Decades of Cinema - 10 Best of 2010 - Present

Previous decades lists are: 1920's, 1930's,1940's, 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's and 2000's.

Here are my ten favorite films released between 2010 and today.

10. Inside Llewyn Davis 

The Coen brothers have been making amazing films for over 30 years, and their most recent example of this was the underappreciated 2013 gem Inside Llewyn Davis. Yet another movie by them that balances the laugh out loud comedy with a shocking amount of nuance, leaving bits and pieces to dig up with each revisit. 

9. Inception

The movie that single-handedly brought me back out to the cinema again after a multi-year hiatus following the birth of my daughter. One look at the trailer for Inception and I knew it would demand a giant screen, and boy did it. An incredible achievement from Christopher Nolan that is just as fascinating no matter how many times you see it unfold. 

8. Life of Pi

I don't have religion in my life, but every so often I feel like I find God in a film. Life of Pi is one of those experiences (with another one at the top of this list). This is a profoundly beautiful picture.

7. Cloud Atlas

Incredibly epic yet at times painfully intimate. Ambitious almost to a fault, but I forgive it. Cloud Atlas is a superb adaptation of a book that seemed impossible to translate coherently to film, yet it was done. I was blown away the first time I saw this film, and with each subsequent viewing my admiration grows.

6. Take Shelter

Director Jeff Nichols handles the subject of mental illness with grace and class and a stunning level of maturity considering it was only his second feature film. Michael Shannon wasn't even nominated for an Oscar for his lead performance, yet he not only should have been, he should have won the damn award. Take Shelter is brilliant and has one of the great endings in recent memory. 

5. Drive

I am a married heterosexual man, but I am not afraid to use the word sexy to describe Ryan Gosling in Drive. Seriously, Nicolas Winding Refn crafted a masterpiece here that is so damn, for lack of a better word, cool I can barely wrap my mind around it. From beginning to end I am intoxicated by the neon glow, the incredible score and the subtle but perfect performances. Drive is the type of movie that makes me wish I could create one of my own.

4. Boyhood

I never thought a film could capture the authenticity of life in such a way, but Boyhood is moving in its simplicity. It isn't a film about milestones, it is the story of those other days that mean so much but seem to slip through the cracks as time goes by. The underlying message is one that I found very powerful as I watch my own daughter grow up so fast: time is relentless.

3. Gravity

Sure, on the surface it's a film about a woman trying to survive a catastrophe in space, but what is really on display is so, so much more. Gravity is a heartbreaking but life affirming metaphor for grief and just how challenging to overcome it, and to say I was moved by the journey of Dr. Ryan Stone is an understatement.  

2. The Social Network

As a super fan of David Fincher, I don't say these words lightly: The Social Network is his masterpiece. The origin story of Facebook and its rise to internet domination doesn't sound appealing on paper, but it touches on familiar themes of loyalty and betrayal and it does so perfectly. The Oscar winning screenplay from Aaron Sorkin, the Oscar winning score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and the unfortunately not but should have been Oscar winning direction from Fincher, all of it added together is essential cinema.

1. The Tree of Life

The Tree of Life is not only my favorite recently released film, it is my favorite of all time, period. It is profound poetry in motion, a movie that literally taught me to embrace and appreciate the miracle of existence. 

So that's it, the end of my Decades of Cinema lists. I would love to hear some feedback on my picks from all of the decades, find out which ones you love, which ones you loathe and everything in between.

Decades of Cinema - 10 Best of the 2000's

If you were curious to check out my previous "Decades" lists and other stuff as well, this link will take you there.

Here are my ten favorites released between the years 2000 and 2009.

10. Oldboy

Gosh, if you haven't seen Oldboy, you should, but let me follow that up with a disclaimer: if the content or the direction the narrative takes proves to be disturbing, please don't come back and blame me. I'm sure this Korean revenge thriller would be too much for some, but it's just right for me.

Also, please, don't watch the recently released Spike Lee U.S. remake before seeing the original. Start with the masterpiece, then decide if you want to compare the two. 

