Its characters linked by spectral bonds they can feel if not quite identify (or control), it’s an entrancing and inherently mysterious ghost story that’s both timeless and, sadly, of our particular moment. Gaspar Noé’s cinema routinely traces the line from harmony to chaos, and that’s once again true in Climax, the inspired-by-real-events tale of a dance party descending into hellish madness. Abominable. As mean, and quite a bit leaner, than its voracious animals, Crawl is an example of B-moviemaking done right. Eddie Murphy regains his superstar mojo in Dolemite is My Name, a raucous biopic fashioned in an Ed Wood and The Disaster Artist mold (from the writers of the former) about Rudy Ray Moore, a clownish wannabe-entertainer who hit it big by playing the profanely rhyming, kung-fu-fighting, ladies-bedding Dolemite. Elevating its conventional storytelling through mega-watt personality and fast, screeching track action, Mangold’s based-on-real-events film rides alongside former champ Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and his rough-around-the-edges driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale) as they attempt to build a car for Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) capable of besting Ferrari’s legendary vehicles in 1966’s 24-hour Le Mans contest. In a refrigerator, a disembodied hand awakens, and embarks on a quest to reunite with its former owner, who we soon learn is Moroccan-born French teenager Naoufel (voiced by Hakim Faris). Esquire participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Hu shoots each protracted scene in long, unbroken takes, habitually foregrounding his subjects in shallow focus while staging key action in the fuzzy background. Fertility and desolation, creation and destruction, isolation and togetherness all intermingle in hypnotic fashion in High Life, Claire Denis’ sci-fi reverie. So too does Weidel’s wife Marie (Paula Beer), who repeatedly mistakes Georg for her husband, and who longs for reunion even as she continues an affair with a man (Godehard Giese) whose obsessive amour prevents him from departing. Sweet and deeply melancholy, with a scratchy, hand-animated style (computers undoubtedly assisted), it's unlike any animated feature released this year, less interested in overt stylization than providing a deeply contemplative, one-of-a-kind experience. Mangold’s story is about the might of American ingenuity and daring (versus sleek Italian arrogance), and a celebration of non-conformity in the face of (unbeatable) corporate pressure. While Moss doesn’t hold back in depicting Becky’s ugliness, she taps into the underlying hurt and vulnerability fueling her firestorm heart, peaking with a heart-rending single-take piano rendition of Bryan Adams’ “Heaven.”. Kevin Dupzyk. Sort by . The director’s A Hidden Life recounts the based-on-true-events tale of Franz Jägerstätter (August Diehl), a farmer in the rural Austrian enclave of Radegund whose world is forever altered by the 1939 appearance of the Nazis—and the requirement, once he’s forced to join the Third Reich’s army, that he swear allegiance to Hitler’s party. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io, The 60 Best Movies to Stream on Amazon Prime Video. Foreshadowing his protagonists’ decades-long plight in a haunting allegorical intro, and then mining their pain and longing in empathetic close-ups, Aïnouz captures the inherently political nature of these siblings’ personal experience. Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon. Plumbing American and Chinese expectations and attitudes regarding labor, as well as the compatibility of the two countries’ ways of doing things, it’s an intimate on-the-ground look at 21st-century globalization in practice. Paired with its predecessor, it’s one of the finest Stephen King adaptations ever. Detective Pikachu. (How Disney hasn't released something that looks like this is beyond me.) Nonetheless, in any format, it’s a curatorial effort of thrilling enormity, presenting this pioneering triumph as the byproduct of myriad individuals, immense ingenuity, and the colossal bravery of three men who dared to venture to the stars. Upon release, Qiao strives to acclimate herself to a modernizing world that doesn’t care about the collateral damage left in progress’ wake. Between friends being laid off, concerns about retirement, and adult children navigating their own troubled romantic paths, Gloria makes her way through middle age with a brave face, finding temporary solace on the dance floor and, for a time, in the arms of Arnold (a magnificent John Turturro), a recent divorcé struggling to break free from his ex-wife and two needy daughters. For skateboarding Jimmie (Jimmie Fails), nothing would be finer than reclaiming his childhood residence, a gorgeous Victorian in the Fillmore District that he proudly proclaims was built by his grandfather. Divorce is a cataclysm that destroys the past, present and future—as well as forces one to reconfigure their very sense of self—and Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story captures