Lets all go to the movies!
You don't hear people say that any more, do you? People that keep track of movie theater attendance report the numbers have been on a decline. The year 2014 saw the worst attendance since 1995 according to this article, and in 2017, attendance hit a 25 year low. Surprisingly, 2018 saw a decade's long best. You can guess which direction the numbers are going in 2020 (we are doing this year over again, right?).
"Experts" say the decline is due to streaming services (I say laziness and a generation that has forgotten how to interact with one another). Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO GO, ROKU, APPLE TV etc. People want to watch movies from their homes and on their phones. Heck, they don't even want to leave their homes to go grocery shopping! Technology and the Internet have been the greatest cause for the systematic decline of social interaction. Nothing good has come of it.
What will happen to the movies? Will movie theaters still exist? I'm not being a drama queen or overly dramatic, but how we watch movies has changed over the years. Once upon a time people watched movies in beautiful, lavish movie palaces and drive-ins. Now we watch them in shopping malls. With COVID-19 destroying our lives as we know it, will movie theaters shut down for good? Now we have no choice but to stream movies. Is this the future? Variety reported AMC Theaters might file for bankruptcy (click here) although shareholders later refuted the story.
This all leads me to reminisce about the best movies of the past decade! Some wisenheimer will say it's not a new decade, that the decade doesn't begin until 2021. You are correct! Congratulations!
Many critics compiled their lists of their favorite movies made between 2010 - 2019, to commemorate the beginning of the 2020s. It wasn't an easy task for me. Unlike when I made my list of the best movies of the 2000s - I was able to instantly pick ten movies. I am not a braggadocios person. You will never read me highly praise myself, but the list I made was the best you will find! My list included "Muholland Dr." (2001), "Match Point" (2005), "Traffic" (2000), "Moulin Rouge!" (2001) and "The Pianist" (2002). These movies stood with me. I was not able to get them out of my mind. I talked about them with friends. There was a true consensus these movies were meaningful. Each of them were celebrated upon their release and showered with critical and commercial acclaim, scooping up various awards and nominations.
I can't however say I really feel the same way about the movies of the past decade. Sure, some movies stood out and lingered in my head. But, I couldn't really think of ten individual titles worth celebrating. Instead, movements or blocks of movies entered my mind. For example, there has been a rejuvenation in horror movies. Over the last ten years so many great ones have been released. In particular, I am a great admirer of the "Conjuring Universe". So, do I simply choose "The Conjuring" (2012) to represent the entire resurgence in horror? I can't leave off the other titles! But, I can't have horror movies dominate the list.
So much has happened in our country over the past ten years. America went from having the first African-American president to the first former reality television host. We went from a Harvard Law graduate and former U.S. Senator, to thinking so little of our country and the role of presidency, that historically speaking, the most unqualified person was elected. The first time ever the occupant in the White House did not have prior legislative or military experience. A man that doesn't know how the legislative process works. One that can't articulate ideas or policy positions ("I am going to repeal and replace Obamacare and replace it with something terrific". WTF?)
And in the time between Barack Obama and Chancellor Trump, so much in our movies have changed and served as a reflection of our society. The two biggest social / political events that have found their way into our movies included the economic collapse brought on by George W. Bush and deregulation policies championed by Republicans (and again by Trump) in 2008 and Bush's War on Terror and the Iraq invasion. Think of how many movies have been made dealing with these two topics; "Zero Dark Thirty" (2012), "Redacted" (2007), "Fahrenheit 9/11" (2004), "The Big Short" (2015), "Inside Job" (2010), "W." (2008) and "Too Big to Fail" (2011) just to name a few.
I previously commented on how angry our movies have become when I made my list of the best movies of 2019. That has been because of our politics which have not served the needs of the people. If you think that is me spewing my political beliefs, explain all the social unrest. Why are people angry at their government? Because of the color of the curtains in the White House? This decade saw violent protests. From the rise of the TEA Party in 2010 to the Charlottesville protest in 2017. With cable news hosts yelling at guests, to Trump egging on violence during his rallies. It is all around us and in our movies.
Each year when I would make a top ten list I would try to find a common theme among the movies and the year in general. In 2019 I noted it was anger. In my top ten list for 2010 I commented the theme was connecting. For the top ten films of 2011 it was death, longing and lost. Rather fittingly, in 2012, it was about moving forward. The films of 2015 were anger as well. You could see Bernie Sanders and Trump coming along. When will the anger end? When will society and the movies reach their tipping point? When will "The Purge" (2013) become reality?
