Oliver Ciric
Arts Reporter
I would like to preface this list with a couple of comments. I would first like to talk about the structure of this list. If you scroll down, you’ll notice that this list is divided into two parts: honorable mentions and the official list. In order to truly honor this decade, I decided to only include one movie from each year in the official list. This is in order to fairly represent each year, otherwise some years would dominate this list and it wouldn’t really be a best of the decade list. However, I believe that doing a list in this manner would be unfair to a lot of great films that have come out in this past decade, which is why I included the honorable mentions. The honorable mentions is a list, in no particular order, of great films that have come out in the past decade that also deserve recognition. I would also like to point out that this entire list is fully subjective. Everything I write here is my opinion.
The 2010s was a great decade for cinema. It was a decade where independent cinema has truly been able to thrive as through the growth of streaming services. It was a decade that has blessed us with a golden age of television, bringing us shows such as Mr. Robot and Euphoria. So, here are some movies from this decade that have deeply resonated with me.
Honorable Mentions
Skyfall (2012)
James Bond has always been my favorite blockbuster franchise. It’s a franchise that has been around since 1962. Over the years, James Bond has gone through many phases. It became ridiculous and cartoonish with Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan, but eventually took a grounded turn with Daniel Craig in Casino Royale (2006). Skyfall is everything a good blockbuster should be. It provides the audience with a great villain played by Javier Bardem, while also providing exciting action which never slows down.
Amour (2012)
Amour is a masterpiece. It’s a movie about love, aging, and death. Directed by the masterful Michel Haneke, amour is a slow burn that can never bore you. It’s a movie I feel bad about leaving in the honorable mentions because it’s a film that must be seen.
Her (2013)
A lonely writer falls in love with an operating system. Taking a break from music videos and comedic features, Spike Jonze breaks out of his comfort zone to bring Her. This is probably the best movie from the honorable mentions, and the hardest choice when it comes to choosing between this and my official 2013 pick. Her is a movie that provides great performances from every single person involved, while also providing phenomenal cinematography and one of the greatest original soundtracks of the decade. Her is a great portrayal of loneliness in the modern world, while also being one of the best romantic films ever made.
We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011)
A mother struggles to raise her own son. Very poetic, and very repulsive, We Need To Talk About Kevin is one of the greatest movies of the decade that, sadly, did not make my official list. It’s an unforgettable experience that very few people have truly experienced, while also offering a complicated story where no one is truly correct.
The Official List
10. First Reformed (2018)
Just because First Reformed is on the bottom of this list, doesn’t mean that it is any less significant than any of these other films. First Reformed was a movie that has, undeservedly, been forgotten about in this decade. A good way of describing First Reformed would be by calling it an updated Taxi Driver (1976) for a modern world. First Reformed is a slow burn that deals with issues of faith, and even discusses the psychological impact of climate change in a way no other movie ever really has. It also has a lot to offer from the unique cinematography, to Ethan Hawke’s great performance.
9. Anomalisa (2015)
On a business trip, a man meets an extraordinary stranger and a cure to his own mundane life. Anomalisa came out seven years after Charlie Kaufman’s previous film, Synecdoche, New York (2008). Every since I watched Synecdoche, New York, it has never really left me. It’s a movie that really stuck with me and stayed as a film I think about almost every other day. Kaufman is a ruthless writer. Known for his other films, such as The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and Adaptation (2002), Kaufman depicts the bleakness of life, with very little room for hope. However, what makes Anomalisa unique in Kaufman’s filmography is the fact that the film is animated through stop motion. Anomalisa is a movie that honest and deeply human, despite being animated.
8. Moonlight (2016)
Split into three time periods, Moonlight is a movie about the life of an African American man struggling with his own identity and sexuality. Popularized by the 2017 Oscar catastrophe, Moonlight has perhaps been one of the most influential films of the decade. Just like all things on this list, Moonlight is incredible. It’s simple and emotional, while exploring a coming of age story in a way no movie has really done before. There’s not much more to say about this movie, everyone who has ever written anything about Moonlight has praised it for being a masterpiece of cinema. It’s a movie that will certainly go down as one of the most important films of the decade.
