Top 10 Films of the 2010s

The 2010s were a good decade for film, and in thinking them over, I am reminded that I have specific likes and dislikes just like anyone. Despite this, I’m struck by how diverse my picks wound up. In the 2010s, there wasn’t really much danger for repeating myself, despite a penchant toward specific filmmakers.

When I review my yearly best of lists, I see a clear affinity for directors like Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049), Steven Soderbergh (Magic Mike, Side Effects), David O. Russell (The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle) Martin Scorcese (Shutter Island, Hugo, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Irishman), Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel) Richard Linklater (Before Midnight, Boyhood) and The Coen Brothers (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Inside Llewyn Davis).

But this list? This list has none of those guys. And that’s kind of cool.

My next 10 would likely include some combination of Coco, Wind River, Stories We Tell, Calvary, Creed, Moana, Life of Pi, Skyfall, Before Midnight, and the three Mission Impossible films. But here’s my top 10.

10. Blindspotting

It’s been almost exactly two years since I wrote a fresh review on here, but I have been keeping tabs offline when I can. I recently posted a few reviews I had banked from a 2018 excel sheet, including one for this ambitious film, which tackles most of the major social issues of our time, including police brutality, gentrification, white privilege, cultural bias, our broken probation system, institutional racism, the gig economy, and appropriation. 

9. Moonlight

The first thing many people think of when they think of Moonlight is the whole controversy that played out when Warren Beatty said the wrong name on Oscar night. And that’s a shame, because this gorgeously shot and poetically realized film is the most deserving Best Picture winner of the decade. Writer/director Barry Jenkins and co-writer Tarell Alvin McCraney expertly adapt McCraney's play in this evocative look at three stages in the life of a black gay man struggling with his identity.

8. Ex Machina

My review says it all, but the film plays even better in the wake of #MeToo and #TimesUp. 

7. Moneyball

I get that some people take issue with the fact that Moneyball takes significant liberties with the truth, entirely ignoring that the 2002 Oakland A's had three aces and the best left side of the infield in baseball in favor of slamming home the underdog made good aspect of their story. But as with The Social Network and many other great films, adherence to facts isn’t as important as emotional truth that gets at the heart of a particular issue.  

Although at times this film seems to erroneously imply Moneyball is just some mindless adherence to OBP, the overall takeaway is about going against the grain to get an edge. The idea of exploiting market inefficiencies wherever you can find them, has come to define not just baseball, but sports (and many outside businesses) entirely. And the fact that this film finds a way to dive into all of that in a way that is both revealing and entertaining is a miracle. It’s over simplistic at parts, but there’s no better intro to convincing an agnostic about the value of advanced statistics than the simple explainer above this post. 

I’ll say it one more time: the fact that this movie mainstreamed sabermetrics in an entertaining way is just bananas, but even more interesting is how the film’s version of Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) still can’t help romanticizing the game at times, despite his beliefs.

Ultimately this film is tailor-made for me. It’s about behind-the-scenes baseball maneuvering and a strong focus on the father-daughter bond at its heart. This is a great character movie, like something from the 70’s or, more recently, Michael Clayton. Pitt has never been better, and he was just flat out robbed of an Oscar. Jonah Hill is a great sparring partner for him, but so is the rest of the cast, which is highlighted by a murderer’s row of acting talent (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Chris Pratt, Robin Wright Penn) for Pitt to bounce off of. There are just so many scenes in this film I constantly go back to – the “adapt or die” sequence, the ending with the daughter’s song on the car’s cd player, etc. etc. It’s a perfect film.

6. Get Out

I'm not the biggest fan of horror, but Jordan Peele's clever and chilling account of a black man dealing with a nightmare “guess who’s coming to diner” scenario is everything you could want from the genre, including pulse-pounding scares, livewire performances, searing wit, and keen allegory (in this case, an exploration of the claustrophobia of liberal racism and cultural appropriation in post-racial America).  

5. Edge of Tomorrow

For the longest time, I loved how often Tom Cruise would take challenging material with ace level filmmakers and willingly play a schmuck. He’s doing less and less of that now in favor of making big action films, and that’s regrettable, but it’s also hard to complain. In a decade that featured a slew of great marvel films, a great Planet of the Apes trilogy, and probably the best Bond film of all time, Cruise managed to log 4 of the 5 best action films. None of this decade’s Mission Impossible movies made this top 10, but my love for them has been documented on this blog previously. And then there is Edge of Tomorrow. More detailed thoughts can be found in my review, but (excluding kids movies) I don’t think I’ve watched any film from the 2010s as much as this movie. I just love it.  

