We’re halfway through the summer, which means we’re halfway(ish) through the year. That’s a great time to check out a Mid-Year Top 10 list. So, here are my Top 10 movies of the year (so far…). (Disclaimer – this list is mine and mine alone – James Jay Edwards. Also – this list is subject to change at the drop of a hat. That’s how mid-year lists are.)
10 – I Saw the TV Glow
I have to admit that I missed much of the trans allegory that filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun inserted into I Saw the TV Glow. I saw it as more of a metaphor for small-town living and finding yourself once you are able to escape it. So maybe I was halfway there? Either way, this is one of the more stylish movies of the year.
9 – Kneecap
A late addition to this list (it knocked The First Omen off, for those curious). Kneecap is about using the talents and resources you have to change the world in the way you see fit. And it’s all set to a thumpin’ hip-hop soundtrack.
8 – In a Violent Nature
There’s not much new in the story to In a Violent Nature. Its attraction lies not in what it does, but how it does it – it’s a campfire woods slasher movie from the point of view of the killer. The camera follows the hatchet man around sort of like a video game character, watching him do a lot of nothing in between kills. But when he kills, whoa does he ever kill!
7 – Hundreds of Beavers
Hundreds of Beavers is one of the weirdest movies you’re bound to see all year. Despite its zaniness (or maybe because of it), it’s still a seamless combination of Looney Tunes cartoons, silent movie slapstick, and video game logic that also happens to like up to its name – it’s about a guy who encounters Hundreds of Beavers. Possibly Thousands.
6 – Monkey Man
Some said Monkey Man was a John Wick imitator, I saw it as more of an Oldboy imitator. One thing is for certain – it is NOT a Fight Club imitator. Any way you look at it, its blend of action and drama is incredible.
5 – MaXXXine
Ti West really sticks the landing with this last chapter of his and Mia Goth’s X trilogy. This is the trilogy’s Return of the Jedi. Just like the last two movies, this one is a love letter to a period and style of filmmaking – this time, it’s eighties crime thrillers.
4 – Longlegs
Longlegs plays out as a B-movie version of The Silence of the Lambs, with less procedure and more exploitation. Featuring Nicolas Cage at his strangest, and Nic Cage has made a career out of playing strange roles.
3 – Civil War
What can a movie made by a Brit about an American civil war say? Plenty. By showing the war through the lenses of journalists and purposefully keeping the sides ambiguous, Civil War is more about the act of war than it is about the combatants themselves.
2 – Love Lies Bleeding
Love Lies Bleeding is proof of two things. First, that Rose Glass can make awesome movies and Saint Maud was not a fluke. And second, that Kristen Stewart continues to shred and shed preconceptions with her post-Twilight role decisions.
1 – ISS
The setup for this brilliant exercise in paranoia is next level. Six scientists are aboard the International Space Station – three American and three Russian – when World War III breaks out below them on Earth. Knowing that their countries are now enemies, who do they trust? Genius.
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