9. Memories of Murder

Let's just stay in South Korea with the incredible based on a true story crime-drama Memories of Murder. This one tells the story of the first ever documented serial killer in the history of the nation, and it is an atmospheric, chilling and flat out great film. Have a South Korean movie night and watch the first two on this list back to back. 

8. Zodiac

From back to back South Korean films to now back to back tales based on truth involving serial killers, notice a theme thus far to my favorite films from this decade? Yes, I like my dark and ominous thrillers. They just tend to work for me, especially when they are as brilliant as David Fincher's Zodiac. 

7. The Dark Knight

We stay in the darkness but with a bit more of a fun flair, moving into the superhero sub-genre with The Dark Knight, although really this is just an epic crime drama masked as a comic book movie. Without a doubt the masterpiece of the Nolan Batman trilogy featuring that already pretty iconic performance from the late Heath Ledger. I recall when The Dark Knight was first released there was a lot of "greatest movie of all time" talk associated with it. Unfortunately I can't go that far, but it certainly is one of the finest achievements of its decade.

6. Children of Men

7 years before he won the Oscar for Best Director for his work on Gravity, Alfonso Cuaron gave the world Children of Men and it is a science fiction thriller that works in every possible way. Written, directed and performed with perfection and that glorious photography from Emmanuel "Chivo" Lubezki, this is a movie that literally, and let me stress that word because when I use it, I use it correctly, LITERALLY gave my wife a panic attack as she watched a battle sequence. 

5. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

This is the moment where people think, oh okay, so three of the top five will be the Lord of the Rings trilogy. No, you may be surprised when one, probably considered the greatest installment by the majority is actually left off the list. The Fellowship of the Ring, however, is a totally worthy epic fantasy adventure, and the trilogy as a whole I revisit every single year when fall rolls around and the weather outside gets brisk. It just feels right.

4. Spirited Away

The attention to detail from Hayao Miyazaki in Spirited Away is breathtaking, arguably not only the defining masterpiece from Studio Ghibli but also in the history of animated cinema. Magical, mystical, haunting and beautiful, You might see this and think, but I can't watch animated movies anymore. I'm an adult. Nonsense. The craft of a Miyazaki should be admired by people of all ages.

3. No Country for Old Men

Surely you saw this one coming, right? I named my blog after it! A flawless film with a perfect conclusion, an ending that angered some but for me it was sublime. No Country for Old Men is a Best Picture winner that was worthy of the award.

2. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

What a glorious example of perfect blockbuster filmmaking. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers has always been and will continue to be my favorite installment in the trilogy, a perfectly paced marvel that feels so damn epic, it's more like an event than a movie. The Battle of Helm's Deep is my favorite sequence in the entire saga, which helps elevate this one to the top.

1. Inglourious Basterds

The second time Quentin Tarantino has held the top spot of a decade for me, and Inglourious Basterds happens to me my second favorite of his work behind only Pulp Fiction. The ultimate revenge story, a grand what if tale involving Nazi's and a woman avenging the brutal deaths of her family members. It's clever, it's funny, it's made with astonishing confidence and as usual it has a screenplay that you could close your eyes and just listen to and still love the experience. A few specific scenes, like one that takes place at a basement bar, are so perfectly executed and so deliciously Tarantino. No one else on the planet could make a scene like that work so damn well.

Next list will be the last, my ten favorite films released between 2010 and now. Might sound like a small, watered down sample size, but trust me...this decade has been pretty incredible, including my favorite film of all time.

Batman Begins Review

Those two words we dread nowadays as the superhero sub-genre continues to flourish financially and thus take up most of the screens at the local theater each weekend: origin story. We dread them because they typically are mentioned due to reboots of heroes we are already so familiar with, their origins are like that tale your Uncle tells every single year at the Thanksgiving dinner table. Spider-Man is abandoned by his parents, lives with his Aunt and Uncle and gets bit by a super special arachnid. We get it. A wee little Bruce Wayne walks down a dark alley with his parents when a shady criminal spills the blood of the elders, a memory that haunts him until the day he decides to don the cape and cowl and beyond. Been there, done that.

