It took thirty years for Neil Gaiman’s legendary graphic novels to be madeinto films. But this was worth the wait. Cleverly modernised, superbly cast.Looking forward to hopefully many more seasons.
Tom Sturridge in ‘The Sandman’. — © LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX
2. ‘The white lotus’
It’s rare that a season finale is so satisfying. Strong because of thecarefully built tension and the socially critical humor. And JenniferCoolidge. Oh my God Jennifer Coolidge.
Jennifer Coolidge in ‘The white lotus’. — © ISOPIX
3. ‘Everything everywhere all at once’
Incredibly absurd, surprising, insane story that takes you into the world of aChinese-American woman and her daughter. If the cinema is completely silentwhen two stones talk to each other, then you know: great.
Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All the Time. — © ISOPIX
4. Our Flag Means Death
Comedy series from David Jenkins that completely turns the Blackbeard mythupside down. After ten episodes in which every actor comes into his own, onecan only hope that the ship continues to sail.
Rhys Darby and Nathan Foad in ‘Our Flag Means Death’. — © streamz
5. ‘Uncles’
Almost a documentary for West Flemish viewers. In addition to ‘Chantal’, theFlemish series that has already provided classic TV fragments this year.Pancakes and artificial grass will never be the same again.
Blaise Alfonso in ‘Uncles’. — © streamz
WOUT DESMYTERE
1. Close
Lukas Dhont’s second feature film hit the bull’s eye – or rather, to theheart. Nothing has touched us more this year than his heartbreaking account ofthe friendship between Rémi and Léo. The rain of foreign prizes has been fullyawarded to him. Thumbs up for that Oscar.
Lukas Dhont released the most beautiful film of the year with ‘Close’.
2. ‘Better Call Saul’
The trip through the underworld of New Mexico, which started fourteen yearsago in Breaking bad, came to an end this year. Magically written, acted andfilmed. If protagonists Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn are again ignored by theEmmys next year, we will call for protest in the streets.
Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn did the books in ‘Better Call Saul’.
3. Peaky Blinders
Our favorite English gangsters also said goodbye this year, although they willreturn for a round on the silver screen anyway. Tommy Shelby showed his mostmelancholic side, but was not afraid to let the revolvers crackle again. Seeyou at the cinema, old boy. By order of the Peaky Fookin’ Blinders.
Tommy Shelby also said goodbye – for the time being. — © CollectionChristopher
4. ‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio’
Two months after the horrible Disney remake, Guillermo del Toro showed howit’s done. His animated film is a smart, powerful update of the classic story.We never expected to get watery eyes with Pinocchio for goodness sake, butthat was not counted on the grandmaster.
Guillermo del Toro brought a clever update to a classic story with his’Pinocchio’. — © Netflix
5. The Batman
Superheroes were up for grabs this year, but the masked bat is the only onethat really managed to surprise us. What do you get when you drop Batman intoa crime thriller à la Se7en? A compelling film that never gets boring despitea running time of three hours.
Batman turned out to be a sleuth in this compelling thriller. — © ISOPIX
JEROEN STRUYS
1. Close
Never before has a Belgian film topped our list. Lukas Dhont’s second film isa spectacular plea for vulnerability: in all its gentle subtlety, this isradical cinema, which more than 175,000 Belgians, 75,000 Dutch and 200,000French people went to see. Close is a film that makes you a better person.
With ‘Close’, a Belgian film is at the top of our list for the first time.
2. Hit the road
Last summer, award-winning director Jafar Panahi was thrown into jail in Iran.His son, Panah Panahi, followed in his footsteps with this heart-conqueringroad movie, which shows the tears but also the resilience of a people tryingto escape an unusually brutal regime.
Panah Panahi made his debut with the heart-conquering ‘Hit the road’. — ©Brecht VanMaele
3. ‘Drive my car’
For a year, the red Saab 900 Turbo from this Japanese film kept spinning inour heads. At times erotic, always melancholic and smelling of motor oil: thisfilm adaptation of a short story by Murakami touches the heart, mind andpleasure center.
‘Drive my car’ touches the heart, mind and pleasure centre.
4. ‘L’event’
When the French writer Annie Ernaux wrote a book about the abortion sheunderwent as a student in 1964, it was received without much fanfare in theFrench press. When the virtually unknown French director Audrey Diwan made itinto a film, she won the Golden Lion in Venice. And look: a few months agoErnaux was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. This is a heartbreaking,but also heart-conquering film.
‘L’evenement’ is a heartbreaking, but also heart-conquering film.
5. ‘The Northman’
Robert Eggers’ insanely ambitious Viking epic flopped at the box office, butthe absentees were wrong: they didn’t see Björk as a witch or Willem Dafoe’stalking skull and hovering horses. The craziest flop of the year deserves aplace in the Valhalla.
The ambitious ‘The Northman’ was a flop, but it deserves a place in theValhalla. — © ISOPIX
Ruben Aerts
1.Close
Can’t a boy friendship be tender and innocent without raising nasty questions?Lukas Dhont’s second film is an intimate portrait of early masculinity in aworld that does not allow you to be vulnerable. Heartbreakingly beautiful. Thebest film of the year is Belgian!
2. Drive my car
No car received a warmer rehabilitation than the red Saab 900 Turbo from thisJapanese Oscar winner. Melancholy and not free from poetry, the film switchesbetween mourning and sadness, intimacy and loneliness. A three-hour ride thatstarted from a short story by Murakami.
3. Licorice pizza
1970s LA is the setting for a fifteen-year-old’s gleefully rash crush on amuch older, young woman. After the meticulous Phantom thread, Paul ThomasAnderson reflects on growing pains and a life that seems endless.Unadulterated charm!
© AP
4. Grosse Freiheit
Loving is an act of resistance in Germany in 1968. At least for Hans, a manwho likes men. He flies behind bars but continues to love there too. FranzRogowski is a name to know, Grosse Freiheit a fragile film to cherish.Heartbreakingly loving.
5. C’mon c’mon
Mike Mills makes films that are tender and sensitive, including this black-and-white account with Joaquin Phoenix. As a radio producer, he gauges youngpeople’s expectations of the future, accompanied by his nephew. Minimalist,rich in emotions and observations. A movie that happens to you.