7. The Tree of Life (2011)
It’s hard to explain why I like The Tree of Life. Objectively, it doesn’t have much of a plot, or a script, it was even booed during its first screening at Cannes. However, The Tree of Life is perhaps the most beautiful film on this list. It’s a film that always manages to strike an emotional chord inside of me. It manages to have a visceral effect that comes close to masterpieces such as 2001:A Space Odyssey (1968). The Tree of Life is simply just a beautiful movie that may not be for everyone, but for those that do decide to watch it through the entire runtime it may be deeply emotional,
6. The Master (2012)
Returning from war, Freddie Quell stumbles upon a cult, where he finds happiness and learns to channel his troubling emotions. Paul Thomas Anderson returned to theaters with this film five years after his previous film, There Will Be Blood (2007). The Master provides great performances all around, especially from Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix. However, what makes The Master is it’s challenging depiction on cults that surfaced a debate on Scientology. It depicts Freddie Quell as a challenged man who is able to find solace in a cult, which could objectively be seen as manipulative. The Master is also the best written film by P.T.A, where every character is complex in their own way while also providing impeccable dialogue.
5. Parasite (2019)
A poor family integrates into the lives of a richer family. In one of the best years for movies in the decade, one film rises above the rest. Parasite is a film that, despite being Korean, has managed to find a large audience in the United States. I really cannot say much about Parasite, because it is a movie whose experience depends on a lack of knowledge. This has been one of the hardest picks on this list, simply because of the year Parasite came out. 2019 was the year of The Lighthouse, and The Irishman, and Marriage Story, and Climax, and etc. But Parasite manages to rise above it all by providing an impeccable tale that kept my eyes glued to the screen all the way through. It’s one of the few movies that could ever manage to blend comedy and drama while also being suspenseful and intense. I cannot imagine anyone disliking this movie.
4. La Grande Bellezza (2013)
After turning 65, journalist Jep Gambardella looks past his party lifestyle in order to search for a “great beauty,” and a possible inspiration for an overdue novel. Perhaps one of the most beautiful movies on this list, La Grande Bellezza is simply charming in its depiction of Italian life and artistry. Perhaps, the best way to describe it would be by calling it a more joyful counterpart to Synecdoche, New York (2008). After all, La Grande Bellezza is a movie about death and one’s own significance while also exploring individuality, however it is also a movie that is able to explore all of these ideas with a layer of charm.
3. The Social Network (2010)
The story of Mark Zuckerberg and the creation of Facebook. The Social Network is a movie that defined our generation through its depiction of the internet and college life. Bringing together director David Fincher, writer Aaron Sorkin, and composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Social Network is a great example of a perfect family when it comes to film crew. As expected, Sorkin delivers fast paced and enticing dialogue while Fincher directs his words to perfection. It’s a movie about friendship, media, and social conventions that also happens to be one of my favorite movies ever.
2. Birdman: Or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance (2014)
A former superhero actor struggles with redemption as he writes, directs, and stars in his own Broadway production. Birdman is a hard movie to talk about, because there is not much more to be said about it. Directed by Alejandro Iñárritu and starring Micheal Keaton, Birdman is a movie that is hilarious and emotional. It’s a movie where everyone plays a caricature of themselves. Micheal Keaton plays a washed up superhero trying to redeem himself with a serious role, which mirrors his own life where he played Batman and later redeemed himself with his performance in Birdman. Edward Norton, on the other hand, plays a pretentious narcissist, which he has been described as in the real world. Both Edward Norton and Micheal Keaton give great performances. The soundtrack is composed by jazz drummer and composer Antonio Sanchez, and contains nothing but drumming. The soundtrack is very unique as it aids the film in providing an improvised, jazzy, feel to it. The movie is shot to look like it was done in one take, while the editing is complementary is hiding cuts and transitions. There is not much more to say, Birdman is incredible.
1. Good Time (2017)
After a botched robbery lands his mentally handicapped brother in prison, Connie must go through a subterranean odyssey over the course of one hellish night in the hopes of freeing his brother. Good Time is a perfect movie, it is my favorite movie. The best word that could be used to describe Good Time is visceral. When I first watched this movie, it blew my mind. I was floored by everything. The intense storyline that never slows down, the incredible soundtrack composed by Oneohtrix Point Never, the cinematography that was mostly composed of intense, fluorescent-lit, close-ups. The movie is directed by the Safdie brothers, who have frequently focused on making films that are gritty and realistic. Their filmography is composed of films such as Heaven Knows What (2014) and Lenny Cooke (2013). Good Time, however, has been a major addition to their filmography, bringing them much deserved fame and attention. Good Time is also the movie that single handedly proved that Robert Patternson is a great actor and changed the course of his career halfway through the decade. Despite being a British man, Patternson puts on a Queens accent and completely reshapes himself in order to get into the character of Connie. Good Time, however, isn’t just Robert Patternson’s movie. It’s a movie that lets amatuer actors such as Buddy Duress steal the show, while also letting other actors shine. The cast is mostly composed of non-actors, and yet every single performance in this film is great. Good Time is simply a breathtaking movie, one that cannot be missed that should be seen by every living person.