The imaginative and highly skilled Christopher Nolan at the helm of the story of the Dark Knight though? Yeah, I would watch that. Over and over and over again, because Batman Begins is dark and delicious fun.

Gotham is bathed in shadows and plagued by a violent, seedy underworld, yet despite the serious tone and cold aesthetic I am unable to take my eyes off of the ominous, gloomy world built by Nolan here. The rain pours down and each frame feels crisp and alive, appropriate for the moment. The revival of a character beloved but absent from a good film in over a decade prior to Nolan stepping in to bring him back from his Joel Schumacher induced cinematic death. It was a wonderful feeling, sitting in that cinema shortly after this film was released and feeling all of the pessimism and ugliness associated with Batman on the big screen wash away. 

Batman Begins is the way an origin story should be done, and I can't help but wonder if the showrunners of the new Daredevil Netflix series were influenced by this one when they began crafting their rather brilliant series. Spread out over thirteen hours rather than a mere two, it is difficult to compare the two in terms of storytelling and character development but the tone and the atmosphere feel remarkably similar. If Batman Begins was in fact the model to build off of, they picked a wonderful picture to replicate.

4.5/5 

The Prestige Review

The narrative is delivered in an unconventional manner, with the end of the trick revealed at the very beginning of the film. We witness the haunting final moments of a man's life and the aftermath as the supposedly guilty party is charged with the crime, but what could have possibly lead to such a horrific conclusion? How could a magician be capable of taking the life of another in such a cold and calculated way?

The old adage is that a magician never reveals his secrets, and yet Christopher Nolan succeeds by doing just the opposite in The Prestige. By methodically pulling back the curtain on the mystery presented, by directly asking the audience to pay close attention and rewarding those who do with a compelling story about a professional and yet also deeply personal rivalry that began as a search for answers and revenge, Nolan crafted an original and fascinating winner.

Not surprisingly this is a gorgeous film to look at, with the usual dazzling cinematography that comes with the worlds Nolan creates thanks to his director of photography Wally Pfister. The candlelit shadowy rooms that utilize lighting in ways that make the characters naturally glow. The way a field shrouded in fog looks when illuminated by a sea of light bulbs powered by seemingly nothing. It's actually sort of baffling, how a cast of recognizable Hollywood stars filmed with such a slick, modern aesthetic can still feel authentic for the era being presented, and that is due to the production design, the costumes, and the artistic integrity that brilliantly fill every single frame throughout. 

What a cast across the board, with Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale bringing honesty and raw passion to their roles as the competing magicians. Michael Caine has developed quite the working relationship with Nolan and yet it is entirely possible this is the best collaboration to date in terms of his performance. Scarlett Johansson may not deliver the most convincing English accent but her look and mannerisms are spot on for a role as a magician's assistant, the perfect misdirection for an audience to miss the sleight of hand and thus believe in magic.

The Prestige feels as if it is powered by Tesla's machine, as even though it is wonderfully focused on both telling an interesting story and also truly developing characters and relationships, it manages to pick up steam as it goes, glowing brighter and brighter the closer we get to finally learning the truth behind what we saw at the start. Even as I have seen it a few times prior to this viewing and knew exactly how it would play out, this is a movie that is mesmerizing to watch unfold again and again.

"Are you watching closely?"

Of course. How could I not?

4.5/5

50 Best Films of 2014 - #10 - #1

10. Guardians of the Galaxy

Not only a top ten of 2014 entry, but easily my favorite movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. One of my biggest complaints about some of the other films, specifically Iron Man 2 and Thor: The Dark World come to mind, were their attempts to be comedic yet completely failing at actually being funny. Thus I was concerned when I was told just how much of a comedy Guardians of the Galaxy would need to be, but boy did it deliver. Not just with laughs, with EVERYTHING. A joyous, exciting, heartfelt, clever blast of a picture.

9. The Babadook

If you knew me well, you would know how unheard of this is for me. I have a real hard time connecting to a horror film, as I usually think an interesting premise and creepy trailer ends up ruined by the same stupid and predictable tropes, bad writing and excessive gore. The Babadook is an Australian horror film, and it's bloody friggin' brilliant. If you are simply looking to be spooked, it's scary as hell. If you are looking for depth and characters to actually care about, you cannot go wrong here. The Babadook is a meaningful metaphor wrapped in an intense and terrifying film, and it works on every level.

