BOT's Top 100 Films of the 2010s: The Countdown | List complete

[Fancyarcher]

11 minutes ago, Plain Old Tele said:

A SEPARATION is extraordinary. 47 is way too low.  

I agree. It should at least be in the top thirty, maybe even top ten. It's so heartbreaking, beautiful, and excellent. 

[Jake Gittes]

I ranked it in the 60s myself. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Obviously pleased to see it as high as it is, anyway.

Edited April 15, 2020 by Jake Gittes

[CoolioD1]

47th best in an entire decade of motion pictures is way too low you tasteless baboons. should at least be #46.       

[Ethan Hunt]

Just now, Jake Gittes said:

I ranked it in the 60s myself. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Obviously pleased to see it as high as it is, anyway.

Did you have it ahead of Black Panther tho?

[MrGamer]

1 hour ago, Jake Gittes said:

Number 48

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"I don't want to survive. I want to live."

225 points, 21 lists

directed by Steve McQueen | US, UK | 2013

 

The Pitch: Solomon Northup, a free African-American man, is kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841.

 

Top 5 Placements: 1
Top 12 Placements: 2
Metacritic: 96
Box Office: $187m WW
Awards: Academy Awards for Best Picture, Supporting Actress and Adapted Screenplay, out of 9 nominations; BAFTA for Best Film and Best Actor
BOT History: #6, Top Movies of 2013; BOFFY awards for Best Ensemble, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress, out of 8 nominations
Critic Opinion: “Given 12 Years A Slave’s subject matter, it’s a welcome surprise that John Ridley’s script pushes McQueen to prove he can proficiently execute multiple tones. Dexterity is necessary to handle adaptation of Solomon Northup’s slave narrative, which is a sort of ghastly picaresque featuring Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) as an innocent continuously abused in various settings. [...] There’s a pointed crane up from his dungeon to a bird’s eye view of the White House within shouting distance. Washington, D.C., is a particularly stark example of how the United States’ infamous incarceration rates disproportionately affect black people: 50.1% of the district’s population according to the 2012 census, but making up 91% of its inmates in June. That crane shot directly connects this country’s overblown prison business with executive policy, and it’s one of many indications that 12 Years is up to more than simply rendering The Horrors Of Slavery at a safe distance for everyone to shiver blamelessly at. The subject is, among other things, structural racism, in which institutional practices make everyone complicit in a greater ill without the possibility of identifying actors whose removal would lead to justice.” - Vadim Rizov, Filmmaker Magazine
BOT Sez: “Fantastic movie that lives up to the hype. I wasn't a big fan of either Hunger or Shame, but I absolutely love 12 Years A Slave. It was wonderfully-directed. Acting performances are good to great all around. Fassbender is outstanding in the role, his mannerisms were spot on as the manic, abusive and despicable slave-driver.Chiwetel Ejiofor is fantastic. His acting strength lies in the emotional and physical struggle conveyed through body language, especially his eyes. I can see and feel the anguish and pain just by his stares. It was a powerful, but not the in-your-face type of performance, and I love that. Another performance that also caught my attention is by Lupita Nyong'o in the role of Patsey. But really, they were all good. Definitely completely a characters-driven movie and succeeded at that. Storytelling was very effective, I felt engaged throughout. The rawness and sensitive nature of the subject involved was handled, in my opinion, in the most-suited way." - @Sam
Commentary: Our third, and third-to-last, Best Picture winner. Following his provocative arthouse successes Hunger and Shame, director Steve McQueen found a wide audience when he applied his unwavering, carefully studied approach to some of the toughest subject matter there is, making a film that avoided being either melodramatic or miserablist. A strong box-office success and winner of many industry awards, it remains widely admired, including by members of this board.

 

 

 

 

 

If we ever did a list on movie posters, the Brad Pitt version of that poster would be in the top 10.

[Jake Gittes]

Number 46

Spoiler

 

"Kiss me, my girl, before I'm sick."
233 points, 18 lists

directed by Paul Thomas Anderson | US | 2017

 

The Pitch: In 1950s London, the life of a controlling dressmaker is disrupted by a strong-willed young waitress who becomes his muse and lover.

