My top 15 films of the decade.
As the last ten years worth of cinema has all but been taken over by superhero blockbusters (which I’m in no way upset about) I’ve left all of them off this list although The Winter Solider and Endgame are as good as any on here.
I was looking for a top ten but just couldn’t knock 5 off this list, so here is my 15 best films of the last 10 years. They are in no particular order as I found it just too hard to separate the top five. If people have not seen any of these films and they find themselves with some spare time, then check out any one (or all) of them.
A few honorable mentions that didn’t quite make the list but are awesome and well worth watching are Hereditary (2018) Hell Or High Water (2016), Prisoners (2014), Nebraska (2014) Ex Machina (2014), Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) and Interstellar (2014)…..2014 was a strong year!
Drive (2011)
Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan and Bryan Cranston.
Gosling plays the no named stunt driver by day and getaway driver by night in this understated, slow burning, brilliant piece of film making. There is so much about this movie that is top drawer; Gosling is exceptional as the powerfully brooding character, and paired with Refn’s direction and vision makes this a must see film.
Her (2013)
Directed and written by Spike Jonze. Starring Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson
Jacob Twombly (Phoenix) is a quiet and lonely man who is heartbroken after the end of a relationship. He activates the new advanced operating system on his phone (Johansson) to find it has a very distinct personality. As it learns more about itself and him, they build a relationship. Phoenix spends nearly the whole film acting on his own, as it’s just him with a bluetooth earpiece, that must be so hard to do. He is absolutely brilliant in this film. It was nominated for four Oscars and won one – unfortunately nothing for Phoenix but the 2014 Oscars was ridiculously strong for the best actor category.
Under the Skin (2013)
Directed and Co-Written by Jonathan Glazer. Starring Scarlett Johansson.
This may be the most divisive on the list as it didn’t get rave reviews but I think it’s another gem in the rough. Johansson is a seductress, a mysterious and emotionless alien that lures men to their deaths. We follow her as she explores humanity. There isn’t much script to speak of but the acting is top class. This is easily Johanssons best work, she is outstanding and carries this film all the way through.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie and Jonah Hill.
Based on the true story of Jordan Belfort. This is the best film Scorsese has directed since Cape Fear in 1991. DiCaprio should have won his Oscar for this performance rather then having to wait another three years. There are many words to describe this film: ludicrous, insane, hilarious, hysterical, unforgiving, crazy, savage and exceptional. Lets just say it is utterly brilliant.
Whiplash (2014)
Directed and written by Damien Chazelle. Starring Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons and Melissa Benoist.
Andrew Neiman (Teller) is a promising young drummer who enrolls at a cut-throat music school where he dreams of greatness. He gets the attention of Mr Fletcher, a no nonsense, impatient teacher who believes the way to get the best from his pupils is through fear and bullying. The script pushes the two leads to their career best performances. The exchanges between the two are the driving force behind this film and it is more then unsettling at times. This isn’t a rags to riches journey, it’s more about the toxicity of genius. Andrew starts to lose all he holds dear as he struggles to keep up with what is expected from him. This is top class from start to finish.
Nightcrawler (2014)
Written and directed by Dan Gilroy. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, and Bill Paxton.
Gyllenhaal plays Louis Bloom, a deeply disturbing character who finds his calling as a roving cameraman, selling his salacious coverage of accidents to the morning tv shows. A excellently creepy and believable Gyllenhaal steers us through this film as we see Louis’s lack of empathy and morals come to the fore. It’s so very dark and sometimes uncomfortable but it is equally excellent.
The Babadook (2014)
Directed and Written by Jennifer Kent. Starring Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall.
A single mother, battles with her son’s fear of a monster lurking in the house, but soon discovers a sinister presence all around her.
This relatively low budget film ($2 million) shows that money doesn’t have to be spent to get a top class result. In a decade where great horror films came back to mainstream cinema, this film is at the top of that pile. The most unsettling film I’ve seen in many years, genuinely terrifying with almost zero cheap jump scares.
Moonlight (2016)
Directed and Co-Written by Barry Jenkins. Starring Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris and Trevante Rhodes.
A coming of age drama broken down into three periods of one boys life spanning around fifteen years. This film is so amazing and an absolute breath of fresh air. Fully deserving of it’s Oscar. Not one wasted scene, not one script mis-step and not one bad performance in the whole film. It is complex, beautiful and deep while managing to stay grounded. When I first saw this film (while loving it) I thought it would have little re watch value, I was very wrong. If this movie passed you by then you should absolutely check it out.
The Nice Guys (2016)
Directed and Co-Written by Shane Black and starring Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling and Angourie Rice.
Set in the 1970’s, two private detectives (pushed together by the teenage daughter of one) try to solve a missing person case. A brilliantly directed and smartly written action comedy that allows the two main actors the scope to show their considerable talent. It is Immensely funny and deeply satisfying. A pretty straight forward comedy shouldn’t really be on my list but it is written superbly; hilarious and excellent in it’s simplicity.
The Florida Project (2017)
Directed and Co-Written by Sean Baker and starring Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite and Willem Dafoe.
