See a Dog, Hear a Dog (2016)

2016 | USA | Jesse McLean | ★★★

Pennsylvanian media artist Jesse McLean's mildly stimulating See a Dog, Hear a Dog is an eclectically composed existential experimental short film about the various modes of communication between dogs, humans, and computers.

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"This tragicomic analysis of communication between humans, animals, and machines was made with original video footage, computer animations, and internet media, including YouTube dog videos, chatbot dialogue windows, and images from iTunes visualizer." TMDb

Twin Peaks: The Return (2017)

Twin Peaks

2017 | USA | David Lynch | ★★★★★

Equal parts hilarious, terrifying, and baffling, David Lynch's dreamlike, formally audacious Twin Peaks: The Return is an 18-part existential crime serial, featuring incomparably bold visuals, wonderfully full-blooded performances, and fantastically nonsensical plotting.

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"Directed entirely by David Lynch, the new Showtime 18-part limited event series picks up 25 years after the inhabitants of a quaint northwestern town were stunned when their homecoming queen Laura Palmer was shockingly murdered. Twin Peaks is written and executive produced by series creators David Lynch and Mark Frost, and is executive produced by Sabrina S. Sutherland." Showtime

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Stotty's 2010s Favourites

Operation Avalanche (2016)

2016 | Canada / USA | Matt Johnson | ★★★

Matt Johnson's Operation Avalanche is a sporadically amusing realisation of a well-known conspiracy theory, buoyed by technical excellence, entirely convincing period detail, and likeable performances, but hamstrung by the ridiculousness of its found-footage narrative core.

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"1967: the height of the Cold War. The CIA suspects there is a Russian mole inside of NASA, sabotaging the Apollo program. They send two young agents on a mission to go undercover, posing as documentary filmmakers, there to capture NASA's race to the moon. The real mission - use their access and technology to hunt down the leak. But what they discover is far more shocking than soviet spies... Their government may be hiding a secret about Apollo that could define the decade, and the White House will stop at nothing to silence anyone who learns it." Lionsgate

Westworld (2016-)

2016- | USA | Lisa Joy & Jonathan Nolan | ★★★★★

Loosely based on Michael Crichton's 1973 film of the same name, Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan's visceral, labyrinthinely plotted Westworld is a hugely entertaining existential sci-fi western series, featuring masterly multi-layered storytelling, excellent effects work, and memorable performances (particularly from Thandie Newton and Ed Harris).

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"Inspired by the 1973 motion picture of the same name, Westworld is a one-hour drama series about a futuristic theme park populated by artificial beings. This dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin is set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past. It explores a world in which every human appetite, no matter how noble or depraved, can be indulged." Warner Bros.

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Stotty's 2010s Favourites

Buster's Mal Heart (2016)

2016 | USA | Sarah Adina Smith | ★★★★

Starring Rami Malek, DJ Qualls, and Kate Lyn Sheil, Sarah Adina Smith's stylish and unpredictable Buster's Mal Heart is a bold metaphysical mystery, featuring notable performances, striking photography, stimulating existential enquiry, and a scene-stealing toddler.

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"In this bold thriller spiked with dark humor, Rami Malek (Mr. Robot) is a family man whose chance encounter with a conspiracy-obsessed drifter leaves him on the run from the police and an impending event known as The Inversion." Well Go USA

To Have and Have Not (1944)

1944 | USA | Howard Hawks | ★★★★

Howard Hawks's studio-bound To Have and Have Not is an entertaining Casablanca knock-off, driven by the effortless cool of Humphrey Bogart, the sultry sex of Lauren Bacall, the comic pathos of Walter Brennan, the bloated villainy of Dan Seymour, and the lively music of Hoagy Carmichael.

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"Hollywood legend Humphrey Bogart ("The African Queen," "Casablanca") is a Martinique charter boat skipper who gets mixed up with beautiful Lauren Bacall ("The Big Sleep," "Misery") and underground French resistance operatives during WWII. Critics raved over sultry 19 year-old Bacall's powerful screen debut." Warner Bros.