8. Birdman

A completely brilliant, unique cinematic experience, Birdman was a joy to watch for it's fascinating narrative and amazing performances, but it went to a whole other level due to the technical genius on display throughout. This is actually a difficult movie to explain, you just need to see it and decide whether it works for you or not. Some have called it artsy nonsense, pretentious, and silly. I call it one of the best and most original pictures of 2014. 

7. The Tale of The Princess Kaguya

I was already a massive fan of the legendary Studio Ghibli, with My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away being their two masterpieces so far. I officially have a third movie to welcome into that category. The Tale of The Princess Kaguya is a completely spellbinding, heartbreaking piece of cinema that for me, despite also loving How to Train Your Dragon 2 and The LEGO Movie (both of which were in the previous list of ten), is by far the best animated work of 2014. 

6. Whiplash

I still get the chills whenever I think about the last 10 or 15 minutes of Whiplash, the most memorable sequence from any movie released last year. Seriously, it's so electric it made the hair on my arms stand up. That isn't to say that the rest of the film was lackluster in any way. Whiplash was destined to be one of the 15 or so best of the year, and then that finale happened, and I can't stop thinking about it over a month after witnessing it unfold. That's the power of incredible cinema, and what Damien Chazelle crafted here is just that.

5. The Grand Budapest Hotel

The masterpiece I had always been waiting for from Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel is gorgeous on so many technical levels and also a brilliantly clever comedy. I had no idea how good Ralph Fiennes could be in a comedic role, and it certainly isn't easy to execute the quirky and odd material of a Wes Anderson, but he absolutely nailed it. Seriously, his timing is so spot on perfect I felt like I was grinning from ear to ear anytime he occupied the frame. 

4. Interstellar

Big, bold and ambitious filmmaking. I am a sucker for it, always have been and always will be. I can forgive a flaw or two because I am so mesmerized by the spectacle of the whole experience, which explains why Christopher Nolan's Interstellar lands as the #4 movie of the year. It isn't a perfect film, I cannot lie, but with every ever so slight issue I have with it, I am in jaw dropping awe of EVERYTHING else that worked so damn well. I saw it twice in theaters, and I can promise you there will be 20 more viewings at home coming in the future.

3. Winter Sleep

By far my favorite foreign film of 2014, and one worthy of inclusion into the top 3 overall and yet Winter Sleep isn't even nominated by the Academy. Ah, such is the complicated and confused relationship I have with those people in charge of Oscar nominations, but so be it. I just hope the lack of recognition doesn't stop people from seeking out and watching this gorgeous picture, and while my voice is small and unimportant, it won't stop me from continuing to scream it from the rooftops: Winter Sleep is a triumph of cinema and easily the finest acted movie of the year.

2. Gone Girl

I can't stop falling more and more in love with the work of David Fincher. Just when I think I couldn't admire the man and his vision on a deeper level, here comes Gone Girl, another cold and calculated thriller that entertained me endlessly and made my skin crawl with its ominous tone and perfectly unsettling performances. Based on the incredibly popular novel by Gillian Flynn, one of the aspects of this movie that really elevated it to new heights was the screenplay by that very same writer, with Flynn adapting her own work. It's one thing to come in and chop apart the words of someone else, but to do it to your own? To have the humility and intelligence to say to yourself, yes I wrote this, but a lot of it doesn't work when translated to the big screen? That's really something special.

1. Boyhood

Life. It's a fucked up, weird, heartbreaking, devastating, fascinating and beautiful thing, and it was encapsulated so poetically and gorgeously by Richard Linklater. Watching Mason grow up really resonated with me on multiple levels. Not long ago I was a kid growing up dealing with the bizarre and bullshit issues that accompany adolescence, and yet now I sit here with a 7 year old daughter and I can't believe how fast time has gone. Watching twelve years go by over the course of less than three hours with such a graceful and natural fluidity really made me think about the fact that time is relentless. All we can do is accept it and enjoy the ride.

