I love movies.
On January 1st of this year I unknowingly opened Pandora’s box. I thought I’d watch 25 or 30 movies and share my progress. Within a week, I was obsessed. I think I watched 4 or 5x as many movies this year as I ever have in my life, and the only thing that prevented it from being 150 or 200 was starting a new job in September.
2019 has recaptured my love for movies.
I don’t think about it much these days, but there was a time in high school where I’d have told you I wanted to work in the movie business. I think “director of photography” or “editor” was my loose vision for myself. Through a couple years of filmmaking classes in high school, and four-and-a-half years of a college major I never quite latched onto, I learned that it wasn’t for me. Maybe it’s my ADD, but I’m too shortsighted with my ideas. I work better letting random thoughts spill forth nearly instantaneously without any sort of checks and balances to my “creativity.”
So now I tweet and blog professionally.
But my short attention span makes the magic of movies seem even more impressive. Richard Linklater worked on a movie for 12 years while also gestating a trilogy that tracked a couple across 18. Christopher Nolan traversed galaxies and our own minds. Lulu Wang took me to China and told a delicate, comedic, and autobiographical story of her family. Jordan Peele looks at the world we live in and finds ways to effortlessly slice it in half. The Safdie brothers spent a decade bringing to life a movie where Adam Sandler plays a down-and-out jeweler. Andrea Arnold gave us two hours and 45 minutes of insight into the people around us. It all seems impossible to me.
And yet I watched hundreds of movies this decade and had no trouble finding more than 60 to gush over. Some people still manage to make the impossible seem natural.
And so here it is, in some 8,000 words I slaved over: my favorite movies of the 2010s.
A few things to note:
I suppose there’s some attempt to be objective here, but there’s also a reason this is titled Favorite Movies of the Decade. I certainly haven’t seen every movie released since 2010, or even all of the important ones. This is heavily catered to my tastes. Besides, if you want something objective, go look at Metacritic or Rotten Tomatoes or something.
You’ll probably notice a bias towards newer movies. I got much more intentional with watching them as the decade went along, culminating in me knocking out 102 new (to me) films this year. If you see a lot from 2018-19, that’s why.
Spoiler alert. Maybe don’t read my comments on a movie you haven’t seen yet. I don’t make a point to talk about plot in all of these, but I wasn’t avoiding it either.
Documentaries
I just have a hard time ranking documentaries alongside movies because of how different they are. Here are some that, if I knew how to place them alongside traditional cinema, would be somewhere on this list.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
Like so many Americans, I grew up watching Mr. Rogers. As I got older, I inevitably grew to understand him as more than a cheesy children’s TV star. It wasn’t until I watched Won’t You Be My Neighbor? that I got a broader picture of who he was as a man. This documentary inspired me enough that, when I got married in 2018, I used a Fred Rogers quote in the ceremony. (It’s also a lot better than A Beautiful Day In the Neighborhood. Watch both, but don’t miss this.)
Free Solo (2018)
Who knew a documentary could make you so sweaty? I ended up watching this twice in just a few days and was just as exhilarated on the second lap. I think it speaks to the quality of the source material that they took an already simple story, underserved or outright ignored a few key elements, and still absolutely crushed it en route to an Oscar win. It’s a largely one-track story centered on an athlete with a one-track mind. (If you’re still desperate after watching Free Solo, check out 2015’s Meru.)
Apollo 11 (2019)
I call things a “national treasure” as a joke sometimes, but this is exactly that. It’s gorgeous and enthralling to the point of being occasionally overwhelming. I wish I had it when I was a kid. What a piece of history. It’s one of the view pieces of media I consumed this decade that I’d recommend to literally anyone.
Minding The Gap (2018)
I looked forward to mid90s for what felt like a year and one of the biggest plot twists of 2018 was that I thought Minding The Gap was a much more effective and nuanced “Skateboarding as a lens into _____” experience. I can’t give director Bing Liu enough credit, especially at his age, for turning the camera on himself and being bold enough to stick his finger into some hornets nests. One of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen. One of the best 2-3 things I saw last year.
64. The Witch (2015)
I’m not a diehard horror fan, but I love horror movies that do what The Witch does. It doesn’t rely on jump scares or graphic violence. Rather, it slowly pieces together a world and slips so gently into madness that you forget how deep the rabbit hole is until the movie ends and you lurch back to reality. It’s a period piece set in 1630s New England that strives for extreme accuracy, allowing for a kind of trustworthiness that sets up viewers to be dragged into lunacy while they have their guard down.
63. Eighth Grade (2018)
I think one of the themes of the decade was young directors clobbering homers in their first at-bat. Bo Burnham is a thoughtful, creative comedian, but I did not peg him for having star directorial ability. What’s more, he took a cast of young actors and squeezed every drop out of them. It’s an empathetic, affecting portrait of the most awkward time of our lives. I think it activated a bit of buried anxiety within me.
62. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
It’s gorgeously assembled—even by Wes Anderson standards—and leaning on Saoirse Ronan is a choice that’s aged well. The Grand Budapest Hotel uses perhaps Anderson’s deepest cast to propel itself through a snowy, 1930s European landscape in a svelte 99 minutes. Objectively, this has to be the director’s most realized work, incorporating the full breadth of his trademark arsenal into one project.
