Jack Moulton

Over the past twenty years, the films of Tim Burton have become synonymous with an entire way of being: a certain style, choice of clothes, makeup, home décor and beyond. His feature directorial debut, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, dates back 40 years exactly, and the 21st century’s love affair with Burton’s intricate gothic worlds tracks, as 1980s punk culture gave way to our glorious decade of all things emo in the ’00s.

Ari Aster always wanted to make a Western. It may come as a surprise to even his most ardent appreciators, given that few contemporary filmmakers have so redefined the language of personal psychological horror, but even before making his feature debut with Hereditary, the New Mexico–bred filmmaker had his sights set on national tensions rather than the familial ones with which he’s more often associated.

In the closing moments of Brokeback Mountain, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) buries his face into the jacket of his deceased lover, Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal), and with deep anguish takes in the scent. Director Ang Lee lingers on Ledger’s face as Gustavo Santaolalla’s score swirls around its most melancholic, haunting notes. The scene is beautiful, deeply upsetting, now iconic cinema, the kind of moment that has spawned countless think pieces and Letterboxd lists.