Wattching Movies: Top 20 10's

Wattching Movies: Top 20 10’s

Thus far I have viewed 462 movies released between 2010 and 2019. Here are the 20 best:

20. Everybody Wants Some!! 2016 (Rotten Tomatoes: 87%)

Writer/Director Richard Linklater revisits his days as a college baseball player in Texas to craft another quintessential hangout film and spiritual sequel to his beloved Dazed and Confused. Rather than the start of high school summer, this time Linklater dials in with pitch perfect precision on the lawless days and nights of college summers right before the classes start. Set in 1980 but filled with timeless and hilariously relatable moments it will forever give me vivid flashbacks to the sights, sounds, and smells to my time spent living on a floor mattress in a 7 man South Bend home the summer of 2014. Anyone that has played organized sports will also recognize and appreciate the verisimilitude of characters like the hardo weirdo pitcher “Raw Dog,” the misguided life mentoring of upperclassman Finn and the overall dynamics of foisted upon camaraderie at play. Blake Jenner exudes a natural charm in his lead role as incoming freshman pitcher Jake that makes him an affable companion for two hours of loosely plotted clowning with the boys. The film is much like the days it represents, not much of import really occurs, but I’ll always remember it fondly.

19. Mud 2012 (RT: 97%) Streaming on Amazon Prime

Writer/Director Jeff Nichols spins a gripping modern day Mark Twain southern yarn about two young boys and the mysterious outlaw with a heart of gold they befriend. Nichols positions the action along the Mississippi River capturing the minutiae of this poverty strewn water logged locale while evoking universal feelings of the time in life when the carefree play of childhood begins to be intruded upon by the harsh realities of the grown up world. The star of the show is the titular outlaw played by a never been better Matthew McConaughey at the peak of his McConaissance powers after years in Rom-Com purgatory but the entire cast does universally strong work. Reese Witherspoon gives her all in a small role playing with her America’s sweetheart image as the white trash unrequited love and focus of Mud’s desire. Tye Sheridan may be recognizable to some viewers from the recent and truly awful X-Men films and the debacle that was Ready Player One but here he gives such a moving and naturalistic performance as the film’s true lead, 14 year old Ellis, that it’s easy to see why he was quickly snatched up for those big budget projects.

18. Mad Max: Fury Road 2015 (RT: 97%)

Director George Miller returns to his post-apocalyptic nightmare world 30 years later as if he spent every single day of that absence filing to secure the proper permits to execute his adrenaline soaked fever dream. Nearly every single frame is filled with some batshit spectacle that makes you question how they were possibly given studio approval to stage this action let alone pull it off largely with practical special effect without inducing a production fatality count in the double digits. Piecemeal death cars dreamt up in the recesses of a metal loving 12 year old’s brain crash and explode left and right. Impossibly nimble body painted fanatics pole vault from vehicle to vehicle in an endless pursuit. Masked mauraders fly through the air on dust soaked motorcycles. A man shreds a flame throwing guitar on a mobile wall of speakers soundtracking the entire proceedings. Tom Hardy’s subdued performance returns Max to his Road Warrior roots as a badass reticent and haunted cypher passing through the tales of others. This in turn allows the film to rightfully cede much of it’s true focus over to Charlize Theron’s one armed and instantly iconic Furiosa. It’s a two hour car chase and it leaves you instantly pining for Miller to once again be granted unlimited gasoline and pyrotechnics to film out in some desert as soon as possible.

17. Parasite 2019 (RT: 99%) Streaming on Hulu Starting 4/8

A scathing indictment of capitalist societal hierarchy that is a lot more fun than this thesis paper sentence makes it sound. The first act plays like a zippy capper film in the Ocean’s 11 or The Sting vein as the dirt poor Kim family cunningly indoctrinate themselves with the wealthy and naive Park family. The editing here is superb as the film crosscuts between schemes and execution as the Kims take on carefully rehearsed personas to replace the Park household staff members one by one. The second act is a high tension thriller as a series of complications threaten to expose the ruse. The film explodes into full blown horror as it all comes crashing down in a visceral final act. Writer/Director Bong Joon-Ho masterfully handles all these disparate tones and transitions so smoothly that the later lunacy becomes a natural and justified progression. The Kim family are not saintly as the downtrodden are often depicted but the nuanced script and performances (frequent Joon-Ho collaborator Song Kang-ho shines as the Kim patriarch) garner sympathy in abundance for its desperate and conniving schemers trying to stay afloat. It becomes neigh impossible to contain disdain for the blithely ignorant folk that have been designated as their superior.

