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

[Jake Gittes]

Number 75

Spoiler

poster: Bryan Lenning

 

"This is my fuckin' way. This is how I win."

165 points, 16 lists

directed by Josh & Benny Safdie | US | 2019

 

The Pitch: The life and times of the man, the myth, the legend, Howard Ratner.

 

Top 12 Placements: 2

Metacritic: 90

Box Office: $50m DOM

Awards: Independent Spirit Awards for Best Director and Best Actor

BOT History: #17, Top Movies of 2019; BOFFY for Best Actor

Critic Opinion: "Uncut Gems is a movie that lives in the gut, where shit makes a name for itself, where anxiety, folly, and instinct are borne out without morality or restriction [...] Typical for the Safdies, Gems takes a ground-eye view of its characters’ comings and goings. Note the redundant running and hustling from place to place, our constant awareness of the buzzer that separates the world of Howard’s store from the dangers just waiting to get a leg in. The Safdies set their characters loose on the world like bombs without targets, supplementing their street realism with energetic visual sleights—sudden pans, confrontational tracking shots—that make the world feel custom-built for conflict." - K. Austin Collins, Vanity Fair

BOT Sez: "This was fantastic. It almost unfolds like a 135 minute anxiety attack that never lets the tension up, and I couldn't help but become completely immersed in this wild and unpredictable story set in the world of NYC's Diamond District. A lot of the film's strength comes Adam Sandler's performance: while this is far from his first attempt at serious acting, he's arguably never been better. His history of juvenile comedies allows us to sympathize with this unlikable character in a way that we wouldn't from an actor more familiar with these kinds of roles, as he completely disappears into the part under the direction of a pair of clearly talented filmmakers." - @filmlover

"what kind of maniac makes the opening tip part of their parlay jesus christ" - @aabattery
Commentary: 

 

 

 

Edited April 12, 2020 by Jake Gittes

[WrathOfHan]

[Cmasterclay]

1 hour ago, Jake Gittes said:

Number 76

  Hide contents

 

"You will not survive here. You are not a wolf, and this is a land of wolves now."

165 points, 15 lists

directed by Denis Villeneuve | US | 2015

 

The Pitch: A princlipled FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war on drugs at the U.S.-Mexico border.

 

#1 Placements: 1

Top 5 Placements: 1

Top 12 Placements: 1

Metacritic: 82

Box Office: $85m WW

Awards: 3 Academy Award nominations

BOT History: #10, Top Movies of 2015; 4 BOFFY nominations

Critic Opinion: "The true victim in (and of) Sicario is its protagonist, who attempts to do the right thing at every turn and is rewarded by being systematically squeezed out of her own story. It’s an uncommonly bold gambit, expressly designed to frustrate people who want to see a strong woman deliver a righteous ass kicking. The progressivism here is instead rooted in futility and despair, which provides much more of a valuable shock to the system." - Mike D'Angelo, The AV Club

BOT Sez: "Intense, brutal, terrifying, and visceral. Chris Ryan of Grantland is right- it feels like the Apocalypse Now of the drug war. A hypnotic movie that delves deeper into unspeakable horror and darkness than most movies dare to do. Fascinating, complex politics, too. Feels like No Country meets Platoon meets Traffic meets Prisoners. It's just fucking aces. So much to pull apart here. Deakins and Johannsson's work is just tremendous in adding to the mood and tone of this piece. And dat cast.....jeez. Every player in this matters, and nails it. Blunt and Brolin have never been better. And Del Toro.....one of the most memorable performances and characters of modern times. He's just a presence. Like an unstoppable, otherworldly force taking human form. He's Anton Chigurh in tailored suits." - @Cmasterclay

Commentary: Writer Taylor Sheridan and director Denis Villeneuve enter the list with their dark 2015 war-on-drugs thriller that put the former on the map and further solidified the reputation of the latter before he made the leap into science fiction. Unfolding from the POV of a heroine desperately struggling for agency and utilizing Villeneuve's now-familiar gravely portentous style for maximum tension, Sicario provided a good number of participants both in front of behind the camera each with their own showcase, which made it a well-received mid-budget success.

 

 

 

 

Great movie! The sequel is unbelievably bad. 

[Ethan Hunt]

I do not hate the Sicario sequel as much as most.

 

the ending was wack tho

[Jake Gittes]

Number 74

Spoiler

 

"He sees me for what I am, as I am. He's happy - to see me. Every time. Every day. Now, I can either save him... or let him die."