The decade also gave us our sad goodbyes and a shift in filmmaking. The masters of the craft are leaving us and a new breed is moving in. There was a time when a best movies list would feature titles directed by Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Robert Altman, Stanley Kubrick, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Akira Kurosawa and Francois Truffaut. Many of these great men have died. My lists now are comprised of young filmmakers. Sometimes after one successful movie they are not heard of again. The death that hit me the hardest was Greek director, Theo Angelopoulos (pictured left), a filmmaker I had often referred to as the master of imagery. He died in 2012 from a car accident. Sadly, his name never meant much to the American art-house crowd, but his movies have had a profound affect on me.Then there was Claude Chabrol (1930-2010). Once called "the French Hitchcock", Chabrol directed what historians cite as the first film of the French New Wave moment, "Le Beau Serge" (1958). Many of those lovely French radicals of the New Wave movement have left us too including Jacques Rivette (1928-2016) and Alain Resnais (1922-2014). There were the great filmmakers from Eastern Europe: Andrzej Wajda (1926-2016) put Poland on the cinematic map; the great Miklos Jancso (1921-2014), one of the leading filmmakers of the exciting Hungarian New Wave of the 1960s & 70s (whom I wrote a tribute about in the Hungarian newspaper the Budapest Times); and the Czech New Wave's Milos Foreman (1932-2018). Do yourself a favor and watch his "The Fireman's Ball" (1967). The oldest living filmmaker, Manoel de Oliveira (1908-2015), died at 106. He was Portugal's greatest director. Italy lost one of her great filmmakers, Bernardo Bertolucci (1941-2018). No filmmaker has been able to combine sex and politics quite like him. And finally, the man that introduced me to Iranian cinema, Abbas Kiarostami (1940-2016). A brilliant but critically divisive filmmaker. I don't know if (but surely hope not) the magic of "The Wind Will Carry Us" (2000) or "Close-Up" (1990) will ever wear off me.
With those men gone, the young American and international filmmakers dominating the decade were Alex Ross Perry, "The Color Wheel" (2011), "Listen Up Philip" (2014) and "Queen of Earth" (2015); Trey Edward Shults, "Waves" (2019), "Krisha" (2016) and "It Comes At Night" (2017); and Jeremy Saulnier: "Blue Ruin" (2014) and "Green Room" (2016). None of these films have made my list but pay attention to these filmmakers. They are the future. On the international scene, we have the Palestinian filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad, "Omar" (2014) and "The Idol" (2016); Turkish filmmaker, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, maybe the next master of imagery with titles like "Once Upon A Time In Anatolia" (2012), "Winter Sleep" (2014) and "Wild Pear Tree" (2019); and Germany's Christian Petzold with "Transit" (2019), "Phoenix" (2015) and "Barbara" (2012). These are the international filmmakers to celebrate. I'm sure my next decade's list will include all of their films.
For the best movies of this decade I had to try something different. More often than not, I will only list one individual film title, but there will be instances when I include a group of movies that share a similar genre or are connected in some other way (subject matter). I believe all of the movies referenced are in some way socially significant and of course, entertaining!
Here are my favorite movies of the decade!
1. I, DANIEL BLAKE (2017; Dir. Ken Loach) - The financial bailout of 2008. Occupy Wall Street. Bernie Sanders. Jeremy Corbyn. The 1%. The Fight for 15. Income Inequality.In a period of time that has seen so much social unrest consume us how could I not choose "I, Daniel Blake"? This British movie directed by that old liberal lion, Ken Loach, won the Palme d'Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival (no Oscar nominations however). The story, revolving around the struggles of the working class and how the system takes advantage of them, actually caused a social movement in Britain. Oddly enough, it was ignored by American sheep (movie critics). Practically none of them put it on the top ten list when it was released. I called it the best movie of 2017! I haven't come across one list to include it among the best of the decade. Is the movie's message so powerful that it scared the establishment?
Loach has another movie out this year, "Sorry We Missed You" (2020), a harsh commentary on the gig economy and the ways these companies exploit workers. It too is not being pushed by the sheep.
2. THE BIG SHORT (2015; Dir. Adam McKay) - The disastrous consequences of the financial bailout are still with us (we will wait and see what happens with this new COVID-19 handout to the corporations). "The Big Short", which I called the best movie of 2015, tries to put names and faces to the most significant moment of our recent history.
