MY TOP 10 FILMS OF THE DECADE
1. PATERSON (JIM JARMUSCH, 2016)
It’s hard to describe what makes me love “Paterson” so much. Mostly, it’s the feeling I get while watching it… it’s just… simply: peaceful. “Paterson” is, in a way, an “anti-film”, in the sense that it goes against the rules of scriptwriting. Remember Anton Chekhov’s writing advice? You know: “If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following it should be fired. Otherwise don’t put it there.” Well “Paterson” “hangs a few guns” in the film yet… they never “go off”.
In this sense, “Paterson”, to me, feels like a metaphor of life. I’m quite an anxious person and I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop. And you know what? Most of the times, the other shoe doesn’t drop. Just like in “Paterson”. It may sound kind of silly, but watching “Paterson” feels to me like a meditation. Everything you think is going to go wrong, doesn’t. Life just goes on peacefully despite the little hiccups. We follow Paterson around during his daily routine, listen to his poetry and watch his different relationships unfold. And yet sometimes when things do go wrong, it’s when you least expect them to.
Despite the slightly upsetting ending, this film makes me happy. I just love everything about it: the poetry, Adam Driver, the dialogues, Marvin, Paterson and Laura’s relationship… did I mention Adam Driver? “Paterson” is my go to film when I’ve had a bad day. You know those days when you feel like watching a good film but don’t feel like you can handle any drama? “Paterson” will help. Seriously, this movie is such a beautiful experience. To me, “Paterson” is the best film of the decade.
2. A GHOST STORY (DAVID LOWERY, 2017)
The first time I watched this film I just couldn’t believe what I had just seen. “A Ghost Story” is incredibly intimate and, at the same time, it reflects upon the meaning of life, our place in the Universe and how meaningless we are in history. I was emotional when I finished it. Not only over the relationship I had seen portrayed on-screen by Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck. I was also overwhelmed by this whole feeling of insignificance in the overarching scheme of things. At the same time, though, the film also shows how much we can affect the lives of the people around us. In the smallest ways. I honestly had butterflies in my stomach after watching this movie.
It’s not that I had not thought about the ideas portrayed in this film. It’s just “A Ghost Story” manages to convey them so well over the span of 92 minutes with such minimal dialogue… I just… had never seen anything like it. The acting is incredible, the imagery is brutal and I also love the music in this film. Shout-out to Daniel Hart’s soundtrack. It’s PERFECTION.
3. FRANCES HA (NOAH BAUMBACH, 2012)
I love “Frances Ha” because it was the film that introduced me to both the INCREDIBLE Noah Baumbach and the AMAZING Greta Gerwig. It was after watching “Frances Ha” that I decided to watch everything else these two had worked on before. I also binge-watched interviews with them and consumed any book/film/music they talked about. If you haven’t caught on yet: I JUST LOVE THOSE TWO!
“Frances Ha” is hard to describe: it’s so… delicate, bittersweet (but mostly sweet), loving, smart and truthful film. It’s a beautiful representation of a friendship growing apart. Or rather, one person grows apart when the other isn’t yet ready. It’s beautifully written by Baumbach & Gerwig and I love every single second of it. I remember watching it for the first time and thinking: “It’s really sad…” Strangely enough, I rewatched it again and in my second viewing, I discovered hopefulness among the sadness. I’m now looking forward to rewatching it a third time.
4. HEREDITARY (ARI ASTER, 2018)
It had been a long time since I had been scared while watching a movie. Until I watched “Hereditary”, that is. Honestly, I couldn’t sleep that night I was so scared. What I love most about “Hereditary”, however, is that it is, essentially, a drama. And a very powerful one at that. Everyone’s performance in that film is incredible, but special shout-out to Toni Collette and Alex Wolff, because they were INCREDIBLE IN THIS.
I watched the film twice in theatres (what can I say? I seem to be a masochist) and I love that it works on several levels. Kudos to Ari Aster on an incredible FIRST feature film (I still cannot get over this). Aster wrote and directed “Hereditary”, which can be read as a metaphor for mental illness and at the same time, it’s a perverse fairy tale on male entitlement. Seriously, go watch this film and watch your anxiety go WAY UP. *Clicks tongue*.