16. Us 2019 (RT: 94%) Streaming on HBO Go

Jordan Peele is only two movies into his directorial career and is already a proven master of his craft. The opening sequence alone creates a level of atmosphere and dread that most horror films fail to achieve in their entire runtime. He took a dopey song about bumming weed and made it a spine chilling anthem. A gifted comedian, Peele understands the shared nuances between setting up a good joke and a good scare. He uses humor throughout without undercutting any of his thrills and instead opens viewers up to the full gamut of emotions. Doppelgangers are a well many thrillers pull from as it is inherently unnerving and plays with the idea that we are often our own worst enemies. Peele and his excellent cast use this trope to its full capabilities with their depiction of the “Tethered”, a shattered funhouse mirror version of everyone and their darkest capabilities. Winston Duke’s big goofy devoted dad begets an unyielding hulking menace. It speaks volumes to prejudice against the horror genre that Lupita Nyong’o is not racking up awards for her dual role as a sweet caring mother and terrifying vindictive monster that she makes two sides of the same coin. One prominent criticism of this movie has been that its apparent message wasn’t as clear as that in Peele’s previous directorial effort Get Out. As David Lynch says in criticism of film analysis, “The film is the thing.” This “thing” is an edge of your seat thrill ride.

15. The Lego Movie 2014 (RT: 96%)

Not only is “Everything is Awesome” the catchiest earbug to be produced in the last decade but it also serves as an accurate and succinct review of the film you find it in. The animation is brilliant looking as if it was a stop motion animated with actual Legos. The jokes and references fly at a rapid pace and more often than not hit. Chris Pratt is perfectly cast and draws on a lot of the same lovable idiot charm he brought to the fold in Parks and Recreation in his role as dimwitted and ever positive everyman Emmet. Will Ferrell serves as a perfect foil as conniving Lord Business bringing a lot of the same exasperation to his dastardly plots being foiled by bumbling fools he memorably brought to Zoolander. Forget Christian Bale or Michael Keaton, Will Arnett is the quintessential Batman portrayal as a gravely voiced billionaire emo dork hilariously obsessed with brooding. On top of it all the infectious joy that pops off the screen the film also imparts an important message to all of us about the power of play and imagination.

14. Toy Story 4 2019 (RT: 98%) Streaming on Disney+

Despite an up and down decade (looking at you Lightning McQueen), Pixar remains the gold standard in animation and Toy Story remains their preeminent series. The advances in digital animation on display in this film are jaw dropping. There’s dust particles floating in the sunlight lit air of an antique store. Who even thinks to add that? Similar care is given to a script that is for my money, the funniest in the franchise. The comedy is buoyed by the addition of Key and Peele as conjoined carnival plushes and world’s coolest Canadian Keanu Reeves as world’s greatest Canadian stuntman Duke Caboom. Fellow new character, arts and crafts creation Forky brings a hilarious new expression of the existential angst that has repeatedly popped up in the series since Buzz’s stint as Mrs. Nesbitt. Of course it wouldn’t be a Toy Story without poignant messages about friendship and finding one’s place in the world. Much like the third film, 4 comes to an emotional potential conclusion for the series but with characters this rich in these trusted hands, I’m still gonna be eager to get right in line if Pixars brings them out to play again.

13. American Animals 2018 (RT: 89%) Streaming on HBO Go

A natural extension of the currently enormously popular true-crime trend, of which I am a major proponent, writer/director Bart Layton combines elements of documentary and narrative film making to create an entirely new animal so to speak. The film tells the true story of an audacious ill-fated robbery of priceless books from Transylvania University library and features talking head interviews with the actual perpetrators cross cut throughout the dramatization you would find in a more typical Hollywood adaptation. Featuring shifting perspectives and performances that captures the ennui of early adulthood (Evan Peters and Barry Keoghan are particularly outstanding in lead roles), the movie buzzes from start to finish as you see how elaborately yet haphazardly the heist is planned and watch in genuine shock with how spectacularly it all collapses.

