My Top 25 Films of The 2010s

Hello, internet. Nice to be with you again. Been a while, hasn’t it?

As you might have noticed from the complete lack of well, anything around here recently, my time was pretty monopolized in the second half of 2019. If you want to know why, you can easily find out (I’m a pretty open book, just Google me, mother fuckers.) But the point is, I haven’t done this in a while, so I’m probably pretty rusty at the whole blogging thing. So that’s probably why this is going to be so scattershot and unprofessional. Yup, that’s it.

Now that I got the facetiousness (facetiousosity?) out of the way, let’s get down to brass tacks: last month everyone on the planet was counting down their Top [Whatevers] of the Decade, and it started to make me feel rather FOMO-y. So the little list maker I am, I couldn’t help but resist compiling a top films of the 2010’s list of my very own. Even in my semi-sabbatical state of blogging. So that’s what this is — what was going to be a Top 10 films of the 2010’s list, inflated to a Top 25 films of the 2010’s instead (I couldn’t narrow down, sue me.)

Of course, I don’t have all the time in the world to write anymore, so I’m not going to waste time with in-depth analysis on them or anything. In fact, I made this one something of a challenge: one sentence per film, on why it made my best of the decade list. It’s not like anyone reads the little blurbs anyways — y’all are all about that number, that H2, and maybe a picture. So that’s primarily what you are getting. Enjoy.

Without further ado (and multiple days after everyone else stopped caring, naturally), here’s my Top 25 Films of the 2010s, starting with…

25. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)

Because Popstar is fucking hilarious, and destined to be a cult classic another decade from now (if isn’t one already.)

Jam of the decade…or damn of the whole damn century???

24. The Raid 2 (2014)

Because, even despite its narrative issues, it contains some of the most spectacularly crafted pieces of action filmmaking ever made, and that certianly isn’t nothing.

23. This is the End (2013)

Because I love the works of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and, warts and all, this might be their insane and most endlessly rewatchable magnum opus.

22. Your Name (2018)

Because it’s goddamn beautiful, and it’s a prime example of what animated storytelling can be.

21. La La Land (2016)

Because I remain a loyal and committed member of #TeamLaLaLand (don’t @ me)

20. Anomalisa (2015)

Because Charlie Kaufman is a genius.

19. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

Because no one does romance and heartbreak better than Barry Jenkins, and this one in particular was criminally overlooked when it first came out – it’s a masterwork.

18. Cabin in the Woods (2011)

Because it’s so damn creative, and lovingly skewers a whole genre in a way that is just delightful all the way through.

17. Inside Out (2015)

Because it’s maybe Pixar’s best movie which, for them, is saying a hell of a lot.

16. John Wick: Chapter Two (2017)

Because John Wick kicks all the ass, and the second one is the most consistent and spectacular of the trilogy IMHO.

15. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Because the MCU represents so much of my cinematic memories for the decade, and I knew I had to represent it somewhere (and what better than its grandiose, spectacular finale?)

14. The Hateful Eight

Because I might be the only person who thinks its Tarantino’s best film of the decade, and one of his best overall.

13. What We Do In the Shadows (2014)

Because it is so wonderfully creative and gut-bustlingly funny.

12. Gravity (2013)

Because Alfonso Cuaron is a fucking boss, and this was by far the most stunning ride of the entire decade.

11. Lady Bird (2017)

Because all hail Queen Gerwig.

10. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

Because it’s the Coen Brothers sobering, melancholic odd to creative misery, and Oscar Isaac anchors it beautifully.

Okay, the 2010s can have TWO jams of the decade, I will allow it.

9. Black Swan (2010)

Because it’s a wild, bold work that only a visionary on the top of his game like Darren Aronofsky could possibly deliver.

8. Her (2013)

Because it’s one of the most thoughtful and unique sci-fi movies of the decade, and lord knows we need more of those.

7. 22 Jump Street (2014)

Because I can’t remember laughing harder in a movie theater in the past 10 years, and that fucking matters.

6. Whiplash (2014)

Because it has the best climax of the 2010’s, and J.K. Simmons might verbally degrade me if I didn’t include it.

5. Logan (2017)

Because it’s a post-modern superhero movie masterpiece.

4. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

Because it’s the best – and most seminal – blockbuster of the entire decade, and a true example of what the genre can be at its greatest.

3. Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Because it’s a stunning, huge scale, and bold science fiction film like we’ve never seen before – and considering its box office failure, might never see again.

2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Because it’s just pure cinema, and everything I fucking love about movies.

1. The Social Network (2010)

Because it’s fundamentally – from top to bottom, from opening frame to end frame – a perfect movie.

I think that’s enough said for this one. So long, the last decade. And thanks for all the films. Could have done without the whole “everything else in the second half of the decade” but, you know, c’est la vie.