Blast Through the Recent Past: The Panda's Top 100 Films of the Decade - The List is Complete! I'll Now Be Silent.

[The Panda]

 

True Grit (2010)

Directed by The Coen Brothers

 

"You must pay for everything in this world, one way and another. There is nothing free except the grace of God."

 

Most Valuable Player: The Coen Brothers for Directing and Writing

Awards Count: Nominated for 10 Oscars

Box Office: 171.2m DOM

Metascore: 80

Synopsis: Following the murder of her father by hired hand Tom Chaney, 14-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross sets out to capture the killer. To aid her, she hires the toughest U.S. marshal she can find, a man with "true grit," Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn. Mattie insists on accompanying Cogburn, whose drinking, sloth, and generally reprobate character do not augment her faith in him. Against his wishes, she joins him in his trek into the Indian Nations in search of Chaney. They are joined by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, who wants Chaney for his own purposes. The unlikely trio find danger and surprises on the journey, and each has his or her "grit" tested.

Critic Opinion: "Bridges is laidback, irascible and mumbling as Rooster, and all the better for it. But the Coens’ trump card is Steinfeld. Thirteen at the time of filming, she’s a revelation. She plays Mattie as hard, but not cold, and is smart enough to show the chinks in her armour. Matt Damon takes the Glen Campbell role as LaBoeuf and plays it much less pretty as the Texas Ranger who joins Mattie and Rooster in their horseback hunt.  The Coens have made a western that assumes a pleasing position  between stately and earthy. There’s plenty of black humour and the brothers don’t ignore the grim realities of danger and death, but this is no ‘The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada’. They scrimp on neither warmth nor wit. There’s love, too, for the values, language and landscape of the time, and as such it’s a fairly traditional film, as stressed by Carter Burwell’s quietly monumental and wistful score. It could be the Coens’ most straightforward film, but it’s also one of their best." - Dave Calhoun, Time Out

User Opinion: "Never gave this a try because it was a western and I wasn't into westerns. I recently watched The Magnificent Seven and I enjoyed it, so I thought I'd give this movie a try. What a fantastic movie. I was hooked throughout and the time just flew by. I didn't even realize how attached I got to these characters together until it was mentioned that after she reached safety and lost her hand they never saw each other again and I just started crying my eyes out from that point on wards." - @ChD

Commentary: The best Coen Brothers movie from this decade turned out to be the most traditional of their offerings.  True Grit is a tried and true, old fashioned Hollywood Western, but wow does this thing work like a charm.  The cast is incredible, especially Steinfeld who becomes an absolute magnet of a presence and has yet to top the work she did in this one (and at such a young age!).  There's something about telling a traditional story of outright perseverance and grit that makes this ring like the old classic that it's based on.  Steinfeld's struggle becomes your struggle as you watch this beautifully framed film, with an ending that hits you like Jeff Bridges riding a horse to its death.  An inspirational work of art.

Year Count: 2018 (14), 2017 (12), 2015 (11), 2019 (10), 2013 (9), 2016 (8), 2014 (8), 2012 (7), 2011 (6), 2010 (5)

Director Count: Ari Aster (2), Damien Chazelle (2), The Coen Brothers (2), Denis Villeneuve (3), Wes Anderson (2), Alex Garland (2), Ryan Coogler (2), David Fincher (2), Greta Gerwig (2), James Gray (2), Bong Joon-Ho (2), Barry Jenkins (2), Christopher Nolan (2), Jordan Peele (2), Steven Spielberg (2), Quentin Tarantino (2), Taika Waititi (2)

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Starting my top 10!

 

 

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Directed by George Miller

 

"I am the scales of justice! Con-DUCT-or of the choir of death!"

 

Most Valuable Player: George Miller!!!

Awards Count: Won 6 Oscars

Box Office: 153.6m DOM

Metascore: 90

Synopsis: An apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and almost everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order. There's Max, a man of action and a man of few words, who seeks peace of mind following the loss of his wife and child in the aftermath of the chaos. And Furiosa, a woman of action and a woman who believes her path to survival may be achieved if she can make it across the desert back to her childhood homeland.

Critic Opinion: "Even after two viewings, I feel as though I've only scratched the surface of Mad Max: Fury Road. George Miller's action fantasy is astonishingly dense for a big-budget spectacle, not only in its imagery and ideas but in the complex interplay between them (Chicago Tribune critic Michael Phillips has aptly likened the movie to a symphony). In a sense Fury Road has been gestating since the late 1970s, when Miller first envisioned the character of Mad Max and the nightmarish future Australia he inhabits. The movie builds upon motifs from Miller's original trilogy with Mel Gibson—Mad Max (1979), The Road Warrior (1981), and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)—though it's not a sequel but a complete reimagining of the world in those films. Miller began planning this fourth installment as far back as 2001 and claims to have generated so much material during the unusually long preproduction phase that he already has a couple more stories ready to go." - Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader

User Opinion: "Worthy of being in the discussion of "greatest action film ever"." - @Plain Old Tele

Commentary: The greatest true action film of the decade and definitely worth being discussed among the greatest action films ever made.  Mad Max: Fury Road is a dense work of mindblowingly shot spectacle that only gets better among rewatches.  This is a film worth revisiting often, and you'll always find yourself in a bit of awe at how George Miller managed to pull off everything going on on screen here.  This is an action film so well made that even the Academy had to end up recognizing it for all its glory.  It's endlessly quotable, you probably know exactly why this is a dystopian, action masterpiece and I shouldn't really have to go on about it.  Go watch it again!

Year Count: 2018 (14), 2017 (12), 2015 (12), 2019 (10), 2013 (9), 2016 (8), 2014 (8), 2012 (7), 2011 (6), 2010 (5)

Director Count: Ari Aster (2), Damien Chazelle (2), The Coen Brothers (2), Denis Villeneuve (3), Wes Anderson (2), Alex Garland (2), Ryan Coogler (2), David Fincher (2), Greta Gerwig (2), James Gray (2), Bong Joon-Ho (2), Barry Jenkins (2), Christopher Nolan (2), Jordan Peele (2), Steven Spielberg (2), Quentin Tarantino (2), Taika Waititi (2)

 

 

 

[The Panda]

 

Inside Out (2015)

Directed by Pete Docter

 

"Take her to the moon for me. Okay?"