that upheaval with stinging authenticity and insight. Still, the animation is some of the most beautiful work DreamWorks has ever produced and there are a collection of rousing set pieces that produce a facsimile of that old How to Train Your Dragon spirit. Netflix paid handsomely for the opportunity to release this film; it paid off. And, it should be noted, I haven't gotten a chance to see Weathering With You yet, although I am, of course, dying to. Buoyed by a script attuned to the sorrowful rhythms of older age (and New England), Jones’ film rests on the shoulders of Place’s stellar, lived-in performance as Diane, a fallible woman whose selflessness is colored by anger and regret. Drew Taylor is an associate editor for Collider. Quotes. On the downside of this equation is faded TV Western star Rick Dalton (Leonardo Dicaprio) and his loyal stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), whose navigation of this rapidly changing environment crisscrosses with the ascendency of Rick’s neighbor Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) and her husband Roman Polanski (Rafał Zawierucha) – all as the Manson Family assumes its soon-to-be destructive position on their horizon. Imagination is our ability to create new ideas and go to places we’ve never been before. From crowd-pleasing blockbusters to under-the-radar triumphs, eclectic imports to boundary-pushing epics (we’re looking at you, The Irishman), there’s been something for everyone at the theater – and, also, on the various streaming services that now compete for cinephiles’ attention. In this saga about the self-destructiveness of war, the kids aren’t alright. The stories we tell are relatable to a broad and varied audience, and are designed to inspire in a way that only film can. Those decisions left the third film largely adrift, story-wise, and everything, from its ace cast (what was Cate Blanchett doing, exactly?) Dark, demonic power courses through Hagazussa, a legitimately evil folk story of inheritance, corruption and damnation. What emerges is a complex story about truth, lies and silence, the last of which is the real evil force in both Alex and Marcus’ life – concealing the horrors committed against them as kids, and tearing them apart as adults, at least until Perkins’ documentary stages a face-to-face sit-down rife with bitterness, regret and understanding. On a New England rock enshrouded in crashing-wave mist and bombarded with torrential rain, 19th-century lighthouse keepers Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe) and Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson) tend to their duties, with the former manning the illuminated tower and the latter maintaining their domicile and coal-burning furnace. Their ensuing custody fight centers on which coast their kid will call home, and Baumbach’s sharp writing and visuals—full of close-ups of pain and fury, and remote compositions that separate and isolate his adrift protagonists—locates the way in which that battle inevitably warps that which was once good, leaving only resentment and ruin in its wake. From there, things go from bad to worse, with the emergence of a new villain Spinel (Sarah Stiles), who is animated in the "rubber hose" style of a character from 1930s animation, and a host of incredibly catchy songs written by Sugar and performed by pop stars like Chance the Rapper and Estelle. Acquiring those positions, alas, necessitates ruining their predecessors, and holding onto them entails even nastier business – as well as enduring the petty cruelty, condescension and selfishness of their employers. Whether it’s fiery Reverend Tillman (Wendell Pierce) or despondent unemployed Daniel (Dominique McClellan), Satan has infected the hearts and minds of this cane field-saturated area’s men, leaving women to suffer often-fatal blows and children – namely, Daniel’s young son Jeremiah (Braelyn Kelly) – to quietly go to seed, their corruption all but inevitable. There’s a vicarious thrill to watching this rocker spiral into the abyss, and then pull herself back out. “I hate autofiction,” says the elderly mother of filmmaker Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas), a sly nod to the rooted-in-reality nature of writer/director Pedro Almodóvar’s somber, yet joyfully cathartic, latest. With long hair and a fanny pack permanently affixed around his waist, McConaughey is a magisterial stoner hedonist, and if his rollicking escapades aren’t enough to deliver a potent contact high, Korine and cinematographer Benoît Debie’s rapturously colorful portrait of Florida’s posh and downtrodden milieus more than do the delirious trick. Marianna and Héloïse’s blossoming relationship is one of slow-burn amour, which Sciamma stages with a meticulousness and quiet (sans any soundtrack) that only enhances the atmosphere of aching ardor. The first LEGO Movie was an unexpected delight, full of inventive designs and a conceit that only revealed itself towards the end of the film - that everything we had just watched took place in the imagination of a young boy with daddy issues. Invisible