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Post by guttersnipe on Dec 25, 2019 17:36:58 GMT -8
2014 - The Grand Budapest Hotel - My favourite of the decade, and as close to a perfect film as I've seen in recent years. You could frame nearly every image from the film on your wall. The cast is uniformly fantastic, and once again, we've got a surrogate father-son pairing that's more effective for being understated. A career-best performance for Fiennes. 2015 - Mad Max: Fury Road - I have no great affection for Miller's earlier MM films (find them rather hokey, TBH), and I am by no means a car enthusiast, but this is on a whole other level in terms of gorgeous visual spectacle. Theron is great, Hardy robust yet taciturn, but the action choreography and staging is the primary draw. And so refreshing to see a future dystopia set in bright, colourful daylight! Best live-action action film of the decade. I liked Budapest a lot (it's honestly just on the outskirts of this 300), but for me there was a sense of 'greatest hits' about it, like Wes suddenly became worried about his idiosyncrasy and put all of his familiar styles, motifs, wardrobes and actors into a single omnibus in case he never got to direct again. I love the purple uniforms though; Fiennes' suit might be this decade's Hepburn dress. I still think that Guetta-Minaj-Rexha video might be all the Mad Max I want from that year.
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Post by guttersnipe on Dec 25, 2019 17:44:09 GMT -8
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 25, 2019 18:14:23 GMT -8
That's in your Top 10? My god, man, you'll need to watch at least three Care Bears movies to balance it out.
Incidentally, here's my own "favorite film by year" list. Most of them are action movies. Sue me:
2010 - Unstoppable: A perfect example of how to do a nonstop action movie. Compulsively entertaining from start to finish. I miss Tony Scott.
2011 - Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol: The first truly great film in the series. Brad Bird transitions from animation to live-action without losing any of the visual and aesthetic thrill that defined The Incredibles.
2012 - Argo: Okay, I agree with the Oscars once. Highly entertaining and impeccably cast film, with Affleck doing great work on both sides of the camera.
2013 - Gravity: My favorite film of the decade. Excellently written, directed, edited, scored, and performed by Sandra Bullock. Great viewing, whether on an IMAX screen or an iPhone. (Though the former is preferable.)
2014 - The Grand Budapest Hotel: I'm with J.C. on this one. Best Wes Anderson films, with only Rushmore and his two animated flicks coming particularly close. (Moonrise Kingdom is pretty good, but never connected with me the same way as TGBH.)
2015 - The Martian: Rousing space adventure with an excellent score.
2016 - Hidden Figures: Biopics about race in America can be clunky and didactic. This one is neither. A resonant film for young and old of any generation.
2017 - Baby Driver: Edgar Wright's best film; an action flick with nary a false note. Lots of attributes, but the editing in particular is phenomenal.
2018 - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: I had Eighth Grade as #1 when I made my 2018 list, but on closer inspection, Spidey deserves the top slot. As I've detailed elsewhere, it's a one-of-a-kind animated film.
2019 - Knives Out: Unless I see another film in the next few days that can top it, Rian Johnson's highly entertaining whodunit will top my Best of 2019 list. (Should be posted soon.)
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Post by ThirdMan on Dec 25, 2019 19:09:49 GMT -8
I liked Budapest a lot (it's honestly just on the outskirts of this 300), but for me there was a sense of 'greatest hits' about it, like Wes suddenly became worried about his idiosyncrasy and put all of his familiar styles, motifs, wardrobes and actors into a single omnibus in case he never got to direct again. I love the purple uniforms though; Fiennes' suit might be this decade's Hepburn dress. I absolutely concur that TGBH is like a Greatest Hits package for Wes Anderson. But I see that as a positive, as he had refined his "formula" to perfection. Some of his other films -- including Isle Of Dogs, I might add -- have a bit of a coldness, or emotional aloofness, to them, which keeps me at a distance. But TGBH hit all my pleasure centers as a viewer. And I think it's got the wittiest script of his films as well.