If I Picked the Oscars - Best Director

Since I already covered the beautiful people that perform in front of the camera, time to acknowledge the brilliant work done behind it.

These would be my five nominees for Best Director if I were calling the shots, with the last one listed being the winner.

Christopher Nolan - Interstellar

I know a lot of people will disagree with me on this one, but I thought Interstellar was an incredible cinematic experience, and the confident, ambitious direction of Christopher Nolan was the star for me. Well, him and TARS as well. I will always favor filmmakers who have the guts to try something new, to dazzle an audience rather than play it safe and conventional. Interstellar dazzled the holy hell out of me.

Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel

I have been a huge fan of Wes Anderson for a long, long time now, back to when my friends and I first discovered the comedic genius of his early pictures like Bottle Rocket and Rushmore, yet I always felt like his previous work was missing something. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I wondered if Wes would ever put it all together and unleash his masterpiece onto the world. It happened way back in early 2014 when The Grand Budapest Hotel hit theaters. Brilliantly written, perfectly shot, exquisitely performed and every technical aspect of the film felt award worthy, Wes won't win the award with me or with the Academy, but he certainly deserves the recognition of a nomination.

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu - Birdman

2014 was a year with a lot of unique and interesting cinema, but the work of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu combined with genius cinetographer Emmanuel Lubezki on Birdman was precise, confident and fascinating to witness unfold. As I said above with Nolan, I will ALWAYS favor the filmmakers who want to dazzle me, and you may notice a trend with my three nominations thus far. They all dazzled, and most importantly, they all did it in completely different ways. A lot of people say a movie was "like nothing they have ever seen before" to the point that it feels like such a statement has lost its luster, but I really have never seen anything like Birdman before, and I loved it.

Richard Linklater - Boyhood

If I were choosing the man who was behind my favorite film of the year, or my favorite storyteller of the 2014, Linklater would be at the top of the list, but as I am choosing the greatest achievement in direction I have him coming up just a bit short. His work on Boyhood was masterful and the film itself has a profound impact on me emotionally, and I'm thrilled the mainstream world is finally getting a chance to appreciate the ridiculous talent he is. His films are critically acclaimed and everyone knows what Dazed and Confused is, but the name Richard Linklater was still a name that, when mentioned, would typically be followed by the question "Who?". Hopefully that won't be the case anymore thanks to Boyhood. 

and the Oscar goes to...

David Fincher - Gone Girl

Yes, my adoration of Fincher shines through again in 2014, as I was mesmerized by his recent brooding thriller Gone Girl. Some may see my constant bouquet tossing at Fincher's feet and assume I blindly love his work no matter what, but that isn't the case, as proven from the fact that I can't work up the motivation to give The Curious Case of Benjamin Button a second chance. I simply love his style, I get lost in the stories he chooses to tell, and I could revisit his best films over and over and over again.

Gone Girl is one of his best, a dark and twisted yet brilliantly satirical look at both the modern media and marriage, and Fincher directs the hell out of this movie. It is so expertly crafted and entertaining, watching it is intoxicating. 

Plus, I'm still bitter about 2010. Tom Hooper? The Kings Speech? Don't even get me started.

100 Favorite Films - #60 - #51

A continuation of my list counting down my 100 favorite films of all time.


60. Rope (1948)

When the name Alfred Hitchcock is mentioned, instantly the mind races through classics like Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window and The Birds, and understandably so, but Rope is a masterful film that seems to not get enough credit. During the very first scene of the movie, we witness a murder, a tragedy for no real purpose beyond the thrill the two killers get from doing it.

While the story taking place on screen is chilling enough, the innovative style of Rope is part of the reason I fell totally in love with it. Hitchcock used a series of long takes, each roughly ten minutes in length, and then the picture was edited in a way that it appears as if the camera never once cuts. It as if we are a fly on the wall and were able to witness something deranged, and the camera pans around and brings us incredible frames that bring exactly what we need to see into focus at that moment. A masterpiece of tension building and technical wonder.