A Country Called Home (2015)

2015 | USA | Anna Axster | ★★★

Anna Axster's female-driven, Texas-set A Country Called Home is an occasionally clichéd and vaguely patronising though generally touching low-key drama, featuring convincingly well-drawn characters and sensitively adroit performances from Imogen Poots, Mackenzie Davis, Mary McCormack, et al.

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"A Country Called Home is a compelling coming of age story with universal appeal because it deals with trials and trepidations that most people experience in one way or another, no matter who they are or where they are from. The story incorporates the views of people from all walks of life; different generations, different places, and different socio-economic backdrops. Hence main character Ellie’s journey of growth and forgiveness is grounded in a rich and multifaceted setting. Her story was inspired by director / writer Anna Axster’s travels and observations throughout the United States with her musician husband, Ryan Bingham." acountrycalledhome.com

Fargo: Year 3 (2017)

F          A          R          G          O

2017 | USA | Noah Hawley | ★★★★★

The third instalment of Noah Hawley's Coen-inspired Fargo is a ten-part existential black comedy, featuring truly unpredictable plotting, oft inspired direction, and memorable performances from its starry cast, particularly from Carrie Coon, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, David Thewlis, and both Ewan McGregor and Ewan McGregor.

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"From Creator Noah Hawley, the new installment of Fargo is an all-new “true crime” tale starring Ewan McGregor in dual roles as Emmit Stussy and his slightly younger brother Ray. Their sibling rivalry leads to a twisted path that begins with petty theft but soon leads to murder, mobsters and cutthroat competitive bridge." 20th Century Fox

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Stotty's 2010s Favourites

The Handmaid's Tale (2017-)

2017- | USA | Bruce Miller | ★★★★★

Based on Margaret Atwood's acclaimed 1985 novel, Bruce Miller's gripping television drama The Handmaid's Tale is a harrowing, beautifully crafted, Syria-echoing dystopian nightmare, driven by Elisabeth Moss's outstanding central performance and a raft of notable supporting turns.

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"Adapted from the classic novel by Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale is the story of life in the dystopia of Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly the United States. Facing environmental disasters and a plunging birthrate, Gilead is ruled by a twisted fundamentalism in its militarized “return to traditional values.” As one of the few remaining fertile women, Offred (Elisabeth Moss) is a Handmaid in the Commander’s household, one of the caste of women forced into sexual servitude as a last desperate attempt to repopulate the world. In this terrifying society, Offred must navigate between Commanders, their cruel Wives, domestic Marthas, and her fellow Handmaids – where anyone could be a spy for Gilead – all with one goal: to survive and find the daughter that was taken from her." Hulu

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Stotty's 2010s Favourites

Gambit (1966)

1966 | USA | Ronald Neame | ★★★★

Packed with startling twists and turns, Ronald Neame's effervescent Gambit is a stylish and unpredictable heist-con comedy, notable for its fabulous sets and costumes and the charismatic performances of Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine, and Herbert Lom.

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"One of the classic comic-heist movies of the '60s, Ronald Neame's GAMBIT stars Michael Caine as Harry Dean, the cockney con-man with the perfect plan to steal a priceless statue. He just needs the right accomplice to play the part of his wife and Shirley MacLaine's Eurasian showgirl has just the face he's looking for. Events don't unfold quite as planned, but then little is what it seems in a plot that keeps the audience guessing as it twists and turns to the very end." Second Sight

Prisoners (2014)

2014 | USA | Denis Villeneuve | ★★★★

Starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal, Canadian director Denis Villeneuve's labyrinthinely plotted first American film Prisoners is a gripping, well-crafted thriller, packed with full-blooded performances, raw emotion, and moral ambiguity.

