Haven’t seen Toni Erdmann yet? Check out the 2016 German-Austrian comedy as part of Cinematheque’s Best of the Decade film series.
Can you name your 10 favourite films from the last decade? Cinematheque programmers Jim Sinclair and Shaun Inouye have picked theirs, and the theatre is screening them from now until Feb. 17.
Among the selections, perhaps the biggest surprise is David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return, an 18-hour epic that aired in 2017 in hour-long episodes on Showtime. Other titles you might recognize, or perhaps have never heard of—and that’s exactly what lists like these (and the Cinematheque’s programming) is for.
See the selections below (click on titles to view trailers). And no, Avengers: Endgame did not make the cut.
Both Sinclair and associate programmer Inouye chose Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight (2016), Maren Ade’s Toni Erdmann (2016) and Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010).
American Honey, Stranger By the Lake, Force Majeure, High Life, Jackie, The Tree of Life, Roma, The Act of Killing, and Under the Skin, will likely be familiar to film buffs; some are available on cable, Netflix, or another streaming service, and most if not all were on the festival circuit.
Among the more obscure titles are Western, Zama, and Burning.
Valeska Grisebach’s Western (2017) explores culture clash when German construction workers begin a new job in the Bulgarian countryside. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.
In Zama, an officer of the Spanish Crown waits for a letter that will grant him a transfer from out of his current posting. Worried about making waves, he accepts whatever comes his way so as not to delay the transfer. Directed by Lucrecia Martel, the 2017 Argentine period drama film is based on the 1956 novel of the same name by Antonio di Benedetto. It premiered at the 74th Venice International Film Festival screened in the Masters section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival.
There are more questions than answers in Burning (South Korea, 2018), Based on a short story by Haruki Murakami, Lee Chang-Dong’s psychological thriller takes a while to get going but rewards patience. Definitely one for fans of the surprise 2019 arthouse hit Parasite.
David Lynch’s 18-hour Twin Peaks: The Return will test the endurance of even the most patient cinephile. Fortunately, Cinematheque is only screen episodes 1, 2 and 8. Why 8? You’ll know why once you’ve seen it.
In addition, Cinematheque’s family-oriented Film Club is screening two favourite children’s films; Paddington 2 (Jan. 19) and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Feb. 16).
For showtimes, complete lists and more info visit thecinematheque.ca.
