Feel how you will about roundups and year-end lists, or lists in general, but I like a little healthy reflection here and there. I love favorites: favorite bars and restaurants, favorite foods and dishes, favorite sodas and coffee modes, favorite books and authors and poems. And it is surreal to commemorate the passing of a decade, but the 2010s have marked my entry into my 30s (26-36) and my sorta-kinda departure from editorial and journalism, where I participated in list-creating and -making for years.
I love a film. It’s a wonderful thing to live three blocks from a multi-plex super-cinema – we impulse-watched the Maleficent sequel last week. I also have access to the Landmark Theatre chain in Philadelphia, about a mile away, screening indie and art movies. And then there’s streaming: Danny and I have Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and sometimes Prime, where movies are landing nearly immediately after a theater debut. So I browsed through some critic picks for the Top 2010s, Oscar nominees since 2010, and made sure to double-check Animated, Documentary, and International titles. In no particular order, here are my 25 Favorite Films of the 2010s!
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron, directed by George Miller
Sickening Charlize nearly stole the show but I’ll never not love a maniacal desert march with a flaming guitar. Way cool post-apocalyptic dramatics and imagery.
Get Out (2017) starring Daniel Kaluuya, directed by Jordan Peele
Didn’t this movie seem so timely? At a moment of especially intense racial discord in American culture, this work felt like a very smart, disruptive wink at woke culture.
Moonlight (2016) starring Trevante Rhodes and Mahershala Ali, directed by Barry Jenkins
What a beautifully made film, down to the colors and photography. Seeing black masculinity get a beautifully nuanced, queer-flavored portrait felt long overdue.
Call Me By Your Name (2017) starring Timothee Chalamet and Armie Hammer, directed by Luca Guadagnino
I’ve long been a fan of this author and novel, so I knew I’d probably love this, but what I didn’t know is that Sufjan Stevens would twist my heart up in knots and I’d weep at the finale.
Black Panther (2018) starring Chadwick Boseman, directed by Ryan Coogler
This opening week was such an exciting moment in cinema and I knew I had to be there. I have a vivid memory of sitting with some aunties in my Philly theater and bursting into applause at the credits.
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) starring Christian Bale and Tom Hardy, directed by Christopher Nolan
This is the Bane sequel to the The Dark Knight in 2008, which featured an iconic Joker portrayal by the late great Heath Ledger. Batman movies are my only for-sure superhero favorite films and you won’t find a single Avenger movie on this here list, nope.
Brooklyn (2015) starring Saoirse Ronan, directed by John Crowley
This is such a sweet, simple immigration story and it tickles my little American Studies heart. Makes me cry every time, plus I love the author of the namesake book, Colm Toibin, who’s written some really cool LGBT non-fiction.
Gravity (2013) starring Sandra Bullock, directed by Alfanso Cuaron
Doesn’t it seem like we’re inundated with suspenseful space movies, currently? (See: SNL’s “Space Mistakes.”) I loved this one for being short, sweet, and visually and aurally awesome. Plus I love Sandy.
Drive (2011) starring Ryan Gosling, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Gosling is pure hot fire in this one and it’s got an absolutely killer soundtrack, featuring Chromatics. I’m a low-key sucker for a gripping car chase and this movie’s very that.
Creed (2015) starring Michael B. Jordan, directed by Ryan Coogler
I had to see this one in the theaters, too, having been fascinated by stories of its filming here in Philadelphia. And I was not disappointed. It’s a movie where you truly root for a hero and it was deliciously flavored by identifiable local landmarks.
Moana (2016) starring Auli’i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson, directed by Ron Clements and John Musker
C’mon. A Lin Manuel-Miranda Disney moment? Though I didn’t love him in Mary Poppins Returns. “How Far I’ll Go” gives me chills every time I hear it.
Bridesmaids (2011) starring Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph, directed by Paul Feig
Hard to believe that this even debuted in this decade because it feels like we’ve been living with it forever. It’s like a warm blanket of a movie which created some of the best GIFs of all time.
Crazy Rich Asians (2018) starring Constance Wu and Henry Golding, directed by John M. Chu
Watching that “Can’t Help Falling in Love” cover when the wedding aisle starts to run with water? I’m weeping. Great music. Hot bodies. Food and fashion montages.
Silver Linings Playbook (2012) starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, directed by David O. Russell
More local love! In the final scenes, at the Ben Franklin House and its environs, they zoom out on a Philly Weekly honor box and I gasped. I was deep in the PW sauce at the time. It’s a great love story.
How to Survive a Plague (2012) starring iconic activists, directed by David France
Despite the questionable nature of France and his filmmaking methodology, I’m always so fascinated by our collective queer histories. I cannot believe that men threw their boyfriend’s ashes on the White House lawn as an act of protest.
The Imitation Game (2014) starring Keira Knightley and Benedict Cumberbatch, directed by Morten Tyldum
Another opportunity to learn something about a gay hero. I’d heard of Alan Turing but didn’t realize the extent of his genius, nor the extent of his persecution. I saw it at Upstate Films near my then-home with my dad next to me and I wept at its conclusion.
Spotlight (2015) starring Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo, directed by Tom McCarthy
For a journalism nerd, we’ve had some really good films in this decade, and this one is just the best. Plus Boston, so I’m sold.
What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015) starring Nina Simone, directed by Liz Garbus
Phew, what a movie. I have watched this so many times, cried every time, and for a time there, I got really obsessed with Nina. I loved exploring her local connections for a PW story. She’s absolutely fascinating.
Nocturnal Animals (2016) starring Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal, directed by Tom Ford
I still think about Amy in that green dress. Ford makes cool movies, it turns out.
Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), directed by Travis Knight
It rules that Disney keeps diversifying their protagonists and this one was such a smash.
The Post (2017) starring Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep, directed by Stephen Spielberg
More journalism nerdery and a stunning turn from Streep as Kay Graham, and it’s awesome to see a publisher stand up to a bully President.
Coco (2017), directed by Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina
A Spanish-speaking hero that we all deserve! I cry fat tears, every time, because it’s just so heartwarming and delightful in its musicality.
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) starring Rami Malek, directed by Bryan Singer
Ick, Singer. The last month of the movie was shot by Dexter Fletcher. And Malek is also kind of an asshole. But I love the way this movie makes Freddie Mercury look like a damn goddess. And that Live Aid scene gives me goosebumps.
The Favourite (2018) starring Emma Stone, Olivia Colman, and Rachel Weisz, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
I stan a British period drama, but one with lesbian intrigue and Olivia Colman? Phew, riveting cinema. The costuming and the oral sex! It was also just so skillfully laid out in clever chapters.
A Star Is Born (2018) starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, directed by Bradley Cooper
Yas, Gaga, yasss! I listened to this soundtrack on a loop after I saw it in the theaters twice. From the opening credits to the drag queens to the Ally billboard to Jackson peeing his pants on stage, I love this movie.
Honorable Mentions: The Grand Budapest Hotel, La La Land, Ex Machina, Inside Out, Whiplash, Arrival, Hidden Figures, I, Tonya, Thor: Ragnorak, Rocketman. Oh, and all those Star Wars movies, all of em'!
Never Saw It: The Florida Project, First Reformed, If Beale Street Could Talk, Inside Llewyn Davis, Carol, John Wick, Argo, True Grit, Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, Moneyball, Blade Runner 2049, Shoplifters, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Eighth Grade, Midsommar, Toy Story 3.
Can't Wait To See: Parasite, Marriage Story, Knives Out, The Irishman, Bombshell, The Banker.