 

Most Valuable Player: Pete Docter for his Directing and Screenplay

Awards Count: Won 1 Oscar

Box Office: 356.5m DOM

Metascore: 94

Synopsis: Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it's no exception for Riley, who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions - Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness. The emotions live in Headquarters, the control center inside Riley's mind, where they help advise her through everyday life. As Riley and her emotions struggle to adjust to a new life in San Francisco, turmoil ensues in Headquarters. Although Joy, Riley's main and most important emotion, tries to keep things positive, the emotions conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house and school.

Critic Opinion: "Director Pete Docter, who dared to be scary in the Academy Award-nominated Monsters, Inc. and delve into the pain of loss in the Academy Award winner Up, once again shows an uncanny ability to enlighten as he entertains. This brilliantly inventive romp through the brain includes a sound stage, where dreams are produced, and abstract thought, where these 3-D characters flatten into 2-D, elongate and, if they don't hurry, can disappear.  Tension mounts as Joy tumbles into the cavernous junkyard of long-term memory and desperately seeks a way to return Sadness and the memories back to Riley before she becomes so disconnected that she takes an action that could harm her.  Buddy films have always been about balancing opposite urges. Here the balance mirrors not only what's needed for great art, but also for mental and spiritual healing." - Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News

User Opinion: "One of Pixar's very best. Emotional, funny, and a beautiful score to boot. Much like the Toy Story films, this makes me think so much of my childhood, which makes me so happy. The casting was also all-around excellent, with Phyllis Smith as Sadness and RIchard Kind as Bing Bong being absolute stand-outs." - @Fancyarcher

Commentary: Pixar has historically been the gold standard for CGI animation, and for a few years it started to seem like that'd fade away a bit, but then came along Pete Docter creating not only a return to that standard, but in my opinion exceeding it.  Inside Out, at least how I see it, is the greatest animated film of at least the 21st century (right next to Spirited Away), and would certainly be within the top 3 of all time (if not exactly first).  It's bold in the story that it's catering, never feeling the need to cater to the target demographic, as it knows that the story its telling will be captivating enough.  The complex ideas stretch farther than I think any Pixar film has gone, and it comes in at a quick and clean pace.  The movie is a perfectly crafted animation and one of the most creative tentpoles to hit the screen this century.

Year Count: 2018 (14), 2015 (13), 2017 (12), 2019 (10), 2013 (9), 2016 (8), 2014 (8), 2012 (7), 2011 (6), 2010 (5)

Director Count: Ari Aster (2), Damien Chazelle (2), The Coen Brothers (2), Denis Villeneuve (3), Wes Anderson (2), Alex Garland (2), Ryan Coogler (2), David Fincher (2), Greta Gerwig (2), James Gray (2), Bong Joon-Ho (2), Barry Jenkins (2), Christopher Nolan (2), Jordan Peele (2), Steven Spielberg (2), Quentin Tarantino (2), Taika Waititi (2)

 

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

 

Before Midnight (2013)

Directed by Richard Linklater

 

"Like sunlight, sunset, we appear, we disappear. We are so important to some, but we are just passing through."

 

Most Valuable Player: Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke for being the creative minds behind the series

Awards Count: Nominated for 1 Oscar

Box Office: 8.1m DOM

Metascore: 94

Synopsis: It has been nine years since we last met Jesse and Celine, the French-American couple who once met on a train in Vienna. They now live in Paris with twin daughters, but have spent a summer in Greece on the invitation of an author colleague of Jesse's. When the vacation is over and Jesse must send his teenage son off to the States, he begins to question his life decisions, and his relationship with Celine is at risk.

Critic Opinion: "Before Midnight is intimate and intelligent, and also undemanding in the best possible way, acted with charm and lack of ego, especially by Delpy: the story of people who have all the cares of middle age but somehow retain the idealism and curiosity of their youth. It's a secular, happier – if shallower – version of Rossellini's Journey to Italy, to which it explicitly alludes, having given cinephiles time to notice the resemblance for themselves. (When the last movie came out, Before Sunset, I discussed Linklater's debt to Annie Hall: in fact, Delpy occasionally, and fractionally, reminds me now of a Gallic Mia Farrow.)  Just as in the other two films (Before Sunrise and Before Sunset), what is miraculous about Before Midnight is the talking. Not talking things out, or talking things through, just talking. Two or more people having a conversation somehow turns out to be as gripping as a thriller. The second scene of this film shows Jesse and Celine driving home from the airport: a scene that plays out, in one continuous take, for around seven or eight minutes. And what happens? Nothing, or rather everything. They talk about important things." - Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

User Opinion: "It's a stunning symphony of acting, writing and directing. Everything is flowing perfectly together. I never once saw "acting". The naturalism in the performances and the words coming out of their mouths is really something to behold. I will say watching this with my girlfriend of three years was an arduous but rewarding experience. There are moments that just cut to the bone of any long-term relationship. I was practically withering away in my seat during the blowout, but it gave us a whole lot to talk about afterwards." - @RichWS

Commentary: It feels like discussing the best of any of the recent decades wouldn't be complete without checking in on the most wonderful cinematic couple.  Before Midnight carries on nine years after Before Sunset, it's naturalistic filmmaking.  However, unlike with this first two films that brought out some of the butterflies, Before Midnight throws in the complications and consequences that result from the decision that is made at the end of the prior film.  There's parts of the movie that are as pleasant as others, and then other conversations that rip your heart out as the relationship teeters on its edge.  If this is the last film in the saga, it'd be a fitting and beautiful ending.  Richard Linklater has knack for bringing out some of the most human moments in cinema from scenarios that other filmmakers would make mundane.  A brilliant little film.

