493rd Annual Oscar Nominations and Predictions!

Okay! This has been up for a while. Now we'll have some actual predictions. This year has been trying. Did you know we were having a tough year? Normally I do try to anticipate predictions a little bit. I didn't get much of a chance to watch any NCAA Basketball to anticipate making a bracket in 2021 nor have I really tuned in to much movie hype.

Who am I kidding, I never prepare. This is a long way of saying it's time to shed our pretensions. I haven't read a single article before or since seeing these nominations. So, this is totally going off our gut. I actually watched most of the shorts last year and amazingly...did well! Crazy how actually watching these helps with predictions. So, without any concept of accuracy, confidence, or trust, here we go.

BEST PICTURE
 
The Father
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
Minari
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7
 

Predicted Winner: Nomadland

This was an early favourite for best of the year, and might be the best of the year of this list from what I've seen, which is admittedly only three. Oof. This is a rough year - none of these are especially culturally or commercially successful, but then again, everything has been dispersed in the Age of Streaming, and that was before COVID-19 obliterated any remaining sense of shared culture. I liked Nomadland a lot more than I thought I would, it's timely without being redundant, well directed and acted, and has certainly stuck in my brain as THE movie of the year.

DIRECTOR
 
Thomas Vinterberg, Another Round
David Fincher, Mank
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Chloe Zhao, Nomadland
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
 

Predicted Winner: Zhao

So, if we were to pay attention to the Academy's track record at all, they would never hand this to an Asian Woman. But Zhao was great, there is buzz for her, and it's a great opportunity to correct a sincere gap in their on-going diversity issue. And if you ignore all that, it can be a great token win for closet racists to use to point to the false fact that the Academy isn't racist! I could see this going to Fincher, he's the kind of director who has had enough high profile projects to never win, but this actually isn't much the case. They've never awarded Tarantino this honor, who is in a similar position.

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
 
Viola Davis, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman
Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman
 

Predicted Winner: McDormand

Listen, I know I'm picking a lot of Nomadland, but it's also where a lot of the buzz is. Okay, I already admitted I know no buzz - do you see through the veil of this blog from the past twelve years? Carey Mulligan is there and a favourite, and McDormand also just won, but that has never stopped the Academy before from awarding someone again. This would mean McDormand joins some pretty rarefied company, but that's the way it will go.

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
 
Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman, The Father
Amanda Seyfried, Mank
Youn Yuh-jung, Minari
 

Predicted Winner: Seyfried

I don't think Seyfried does all that great of a job in Mank, but she got early buzz, and oof, as long as nothing from Hillbilly Elegy wins. Bakalova is certainly deserving, but I'm really hard pressed to believe that the Academy takes Borat that seriously. Comedic actors, especially ones in reality or mockumentary movies rarely win, despite this being an obviously much more difficult and impressive acting job. I don't think The Father is well known enough and I don't know a thing about Minari besides Steven Yeun, so there.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
 
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Gary Oldman, Mank
Steven Yeun, Minari
 

Predicted Winner: Boseman

This is probably just collective grief, I'm not sure what Boseman even does with this role, but losing him in 2020 still really hurts. Riz Ahmed could be a great upset, but this feels like the award that no one would be upset about. Boseman, despite being in a handful of great roles, doesn't really have a long Oscar history, but this feels right.

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
 
Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Leslie Odom Jr., One Night in Miami
Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
Lakeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah
 

Predicted winner: Kaluuya

It's fun that Get Out (2017) alumni Kaluuya and Stanfield are both here (and both in that movie together). Also, they're both Supporting Actors? Like, Academy, this is what we're talking about when we call you racist. I'd love to see Lakeith win this one day, but Kaluuya is a little higher profile. Wouldn't it be fun if two Black Panther (2017) actors won! I was thinking Leslie Odom Jr had some buzz, but this is where we're at.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
 
Borat Subsequent MovieFilm
The Father
Nomadland
One Night in Miami
The White Tiger
 

Predicted Winner: Nomadland

Borat feels weird here - is it even a screenplay? I mean, kudos for their COVID improvisation but awarding it here feels weird. What is it adapted from? Reality? One Night in Miami is just like, exactly the stage play, which is good but not really winning worthy. The only one left is Nomadland again, honestly who has ever heard of these other random films.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
 
Judas and the Black Messiah
Minari
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7
 

Predicted Winner: Promising Young Woman

So, does this go to Sorkin again? It's the only movie here that I watched and thought, "Man this screenplay is great," at which point I didn't even know Sorkin wrote it, to which I thought, "Oh, that makes sense." I don't want it to always go to him. And the Academy won't, either! Promising Young Woman is really the second best film nominated and won't win much else. So, here you go.

ORIGINAL SONG
 
"Fight For You" from Judas and the Black Messiah
"Hear My Voice" from The Trial of the Chicago 7
"Husavik" from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
"lo Sì (Seen)" from The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)
"Speak Now" from One Night in Miami...
 

Predicted Winner: "Speak Now"

Wait wait wait....are Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams singing Eurovision at this ceremony? Or better yet.....over zoom?! I know it wasn't really Rachel McAdams in that movie. That's still great. "Speak Now" is legit, though - especially because they somehow made it seem like a genuine Sam Cooke song. Also, read about Sam Cooke, mostly how his widow married Bobby Womack, and then their daughter married Womack's brother. Anyway, I watched that movie and actually listened to the whole song during the credits. It's great, give it a statue.