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"How far would you go to protect your child? Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) is facing every parent’s worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter, Anna, is missing, together with her young friend, Joy, and as minutes turn to hours, panic sets in. The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had earlier been parked on their street. Heading the investigation, Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) arrests its driver, Alex Jones (Paul Dano), but a lack of evidence forces the only suspect’s release. Knowing his child’s life is at stake, the frantic Dover decides he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands. The desperate father will do whatever it takes to find the girls, but in doing so, he may lose himself, begging the question: When do you cross the line between seeking justice and becoming a vigilante?" Warner Bros / Alcon Entertainment

Crank (2006)

2006 | USA | Neveldine & Taylor | ★★★

Starring Jason Statham and Amy Smart, Neveldine & Taylor's exhaustingly paced Crank is a wild and exhilarating if somewhat soulless action thriller, buoyed by its outré plotting, full-blooded performances, and imaginative set-pieces.

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"Action thriller starring Jason Statham as ace hitman Chev Chelios, who learns that he has been injected with a poison that will kill him if his heart rate drops below a certain point. Racing against time and against his own body, Chev must keep up the pressure as he tracks down the men responsible and exact his violent revenge." Universal Pictures

LA 92: The Riots (2017)

2017 | USA | Daniel Lindsay & T.J. Martin | ★★★★★

Daniel Lindsay & T.J. Martin's truly horrific, utterly devastating LA 92: The Riots is an unflinching, powerfully scored documentary about the fallout from the infamous Rodney King trial, entirely comprised of thoughtfully chosen, brilliantly edited archival material.

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"Twenty-five years after the verdict in the Rodney King trial sparked several days of protests, violence and looting in Los Angeles, LA 92 immerses viewers in that tumultuous period through stunning and rarely seen archival footage. Produced by two-time Oscar winner Simon Chinn and Emmy winner Jonathan Chinn and directed by Oscar winners Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin, the film looks at the events of 1992 from a multitude of vantage points, bringing a fresh perspective to a pivotal moment that reverberates to this day." National Geographic

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Stotty's 2010s Favourites

20th Century Women (2016)

2016 | USA | Mike Mills | ★★★★★

Mike Mills's funny, thoughtful, and touching 20th Century Women is a lovingly crafted 1979-set pseudo-family drama, notable for its pleasingly eclectic soundtrack, Sean Porter's eye-catching photography, and the committed performances of its stellar, well-assembled cast.

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"Set in Santa Barbara, 20th Century Women follows Dorothea Fields (Annette Bening), a determined single mother, raising her adolescent son Jamie (newcomer Lucas Jade Zumann, in a breakout performance) at a moment brimming with cultural change and rebellion. Dorothea enlists the help of two younger women in Jamie's upbringing - Abbie (Greta Gerwig), a free-spirited punk artist living as a boarder in the Fields' home, and Julie (Elle Fanning), a savvy and provocative teenage neighbour." 20th Century Fox

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Stotty's 2010s Favourites

The Edge of Seventeen (2016)

2016 | USA | Kelly Fremon Craig | ★★★★

Kelly Fremon Craig's funny and moving The Edge of Seventeen is a perceptive and intelligent yet wholly accessible teen comedy, notable for its nuanced characterisation, Woody Harrelson's scene-stealing supporting turn, and, in particular, the remarkable performance of the decidedly charismatic Hailee Steinfeld.

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"Everyone knows that growing up is hard, and life is no easier for high school junior Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld), who is already at peak awkwardness when her all-star older brother Darian (Blake Jenner) starts dating her best friend Krista (Haley Lu Richardson). All at once, Nadine feels more alone than ever, until the unexpected friendship of a thoughtful boy (Hayden Szeto) gives her a glimmer of hope that things just might not be so terrible after all." STX Entertainment

A Cure for Wellness (2016)

2016 | USA / Germany | Gore Verbinski | ★★★

Starring Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs, and Mia Goth, Gore Verbinski's pretty but vacant A Cure for Wellness is a gorgeously crafted though overlong and vaguely familiar-feeling thriller, buoyed by its off-the-wall plotting, committed performances, and visual panache.