 

Top 5 Placements: 1
Top 12 Placements: 2
Metacritic: 90
Box Office: $48m WW
Awards: Academy Award for Best Costume Design, out of 6 nominations; FIPRESCI Prize for Best Film of the Year
BOT History: #20, Top Movies of 2017; BOFFY for Best Costume Design
Critic Opinion: “Phantom Thread often resembles a kind of relocated Gothic romance (there are faint shades of Jane Eyre), with Alma moving into the film’s equivalent of a grand manor, subjecting herself to the strict rules and eccentricities of a life within The House Of Woodcock. She has her own room, which is just one way the line between lover and employee blurs: Since Reynolds scarcely separates his work and his private life, Alma is swept into both at once. “I can stand endlessly,” she boasts, relishing her ability to match Reynolds’ tireless drive. But is there actually a man behind all that reputation, clout, and ego? On paper, it’s a dynamic familiar enough to be called archetypal. But Anderson specializes in complicating relationships, from the complex guru/disciple bond at the center of The Master, to the unspoken frenemy pact between fascist cop and counterculture dick in Inherent Vice, to the transgressive but oddly touching big, happy porno family of Boogie Nights. In Phantom Thread, part of the fun is watching Alma, an X factor in Reynolds’ highly controlled life, upset the balance of power.” - A.A. Dowd, The AV Club
BOT Sez: “What a supposedly simple story, and so much tension! Filmmaking at its finest - the score, the framing, the rhythm are excellent, but at the core we have acting at its finest from the two leads. While Daniel Day-Lewis needs no introduction. Vicky Krieps is the true revelation here - it's her first international production (I think) and her role is the complete opposite of the one in "The Chambermaid Lynn" where she first caught my eye, but her play is equally mesmerising. We'll never see her in an action blockbuster I guess; hers is a play of face and stance, and she draws you in like few others. In fact, "Phantom Thread" would make a nice double feature with "Lynn" - where the "plot" sees the titular girl just beginning to develop some sense of self-worth and finally daring to make her own decisions - in "Phantom Thread", Alma is a full-fledged force of nature, forcing herself into the Woodcock household and finally whittling down Day-Lewis' driven Reynolds to manageable size and form while keeping peace with his difficult sister (a very silent but intense performance by Lesley Manville).” - @IndustriousAngel
Commentary: Paul Thomas Anderson hits the list with the most recent of the three particularly idiosyncratic films he released in the last decade, the witty and perverse romance between an artist and his muse. Built largely around the onscreen tension between his protagonists, played by Daniel Day-Lewis in his (allegedly) last performance and Vicky Krieps in a revelatory one, it became PTA's most readily accessible and popular film since There Will Be Blood, earning among its honors unexpected Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Director.
 

 

 

 

[4815162342]

1 hour ago, Jake Gittes said:

Number 47

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"What is wrong is wrong, no matter who said it or where it's written."
230 points, 12 lists

directed by Asghar Farhadi | Iran | 2011

 

The Pitch: As an Iranian middle-class couple separate, conflict arises when the husband hires a lower-class caregiver for his Alzheimer's-suffering elderly father.

 

#1 Placements: 1
Top 12 Placements: 4
Metacritic: 95
Box Office: $24m WW
Awards: Golden Bear, Silver Bear for Best Actor and Best Actress - Berlin Film Festival; Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
BOT History: #80, Top 100 Movies of the 21st Century (2015)
Critic Opinion: “Showing a control of investigative pacing that recalls classic Hitchcock and a feel for ethical nuance that is all his own, Farhadi has hit upon a story that is not only about men and women, children and parents, justice and religion in today's Iran, but that raises complex and globally relevant questions of responsibility, of the subjectivity and contingency of "telling the truth", and of how thin the line can be between inflexibility and pride – especially of the male variety – and selfishness and tyranny.” - Lee Marshall, ScreenDaily
BOT Sez: “A Separation is one of the greatest foreign films ever made, and easily one of the best of the decade. I've only seen it once, but it absolutely left a lasting impression on me. The acting is spectacular from the two leads (and the child actress is surprisingly great, too), and the script is fantastic. The writer(s) of A Separation are incredibly talented due to their seamless ability of dealing with the plight of three protagonists without it ever feeling over-stuffed or insincere. It's rare for any script to manage that. You'll walk away feeling hugely impressed by this courtroom drama, and hopefully have a better understanding of what life in Iran is. I only wish this film was seen by more people, as it brings out the best and most important aspect of cinema: to better understand others.” - @Noctis
Commentary: Our highest-ranking 2011 film! And it earns that status despite not even making top 5 for that year when it came to the number of lists it appeared on. (Aside from Moneyball, The Raid and The Tree of Life, there are two 2011 movies that received more individual mentions yet didn't crack the top 100 at all.) That speaks as well as anything to the impact of this unrelenting drama, which gave Iranian cinema its biggest global success this century. Of the 12 BOT members who did vote for it, 10 had it somewhere in their top 30; its average point score is currently the highest in the top 100 for any film that appeared on more than 5 lists. It's a record we will see broken again, but not for a while. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

