Tag Archives: 2020 top ten movies

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Song of the Day #4,640: ‘In This World’ – Moby

Best Films of 2020
#7 – Bad Education

The pandemic has certainly blurred the lines between movie-movies and TV-movies — after all, I didn’t see a single one of my top ten films on the big screen. I don’t know if Bad Education was ever intended to reach theaters, or if it was always destined to be on HBO, but this year that hardly matters.

What I do know is this was one of the most satisfying movies of the year, a perfect example of great actors breathing life into a well-told dramatic story. Old-fashioned, satisfying adult dramas like this are rarer and rarer these days.

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Song of the Day #4,639: ‘Get Out and Get It’ – Devon Gilfillian

Best Films of 2020
#8 – Boys State

I fit in a few memorable documentaries this year, including Crip Camp, Dick Johnson is Dead and Time. But the one that really blew me away was Boys State, by directors Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine.

This film focuses on the annual Boys State summer leadership program in Texas. Boys State and Girls State programs are held all over the country and through the years have graduated future presidents, senators and governors. The program separates attendees into two factions and has them form representative governments, with some students campaigning for elected office.

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Song of the Day #4,638: “Waltz For Alice’ – Thomas Newman

Best Films of 2020
#9 – Let Them All Talk

Steven Soderbergh’s Let Them All Talk is the unlikeliest film on this list. This largely-improvised, thinly plotted, micro-budgeted movie is the sort of thing Soderbergh throws together on a whim when he sees a short opening on his calendar.

But when you cast Meryl Streep, Candice Bergen, Dianne Wiest, Gemma Chan and Lucas Hedges in that movie, the chances of striking gold increase exponentially.

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Song of the Day #4,637: ‘Forever and Ever’ – Demis Roussos

We’re in March of 2021, and yet 2020 feels like it will never end. But it’s finally time to wrap up at least one aspect of the year from hell. Over the next two weeks I will count down my top ten movies of 2020.

For the purposes of the list, I’m using this year’s Academy Awards definition of 2020 as January 1, 2020, through February 28, 2021. That allows me to include movies that had to skip the usual “one week in New York and Los Angeles” qualifying period before opening wide earlier this year. This isn’t much different than any year, where I don’t catch up with many Oscar contenders until January or February.

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