166 points, 13 lists

directed by Guillermo del Toro | US | 2017

 

The Pitch: At a top secret government facility in the 1960s, a mute, lonely janitor falls in love with a humanoid amphibian creature held in captivity.

 

Top 12 Placements: 1

Metacritic: 87

Box Office: $195m WW

Awards: Golden Lion - Venice Film Festival; 4 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Director, out of 13 nominations

BOT History: #7, Top Movies of 2017; 4 BOFFY Awards

Critic Opinion: "Without a single weak link in the exceptional cast...it’s a film that makes you feel a lot. But overridingly you feel lucky — lucky to be watching it, lucky that something so sincerely sweet, sorrowfully scary and surpassingly strange can exist in this un-wonderful world, and desirous of hanging on to as much of its magic for as long as you can after you reemerge back onto dry land." - Jessica Kiang, The Playlist

BOT Sez: "I think what I loved most about The Shape of the Water is Del Toro complete commitment to the story and fairy tale.  No halves, no holdbacks.  She's fucking that fish.  And I was like, yes, yes girl, get that beautiful fish boy.  I felt like I was watching the most poetic, weird, whimsical, and gorgeous Hellyboy 1950s AU Fan Fiction ever.  Everything about it was perfection.  And I love how Del Toro's passion for cinema oozes off the screen.  Great film." - @Cap

Commentary: After spending over a half of the decade working on expensive Hollywood projects that either weren't produced or underperformed when they were, Guillermo del Toro scaled things down and produced his romantic Creature from the Black Lagoon update on an independent-film budget, without sacrificing the rich visuals for which his films have become known. The result became his most acclaimed film since Pan's Labyrinth and an unlikely Best Picture winner - although, in retrospect, perhaps not so unlikely, given that the flights of fancy and the human-fish romance ultimately serve a much more readily accessible story of variously oppressed and marginalized protagonists standing up to a huffing and puffing white man in power.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 13, 2020 by Jake Gittes

[WrathOfHan]

Wow, I did not expect SOW to be this low and on so few lists

[The Panda]

25 minutes ago, Jake Gittes said:

Number 74

  Hide contents

 

"He sees me for what I am, as I am. He's happy - to see me. Every time. Every day. Now, I can either save him... or let him die."

166 points, 13 lists

directed by Guillermo del Toro | US | 2017

 

The Pitch: At a top secret government facility in the 1960s, a mute, lonely janitor falls in love with a humanoid amphibian creature held in captivity.

 

Top 12 Placements: 1

Metacritic: 87

Box Office: $195m WW

Awards: Golden Lion - Venice Film Festival; 4 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Director, out of 13 nominations

BOT History: #7, Top Movies of 2017; 4 BOFFY Awards

Critic Opinion: "Without a single weak link in the exceptional cast...it’s a film that makes you feel a lot. But overridingly you feel lucky — lucky to be watching it, lucky that something so sincerely sweet, sorrowfully scary and surpassingly strange can exist in this un-wonderful world, and desirous of hanging on to as much of its magic for as long as you can after you reemerge back onto dry land." - Jessica Kiang, The Playlist

BOT Sez: "I think what I loved most about The Shape of the Water is Del Toro complete commitment to the story and fairy tale.  No halves, no holdbacks.  She's fucking that fish.  And I was like, yes, yes girl, get that beautiful fish boy.  I felt like I was watching the most poetic, weird, whimsical, and gorgeous Hellyboy 1950s AU Fan Fiction ever.  Everything about it was perfection.  And I love how Del Toro's passion for cinema oozes off the screen.  Great film." - @Cap

Commentary: After spending over a half of the decade working on expensive Hollywood projects that either weren't produced or underperformed when they were, Guillermo del Toro scaled things down and produced his romantic Creature from the Black Lagoon update on an independent-film budget, without sacrificing the rich visuals for which his films have become known. The result became his most acclaimed film since Pan's Labyrinth and an unlikely Best Picture winner - although, in retrospect, perhaps not so unlikely, given that the flights of fancy and the human-fish romance ultimately serve a much more readily accessible story of variously oppressed and marginalized protagonists standing up to a huffing and puffing white man in power.

 

 

 

 

This type of entry is why we need Larry David to be a BOT reaction emoji

 

[charlie Jatinder]

Still wondering with each passing film that how high are Baahubali (s), Andhadhun placed. As these two are the ones with most forum recognition.

 

I am bad at lists, but  I think couple of other Indian films like P.K., Gangs of Wasseypur, Super Deluxe, Vikram Vedha, Drishyam, Tumbbad, October, Badlapur, Queen, Bhaag Milka Bhaag, OMG, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, My Name is Khan, Haider, etc will make it in Top 100, may be Top 20.

