tectactoe
10.24.19 | FULL 100 LIST HERE:
https://rateyourmusic.com/list/tectactoe/top-100-films-of-the-2010s/
Not gonna post the full 100 on sputnik because the list tool is garbage and I can't count the number of times something happened mid-list and I had to restart. Not to mention making future updates is a pain in the arse.
Check the list above on RYM and let's discuss ladies and gents. I am excited for the opportunity to tell you why your personal favorites did not appear on my list. :o) |
tectactoe
10.24.19 | Also, I will continue to update this if more entries make the list (inevitable, as I've not seen every film of the past decade, including a few that I would *assume* might make the Top 100). And add me on RYM if you haven't already :o) |
CugnoBrasso
10.24.19 | 1 is a masterpiece. I need to check out Coherence, a friend of mine recommended it like four years ago. |
tectactoe
10.24.19 | Yes, it truly is, and it ranks well among my all time favorites, too.
COHERENCE is on Amazon Prime in the US for streaming (I think) if you have that. Definitely worth your time. |
butt.
10.24.19 | Coherence hell yeah bro, I fucking love that movie. More people need to see it |
DungeonBoy
10.24.19 | cool dude, but did you even see JOKER har har.. but seriously i saw it last night and it was more or less unsettling. |
Chortles
10.24.19 | great list tec, we share quite a few favorites from this decade (rather than list them all out here I'll have to draft up my own list at some point :-))
have you seen the other films of Lee Chang-dong? Burning is phenomenal and a decade best for sure but Poetry is not far behind it imo. he doesn't have a large filmography but would be another good choice for your directors series! |
tectactoe
10.24.19 | Thanks Chortles. I've only seen SECRET SUNSHINE and PEPPERMINT CANDY from Lee, neither of which I cared for all that much. Which is partially why I was so taken aback by BURNING, I think - I wasn't really expecting to much and it absolutely blew me away. I think of the three I've seen, it's easily his most 'confident' film. I will add POETRY to the list of things to see! |
IndieNoChill
10.24.19 | Agreed Chortles, Burning is a great movie.
Coherence is basically just a mindfuck imo |
lucazade22
10.24.19 | Good shout on A Separation, one of my absolute favourites! |
Chortles
10.24.19 | hmm, not sure if you will dig if you didn't care for those two, but would be interested in your take regardless! Burning was definitely a departure for Lee, but i appreciated him still hanging on to some of the social realist threads of his earlier films in combination with the new style he tackled |
Zorg
10.24.19 | Margaret was underrated. |
tectactoe
10.24.19 | I will see if I can find POETRY on any streaming services!
'Margaret was underrated.'
Totally. I think a majority of people saw the Theatrical Cut, though, which is missing a lot of what makes the Director's/Extended Cut such a masterpiece. It's crazy how much material they removed and how many details they altered (like most of the overlapping dialogue and a good portion of the music, not to mention thirty minutes of footage). |
Rik VII
10.24.19 | It has been a rather weak decade for film when compared to the 00s, in my opinion. I think Drive would be my no. 1 pick, other top 10-worthy films being The Handmaiden, Parasite, Princess Kaguya, It's Such a Beautiful Day, The Turin Horse ... and some more. Those are the ones I can think of right now, anyway. It's less than 10, so yeah.
Sadly, most of my favorite directors were rather unproductive this decade or didn't do much of note. I'll need to catch up on newcomers though, I'm kinda slacking on those. |
dafon24
10.24.19 | Anyone know how to find It's Such a Beautiful Day? I need to watch again |
tectactoe
10.24.19 | That's true Rik, my biggest disappointments being Tsai, Loktev, Tarr, and Carruth, all great directors who only released one film this decade (all of them great). Though there are quite a few new(ish) directors who have had a great decade (Zahler, Baumbach, Joe, Bujalski, Anderson, Joe, etc.), it seems like, overall, the number of "great" films I've seen this decade is far less than the 2000s.
Then again, I can almost say the same thing about the 1990s relative to the 2000s. The 2000s was a great decade for film, obviously, but it still pales in comparison (imo) to the 1990s. (However the train stops there; the 1980s is by-and-large the worst decade in film history.)
'Anyone know how to find It's Such a Beautiful Day? I need to watch again'
It was on Netflix for a really long time - still might be. Worth a look. I eventually purchased the Blu-Ray from Hertzfeldt's site because i loved the film so much. I think it was about $30 shipped, but it also comes with his full collection of short films up to that point. |
dafon24
10.24.19 | Yea checked Netflix recently but they dropped it. $30 for his full collection is a pretty nice price tho gonna look into that, thanks!
