Top 20 Films I Watched This Year.

I have one habit that sometimes makes me irked and ashamed. I usually keep a lot of tracks of films and leave them be. Mind you, that the title specifically means so, I haven't been really able to keep updating my film-seeing schedule due to school and all, so I usually download some films that I haven't been able to get in DVDs.

The fact that I'm hoarding all of these films is very demeaning because I hold films in my heart very dear, so I decided to watch one or two whenever I'm free, and fortunately, that's an amazing decision because these films open up so much about things that I desire to know more, such as gender issues, mental illness, women's intuition, LGBT, family problems, politics, quarter-life crisis, and a lot more. And lately, I discover that there are so little of women-directed films around so, I include some here, mainly because of how exceptional the films are.

But, this year's been pretty satisfying because of the amount of great films that I have watched since the first of 2015. So, hereby, I give you the top 20 films I watched this year.

(SOME OF THESE FILMS ARE NOT NECESSARILY RELEASED IN 2015)

1. ABOUT ELLY (DARBAREYE ELLY) (Asghar Farhadi, 2009)

Farhadi's long-awaited psychological thriller is finally released by US this year, and it's grippingly sensational. The story revolves around a group of friends going on a vacation, and someone's suddenly missing. The hint of this film is very Hitchcockian and it's done very masterful, a very fine tribute if he's alive, let's be real.

2. GAYBY (Jonathan Lisecki, 2012)

A woman and her gay friend want to conceive a baby, what could go wrong with that? This screwball comedy gives a freshness to the cinema, and this one is a keeper because the writing is as witty as you can get, wonderfully funny performances by the two leads, and it gives you a whole new perspective about understanding about the postmodernist world we live in now.

3. THE IMMIGRANT (James Gray, 2013)

6 words; Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix, and Jeremy Renner. (Well technically it's 7 words but still).

An innocent immigrant is tricked into prostitution life. The performances here is wonderful, if you ever want to see Cotillard in a silent film, this might be the one, because even though she's talking, her facial expressions throughout the film makes you feel things, almost like the great Greta Garbo.

4. NINOTCHKA (Ernst Lubitch, 1939)

And speaking of Greta Garbo, here's the infamous film of her with the slogan "Garbo Laughs!".

This film is actually a satire interpretation of capitalism. Garbo starred as the rigid Russian woman who's sent by the government for an official business, only to find herself falling in love with a man that she found distasteful.

5. REBECCA (Alfred Hitchcock, 1940)

A classic Hitchcock, starred by the always stunning, Joan Fontaine as the new bride of a great and rich man, played by Laurence Olivier. But only to find that he's still can't get over the shadow of his first wife, and with the mysteriously loyal to the first wife maid, it's killing her inside. Probably the most perfectly narrated film of his because you can actually see the thrilling sensation building into your bones.

6. ROSETTA (The Dardennes Brothers, 1999)

I actually find this film very obnoxious, which makes sense because it means that the directors did their job right. This film pictures a very distressing life of a teenage girl with impetuous nature, trying to make her life right along with her alcoholic mother. She has a job, and she will do anything to maintain that job, even though you have to do the wrong things to make it right. This film speaks a lot about the humanity nowadays in a flip, the whole nature or nurture kind of questions.

7. BRIGHT STAR (Jane Campion, 2009)

A love story about John Keats, the famous poet from England back in the 19th century, and Fanny Brawne, his neighbor-turned-lover. Jane Campion is actually one of my favorite directors, and this is why I put her film here, because it is just, beautiful. The women in this film are truly remarkable and rich with intuition you wouldn't believe. If you're a fan of period dramas, this one is a keeper, also.

8. BEYOND THE LIGHTS (Gina Prince-Bythewood, 2014)

It's like Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard, but better. With the characters being introduced, the portrayal of how media sees women, and the chemistry between the two leads, make this film a very special film for me, aside from the hot guy. Also because Gugu-Mbatha Raw, which is a breathe of fresh air.

9. TEST (Chris Mason Johnson, 2013)

Sets in San Francisco in the year of 1985. Two very different guys who work at a dance company attract each other and together, they face the world with open arms and promises even though feared with the new disease spreading around (by the time, it was AIDS). TEST was beautiful and mournful but also hopeful.