Set in the shadow of Disneyworld, we follow seven year old Moonee (Prince) and her friends as they don’t try too hard to stay out of trouble, while her mother tries to earn some money anyway she can and her landlord Bobby (Dafoe) tries to help the family. A fair bit of this film is shot at the kids height which is an excellent idea to get across their view of the world, also it is shot almost exclusively on a 35mm camera, which gives it an organic feel. So not only does the film look great, it has the best acting from a child I think I have ever seen. Willem Dafoe thoroughly deserved his supporting Oscar nomination and it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see him win it instead of Mahershala Ali (for Moonlight). This one may be the least well known on my list but that shouldn’t stop you wanting to watch it.
Get Out (2017)
Directed and written by Jorden Peele and starring Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams and Bradley Whitford.
Chris (Kaluuya) and his girlfriend, Rose (Williams), have reached the meet-the-parents stage of their relationship so they head upstate for a weekend get-together and things go downhill pretty rapidly. This film is so ridiculously good. Some of the smartest writing I’ve ever seen for a horror/thriller. It is brutal, surprising, funny, complex and effective. All of those combined with excellent and natural acting from the whole cast, along with a debut director who has the confidence of someone who has been behind the camera for decades means this film deserves it’s place on this list.
Wind River (2017)
Directed and written by Taylor Sheridan and starring Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife agent Cory Lambert (Renner) discovers the frozen body of a young Native American woman in the rugged wilderness of the Wind River Indian Reservation, rookie F.B.I agent (Olsen) gets dispatched to investigate. This film was a strange one for me. I knew zero about the film going in and upon leaving the cinema my thoughts were that the last half hour had just done enough to save the picture. I then spent the next two weeks not being able to get the film off my mind, and have enjoyed it more every time I have watched since. It is subtle and unassuming, but brilliant. A beautiful looking film with long wide shots of the Indian reservation. Renner is easily the best he’s ever been as the brooding Lambert and Olsen is just always great in everything she does. This is the perfect example of first impressions of a film not always being right.
Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing Missouri (2017)
Directed and written by Martin McDonagh and starring Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell.
Mildred Hayes (McDormand) is devastated after the rape and murder of her daughter. Months later, she protests and challenges the local police officials (Harrelson and Rockwell) when they have failed to capture the culprit. The excellent script and direction would have probably put the film on this list but when you put some of the most amazing acting I have ever seen from all three of the main stars with it then you genuinely have one of the best films to ever grace a cinema screen. It is beautiful, it is heartbreaking and it is brilliant.
Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse (2018)
Directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman. Starring Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld and Nicolas Cage.
After gaining superpowers from a spider bite, Miles Morales protects the city as Spider-Man. Soon, he meets alternate versions of himself and gets embroiled in an epic battle to save the multiverse. By far the best animated film I have ever seen. It uses animation perfectly, show me stuff that can never be done in live action and I’m one happy bunny. Put that with top class voice acting and you end up with this (and it’s not a stretch to say) masterpiece of cinema.
Joker (2019)
Directed and Co-Written by Todd Philips. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro and Zazie Beetz.
Clown by day and aspiring comedian by night, Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) feels isolated bullied and shunned by society. We follow him as he begins his transformation into Gotham’s crown prince of crime. An excellent character driven film with tones of Taxi Driver all over it. Phoenix’s portrayal of this damaged man is of the highest calibre and if he doesn’t get an Oscar nomination for best actor in a few months time then there really is no hope for the Academy. It’s not just his acting that put this film on my list though, the cinematography is awesome too. Early in the film there are multiple close ups of Arthur’s face, showing just him in the shot, which the cinematographer said was to convey loneliness. Also, when the camera does pan out or around he is almost always boxed in with either furniture or other people so he looks small in his world. People on the street walk past him without looking his way too as if he doesn’t exist … that all changes by the end of the film though. Excellent work both behind and in front of the camera.
So that wraps up a pretty excellent decade of films in my opinion, a decade that saw the meteoric rise of superhero films and even found one of them winning three Oscars, that is some cool shit right there! A decade that gave us reboots, sequels and prequels a plenty, Some I knew I wanted, some I knew I didn’t want and the really cool ones were the ones I wanted without knowing it. We saw quite a shift in what the Oscars deemed a worthy winner and let me tell you, that change wasn’t before time.
The flip side to that awesome coin is we have also seen the rise of differences of opinion causing such animosity. Loving a film is allowed, hating a film is allowed and thinking a film is just ok is also allowed. Me not agreeing with your choices doesn’t mean we’re at different ends of any political or social spectrum. It just means we like different shit. It’s also ok to once like a film franchise and not like new offerings. Look at it like book choices, some authors fall out of favour as you get older, or like music taste; I like all things Bon Jovi pre-2000 and not much after, doesn’t mean I should find all post-2000 Bon Jovi fans and call them pricks for their music choice. Having that conversation with my sister would just ruin birthdays and Christmas. Be subjective by all means but to quote Roadhouse, (one of the best films of all time, by the way) “be nice”
Thanks for reading you lovely people. As I sit here and finish my beer, It’s 3am and I’m off. Here’s to the next ten years of films!
Youngy's Film Reviews 