Year Count: 2018 (14), 2015 (13), 2017 (12), 2019 (10), 2013 (10), 2016 (8), 2014 (8), 2012 (7), 2011 (6), 2010 (5)

Director Count: Denis Villeneuve (3), Ari Aster (2), Damien Chazelle (2), The Coen Brothers (2), Wes Anderson (2), Alex Garland (2), Ryan Coogler (2), David Fincher (2), Greta Gerwig (2), James Gray (2), Bong Joon-Ho (2), Barry Jenkins (2), Richard Linklater (2), Christopher Nolan (2), Jordan Peele (2), Steven Spielberg (2), Quentin Tarantino (2), Taika Waititi (2)

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

 

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

Directed by Benh Zeitlin

 

"I see that I am a little piece of a big, big universe, and that makes it right."

 

Most Valuable Player: Benh Zeitlin for Directing, Co-Writing and Co-Scoring

Awards Count: Nominated for 4 Oscars

Box Office: 12.8m DOM

Metascore: 86

Synopsis: Hushpuppy, an intrepid six-year-old girl, lives with her father, Wink, in the Bathtub, a southern Delta community at the edge of the world. Wink's tough love prepares her for the unraveling of the universe; for a time when he's no longer there to protect her. When Wink contracts a mysterious illness, nature flies out of whack, temperatures rise, and the ice caps melt, unleashing an army of prehistoric creatures called aurochs. With the waters rising, the aurochs coming, and Wink's health fading, Hushpuppy goes in search of her lost mother.

Critic Opinion: "Like some wonderful kind of live-action Studio Ghibli effort that has somehow found its way across the Pacific and onto America’s ravaged, weather-beaten doorstep, Beasts of the Southern Wild has all the elements necessary to make the crossover from festival favourite to topical, word-of-mouth success. Whilst further examples may be few and far between (Andrew Dominik’s Killing Them Softly and Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene being two recent exceptions to this rule), it’s comforting to see that American cinema is still capable of making intelligent, narrative-driven cinema, capable of confronting contemporary issues. Thankfully, Zeitlin’s ecologically-attuned debut looks set to capture both hearts and minds.

User Opinion: "I loved this movie. Its an absolute joy to watch.  Beasts is something very different, that's for sure. There isn't really any movie I could compare it to, maybe Where the Wild Things Are has a similar atmosphere, but that thing was just boring and Spike Jonze got lost in his own ass making it.  Quadfvergebee Wallis is terrific in front on the camera, she has to be the best child actor in the longest time. Henry Dwight as the dad was even better imo. His character reminded me in a way of Brad Pitt's character in The Tree of Life. They're both very conflicted men, who obviously care for the children but have been somehow completely disillusioned of the world.  The cinematography is crisp and fresh, and the music is teriffic.  One of the best films of 2012. " - @Jack Nevada

Commentary: I can't believe we are still waiting on Benh Zeitlin's follow up to this wonderful beauty of a film.  Beasts of the Southern Wild manages to blend contemporary political issues of class and climate, and views it through the eyes of a child trying to make it through (and with a fairly complex and complicated parent).  This creates a fantastical type of narrative blended with childlike joy, while keeping an underlying dissonance that is just quite out of Wallis' cognitive grasp.  This is a unique piece of cinema, and I really haven't seen anything that's quite like it since it came out.  Zeitlin as a filmmaker has a unique voice in making a film that manages to balance an innocent spirit and maintain a sense of urgent gravitas.  Beasts engages the heart, mind and soul and is the reason you go the cinemas.

Year Count: 2018 (14), 2015 (13), 2017 (12), 2019 (10), 2013 (10), 2016 (8), 2014 (8), 2012 (8), 2011 (6), 2010 (5)

Director Count: Denis Villeneuve (3), Ari Aster (2), Damien Chazelle (2), The Coen Brothers (2), Wes Anderson (2), Alex Garland (2), Ryan Coogler (2), David Fincher (2), Greta Gerwig (2), James Gray (2), Bong Joon-Ho (2), Barry Jenkins (2), Richard Linklater (2), Christopher Nolan (2), Jordan Peele (2), Steven Spielberg (2), Quentin Tarantino (2), Taika Waititi (2)

 

 

 

[The Panda]

 

Life of Pi (2012)

Directed by Ang Lee

 

"And so it goes with God."

 

Most Valuable Player: Yann Martel's Source Material

Awards Count: Won 4 Oscars

Box Office: 125m DOM

Metascore: 79

Synopsis: In Canada, a writer visits the Indian storyteller Pi Patel and asks him to tell his life story. Pi tells the story of his childhood in Pondicherry, India, and the origin of his nickname. One day, his father, a zoo owner, explains that the municipality is no longer supporting the zoo and he has hence decided to move to Canada, where the animals the family owns would also be sold. They board on a Japanese cargo ship with the animals and out of the blue, there is a storm, followed by a shipwrecking. Pi survives in a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a male Bengal tiger nicknamed Richard Parker. They are adrift in the Pacific Ocean, with aggressive hyena and Richard Parker getting hungry. Pi needs to find a way to survive.

Critic Opinion: "The crux of this film is about God and faith... you as a viewer, just as you would follow any faith, are supposed to determine what story you choose to believe. The gruesome, matter-of-fact story with no fantastical elements, or the story that has transfixed you for two hours. The one where God listens to Pi's plea for help and gives him rest and a means to continue his journey. The one that SHOULD NOT be filmable but was still brought to life somehow. The viewers know the situation is the same in both stories- the humans have the same roles as the animals, both are coming of ages stories (Pi = tiger), the ship still sunk in both stories- but the journalist chooses the 'better' story, the one that resonates with him more. I truly believe that this film is Lee's commentary on narratives and fictional storytelling. In films you are enthralled with characters and situations that aren't real and probably couldn't happen in real life, but the end of Life of Pi is a gutpunch. You're reminded that reality is far more serious. But you choose to 'believe' or follow whole-heartedly the better story. Or not. So it goes with God, so it goes with cinema. A second viewing has elevated this to 'masterpiece' levels for me. Sharma's performance, Magee's screenplay and Westernhofer's technical work are all incredible, but the story of the film is Lee. What a masterful filmmaker." - @Gopher

Commentary: I remember back when I saw this movie in 2012 it absolutely blew my mind, it was the exact film I needed in terms of my own spiritual development.  Since then, I've discovered the book which is a fair bit richer in its philosophy than the movie, but that is not to diminish Ang Lee's masterwork here as a director (as this is a movie and too much philosophizing would have bogged it down).  Life of Pi is a transporting experience, and is perhaps one of the most gorgeous films from a visual perspective of the modern era.  However, the heart of the movie is not in the technical experience, as superb as it is crafted, but in the spiritual story at its heart.  It sets up a singular fantasy story for you, and then twists it, leaving you question where the actual truth is, doubting even but it twists the knife right back in an uplifting measure.  It's a wonderful thought experiment, or parable, that makes room for the skeptic and the faithful.