PRODUCTION DESIGN
 
The Father
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Mank
News of the World
Tenet
 

Predicted Winner: Mank

Ugh, I hate to say it - this category should always go to a big lavish blockbuster like TENET where the production design is really creative, ground-breaking, complex, and integral to the story, but it almost always goes to some random period drama in recent years. Mank fits that bill, and there are enough fogies that reminisce about old Hollywood. It IS good. I guess.

CINEMATOGRAPHY
 
Sean Bobbitt, Judas and the Black Messiah
Erik Messerschmidt, Mank
Dariusz Wolski, News of the World
Joshua James Richards, Nomadland
Phedon Papamichael, The Trial of the Chicago 7
 

Predicted Winner: Nomadland

It deserves this, there's not really a ton of other competition unless shit gets real random. It really does an amazing job with a distinct variety of locations, temperatures, seasons, and times of day that all looks coherent and awe-inspiring, contrasted with the difficulty of the kind of life the nomads have chosen (or not chosen). This will probably go to Mank or something stupid.

COSTUME DESIGN
 
Emma
Ma Rainey's Blackbottom
Mank
Mulan
Pinocchio
 

Predicted Winner: Emma

C'mon, this is such an Emma category. It's just so random and frustrating. Ma Rainey would be fun, would the Academy give this to the Black Period Piece? I mean, why trust them now? Also, there was a Pinocchio movie this year?!

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND
 
Greyhound
Mank
News of the World
Soul
Sound of Metal
 

Predicted Winner: Sound of Metal

They finally combined the Sound Editing and Sound Mixing categories, which doesn't seem fair to mixers and editors, especially because there hasn't actually been a ton of overlap recently. Will this actually go to the movie where sound is critical? This is far from a guarantee, but should be the no brainer, so here we go.

ORIGINAL SCORE
 
Da 5 Bloods
Mank
Minari
News of the World
Soul
 

Predicted Winner: Soul

Yeah. It should probably be Soul. The fun jazzy soundtrack fits the theme, narrative, and characters, and it's engaging enough without being overbearing. I've seen Da 5 Bloods and Mank from this list, and neither really stands out. This is again the no brainer choice, but that's not always clear cut.

VISUAL EFFECTS
 
Love and Monsters
The Midnight Sky
Mulan
The One and Only Ivan
Tenet
 

Predicted Winner: TENET

I hate the visual effects category so much. Never once going to a Star Wars, Marvel, or Transformers film (Spider-Man 2 [2004] doesn't count). Anyway, this all means it's not going to Mulan. Any of these could actually pull an upset, but considering Inception and Interstellar both won, TENET has some clear precedent. It's also truly deserving and crafted with unique practical effects.

FILM EDITING
 
The Father
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7
 

Predicted Winner: Chicago 7

Sound of Metal or Nomadland could get this, but in our fractured cultural landscape right now I don't think any film is dominating. The editing of Chicago 7 drives the story forward and reveals more as it goes. Some of that may be the screenplay, but it feels engaging and crisp. I dunno, this could go to anyone. This is more a way for more films to win something, which I think will happen.

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
 
Emma
Hillbilly Elegy
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Mank
Pinocchio
 

Predicted Winner: Hillbilly Elegy

This is purely on the fact that some truly, truly terrible films have won this award in recent years. Most of those films are more about how that film's whole deal was the make-up. Obviously, this means it should go to Borat. But yeah, making Glenn Close and Amy Adams look like weird gross Ohio people will probably take the cake and everyone will be like WHAAAA?! Everyone but me! Go Buckeyes!

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
 
Another Round - Denmark
Better Days - Hong Kong
Collective - Romania
The Man Who Sold His Skin - Tunisia
Qu Vadis, Aida? - Bosnia and Herzegovina
 

Predicted Winner: Another Round

This is that weird situation that Parasite (2019) had, where, okay, isn't the only film nominated in another category (Best Director) clearly going to already be the best Foreign Film? This is also the most notable foreign film of the year, with a weird and compelling premise that has tended to elevate it above whatever other random collection of international movies here. Also, note the category change, so no Minari or Lord of the Rings I guess.

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
 
"Feeling Through"
"The Letter Room"
"The Present"
"Two Distant Strangers"
"White Eye"
 

Predicted Winner: "Two Distant Strangers"

Time loops and cops killing black people are in right now and "Two Distant Strangers" has both! Might we be fatigued of both? I mean, I know we are, but that doesn't stop anyone. 

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
 
Onward
Over the Moon
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Soul
Wolfwalkers
 

Predicted Winner: Soul

Pixar has doubled its chances to win this year. Seriously, Pixar vs. Pixar - what the hell? Soul is more recent in memory, and probably the better film. It certainly has the edge. Shaun the Sheep isn't an unfamiliar franchise, but if you were a betting person, Pixar is the animated film to go with. Obviously, the true great film here is Wolfwalkers, but that would be a sincere longshot that goes against the populous grain that his category has long settled into.