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"An ambitious young executive is sent to retrieve his company's CEO from an idyllic but mysterious 'wellness centre' at a remote location in the Swiss Alps, but soon suspects that the spa's treatments are not what they seem." TMDb

Moonlight (2016)

2016 | USA | Barry Jenkins | ★★★★★

Barry Jenkins's beautifully crafted, Oscar-winning Moonlight is a tender, gently sensuous Afro-gay coming-of-age tale, featuring bold direction, unflinching scripting, sublime photography, and a number of notable performances.

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"A timeless story of human connection and self-discovery, Moonlight chronicles the life of a young black man from childhood to adulthood as he struggles to find his place in the world while growing up in a rough neighborhood of Miami. At once a vital portrait of contemporary African-American life and an intensely personal and poetic meditation on identity, family, friendship, and love, Moonlight is a groundbreaking piece of cinema that reverberates with deep compassion and universal truths. Anchored by extraordinary performances from a tremendous ensemble cast, Barry Jenkins’s staggering, singular vision is profoundly moving in its portrayal of the moments, people, and unknowable forces that shape our lives and make us who we are." A24 Films

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Stotty's 2010s Favourites

B-ROLL with Andre (2015)

2015 | USA | James N. Kienitz Wilkins | ★★★★

The concluding part of his 'Andre' Trilogy, artist and film-maker James N. Kienitz Wilkins's stimulatingly intriguing B-ROLL with Andre is a visually undistinguished but idea-packed short film about movies, technology, and social identity.

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"A disembodied, anonymous character reflects on the titular Andre, a fellow prisoner whose obsessions with mainstream cinema and video technologies serve as oblique clues to how he escaped. Andre’s aspirations to achieve absolute fidelity in image-making intersect with questions about representation, identity, and personal ethics." Vdrome

In a Lonely Place (1950)

1950 | USA | Nicholas Ray | ★★★★★

Nicholas Ray's outstanding In a Lonely Place is an unsettling noir-tinged romantic drama, featuring a seldom better Bogie, a mesmeric Gloria Grahame, Burnett Guffey's oft stunning photography, and some of the best dialogue you're ever likely to hear.

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"When a gifted but washed-up screenwriter with a hair-trigger temper—Humphrey Bogart, in a revelatory, vulnerable performance—becomes the prime suspect in a brutal Tinseltown murder, the only person who can supply an alibi for him is a seductive neighbor (Gloria Grahame) with her own troubled past. The emotionally charged In a Lonely Place, freely adapted from a Dorothy B. Hughes thriller, is a brilliant, turbulent mix of suspenseful noir and devastating melodrama, fueled by powerhouse performances. An uncompromising tale of two people desperate to love yet struggling with their demons and each other, this is one of the greatest films of the 1950s, and a benchmark in the career of the classic Hollywood auteur Nicholas Ray." The Criterion Collection

See also:

Stotty's 1950s Favourites

Manchester by the Sea (2016)

2016 | USA | Kenneth Lonergan | ★★★★

Kenneth Lonergan's crushingly sad Manchester by the Sea is a sensitively handled film about guilt and grief, featuring striking, wintry photography, bold (if occasionally unsubtle) scoring, and powerful (though unshowy) performances from its well assembled cast, in particular from Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams.

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"In Manchester by the Sea, the latest film from award-winning writer and director Kenneth Lonergan, the life of a solitary Boston janitor is transformed when he returns to his hometown to take care of his teenage nephew. The story of the Chandlers, a working-class family living in a Massachusetts fishing village for generations, Manchester by the Sea is a deeply poignant, unexpectedly funny exploration of the power of familial love, community, sacrifice and hope." Amazon Studios/Roadside Attractions