 

Trailers of some of the above

Spoiler

 

 

Edited April 13, 2020 by charlie Jatinder

[Plain Old Tele]

34 minutes ago, Jake Gittes said:

@Cap She's fucking that fish.  And I was like, yes, yes girl, get that beautiful fish boy.

lmao

 

[Plain Old Tele]

6 minutes ago, charlie Jatinder said:

Still wondering with each passing film that how high are Baahubali (s), Andhadhun placed. As these two are the ones with most forum recognition.

 

I am bad at lists, but  I think couple of other Indian films like P.K., Gangs of Wasseypur, Super Deluxe, Vikram Vedha, Drishyam, Tumbbad, October, Badlapur, Queen, Bhaag Milka Bhaag, OMG, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, My Name is Khan, Haider, etc will make it in Top 100, may be Top 20.

I think the only one with any hope is Baahubali. 

[Jake Gittes]

Number 73

Spoiler

 

 

"This is the revolution, and you are the mockingjay."

172 points, 13 lists

directed by Francis Lawrence | US | 2013

 

The Pitch: Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark become targets of the Capitol after their victory in the 74th Hunger Games sparks a rebellion in the Districts of Panem.

 

Top 5 Placements: 1

Top 12 Placements: 1

Metacritic: 76

Box Office: $864m WW

Awards: MTV Movie Award for Movie of the Year

BOT History: #3, Top Movies of 2013; #16, Top 25 Sci-Fi Movies of the Century (2014); BOFFY Award for Best Thread 

Critic Opinion: "Catching Fire will hopefully help quiet those who decry The Hunger Games as nothing more than a Battle Royale ripoff, as it expands its focus well beyond the conceit of kids forced by the government to kill each other. It moves on to consider the sustainability of a system that engenders such execrable acts of entertainment—particularly when that system has also created a caste of celebrity victors who have benefitted from the system as much as they’ve suffered from it. The addition of previous, now-adult victors is a boon to Catching Fire, not only because it adds some welcome new faces to the already-sprawling cast—chief among them Jena Malone as the wickedly outspoken Johanna Mason and Sam Claflin as the roguish Finnick Odair—but also because it adds more texture and dynamism to a pool of competitors that previously came across as little more than chaff. [...] But the stakes in Catching Fire are higher not because of who’s competing in the arena, but what they’re actually competing against—not each other, but an unequivocally evil empire that has used them for pawns, and will continue to do so if left unchecked. They’ll do what they need to survive, but there’s more than survival at stake this time around, which changes both their approach to survival and its implications." - Genevieve Koski, The Dissolve

BOT Sez: "So many individual scenes were great. To name a few, the District 11 scene, Gale being whipped, the announcement of the Quarter Quell, and the television show with holding hands were fantastic. I got loads of "feels" in the movie too, from District 11, to Cinna's death, to Finnick and Mags' relationship. It was also really funny at points, mostly thanks to Johanna. The action was a lot better too in this one, since you could follow what was going on for one, but also it was much creative and dynamic." - @Blankments

"Massive improvement over the first. Loved all the victors, supporting cast was great- Claflin proved me wrong, Malone was awesome as Johanna, and I got a big kick out of Mags, Beattie, Wiress and the Morphlings. And EFFIE! Elizabeth Banks owns that character. But this is and always has been the JLaw show. She is everything. The camera eats her up - the shots of her in this movie are stunning and as usual she gave a knockout performance. It's even more impressive to see her bring out that intensity and emotion when we all know what a goofball she is in real life. And thank you to Francis Lawrence for tightening up this film and vanquishing shaky cam - he's brought some pizazz to the franchise whereas Ross played it safe." - @rockNrollaDIM

Commentary: Our second yearly domestic box office champ, which impressed at the time by becoming the first sequel to a $400m grosser to outperform its predecessor. Widely considered an improvement in virtually every respect on the first Hunger Games, it proved during the scoring process that it remains fondly remembered even if the subsequent entries in the franchise didn't come close to retaining the level of enthusiasm that greeted it; while Catching Fire appeared on only three more lists than the first film, it very nearly doubled its points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 13, 2020 by Jake Gittes

[Ethan Hunt]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSs

 

I'm way too excited about this film that wasn't even on my list

[Eric Duncan]

Maybe those Hunger Games movies really did leave a cultural footprint after all.

[CoolioD1]

weird, didn't expect a film I'd never heard of to make the list. BOT has more esoteric taste than i thought.