12. Dunkirk 2017 (RT: 93%)

An absolute technical marvel. Director Christopher Nolan uses minimal dialogue, beautiful wide angle shots, a cast of largely unknown actors, thousands of extras, period accurate boats and airplanes and an array of practical effects to stage one of the finest war films ever made. Rather than a rousing triumphant battle, Nolan’s film dials in on the desperate evacuation of over 300,000 allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk. The film deems survival the greatest victory of all in the chaos and terror that is war. The enemy is rarely shown but remains an ever present terror as the squeal of German dive bombers burrows into the film’s masterful tension building soundscape. As he has often done before, Nolan plays around brilliantly with nonlinear storytelling to spread the evacuation across three separate timelines he cuts between: One following the soldiers on the beach of Dunkirk over the course of a week, one depicting British civilian vessel fairing out across the English Channel to assist in the rescue effort, and one taking place over an hour as Spitfire airplanes engage in dogfights to try and provide air support to the evacuation. All three timelines converging in a rousing and propulsive finale. You’ll leave the experience drained after 106 minutes of gripping the edge of your seat and with a deep appreciation for some of the unsung heroism that led to the eventual allied victory.

11. Little Women 2019 (RT: 95%) Blu-Ray has been pre-ordered for my mother

This is a nearly flawless masterpiece of a film. Writer/Director Greta Gerwig coming off the success of 2017’s wonderful Lady Bird somehow raises her game further to create a stirring tale of family, womanhood and the joys and sorrows that come with both. In a stroke of genius Gerwig divides the story into two separate timelines, cutting back and forth to draw parallels and enhance emotional impacts. While the film will leave a smile on your face for the majority of its runtime, a tinge of melancholy permeates the proceedings. The two timelines work in concert to show the dreams and boundless possibilities of youth juxtaposed with what happens to those dreams and the sacrifices made when life inevitably gets in the way. The March sisters are all impeccably cast with Saoirse Ronan and Florence Pugh shining brightest as fiercely independent Jo and endearingly bratty Amy. It isn’t just the little women that shine either. Timothée Chalamet’s Theodore “Laurie” Laurence is a fuckboy icon for the ages that you can’t quite decide if you want the March sisters to smooch or slap in the face. Chris Cooper is positively heartbreaking as Laurie’s wealthy grandfather that takes a shine to *spoiler warning for a 150 year old book* doomed March sister Beth.

10. Inception 2010 (RT: 87%) Streaming on Netflix

A long gestating heist film set in various layers of the victim’s subconscious was a wild swing to take with the carte blanche afforded to Christopher Nolan after the massive critical and commercial success of The Dark Knight but my god did he connect. No disrespect to his 2008 caped crusader masterpiece but it’s Inception that may be held as Nolan’s signature film when all is said and done. It has all the twists and psychological drama that run throughout his work. It’s narrative shifts around temporally in a new and inventive way like he did when first bursting onto the scene with Memento. Its effects and set pieces like a folding city and gravity bending hallway brawl were instantly iconic and are still being copied by major blockbusters. The meaning of its divisive and inconclusive final moment will long be debated. The story functions and has often been interpreted as an ode to filmmaking itself. The film is built around the power of mythmakers and the impact a well-crafted story can have on the minds of individuals. After seeing Nolan’s masterful handiwork you’d be hard pressed to deny their influence.

9. Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse 2018 (RT: 97%) Streaming on Netflix

This movie was an absolute revelation earning its distinction in my mind as the finest animated film of the decade. The animation itself was like nothing I’d ever seen, popping with kinetic energy and capturing the feel of reading your favorite comic book. It’s the 4th iteration of Spider-Man to hit the silver screen in the past 20 years but rather than a stale rehash it brilliantly plays with that cultural foothold to create a thrilling and original origin story full of the action and laughs that are staples of any great Spider-Man story. On paper the story seems like it should be an absolute mess and yet the masterful script by Phil Lord manages to somehow manages to smoothly integrate wild concepts like parallel dimensions and a talking cartoon pig into a grounded and genuinely moving coming of age tale. The voice work, led by Shameik Moore (Dope) and Jake Johnson (New Girl), is universally outstanding with some inspired bit casting of Nicolas Cage and John Mulaney thrown in. Not to mention the hip-hop filled soundtrack absolutely slaps.

8. First Man 2018 (RT: 86%): Streaming on Cinemax if for some reason you sprung for the third best premium cable channel

Director Damien Chazelle's excellent La La Land just missed inclusion on this list but he followed it up with an even better film covering the trials and tribulations of the space race and Apollo moon landing. Ryan Gosling deftly portrays a Neil Armstrong that carries the enormous weight of his task and tragedies both personal and professional in every small step he takes. The production goes to pain staking lengths with set design, effects, and sound engineering to capture the terrors of early space travel in tin cans with only a fraction of the computing power that sits in nearly everyone’s pocket these days. The film gives a newfound respect to the staggering accomplishment of America’s best and brightest and the awards robbed performances of Gosling and Claire Foy as Armstong’s wife give insight into the tremendous toll that was paid along the way.