Year Count: 2018 (14), 2015 (13), 2017 (12), 2019 (10), 2013 (10), 2012 (9), 2016 (8), 2014 (8), 2011 (6), 2010 (5)

Director Count: Denis Villeneuve (3), Ari Aster (2), Damien Chazelle (2), The Coen Brothers (2), Wes Anderson (2), Alex Garland (2), Ryan Coogler (2), David Fincher (2), Greta Gerwig (2), James Gray (2), Bong Joon-Ho (2), Barry Jenkins (2), Richard Linklater (2), Christopher Nolan (2), Jordan Peele (2), Steven Spielberg (2), Quentin Tarantino (2), Taika Waititi (2)

 

 

 

[The Panda]

 

Gisaengchung (Parasite) (2019)

Directed by Bong Joon-Ho

 

"They are nice because they are rich."

 

Most Valuable Player: Bong Joon Ho for Directing and Writing

Awards Count: Nominated for 6 Oscars

Box Office: 25.4m DOM

Metascore: 96

Synopsis: Jobless, penniless, and, above all, hopeless, the unmotivated patriarch, Ki-taek, and his equally unambitious family--his supportive wife, Chung-sook; his cynical twentysomething daughter, Ki-jung, and his college-age son, Ki-woo--occupy themselves by working for peanuts in their squalid basement-level apartment. Then, by sheer luck, a lucrative business proposition will pave the way for an insidiously subtle scheme, as Ki-woo summons up the courage to pose as an English tutor for the teenage daughter of the affluent Park family. Now, the stage seems set for an unceasing winner-take-all class war. How does one get rid of a parasite?

Critic Opinion: "The best films, when you walk out of the theater after seeing them, leave you with the feeling of not just having seen something but of having experienced it — now that, you think, was a movie.  Which is exactly how you feel upon exiting Bong Joon Ho's brilliant "Parasite," about two families on opposite ends of the wealth spectrum, which he directed and co-wrote. It's a nearly perfect film, from Bong's masterful use of framing and visual language and control of a wildly shifting tone to the performances (all terrific) to the commentary on class division.  If that last bit worries you that this might be some stuffy exercise in cultural navel-gazing, don't let it. "Parasite" is also relentlessly entertaining, in about 10 different ways. It's thoughtful and funny and tense and charming and horrifying and brutal and … I don't know, pretty much whatever else you can think of.  And thanks to Bong's genius, all of that blends seamlessly." - Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic

User Opinion: "I saw this last night and it is fantastic: thematically rich; superbly crafted, weaving between genres effortlessly; excellent acting that feels grounded and real even as things quickly shift; great comedy and tension; visually interesting. The film just gives and gives. Like others here, highly recommended!" - @MikeQ

Commentary: Hail Bong!  An absolutely sensational piece of filmmaking.  For the entirety of this top 10, I've felt like it's weird that I am ranking these movies because they're all about near equal to me.  I love them all for very different reasons, and maybe the best way to go about it would have been to simply list everything in the top 10 with no ranking at all.  However, that's also a bit of a cop out.  Parasite is a rare movie that has been able to unite a large coalition of different people over just how great it is, I've yet to see any really true negative comment about the work.  If there's a film from this decade that I think will be a staple in film studies classes for years to come, I'd reckon it'd be this one.  It's exquisitely well done, it's deliriously entertaining and it's a complete breath of fresh air from the standard Hollywood affairs that we get.  Bong Joon Ho is truly one of the greatest filmmakers working today.

Year Count: 2018 (14), 2015 (13), 2017 (12), 2019 (11), 2013 (10), 2012 (9), 2016 (8), 2014 (8), 2011 (6), 2010 (5)

Director Count: Bong Joon-Ho (3), Denis Villeneuve (3), Ari Aster (2), Damien Chazelle (2), The Coen Brothers (2), Wes Anderson (2), Alex Garland (2), Ryan Coogler (2), David Fincher (2), Greta Gerwig (2), James Gray (2), Barry Jenkins (2), Richard Linklater (2), Christopher Nolan (2), Jordan Peele (2), Steven Spielberg (2), Quentin Tarantino (2), Taika Waititi (2)

 

 

 

[The Panda]

 

The Farewell (2019)

Directed by Lulu Wang

 

"It's not cancer that kills them, it's the fear."

 

Most Valuable Player: Lulu Wang for Directing and Writing

Awards Count: Won 1 Golden Globe

Box Office: 17.7m DOM

Metascore: 89

Synopsis: A headstrong Chinese-American woman returns to China when her beloved grandmother is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Billi struggles with her family's decision to keep grandma in the dark about her own illness as they all stage an impromptu wedding to see grandma one last time.

Critic Opinion: "As a director, Wang is quietly original. She uses widescreen shot to create dreamy/horror-movie undercurrents, panning back from Nai Nai’s block of flats as if it was the hotel from The Shining. She also includes details in the frame that are never explained (Billi has dark circles on her back; the bride after a pre-wedding photo session hobbles out of the room). During a drinking game the camera whooshes round the table as if intoxicated. As for the home-movie finale, it’s a stunner.  Meanwhile, Awkwafina (so entertainingly raucous in Crazy Rich Asians) nails 1000 nebulous emotions and Lin is as magnetic as Laurie Metcalf in Lady Bird. Shuzhen is terrific as the ebullient, sophisticated and fragile matriarch. And the anxious Hong Lu? She’s a screen queen." - Charlotte O'Sullivan, London Evening Standard