Also loving these film lists tec! |
Pheromone
10.24.19 | 1 is honestly one of my all time favourites, if not my favourite right now. |
Rik VII
10.24.19 | 2000s and 1990s were insane, agreed. The 80s at least had some amazing horror films (best decade of the genre thanks to Carpenter and Cronenberg), and with Dead Ringers one of my top 5 favorite films, but I agree that it's a weak decade compared to everything that surrounds it. 10s are the worst one for me right now though, with 2018 being just devastatingly weak on film. There isn't even one film from that year I loved and several that I straight-up hated. Might check some of your highest ranked 2018 films ... (that said, I think I previously mentioned that I couldn't stand Grass). The 60s have their moments, but are considerably weaker than the 50s and 70s imo.
I'm not really knowledgable enough about anything pre-50s to have any strong opinion on them though, so everything I say doesn't really include those decades. |
Lord(e)Po)))ts
10.24.19 | Nice to see mother get some respect |
DungeonBoy
10.24.19 | JOKER was pretty good agreed. It felt more like a social commentary on the decline of mental health services in our current society than a comic book movie, but the performances and character development were nothing short of incredible. |
tectactoe
10.24.19 | Thanks, dafon.
@Pots: Still sitting as my Top film of 2017.
@Rik: 80s does have some greatness. Two films in my all time Top 15 (RAGING BULL and THE AVIATOR'S WIFE), but consistency-wise, I always think of it as the weakest decade. There are a lot of beloved 80s films that many others would cite that I just don't love, though - like RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, BACK TO THE FUTURE, BEETLEJUICE, etc... those films, despite being cinematic pillars, never really did anything for me. Not as a kid, and certainly not now.
The 30s through the 70s are all great, honestly - I think the 70s might be my favorite decade if I had to pick - but we also need to remember that the father back in time we go, the more likely we are to cherry-pick films that have a better chance at actually being "good". As we become removed from those decades, the cream has already risen to the top through critical consensus, ranked lists, what have you. In the decades we're currently living in (and have lived through), we were more likely to see things when they were new, regardless of initial reactions, because that's what was "current". It was something to discuss and talk about and experience firsthand. When we look up some film from the 1940s and it has below-average scores, we are far less likely to waste our time watching it. Instead, we instinctively seek out the films that have more or less already received the theoretical "seal of approval". (Unless of course you're like me and obsess about completing director filmographies, no matter how meaningless an achievement that is, which will have you watching tons of drivel simply to quell the anxiety of leaving out a film or two.) |
aiioli
10.24.19 | great list. great to see the handmaiden on here and like you included mother! and margaret so high. both very misunderstood imo.
wonder what your thoughts are on these, all of which would feature highly for me:
wild tales - revenge anthology by damian szifron. really entertaining
mommy - xaver dolans best imo
you were never really here - my favourite film of last year |
Larkinhill
10.24.19 | 70s and 90s are without hesitation and unequivocally my two favorite decades for film. A substantial portion of my top 20 stems from those decades. |
Rik VII
10.24.19 | "There are a lot of beloved 80s films that many others would cite that I just don't love, though"
Yep, same with me. The 80s have a ridiculous amount of beloved cult classics that don't hold up well. That said, even though I can imagine better things to spend my time on than Ghostbusters etc., I can at least acknowledge that those were made with fun and a light heart. I can't help but think that these "early blockbusters" are more respectable than their modern equivalents for that reason.
Anyway, I agree with everything you said, and that's basically why I still hope that I'll find good movies from the 10s in the next years. |
Chortles
10.24.19 | dunno, I thought 2018 was pretty great and this year hasn't been amazing (yet), but there's a really promising slate of releases coming out between now and the end of the year, at least where I am. my regular cinema has their first showings of Parasite, The Lighthouse and Pain & Glory this weekend alone so I'm already a bit overwhelmed. 2010s looking to finish strong from my perspective |
tectactoe
10.24.19 | PARASITE was really good but a little bit of a let down based on the consensus masterpiece everyone had me thinking it would be. If you typically like Bong, though, you will like it. I think I gave it a B. (But I expected an A.)
I’m excited for THE LIGHTHOUSE even if my reception of THE WITCH was lukewarm both times I saw it.
