Best of 2015: Films That Were New To Me

Every year my friend, the awesome cinematographer and writer Cybel Martin, asks me to do an end-of-the-year #NFOTD list. I usually just post on my Twitter feed, but this year I am going the extra mile and writing a full post about it. In case you are unfamiliar, the goal of NFOTD (or "New Film of the Day"), is simple: watch one film that is new to you each day. At least, that's the goal. Many of us, including myself, either do several films in one day and skip some days in a week, or just do what we can at our own pace. And yes, we keep a yearly spreadsheet of our activity. But no, it's not a competition (though I have watched a whopping 200 new films this year, and we still have a few more days left of it. Just saying).

Anyway, here's my list:

FAVORITE FILM SEEN THEATRICALLY

Title: Room (my review)
Year of Release: 2015
Director: Lenny Abrahamson
Writer: Emma Donoghue
Cinematographer: Danny Cohen
Cast: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean Bridgers

FAVORITE FILM VIEWED ONLINE

Title: Advantageous (my review)
Year of Release: 2015
Director: Jennifer Phang
Writer: Jacqueline Kim, Jennifer Phang
Cinematographer: Richard Wong
Cast: Jacqueline Kim, James Urbaniak, Freya Adams

FAVORITE FILM SEEN ON DVD

Title: A Most Violent Year
Year of Release: 2014
Director: J.C. Chandor
Writer: J.C. Chandor
Cinematographer: Bradford Young
Cast: Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, David Oyelowo

FAVORITE OBSCURE FILM

Title: Man From Reno (my review)
Year of Release: 2014
Director: Dave Boyle
Writer: Dave Boyle, Joel Clark
Cinematographer: Richard Wong
Cast: Ayako Fujitani, Pepe Serna, Kazuki Kitamura

FAVORITE DOCUMENTARY (THREE-WAY TIE)

Title: What Happened, Miss Simone? (my review)
Year of Release: 2015
Director: Liz Garbus
Cinematographer: Igor Martinovic
Cast: Nina Simone, James Baldwin, Stokely Carmichael, Walter Cronkite

Title: Paris Is Burning
Year of Release: 1990
Director: Jennie Livingston
Cinematographer: Paul Gibson
Cast: André Christian, Dorian Corey, Paris Duprée 

Title: Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People

Year of Release: 2014

Director: Thomas Allen Harris

Writer: Thomas Allen Harris, Paul Carter Harrison, Don Perry

Cinematographer: Martina Radwan

Cast:  Arthé Anthony, Anthony Barboza, Hugh Bell

MEMBER'S CHOICE: FAVORITE FILM SEEN ON TV

Title: The Miracle Worker
Year of Release: 1962
Director: Arthur Penn
Writer: William Gibson
Cinematographer: Ernesto Caparros
Cast: Anne Bancroft, Patty Duke, Victor Jory