10. TIME TO LEAVE (LE TEMPS QUI RESTE) (Francois Ozon, 2005)

An arrogant 31 year old gay man learns that he has a malignant tumor that's going to kill him within a few months. Then it's followed by how he handles the situation to his family and boyfriend, and also how he copes up with his job as a fashion photographer. This is a very scary reminder that you will leave the world, alone. Overall, a very beautiful film, and it's also a philosophical view of lonely, isolated death can be whatever you wish it to be.

11. Mommy (Xavier Dolan, 2015)

"Loving people doesn't save them"

That's what I caught at the first 20 minutes of the film. It's simple, but it slaps you on the face right away. It tells about a single mother who decides to raise his problematic son all alone, it was hellish, up until a neighbor comes and helps them out. This film shows layers of realistic values of family. Hope, is what you want to have in your family. The cinematography was flawless, somehow for me (the aspect ratio of the screen is 1:1), it symbolizes how tight their connection as a family, too tight it's almost claustrophobic. Once again, Xavier Dolan represents as one of the finest directors to ever appear.

12. Kids (Larry Clark, 1995)

One of the controversial films to ever expose the disturbing portrayals of teenagers about sex and substantial abuses. I actually have seen the film last year but I stopped because it was too disturbing for me, then I rewatched it again and found it incredibly stupidly stupendous. This film marks the birth of Chloe Sevigny and Rosario Dawson's careers and their brilliance.

13. Tiny Furniture (Lena Dunham, 2010)

Postmodernism at its best. Shows proofs, not solution. Only the humor could dress up your life. It's very enjoyable and rather disturbing for my generation. Lena Dunham may be irritating for you, but she produces good stuff, especially for this generation, that's probably why people dislike her, because she speaks A LOT of truth in her works.

14. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)

A teenage girl witnesses a woman got hit by a bus and caught up with the events matrix and she questions a lot about what's going on between with her life and the others that are affected by the accident. An important film with emotional rollercoaster attached to it. Should watch just because of Anna Paquin's greatness in it.

15. Days of Being Wild (Wong-kar Wai, 1990)

A better version of Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless. That's what I like to call it. Leslie Cheung starred as the playboy of Hongkong and the story rotates around his victims and how the heartbreaks affect the women. A very erotic (in my opinion) film, the maturity of Wong-kar Wai in portraying love and its problems HAS to be applauded here.

16. Repulsion (Roman Polanski, 1965)

Catherine Deneuve stars as the girl with androphobia (fear of interaction with men) and she begins to go through episodes of frightful hallucinations when she got left by her sister to go on a holiday. Roman Polanski's first English-language film is astonishing, it created a really empowering film, yet somehow frustrating and frightening at the same time. This film shows us about how women are being seen in the eyes of men, which is demeaning, and this film captured the invincibility of women when they were attacked.

17. Welcome To Me (Shira Piven, 2014)

Here you have Kristen Wiig in a role you'll never seen, as a woman with Borderline Personality Disorder. She has this really weird fascination with TV shows. Suddenly, she won a lottery, then she went on having her own TV show. The performance that she delivers was unbelievable, it's wonderful and scary.

18. Berbagi Suami (Nia Dinata, 2006)

Stunning direction from Nia Dinata, the story is not only strong, but also interesting. The three different semi-interconnecting plot revolve around their lives as wives whom are stuck being in polygamy. A must watch for Indonesians to see how women are when they're in this situation.

19. Friends With Money (Nicole Holofcener, 2006)

Come on! Jennifer Aniston, Catherine Keener, Frances MacDormand, and Joan Cusack as old friends in one film? How could you reject it?

But seriously, this film may feel very light and heartwarming but it's actually very witty and dark. But since it's Nicole goddamn Holofcener, of course you would laugh at the film anyway because it's that entertaining and funny, without thinking that your life can be told by Holofcener in a very sarcastic way.

20. In The Loop (Armando Iannucci, 2009)

Have you ever watched Veep?

Then watch the spinoff film from a series that inspires Veep. The story entails about the US President and the UK Prime Minister are looking to launch a war in the Middle East, so their government officials start to work together, but behind the scene, the whole situation is very messy and unprofessional, it's hilarious. Politically satire, but it actually feels like a real situation.

-----------

By the way, this is not a numerous rank, because these films are all so amazing and great in their own ways.