The Top Tens Begin... Neon Demon?
Tuesday, November 29, 2016 at 10:00PM Everyone will have to have their say about which films are the "best" of the year and that starts, bizarrely, right now even though it's still November. First up is the famed Cahiers du Cinema, which is the oldest film publication still running stretching back to the early 1950s.
Since they're in France, they have a different timetable on releases so TFE's primary 2015 obsession factors in -- Why Carol, it's so good to see you again! But because they are Cahiers du Cinema and generally choose at least one polarizing but largely hated picture, Neon Demon is up near the top.
Their Top Ten List
1 Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade)
2 Elle (Paul Verhoeven)
3 The Neon Demon (Nicolas Winding Refn)
4 Aquarius (Kleber Mendonça Filho)
5 Slack Bay (Bruno Dumont)
6 Julieta (Pedro Almodóvar)
7 Staying Vertical (Alain Guiraudie)
8 La Loi de la jungle (Antonin Peretjatko)
9 Carol (Todd Haynes)
10 Le bois dont les rêves sont faits (Claire Simon)
What do you make of the list? The two I wasn't familiar with are both French and haven't played much elsewhere. Les bois... is a 2 hour plus documentary about people in the woods, cruising for sex, living there if homeless people, etcetera. Jungle is a comedy set in French Guiana which is in South America.
Reader Comments (22)
The Neon Demon belongs in the top ten movies of the year.
I hate Neon Demon with a passion.
I also hated Julietta - Almodóvar's worst in quite some time.
Carol - overrated. Beautifully shot in 16 mm - ah, the evocative grain! And I loved the 50s period - the cars, the clothes and hair styles etc.
But the movie left me completely cold - not the objective with a love story, is it?
Zero chemistry between Mara and Blanchett - I did not get become invested in or moved by their love story.
Elle - very good.
Haven't seen the rest of the movies on the list.
The Neon Demon belongs in the top 10 worst movies of the year.
Omg I H-A-T-E-D The Neon Demon. Idiotic, soulless movie. Yikes!
Cute that the entire top 7 played Cannes this year, and as Guy Lodge pointed out none won prizes.
And I agree Neon Demon was terrible.
Yeah, Cannes really got it wrong this year. Toni Erdmann was amazing.
Merci Cahier du Cinema!!!!! The Neon Demon is currently my #1 film of the year!!!
Staying Vertical was horrible. Pure shock value in search of a meaning. And this comes from someone who loves Guiraudie's Stranger by the Lake.
Yay for Toni, Elle, and Carol. (What a fun trio they'd be together, eh? I'm trying to imagine Carol and Huppert's character in Elle hanging out with the hairy creature from Toni.)
I like Slack Bay more...
Neon Demon was terrible. Slack Bay's inclusion is odd until you remember that these people LOVE Bruno Demont like the Academy love Meryl Streep.
Toni Erdmann at the top is an excellent choice. That film was fascinating. The list also includes the other two top films I've seen: Julieta and Aquarius. I don't get the criticism, the film moved my friend to tears, while I wasn't destroyed by it but certainly I was engaged throughout and thought it was very well made.
Aquarius may showcase the best performance by a female actor this year. Sonia Braga is a tour de force. I had to see it twice during the festivals that's how much I loved it. That last scene...
Who would put The Neon Demon in their top list? It is one of the worst movies of the year.
ps. for clarification's sake: I don't get the criticism of Julieta. I would rather say it's best Almodovar has made in a while.
It's fake. Cahiers du Cinema denied this was their top ten.
In their Facebook page:
"To all so-called journalists (from The Playlist, Fotogramas, SensaCine and others) ready-to-die for a clickbait : if you leak our top 10 without any source, at least try to copy/paste correctly. If it's too complicated for you, just wait for our real announcement. Thank you."
Too bad for them, because Toni Erdmann IS the best movie of the year indeed.
not much of a variation and a bit disappointed really since the top 7 were Cannes's entries. Hope this is not their official top 10
I've bought the magazine and I can assure you this is their actual top10 :)
I've only seen The Neon Demon and Carol, so I can't argue with their ranking. I quite liked The Neon Demon, in the same way I liked The Dressmaker or The Paperboy: it's a film that swings so far out of whack from the trends and rules of modern cinema that what works is spectacular and what fails is disastrous. I love a good ambitious disaster, so I side in favor of The Neon Demon. I have it nowhere near my top 10 this year, but I appreciated it.
Carol is a masterpiece.
Nathaniel, you should really see AQUARIUS before making your Film Bitch Awards! It's fantastic, and I know you're a Braga fan.
Loved Elle / Neon Demon & Staying Vertical all on my top 10 list so far ...
I have to say, I'm more fond of "The Neon Demon" than I am of something like Nocturnal Animals.. and i see them both as the same masturbatory BS.
Nocturnal Animals is just mean and humorless while The Neon Demon is a wreck you can look back with some sort of fondness and has a few truly enjoyable (and funny) moments.
I guess I must be the odd bird because I kinda Liked "the Neon Demon". It was far from perfect and would not make my top ten list but I found it entertaining..
Sonia Braga is lovely in Aquarius. Just lovely.