5. INSIDE OUT (PETE DOCTER & RONNIE DEL CARMEN, 2015)
If you don’t like “Inside Out” you have no heart. There, I’ve said. “Inside Out” is one of my favourite Pixar films. It’s up there with “Up”, which didn’t make the cut, cause it’s from 2009. Duh!
I just love how this film portrays the awkwardness, pain, sadness and nostalgia that growing up has on us. This idea of the different emotions in our head guiding us through life is brilliant, thought-provoking and of course… so Pixar. I loved this movie so much I (once again) watched it twice in theatres so that I could bawl my eyes out for a second time. I am not a huge collector. But I do have two figurines in my house one on each side of my TV. One of them is Sadness. The other one is Bing Bong. I kid you not.
I kind of wish Pixar would make a sequel or two where we follow Riley through other important stages of her life. For example getting out of college and having to be a “real adult”. Or a film where Riley retires and wonders what to do with her life. It would make for a very special trilogy, I think. Probably not particularly child friendly, though. Anyway, Pixar will be releasing “Soul” in 2020 and I feel like it could be connected to “Inside Out”… not as in “being a sequel”… more as in “a spiritual way”. We’ll see. Really looking forward to it.
6. GET OUT (JORDAN PEELE 2017)
“Get Out” is one of my favourite horror films ever and the first horror film to win Best Original Screenplay. Rightfully so, the film structure is impecable, the character buildup is flawless and the film is socially and politically relevant. I just love films where you can discover new little details every time you rewatch them. “Get Out” is one of them, and to me, the rest of the titles on this list are too.
“Get Out” uses horror to comment on racism. But what I love most about it is that it’s those supposedly more “mundane” scenes (like the party scene) where you actually see the horrors of inherent racism. The comments white people make to try to connect to Chris are just cringy. Peele says it best in this interview, where he talks about “Get Out” being a film where he gets to speak his truth.
“Get Out” is thrilling, scary and horribly truthful. It’s a film us white folks need to watch and rewatch, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us. Most importantly, though, we need to listen.
Finally, I LOVE the editing in this trailer. It’s just *Chef’s Kiss*:
7. ESTIU 1993 (CARLA SIMÓN, 2017)
This is Carla Simón’s first feature film and it’s one of the most beautiful pieces of cinema I have ever seen. I love every second of it and I just cried so much at the end. Looking back at it, the ending kind of reminded me of the ending to “Inside Out”. It’s a beautiful cathartic moment and I have never seen anything like it.
The film is kind of told through Frida’s eyes, which is why we often don’t see the faces of the adults who are talking about her while she is there. I love how as an audience, these conversations are how we discover what happened to Frida. We are following Frida while she is paying attention to some random thing while we listen to the adults talking about her in the background. You know how adults tend to do that. They think the kids aren’t listening. The problem is, many times they are.
Frida is sent to live with her uncle’s family after her mother’s death. It’s hard for her to adapt, especially to having a new little sister. And that’s it, that’s the story basically. And what a story it is! Please find a way to watch this little gem. You’ll discover a great young actress (Laia Artigas) and also get to know important Spanish actors like David Verdaguer and Bruna Cusí.
8. LITTLE WOMEN (GRETA GERWIG, 2019)
I loved both “Lady Bird” (Greta Gerwig, 2017) and “Little Women” and wasn’t sure which one to include in this list. I opted for the latter, because I’m pissed that Greta didn’t get the Oscar recognition she deserved. So yeah, Greta’s at least getting my recognition. For whatever it’s worth (not much really).
What I loved most about “Little Women” is that it’s an adaptation made for fans of the book. You know how usually everyone likes the book better than the movie because the movie tends to simplify the book? Well, I feel Gerwig’s adaptation doesn’t do that. In fact, she knows the material so well, and knows how people “know” the book, she decided to play around with the structure a little bit by alternating between different timelines (the book does not do that). She also knows the sisters so well, has heard them so many times in her head, the movie reflects their interactions so naturally. They are constantly talking over each other, several things are going on at the same time… and it’s up to the audience to keep up.
