by

Song of the Day #4,213: ‘Sweet Virginia’ – The Rolling Stones

Best Movies of the 2010s
#12 – Knives Out (2019)

It’s tough to consider the most recent year when compiling a ‘best of the decade’ list. The films both benefit from being freshest in your mind and suffer from not having enough time to really sink in.

I’ve read a couple of decade recaps that set aside 2019 altogether for that reason, which I find silly. How can you assess a movie decade while looking at just nine years’ worth of films?

Another alternative would be to hold off on creating this list until 6 months or a year from now, when 2019 has the benefit of a little more hindsight. But I’m not that patient.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #4,212: ‘Up’ – Sing Street

Best Movies of the 2010s
#13 – Sing Street (2016)

I didn’t deliberately set out to make a Top 20 of the Decade list that looks a lot different than all the ones I’ve read across the web. But only a handful of my titles are showing up on those “professional” lists.

John Carney’s Sing Street wasn’t properly appreciated when it came out three years ago and it’s certainly not getting its due now, but for my money it’s one of the greatest coming-of-age tales and one of the greatest music movies ever made.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #4,211: ‘Cool Clear Water’ – Buster Scruggs

Best Movies of the 2010s
#14 – The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

I’ve gone on record naming the Coen Brothers as my favorite filmmakers, so it should come as no surprise that they landed two films on my Best of the 2010s list.

I will wait until I get to the next one to talk about the Coens’ decade overall.

But today, a few words about the brothers’ last film of the decade, the Western anthology The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #4,210: ‘Get Thee Behind Me Satan’ – Ella Fitzgerald

Best Movies of the 2010s
#15 – The Master (2012)

Paul Thomas Anderson often shows up at or near the top of critics’ lists of the best living film directors. I’m a card-carrying member of the cult.

Anderson directed my third favorite movie of the 00s (There Will Be Blood) and both Boogie Nights and Magnolia, two of my favorite 90s films. In the 2010s, he delivered a trio of fascinating and wildly different movies, including 2014’s Inherent Vice and 2017’s Phantom Thread.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #4,209: ‘Danny Boy’ – Rufus Wainwright

I was intially surprised to see I hadn’t already posted today’s track, from Rufus Wainwright’s 1999 self-titled debut album.

In fact, I’ve posted only one song from this album, period, the opening cut ‘Foolish Love.’

Looking back at that post, I was reminded why Wainwright has had a relatively low profile on the blog (26 Songs of the Day, including six on Random Weekends). My regular readers, especially ten years ago, just didn’t like him very much.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #4,208: ‘Incredible Machine (Interlude)’ – Sugarland

To paraphrase what old Ben Kenobi once said about the name “Obi Wan”: Sugarland… Now that’s a name I’ve not heard in a long time.

Today’s track is a short callback to the title cut on the band’s 2010 album Incredible Machine. It is sung by Kristian Bush, while the longer version (like most of the band’s songs) is sung by Jennifer Nettles.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #4,207: ‘Dear God’ – Lawless

Best Movies of the 2010s
#16 – Spotlight (2015)

Of the nine movies so far to win the Best Picture Oscar during the 2010s, only one made my list of the Top 20 films of the decade (that could change depending on how this year’s Academy Awards turn out).

The Oscars got it right by crowning Spotlight, directed and co-written by Tom McCarthy, a depiction of the Boston Globe investigative team’s landmark work uncovering systemic child abuse by priests.

Continue reading →