I sadly did not include it on my list because it's been so long since I've seen it I have little recollection

[Jake Gittes]

Number 45

Spoiler

 

 

"We are Groot."
234 points, 18 lists

directed by James Gunn | US | 2014

 

 

The Pitch:

 

Top 5 Placements: 1
Top 12 Placements: 1
Metacritic: 76
Box Office: $773m WW
Awards: 2 Academy Award nominations; 4 Saturn Awards, out of 9 nominations; Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
BOT History: #9, Top Movies of 2014; #71, Top 100 Movies of All Time (2016); #11, Top Comic Book Movies of All Time (2019); 4 BOFFY nominations
Critic Opinion: "Marvel’s rambunctious entry into the space opera genre—and the cornerstone of its “Cosmic Marvel” roster of characters and storylines—so perfectly embodies what the preceding months of hype and hope foretold that even its weak points (and it has its share) feel almost like unavoidable imperfections—broken eggs for a pretty satisfying omelet." - Michael Burgin, Paste

"Gunn, a B-movie enthusiast who got his start at Troma, has found a way to bring funkiness and humanity to a galaxy-spanning blockbuster, one filled with dogfights and floating fortresses, but also with heroes quick with a quip, fast on the draw, and more than a little beaten up by the universe." - Keith Phipps, The Dissolve
BOT Sez: “There's so much to like in this movie, starting with the characters and the performances. Chris Pratt is a leading man! He was so much fun to watch and a great screen presence. The other members of the team were great too but special shout-outs go to Drax, who surprised me the most and was probably the funniest one and Yondu, who stole every scene he was in. Bravo Michael Rooker.” - @darkelf
“You could say that the groundwork is fairly derivative of other Space operas and even some of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Gunn just makes the movie dance (pun sorta intended) across the entire runtime. His clear stamp is all over the movie, with its witty humor and surprisingly rich and heartfelt relationships among the five heroes, something we almost never get in most blockbusters. There's just enough fun world building and character growth to keep things in this world interesting, and even from the beginning, the film knows how to balance all of the right elements well, creating such a harmonious mix of action, humor, heart, and sheer fun that never lets go for the entire film.” - @Spaghetti
Commentary: Marvel's first post-Avengers franchise starter, and the movie that really hammered home how the studio's name had become a selling point all its own. With its energetic marketing, terrific soundtrack, an irreverent sense of humor, and a simultaneously self-confident and self-deprecating attitude, it went all the way to becoming the biggest domestic hit of summer 2014; the sheer sense of surprise it delivered back then may be responsible for the fact that its sequel, despite being nearly as well-received, didn't collect even half as many points here.

 

 

 

[Cap]

Best scene of the decade?! 🤔
 

Spoiler

 

 

 

[Jake Gittes]

Number 44

Spoiler

 

 

"If, if you already know the answers to your questions, then why ask PIG FUCK?"
242 points, 16 lists

directed by Paul Thomas Anderson | US | 2012

 

The Pitch: A traumatized WWII veteran meets a leader of a religious movement who takes him under his wing.

 

