From the context of a movie year that had most of its post-March theatrical releases canceled, the number of good movies that actually came out in 2020 were lower than usual. Not even the streaming platforms could save it.
With most theaters closed, we had to settle with watching movies in the comfort of our own homes. Release dates for potential blockbusters such as “Dune,” and “West Side Story,” were pushed back to 2021, but in no way did that leave us with no movies.
In all, I saw 120 new movies that year, an astounding number, all things considered, and although there was no “Uncut Gems,” “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood” or “The Irishman,” the good stuff came in smaller packages, dished out via independent studios who, in the midst of endless lockdowns, managed to find a lifeline between audience and cinema.
And yet, in the 20+ years I’ve been covering movies, I don’t think I endure a worse year in terms of quality. Cinephiles tend to be reliant on quality films from Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Telluride. Two of those fests were outright canceled and the other two had mediocre lineups of films, from filmmakers who didn’t mind having their films screened digitally as well as “in-person” (with 50% capacity attendance).
Now that it’s been almost two years since the pandemic-destroyed movie year of 2020, which films have actually managed to hold up? As far as I’m concerned, no masterpiece was released in 2020 …
My list would include: Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Lovers Rock, Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets, First Cow, The Invisible Man, Bad Education, The Father, Young Ahmed, Sound of Metal, The Assistant, Bacurau, Pieces of a Woman, American Utopia, Possessor, Spree.
Brady Corbet's “The Origin of the World,” his X-Rated epic about "Northern California’s economy" in the 1970s epic, has now started production in South Africa under the working title “SALT FLATS.”