, Young Vic)
Tennessee Williams for the #MeToo era.
* * * * *
A link to my past lists. Interesting time capsules, these lists, as I don't necessarily agree with some of my choices anymore.
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