4. Toy Story 3

This is pinnacle Pixar for me even if it's not at the cutting edge as just another entry in long franchise. It somehow improves upon the first two films, deepening the emotional power of the franchise, while simultaneously trading in the kind of perfect caper plotting that makes stuff like Ocean's 11 so fun.

This series (including 2019’s fourth entry) is just great, energetic fun, and it’s also always seriously engaging with some existential issue around weighty issues like abandonment, grief, and most poignantly, the psychology of parenthood. Woody the cowboy is an all-time great protagonist, and it’s amazing how they keep finding new ways to peel back layers on the character. It’s hard to imagine three won’t be the zenith of the series, and four ends things pretty definitively for Woody, but I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t sign up for a 5^th entry in another 8-10 years. No film franchise has anywhere near as high a batting average as Toy Story, and this is very best of the series. 

3. The Social Network

The Social Network was well received when it came out, and has only become more resonant with time. This is simultaneously a thrilling procedural about the growth of Facebook, a human tragedy and, most notably, a prescient indictment on what life in the social media age would eventually become. Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher have never been better than this, and, given everything that’s happened since with Facebook’s complicit relationship to fake news, I’d love to see them and Jesse Eisenberg find a way to crack a sequel.  

2. Short Term 12

Like The Rider’s Chloe Zhao, director Destin Daniel Cretton is following in the footsteps of Ryan Coogler and Taika Waititi by moving on from indie acclaim into the Marvel machine with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. His first feature was this lovely little gem that focuses on a few days at a group home for wayward kids. 

Watching it now, the film plays like a who’s who of actors that would go on to utterly blow up later in the decade. Brie Larson (Room, Captain Marvel) and Rami Malik (Bohemian Rhapsody) are Oscar winners, of course, but Lakeith Stanfield (Sorry to Bother You, Get Out, Atlanta) and Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart, Justified) continue to rise, and Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and John Gallagher Jr. (10 Cloverfield Lane, The Newsroom) haven’t exactly been slouches.

Getting back to Short Term 12 – despite its small scope, I constantly find myself thinking back on it for its beating heart and powerful displays of humanity. What Junebug was for my 2000s list, this is for my 2010’s list. I just want to watch scenes from this film over and over, which is easy enough to do give its wide availability of streaming services. More on the film can be found in my original review.

1. Frances Ha

I rewatched Frances Ha recently just to make sure my opinion would still track with the high esteem in my head, and I’d say I think the film is even better than when I first saw it. Sometimes, I’ll read a review I wrote years ago and realize I was off base on this or that element. Not so here. My thoughts in 2019 echo what I wrote six years ago, although I’d clearly up my grade from an A to an A+.

Bonus points for being the best film from Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, an off screen couple who managed to create much of the best stuff from the 2010s, both separately (Ladybird for her, Marriage Story and The Meyerowitz Stories for him) and together (this, Mistress America).

Sorry to Bother You

I'm Sorry to Bother You starts as a hip indie, something like if you crossed Dope with Thank You for Smoking, but then becomes something else entirely in the third act.

Initially we follow Cassius Green or Cash (the invaluable Lakeith Stanfield) rising up the ranks at a telemarketing firm called RegalView by using his white voice (David Cross) to sell junk to people.

This all occurs in a weird alternate version of Oakland where the most popular TV show focuses on kicking the shit out of people, while an increasing number of people sign on to work for a company called WorryFree, signing over lifetime rights as a worker for free food, lodging and a life free or bills.

The reason people are willing to do this is due mostly to rigged system that makes it a perferable life choice. In acknolwedgement of this, Cash's fellow telemarketers (organized by Walking Dead's Steven Yeun, who is really putting together an interesting career in his post Glen career) mount a workers strike, but Cash gets promoted and winds up crossing the picket lines a scab.

In his new role, Cash basically sells slave labor, contracting out the WorryFree work force to other companies. He initially balks at the idea but then submits to when he sees dollar signs, something that eventually fractures his relationship with his girlfriend Detroit (Tessa Thompson), who is secretly involved in a radical group of protesters known as "The Left Eye."

The film takes a turn for the weirder with the arrival of a corporate baddie played by Armie Hammer (showing increasing shades as an actor). It's a big swing from writer/director Boots Riley that you have to see to believe. To say more would be ruin the experience, but this is a vital takedown of of the status quo that investigates class warfare, white gaze, racial hierarchy, and media failings in fresh and challenging ways.