61. Knives Out (2019)
As a popcorn flick, it’s stellar. Rian Johnson captured something special with this cast and a script that’s probably better than it deserves to be. It’s just fun—the setting, the music, the accents, the wardrobes, the color palette—all of it. In the end, it felt like he may have tried to do too much. It’s two hours and 10 minutes long, which begins to weigh on the pacing and leads to an expository ending that isn’t quite as efficient as I’d have liked it to be. There’s a more dialed-in version of this movie that’s less than two hours long and sits higher on this list.
60. First Man (2018)
Damien Chazelle emerged as one of the industry’s best directors this decade, and First Man is his most restrained work. There is no towering climax or exhilarating third act, but he brings in Ryan Gosling to portray a man who lived in a way that required neither. It’s an understated masterpiece that flies in the face of nearly every other outer-space drama released in a decade where they became trendy. It’s quiet and visceral, akin to a documentary more than a Hollywood blockbuster.
59. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
Strap in, because things are about to get twee. It may not be Wes Anderson’s objectively best work of the decade (that distinction belongs to The Grand Budapest Hotel), but I think Moonrise Kingdom is a story that best suits his shtick. Anderson is a creator that has always seemed to operate with a childlike sense of adventure, so it’s no surprise a film starring children delivers on its potential. While the wilderness backdrop removes much of the need for Anderson’s elite set dressings, he more than makes up for it with a solid script that may be his funniest.
58. Spotlight (2015)
I love a good journalism drama, and this one’s an all-timer. It’s a modern All The President’s Men, detailing the Boston Globe’s reporting on the scandal of abuse in the Catholic Church. Mark Ruffalo and Michael Keaton were born for roles like this, and the strong supporting cast adds firepower to a story that deserves it. It won Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay for a reason.
57. The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
Make 1,000 “Shia LaBeouf is a bad guy with a good heart” movies and I will see every single one. It’s low-stakes in a pleasant way, never threatening to amp your anxiety to an uncomfortable level like so many movies on this list. It was a good change of pace for me.
LaBeouf is one of my favorite actors, and this type of role is why. His chemistry with Zack Gottsagen, an actor with Down’s syndrome making his feature film debut, is the propulsion that drives the movie. Combine it with a few odd but charming, surreal flourishes and it becomes something that’s impossible to hate and sure to be something I return to.
56. Nocturnal Animals (2016)
After Dan Gilroy directed Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler, but before Dan Gilroy directed Jake Gyllenhaal in Velvet Buzzsaw, Tom Ford (yes, that Tom Ford) combined the two in a brilliant fusion of pulpy suspense and art-house aesthetic. It also has Michael Shannon and Armie Hammer. So good. It serves as the final chapter in the 2010s Gyllenhaal resurgence (Prisoners-Nightcrawler-Nocturnal Animals).
55. The Visit (2015)
Here’s one of my most underrated of the 2010s. Perhaps this was overlooked because it’s directed by M. Night Shyamalan and didn’t take itself seriously. But here’s the thing: This was his best work in at least a decade. It’s a cooky blend of cheap horror and cheap laughs, but it had me nervously giggling in the theater—an experience I can’t say I’ve had very often. The Visit was the first joint effort of Blumhouse and Shyamalan, and it couldn’t have gone better. This cost $5 million! It made almost $100 million! Get this guy on more offbeat horror.
54. Waves (2019)
Waves is a brutal, punishing, exhausting, messy affair. Director Trey Edward Shults, just 30 years old when he wrote and directed this, knew where he wanted to go and steamrolled his way there with this 135-minute explosion that misses on several beats but charges forth so assuredly that it stirs up enough chaos to create some beautiful moments.
Rarely can cinematography be described as “athletic,” yet Shults manages it here. It made perfect sense when I later learned that he interned under Terrence Malick on The Tree of Life. Both directors use their cameras aggressively, and Waves even contains a scene on a construction site that could’ve been plucked directly from To The Wonder.
53. Shutter Island (2010)
Depending on how you view it, Shutter Island is either an enjoyable thriller or an underperforming venture that didn’t come out nearly as well as a Scorcese/DiCaprio collaboration should. It’s a moody mystery with an ending that threatens to unravel the previous two hours and 15 minutes. Perhaps most importantly for its legacy, it served as the launching pad for a monster decade from Leo.
52. Only God Forgives (2013)
I don’t love all of Nicolas Winding Refn’s work, but I respect what he’s done with his career. He released Drive in 2011, which had juuuust enough palatability to find an audience as one of the first Netflix gems. In an uncompromising move, he followed it with another Ryan Gosling vehicle, this time with none of the accessibility. People hated this! Only God Forgives has to be my lowest-rated Metacritic movie on this list, but I’ll stand behind it. It’s a brutal and dazzling art house film that chooses style over substance in the best way.
51. Tree of Life (2011)
I am absolutely fascinated by Terrence Malick’s work. The Tree of Life is basically “The story of a ‘50s Waco family. But first, the creation of the universe.” If you think that sounds preposterous, I’d say that’s fair. But it’s also wildly riveting. If nothing else, sit back and watch Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain do some unique work through the lens of one of film history’s best cinematographers.