7. The Wolf of Wall Street 2013 (RT: 79%) Streaming on FX via Your Cable Provider

Unfortunately often misread and embraced by the very finance bro culture it mercilessly lampoons in its cautionary tale of the addictions to drugs, money and power that have run rampant across American society for decades. The problem may be that director Martin Scorsese delivers the tale in a record settingly profane and deliriously entertaining package. You are not supposed to aspire to be Jordan Belfort a vice filled, impulsive, and ultimately pathetic two bit conman played with comedic brilliance by Leonardo DiCaprio (Leo’s physical comedy efforts to depict getting into a sports car while in a Quaalude addled stupor alone should have secured him his first best actor Oscar). But much as Belfort’s office cronies go along with his escalating illegal and immoral financial schemes so too is there a Pied Piper appeal to watching a man give in to all his vices while facing little in the way of real consequences. In the end Scorsese, himself a recovered cocaine addict, makes clear that however entertaining his antics may be, Belfort is nothing but a cleaner coat of paint over Jonah Hill’s depraved crack smoking and public masturbating Donnie who worships at Belfort’s altar.

6. Uncut Gems 2019 (RT: 92%)

I have not experienced anxiety like this since I accidentally lit a colleague on fire in a calamitous high school shopping cart grill accident. Adam Sandler gives a career best performance and as someone that has seen Happy Gilmore at least 50 times, I don’t throw that out lightly. You can’t turn away as Sandler’s skeezy gambling addicted jeweler Howard bops all over 2012 New York with his constantly buzzing iPhone 4 betting money he doesn’t have, running scams to stay afloat and trying to flip a dubiously acquired rare black opal that catches the eye of none other than Minnesota Timberwolves legend Kevin Garnett. The whole time you just want to reach into the screen and shake some sense into Howard. He manages to slink out of each predicament only to find himself in a bigger one at every turn, all the while displaying no real understanding of the imminent consequences headed his way. Most incredibly, Sandler’s portrayal of the sociopathic sleazeball leaves the most twisted part of your psyche rooting for the guy to pull it all off in a perverted sense of pity. Combined with 2017’s propulsive Good Time, the Safdie brothers have established themselves as the premier auteurs of the compulsive degenerate underbelly of American society.

5. Drive 2011 (RT: 92%) Streaming on Netflix

Prior to this film, in my mind Ryan Gosling was just the guy from The Notebook and the slow footed liability in the T.C. Williams defensive backfield. As you may notice by the contents of this list, he quickly became my favorite actor. Gosling’s nameless driver is an absolute force of brooding and silent simmering rage cracking through a forced steely cool exterior. Gosling’s quiet reflective performance operates in perfect concert with Director Nicolas Winding Refn's flair for sudden bursts of graphic animalistic violence. Winding Refn is oft criticized for style without substance in his filmography but here he works from someone else’s script for the first and only time in his career. This focus on directing affords him the opportunity to provide imagery in service of a story rather than what seems to be his standard route of shaping a story out of images. Comedian Albert Brooks also does awards worthy work playing hard against type as the ruthless and efficient mob boss Gosling’s driver finds himself mixed up with. I could listen to its synth heavy soundtrack endlessly and have come dangerously close to ordering a white satin jacket with a gold scorpion on many occasions.

4. Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood 2019 (RT: 85%) Streaming on Starz which I’m not convinced is a channel anyone actually owns