ANIMATED SHORT FILM
 
"Burrow"
"Genius Loci"
"If Anything Happens I Love You"
"Opera"
"Yes-People"
 

Predicted Winner: "Opera"

I'll give "Genius Loci" credit for being a living Picasso film, but it's too weird. "Burrow" is too lame, "If Anything Happens" too traumatic, "Opera" to vague to Google, and "Yes-People" way too pointy noses. "Opera" actually seems okay, let's go with that one.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
 
Collective
Crip Camp
The Mole Agent
My Octopus Teacher
Time
 

Predicted Winner: Collective

You know, there were some really compelling docs this year. None I guess are good enough! As much as I want a cripple camp film to win, Collective had some good end of year buzz for general greatness. I was disappointed to see that My Octopus Teacher was not about some half-man / half-octopus hybrid, or at least some kind of Octo-dad posing as my dad. I feel like every documentary is good. We can't watch all these documentaries. Also, name your documentary something better, you know how hard it is to just search Google for Time? At least now I know what time it is.

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)
 
"Colette"
"A Concerto Is a Conversation"
"Do Not Split"
"Hunger Ward"
"A Love Song For Latasha"

Predicted Winner: "Do Not Split"

I don't know. I mean, whatever. This is probably the most relevant, and liberals love voting for things that make them feel like they're making an effort to protest without actually protesting. That fits that bill! Everything else just looks the same.

So there you have it, people. Our iron-clad, 100% accurate Oscar Predictions. There is no way we will have upsets this year because our normal yearly routine has been interrupted, right?! We will be in perfect shape and nothing will go wrong. Hopefully people liked Nomadland.

Super Movie Reevaluation 2009-2012

Every few years we think it's worth it to fully re-evaluate the Top Films for every year we've been doing this site, which means starting in 2009. We first did this in 2014, then 2017. Coming around the bend to 2021 I thought it was worth it to really dive into each year and see which films have stayed with me and which have fallen by the wayside.

I found, to my surprise, that these early lists haven't changed all that much. The Top Films I liked four years ago are still pretty much the top films I like today. We've gotten to the point of canonization where there are a handful of immutable entries that I come back to over and over again. So, this unfortunately may be the last time we do this, at least with 2009 - 2012. At any rate, here we go!

2009:

Trick 'r Treat
Zombieland
Up
Where the Wild Things Are
The Road
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
The Hangover
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man

The Feel-good movie of the decade!

Back in 2017 I still had Moon and Observe and Report listed high - I've re-watched those in the last few years and neither was as punchy or thrilling as they were on my first viewings. I've debated Funny People (2009) a lot, too, and while I like what it's about, it really isn't constructed well enough to earn a spot here. Over the years The Road, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, A Serious Man, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs have stood the test of time and been here over and over again. I can watch A Serious Man any day of the week and still pick out little nuances, to me it's one of the Coen Bros' most underrated films.

2010:

TRON: Legacy
The Other Guys
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Inception
The Fighter
Get Him to the Greek
Black Swan
Hot Tub Time Machine
MacGruber
The Social Network

American Icon

I can't deny The Social Network, especially in the past ten years its relevancy has increased rather than decreased. Having said that, 2010 is always comedy-heavy, and lacking any other real drama to soak up spots, some of my all-time favourite modern comedies take the cake. I didn't even include Due Date and Dinner for Schmucks that came out this year. My only debate is whether MacGruber should be higher. There are a lot of big studio efforts this year that shine through, and it's one of the last years to have these films genuinely entire my headspace. There isn't a change since 2017 besides Let Me In and Harry Brown being snubbed for TRON: Legacy and The Other Guys. I love those movies, but it's time to shift. I was legit so close to putting The A-Team (2010) on this list, folks.

2011:

Attack the Block
Super
The Tree of Life
Inside Out
Bridesmaids
Contagion
Take Shelter
Moneyball
Melancholia
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

2020: The Movie!

2011 has morphed a little bit. I originally had The Sitter and Fright Night on here, I may be the only one who loves those films, but they're great. I just watched Super again, it holds up, but is maybe tenuous here. My number one movie has also shifted dramatically, from Rango to Take Shelter to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which has consistently been one of my favourites of all time. I think it deserves it place here. The Tree of Life, Melancholia, and Moneyball have been other consistent presences.

2012:

Celeste and Jesse Forever
Haywire
Brave
Cabin in the woods
Skyfall
Zero Dark Thirty
Lincoln
21 Jump Street
Django Unchained
The Master

I should watch this again

I love a world where I put 21 Jump Street ahead of Lincoln. I have begun to firmly believe in putting the best comedy of the year alongside any other great film, and that movie's re-watchability along with it being at this point one of the last great mainstream comedies, earns it that right. Argo is a big drop, along with The Five-Year Engagement, The Campaign, and The Grey. I was so into The Grey, maybe I've just matured beyond it at this point. Still, Zero Dark, Cabin, Django, and The Master are mainstays. I just rewatched Haywire, which is such a perfectly constructed movie that deserves more recognition. Along with Five-Year Engagement, 2012 was a year for weird comedy-dramas, and my fond memories of Celeste and Jesse Forever win out.

Stay tuned, folks, we will re-evaluate 2013 - 2016 in the next few weeks. More recent than that may need some more time to settle. We'll see.

All Glory to 2020: Best Movies!

Okay people, here we go! Our official list for the GREATEST FILMS of the YEAR 2020 CE. This immutable list will be chiseled in stone for all eternity, never to be changed or altered in anyway. As is tradition, here is our revised 2019 list filled with movies we caught up on and saw last year. It's radically different. Here is the original list we had.

2019 Revised List:

Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Booksmart
Us
The Dead Don't Die
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Knives Out
1917
Uncut Gems
Midsommar
The Lighthouse

Now that we've gone through that, let's talk about the list of films that definitely won't change in a year's time. We limited this year to films we've actually seen - there has been so many possible weird indies that have slipped by us. I thought about faking it. I always fake it. Nah, not this year. 2020 is a year for genuine rankings! Nomadland will wait!