50. Blue Valentine (2010)
Imagine if 500 Days of Summer were ruthlessly bleak. Cianfrance killed this and Gosling and Williams sizzle. No two actors would’ve been better in this role, at least in 2010. It will rip your heart out, but isn’t that the point? Blue Valentine is late-period Tumblr-core in the best possible ways. This was Gosling’s first role in three years and first major role since 2004’s The Notebook. Give it credit for teeing up a decade that saw Gosling become an A-lister.
49. The Ides of March (2011)
Give me George Clooney. Give me Ryan Gosling. Give me Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, and Marisa Tomei. Shoot it in Cincinnati. That’s all I need. It’s a political thriller that’s been somewhat lost throughout the years as all of its main actors have starred in more prominent movies. But it’s a pretty good one. The Bearcats mention by Gosling doesn’t hurt either.
48. A Quiet Place (2018)
A horror-thriller directed by John Krasinski and starring him and Emily Blunt (his wife) should never have worked. The fact that it did is one of the better Hollywood stories of 2018. I should have given it a better chance off the strength of the elevator pitch alone: “What if a family were forced to live in a world where monsters hunt by sound? And what if one of the children was deaf?” It’s a great piece of suspenseful cinema that truly succeeds in the moments it explores the nature of love and family.
47. We The Animals (2018)
Perhaps the smallest film on this list, I found my way to it in a fittingly random way—through the man behind its score: Nick Zammuto. I somehow came across Zammuto’s eponymous band years ago, and in a random moment of recollection, looked him up to discover he’d recently scored an indie film. I’m glad I stumbled my way here. It’s a quaint and thoughtful coming-of-age story about disadvantaged kid grappling for his place in a world he’s quickly realizing is larger than the Upstate New York home he shares with his troubled parents.
46. A Star Is Born (2018)
From the moment the promising trailer released, we all had a sense this was going to be something to marvel at one way or another: Either in its success or its failure. Give director (and leading man) Bradley Cooper credit for pulling it off, and give Lady Gaga credit for anchoring it so well. She may never have another role as perfectly suited as this, but does it matter? The film won her an Oscar for Best Original Song and was even nominated for Best Leading Actress. Imagine hearing that in 2009.
45. Creed (2015)
Director Ryan Coogler first made a name for himself with his indie film Fruitvale Station in 2013 before thundering into blockbuster Hollywood with Black Panther in 2018. But it’s Creed where he really found his mainstream step. I’m not a Rocky fan (frankly I can’t even tell you which movies in the series I’ve seen), so the amount I enjoyed this one surprised me. Michael B. Jordan is a star, and he and Coogler found each other at the perfect time. There’s just something about boxing movies.
44. Gravity (2013)
Space movies have kinda always been a thing, but this feels like the starting point for a decade that ended up churning out lots of them. I think I’ve watched every single one, and I have Gravity to thank for that. By happenstance, I saw it in IMAX. It was an experience. It’s more singular than some of the space adventures that proceeded it, but it excels at hitting that single note. Alfonso Cuarón is good at what he does.
43. Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)
I think blockbuster romantic comedies were a casualty of the 2010s. Crazy, Stupid, Love. is the kind of movie that makes you miss them. The Big Four that anchor it are perfect in their roles, and the collision of the plot led to one of the funniest scenes I experienced in a theater this decade. I’ll take more Carell-Gosling, please.
42. Mid90s (2018)
It’s not a feel-good movie in the traditional sense, but I have a soft spot for films that can lead you to a happy place through the back door. Childhood isn’t always a bed of roses, but there’s a point where everyone realizes that a friend group can serve as a second family. Mid90s is about a second family that—for better or worse—also serves as the first. It’s buoyed by a great soundtrack. I think we’ll see Jonah Hill keep this success going.
41. Call Me By Your Name (2017)
Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet both emerged as veritable stars this decade, and Call Me By Your Name sees them intertwined at the right time. While it calls on big questions about sexuality, heartbreak, and maturity as it relates to love, what continues to stick with me is the fantastic ‘80s Italian vibe it conjures so well. It has a sense of organic, Reagan-era European wonder (surely nobody has ever written this sentence) that I can only describe by comparing it to The Secret Garden.
40. Annihilation (2018)
For some reason, I always tell myself I don’t like Natalie Portman. But… I think I like Natalie Portman. I also, for some reason, tell myself I don’t like sci-fi. But I’m finding I like sci-fi. This gets weird in a hurry. It’s surreal and mesmerizing, has fantastic world-building, and features one of my favorite scenes of the decade. It consumes you by the end.
39. Little Women (2019)
I’m slightly ashamed to admit I came to Little Women with zero prior knowledge of its plot. I knew it as “that book I probably should have read at some point.” To my delight, I thought the story was great, and its genius adaptation here by Greta Gerwig is a marvel of casting. What a bulletproof group of actors. It’s just fun to watch them on screen together, crawling over top of each other both verbally and occasionally literally. It will be fun, in 25 years, to look back and marvel at how Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet, and Florence Pugh appeared alongside one another in 2019.