This could prove to be a divisive inclusion in the top 5 as I could see the film being viewed as brash, overlong or boring for some, but for me, it just clicked on all cylinders. Is having one of your main characters fight Bruce Lee on the set of The Green Hornet a bit self-indulgent? Sure. Does it kick ass? Absolutely. While remaining very much a Tarantino film what with its explosively violent finale, choice needle drops, snappy dialogue, providing Michael Madsen drinking money, obscure references and gratuitous shots of bare feet, I found it reminiscent of my fondest Richard Linklater hangout films in the way it meanders around. Just as Linklater captures the last days of high school in 1976 or the start of college in 1980, Tarantino has painstaking recreated 1969 Los Angeles to depict the waning days of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Leonardo DiCaprio’s washed up alcoholic television star Rick Dalton and his loyal driver/repairman née stunt double Cliff Boothe, played by a never more swaggering Brad Pitt, make for exquisite chaperones to putz around Tarantino’s collage. Margot Robbie’s Sharon Tate bops in and out of picture as a beacon of the bright potential of New Hollywood. Meanwhile the darkness that snuffed out that light and brought the Golden Age to a screeching halt lurks along the periphery including a deftly suspenseful visit to Spahn Ranch. An infectious yearning nostalgia drips out of every frame of this love letter to a begotten time that never quite was. It leaves you wishing you were able to take up Rick’s repeated advice to get a permanent residence.

3. The Nice Guys 2016 (RT: 92%) Streaming on HBO Go

One of the most criminally underseen and underappreciated movies in the last decade. In a true and just world we would be getting at least 3 sequels worth of buddy hijinx as was the case with the previously Shane Black penned Lethal Weapon. Ryan Gosling does the strongest comedic work of his career as an in over his head low rent private eye Holland March and his manic energy plays magnificently off Russel Crowe’s calm ruthlessly efficient enforcer Jackson Healy. The two unwitting partners hilariously bumble their way through unraveling a Chinatown style conspiracy across a vibrant 1970’s Los Angeles backdrop with a catchy soundtrack to match. This film produced some of the hardest laughs I had in the theater all decade and that’s saying something because I'm pretty sure at least .5% of my blood is movie theater butter at this point. Think The Big Lebowski but with more violence coming at you in the form of brilliantly staged car chases, fist fights, and shootouts that Black uses to ingeniously play with and against audience expectations of these buddy action movie staples.

2. The Social Network 2010 (RT: 96%) Streaming on Netflix

Writer Aaron Sorkin takes what could be the droll tale of building a website rife with what should be boring scenes of characters coding and securing financing and imbibes its ratatat dialogue heavy script with the pep and urgency of his strongest works (The West Wing, Moneyball). Director David Fincher shoots in his signature muted color grading as if it is a grand crime caper. Its slinky digital industrial score by Trent Renzor and Atticus Ross only enhances this effect. In a way it is a heist film as you watch Zuckerberg take the ideas and work of others before ruthlessly cutting them out as his empire grows. Jessie Eisenberg gives an iconic lead performance playing Zuckerberg as a cold and calculating genius that deep down is really just a small and petty man driven by rejection and his own vindictiveness. Debate remains as to whether this was at all an accurate representation of the real life Zuckerberg but it’s a characterization that has become pertinent to understanding the makeup of individuals that have grown up extremely online. Individuals that increasingly wield power not through the traditional old school apparatuses like the Harvard clubs that turn down Zuckerberg but through keyboard strokes.

1. Blade Runner 2049 2017 (RT: 87%) Streaming on Amazon Prime via IMDBtv (with Ads)

Boils down and refines the essential elements of the original to invoke and expand its legacy while remaining fundamentally its own thing. Beyond that the film destructs the “chosen one” mythos that has dominated our most popular sagas (Star Wars, Harry Potter, Ernest goes to various locales). Every single aspect of this film combined to create a near perfect theatrical experience. Writer/Director Denis Villeneuve was given his first major budget feature after a phenomenal mid budget output (Prisoners, Sicario, Arrival) and he did not waste a single penny on this. I could not in my wildest dream have assembled a better cast and crew to bring this movie to life. The visuals of its futuristic Los Angeles and barren irradiated wastelands of Las Vegas are jaw dropping and captured stunningly by two time Academy Award winning cinematographer Richard Deakins. The cacophony of sounds created by top of the industry composers Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch expanding on Vanelis’s revered synth heavy original score carry you through its dark and distant future. Ryan Gosling, who if you’ve been going through this list has already been established as a taciturn god, is perfectly cast in the lead role as an artificially intelligent replicant struggling with his burgeoning humanity. Harrison Ford does his best work in decades stepping back into his role as Deckard and overflowing with longing and regret. Deckard even gets an awesome canine companion. The minor possible gripe I have with the entire masterpiece is with Jared Leto who does just a smidge too much actorly acting in a role that was clearly written and earmarked for David Bowie but had to change hands due to that legend’s untimely passing. I have the Blu-Ray if anyone needs to borrow it but if you scratch it I will send Dave Bautista and his adorable tiny round glasses after you.