Honorable Mentions: Parasite, The Master, Ex Machina, Roma, Zero Dark Thirty, The Wind Rises, Citizenfour, Birdman, Inside Llewyn Davis, Get Out.
10. Fruitvale Station (2013)
Fruitvale Station is superb. Based on a true story, it’s about a day in a man’s life. Unarmed, he was killed by police at its end. Playing a real person, Oscar Grant, who was killed by police on New Year’s Eve in 2009, Michael B. Jordan’s breakout role is masterful. You see Oscar go about his final day alive—and the many people he profoundly effects—then you see him suddenly taken, and the devastation it brought to thousands. We often get desensitized to the importance of a life—and its endless ramifications anytime one is unnecessarily taken. But Fruitvale Station doesn’t bash police. It just elucidates the complexities and nuances of people who are often misconstrued by media—with themes of empathy and overcoming racial divides. I cried when the credits rolled. It is as emotional as it is relevant.
9. The Social Network (2010)
Am I biased toward The Social Network because I go to Harvard? Joke’s on you—I saw it in middle school! Anyway, David Fincher always provides fireworks, but this is his crowning work. It is cerebral, focused, twisted, and psychological. It is innately primitivistic, but it is also byzantine. The span of individuals, parties, and interests that construct this film is wide. The technical aspects are also quite revolutionary, from the soundtrack to the script to the set. The choir’s harrowing rendition of Radiohead’s Creep, featured in the trailer, sums it up.
8. Her (2013)
Joaquin Phoenix is always perfect. He’s the best actor, in my biased view. And Her is incredibly artful, like Phoenix; it is indie, decorative, odd, and idiosyncratic. Even the color grading has a distinct palette centered around warm colors—heightening the aesthetic. Her also covers an interesting topic: Can humans and artificial intelligence fall in love? Perhaps it is far too soon to answer that, but the film examines it attentively. Furthermore, it’s hard to not make high art when you have Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Rooney Mara, and Amy Adams.
7. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
This is the best of Wes Anderson, and that’s an astronomical standard. The Grand Budapest Hotel, like Her, is very artful & unique. From the shots to the sporadic dialogue to the costumes/makeup, it permeates a visceral setting sandwiched between the witty jokes and capricious plot turns. The Grand Budapest Hotel is an absolute delight to watch and also offers socioeconomic commentary candidly.
6. Inside Out (2015)
Inside Out was destined for greatness. Even so, this Pixar work transcends expectations, beating Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises as my animated film of the decade. Emotionally, it impacted me more than 99% of films, causing us to peer at life in challenging ways, while also providing marvelous visuals. It’s a Pixar film nominally designated for kids yet secretly made for adults, really.
5. Boyhood (2014)
Speaking of Linklater, Boyhood is next. Filmed over 12 years with the same actors, Boyhood is the one film where you can watch characters age in real time from youth to adulthood. You literally get to watch a boy (and his family/friends) grow up. As a fellow millennial from suburban Texas who grew up at the same time, it was mind-blowing and emotionally scintillating to see parts of my childhood lived out on film—the struggles, the growth, the funny anecdotes. The entire story is sharp & unprecedented. The acting is masterful from talents like Patricia Arquette, who fittingly won an Oscar. It’s one of the most groundbreaking films I’ve ever seen.
4. 12 Years a Slave (2013)
12 Years a Slave shocked the world. Covering the story of Solomon Northup—a father & husband, prodigy violinist, and northerner who was kidnapped in 1841 and sold into slavery. This film—in addition to all of its brilliant technical aspects and acting—stands out in materializing what it was like to be a slave in ways that we modern people cannot possibly fathom. Like I said earlier, we get desensitized and lost in the sheer numbers of these atrocities. It captures a range of both emotions and physical pain that is so vast, so real, that you forget you’re watching a film. It is disturbing, with scenes so gruesome that I wonder how Lupita Nyong’o and Michael Fassbender got in character, and proves an iconic film, filled with lessons applicable to our history and to our present. It is, by all accounts, a masterpiece.
3. The Tree of Life (2011)
An eccentric Harvard grad, Rhodes Scholar, and former philosophy professor at MIT, Terrence Malick is a genius. He is not only an artistic genius but an intellectual one too. His films are poetic, transcendental, and reflective. In this magnum opus, time is nonlinear, reality is obfuscated, and dreams/thoughts/ideas glide wondrously over voiceovers coupled with astounding nature scenes—as characters contemplate difficult topics from grief to death to existence to fear to doubt. As a secularist, I highly respect Malick as a Christian fascinated with evolution, showing that science and faith aren’t incompatible—examining Earth, life, and the cosmos not just in a family’s span but in the universe’s 14 billion years. The CGI was done by the man behind 2001: A Space Odyssey. And you’ll never see a drama with cinematography this excellent. The story is as compelling. All in all, you can’t box this work within the perceived boundaries of art. It’s more than that.