38. Foxcatcher (2014)
One of the more frustrating movies on my list, Foxcatcher primes up a great story before fumbling its way home. In the end, 134 minutes is just too long, and the directors (maybe the plural form is the issue) botch all of their story’s forward momentum. Give it some patience, and it’s worth it. It throws so much at you that some of it is bound to stick. When it does, strap in. Carell makes a fantastic weirdo.
37. 50/50 (2011)
I knew director Johnathan Levine from a movie he wrote in 2008 called The Wackness—a tiny indie starring Josh Peck. Ask me when I was 17, and I would’ve told you it was my favorite movie ever. The same magnetic earnestness comes through in 50/50, now with stars like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, and Anna Kendrick. I’m not a ‘cry during a movie’ guy, but this almost got me—in between bouts of laughter, no less. The Descendants played on many of the same notes when it was released the same year, and won an Oscar for it. I don’t think 50/50 got the same attention because of its pedigree (today this is probably a Netflix movie), but it deserves some shine as well.
36. Midsommar (2019)
Maybe the weirdest movie on this list. Midsommar is surreal to the point of being consuming. It’s a movie largely based on psilocybic drugs that—by the end—feels like you’re in a trip of your own. It’s a visual masterpiece that will reward those with a strong stomach and a willingness to let their guard down and surrender to the strange. Director Ari Aster says he’s done with horror for the time being. I can’t fathom what this maniac will do in other genres.
(I feel like I should at least mention Hereditary. It’s scary as absolute hell, but the ending disappointed me enough to knock it off this list. I don’t like horror enough to appreciate it without a satisfying plot.)
35. Marriage Story (2019)
The script could not be less enjoyable. The opening scene is gorgeous and then the movie spends the next two hours whittling away at two people until nothing good remains. It’s ruthlessly depressing.
The performances, meanwhile, could not be more enjoyable. Holy moly, Adam Driver can act. What this one lacks in watchability it more than makes up for in quality. It’s a great piece of writing brought to life by a masterclass in acting.
Marriage Story making this list is also a bit of a full-circle moment for me. Noah Baumbach’s The Squid and the Whale was, for whatever reason, perhaps the first true indie movie I ever saw. It sounds dumb in hindsight, but I remember a lightbulb moment when I realized there was a whole new side of movies I hadn’t dug into yet. I was probably 16 years old, and Baumbach was the first director I ever labeled as a favorite. He’s arguably the man that sparked my love for movies.
34. Gone Girl (2014)
When the trailer came out, I frantically read Gillian Flynn’s novel (on which the movie is based) in a couple days before seeing the adaptation on opening weekend. David Fincher is just showing off here. Rosamund Pike is stellar, but the rest of the cast (Ben Affleck? Neil Patrick Harris? Tyler Perry?) seems odd on paper yet works to perfection on screen. There isn’t much I love more than a good thriller-mystery, and Fincher chose the perfect source material to nail.
33. Moneyball (2011)
For those who know baseball, the idea of Brad Pitt portraying Billy Beane in a Hollywood movie is preposterous. Moneyball ends up going down as a rewatchable classic for tapping into the romance of baseball, the excitement of innovation, and Beane’s connection with his daughter. I love baseball movies, and while Moneyball may not be a classic in the same way Field of Dreams or The Sandlot are, it sets itself apart in its novel angle—kinda like Beane himself.
32. The Florida Project (2017)
When I first watched The Florida Project in 2018, I said it was “like if Harmony Korine did Boyhood.” It’s rough around the edges in ways that are challenging yet rewarding, and concentrates on a single, eventful summer in the life of magnetic protagonist. It’s set in the shadow of Disney World, beautifully juxtaposing the world’s most famous amusement park against the decrepit landscape of surrounding motels and those that inhabit them. It boasts Willem Dafoe and one of the most startling, fascinating endings on this list.
31. The Lobster (2015)
Yorgos Lanthimos eventually earned an Oscar nomination for The Favourite, but it’s The Lobster where his knack for wry, cynical dialogue is on full display, pulsating in all its weirdness without restraint. I watched this in a tiny theater with several very uncomfortable strangers. It’s about a world where middle-aged people who have failed to find a partner are transformed into wild animals. If you aren’t down to belly laugh at a failed suicide attempt, this one is probably not for you.
30. Midnight In Paris (2011)
I suppose your enjoyment of Midnight in Paris hinges on your ability to let it happen. If you can accept the ridiculous premise that Woody Allen is writing and directing a film that sends Owen Wilson time-traveling back to 1920s Paris to hob-knob with famous artists, you’ll have fun. That’s what this movie is: fun. It doesn’t try to do too much, although Allen did manage to win Best Original Screenplay with it.
29. Her (2013)
I’ve been a fan of Spike Jonze for as long as I’ve been old enough to care seriously about movies. The man was part of Jackass, helped make Being John Malkovich, and directed Kanye and Jay Z’s “Otis” music video. Her sees Jonze at the peak of his powers, directing one of his generation’s foremost acting talents through a glossy and captivating version of our own world where falling in love with a computer is possible. It’s something like “light sci-fi” that leans on drama and romance while only just sprinkling colorful details about its slightly futuristic location. It doesn’t get quite as bizzare as Charlie Kaufman (Jonze’s partner on Makovich and writer of movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) but Jonze is there to color the heartfelt story in an engrossing way.