[charlie Jatinder]

9 minutes ago, Jake Gittes said:

Number 73

 

what??

Being in Top 100 is one thing but that high. Urgggghhhh.

[The Panda]

13 minutes ago, CoolioD1 said:

weird, didn't expect a film I'd never heard of to make the list. BOT has more esoteric taste than i thought.

It’s all your fault, had you never brought up Hunger Games the people who voted for it would have completely forgotten its existence and not voted!

Edited April 13, 2020 by The Panda

[Ethan Hunt]

6 minutes ago, CoolioD1 said:

weird, didn't expect a film I'd never heard of to make the list. BOT has more esoteric taste than i thought.

you're not funny ho

[Jake Gittes]

Number 72

Spoiler

 

"There's no way we could meet. But one thing is certain. If we see each other, we'll know. That you were the one who was inside me. That I was the one who was inside you."

174 points, 13 lists

directed by Makoto Shinkai | Japan | 2016

 

The Pitch: A high school boy in Tokyo and a high school girl in a rural town suddenly and inexplicably begin to swap bodies.

 

Top 5 Placements: 1

Top 12 Placements: 1

Metacritic: 79

Box Office: $359m WW

Awards: 2 Annie Award nominations

BOT History: #40, Top 100 Animated Movies of All Time (2018)

Critic Opinion: "The movie’s spirit is by turns energetic and serene, impetuous and wise, its wild shifts from comedy to tragedy to romance revealing themselves not as tonal swings so much as variations in a larger cosmic pattern." - Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

"Your Name is consistently gorgeous to look at, marrying traditional anime character design to stunning, not-quite-photorealistic backdrops. Shinkai and his team play with depth of field more than one usually sees in traditional animation, sometimes including both foreground and background objects that are out of focus; the film was reportedly created via initial hand-drawn images that were subsequently scanned and digitally augmented, and the resulting look, while certainly familiar to anime fans, is also pleasingly distinct." - Mike D'Angelo, The AV Club

BOT Sez: This movie is simply put POWERFUL. I will sum up the story briefly as there are many turns are surprises that await you. Two high schoolers living in Japan - one a male living in Tokyo and another a girl living in a remote mountain town one day start swapping bodies due to unexplained phenomenon. That's all I want you to know going in story wise. The film touches heavily on the themes of romance and supernatural forces. You will grow to care strongly about the outcome of the two main protagonists as they are extremely relatable and likeable. There is also plenty of humor found in throughout the movie resulting from the body swapping as the two experience each others bodies and lives." - @eXtacy

Commentary: Japanese animation retakes its lead over American with the appearance of the 2016 smash hit that became the highest grossing anime of all time and probably solidified Makoto Shinkai as the biggest name in the medium since Miyazaki. Combining next-level-gorgeous visuals with a story that starts from a place of body-swapping comedy before taking unexpected narrative and tonal turns, it remains one of the best-loved animated films to come along in the past decade.

 

 

 

 

[Jake Gittes]

Number 71

Spoiler

 

 

"He said you had a story that would make me believe in God."

175 points, 13 lists

directed by Ang Lee | US, UK, Canada, Australia, Taiwan | 2012

 

The Pitch: An Indian man named Pi tells a story about surviving a shipwreck and finding himself adrift on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger.

 

Top 5 Placements: 2

Top 12 Placements: 1

Metacritic: 79

Box Office: $609m WW

Awards: 4 Academy Awards, including Best Director, out of 11 nominations

BOT History: #5, Top Movies of 2012; #4, Top Movies of 2012 Revisited (2017); #98 (2013), #88 (2014), #100 (2018), Top 100 Movies of All Time; BOFFY for Best Visual Effects, out of 6 nominations

Critic Opinion: "Life of Pi is spellbinding while it lasts. Lee's film can be appreciated as many things -- a post-Darwinian meditation on coexistence as the key to survival, a reflection on the spiritual nature of suffering and transcendence, a beguiling bait-and-switch on the vagaries of belief itself." - Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post

BOT Sez: "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." - @Gopher

Commentary: We wrap today up with Ang Lee's spiritual-minded adventure drama that became one of the highest-grossing non-franchise films of all time and netted him a second Best Director Oscar. A risky proposition on paper, the $120m-budgeted film opened softly, but attained strong word-of-mouth and post-release reputation thanks to its message, Lee's assured handling of the material, and Claudio Miranda's CG-augmented 3D cinematography.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cannastop]

2 minutes ago, Jake Gittes said:

I truly believe that this film is Lee's commentary on narratives and fictional storytelling.

I really wish people would credit the source material more often when reviewing movies.