2. Carol (2015)
I used to say I never watch romance films, then I saw Carol. It’s the only romance film on my list. Carol’s artistic achievements are stunning, while the acting and directing are impeccable. Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara capture the essence of love better than any duo I’ve ever seen, despite them being straight. It is the most well-done romance film, exceeding Richard Linklater’s “Before” trilogy, and deserved the shocking 10-minute standing ovation it received at Cannes.
1. Moonlight (2016)
Did you see my review of Moonlight? My obsession remains. I still watch even the trailer often. Comparing Moonlight to another film is like comparing one of Picasso’s cubist works to a Rococo painting: It might not be as gratifying or beautiful to the masses per se, but it is incomparable in terms of its legendary technical and artistic accomplishments. Moonlight is a life-changing, presumption-torching, indie work of majesty. The script and screenplay couldn’t be more flawless. The cinematography is astonishing, particularly given the film’s low $1 million budget. The acting is historic Naomie Harris and Mahershala Ali deserved two Oscars for their performances in this film alone. The score is Nicholas Britell’s debut, yet it is also iconic. It was Barry Jenkins’s first full-length film as a director or writer. I could keep going all day. Moonlight is eye-opening art that creeps under your skin—and builds empathy for people who don’t look, speak, or act like you do. I recommend it to any human who can watch a coming-of-age drama with patience. I saw it on its debut day, I loved it, I posted here that it would win Best Picture at the Oscars, and it remains—in my opinion—the best film of the century. It blows me away what they accomplished in a few weeks of shooting with one camera, a paltry budget, an inexperienced crew, an unproven cast, use of many locals as extras (who made genuine contributions), and under the direction of someone making both their writing and directing debut for a full-length film. It’s insane. Say whatever you want about your subjective experience with this film. But if we’re trying to be truly objective, it’s hard to put any film (ever) over Moonlight.
P.S. These are just my opinions. Nothing more.
I watched only the Grand Budapest Hotel. Always searching for good comedy and adventure films:)
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Some great films on your list, especially 12 Years a Slave. I would never say that The Grand Budapest Hotel or The Social Network are the best of the decade, but they are very good. No foreign films made your list? I would have included Amour. I also wonder how low and disrespectful the blogosphere must have gotten that you have to put this disclaimer: “P.S. These are just my opinions. Nothing more.”?
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Sorry for the delay! Love 12 Years of Slave. And I thought about Parasite, Ida, Cold War, Roma, Amour, The Wind Rises, and A Separation, but I ultimately couldn’t find a spot for any foreign film in my top 10. I loved Amour—but just personally I found it a bit too reductive to make my top 10. But I can respect why some people have it in their top 10 (or even top 3-5). I also only saw it once, so perhaps I should’ve seen it a few more times before I’d even earn the right to make a fairly proper judgment. As for The Social Network / Grand Budapest, I found each strong, dynamic, influential, and novel enough to be on this list. But I respect why you wouldn’t put it in your list. Ultimately, I concluded that even if I were to make a top 25 list, it’d still be impossible to arbitrarily separate, say, my #10 and my #25. There were just so many amazing films that decade. Just curious, what is your top 10? Sorry for the long comment!
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And ha, I didn’t originally have the P.S. in my post—but I recently added it after reviewing the post and realizing how weak a few selections were. For example, I’d def put a foreign film like Parasite or Ida over Fruitvale Station if I were to re-do the list. But didn’t want to change it because if I started changing any of my past posts, it’d be hard to ever stop revising, you know?
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Your list is great and I love it. I know how hard it is to limit oneself to just 10 great films and it is simply the fact that I, personally, would not put certain films that you have put. I have also noticed that certain films on your list carry a powerful message and make a statement, rather than being technically brilliant. My list of the best films of the decade would certainly include more foreign-language and art films. I consider Melancholia (2011), Drive (2011), The Handmaiden (2016), Your Name (2016) and certain works Hirokazu Koreeda to be the best of the decade. Plus, Anderson’s The Master (2012), and maybe even Schrader’s First Reformed (2018) and something maybe even from Yorgos Lanthimos.
No one should be afraid to voice their honest opinion and everyone knows these opinions do change as time passes and people get to watch other films or new films come out. As for the revision of lists, I know how it can turn into a never-ending task. I have some lists dating to 2011 and 2012 and won’t revise them ever or any pasts lists. They represent my opinion at that moment in time and also represent the films that were at that particular time already out. Making new lists is another matter.