Top 5 Placements: 2
Top 12 Placements: 2
Metacritic: 86
Box Office: $28m WW
Awards: Silver Lion for Best Director & Volpi Cup for Best Actor - Venice Film Festival; 3 Academy Award nominations
BOT History: #15, Top Movies of 2012; BOFFY for Best Picture (to the eternal agony and rage of @CJohn), Actor and Supporting Actor
Critic Opinion: “An ambitious, challenging, and creatively hot-blooded, but cool-toned, project that picks seriously at knotty ideas about American personality, success, rootlessness, master-disciple dynamics, and father-son mutually assured destruction.” - Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
“Freddie is not so much played as nuzzled, and jerked into being by Joaquin Phoenix. I'm Still Here aside, Phoenix's Freddie seems like genuinely damaged goods. He and his director feel their way into this man-in-a-bind from the inside out, and they establish his estrangement from others in those opening scenes through awkward smiles and out-of-sync body language alone. [...] As always with Anderson, the character opposition borders on the schematic, and the structure threatens to come apart at the seams. But the courting of danger is exactly what makes his films so exciting, this new film most of all. I don't think he has ever done a better job of resolving his story, perhaps because he has come to terms with the irresolution within and between his characters.” - Kent Jones, Film Comment
BOT Sez: “When the subject matter was first announced, I worried that Anderson might fall into the trap of covering the same ground as the religiously-focused sections in There Will Be Blood. However, while the film is interested in the dark potential hidden within religious cults (and the parallels with Scientology aren't subtle), it seems to use the cult as a lens through which it can examine the even broader theme of the strong manipulating the weak; while the former do it under the guise of helping the latter, their good intentions ultimately cannot stop the weak from becoming weaker, and find themselves weakened in the process.” - @Webslinger
“The movie certainly feels its length, as it is two and a half hours, but fortunately there isn't a dead moment here. Even the ten minute scene of Phoenix walking from one end of the room to an other was interesting, because that whole sequence almost makes you understand how people get captured in shit like The Cause. 
Oh, one thing: fuck Daniel Day Lewis. Fuck him, and his english ass from stealing the forthcoming best actor Oscar from Joaquin Phoenix. Also Tommy Lee Jones can go suck a million dicks for stealing the best supporting actor award from Philip Seymor Hoffman. PSH and Phoenix deliver two performances that I'd rank up there as some of the best ever. Joaquin Phoenix, playing a dog of a man, makes his character one you cant take your eyes off of. Its a startling, ferocious and mysterious performance, that really has to be seen to be believed. I haven't seen a movie in a while with a 'hero' that is so fucked up on so many levels.” - @Jack Nevada
Commentary: Already our second and last dose o' PTA, in the form of his long-awaited follow-up to There Will Be Blood that confounded expectations by turning out to be neither a study/critique of Scientology nor a neat and tidy character study. Its jagged rhythms and sprawling approach have kept it divisive even among Anderson admirers, but those who love it do so strongly, as evidenced among other things by the fact that it ranked above Phantom Thread here despite appearing on two fewer individual lists.
 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

4 minutes ago, Jake Gittes said:

Number 44

  Hide contents

 

 

"If, if you already know the answers to your questions, then why ask PIG FUCK?"
242 points, 16 lists

directed by Paul Thomas Anderson | US | 2012

 

The Pitch: A traumatized WWII veteran meets a leader of a religious movement who takes him under his wing.

 

Top 5 Placements: 2
Top 12 Placements: 2
Metacritic: 86
Box Office: $28m WW
Awards: Silver Lion for Best Director & Volpi Cup for Best Actor - Venice Film Festival; 3 Academy Award nominations
BOT History: #15, Top Movies of 2012; BOFFY for Best Picture (to the eternal agony and rage of @CJohn), Actor and Supporting Actor
Critic Opinion: “An ambitious, challenging, and creatively hot-blooded, but cool-toned, project that picks seriously at knotty ideas about American personality, success, rootlessness, master-disciple dynamics, and father-son mutually assured destruction.” - Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
“Freddie is not so much played as nuzzled, and jerked into being by Joaquin Phoenix. I'm Still Here aside, Phoenix's Freddie seems like genuinely damaged goods. He and his director feel their way into this man-in-a-bind from the inside out, and they establish his estrangement from others in those opening scenes through awkward smiles and out-of-sync body language alone. [...] As always with Anderson, the character opposition borders on the schematic, and the structure threatens to come apart at the seams. But the courting of danger is exactly what makes his films so exciting, this new film most of all. I don't think he has ever done a better job of resolving his story, perhaps because he has come to terms with the irresolution within and between his characters.” - Kent Jones, Film Comment
BOT Sez: “When the subject matter was first announced, I worried that Anderson might fall into the trap of covering the same ground as the religiously-focused sections in There Will Be Blood. However, while the film is interested in the dark potential hidden within religious cults (and the parallels with Scientology aren't subtle), it seems to use the cult as a lens through which it can examine the even broader theme of the strong manipulating the weak; while the former do it under the guise of helping the latter, their good intentions ultimately cannot stop the weak from becoming weaker, and find themselves weakened in the process.” - @Webslinger
“The movie certainly feels its length, as it is two and a half hours, but fortunately there isn't a dead moment here. Even the ten minute scene of Phoenix walking from one end of the room to an other was interesting, because that whole sequence almost makes you understand how people get captured in shit like The Cause. 
Oh, one thing: fuck Daniel Day Lewis. Fuck him, and his english ass from stealing the forthcoming best actor Oscar from Joaquin Phoenix. Also Tommy Lee Jones can go suck a million dicks for stealing the best supporting actor award from Philip Seymor Hoffman. PSH and Phoenix deliver two performances that I'd rank up there as some of the best ever. Joaquin Phoenix, playing a dog of a man, makes his character one you cant take your eyes off of. Its a startling, ferocious and mysterious performance, that really has to be seen to be believed. I haven't seen a movie in a while with a 'hero' that is so fucked up on so many levels.” - @Jack Nevada
Commentary: Already our second and last dose o' PTA, in the form of his long-awaited follow-up to There Will Be Blood that confounded expectations by turning out to be neither a study/critique of Scientology nor a neat and tidy character study. Its jagged rhythms and sprawling approach have kept it divisive even among Anderson admirers, but those who love it do so strongly, as evidenced among other things by the fact that it ranked above Phantom Thread here despite appearing on two fewer individual lists.
 