#10: Mank

I was not super into Mank when I first saw it...and still aren't exactly excited about it, but there are some great bits here. Is it weird to think that David Fincher is too in love with his own father's script - it feels very personal almost to the point of inscrutability. It honestly has barely anything to do with the writing of Citizen Kane (1941), it feels more like an indictment of Depression-era politics, alcoholism, and its own private takedown of William Randolph Hearst. It's also noir without quite being noir and a character study without quite getting into the meat of the character. Still, the acting is all phenomenal. It's one of those films where Gary Oldman should get the long-deserved Oscar that he already got a few years ago.

#9: David Byrne's American Utopia


I am not a huge fan of concert films, but this just so happens to be THE GREATEST CONCERT FILM OF ALL TIME. That may be slight hyperbole, but it's certainly fun. That distinction obviously goes to Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2006). Still, David Byrne finds a way to create an incredibly engaging experience by removing all barriers between the audience and the band members, giving each a distinctive personality and dance routine through the innovative use of wireless microphones and instruments. It all fuels Byrne's music that escalates between modern protest songs, classic rock, and unyielding positivity for a torn nation. The only thing holding it back is the fact that I'm not really into concert films at all.

#8: Deerskin

Hahaha. I don't know, folks. I put this on my anticipated films list last year and watched it pretty much because of that. It is an assuredly weird film, a little slow, quite incomprehensible, but if you roll with it, it can be rewarding. Sort of. Jean Dujardin hasn't done all too much since his breakout in America in The Artist (2011), which is getting to be a long time ago. He does an even better job here as a man obsessed with a deerskin jacket and their quest to eliminate every jacket in the world. Yes, that is the actual plot. It's amazing. It's such a subtle descent into complete madness. There is a logic to it, though, and again, if you can roll with it, it's a fun ride. Just don't through rocks at kids' heads.

#7: Palm Springs

This was one of the most satisfying movies of the year, and possibly the funniest. There were some critics out there that called it a Groundhog Day (1993) rip-off, but time loops are its own genre at his point, from Triangle (2009) to the recent Happy Death Day movies. Anyway, Samberg shows previously unseen depth of acting and Cristin Milioti has a star-making role (if she wasn't one already. I don't know where she is). There's a nice twist where we enter when Samberg is far along into the loop, which is a perspective we don't get too often in these things. It counter-balances Milioti's experience and the character work as she progresses and pushes both of them out of the loop is nuanced while being immensely consequential. It's also genuinely funny. This was a great trip.

#6: Bad Education

This was a little different - an HBO movie, but a movie is a movie, right? Especially this year. Hugh Jackman somehow finds a roll he's never had before, but still does a great job. It's nice to remember that he's an actor sometimes. Allison Janney is incredible, although she isn't quite in the film as much as advertised. Everyone else, from Ray Romano, to Geraldine Viswanathan puts in great work. The latter especially from here to Blockers (2018) has done great work as an up and coming actress. The corruption at the heart of this film is also insidious, contemporary, and constantly engaging. I didn't have huge expectations going in, but this is an extremely competent adult drama that is so rare these days. It was a great experience.

#5: The Trial of the Chicago 7

Speaking of adult dramas, there was perhaps no better than The Trial of the Chicago 7. We're dropped into the apex of 1960s counterculture, and what's striking most is the realization of how much of this dream has failed. It also highlights how many different viewpoints existed simultaneously, which still feels like a significant issue in uniting disparate sections of the political spectrum against the one true enemy - injustice! It has very true poetical vibes, racial vibes, judgmental vibes - I really enjoyed it. It's also a showcase for great acting, from the genuine hilarity and inspired casting of Sasha Baron Cohen playing Abbie Hoffman to the subtle notes of consistent character actor John Carroll Lynch and titans like Frank Langella and Michael Keaton showing up and doing their thing. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II continues to be the best part of anything he's in. And Mark Rylance! This was a lot of fun.

#4: Color Out of Space

I'm surprised I haven't seen this on more lists. Maybe because it's completely bonkers insane eldritch horror that's nigh-incomprehensible, anchored by a Nic Cage performance suitably Nic Cage. But there's a lot of good stuff here - the uncontrollable inevitable horror that destroys every part of your life - the upended family unit, idyllic nature's shift, lost community members, the failure of authority. Why isn't this the definitive 2020 movie? It is a little reminiscent of Annihilation (2018), but it's more opaque, without ever being inaccessible. There's also this undercurrent of failed investments, the idea that this family had been doomed by poor judgment before the color ever descended. I typically judge films by how much they stick with me, and this one I kept thinking about for months and still will.

#3: Da 5 Bloods

Spike Lee's second film on this list - who knew 2020 would be such a year for him to shine? I mean...actually were we surprised that one of our most distinctive and prolific Black filmmakers shines in a year filled with racial turmoil? Da 5 Bloods when I saw it was a shoe-in for one of the best films of the year and I'm actually surprised that it's fallen down a little bit for me. It's a monumental look at a very specific black experience but also finds a way to show how universal that experience is. It's a great achievement to weave threw these two narratives simultaneously

#2: I'm Thinking of Ending Things

Yeah, this is a tough one. Going again with the films that stayed with me, this is one that had my headscratching for years. Or months or however long this year has taken. I've wanted to watch it again to pick up on all the details and nuance with the added benefit of knowing how it ends - it's actually remarkably straightforward when you know what's going on - it's that figuring out of what is going on that's the tough part. It is quite a marvel of film structure, I was continually checking the time stamp. Partly because it can come across as painfully boring, but you need to lean into the madness and realize that every scene has acute but significant purpose. I want to watch it again, but it's a tough emotional journey to go down. In essence, an incredible use of cinema that left a big impact on me.