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coolio
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Where’s Inception? Solid list thoo
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https://www.hollywoodinsider.com/inception-greatest-movie/
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Thank you! And if you want the brutally honest truth, I think Inception is extremely overrated. It’s certainly good—Chris Nolan has never made a film that wasn’t great, in my opinion—but I don’t think it was quite as cerebral as people make it out to be. I think Tenet was exponentially more cerebral (in terms of Nolan films). Inception is similary ambitious, but it also felt kind of clunky and pointless. It also doesn’t have a lot of rewatch value once you’ve seen it. I just wouldn’t put in my top 10, but perhaps it would be in my top 30—because Inception’s score, for example, is legendary. And its other technical aspects are great too.
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Unique list. I can dig it but mine’s different
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Loved your new Tree of Life review
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🤠
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The beauty of art! 🤩
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fun list
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The Imitation Game should be on the list. Moreso for me than some others. The Social Network, no. Sad that you felt that A Quiet Place was a flop. Quite the contrary I found that it completely compelled me, and it was like running a marathon. Tension throughout. I have enjoyed thoroughly Arrival upon multiple viewings. Dunkirk as well Their Finest Hour are both solid complimentary films for a difficult time during WWII. Cheers.
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Love The Imitation Game! Brilliant film. Alexandre Desplat’s score in it is legendary. I thought The Social Network was one of the most technically brilliant films of the decade—but I get why not everybody is a fan.
As for A Quiet Place, it was an impressive breakout from Krasinki. The technical aspects were great, too. I only have one problem with it, but that one problem bothered me so much that it’s one of the few films I hate. The level of stupidity of the characters was so extreme that it felt impossible to watch for me personally. It felt like actors just messing around on a set. The number of idiotic, naive decisions made it a long drag. A few that stood out were when the parents, despite otherwise highly rigorous protocols, let their son keep that loud toy spaceship, thus resulting in the son’s death just minutes later. The son was also dumb, even for a child, to sit there and play with it while it continued to make all of that noise—and did not even flinch or notice as a monster flew in and annihilated him. And even though there were only a few monsters in the area, one beat the father to his son, despite the father only being like 10 yards ahead (and taking way too long to get to his son). But the unrealistic lack of instinct of the characters in that was tiny compared to that of the father in his death. Despite having a giant hammer (which he could’ve used to whack at the blind monster as it flew to him) and seeing his other two kids about to get killed, he simply threw the hammer to the ground, yelled, and let the monster kill him without fighting or even just holding the hammer in front of himself so that the monster flies into it. It was a pitiful way for him not only to die, but also fail to damage the monster and thus leave his kids even more vulnerable. It also felt extremely unrealistic when the mother stepped on the nail, resulting in such a deep wound that it’d be impossible for her to be so silent while one monster (with incredbile hearing) lurked around inches away. In real life, she would’ve been yelling as loud as she could before likely passing out. Cheap, lazy writing, in my opinion. But I get why those who were able to overlook this loved the film. Sorry, just saw how long this paragraph is.
Loved Arrival! I’ve seen it roughly 3 times but I’d love to watch it a few more times, honestly. Thanks for mentioning. Also, I need to rewatch Dunkirk. I’ve heard many times that it gets way better after the first view, so I really appreciate you bringing that up too. Finally, I haven’t seen Their Finest Hour but I want to see it now that I saw that Tom Brokaw is the narrator. One of his chapters in “Boom!” is about my family. Anyway, thank you for all of the quality input! I appreciate your thoughts a lot. Cheers!
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My apologies and I misspoke. I should have noted Darkest Hour with Oscar winner Gary Oldman playing Winston Churchill. Between this and Dunkirk you have a quality view of the late 1930s. I can see where you have some issues with the family and their reaction with the toy in A Quiet Place. I thought Emily Blunt handled the nail incident remarkably. I was able to overlook some stupid moves and enjoy the tension that was created. When you have Hereditary with Toni Collette (as opposed to Midsommar) and A Quiet Place, along with Annihilation would have some quality thrillers as opposed to gross outs. I would also recommend the WWI films 1917 and also And They Shall Never Grow Old which was a documentary from Peter Jackson using actual British Archive footage of soldiers that has been digitally remastered. Amazing. Tomorrow TIFF in Toronto opens and I will see Nomadland on Saturday. Cheers.
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Oh, I see! Yeah I remember hearing how great Oldman was in his Oscar-winning performance as Churchill in Darkest Hour but I haven’t gotten around to see it yet. As for Hereditary, I am a big fan. Need to see Midsommar still. My sister liked it. And yes, so glad you mentioned Annihilation! That was one of my favorite films of the decade that didn’t make the list. The ending was so INCREDIBLE and mind-blowing and visually & conceptually innovative. So underrated. And yes, loved They Shall Not Grow Old as well! So amazing how they edited in the color. Feel free to let me know what you thought of Nomadland if you want. Always love Frances McDormand’s roles. So glad she won the Oscar for Three Billboards. Cheers again!
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