 

 

 

 

It was so wild that the Academy decided to award Joaquin Phoenix for his performance in this movie this year, despite being 7 years before 2019.  I guess when you’re the best performance, you’re the best performance.

[RealLyre]

he should've won for Her!

 

[Jake Gittes]

Number 43

Spoiler

 

 

"At some point, you gotta decide for yourself who you gonna be. Can't let nobody make that decision for you."
242 points, 20 lists

directed by Barry Jenkins | US | 2016

 

The Pitch: Three stages in the life of a young gay black man.

 

 

Top 5 Placements: 2
Top 12 Placements: 2
Metacritic: 99
Box Office: $65m WW
Awards: Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay, out of 8 nominations
BOT History: #18, Top Movies of 2016; BOFFY for Best Supporting Actor 
Critic Opinion: "Moonlight is a film that is both lyrical and deeply grounded in its character work, a balancing act that’s breathtaking to behold. It is one of those rare pieces of filmmaking that stays completely focused on its characters while also feeling like it’s dealing with universal themes about identity, sexuality, family, and, most of all, masculinity." - Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com

"A coming-of-age movie, and a love story, that leaves you feeling both stripped bare and restored, slightly better prepared to step out and face the world of people around you, with all the confounding challenges they present. There’s not much more you can ask from a movie." - Stephanie Zacharek, TIME
BOT Sez: “It's amazing how quietly and in a mostly understated intimate manner (thanks to the music and cinematography) interspeced by short outbursts of physical and emotional intensity, Jenkins meditates on and unpacks so much themes ranging from masculinity and its rancid pervasiveness, how black men perceive themselves and think they got to conform to a certain model ascribed to them from birth and the ensuing struggle when you fail to conform to the standard, being a gay black man among an homophobic environment, social determinism, alienation, filiation...painting an impressionist picture in small brushes to render the feeling of loneliness and isolation of Chiron from his childhood up to his adulthood focused on three passagi of his existence defining him.” - @dashrendar44
Commentary: Possibly the decade's ultimate underdog story in movie form, the $2 million-budget independent drama with few to none known names on its creative team that became the most praised film of 2016 and arguably the most shocking Best Picture winner of all time, even beyond the circumstances of said win. Barry Jenkins, for his part, becomes our first director to have 100% of his output from the last decade show up on the list, when that output consists of more than one film.

 

 

 

 

[SLAM!]

If there's only one more Best Picture winner on this list, then it'll for sure be Parasite. That means The King's Speech, The Artist, Argo, Birdman, and Green Book were snubbed (or "snubbed," depending on taste).

[The Panda]

6 minutes ago, SLAM! said:

If there's only one more Best Picture winner on this list, then it'll for sure be Parasite. That means The King's Speech, The Artist, Argo, Birdman, and Green Book were snubbed (or "snubbed," depending on taste).