#1: Buffaloed

I didn't think it would come to this, and I guarantee no one else picked Buffaloed this year, but in the end I just liked it more than anything else. It spoke to me more than any other movie. Part of that is assuredly my Western New York heritage, as well as my keen focus towards the current giant con of debt collection. It's ultimately a dark comedy about starting a small business, but it's flavor is so specific in ways that definitely won't speak to everyone, in fact I would suggest it would not speak to most people. I do think the accents are over the top, it's like The Departed (2006) for Western New York. It's an underrated accent that most movies should adopt. It's also consistently hilarious. Zoey Deutch gives a career-defining performance and Jai Courtney plays a delectable villain. Jai Courtney is underrated, I'm saying it - how many baffling crazy person roles does he have to take?

There were a few close calls this year. I really enjoyed The Platform and thought about it a lot, but ultimately it just wasn't there for me. Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm is a strong contender for the most 2020 movie every made, but it too just barely missed the mark for me. Finally, the following films are all great candidates that I just didn't get to this year. Will they change my mind a year from now? Super effin possible!

Bacurau
Nomadland
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Promising Young Woman
Extra Ordinary
Kajillionaire
Black Bear
Sound of Metal
Personal History of David Copperfield
Freaky
One Night in Miami

Have you seen any of these? Am I totally wrong? That is 2020 for you. Also, Sonic was unashamedly great, not even joking, I really loved it, folks.

NMW's Top Movies of The Two-Thousand Tweens!

It's that time of the decade again. This blog was in its infancy in 2009 when we first wrapped up the 2000s as a decade, and now, in its old decrepit age we take a look back at the years 2010-2019. It has been a very odd decade, mostly terrible, but there were at least ten good movies. Maybe stretching seven or eight, but we'll list ten here for you. We took some time and looked back at every single Top Ten List we had, as well as the Top Ten re-do list we had, and then the Top Ten Movies We've Seen that Didn't Come out in This Year lists. It's a lot. Here's what we got:

The first thing I wanted to do was break this down by year. Just on instinct looking through all the movies I've watched in the past ten years, it looks something like this:

2010:

Black Swan
The Social Network
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Hot Tub Time Machine

2011:

Moneyball
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Take Shelter
Melancholia

2012:

Django Unchained
The Master
The Cabin in the Woods
Lincoln
The Campaign

2013:

The Wolf of Wall Street
Inside Llewyn Davis
Pain & Gain
The World's End
The Lone Ranger
Pacific Rim
Stoker

2014:

What We Do in the Shadows
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
The Interview
Inherent Vice
Gone Girl

2015:

Bone Tomahawk
The Duke of Burgundy
Mad Max: Fury Road
Under the Skin

2016:

The Witch
American Honey
The Lobster
Silence

2017:

Good Time
mother!
Blade Runner 2049
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 

2018:

The Death of Stalin
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Sorry to Bother You

2019:

Godzilla: King of the Monsters
The Beach Bum
Jojo Rabbit
Uncut Gems
Booksmart
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
Us

It's actually pretty liberating to not worry about what's Top Ten or Top 11 or whatever. This is the cream of the crop of what I am into. I certainly have a taste. Okay, I'll stop trolling you with that Lone Ranger nod, but I do actually love that movie.

2019 is tricky. I'm not really sure which of these films will resonate down the line, or even next month. It's all a little too recent for my judgment. Is Us better than Black Swan? Standing here right now it certainly feels like it, but who knows. Still, I think we can match these up and probably reevaluate years on down the line. Actually, we should definitely do a 2000-2009 reevaluation. You know we're doing this, now. Yes, I also love Godzilla: King of the Monsters and should probably name that #1 of the deacde.

From here I think we can sift through this mess and form a Decade Top Ten by just going through our no-brainers. Let's list them here and throw in a blurb about why this stuff resonated with me:

#10: American Honey (2016)

Dir: Andrea Arnold

I discovered this from some other "Best of 2016" list and started exploring it based on its premise. It's a mystifying three hours long and somehow holds your attention the entire way, despite being kind of about nothing. It centers on a young mother who runs away from home (abandoning her child on the way) and joining a troupe of young magazine salespeople led by Shia LaBeouf and Riley Keough. It's a raw movie, filmed with mostly real people and only a handful of actors. On a larger scale it's also about the state of youth in America - lost, soulless, aching for connection and chasing dreams fueled by con artists and snake oil. I watched it on Netflix DVD on a weekday morning in December and remember it exactly. It's that kind of movie - it's always stuck with me in part because of how terrifyingly close to reality it could be for me and many people around me.