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Post by Incandescence 112 on Dec 25, 2019 20:08:19 GMT -8
That's in your Top 10? My god, man, you'll need to watch at least three Care Bears movies to balance it out. Incidentally, here's my own "favorite film by year" list. Most of them are action movies. Sue me: 2010 - Unstoppable: A perfect example of how to do a nonstop action movie. Compulsively entertaining from start to finish. I miss Tony Scott. 2011 - Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol: The first truly great film in the series. Brad Bird transitions from animation to live-action without losing any of the visual and aesthetic thrill that defined The Incredibles. 2012 - Argo: Okay, I agree with the Oscars once. Highly entertaining and impeccably cast film, with Affleck doing great work on both sides of the camera. 2013 - Gravity: My favorite film of the decade. Excellently written, directed, edited, scored, and performed by Sandra Bullock. Great viewing, whether on an IMAX screen or an iPhone. (Though the former is preferable.) 2014 - The Grand Budapest Hotel: I'm with J.C. on this one. Best Wes Anderson films, with only Rushmore and his two animated flicks coming particularly close. ( Moonrise Kingdom is pretty good, but never connected with me the same way as TGBH.) 2015 - The Martian: Rousing space adventure with an excellent score. 2016 - Hidden Figures: Biopics about race in America can be clunky and didactic. This one is neither. A resonant film for young and old of any generation. 2017 - Baby Driver: Edgar Wright's best film; an action flick with nary a false note. Lots of attributes, but the editing in particular is phenomenal. 2018 - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: I had Eighth Grade as #1 when I made my 2018 list, but on closer inspection, Spidey deserves the top slot. As I've detailed elsewhere, it's a one-of-a-kind animated film. 2019 - Knives Out: Unless I see another film in the next few days that can top it, Rian Johnson's highly entertaining whodunit will top my Best of 2019 list. (Should be posted soon.) Okay, I'll join in on this too. 2010 - Social Network: Turns out mixing David Fincher with Aaron Sorkin works really well. Both firing on all cylinders here, and the story is fascinating. Unlike Halt and Catch Fire, it follows the "winners" of the tech game, but that doesn't mean it ends in a sunnier fashion.
2011 - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: Quiet, tense Cold War spy thriller. 2012 - The Master: Most difficult film on my list, and the hardest to love. Despite its sluggish pacing (which is intentional, of course), I found it to be an expertly made, deep, rich film. 2013 - Her: JC summed it up pretty damn well. Spellbinding performance from Phoenix and it reflects the modern era remarkably well. 2014 - Whiplash: Damian Chazelle film number one on my list. JK Simmons is a force of nature in it, it captures the creative process in a way almost no other film has, and its ending is one of the all time best. 2015 - Ex Machina: Best, most thought-provoking sci-fi film of the decade. 2016 - La La Land: Damian Chazelle film number two is one of the most delightful experiences I've had watching a movie. Gotta balance out The Master somehow. 2017 - Dunkirk: Christopher Nolan's best and one of the most immersive war films ever made. It nimbly avoided pretty much all cliches associated with war movies (particularly WW2 films) in favor of giving the viewer the sensory experience of war (as best it could, of course, being just a movie). 2018 - Spider-Verse: This is my favorite super-hero movie of the decade, in large part part due to its stunning visuals. But I also loved the way its sharply written script ably balanced a huge amount of material and somehow made it all flow smoothly. 2019 - Parasite: It excels in so many areas. It's hilarious, thrilling, and as JC said, has terrific performances and excellent cinematography.
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Post by ThirdMan on Dec 25, 2019 21:05:53 GMT -8
The Master is a really well-made film that I admire a lot, but it just leans so heavily on behavioural repetition that it ultimately wears me out.
The Social Network would've been at least in my Top 3 for 2010. It's just that the editing in that Scott Pilgrim flick slayed me, and the characters were somehow endearing despite not being very likable. Much like Baby Driver, it's so carefully assembled in that regard. About the only Wright film that feels a bit sloppier is Hot Fuzz, and that's because they were sort of mocking the Michael Bay/Tony Scott brand of action carnage.
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Post by guttersnipe on Dec 26, 2019 16:12:05 GMT -8
Wow, I didn't expect all three of you to be unanimous on Spider-Man, and there's a guy I work with who also claimed it as his film of last year. A shame, perhaps, that I'm voluntarily self-imposing a hiatus from superhero films for an indeterminate period (you know what they say about absence).
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Post by guttersnipe on Dec 26, 2019 16:26:45 GMT -8
Looking at it again, I think what I'm most pleased about is the variety in my list - I've always taken umbrage with people's attempts to determine "my kind" of film, and in accordance with my pretty open-book just-has-to-be-interesting policy, I reckon I've got at least of couple of entries for just about every branch of cinema here. I especially like the pairing of House of Tolerance with How to Train Your Dragon; I don't imagine most people's taste typically encompasses both of those films, and unless you're big into peer pressure, I really don't think there's any need to fall into binary choices.
