By some rough math I've watched well over 1000 films this decade, and these are my 24 favorites, below. If you need something to watch over the holidays, maybe give one a shot? Ahem:
Swiss Army Man by @Daniels:
Yes, the "farting corpse movie." There's so much heart and humanity within, a movie about being alive and why we do - or don't do - all of the weird things we do. And just the most stirring soundtrack, it gets my soul going like few films ever have.
Yes, the "farting corpse movie." There's so much heart and humanity within, a movie about being alive and why we do - or don't do - all of the weird things we do. And just the most stirring soundtrack, it gets my soul going like few films ever have.
Coherence by @JamesWardByrkit:
I knew nothing about it going into it @fantasticfest, which is the best way to experience a film - but especially this one. The tightest 89 minutes of lo-fi, low-budget sci-fi you'll see, an original concept executed perfectly, and whew that ending.
I knew nothing about it going into it @fantasticfest, which is the best way to experience a film - but especially this one. The tightest 89 minutes of lo-fi, low-budget sci-fi you'll see, an original concept executed perfectly, and whew that ending.
The Lobster by Yorgos Lanthimos:
Lanthimos' rise to prominence has been so fun to watch, and worth going back to Dogtooth for. But Lobster is my fav, a wildly original world that plays it straight for hilariously dark results, with punishing performances I can watch forever.
Lanthimos' rise to prominence has been so fun to watch, and worth going back to Dogtooth for. But Lobster is my fav, a wildly original world that plays it straight for hilariously dark results, with punishing performances I can watch forever.
Buried by @rodrigocortes:
Ryan Reynolds trapped in a box. That's the film. But it is BRILLIANTLY written and paced, a theater-of-the-mind rollercoaster that takes my breath away and makes me cry every one of the 10+ times I've introduced it to other people.
Ryan Reynolds trapped in a box. That's the film. But it is BRILLIANTLY written and paced, a theater-of-the-mind rollercoaster that takes my breath away and makes me cry every one of the 10+ times I've introduced it to other people.
The Florida Project by @Lilfilm:
A small, heartbreaking story, a microcosm of the shadow of poverty that plays out across America every day, try as we do not to consider it. The best child performances I've ever seen, and just enough Willem Dafoe to seal the deal.
A small, heartbreaking story, a microcosm of the shadow of poverty that plays out across America every day, try as we do not to consider it. The best child performances I've ever seen, and just enough Willem Dafoe to seal the deal.
Annihilation by Alex Garland:
Garland has written or directed so many films/games I've loved this decade, from Never Let Me Go, to Dredd, to Enslaved. Annihilation is perfectly unsettling, otherworldly, inspired, romantic, singular sci-fi - so lucky I could see it theatrically.
Garland has written or directed so many films/games I've loved this decade, from Never Let Me Go, to Dredd, to Enslaved. Annihilation is perfectly unsettling, otherworldly, inspired, romantic, singular sci-fi - so lucky I could see it theatrically.
Under the Skin by Jonathan Glazer:
Speaking of perfectly unsettling sci-fi...
An audiovisual mood piece of stark alien indifference, a predator reckoning with its nature. I also LOVED the (very different) book, and makes me appreciate this minimalist reworking all the more.
Speaking of perfectly unsettling sci-fi...
An audiovisual mood piece of stark alien indifference, a predator reckoning with its nature. I also LOVED the (very different) book, and makes me appreciate this minimalist reworking all the more.
Mad Max: Fury Road by George Miller:
Just a relentless cacophony of grease, fire, and blood, yet somehow a cohesive, even thoughtful balm to the Michael Bayism of modern action films. Perfectly staged, every sparse word in its right place. A rush on endorphins from every angle.
Just a relentless cacophony of grease, fire, and blood, yet somehow a cohesive, even thoughtful balm to the Michael Bayism of modern action films. Perfectly staged, every sparse word in its right place. A rush on endorphins from every angle.
The Raid: Redemption by @Ghuevans:
Where Fury Road is action at the grandest setpiece scale, The Raid is the intimate counterpoint - once they ditch the guns early on, every fight is physical, to the death. Impossibly choreographed, my fav action film this century, even.
Where Fury Road is action at the grandest setpiece scale, The Raid is the intimate counterpoint - once they ditch the guns early on, every fight is physical, to the death. Impossibly choreographed, my fav action film this century, even.
Drive by @NicolasWR:
Winding Refn's slow-burn pretension hasn't worked for me since, but Drive is the perfect balance of ice-cool characters and a splash of heart to keep them close enough to our reality. It drips with ineffable style, and sits with the right moments.
Winding Refn's slow-burn pretension hasn't worked for me since, but Drive is the perfect balance of ice-cool characters and a splash of heart to keep them close enough to our reality. It drips with ineffable style, and sits with the right moments.
Minding the Gap by @bingliu89:
A skateboarding doc that absolutely isn't about skateboarding. The fact that Liu found a film, found THIS film, within years of footage of casually filming and talking to friends, feels miraculous. And timely. Yet timeless.
A skateboarding doc that absolutely isn't about skateboarding. The fact that Liu found a film, found THIS film, within years of footage of casually filming and talking to friends, feels miraculous. And timely. Yet timeless.
Logan by @mang0ld:
I often think how wild it is that we live in a world where this film exists, with this name. The existence of the MCU isn't surprising - THIS film is surprising. A dirty, dour, but somehow perfect end to a character that's meant a lot to me for a long time.
I often think how wild it is that we live in a world where this film exists, with this name. The existence of the MCU isn't surprising - THIS film is surprising. A dirty, dour, but somehow perfect end to a character that's meant a lot to me for a long time.