#09: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Dir: George Miller

This is a movie where ever single element is perfect. Everything works. It was breathtaking to witness. It's as if George Miller looked at every modern action movie and thought, "I can do this better." His resume is as varied as Babe: Pig in the City (1998), Happy Feet (2006), and uh...all three original Mad Max films, but somehow had in him still the perfect action movie. You can break this down endlessly in film class. I actually literally taught a film class in 2017 and whenever I wanted to demonstrate a point I just kept coming back to this movie. The establishment of premise, world-building, irony, every action as a reaction to a previous action, iconic characters, motifs, music, and costuming. All in service of an actually entertaining, memorable, enjoyable film. The casting is perfect. Each extended action scene is gripping in more importantly, in service to a story that could be told completely visually. It's such a simple idea executed to absolute perfection. Every action movie ever needs to strive to be Mad Max: Fury Road. It ends up not even being fair. This movie is the Patriots and George Miller is the Bill Belichick of action movies. I should note here that this movie IS actually just a straight re-make of The Road Warrior (1981). I also remember seeing this - in theaters, with friends and a big crowd, including someone's dad. The best way to watch this film.

#08: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Dir: David Fincher

The story of this movie is long and laboured, from forgotten lost manuscript by deceased author Stieg Larsson to a competent Swedish adaptation (only the first one is good), to this landing and flopping in Fincher's hands. Rooney Mara is fearless here and it's a damn shame she hasn't really had the chance to flex her acting like this again. As with many Fincher movies, the true star is the cinematography, staging, and unflinching treatment of the unsavory context. There are side roads and layers here that build towards the two characters of Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist coming together to solve a long dead cold case. It's not much more than a classic mystery story, but it actually has a memorable payoff, and I'll never listen to Enya the same way again. Supporting cast Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgard, and Robin Wright are all superstars here. I watched this in theaters, I remember my seat - I was near the aisle. Sometime around Christmas. More than that, though, I remember watching this during a snow day, wrapped in a blanket in my apartment on a stark TV sitting on a chair in the middle of the room. I think my room didn't have heat and I was trying to watch it on a big TV from the living room. More than anything, that's how this movie should be watched.

#07: Melancholia (2011)

Dir. Lars von Trier

This is an extremely long disposition on the nature of depression, and pretty much the best that we're ever going to get. The premise on its face is that an alternate Earth, named Melancholia is headed for us and we're all doomed. The movie doesn't entirely concern itself with this small matter, though, and mostly acts as a means for Kirsten Dunst to prove that she's a legit actress (she does). I watched this years after it came out because it drew a lot of chatter on the Internet and I wanted to up my Lars von Trier knowledge. This is somehow one of his more accessible flicks? It's also totally a movie that's just two movies, the first half being Kirsten Dunst's wedding and the second half being mostly her moping around and unable to get out of the tub. It's got one of the best ending shots ever and is really a landmark bit of filmmaking.

#06: Sorry to Bother You (2018)

Dir: Boots Riley

I saw this in a small arthouse theater in Cleveland and remember sitting there thinking, "How did someone reach into my brain and put a movie exactly made for me on the screen?" This film is incredibly engaging and has layers extremely beyond its premise of "black guy using David Cross' voice to become a good telemarketer." Tessa Thompson, Steven Yeun, Jermaine Fowler, Armie Hammer and of course, LaKeith Stanfield are all at the top of their game. This film has a lot to say about unions, capitalism, modern-day slavery, the extent that people will sell out, the hypocrisy of doing so (and not doing so), and also, magic horses. I simply cannot give away more if you haven't seen it, but you really need to see it. I have never encountered a movie that goes so absurdly off the rails but manages to hold on to itself. I could watch it over and over - it's currently on Hulu, I might just do that.

05: The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Dir: Martin Scorsese

As I was compiling this I found it amazing that Scorsese put out Silence three years after this. Maybe that long meditative thought about faith and Christianity was in response to the sheer depravity of this movie? I watched this on Christmas Day sitting next to my 14-year old cousin. It was awesome. I think those were his first boobs. Every award Leo has gotten after this has been in response to his performance here, which is the most unhinged and ridiculous in movie history. I said it. It may glamorize the stock-trader lifestyle (this is debatable. I'm not sure how many reasonable people are jealous of losing all feeling in their arms and legs, losing their families, and being arrested by the FBI), but it's also a loving tribute to the 90s and the terrible atrocities of greed and hubris. The cast is top notch. This movie gave us Margot Robbie, the beginning of the McConaughissance, Jon Bernthal on the cinematic stage, and serious Jonah Hill. Okay, "serious" should be taken with a grain of salt, but when I think of modern classics, this always comes to mind. Like Fury Road, it's as if an old master saw what all these young kids were doing and vowed he could do it better. I always go back to this movie. It never ages for me.

#04: The Master (2012)

Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

PTA's MASTERpiece, this is his thinly veiled opus to Scientology that's more of a mental duel between two of our greatest actors, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix. I watch this about every two years or so, and it never gets old. There is always some other layer I uncover as I myself meditate on who is the "master" and who is the "student" in the relationship. It's also notable as one of the few movies where the lead character doesn't change at all from start to finish. But it's actually good and that's sort of the point. By this point you can see what tends to attract me most - sleezy con artists masquerading as legitimate sources of hope and salvation. It's a dangerous game, toying with others' feelings, money, and souls. I abhor it. This is all the surface-level stuff in The Master. The core relationship between these two dudes battling for control over their surroundings, each other, and themselves is what makes this film interesting and stays with me. That, and "PIG FUCK!"