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 26, 2019 20:05:56 GMT -8
The Social Network is also one of my Top 3 of 2010. Some of Sorkin's best writing, and Eisenberg is terrific. Scott Pilgrim is really good as well, though a little self-indulgent at times.
Her is quite engrossing, though I think that's mostly due to Phoenix's performance. On the downside, it feels a bit long, like a Twilight Zone episode stretched beyond its runtime. (Or is that just a Black Mirror episode?)
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 28, 2019 17:01:27 GMT -8
So here are my Top 50 animated films of the decade. I've grouped them alphabetically, except for the Top 10. It's weighted heavily toward American animated films, but I threw in a handful of foreign flicks to make me look smart.
50-41:
The Adventures of Tintin Cars 3 Kung Fu Panda 3 Loving Vincent Megamind Missing Link Moana Mr. Peabody and Sherman The Red Turtle Rio
40-31:
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Incredibles 2 The Peanuts Movie The Penguins of Madagascar Smallfoot The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water Toy Story 4 Turbo When Marnie was There Winnie the Pooh
30-21:
Anomalisa Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie Coco Ernest and Celestine Finding Dory Hotel Transylvania The Lego Batman Movie Paranorman Teen Titans Go! to the Movies The Wind Rises
20-11:
Arthur Christmas Frankenweenie How to Train Your Dragon Kung Fu Panda 2 The Little Prince My Life as a Zucchini The Pirates! Band of Misfits Rango Tangled Wreck-It Ralph
Top 10:
10. Isle of Dogs 9. Frozen 8. How to Train Your Dragon 2 7. The Breadwinner 6. Toy Story 3 5. Shaun the Sheep Movie 4. The Lego Movie 3. Inside Out 2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 1. Zootopia
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Post by guttersnipe on Dec 29, 2019 6:14:46 GMT -8
Wow, I think you're more down on the Ralph and Frozen sequels than your reviews let on if neither made the cut when their predecessors are riding high.
I was actually supposed to be ushering for Frozen II today but sadly our projector wasn't working. But to cap off a week in which the Beeb have been screening a 2010s Disney or Pixar film every afternoon, Monsters University is showing today and I dare say I'll revisit and revel in its rainbow.
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 29, 2019 7:40:54 GMT -8
Ralph Breaks the Internet almost made the cut, but I don't think the film stuck with me as much as I'd originally thought. Frozen II is a mediocre film boosted only slightly by its animation. Definitely not among my favorites.
Other animated films that almost made the cut: Big Hero 6, Early Man, A Cat in Paris, Storks, Boy and the World, The Lego Movie 2, the Hotel Transylvania sequels. And heck, I'll even say I briefly considered Despicable Me, despite the general lameness of all things Illumination.
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Post by guttersnipe on Dec 29, 2019 11:29:19 GMT -8
I'm actually on pretty good terms with Despicable Me (my overwhelming distaste for Russell Brand notwithstanding), though I never went any further with the series, partly due to the minion-mania.
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Dec 29, 2019 11:41:24 GMT -8
Wow, I didn't expect all three of you to be unanimous on Spider-Man, and there's a guy I work with who also claimed it as his film of last year. A shame, perhaps, that I'm voluntarily self-imposing a hiatus from superhero films for an indeterminate period (you know what they say about absence). Count me among these people - Spider-Verse is probably now one of my favorite films ever, no lie. And ordinarily I hate superhero movies. I'm actually insulted that Jer has Zootopia above it.
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Post by Incandescence 112 on Dec 29, 2019 12:58:54 GMT -8
Wow, I didn't expect all three of you to be unanimous on Spider-Man, and there's a guy I work with who also claimed it as his film of last year. A shame, perhaps, that I'm voluntarily self-imposing a hiatus from superhero films for an indeterminate period (you know what they say about absence). Count me among these people - Spider-Verse is probably now one of my favorite films ever, no lie. And ordinarily I hate superhero movies. I'm actually insulted that Jer has Zootopia above it. I was also surprised that Zootopia was his favorite of the decade. I didn't see as many animated films as he did, but Zootopia would be near the bottom of good ones that I saw. It was fine/adequate. Then again, I'm also pretty surprised he has Shaun the Sheep Movie over How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Frozen over Tangled. Other than that though, it's a really solid list.
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