28. Coco (2017)
I think Coco is my favorite Pixar movie, at least as it currently stands. The 2010s were not great for Pixar from a critical standpoint. But just when I’d thought the studio had lost a step, they came back with a perfect summation of all of their superpowers. It’s gorgeous and enthralling, exciting and moving. It’s a childrens masterpiece.
27. Nightcrawler (2014)
First off, what a perfect title. Nightcrawler follows Jake Gyllenhaal—an ambulance-chasing “journalist” who slithers the LA streets at night looking for gory footage he can sell to local television stations to make a quick buck. As we soon learn, this character is a sociopath whose line of work leads him to make some “questionable” decisions. Gyllenhaal has been a respected actor for a while, but it seemed like he found a new life in the 2010s. Nightcrawler has become a bit of a cult classic, and it’s his best work of the decade.
26. American Honey (2014)
Andrea Arnold is best known for her directorial work on Season 2 of HBO’s Big Little Lies, but the masterpiece of her relatively short resume is 2014’s American Honey—an expansive, 163-minute adventure that’s loose on narrative but deep on character in its depiction of vagrant teens navigating America’s sprawling underbelly. It’s a coming-out party for Sasha Lane and a perfect landing spot for personal-favorite Shia LaBeouf. It has shades of Catcher In The Rye in its wandering plot and novel-like pace, but it’s ultimately rewarding. The soundtrack is phenomenal and utilized to perfection. There’s a scene soundtracked by OG Maco leading into a scene supported by Lady Antebellum that almost made me tear up. What a ride.
25. Baby Driver (2017)
It’s the opposite of the next movie on this list, in all the best and worst ways. I don’t know that it’s aged that well, and it’s not the fault of the movie. Ansel Elgort hasn’t exactly taken off in the aftermath of Baby Driver’s success, and Kevin Spacey’s contributions don’t hold up well for obvious reasons. But look past the stale castings and it’s just loads of fun. The soundtrack is a bit Reddit-core for me, but it still adds a dynamic to a movie that hits its high notes in simple ways. It’s a reminder that great car movies can make for some of the most thrilling theater experiences. This one was a rush.
24. Drive (2011)
I don’t think many people saw 2010’s Blue Valentine (a shame!) or All Good Things (not a shame!), so Drive basically serves as Ryan Gosling’s mainstream introduction to a decade that saw him dominate. He’s got eight movies on this list and one more that would be classified as a snub. Gosling is one of my favorite actors, and I can’t help but wonder how many of these movies he’d have landed without the runaway indie success of Drive (which was also one of the first movies to get the “Netflix boost”). Sure, it’s fun. And Gosling gives a compelling, understated, practically silent performance that’s been meme’d to death in the years since. But Drive’s biggest legacy may be in the waves it made across the rest of the decade.
23. Boyhood (2014)
It’s a true achievement in filmmaking that Richard Linklater was able to successfully shoot a movie that follows its characters in real time over the course of 12 years. It’s a novel experience watching all the film’s actors age from chapter to chapter, and while this approach is certainly a large part of the appeal, I never felt like it relied too heavily on it as a gimmick. The beauty of Boyhood is in its restrained moments, a choice that I feel was lost on some of the movie’s critics. Nobody dies. Nobody suffers a life-altering tragedy. The film’s dramatic beats are normal boyhood milestones for so many: A first kiss, a new school, a divorce. The structure could be seen as “showy,” but the plot is the furthest thing from it. It’s wonderful.
22. The Lighthouse (2019)
It’s a film buff (bro?) dream come true, as director Robert Eggers joins forces with Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattison for an old timey New England lighthouse thriller shot on a bunch of old lenses. It’s a romp through the surreal and paranormal. I’m not sure I could assign meaning to it, but I’m also not sure that matters. It looks really cool and it’s a lot of fun. It combines two of the decade’s underrated, trendy figures: Eggers as an emerging horror auteur and Pattison as a heartthrob-turned-indie darling.
21. Before Midnight (2013)
Before Midnight is the culmination of what’s become my favorite film trilogy of all time. The series maps the journey of two people across 18 years and all the complex permutations their loves takes. While the first two movies are marvelous for their bare-bones simplicity, Before Midnight expands its lens, beginning to feel more like a standard Hollywood film. I do think some of the series’ magic is lost in this decision, but Linklater’s sublime writing and directorial hand—along with terrific performances from Hawke and Delpy—make this a more-than-worthy final chapter.
20. The Big Sick (2017)
While Judd Apatow was merely a producer on this movie, his fingerprints are all over it. Nobody is better at these kinds of comedies that reveal larger themes. In a decade where we seemed to lose some of that genre (at least in the mainstream) The Big Sick stands out.
It features some of the decade’s best laughs and a genuine heart. Kumail Nanjiani, an actor I like despite an uneven resume, really delivers here, as does Ray Romano in transition to major Hollywood movies.