Life is comprised of well-worn elements: impulsive passions, unexpected out-of-wedlock pregnancies, disapproving fathers, controlling husbands, and dreams crushed under the weight of a society that expects women to conform or be cast out into the wild. Here are 27 quotes about imagination to help you reshape reality. Hogg depicts their affair with little concern for superfluous in-between stuff, cutting pointedly to the couple’s most crucial incidents together, and in the process she strikes an assured balance between realism and impressionism. With Dan Levy’s score melding electronic and orchestral arrangements to intoxicating effect, it’s a sensory feast into which one tumbles. Good luck maintaining a dry eye through its wrenching present-day coda. Long-suffering but resolutely defiant, she’s the embodiment of female perseverance in the face of the unholy. Jim Jarmusch crafts an undeadpan comedy of apocalyptic proportions with The Dead Don’t Die, a Night of the Living Dead riff played for bleak satire. Mixing the class commentary of Snowpiercer with the family dynamics of The Host, Bong Joon-ho takes a scalpel to inequity with Parasite, his scathing drama about a lower-class clan that endeavors to pull itself up from the figurative and literal basement. Led by a tour-de-force turn by Moore, whose expressive work is some of her finest to date, it’s a small-scale story with a profound understanding of life as it’s actually lived, and felt. Revelation, resurrection, abandonment and mourning all factor into her haunting story. From Super Mario Bros., new-age cultists, pirates and bomb-shelter tombs, to masturbatory porn patterns, dog killers, comic books (Spider-Man, wink wink) and song lyrics scribbled on pizza boxes, secret world-governing ciphers are ubiquitous. His quest is fraught with literal danger and, also, emotional, psychological and spiritual peril, as Roy searches the heavens for the indifferent father that abandoned him. 1 – 4 of 4 movies. But we always knew a full-length follow-up was on the way, and now that it's finally arrived, we can breathe a sigh of relief: Frozen is still fabulous. By Dan Jackson. That only bolsters his suspenseful storytelling, characterized by formidable set pieces – involving perilous aquatic races against, and bone-crunching tussles with, the wild beasts – that further reflect Haley and Dave’s strained father-daughter dynamics. Dafoe’s curse to the maritime gods is an all-timer, and a superb Pattinson matches his sloshed, wild-eyed lunacy step for floorboard-creaking step. Ni no Kuni. The tension between tradition and progress is almost as taught as that between mercy and brutality, as the clan’s rise to drug-running prominence comes at a catastrophic cost. Newcomers Garnett and Fox are great, but the film is ultimately all Sandler, whose embodiment of sleazy, selfish, pleasure-seeking Long Island greed and desperation is outright exhilarating. For more than two decades, Disney has been creating made-for-TV movies for its viewers under the Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOM) umbrella.Today, there are more than 100 DCOMs — with even more slated to come out later this year. The allure of the light drives two men into pitch-black madness in Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse, a work of period-piece insanity that more than fulfills the promise of his 2015 debut The Witch. A hallucinatory nightmare of loneliness, alienation and Oedipal desire, Rick Alverson’s The Mountain boasts shades of Stanley Kubrick and Yorgos Lanthimos even as it carves out its own peculiar, penetrating identity. Tragedy comes from rejection, resentment, alienation, rage and sorrow in An Elephant Sitting Still, an intimate epic about Chinese citizens who view themselves as powerless and worthless. There’s plenty of shrieking horror to be found here, as well as droll comedy, as the writer/director never loses sight of the inherent humor of his out-there conceit. Samsara, by Ron Fricke “Samsara” is a little documentary film made in 2011, by the same people who had collaborated on two similar in terms of style and theme films in the last decades, “Baraka” and “Chronos”.. Imagination Movers website. Teen Titans has reached a level of sublime goofiness that few animated features ever achieve. Strange and bewildering, with an unexpected emotional power, I Lost My Body (acquired by Netflix at Cannes, where it won the Grand Prix, and available on the streaming service now) is arguably the weirdest animated film of 2019 but also one of the most rewarding. What truly elevates Muschietti’s sequel, however, is its focus on the efforts of its now-grown protagonists to conquer the anxieties, doubts and regrets that, following their childhood ordeal, have come to define them. Her successful acting career includes her role as Winnie Cooper on “The Wonder Years,” several notable voiceovers for animated movies and a number of well-received movies on the Hallmark Channel. Though his big, tousled graying hair recalls Almodóvar’s own coiffure, Banderas’ performance is no act of mimicry; radiating