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.
Wes Anderson, one of my favorite directors, released three movies in the last decade.
2012’s Moonrise Kingdom received plenty of acclaim but is the rare Anderson film that left me a little cold, at least after one viewing. I owe it a revisit. 2018’s Isle of Dogs is a beautiful, hilarious animated gem, one that fell just outside of this Top 20.
But 2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel was the standout, and my favorite Anderson film since the exquisite The Royal Tenenbaums.
Technically, Creed is the seventh Rocky film, though what a stroke of genius it was to pass the torch to the next generation by making the protagonist the young, black son of Rocky Balboa’s longtime friend and onetime nemesis, Apollo Creed.
The other genius move was hiring Ryan Coogler as co-writer/director, fresh off the success of his indie drama Fruitvale Station. That ensured Creed would be not just an underdog sports drama (satisfying as those are), but a true character study. A lot like the original Rocky.
From a tense and moving documentary about a mass shooting to a musical sequel from one of pop culture’s goofiest cinematic universes. Love it or hate it, you can’t say this list isn’t eclectic.
Certain qualities make movies stand out and stick with me. The biggest is the ability to choke me up and squeeze a tear out of my stubbornly dry eyes. Several films on this Top 20 managed that feat.
Having counted down my top 20 albums of the 2010s, I now turn my attention to the top 20 films of the past decade.
I find that with movies even more so than music, my opinions of a work shift over time. So it wasn’t as easy as looking at my top two or three films from the past ten years and weighing them against each other. For some years, a movie I ranked in the bottom half of my top ten has turned out to resonate far more than those I slotted ahead of it at the time.
Meet Me In Montauk 