McKay made a career directing Will Ferrell comedies: "Anchorman" (2004), "Step Brothers" (2008) and "Anchorman 2" (2013). "The Big Short" was his attempt at "respectability". A more serious endeavor meant to humor and inform us. The bet paid off, with the movie earning five Academy Award nominations. McKay tried this technique again in "Vice" (2018). The results were a bit mixed.
3. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (2011; Dir. Woody Allen) - Although Woody Allen is now a victim of today's token liberalism, this 2011 film was one of Allen's highest grossing movies in decades. For a while, going to see a Woody Allen movie became the thing to do.
A bitter-sweet story revolving around the universal truth that things were better in the good ol' days. For Allen's hero in "Midnight in Paris", that time was Paris in the 1920's. Through the magic of movies, the lead character is able to transport himself back to that era and mingle with his favorite literary heroes.
Allen won an Academy Award for his screenplay. It was also the first time I placed a Woody Allen film at the top of one of my year end best lists. A truly unforgettable film that touches me.
4. THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (2013; Dir. Martin Scorsese) - Like "The Big Short", this Scorsese gem served as a commentary on the financial bailout. The subject matter however was Jordan Belfort, a stock market manipulator from the 1990's.
Though criticized as too vulgar, I found it fresh and exciting. Scorsese combined his storytelling techniques from "GoodFellas" (1990) with Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" (1987).
At its center was an amazing performance from Leonardo DiCaprio, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. Scorsese earned his seventh nomination for directing.
5. INCEPTION (2010; Dir. Christopher Nolan) - The brainteaser of 2010 and one of the year's most talked about movies.
DiCaprio (again) stars as a man that can enter our dreams and affect our thoughts. Talk about the battle between fantasy vs reality! The special effects and gimmick story-line distracted many from what was essentially a story about a man trying to connect with his father.
One of Nolan's best. Nominated for eight Academy Awards, it won four.
6. AMERICAN SNIPER (2014; Dir. Clint Eastwood) - Clint Eastwood's socially and politically divisive war picture was based on real-life NAVY SEAL sniper Chris Kyle's memoir. The political left hated the movie because Eastwood did not take the opportunity to criticize the Iraq war. Combined with that, others said Kyle made ugly statements in his memoir.
None of this bothered me as I felt the criticism was misguided. I placed the movie in the number two spot in my year end list and wrote, "not since Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket" (1987) have I seen a movie which shows the dehumanization of war as compellingly."
7. DOCUMENTARIES - INSIDE JOB (2010; Dir. Charles Ferguson) / CITIZENFOUR (2014; Dir. Laura Poitras) / THE LOOK OF SILENCE (2015; Dir. Joshua Oppenheimer) / FAHRENHEIT 11/9 (2018; Dir. Michael Moore) - Along with cable news, documentaries have become a political weapon of choice. The definition of documentaries has changed drastically over the years. Once identified with National Geographic or PBS, documentaries have now become polarizing political essays.
The decade featured so many great documentaries that I honestly couldn't settle on one to be declared "the best". Instead these four are representative of the political issues that have plagued this country over the last 10 years: the financial bailout (Inside Job), government surveillance (Citizenfour), political revisionist history (The Look of Silence), and the whole rotten political system as a whole (Fahrenheit 11/9).
"Inside Job" - Directed by Charles Ferguson, is the academic version of "The Big Short". It explained what collateralized debt obligations (CDO) and sub-prime mortgages are and provided details on exactly how the financial system is rigged. Ferguson was even able to interview major figures to get them to defend their actions and the system as a whole.
"Citizenfour" - Scarier than any piece of science fiction, Laura Poitras' documentary features former NSA employee Edward Snowden, as he explains the current magnitude of massive government surveillance (right now, someone from the government knows you are reading this) while the U.S. government chases after him.
"The Look of Silence" - A sequel to Joshua Oppenheimer's genre defying "The Act of Killing" (2012), both documentaries are about the Indonesian mass killings of 1965 - 1966, a politically motivated genocide aimed at killing all communists. It was later revealed the U.S. knew what was going on and supported these actions.
"Fahrenheit 11/9" - Michael Moore looks at the making of a president (pay attention to the credit sequence) and how America has fallen so low to elect a former reality TV host. Moore examines how the government, in conjunction with the media, has let the country down.