19. Moonlight (2016)
Moonlight is searingly painful, perhaps even to its detriment. It’s hard to imagine a character more beaten down by the world than Chiron, yet the miracle of the film is the way in which Barry Jenkins traces that bitter journey across time before placing his protagonist in a tender, understated ending.
There are aspects that feel a little on-the-nose, and the plot really doesn’t have many moving parts, but I think that ultimately works for me. It has a simple, classic intimacy that I love.
18. Honey Boy (2019)
“Shia LaBeouf is making a movie about his jacked-up childhood and he’s playing his own abusive father” kinda sells itself, almost to the point of sounding like a parody. But the appeal of Honey Boy is its ability to take a concept that sounds like a grenade waiting to go off and lay it out on the page in a nuanced, sensitive, tender way.
Yes, Honey Boy packs some intense moments, but not near the “pain porn” of something like Moonlight. In fact, its strongest scenes are the ones in which Shia either reflects on positive memories with his father or extends a bit of grace his way.
This could have been an explosive, angry, bitter movie. Instead, LaBeouf managed to elevate it beyond that.
17. The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)
The best way to describe this movie is “rich.” It might be the prettiest and most heartfelt movie of the decade. It does everything at a very deep level. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a movie so elevated by its cinematography. The writing is great. The music is stunning. The acting is moving. But the visual spectacle of it all is legitimately breathtaking. What a gorgeous movie.
As a person prone to fall in love with geographic locations, it’s easy to identify with the filmmakers’ clear and apparent spiritual connection to San Francisco, a city that’s changing beneath their feet faster than they’re prepared to deal with. The story stars Jimmie Falls (masterfully playing… himself). At one point, he overhears his fellow bus passengers disparaging the direction San Francisco is headed. He spins around to confront them. “Do you love it?” he asks. “You don’t get to hate it unless you love it.”
I felt that.
16. The Irishman (2019)
The discourse around this movie centered so much on its unwieldy 3.5-hour runtime, which I kind of understand. But, at the same time, it doesn’t ever feel like the director’s cut of a shorter movie, which is the label some tried to put on it. Its closest parallels are The Godfather I and II and The Wolf of Wall Street, three films that are each three hours or longer. It’s not a light watch, but it’s also not supposed to be.
I came for some classic mob action and wound up enthralled in an epic reflection on family, brotherhood, loyalty, and mortality. It’s a depiction of “bad people” in which Scorsese makes his point in the exact opposite fashion he did with Wolf of Wall Street. It’s exciting and compelling but never glamorous or romantic. Every murder is cold and understated, carried out by incredible characters marching slowly towards a lonely, bitter end. It also manages to be funny. Scorsese is a master.
15. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
This one nearly slipped through the cracks. I saw it in theaters in 2015 and recall enjoying it, but my awareness of its place in 2010s film lore drew me back to give it a refresher. I correctly remembered fantastic action, but holy crap. At its core, it’s nothing more than a chase movie. It’s also a chase movie where roughly three quarters of its two hours are devoted to action. It’s hilarious that it succeeds so well with such an excessive approach.
It’s also so stunningly composed and designed that it could almost live another life through still frames. There are a few decade-defining shots and more incredibly constructed vehicles than I can count.
Behind the flamethrower guitars is a human core that I’d forgotten. Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy both deliver career-best performances.
14. The Descendants (2011)
I don’t know if it’s possible for a George Clooney movie to be “under the radar,” but this one feels like it. It cost just $20 million to make—not exactly pennies, but cheaper than every feature film he’s appeared in since. It’s charming as hell, featuring well-written characters projected against a gorgeous Hawaiian backdrop. It even did well at the Oscars, winning for Best Adapted Screenplay and getting nominated for four more awards.
The Descendants is a near-dark comedy running parallel to a heartwarming family drama, and it succeeds at this difficult task in an effortless way, making it a breeze to watch—rather than a heady pleasure reserved for film lovers. I love stuff like this. It’s somehow both funnier than you expect and more emotional. One of the decade’s true hidden—or perhaps just forgotten—gems.
13. Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018)
I wish I had recorded my impressions after seeing the trailer for this initially. They’d have looked something like this: “Wait, they’re making another Spider-Man movie? Didn’t they just make one? Why is it animated? Oh wait—is this a Netflix show? It’s a movie? Why does the animation look so weird? I am not nearly hardcore enough about comics to see that.”
Into The Spider-Verse came out, the reviews caught my attention, and the movie swept me away. It’s a marvel (no pun intended) that the story, which is quite good, almost seems secondary to the way its assembled. It became the first movie to beat Pixar for Animated Best Picture in 12 years, which seems significant.
I’m not a Superhero Movie Guy, but this was my favorite superhero movie of the decade.
12. Good Time (2017)
The Safdie Brothers have this knack for making movies that are dark, grimy, and depressing but feel so deeply authentic that none of the edge feels unwarranted or try-hard. I love movies that take me on a ride, and Good Time’s mixture of “get me out of here” and “run it back” is worth the two-hour commitment.