quiet, soulful anguish, his Mallo is a man untethered to the things that made him who he is – a crisis which he overcomes only in the film’s unforgettable last, painterly composition. Borders to cross and barriers impeding passage are omnipresent in Transit, which like so much of writer/director Christian Petzold’s transition-fixated oeuvre, is a forlorn romantic reverie about identity, regret, trauma and rebirth. There have only been a handful of films that have captured the imagination of the movie-going public in a serious way and there were a number of high profile, expensively produced bombs that littered the cinematic landscape (The Secret Life of Pets ended up as a franchise nonstarter), but these things are true every year. The only ones who won’t see it as a cautionary tale are those who refuse to look. Like the mist that covers the mountainous region’s treetops, suggestions of profane forces are everywhere – in the sight of Albrun milking her goat, or a shrine for a skull – and they burrow under one’s skin, much like the unholy whispering and thunderous bass heard on a soundtrack that heralds madness, doom, the end. Preying upon the naiveté of corporate bigwig Mr. Park’s (Sun-kyun Lee) wife Yeon-kyo (Yeo-jeong Jo), teenage Ki-woo (Woo-sik Choi) cons his way into a job in their ritzy household as an English tutor for their daughter. The fact that many are still referring to the movie as "live action" is as baffling as it is factually incorrect; this new Lion King was hand animated by a team of talented artists, just like the original 1994 classic. Its rah-rah renegade spirit is as robust as its racing footage, often shot from the driver’s inside-the-car POV. Updated on 5/8/2020 at 6:33 PM. When Tartakovsky returned to his landmark series Samurai Jack in 2017, he updated the formerly family-friend series for more mature audiences and Primal takes that philosophy even further. In this surrealist landscape, humor and horror are almost indistinguishable, epitomized by Levant’s exceptional dance of the deranged. But instead of a series finale, it served as something of a backdoor pilot. Capitalist modernity, taking the form of the marijuana trade, corrupts a local Colombian culture in Birds of Passage, an ethnographically rich crime drama from Embrace of the Serpent director Ciro Guerra. And, given what was revealed at the end of the first movie, is a nimble balancing act between parallel narrative. Shin’ichirô Ueda’s cult classic-in-the-making is about a couple fending off a zombie plague. Movies and myths collide, both mirthfully and mournful, as Sam strives to uncover the knotty conspiracy-theory connections linking everything and everyone. Wonder Park tells the story of an amusement park where the imagination of a wildly creative girl named June comes alive. A vision of Brazil's recent past that resonates as a chilling and heartbreaking warning for the rest of today’s world – including Trumpian America – The Edge of Democracy recounts the political upheaval that led to the impeachment of elected president Dilma Rousseff, the imprisonment (on corruption charges) of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the rise of new president Jair Bolsonaro and his right-wing administration. A trip to the gators’ egg-laying nursery is a particular highlight, although singling out one of the film’s showstoppers seems almost unfair. Set during the 1950s, theirs is an expedition marked by disintegration and yearning for escape and deliverance, and it ultimately leads to the home of a French healer (Denis Levant) who wants Fiennes to perform his technique on his daughter Susan (Hannah Gross), with whom Andy develops a connected-by-disconnection relationship. With no clear frontrunner for the Best Animated Feature Oscar, many pundits are claiming that it was a lousy year for animation. That scheme, however, is mucked up by an encounter with Boston Celtics superstar Kevin Garnett (playing himself), a legitimate winner who takes a fancy to the valuable rock, as well as by conflicts with his business partner (Lakeith Stanfield), wife (Idina Menzel) and mistress (Julia Fox). God and the Devil are at war in rural Louisiana in Burning Cane, and the former doesn’t appear to be faring too well. ET ... 2019, and has been updated. High in the mountains of an unidentified Latin American country, a band of child soldiers (with names like Rambo, Wolf and Boom Boom) partake in intense physical training and unique aggro rituals – such as lashing a member for their birthday – while guarding their hostage, an American doctor (Julianne Nicholson). The plot details of Frozen II still remain fuzzy and I've already seen the movie twice; what a mysterious forest and Elsa's powers and the death of their parents have to do with anything is beyond me. Indebted, spiritually if not narratively, to Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris, Denis’ story concerns a space ship on which a doctor (Juliette Binoche) attempts to successfully conceive children through experiments with convicts – including Monte (Robert Pattinson), who’s introduced