Monthly Archives: December 2015
Cinema Fanatic’s Favorite Fifteen Films of 2015
As you probably remember, I spent 2015 only watching films directed by women (save for Noirvember, where I watched films that were written by women), and although I still have one new-to-me film I’m going to watch this afternoon, it’s time to post my favorite 2015 releases. Last year I watched 67 “new” releases; this year I watched 66 (and I missed/skipped a few films). People talk a lot about the small number of female directors working today, but the key thing is that they are working and we can support them. I live in Los Angeles, so I was able to see a lot of films that I know don’t make it to other markets, but I also watched a lot of these new releases on VOD – and that’s something you can do anywhere in the USA. I urge everyone to take up Women In Film – Los Angeles’ #52FilmsByWomen challenge in 2016 and put their money where their mouth is! That said, you can see all 66 new films I watched here and tomorrow I will be posting both an end-of-the-month wrap up for December and an end of the year post, so look out for those! And now, without further ado, here are my Favorite Fifteen Films of 2015!
Movie Quote of the Day – Persepolis, 2007 (dir. Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud)
Grandmother: Listen. I don’t like to preach, but here’s some advice. You’ll meet a lot of jerks in life. If they hurt you, remember it’s because they’re stupid. Don’t react to their cruelty. There’s nothing worse than bitterness and revenge. Keep your dignity and be true to yourself.
Movie Quote of the Day – Les Rendez-vous d’Anna, 1978 (dir. Chantal Akerman)
Heinrich: Is something wrong?
Anna: We don’t love each other.
Heinrich: I feel like I’ve known you forever.
Anna: But that’s not true.
Movie Quote of the Day – Le Bonheur, 1965 (dir. Agnès Varda)
François: I’m different since I met you. On the contrary, I’m even more myself.
Movie Quote of the Day – Meadowland, 2015 (dir. Reed Morano)
Tim: Well, you know, the thing about the brain, or I should say, the conscious brain, is that all you can do is scan things from left to right, absorbing information in these long, continuous sequences, which is why it takes so long to get educated. But the unconscious . . .the unconscious is a completely different story. It’s a whole different level of learning. Because words have no intrinsic meaning, they’re just pointers, you know?
Phil: Right.
Tim: We see this, we see that. . .What is this? This is a fucking table. Well, who says it’s a fucking table? But I’ve named it, and separated it out from everything else and Bob’s your uncle, right? But that’s not how kids see it, or animals. How do you drown out all the noise and the static, and just simply look at what’s actually there? And the thing that I’m grappling with is how much we’re missing by. . .by just focusing on the most obvious linear input stream.
Movie Quote of the Day – Heart of a Dog, 2015 (dir. Laurie Anderson)
Laurie Anderson: That was where she learned the great skill of empathy and also where she learned what our meditation teacher keeps telling us. He says, “You should try to learn how to feel sad without being sad.” Which is actually really hard to do.
Movie Quote of the Day – Holy Smoke!, 1999 (dir. Jane Campion)
Ruth Barron: Be kind? So what? You don’t think I’m kind.
PJ Waters: *Shakes head no*
Ruth Barron: Oh, God. Now I feel sick. Why didn’t you just write “cruel”?
PJ Waters: Hey, come on.
Ruth Barron: No, you’re right. Be kind. . .that’s the whole point. Thank you. I’m very grateful. That is it, isn’t it? The only thing. The Dalai Lama said it. . .kindness. Do you know what I’m really scared of?
PJ Waters: What?
Ruth Barron: Don’t tell anyone.
PJ Waters: No.
Ruth Barron: Despite all my strong feelings, I’m heartless.
Movie Quote of the Day – Mixed Nuts, 1994 (dir. Nora Ephron)
Philip: You’re upset because it’s Christmas. Christmas is a time when you look at your life through a magnifying glass, and whatever you don’t have feels overwhelming. Being alone is so much lonelier at Christmas. Everything sad is so much sadder at Christmas. You can’t give in to this, Felix!
Movie Quote of the Day – Paris Is Burning, 1990 (dir. Jennie Livingston)
Dorian Corey: I always had hopes of being a big star. And then I looked–as you get older, you aim a little lower. And I just say, “Well, yeah, you still might make an impression.” Everybody wants to leave something behind them, some impression, some mark upon the world. Then you think, you’ve left a mark on the world if you just get through it, and a few people remember your name. Then you’ve left a mark. You don’t have to bend the whole world. I think it’s better to just enjoy it. Pay your dues, and enjoy it. If you shoot an arrow and it goes real high, hooray for you.
Movie Quote of the Day – A Christmas Melody, 2015 (dir. Mariah Carey)
Danny: You know what? You can make new memories, you can create a new future.
Kristin: That’s the problem. I don’t know where my future’s going. I mean, I thought I did, but look where it got me.
Danny: It got you back to people who care about you.
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