Robert Pattinson gives an arresting performance in a story packed with botched robberies, LSD, botched jailbreaks, vacant amusement parks, and botched getaways. While it’s not a feel-good movie in any sense, it feels good. The art direction is fantastic, and cinematography is rich, and the soundtrack by Oneohtrix Point Never (with a perfect Iggy Pop assist) is flawless.
It also boasts perhaps the best trailer of the decade.
11. La La Land (2016)
Much like #10 on this list, La La Land is a movie that isn’t afraid to show its unabashed love for the magic of cinema. It doesn’t waste time sucking you in and taking you on a lighthearted journey. I have to believe that director Damien Chazelle did this intentionally, but the movie largely feels like an instant classic because of its relative simplicity. There aren’t many moving parts, just some great cinematography, unforgettable music, and a pair of extremely compelling leads.
It’s straightforward, passionate, and exciting—the distillation of what great movies can be.
10. Once Upon A Time … In Hollywood (2019)
Did Quentin Tarantino make something… tender? While the climax is straight out of his Inglorious Basterds playbook, the first two hours and 30 minutes are a vibrant, loving, absurd portrait of late-’60s Hollywood and the actors that occupied it. In a way only Tarantino can, he uses this epic, sprawling expanse as a set-up for the bloody finale.
Sharon Tate, played by Margot Robbie, is the voiceless core of the story, as our characters orbit around her before—unknowingly and hilariously—preventing her murder. Brad Pitt plays an all-time cool guy while Leonardo DiCaprio gives his best performance in years. Tarantino re-wrote history again, and I love him for it. It’s one of the most wildly enjoyable movies of the decade.
09. Inception (2010)
Christopher Nolan is one of our generation’s best filmmakers, and I think his Mt. Rushmore (The Prestige-Inception-Interstellar-Dunkirk) stands toe-to-toe with anyone else in the 21st century. I re-watched Inception recently in service of this ranking and I’d forgotten how intricate it was. As big-budget movies become increasingly reliant on audiences’ prior awareness of character and plot, Nolan’s success in bringing new ideas and executions to the masses grows more impressive.
It’s an Ocean’s Eleven-style caper with higher stakes, deeper roots, and an equally thrilling cast. It’s somewhat remarkable this won four Oscars for its craft (cinematography, sound mixing, sound editing, and visual effects) while winning none for its content. Beyond all the trappings of cinema gold, it has an elevator pitch to get you hooked and a ending to leave you thrilled.
08. Interstellar (2014)
Interstellar is probably the most divisive of this top 10. It boasts a strong cult following but also a contingent of naysayers that felt its 169-minute runtime was indulgent and plot points unnecessarily convoluted. I understand both sides of the argument, but I rewatched this one recently and I’ve gotta say it works for me.
McConaughey is right on point, backed up by a slew of worthy co-stars ranging from Anne Hathaway to Timothée Chalamet. It’s a space odyssey that winds across decades and a deep, emotional core. It’s extremely confident in what it’s trying to do.
And yes, there are points where the story becomes knotted so tightly that the stakes are difficult to fully grasp, but that’s never made the emotional payoff any less sweet for me. I nearly had an anxiety attack when I watched the climax for the first time.
07. The Social Network (2010)
Has any movie from this decade aged better than The Social Network? Director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin dialed on in Mark Zuckerberg’s egomaniacal essence before it was en vogue. Nine years later, as Facebook becomes a kind of Big Brother and Zuckerberg sits before Congress, it almost seems prophetic to frame the company’s birth this way. Not many films that earn eight Oscar nominations could be called “ahead of their time,” yet here we are. It’s more relevant with each passing week. If anything, its critical lens actually looks lenient in hindsight.
Jesse Eisenberg, who excels in roles with this type of arrogant, snappy dialogue (go watch my introduction to his work—2005’s The Squid and the Whale—for proof) may never get a role better than this. And they even got Trent Reznor on the score. It’s easy to forget how silly “a movie about Facebook” seemed in 2010. The fact that it’s become a rewatchable classic is incredible.
06. Get Out (2017)
Satirical movies are an extremely mixed bag for me. On one hand, the ability to bury a secondary message in a piece of storytelling requires an extra level of expertise. On the other hand, this often comes at the expense of entertainment. This is not the case with Get Out. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a more entertaining satire. In fact, there’s an argument to be made that this is the most purely entertaining movie of the decade.
Defining a “perfect” movie is weird, and everyone has differing opinions on whether or not “perfect” movies exist. I don’t know where I fall on that spectrum, but I can say that I feel Get Out succeeds perfectly at what it set out to do. Beneath a fully realized plot is incredible casting, a slew of fun easter eggs for those who like to pick at things, and 104 minutes of flawless pacing. It’s a roller coaster ride that beautifully and effortlessly sticks its landing.
05. Uncut Gems (2019)
Isn’t it great when you wait for something for ages and it lives up to every ounce of the hype? This is incredibly rare, by the way. LeBron James? Kanye West’s fifth studio album? And now, the Safdie Brothers’ infamous diamond district movie starring Adam Sandler.