User Opinion: "t’s been quite a while since I’ve seen it. My local theater had an advanced screening and I don’t know when it’ll be returning but as soon as it does, I’ll be watching it again. It was easily the best movie that I’ve seen all year. Despite the culture differences, which I greatly appreciated, it immediately felt familiar and beloved. The sense of family was just so strong and universal. It was so sincere in its heartbreak and humor. And the whole cast was great. I still can’t decide if I’m a fan of Awkwafina but I found her to be lovely in this film. She worked so well for me here. And Zhao Shuzhen! I can’t say enough about how charming and warm she was, undoubtedly the heart of the film. She made it beat. The scene with taxi pulling away nearly dehydrated me. I hope that she isn’t forgotten once Oscar season goes full-swing; she deserves so much recognition and I hope a nomination is coming her way." - @Chris Knight

Commentary: An absolute tearworks factory of a film, and they'er never brought out in a way because of emotional manipulation from the film's part, they're genuine and well earned by the movie's close.  The Farewell is a masterclass family drama, looking delicately at a family dynamic that comes across as so personal you almost feel like you're eavesdropping on a situation you shouldn't know anything about.  But beyond the family dynamics, there's the intercultural dialogue that continues throughout the movie that is so compelling, as you see how the varying Western vs. Eastern philosophies come into tension with each other, and no clear answer is provided to ease that tension.  But then ultimately, The Farewell is a movie that's speaking a valuable personal lesson of not keeping the ending in mind.  We're all dying, just like the smoke in one of the essential scenes vanishes away, and being caught up on the destination may just prevent you from ever living.

Year Count: 2018 (14), 2015 (13), 2017 (12), 2019 (12), 2013 (10), 2012 (9), 2016 (8), 2014 (8), 2011 (6), 2010 (5)

Director Count: Bong Joon-Ho (3), Denis Villeneuve (3), Ari Aster (2), Damien Chazelle (2), The Coen Brothers (2), Wes Anderson (2), Alex Garland (2), Ryan Coogler (2), David Fincher (2), Greta Gerwig (2), James Gray (2), Barry Jenkins (2), Richard Linklater (2), Christopher Nolan (2), Jordan Peele (2), Steven Spielberg (2), Quentin Tarantino (2), Taika Waititi (2)

 

 

 

[The Panda]

 

Gravity (2013)

Directed by Alfonso Cuaron

 

"You've got to learn to let go."

 

Most Valuable Player: Alfonso Cuaron for Directing, Co-Editing and Co-Writing

Awards Count: Won 7 Oscars

Box Office: 274.1m DOM

Metascore: 96

Synopsis: Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone - tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness.

Critic Opinion: "Not only does that first image knock us out, but Cuarón and company up the ante by spinning it out into a bravura sequence that lasts for 13 minutes without a cut. The director has done long scenes before — a seven-minute segment in “Children of Men” is especially memorable — but he’s never pulled one off with all the built-in barriers of working in a facsimile of outer space.  Those barriers were so steep that Cuarón, one of the most accomplished directors around (everything from “Y Tu Mamá También” to “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”) ended up spending nearly five years on the project.  Once the “Gravity” team realized that the only way to achieve the painstaking photorealism the project demanded was to seamlessly combine live action, computer animation and CGI, new systems had to be invented and new ways of using existing equipment explored. Even computer-controlled factory robots usually employed on automobile assembly lines were repurposed for cinematic uses." - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

User Opinion: "Simply fantastic. It's one of the rare movies where i was really on the edge of my seat through many shots, all of the visuals were splendid, the cinematography is simply fantastic, and it really created an atmosphere of being in space. The characters were strong as well and I love the character development Stone goes through.  I had no idea if she was going to make it until she landed (I didn't think the movie would be cruel enough to allow her to make it to Earth and then drown her despite the irony) but I couldn't help but feel that the final shots of her walking on the tropical island more than justified her survival. It goes from being a great movie about trying to survive in space to  being about the power of human triumph.  Overall, it's easily so far the best movie of the year. Hell, it's one of the best science fiction films of all time." - @Water Bottle

Commentary: The best science fiction movie of the decade.  Gravity was an experience like no other watching in IMAX 3D, it was just something else entirely.  The craft of the film goes without saying, Alfonso Cuaron completely outdid himself with this one and I doubt he goes back to big spectacle for quite some time.  It may be one of the most cliche sounding lines, but it really is a film that displays the triumph and perseverance of the human spirit when it's at its best and most driven.  Gravity is also a movie about rebirth, letting go of the past that haunts you and rising back up able to be free again.  For a movie which had the tagline "Don't let go", there's a subtle irony in that the driving character growth is for her to learn to do just that, let go.  The film has been able to retain its staying power no matter what screen I watched it on too, even with a home viewing it was just as inspiring as before.  What's even more amazing is how all of the technical work in this film still manages to hold up, I don't think I've been nearly as awed by VFX work in a movie since I've seen this one.  Cuaron crafted a cinematic experience that has not truly been rivaled in its technical grandeur since.

Year Count: 2018 (14), 2015 (13), 2017 (12), 2019 (12), 2013 (11), 2012 (9), 2016 (8), 2014 (8), 2011 (6), 2010 (5)

Director Count: Bong Joon-Ho (3), Denis Villeneuve (3), Wes Anderson (2), Ari Aster (2), Damien Chazelle (2), The Coen Brothers (2), Alfonso Cuaron (2), Alex Garland (2), Ryan Coogler (2), David Fincher (2), Greta Gerwig (2), James Gray (2), Barry Jenkins (2), Richard Linklater (2), Christopher Nolan (2), Jordan Peele (2), Steven Spielberg (2), Quentin Tarantino (2), Taika Waititi (2)

 

 

Edited January 15, 2020 by The Panda

[The Panda]

 

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

Directed by Rian Johnson

 

"We are what they grow beyond."

 

Most Valuable Player: Rian Johnson for Directing and Writing

Awards Count: Nominated for 4 Oscars

Box Office: 620.2m DOM

Metascore: 85

Synopsis: Jedi Master-in-hiding Luke Skywalker unwillingly attempts to guide young hopeful Rey in the ways of the force, while Leia, former princess turned general, attempts to lead what is left of the Resistance away from the ruthless tyrannical grip of the First Order.