59. Rashomon (1950)

For the most part I am still shamefully unfamiliar with the work of Akira Kurosawa, but Rashomon is one I know very well and a film that has left a powerful mark on cinema as a whole. The structure of the storytelling was game changing at the time, as the plot revolves around multiple people telling their differing version of events regarding the same incident, and the end result is a remarkable film about morality and the untrustworthy nature of storytelling.


58. Baraka (1992)

No narrative, no voiceover, yet nothing short of spectacular. Baraka is a documentary film that explores themes with surprising depth and clarify despite merely being a series of powerful imagery from across the world. The themes being explored need no explanation because if you are watching closely, they will reveal themselves in meaningful, unforgettable ways.


57. Fargo (1996)

The Coen brothers have mastered the art of crafting films that are both dark comedies and thematically rich dramas, and Fargo is a sublime example of this. At times jarringly heartbreaking yet also hilariously scripted and performed, Fargo manages to deliver a little bit of everything over the course of 98 incredible minutes.


56. Inception (2010)

Ultra ambitious and massive in scope, Christopher Nolan transitioned from Gotham to a science fiction marvel involving the ability to enter dreams and thus alter real life. I remember vividly how in love with the Inception trailer I was, practically watching it on repeat for months leading up to its summer release. The actual film did not disappoint.


55. Mulholland Drive (2001)

Instantly I knew I was in love with Mulholland Drive yet if you would have asked me why after the first time I saw it, the answer would have been similar to "It's creepy and weird and I love it." Vague, sure, but the picture is so confounding I still to this day find it difficult to put into words what I extract from the experience. What David Lynch crafted here is likely not something often referred to as "mediocre" or "average", because it has all the makings of a polarizing work that you either cherish or admonish for its abstract nature. Count me among those that hold it in high regard.



54. Donnie Darko (2001)

Speaking of head scratching cinema, from the very same year as Mulholland Drive comes my next film, Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko. A very young Jake Gyllenhaal plays the lead role as Donnie, and the film revolves around his search for meaning and understanding after experiencing bizarre visions warning him of an approaching Doomsday. The most often reaction to this film after a first viewing is also to search for meaning and understanding, and it took a few revisits for me to form an opinion of what actually occurs in the end. I find Donnie Darko to be a meaningful and fascinating cinematic journey.



53. Gone Girl (2014)

My Review of Gone Girl

If it weren't such a recently released film, I honestly might have it ranked even higher, but it demands a second viewing for me to cement down my initial thoughts, which were that this is quite possibly the finest work by director David Fincher to date. Gone Girl is a dark, gloomy, beautifully made thriller that also serves as a very clever satire of both the struggles of marital life and of the landscape of American media. I was wrapped up in this one from beginning to end, and Rosamund Pike is a revelation, a performance that reminded me of a perfect combination of old and new Hollywood. I feel like she both could scare the piss out of me here yet also time travel to 60 years ago and star along side Jimmy Stewart in a Hitchcock film. So good.



52. Hana-Bi (Fireworks) (1997)

Written by, directed by, edited by and starring Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Kitano, the man does it all and what he poured his heart and soul into is a beautiful film called Hana-Bi, released in the United States under the title Fireworks. Kitano plays a cop named Nishi who feels compelled to quit the force after his partner is badly injured during an incident and is relegated to a wheelchair. With his retirement, Nishi now has the time to look after his ailing wife Miyuki who is fighting a battle with leukemia, and the film explores their relationship along with the added tension of Nishi owing money to the Yakuza with no means to pay them back.

This is a film I credit for my love of cinema, as I saw it at a time when I didn't understand what an art form the medium could be, and Hana-Bi really opened my eyes.



51. Back to the Future (1985)

What do I really need to say about this one? A blast to the past from director Robert Zemeckis, Back to the Future is a film I was raised on since childhood, a VHS tape that I wore down from so many viewings. The film was and continues to be a massive success and it deserves it, as it remains an important piece of pop culture and a quotable, beloved film even roughly thirty years later.

50 down, 50 to go. Above is an image from a film that will appear on my next list of ten.