#03: A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)

Dir. Ana Lily Amirpour

I watched this I think on DVD, maybe streaming, in my apartment in Fall of 2015. I immediately fell in love with it and eagerly devoured anything else Amirpour could churn out. I think that's largely why I still loved The Bad Batch (2016). This self-described Iranian Vampire Western sucks you in like the vampires it depicts, with equal parts danger and seduction that's befitting its genre, but escapes most imitators. It's fiercely its own genre and emblematic of a voice that is not often heard. My mind wanders to the cinematography, including the car scene which gets me every time. I think this is on Kanopy. It's time for another visit. Every frame a painting holds very true here, where literally very single shot could be printed and put on a wall. Regarding the actual context, the table-turning nature of typical gender roles and how lost our purported protagonist becomes is why this resonates. That's actually similar to another film coming up. I like these films.

#02: Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Dir: Denis Villeneuve

I also watched this in Cleveland - alone in a major movie theater on a Sunday afternoon in October. I was one of two people in the theater. I instantly came home and wrote 4200 words on it. So, just go read that. This was a huge bomb, but really, what were the thinking? I can't believe this film was allowed to be made. Seriously, why give Villeneuve $185 million to do whatever he wanted? He chose to make a 3-hour meditation on reality, the nature of being human, our right to control our creations, and a 30-year mystery follow-up to a movie notoriously opaque, so much so that Ridley Scott and Harrison Ford don't even agree on what happened. Also, no one outside of cinephiles have seen Blade Runner (1982). Hey - it could still happen! This is the rare 30+ year follow-up sequel that actually advances, even improves on its original. Remember that sweet 80s Vangelis soundtrack? Hans Zimmer is here to make it better! Remember Harrison Ford? Well, he's still here, although he totally should not be, but Ryan Gosling is even better. It's such a good, natural advancement of that world, that acknowledges its predecessor while making its own coherent world-building that STILL resonates with modern life. Ana de Armas, Robin Wright, Dave Bautista and especially Sylvia Hoeks are all fantastic here. Jared Leto sucks, but...does he kind of always suck now? Hey - second Robin Wright appearance on this list!

#01: Under the Skin (2014)

Dir. Jonathan Glazer

As I thought about this list, these three were the first I thought of when putting together an actual legit number of truly great movies. This one of the only movies I've ever seen that completes its story almost in totality through the visual medium it exists in. It's truly brilliant. You're forced to engage and tune in with a high attention to detail to decipher what the hell is going on. In the end we don't really have answers, but maybe understand a little bit more about what it means to be human. In the end, isn't that what we're all looking for? Scarlett Johansson plays a hot alien who eats dudes in a big black empty space, but damn this movie makes literally looking at grass growing contemplative and satisfying. That bus scene was a little long, I will admit. But this movie is endlessly fascinating as it forces you to try to figure out what the hell is going on, then you take a step back and learn to actual absorb all the visual information it's conveying and take it at face value. It's a cycle that works back in on itself and I have never found a movie that is better suited to the constraints and advantages of its medium.

As you may tell, I am really into super-long, contemplative movies that play with gender roles, feature deep soul-crushing cons, and are generally weird as hell. That all tracks. In 2029, if we are still alive and not all replaced by replicants I'll be curious how this list shifts around. I'm especially curious how 2019 fits in. 2010 didn't make it, either. I wonder if I have recency bias as well as just not remembering how good The Social Network was. You know, Hot Tub Time Machine should really be at the top of this list. We will definitely put out a "Best of 2000s" List soon. Stay tuned for more hot action, folks!!

Best Films Seen For the First Time in 2015

Amidst the flurry of Top Ten lists that always clog up the interwebs every December, there is another concept that's far more personal that always feels much more interesting to me. For the first time ever, I want to discuss not only the Top Ten Films of 2015, but the Top Ten Best Films I Saw for the First Time in 2015. That is, regardless of release date, here are truly the best flicks I sunk my eyes into over the past year.

For a comprehensive list of every single film and television show I watched in 2015, you can of course check out this little ditty right here. This is of course a personal and random list that includes movies from all over, certainly skewed towards 2014 releases that I've caught up on, along with a handful of great 2015 films. I disincluded great films that I had already seen before. For instance, I watched JAWS (1975) and Goodfellas (1990) this year, and they would probably make the list otherwise. So, let's get down:

#10: The Raid: Redemption (2011)

The Finest in Indonesian Cinema

I had heard non-stop great things about The Raid: Redemption, and I managed to catch it as well as its sequel this year. Even though The Raid 2: Berandal (2014) is a spectacular film, the first one is a bit stronger with its more focused narrative and relentless action set-pieces. There is hardly a more pure action movie out there and the inventiveness of its brutality, formulation of stakes, and clarity of cinematic composure is magnificent.

#9: Dope (2015)

I was on board with Dope since the first trailer dropped, which promised a unique coming of age tale that also dared to defy dangerous racial stereotypes. It's all that, even when it descends into a slightly preachy final monologue, but the path up to that point is near Michael Corleone-esque as it showcases a straight-A Harvard-hopeful Inglewood youth faced with a series of escalatingly bad decisions that threaten to shove him on the path of a drug dealer instead. It's all this and also really fucking funny, with confident direction and acting by a mostly freshman cast, with one of the best soundtracks of the year.

#8: John Wick (2014)

I brushed off John Wick (2014) as a typical revenge thriller, but it's also the best American action film of 2014. I finally caught up with it this year and was extremely impressed. The plot is nothing incredibly inventive, save for the relentless focus of Keanu Reeves which creates this balance of fear and respect between him and the enemies who killed his dog. So, it's a bit more clever than typical action films. It carries its weight on crisp, steady action beats along with a stellar performance by Keanu. See, he's super-wooden, but the movie uses his super-woodenness to its advantage. It's compelling.