Critic Opinion: "Writer/director Rian Johnson’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is a sprawling, incident- and character-packed extravaganza that picks up at the end of “Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens” and guides the series into unfamiliar territory. It’s everything a fan could want from a “Star Wars” film and then some.  “Jedi” does a better job than most sequels of giving the audience both what it wants and what it didn’t know it wanted. The movie leans hard into sentiment, most of it planted in the previous installment, some related to the unexpected passing of one of its leads (Fisher—thank goodness they gave her a lot of screen time here, and thrilling things to do). But whenever it allows a character to cry (or invites us to) the catharsis feels earned. It happens rather often—this being a film preoccupied with grieving for the past and transcending it, populated by hounded and broken people who are afraid hope will be snuffed out." - Matt Zoller Seitz, Roger Ebert

User Opinion: "If TFA was a warm hug from an old friend, this was a hug from a new friend who's, like, really, really good at hugging." - @aabattery

Commentary: I'm sure anyone who reads this already has their opinion on this film well and set, so there's very little I could say to sway somebody who's not on my side of the fence over on why Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a pop-art masterpiece.  As I was browsing through the comments in the review thread I saw a comment in which I ranked this as my second favorite Star Wars film and asked "Upon re-watches and time could this even top ESB?".  Well, two years later and I know that answer, yes it definitively has, it's the greatest of all these space opera fantasy movies.  I have also decided in my head cannon that this is the true finale of the franchise, or at least the Skywalker saga.  The final scene of the movie is absolutely brilliant on cementing the threading theme throughout the film about who can be a hero and the power of myths and legends.  The Last Jedi may not have been the film that some fanboys wanted, but boy was it the genre deconstruction and reconstruction that Star Wars so direly needed.  It re-affirms everything I love about Star Wars and is a true pinnacle in achievement in franchise filmmaking.

Year Count: 2018 (14), 2015 (13), 2017 (13), 2019 (12), 2013 (11), 2012 (9), 2016 (8), 2014 (8), 2011 (6), 2010 (5)

Director Count: Bong Joon-Ho (3), Denis Villeneuve (3), Wes Anderson (2), Ari Aster (2), Damien Chazelle (2), The Coen Brothers (2), Alfonso Cuaron (2), Alex Garland (2), Ryan Coogler (2), David Fincher (2), Greta Gerwig (2), James Gray (2), Barry Jenkins (2), Rian Johnson (2), Richard Linklater (2), Christopher Nolan (2), Jordan Peele (2), Steven Spielberg (2), Quentin Tarantino (2), Taika Waititi (2)

 

 

 

Edited January 15, 2020 by The Panda

[Cap]

Hmm. Yeah. That’s the stuff. 

[Plain Old Tele]

But her emails.

[Kalo]

On 1/4/2020 at 11:14 PM, The Panda said:

 

Hereditary (2018)

Directed by Ari Aster

 

"Hail paemon!"

 

Most Valuable Player: Ari Aster and his Auteur vision

Awards Count: Critics Circle Nominations

Box Office: 44.1m DOM

Metascore: 87

Synopsis: When her mentally ill mother passes away, a woman named Annie (Toni Collette) and her husband (Gabriel Byrne), son (Alex Wolff) and daughter (Milly Shapiro) all mourn her loss. The family turn to different means to handle their grief, including Annie and her daughter both flirting with the supernatural. They each begin to have disturbing, otherworldly experiences linked to the sinister secrets and emotional trauma that have been passed through the generations of their family.

Critic Opinion: "There are moments in which the camera glides through the Grahams’ home. The slowness of its movement combines with the eerie, understated music from composer Colin Stetson to create a very unsettling ambience.  The creepiest performance comes from Ann Dowd as the seemingly sympathetic stranger, Joanie, who befriends Annie. Dowd is one of those character actors you recognise from other films and TV dramas without immediately being able to place her. Here, she has a toughness and meanness you can always detect in spite of her seeming kindness  Hereditary may not be as terrifying as the advance hype has suggested but it’s a provocative and subtle horror film with layers you don’t find in more conventional haunted house tales. The fright factor here comes less from the shrieks, decapitations and simmering undercurrent of violence than from the grief and doubt that we read in Collette’s features and in the eyes of her disbelieving son." - Geoffrey Macnab, The Independent

User Opinion: "Really enjoyed this one. Had me clenching my arm rest so tight in the final moments that I nearly got rigor mortis in my left hand as I got up to leave." - @JohnnyGossamer

Commentary: Hereditary is a piece of masterclass mood setting from Ari Aster, who's imagination in his first two features seems to have no bounds.  The film sets you up expecting a certain kind of possessed child horror film, and then twists the knife and becomes a compelling look at a mother going through grief, and how this battle of grief is liken to a horror film itself.  There's many surrealist elements that leave you questioning how much of the strange things you saw have actually happened, and how much is the coping.  Toni Collette on the remark is fantastic in the lead role and really should have gotten more notice than she did last year.  Hereditary is a film that will leave a lasting impression, even if that impression isn't entirely glowing, and that's a good thing.

Year Count: 2015 (5), 2010 (3), 2014 (3), 2011 (3), 2018 (3), 2016 (2), 2017 (2), 2019 (2), 2012 (1)

 

 

i hated this movie. but it was one of the creepiest. movies I've ever seen. with great performances. it's probably one of the few movies I consider to be a great film that I hate because of how disturbing it is. I found it sacrilegious even though I'm pretty open minded. and I liked "The Witch" (Probably won't watch that movie again either though) I will never ever watch again. 

[The Panda]

 

Silence (2016)

Directed by Martin Scorsese

 

"It was in the silence that I heard your voice."

 

Most Valuable Player: Martin Scorsese for Directing and Co-Writing

Awards Count: Nominated for 1 Oscar

Box Office: 7.1m DOM

Metascore: 79

Synopsis: Intent on investigating the truth behind Father Cristovão Ferreira's abrupt end of correspondence, the devout Portuguese Catholic priests, Sebastião Rodrigues and Francisco Garupe, set off to Japan, in 1633. In great disbelief, as the rumours of Ferreira's apostasy still echo in their minds, the zealous Jesuit missionaries try to locate their mentor, amid the bloodshed of the violent anti-Christian purges. Under those circumstances, the two men and the Japanese guide, Kichijiro, arrive in Japan, only to witness firsthand the unbearable burden of those who have a different belief in a land founded on tradition. Now--as the powerful Grand Inquisitor, Inoue, performs hideous tortures on the brave Japanese Christians--Father Rodrigues will soon have to put his faith to the ultimate test: renounce it in exchange for the prisoners' lives. There, in the ends of the world, a subtle change has begun; however, why is God's silence so deafening?