Birdman made the list earlier I believe

[Jake Gittes]

Number 42

Spoiler

 

 

"Kill white people and get paid for it? What's not to like?"
246 points, 20 lists

directed by Quentin Tarantino | US | 2012

 

The Pitch: With the help of a German bounty hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.

 

Top 5 Placements: 1
Top 12 Placements: 1
Metacritic: 81
Box Office: $425m WW
Awards: Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Christoph Waltz), out of 5 nominations
BOT History: #3, Top Movies of 2012; #5, Top Movies of 2012 Revisited (2017); BOFFY for Best Original Screenplay, out of 7 nominations
Critic Opinion: "Whatever you like or hate, or like and hate, about Quentin Tarantino's movies, is in full display here. It's long (too long) and bloody, profane and gleeful, with movie-genre references stuffed so tightly into each scene they practically spill out onto the theater floor. Restraint is not his strong suit...Entertainment is, and Django has plenty of that." - Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic
BOT Sez: “Tarantino remains one of the best directors working today. He pulls off tricky tonal shifts and finds the humor is wickedness. He makes audiences cheer for people being blown up and then points inward and makes audiences think about why they're cheering (remember the theater scene in Basterds?). He consistently blows the doors off of convention and traditional roles. And Django does all of this with flying colors. It's a monumental American film, bringing to light a really ugly side of our history with emotion and humor and NOT preachiness or self-importance. It's almost three hours but it goes by in the blink of an eye. I could have spent another hour or two just watching Waltz and Foxx kill racist white people.
And having said that, the performances in this film are incredible. Foxx has been lost a bit in all the praise of Waltz, DiCaprio and Jackson, but the straight man is always underappreciated. He brings this level of nuance necessary to portray both a slave who's been through way too much and a kick-ass action hero. The rest are brilliant, scary and funny.” - @Gopher
Commentary: Our last filmmaker to show up for the second and final time today is QT, with what was (and remains) his longest, most expensive, and highest-grossing movie. A darkly comic and cathartic journey through the Antebellum South, filled with violence ranging from cartoonish to horrifying, it overcame a multitude of production problems to make its Christmas 2012 release date and then built on the career-rejuvenating success of Inglourious Basterds from three years earlier, with Tarantino and Christoph Waltz each winning a second Oscar.

 

 

 

 

[Jake Gittes]

Number 41

Spoiler

 

 

"Only assholes drink Mr. Pibb."
248 points, 19 lists

directed by David Mackenzie | US | 2016

 

The Pitch: Two brothers carry out a series of bank robberies to save their family ranch, while being pursued by two Texas Rangers.

 

Top 12 Placements: 3
Metacritic: 88
Box Office: $38m WW
Awards: 4 Academy Award nominations
BOT History: #5, Top Movies of 2016; BOFFY for Best Ensemble, out of 9 nominations
Critic Opinion: Hell or High Water‘s deliberate pacing gives it the feel of a heist story with its feet stuck in mud — and that’s a good thing. When the movie just sits with the characters on front porches or in backyards, Mackenzie’s generous, hands-off approach with his actors — most of the conversation scenes play out in long takes with minimal camera movement — yields poignant rewards." - Danny King, The Village Voice

"For all the methodical pacing and old archetypes, Hell or High Water is a thoroughly contemporary action film, complete with fast chases and flashes of dark comedy. But like the classic Westerns, it invites viewers to evaluate, one more time, the myth of the American outlaw, and the idea of criminals as heroes." - Tasha Robinson, The Verge
BOT Sez: The final scene between Pine and Bridges is probably best of the year for me.

It's like a climax and epilogue in one and the acting is pitch perfect from both. It's incredible how tense it feels, despite the fact that it's 'over.'
I've always liked Chris Pine, as in, he's better than his pretty boy looks suggest, but here, he outdoes himself. He's got a certain weariness, a yearning to be done with everything that that really shows throughout, and that's not something every actor can express through their body language. - @MrPink

Commentary: We wrap it up today with one of the decade's best-liked smaller movies, the crime neo-western that served at once as a throwback and an update. Sharply written by Taylor Sheridan (who becomes our second writer, after Steven Zaillian, to have two films on the list that he didn't also direct) and directed with flair but without show-offiness by David Mackenzie, it became one of the very few bright spots of summer 2016, and later rode its old-school charms to a Best Picture nomination.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 16, 2020 by Jake Gittes

[The Panda]

7 minutes ago, Jake Gittes said:

Number 41

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

"Only assholes drink Mr. Pibb."
248 points, 19 lists

directed by David Mackenzie | US | 2016

 

The Pitch: Two brothers carry out a series of bank robberies to save their family ranch, while being pursued by two Texas Rangers.