#7: Zodiac (2007)

I don't know why it took me so long to catch up to Zodiac, which is totally Dave Fincher's most underrated film, although maybe that's just it. It hasn't had the lasting appeal of Se7en (1995) or The Social Network (2010), maybe because the story is basically like All the President's Men (1976) with serial killers. Actually, speaking of Fincher, isn't it totally random that he took on The Social Network? Almost all his other movies are about serial killers. Anyway, Zodiac is a near-perfect telling of obsession, fear, paranoia, and slugfest journalism detective work that all adds up to the only thing we know now - that who the hell knows who the Zodiac Killer really was. The cast is spectacular, notably Robert Downey, Jr. minutes before he exploded with Iron Man (2008).

#6: Barry Lyndon (1975)

There was a lot of Internet out there that claimed Barry Lyndon to be Kubrick's greatest work, and I was skeptical, considering how much of his other films have shaped pop culture, even if every single one of them was reviled upon release. It's not easy company to say that this random 18th-century fop epic stood on equal or higher ground to more accessible (could that even be a thing?) films like 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971), or The Shining (1980), but Barry Lyndon totally does it with a three-hour slow burn featuring simultaneously the most interesting, tragic, and asshole-y figure in Kubrick's oeuvre. Every scene builds on what came before and pushes Barry Lyndon further down this path of becoming a complete dick as he works his way (fakes his way) up to the top of high society. All this in addition to the purity of natural lighting (even in indoor night scenes) makes the film dreamlike to behold while boasting breathtaking cinematography.

#5: Inherent Vice (2014)

As it turns out, Joaquin Phoenix is only mildly insane

Inherent Vice didn't seem to catch on the way I thought it would but as 2015 winds to a close, this film which I saw almost a year ago has stood with me. It's partly a typical Paul Anderson Altman-style ensemble film, but the performances are so ripe and the time period so well defined without becoming gimmicky that it's impossible to look away. It's as if Paul Anderson directed The Big Lebowski (1998) with a little less goofiness and a more concerted effort to divulge into the culture clash, cult wars, and efficacy of doing nothing that the hippie movement was all about. It could even pass as a sillier Season 2 of True Detective. I remain a big fan of its aesthetic and themes in addition to everything else at work here.

#4: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

The way things are shaking down it improbably appears as if Fury Road is getting a lot of end-of-year love, which seems insane until you face the challenge of actually naming a better film. This year is sort of all over the place, unlike the remarkably strong 2014, and even though there's typical Oscar bait films that ought to dominate the Awards come February 28, we're suddenly left with this huge split. Can Fury Road be the film that finally brings crazy action movies into mainstream contention for best film of the year? Probably not, so I can no doubt visualize some kind of formal or informal split. The best part about Fury Road is that it's actual this small little simple indie story locked inside one of the most expansive and thrillingly weird movies of the year. It's the kind of film where everything works, and by far the best action film, if not the best film of 2015. Have you recognized a pattern, yet? I like clear action films.

#3: What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

This was technically a 2015 release in the States, but I always feel weird about judging it that way, so for now I'll probably leave it off my 2015, as much as it deserves to be there. There's certainly not a funnier New Zealand vampire mockumentary that was made this year. The core gag of juxtaposing cultural stereotypes of vampires with insights to their every day life activities could have been an ignominious re-tread yet the steady subtle gag-fueled hand of director Taika Waititi steers it into something unique and delightful.

#2: Ex Machina (2015)

Ex Machinia is such a closed-in story, a bottle featuring an alcoholic genius tech billionaire, his Frankenstein-esque robot discovering herself, and the plucky contest winner that gets to give her a Turing test. I know what you're thinking - that's a sexy premise! But the film actually is legitimately sexy and stars three of the hottest stars out there today - 2/3 of which are in fucking Star Wars coming out this week. I'm tempted to name the delicate balance of horror and silliness in this scene as the best of the year, and even though it's a film filled with techno-babble, it also made me think more about what it means to be human than any other film this year. Well, except for one.

#1: A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014)

Bleh! BLEH!

I had kind of heard of this movie as being good, but the title didn't make it seem nearly as interesting as it is. I read the tagline description, "the first Iranian vampire western" which seemed incongruous with my earlier disinterest. After finally catching the damn thing there's no film I've thought about more this year and no film I consider superior. It builds its story on pure visual brick and mortar, not unlike fellow 2014 entry Under the Skin, although also not quite so opaque. There's an intricate dance of who the protagonist actually is, who is under who's spell, and a constant threat of danger and mystery. Plus it combines the vampires of What We Do in the Shadows with more great dance scenes.

Honourable Mentions:

Since I like keeping this to a crisp and clear Top Ten, here's a handful of other great films I saw for the first time in the Calendar Year 2015: Bronson (2008), Dear White People (2014), Mad Max (1979), and Why Don't You Play in Hell? (2014). I also finally saw Nashville (1975), and while I really loved Altman's direction and how that film was constructed, I hated the subject matter. Maybe if I liked country music at all, that would have been alright.

Well, as it turns out, 7/10 of these films were actually 2014 or 2015 releases, mostly foreign or obscure releases that took me a while to get around to see. That's not really surprising. Stay tuned for more high caliber 2015 coverage!