I also love what is, to me, Greta’s final bow on the film. It’s her signature, her stamp. It’s not just that she loves the book, there’s an additional reason she made this film and why she considers it relevant to be made TODAY. Of course, I am talking about the ending scene where Jo wants to own her book. I love that Greta added this. It’s important for artists to talk about owning their work. Taylor Swift is doing it for musicians and Greta Gerwig is now talking about it too, through Jo March, one of the most beloved characters in literature who, at the same time, is clearly being used as a Louisa May Alcott alter ego. The scene’s incredible and I loved that Greta did that. What an incredible way to honour one of your favourite writers of all time.
9. THE SOCIAL NETWORK (DAVID FINCHER, 2010)
My favorite Fincher film of all time. I just love this film so much and think it’s incredibly underrated. It’s David Fincher directing… WITH an Aaron *freaking* Sorkin screenplay (based on Ben Mezrich’s book, “The Accidental Billionaires”).
If you don’t know already, “The Social Network” tells the story of how Facebook came to be. It’s thrilling, it’s dramatic, but most importantly, it has the best performances by Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield (and yes, I watched “Silence”. Ok. Maybe it’s up there with his performance in “Silence”.) The moment Eduardo come through the glass doors after having been betrayed? GOOSEBUMPS, I TELL YOU!
Now, hear me out: “The Social Network” sequel dealing with Zuckerberg’s most recent legal dealings. Eisenberg and Sorkin are up for it. Someone call Fincher?
10. INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS (ETHAN & JOEL COEN, 2013)
My parents were big Coen brothers fans and, ever since I was quite young, I had heard them talking about their films. I still remember the day I was old enough to watch one of their films. I was 12 and my parents took me to watch “O Brother, Where Art Though?”. That film gave me two things: A love for the Coen brothers and my first celebrity crush, George Clooney. You guessed it, I loved it so much I watched it more than once in theatres.
So yeah, I love the Coen brothers. I’ve also spent an important part of my life in Minnesota which gives me this unjustified feeling of knowing them better for it. Anywho, “Inside Llewyn Davis” quickly became one of my favourite Coen Brothers films. It also made me discover Oscar Isaac, who is currently one of my favourite actors. It’s a dark tale of this failed folk song figure with John Goodman playing the Devil incarnate. It’s beautiful, tragic (that poor cat!) and, like “O Brother, Where Art Though?”, has beautiful music.
So those are my top 10 films of the decade. I hope you enjoyed my list. Just for the sake of it, I’ve added a few more titles that I had considered adding to the list but didn’t make the cut. Most of these films have also left a great impression on me but they were not included for several reasons. Maybe there’s already a film by the same director that was already in the list and I wanted a little more variety. Maybe it’s because I have only watched them once and they’re not as fresh on my mind. Be it as it may, here are some honourable mentions (in no particular order):
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (Martin McDonagh, 2017)
“Mommy” (Xavier Dolan, 2014)
“The Florida Project” (Sean Baker, 2017)
“Cemetery of Splendor” (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2015)
“Phantom Thread” (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)
“The Master” (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
“Take Shelter” (Jeff Nichols, 2011)
“The Deep Blue Sea” (Terence Davies, 2011)
“Viaje al Cuarto de una Madre” AKA “Journey to a Mother’s Room” (Celia Rico Clavellino, 2018)
“The Tree of Life” (Terence Malick, 2011)
“Joker” (Todd Phillips, 2019)
“Booksmart” (Olivia Wilde, 2019)
“Els dies que vindran” AKA “The Days to Come” (Carlos Marques-Marcet, 2019)
“La vie d’Adele” AKA “Blue Is the Warmest Color” (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2013)
“Marriage Story” (Noah Baumbach, 2019)
“1917” (Sam Mendes, 2019)
“Holy Motors” (Leos Carax, 2012)
“Lady Bird” (Greta Gerwig, 2017)