25 January 2020

The Best of the Decade: 2010-19


To top off our extended retrospective, we somehow picked through the dozens of good movies made the past 10 years and chose the Top 30 films of the Teens. We packaged the Top 30 into groupings.

  • Three clear masterpieces sit at the top. 
  • The next five are near-masterpieces. 
  • The next eight were best or near best in their given year and round out the top 16. 
  • We then split the second half between solid runners-up and, finally, great films that we have reconsidered since they first came out and have a special fondness for.

The Top 30 of 2010-19

 

  • A Bigger Splash - From Luca Guadagnino: "Old loves, young flesh, gorgeous beaches and a heavyweight bout between Tilda Swinton and Ralph Fiennes."
  • The Florida Project - "Master storytelling with a mostly rookie cast. A true feel for the human condition." Sean Baker emerged as the storyteller of the decade."
  • A Prophet - "A masterwork of the crime genre from Jacques Audiard ("Dheepan," "Rust and Bone") in the grand tradition of 'The Godfather.'"


Past masters ...
  • Appropriate Behavior -"Desiree Akhavan spins a smart, funny, passionate tale of relationships in 21st century Brooklyn."
  • A Separation -Asghar Farhadi started the decade with this unassailable film and followed it up with other strong ones, such as "The Past," "The Salesman" and "Everybody Knows."
  • Frances Ha - Noah Baumbach's best: "Funny, clever, real, insightful, a mix of dread and playfulness, full of sharp performances. Just like life itself."
  • Toni Erdmann - Weird and wonderful, this father-daughter comic-drama is "the epitome of storytelling."
  • The Rider - "A heart-wrenching look at a real family, their life dramatized by this bold, poignant film" from Chloe Zhao.


As good as you could expect ...
  • Baby Driver - "The most fun I can imagine having in a cineplex. Thank you, Edgar Wright, for the music and the mania."
  • Fort Tilden - "The cross between 'Girls' and 'Beavis and Butt-head' is infused with the natural chemistry of its stars, Bridey Elliott and Clare McNulty."
  • Diary of a Teenage Girl - "This luscious period piece revives that '70s feel of the teen-angst wail, taking a creepy concept and converting it into a meditation on longing, loneliness and self-realization. A feminist howl."
  • The Broken Circle Breakdown -"This folk-song ballet elegantly dances the fine line between sweet and bittersweet."
  • Birdman -"This is what the wonder of cinema and storytelling is all about."
  • Monsieur Lazhar -"A stunning, simple story of students and adults in Quebec dealing with one big tragedy and assorted little ones, with the help of a random kind stranger."
  • Polisse -"The cranky characters in a Paris precinct's child-protection division create the best 'Hill Street Blues' episode ever."
  • Fish Tank -"A harrowing, suffocating tale of teen angst from Andrea Arnold."


Just missed the top tier ...
  • Foxtrot - "An ingenious story, told with grit and whimsy."
  • Certain Women - "Three somber tales, barely intertwined, from the American master Kelly Reichardt."
  • Tangerine - Another from Sean Baker: "A dizzying day-in-the-life of transgender prostitutes on the sunwashed streets of L.A. on Christmas Eve, an odyssey that never lets up."
  • Operation Avalanche - "This is inspired filmmaking by an inspired crew that delights in the art of storytelling. And they do it so well."
  • Bisbee '17 - A "captivating historical document."
  • Give Me Liberty - "The story they tell is thrilling and heartfelt. It's funny and sweet."
  • Ida - A "modest, flawless, gorgeous film."
  • The Other Side of Everything - "This mesmerizing tone poem uses one family's story since World War II to catalogue the political history of Serbia and Yugoslavia through the decades."
  • Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World - This "heartfelt and technically precise documentary" is "pure joy."


On second thought ...
  • Win Win - With powerhouses Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan, "the one movie I could watch over and over."
  • Short Term 12 - "A near perfect little gem." Another one that stands up to repeated viewings.
  • Zero Motivation - "Like 'MASH,' it mines a war-time support staff for deadpan laughs."
  • Inherent Vice - "A shambling mess of a movie that conjures up a distinct time and place, with a mix of hard-boiled storytelling and broad humor."
  • The House I Live In - "Let's put aside the fact that this is a powerfully crafted polemic; it's simply a great film."
Bonus tracks ...
  • The Trip Trilogy - Dueling Caines: "You might enjoy tagging along with these guys every few years to see how things turn out."


Honorable Mention - Features




Honorable Mention - Documentaries




Guilty Pleasures



Holy Crap




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