Critic Opinion: Actually, I found that many of the critics I read really didn't understand this film (and I am not one to normally say something like that).  So instead I want to provide an excerpt from the priest who was the spiritual adviser on the film when they were interviewed that really provides some clarity on its power.

 

"Yet by the end of the film, Rodrigues says that God was in “everything.” (The Jesuit way of saying this is “finding God in all things.”) “It was in the silence that I heard Your voice,” he says. Besides hearing the voice of Christ asking him to trample on the fumie, he recognizes that God was all around him, even if not speaking directly to him in his prayer. God may not have been speaking to him interiorly, he realizes, but exteriorly.

 

The second question is more difficult. Why does God “permit” the Japanese Christians and the Jesuits to suffer? This is the great theological “problem of suffering” or “problem of evil.” In short, “Why is there suffering?” As anyone who has experienced profound suffering knows, even the devout believer, there is no satisfying answer to this question.

Three Christian perspectives, however, may be helpful.

 

First, the Christian believes that Jesus, who himself underwent suffering, understands suffering and is close to the one who suffers. Second, as a refinement on that insight, some theologians speak of God suffering with those who suffer. Third, Christians believes that suffering is never the last word. There is always hope of the Resurrection, of new life not only for the one who suffers, but for humanity.

 

Where was God when the Japanese Christians were being tortured and crucified? I would suggest: With them, close to them, beside them and watching with as much anguish as Fathers Rodrigues and Garupe did as they watched their friends being crucified in the ocean." - Fr. James Martin

Read the full interview here: https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2017/01/18/fr-james-martin-answers-5-common-questions-about-silence (It is excellent)

User Opinion: "the rarest of films a legitimate epic dealing with complex themes and shit. in fact it's probably one of the most ideologically dense and complex movies i've ever seen. it's gonna give film academics decades worth of material. i think it's one of those "you get out of it what you put in" kinda deals. militant atheists and christians will have very different reactions to the ending. definitely feels like scorsese has put out the definitive representation of his struggles with faith that comes across in many of his films. can see why it took him 30 years to figure this shit out and even now there's no easy conclusion. not for everyone though, it's a difficult watch for sure and not one that gives immediate gratification. been thinking about it for a day and that doesn't feel near long enough. right now not the most celebrated film of 2016... but give it a decade. we'll see then." - @CoolioD1

 

"It's really a triumphant cap on his religious trilogy (perhaps not surprisingly, all three films are very underrated). I'm not sure what I was expecting going in, but paradoxically, I think this is the sort of movie that'll surprise you no matter what you think it is going in. It's definitely not flashy and prone to big moments the way most of Scorsese's recent movies have been. In fact, the most noticeable stylistic choice (upon first viewing at least) is a simple whip pan across open space from one key figure to others. I think people will be divided between those who think it's too long and muddled and those who think those moments are all valuable and help delve to the heart of the matter... only to leave you staring into the water at your own reflection. What a fascinating exploration of personal versus doctrinal faith." - @Plain Old Tele

Commentary: Absolutely remarkable.  I had a really difficult time figuring out the ordering of all the films on my list, with the exception of a single movie, and that was this one.  It was practically locked into this number one spot.  Not only is Silence the best movie of the decade, and the most overlooked one (which is shocking given it's Scorsese's career long passion project), not only do I find it to be the best film of Scorsese's career, it has just about moved its way into one of my top 5 films of all time.  One of the most powerful movies I have ever watched.  Silence is certainly not an easy watch, and one that you'll certainly leave gaps of time before you come back and re-watch it, but that does not diminish the immense power of the movie.  It is not an easy, glowing endorsement of the faithful, nor is it a glorification of martyrdom, and it's also not a skeptical critique on religion.  Silence is a layered and nuanced look at faith, to what extent a person will go to hold onto it (to what extent the faithful should hold onto it), a question about suffering and how it can be allowed, and ultimately a work that is affirming to soul and rewarding to the faithful.  There's movies you never forget, there's movies that stick with you, there's movies that challenge you, but Silence is one of the few that goes beyond all of that.  If you're willing and of the right state of mind, it just might etch its way in your soul.  It's a movie with ideas and imagery that I'm still meditating over three years later, but ideas and imagery that were always there within my personal spiritual theology, it just provided the clarity to allow me to look and see them.

Year Count: 2018 (14), 2015 (13), 2017 (13), 2019 (12), 2013 (11), 2012 (9), 2016 (9), 2014 (8), 2011 (6), 2010 (5)

Director Count: Bong Joon-Ho (3), Denis Villeneuve (3), Wes Anderson (2), Ari Aster (2), Damien Chazelle (2), The Coen Brothers (2), Alfonso Cuaron (2), Alex Garland (2), Ryan Coogler (2), David Fincher (2), Greta Gerwig (2), James Gray (2), Barry Jenkins (2), Rian Johnson (2), Richard Linklater (2), Christopher Nolan (2), Jordan Peele (2), Martin Scorsese (2), Steven Spielberg (2), Quentin Tarantino (2), Taika Waititi (2)

 

 

Edited January 15, 2020 by The Panda

[Fancyarcher]

I approve of The Last Jedi being at #2.

 

Also that's a fantastic choice for #1. I'll admit I didn't see Silence coming. On reflection, it truly is a remarkable flick, that puts most actual Christian based films to shame. 

Edited January 15, 2020 by Fancyarcher

[Ninenin]

On 1/14/2020 at 6:57 AM, The Panda said:

 

True Grit (2010)

Directed by The Coen Brothers

 

"You must pay for everything in this world, one way and another. There is nothing free except the grace of God."