The Lighthouse by Robert Eggers:
This feels potentially too fresh, but I've seen it twice, and both times I adored sinking into the grime, and the brine, and spending five weeks (or was it two days?) with the desperate, obsessed men of this primal tragedy.
This feels potentially too fresh, but I've seen it twice, and both times I adored sinking into the grime, and the brine, and spending five weeks (or was it two days?) with the desperate, obsessed men of this primal tragedy.
Before Midnight by Richard Linklater:
Every installment of the Before trilogy feels essential and present in its own way, but Midnight felt particularly resonant at the age when I saw it. The further out it gets beyond the spark of romance, the more painfully truthful it feels.
Every installment of the Before trilogy feels essential and present in its own way, but Midnight felt particularly resonant at the age when I saw it. The further out it gets beyond the spark of romance, the more painfully truthful it feels.
Phantom Thread by PT Anderson:
There's a deeply neurotic mania that I hated identifying with in Phantom Thread, but as an observer I squirmed in my seat with delicious glee and discomfort. Everything by PTA is a treasure, and if it's truly DDL's final performance, it's worthy.
There's a deeply neurotic mania that I hated identifying with in Phantom Thread, but as an observer I squirmed in my seat with delicious glee and discomfort. Everything by PTA is a treasure, and if it's truly DDL's final performance, it's worthy.
American Animals by @BartfromRaw:
I only saw this once, on a plane, but it really stuck with me. A slightly bizarre but somehow very effective docudrama-ish retelling of a wild, impossible heist. A small story that impacted multiple lives in a big way, told with importance.
I only saw this once, on a plane, but it really stuck with me. A slightly bizarre but somehow very effective docudrama-ish retelling of a wild, impossible heist. A small story that impacted multiple lives in a big way, told with importance.
Thunder Road by @jimmycthatsme:
I don't know how this lived up to its amazing trailer, but it did. Clearly a very specific vision, Cummings did almost everything on the film, perhaps the only way to properly support his virtuoso performance as a single dad losing his grip.
I don't know how this lived up to its amazing trailer, but it did. Clearly a very specific vision, Cummings did almost everything on the film, perhaps the only way to properly support his virtuoso performance as a single dad losing his grip.
Good Time by @JOSH_BENNY:
As relentless as Fury Road, condensed into an intimate crime drama sprawled across NYC, my proper intro to the potential of Robert Pattinson as he goes out of the frying pan and into the fire, and my overdue intro to the Safdies. DYING to see Uncut Gems.
As relentless as Fury Road, condensed into an intimate crime drama sprawled across NYC, my proper intro to the potential of Robert Pattinson as he goes out of the frying pan and into the fire, and my overdue intro to the Safdies. DYING to see Uncut Gems.
Upstream Color by Shane Carruth:
Primer is an impossible film to follow up, and after several false starts I'm glad that Carruth ended up in even more dense, esoteric, resourceful sci-fi territory. An endlessly explorable well of ideas, color, and feeling.
Primer is an impossible film to follow up, and after several false starts I'm glad that Carruth ended up in even more dense, esoteric, resourceful sci-fi territory. An endlessly explorable well of ideas, color, and feeling.
Eighth Grade by @boburnham:
It's hard to let go of your childhood, and often even harder to feel like an adult. A difficult, uncomfortably true expression of these ideas, and feeling like an outsider both through the modern lens of social media, and somehow more universally, too.
It's hard to let go of your childhood, and often even harder to feel like an adult. A difficult, uncomfortably true expression of these ideas, and feeling like an outsider both through the modern lens of social media, and somehow more universally, too.
Arrival by Denis Villeneuve:
A deeply personal film about the nature of language, love, and time. A beautiful expression of alienness, and an optimistic view of our potential - and our potential connection to - the rest of the cosmos.
A deeply personal film about the nature of language, love, and time. A beautiful expression of alienness, and an optimistic view of our potential - and our potential connection to - the rest of the cosmos.
Wrong by @oizo3000:
Yes, Mr. Oizo has become one of my favorite, essential filmmakers since his infamously bizarre Rubber. Wrong is just as strange, but also incredibly sweet, so funny, and really set the course for his amazing, hilarious catalogue since.
Yes, Mr. Oizo has become one of my favorite, essential filmmakers since his infamously bizarre Rubber. Wrong is just as strange, but also incredibly sweet, so funny, and really set the course for his amazing, hilarious catalogue since.
Green Room by @saulnier_jeremy:
Another shocker @fantasticfest I knew nothing about going in, and will never be able to cleanse from my mind. Maybe the most suspenseful film I've ever seen, the punk-show-gone-wrong that I've feared firsthand. I will see all of his films forever.
Another shocker @fantasticfest I knew nothing about going in, and will never be able to cleanse from my mind. Maybe the most suspenseful film I've ever seen, the punk-show-gone-wrong that I've feared firsthand. I will see all of his films forever.
Locke by Steven Knight:
A perfect pairing with Buried above, swap Reynolds with Tom Hardy and a coffin with a drive home from work. Watch someone's life unravel from their end of a few phone calls, desperately trying to make everything right, when it simply can't be.
A perfect pairing with Buried above, swap Reynolds with Tom Hardy and a coffin with a drive home from work. Watch someone's life unravel from their end of a few phone calls, desperately trying to make everything right, when it simply can't be.
Almost made the list:
Ex Machina
A Man Named Ove
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Monsters
La La Land
My Sister's Sister
Prince Avalanche
Mission Impossible: Fallout
Drinking Buddies
Ex Machina
A Man Named Ove
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Monsters
La La Land
My Sister's Sister
Prince Avalanche
Mission Impossible: Fallout
Drinking Buddies