 

Top 12 Placements: 3
Metacritic: 88
Box Office: $38m WW
Awards: 4 Academy Award nominations
BOT History: #5, Top Movies of 2016; BOFFY for Best Ensemble, out of 9 nominations
Critic Opinion: Hell or High Water‘s deliberate pacing gives it the feel of a heist story with its feet stuck in mud — and that’s a good thing. When the movie just sits with the characters on front porches or in backyards, Mackenzie’s generous, hands-off approach with his actors — most of the conversation scenes play out in long takes with minimal camera movement — yields poignant rewards." - Danny King, The Village Voice

"For all the methodical pacing and old archetypes, Hell or High Water is a thoroughly contemporary action film, complete with fast chases and flashes of dark comedy. But like the classic Westerns, it invites viewers to evaluate, one more time, the myth of the American outlaw, and the idea of criminals as heroes." - Tasha Robinson, The Verge
BOT Sez: The final scene between Pine and Bridges is probably best of the year for me.

It's like a climax and epilogue in one and the acting is pitch perfect from both. It's incredible how tense it feels, despite the fact that it's 'over.'
I've always liked Chris Pine, as in, he's better than his pretty boy looks suggest, but here, he outdoes himself. He's got a certain weariness, a yearning to be done with everything that that really shows throughout, and that's not something every actor can express through their body language. - @MrPink

Commentary: We wrap it up today with one of the decade's best-liked smaller movies, the crime neo-western that served at once as a throwback and an update. Sharply written by Taylor Sheridan (who becomes our second writer, after Steven Zaillian, to have two films on the list that he didn't also direct) and directed with flair but without show-offiness by David Mackenzie, it became one of the very few bright spots of summer 2016, and later rode its old-school charms to a Best Picture nomination.

 

 

 

 

 

The film that is proof that everything is better in Texas.

 

Yeehaw.

[Jake Gittes]

4 minutes ago, The Panda said:

The film that is proof that everything is better in Texas.

 

Yeehaw.

[Eric the Fall Guy]

19 minutes ago, Jake Gittes said:

Number 41

  Hide contents

 

 

"Only assholes drink Mr. Pibb."
248 points, 19 lists

directed by David Mackenzie | US | 2016

 

The Pitch: Two brothers carry out a series of bank robberies to save their family ranch, while being pursued by two Texas Rangers.

 

Top 12 Placements: 3
Metacritic: 88
Box Office: $38m WW
Awards: 4 Academy Award nominations
BOT History: #5, Top Movies of 2016; BOFFY for Best Ensemble, out of 9 nominations
Critic Opinion: Hell or High Water‘s deliberate pacing gives it the feel of a heist story with its feet stuck in mud — and that’s a good thing. When the movie just sits with the characters on front porches or in backyards, Mackenzie’s generous, hands-off approach with his actors — most of the conversation scenes play out in long takes with minimal camera movement — yields poignant rewards." - Danny King, The Village Voice

"For all the methodical pacing and old archetypes, Hell or High Water is a thoroughly contemporary action film, complete with fast chases and flashes of dark comedy. But like the classic Westerns, it invites viewers to evaluate, one more time, the myth of the American outlaw, and the idea of criminals as heroes." - Tasha Robinson, The Verge
BOT Sez: The final scene between Pine and Bridges is probably best of the year for me.

It's like a climax and epilogue in one and the acting is pitch perfect from both. It's incredible how tense it feels, despite the fact that it's 'over.'
I've always liked Chris Pine, as in, he's better than his pretty boy looks suggest, but here, he outdoes himself. He's got a certain weariness, a yearning to be done with everything that that really shows throughout, and that's not something every actor can express through their body language. - @MrPink

Commentary: We wrap it up today with one of the decade's best-liked smaller movies, the crime neo-western that served at once as a throwback and an update. Sharply written by Taylor Sheridan (who becomes our second writer, after Steven Zaillian, to have two films on the list that he didn't also direct) and directed with flair but without show-offiness by David Mackenzie, it became one of the very few bright spots of summer 2016, and later rode its old-school charms to a Best Picture nomination.

 

 

 

 

 

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