caring for an infant, alone, in what’s soon exposed as a flash-forward – as they all hurtle toward a black hole whose energy they seek to harness. Her love, and the promise of a healthier sort of family, compels him to reconsider his life choices. Sources say Warner Bros. has its eye on either Tom Holland or Timothée Chalamet to play the eccentric chocolatier. Missing Link was their biggest, most complicated endeavor yet, a globe-trotting adventure that feels equally indebted to Sherlock Holmes and Indiana Jones stories, with a buffoonish 19th century explorer (Hugh Jackman) who attempts to reunite a bigfoot (Zach Galifianakis) with his yeti family in the Himalayas. March 15, 2019: Wonder Park: produced by Paramount Animation, Nickelodeon Movies and Ilion Animation Studios: April 5, 2019: Pet Sematary: co-production with di Bonaventura Pictures: May 31, 2019: Rocketman: co-production with Marv Films and Rocket Pictures: July 12, 2019: Crawl: produced by Ghost House Pictures: August 9, 2019 ... All Actors Authors Books Leaders Movies Musicians Speakers Sports TV Shows. Sold at a department store by a saleswoman (Fatma Mohamed) with a nefarious true identity, the satanically erotic garment preys upon the sexually repressed and/or unfulfilled, all while fluttering and hovering about like a sinister specter. A bit too left-of-center for mainstream America's taste, Missing Link nonetheless proved that Laika is still committed to making challenging, artful confections, no matter how high the cost or how little the return. to its imaginative collection of dragon characters, suffered as a result. He comes up with an ingenious way to get out of his post, with the local children writing letters to Klaus (J.K. Simmons) in return for a small toy. Independent writer Jo (Saoirse Ronan); conservative actress Meg (Emma Watson); prim painter Amy (Florence Pugh); and unwell pianist Beth (Eliza Scanlen). At nearly four hours, the film imparts an overpowering sense of its characters’ despair, and the misfortune that befalls them whether they remain alone or try to engage with others – a despondency only amplified by its empathy. (It was intended to be brighter and more accessible than the studio's earlier, moodier work.) To the Movies, it was teased that the characters from the more mature Teen Titans animated series had entered the realm of the more outwardly cartoony Teen Titans Go! May 3, 2019. May 3, 2019. Bazawule’s slow-motion imagery is mesmerizing, highlighted by the inverted sight of Esi being chased by a humanoid raven astride a horse, and a closing shot of an man with an IV stand meeting a long-lost love in the middle of architectural ruins. Directed by Dylan Brown. A semi-clandestine drug habit eventually becomes a complicating factor for the duo, but the real heart of this enthralling film is Julie herself, whose interior state is brought to vivid life by the director’s intimate, aesthetically diverse approach. Tarantino lavishes his period milieu, and the mainstream movies and television of the era, with sun-dappled neon-colored love. The animation, by Australian studio Animal Logic, is just as beautiful as ever (you can practically see the fingerprints) and while the movie lacks some of the comedic zip of the first film (original directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord wrote the film but didn't direct), there are still enough surprises and visual gags to keep you entertained for the entire running time. Today's two songs are Take Time and Kindergarten Graduation (Swell Version).. Take Time was written and recorded in 2015 but never released. Arctic Dogs. In his debut, the critic-turned-writer/director cuts efficiently, so that no gesture or expression is wasted, and yet he also tends to linger – on a notepad’s to-do list, or a face trying to hide the reality behind a recent utterance – in order to evoke greater unspoken truths. Barren spaces abound, and the French auteur infuses her material with a sense of ominous hollowness, born from longings – for purpose, conception, and reinvention – that remain unfulfilled. In the Austrian Alps circa the 15th century, young Albrun (Celina Peter) tends to her mother (Claudia Martini), a supposed witch, in their remote log cabin. Danica said, “I’ve admired Dolly Parton since childhood, and even more so upon learning of her Imagination Library. As conveyed by Esi’s encounter with an old blind man – who says he’s from an upside-down purgatory, and tells her to protect a bird from an evil crow – and the sibling rivalry-centric soap opera that Esi watches with her grandmother (Joyce Anima Misa Amoah), The Burial of Kojo is a story about reunion, loss and reconciliation that exists somewhere between reality and fantasy. The Oscar season may be just kicking into high gear, but at Esquire, we’re ready to crown the year’s 50 (!) Best-Reviewed Movies by Genre 2019 Best Movies Off the Radar 2019 ... due to the fact that your stories can be filled with endless imagination. If our memories aren’t truly our own, how do we know who we are? Despite the Saturday-morning set-up of a caveman (dubbed Spear) and dinosaur (called Fang) teaming up to traverse the prehistoric wasteland, this is some of the most visceral, mature work Tartakovsky has ever produced, full of shattered bones and buckets of blood. Franz’s refusal to do so is fraught with perilous consequences not only for himself, but also for his wife Franziska (Valerie Pachner), whose staunch loyalty to her husband in the face of communal ostracism is as courageous as is his ethical stand against tyranny. His plan is to sell it at auction for a cool million, and thus settle his debts to brother-in-law Arno (Eric Bogosian) and his violent associates. Light on dialogue but heavy on black-magic mystery, writer/director Lukas Feigelfeld’s fable casts its spell via slow-burn plotting and malevolent imagery, culminating with a kaleidoscopic underwater visual orgy of blood, roots, bone, tendrils, and mutating shapes. Moreover, it’s another of his masterworks to confront issues of personal and national consciousness through a distinct cine-filter, with Casablanca and The Passenger proving two of its many spiritual touchstones. Every product was carefully curated by an Esquire editor. Share on Facebook; Share on Twitter; ... For all the joys of movies, it's books that train the imagination. During an apocalyptic Florida hurricane, struggling but talented collegiate swimmer Haley (Kaya Scodelario) goes in search of her MIA father Dave (Barry Pepper), whom she finds in the basement of their old home, wounded and trapped by a swarm of alligators. ... and creativity in abundance. With both dynamism and comprehensiveness, Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim’s infuriating documentary details the Cambridge Analytica scandal via the work of reporters and whisteblowers intent on exposing the company’s function as a tool of right-wing extremists both in America and abroad. From young upstarts looking to take Bin’s position, to work along the Three Gorges (which will ultimately submerge towns), change is afoot. life– is alive, and causing intergalactic pulses that threaten Earth. Convinced the three chalk pieces she received from her teacher grant her magical wishes, Estrella tries to survive her harrowing new circumstances on the streets, which are further complicated by two adult thugs intent on reclaiming their stolen property from Shine. Gigs soon follow for his sister Ki-jung (So-dam Park) as an art teacher, his dad Ki-taek (Kang-ho Song) as a driver, and his mom Chung-sook (Hye-jin Jang) as a housekeeper. The 75 Best Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now (January 2021) By Paste Movies Staff January 5, 2021 Aaron Sorkin’s Got Some 'Splaining to Do, … Scored to disquieting electronic noises and plaintive orchestral tunes, Landes’ spellbinding feature assumes the quality of a drug trip, evoking issues of alienation, control, sex, fear and loyalty through its young male and female protagonists’ ordeal. 2. A Dog's Journey. Kicking off with a bravura 37-minute single take sequence that charts its characters’ attempts to navigate their monstrous ordeal – all as their director, Higurashi (Takayuki Hamatsu), continues to roll cameras – the film eventually delivers a meta bombshell that totally reconfigures one’s conception of the action at hand. Klaus, his directorial debut, features all the hallmarks of his career thus far, including wonderfully designed characters and a storyline that mixes the sour and sweet in all sorts of delicious ways. There are codes within codes within codes in Under the Silver Lake, David Robert Mitchell’s deliriously shambolic neo-noir about stoner sleuth Sam (Andrew Garfield, never better) traversing a Lynch-ian L.A. landscape in search of a mysterious missing beauty (Riley Keough). In a Europe that simultaneously resembles today and 1940, German expat Georg (Franz Rogowski) endeavors to escape Paris before the arrival of encroaching Nazi-esque fascists. Ruth’s flight takes her to her childhood home and her mom Bo (Lorraine Toussaint) and daughter Lila (Saniyya Sidney), both of whom have the capacity to wield swirly-colored constructive/deconstructive energy. With absolutely ravishing visuals (including some of the studio's most elaborate set pieces yet, including a big showdown at an ice palace that I still can't quite figure out how they accomplished) and some nifty character work, it was written and directed by Laika MVP Chris Butler, one of the most talented filmmakers working in animation today. As before, that enclave’s malevolence is personified by Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Bill Skarsgård), an unholy sewer-dwelling circus freak who feasts on fear, and whose hunger for revenge powers the film’s finest set pieces, including a showdown in a hall of mirrors. Think of it as a ghoulish Day for Night. From black-and-white nautical madness to Brad Pitt in space (and the '60s), this is the greatest cinema of the year. Diane (Mary Kay Place) is always looking out for others, be they her good friends, her older relatives, or her son Brian (Jake Lacy), who can’t get his drug habit under control.