The directing duo have been trying to bring this carnival ride into the world for years—since before Good Time. They reportedly wrote this script a full decade ago and first showed it to Sandler in 2012. He declined. Later, Harvey Keitel was attached. Then Jonah Hill. The fact that it ended up back with Sandler is right, because so much of this movie is just seemed to click into place on screen and couldn't have gone any other way.
Sandler’s performance is miraculous. Kevin Garnett is the perfect NBA player for the role (others like Amar’e Stoudemire and Kobe Bryant were originally on the Safdie’s wish list). The score, by Oneohtrix Point Never, is mesmerizing and haunting. Julia Fox comes out of nowhere and anchors the third act. The Weeknd delivers a fully credible scene. Lakeith Stanfield’s understated bravado is flawless. And the intro sequence!
Uncut Gems is a whirling and rabid race through one man’s impulse-driven life of high-stakes mistakes. Just when you think Sandler’s character can’t get any deeper, he parlays one bad choice into another. The film is a rubber band pulled so tightly that the only logical conclusion is a slingshot or a snap. Nothing here is quite action or typical “thriller” fare, yet the anxiety is poured on the viewer. The film is stunningly propulsive despite relatively little true action.
And—again—Adam Sandler. I actually had a moment about 70% through the movie where I sort of caught myself and thought, “Oh my gosh. That’s Adam Sandler! The Grown Ups guy! Look at him go!” The man fully deserves an Oscar nomination.
Taste will have a lot of impact here. This kind of grimy, churning, bleak thriller is not going to be for everyone. But I think there’s something for all true film buffs to appreciate. The direction is precise. Uncut Gems is masterfully orchestrated chaos.
04. Dunkirk (2017)
Dunkirk succeeds at what all good war movies aspire to be. It’s depressing yet inspirational. It’s full of heart-pounding action with emotional nuance. It’s beautiful and violent; depraved and virtuous. That Christopher Nolan wove together three bullet-ridden storylines of varying lengths and still managed to find time for tender moments is a feat of storytelling. There’s a reason he’s dominating the top of this list.
No director this decade was better at blending the true art of film with blockbuster entertainment than Nolan. He left his stamp on the 2000s with The Dark Knight. Dunkirk is his masterpiece of this decade.
03. Parasite (2019)
One of the best feelings in the world is sitting in a theater and realizing you’re in the middle of a special movie experience. I went to see Parasite as a lover of glossy thrillers, and certainly the trailer paints that picture with its ominous score and meticulous visuals.
But there was a moment near the middle of my first viewing of Parasite where I wish I had a camera on my face. Is it a thriller? Sure. But it’s so much more. It’s a dense movie, but not in an “I can’t possibly understand this in fewer than six viewings” way. It’s dense in its construction. Even before I’d reached the climax I caught myself wondering how director Bong Joon-ho had managed to stack so much on top of itself. You’re laughing, you’re crying, you’re sweating, you’re jumping.
It’s got a Jordan Peele mindset with Alfred Hitchcock sensibilities. No movie this decade blended genres so well and painted such a complex portrait of its subjects.
Some more personal favorites lay ahead on this list, but Parasite probably has my vote as this decade’s objectively best film.
02. Whiplash (2014)
I went to see Whiplash in a theater that only held about 30 people because I’d heard Miles Teller was starring in a gritty drama about a music student and the young director had killed it. The rumors were true. Damien Chazelle—First Man notwithstanding—excels at these kinds of films that slowly build tension and momentum before bursting across the finish line.
It cost just $3.3 million to make and was nominated for five Oscars, winning three.
It’s a story of the consuming nature of passion. The cinematography is shadowy and ominous and the writing is wonderfully barbed. The caustic chemistry between Teller and J.K. Simmons has the kinetic energy of a blender full of nickels, rattling across the film’s 106 minutes before the lid blows off in the final scene. For my money, there isn’t a more triumphant climax this decade. (Also, what a perfect title.)
01. The Place Beyond The Pines (2012)
This is my favorite movie of the decade, although it certainly isn’t what I’d choose as the “best.” That’s not to say it’s tremendously flawed. I don’t feel like it’s a huge leap to place it here. It does so many little things well.
Ryan Gosling is cast perfectly. While director Derek Cianfrance pulls the rug out from under viewers by killing off Gosling’s character in the first act, his dirtbike-riding, cigarette-blasting presence hangs over the rest of the movie, which is important because that’s ultimately what this is all about. How much of ourselves is ours and what is subconsciously passed down from generation to generation? Are we fated to repeat the mistakes of those who have come before us, or can we break from history and create a new life where we can make mistakes that are at least truly ours?
It’s a movie that builds a world thanks to brilliant cinematography and an ominous, anxious score from Mike Patton. It pokes its finger not only into the role of family but also into class, power, and politics, brilliantly plopped against the downtrodden backdrop of Schenectady, New York.
The cast is stacked with Gosling, Eva Mendes, Bradley Cooper, Ray Liotta, Mahershala Ali, Rose Byrne, and Ben Mendelsohn, and the three-act structure is rigid but packs a finale that couldn’t be more perfect. That Bon Iver track in the final shot hits me like a ton of bricks every time. “Someday, my pain will mark you,” croons Justin Vernon as the screen dips to black.