"The Conjuring" - Was this the movie that started the resurgence in horror movies? Maybe. This James Wan movie was a massive box office hit in 2013 and gave way to an entire universe of movies. It was reminiscent of the classics from the 1970s.
"The Babadook" - When reviewing this Australian movie directed by Jennifer Kent, I wrote "The Babadook works on a psychological level and tries to be about more than its scares. It dares to tackle some larger issues." That is what the great horror movies do. "The Babadook" was actually about the trauma of motherhood and a metaphor for the idea of "feeding the beast".
"Lights Out" - The directorial debut of David F. Sandberg, whom I immediately called a great new talent, directed the horror movie of 2016! Essentially, it is a variation on our fears of the dark.
Sandberg has gone on to direct "Annabelle: Creation" (2017), another addition to the "Conjuring Universe", and a movie I placed on my year end top ten list. He switched gears in 2019 and directed the DC comic book adaptation of "Shazam!".
9. INTERNATIONAL CINEMA - CERTIFIED COPY (2011; Dir. Abbas Kiarostami) / WALESA: MAN OF HOPE (2013; Dir. Andrzej Wajda) / LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE (2013; Dir. Abbas Kiarostami) / CHILD'S POSE (2014; Dir. Calin Peter Netzer ) - A decade that gave us so many great international films also provides me a last chance to celebrate Andrzej Wajda and Abbas Kiarostami.
I have noticed that the last few years have seen a decline in great international films. There was a time I wanted to avoid having ten English language dramas on my year end movie lists and would try to mix it up with international films (at least three). That has become increasingly difficult for me lately, but in the first part of the decade the masters were still alive and made it a much easier feat.
"Certified Copy" - The first non-Iranian film Kiarostami directed was also one of his most widely celebrated, earning a Palme d'Or nomination at Cannes, and Juliette Binoche winning the best actress award for her engaging performance.
In my review I wrote "Certified Copy" (2010) is another example of filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami's genius. "Here is a delicate film which balances fact and fiction, reality and fantasy in a meditative, poetic masterful way."
"Walesa: Man of Hope" - Unfortunately this Andrzej Wajda masterpiece never found distribution in the U.S. I saw it at the Chicago International Film Festival and called it the best movie at the festival.
Telling the story of Lech Walesa, a union activist that became Poland's president (1990 - 1995). It was the movie Wajda was born to direct.
"Like Someone in Love" - Another Kiarostami masterpiece and another of his non-Iranian films (it was made in Japan). Like "Certified Copy" this is a movie about identity and relationships and asks us to question the definition of "relationships".
"Child's Pose" - A damning commentary on the divide between the Haves and the Have Nots. Directed by Calin Peter Netzer, "Child's Pose" was a continuation in the great rejuvenation of Romanian cinema.
A child is killed in a car accident. The driver comes from a wealthy family while the child came from a poor one. Will justice be served? Can the wealthy get away with murder?
The film is forgotten but I recognized its greatness immediately and placed it on my top ten list of 2014.
10. HUNGARIAN CINEMA - THE TURIN HORSE (2012; Dir. Bela Tarr) / THE NOTEBOOK (2014; Dir. Janos Szasz) / WHITE GOD (2015; Dir. Kornel Mundruczo) - Why differentiate between international and Hungarian? Hungarian cinema has long been neglected in the U.S., lacking distribution. Something changed in the last decade as more and more Hungarian movies were released: "Sunset" (2019), "1945" (2018), "On Body & Soul" (2017) and the Academy Award winner, "Son of Saul" (2015), the first Hungarian film to win the best foreign film Oscar since Istvan Szabo's "Mephisto" (1981).
"The Turin Horse" - Master Bela Tarr's final film before retiring was his greatest achievement since "Satantango" (1994). I called it a fitting conclusion to his career. A bleak look at the meaningless nature of our lives, as we serve the roles designed for us.
"The Notebook" - Janos Szasz's study on the correlation between our environment and violence was set during WW2 in the Hungarian countryside. Two young brothers lose themselves in their quest for survival, culminating in a bleak but powerful message.
"White God" - Using dogs to symbolize the working class and the downtrodden, Kornel Mundruczo's social commentary (fittingly dedicated to Miklos Jancso) tells the story of what happens when the poor revolt against their oppressors.
Released in the U.S. in 2015, the movie foreshadowed the mass movement led by Bernie Sanders, while also warning of the rise of right-wing groups in Europe.
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