 

Most Valuable Player: The Coen Brothers for Directing and Writing

Awards Count: Nominated for 10 Oscars

Box Office: 171.2m DOM

Metascore: 80

Synopsis: Following the murder of her father by hired hand Tom Chaney, 14-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross sets out to capture the killer. To aid her, she hires the toughest U.S. marshal she can find, a man with "true grit," Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn. Mattie insists on accompanying Cogburn, whose drinking, sloth, and generally reprobate character do not augment her faith in him. Against his wishes, she joins him in his trek into the Indian Nations in search of Chaney. They are joined by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, who wants Chaney for his own purposes. The unlikely trio find danger and surprises on the journey, and each has his or her "grit" tested.

Critic Opinion: "Bridges is laidback, irascible and mumbling as Rooster, and all the better for it. But the Coens’ trump card is Steinfeld. Thirteen at the time of filming, she’s a revelation. She plays Mattie as hard, but not cold, and is smart enough to show the chinks in her armour. Matt Damon takes the Glen Campbell role as LaBoeuf and plays it much less pretty as the Texas Ranger who joins Mattie and Rooster in their horseback hunt.  The Coens have made a western that assumes a pleasing position  between stately and earthy. There’s plenty of black humour and the brothers don’t ignore the grim realities of danger and death, but this is no ‘The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada’. They scrimp on neither warmth nor wit. There’s love, too, for the values, language and landscape of the time, and as such it’s a fairly traditional film, as stressed by Carter Burwell’s quietly monumental and wistful score. It could be the Coens’ most straightforward film, but it’s also one of their best." - Dave Calhoun, Time Out

User Opinion: "Never gave this a try because it was a western and I wasn't into westerns. I recently watched The Magnificent Seven and I enjoyed it, so I thought I'd give this movie a try. What a fantastic movie. I was hooked throughout and the time just flew by. I didn't even realize how attached I got to these characters together until it was mentioned that after she reached safety and lost her hand they never saw each other again and I just started crying my eyes out from that point on wards." - @ChD

Commentary: The best Coen Brothers movie from this decade turned out to be the most traditional of their offerings.  True Grit is a tried and true, old fashioned Hollywood Western, but wow does this thing work like a charm.  The cast is incredible, especially Steinfeld who becomes an absolute magnet of a presence and has yet to top the work she did in this one (and at such a young age!).  There's something about telling a traditional story of outright perseverance and grit that makes this ring like the old classic that it's based on.  Steinfeld's struggle becomes your struggle as you watch this beautifully framed film, with an ending that hits you like Jeff Bridges riding a horse to its death.  An inspirational work of art.

Year Count: 2018 (14), 2017 (12), 2015 (11), 2019 (10), 2013 (9), 2016 (8), 2014 (8), 2012 (7), 2011 (6), 2010 (5)

Director Count: Ari Aster (2), Damien Chazelle (2), The Coen Brothers (2), Denis Villeneuve (3), Wes Anderson (2), Alex Garland (2), Ryan Coogler (2), David Fincher (2), Greta Gerwig (2), James Gray (2), Bong Joon-Ho (2), Barry Jenkins (2), Christopher Nolan (2), Jordan Peele (2), Steven Spielberg (2), Quentin Tarantino (2), Taika Waititi (2)

 

 

 

I completely forgot this horrendous piece of shit excited 

[narniadis]

Great job as always Panda! Thanks for the time you put in. 

[Tower]

Great Job Panda, you clearly put a lot of work into this. and even when I disagree with you (which happens a lot), it's still interesting to see your opinions.

[The Panda]

And my complete list

 

1.    Silence
2.    Star Wars: The Last Jedi
3.    Gravity
4.    The Farewell
5.    Parasite
6.    Life of Pi
7.    Beasts of the Southern Wild
8.    Before Midnight
9.    Inside Out
10.    Mad Max: Fury Road
11.    True Grit
12.    Knives Out
13.    Little Women
14.    Django Unchained
15.    Midsommar
16.    The Revenant
17.    Get Out
18.    Inside Llewyn Davis
19.    Whiplash
20.    Hell or High Water
21.    Blindspotting
22.    Short Term 12
23.    Roma
24.    Boyhood
25.    Star Wars: The Force Awakens
26.    The Immigrant
27.    Arrival
28.    Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
29.    The Handmaiden
30.    The Social Network
31.    La La Land
32.    Fruitvale Station
33.    First Reformed
34.    The Wolf of Wall Street
35.    Moneyball 
36.    Blade Runner 2049
37.    If Beale Street Could Talk
38.    Her
39.    Dunkirk
40.    Us
41.    Okja
42.    Sicario
43.    Lady Bird
44.    Moonlight
45.    Leave No Trace
46.    The Tree of Life
47.    The Big Short
48.    Lincoln
49.    The Grand Budapest Hotel
50.    Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
51.    Crazy Rich Asians
52.    Ad Astra
53.    Logan
54.    Holy Motors
55.    Only Lovers Left Alive
56.    The VVitch
57.    Snowpiercer
58.    The Favourite
59.    Moonrise Kingdom
60.    BlacKkKlansman
61.    Call Me By Your Name
62.    Raw
63.    1917
64.    Hunt for the Wilderpeople
65.    Black Panther
66.    Honey Boy
67.    Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
68.    Tag (2015)
69.    Eighth Grade
70.    Rango
71.    12 Years a Slave
72.    Amour
73.    The Big Sick     
74.    Three Billboards Outside of Ebbings, Missouri
75.    Zero Dark Thirty
76.    Blue is the Warmest Color
77.    Annihilation
78.    Hereditary
79.    Silver Linings Playbook
80.    I Lost My Body
81.    A Ghost Story
82.    The Edge of Seventeen
83.    A Star is Born
84.    Kubo and the Two Strings
85.    50/50
86.    Gone Girl
87.    Bridge of Spies
88.    Nightcrawler
89.    Spotlight
90.    What We Do in the Shadows
91.    The Two Popes
92.    Sorry to Bother You
93.    Scott Pilgrim vs the World
94.    Margin Call
95.    Ex Machina
96.    How to Train Your Dragon
97.    Beasts of No Nation
98.    Interstellar
99.    War of the Planet of the Apes
100.    Deathly Hallows

Edited March 3, 2020 by The Panda