@aiioli- haven’t seen WILD TALES. sounds interesting though! added to my queue. Sadly not a fan of MOMMY, though i am not big on Dolan in general to be honest. His style with MOMMY was too abrasive with the nonstop cacophony, weird needle drops, and godawful aspect ratio. I get all of that is intentional, meant to mimic the boy’s sense of claustrophobia, but it drove me up a goddamn wall. YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE was formally awesome and overall really good, but I hate the implications of Joe’s PTSD through the cryptic flashbacks and whatnot, especially since the film has no intention of exploring that angle with any depth. The varnish was just too damn enjoyable though, so even with those troubles I still ended up giving it a solid B grade. (I have slightly longer capsules/reviews on each film if you’re interested in more.) |
Chortles
10.24.19 | I've seen Parasite as well, totally loved it and even still I was also slightly let down. It's hard not to have insane expectations when it's currently sitting at #4 of all time on Letterboxd. Wild times |
tectactoe
10.25.19 | Holy shit, #4 all time haha. I mean it's *good* but it's not even the best film of the year! |
Uzumaki
10.25.19 | You on Letterboxd, man? ‘Cuz if you are, I’d follow you in an instant. Loving these film lists. |
Rowan5215
10.25.19 | Coherence crew squad up. tec can you do a top 10 horror for me sometime??? pls |
botulist
10.25.19 | never understood why Drive is so revered. Take away the artful camera work and the indie pacing, and it might as well be a Steven Seagal movie. Cheesy mafia plot, a female in distress who barely has speaking lines, the main hero who’s so taciturn he almost seems mentally delayed, relentlessly unreal action. Not a lot of meat on those bones |
el_newg
10.25.19 | good stuff tectac, a lot of my recent favourites on here! Namely, Her, Bone Tomawhawk, Whiplash, among others. |
Winesburgohio
10.25.19 | Coherence fan #42069 reporting for duty: today i whiled away the hours of a particularly tedious shift discussing it with a co-worker, her enthusiasm very edifying because i recommended it to her and she has since recommended it to others and the word of mouth will continue to spread!!
1 is 1 2 is 2 u already know which ones i'd encourage you to visit (esp. Under the Skin) but a couple you might not have seen but might like (chortles this includes u): Sleeping Beauty (Julia Leigh) and Terri (the extraordinary Azazel Jacobs) |
Rik VII
10.25.19 | Parasite will be hard to top this year. But I'm a Bong fan (Mother in particular is among my favorites of the 00s), so I guess it confirms what tectactoe said.
I also just thought of a 2018 film that I liked a lot: Love At Least, which is the debut film of some Japanese director whose name I forgot. I also haven't seen Burning yet but intend to over the course of the next few days. |
Larkinhill
10.25.19 | Love that you have Enemy so high. Goddamn masterpiece. |
tectactoe
10.25.19 | Wines- was not big on SLEEPING BEAUTY. But i usually trust your opinion so i’ve added TERRI to the queue :)
Rowan - Id love to do a horror list; problem is defining exactly what “counts” as a horror film these days. |
tectactoe
10.25.19 | Uzu- yes, same username :)
bot- the style goes a loooong way on that one obviously, but i liken it to a retro 80s variation of “the man with no name”. |
el_newg
10.25.19 | two films included if I were to make this list are Ex Machina and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri wondering your thoughts on them, or perhaps they just didn't make the cut haha. I probably have not even seen 100 films from this decade to be honest! |
Uzumaki
10.25.19 | Added and done. :) |
tectactoe
10.25.19 | Uzu: Which one are you on LB? Three people just added me haha |
Uzumaki
10.25.19 | Mr_Macaroon |
tectactoe
10.26.19 | *thumbs up*
Was curious as to why I didn’t have a Weerasethakul film on here,
as I remember quite liking UNCLE BOONMEE, but looking at my log, I only have it marked as ‘viewed’ with no score, meaning I haven’t seen it since I started officially rating movies in ca. 2014, so I’ll need to revisit it to get an up to date assessment, but that would *potentially* place somewhere in the middle of this list. |
tectactoe
10.27.19 | @el_newg, sorry I missed your inquiry before. Here's what I wrote about EX MACHINA back in 2016:
"It’s impressive how well Alicia Vikander embodies the small nuances that distinctively separate her as a robot living among humans; Oscar Isaac’s performance isn’t so much impressive as it is refreshing in its antithesis of how you’d expect a search engine billionaire to be. The Turing Test that Nathan tries to conduct with Caleb isn’t a true Turing Test at all - I mean, Caleb already knows that Ava is a robot right from the start - and it made me wonder if Nathan had a hidden agenda for Caleb. I started to get a (mostly correct) inkling of what was going to happen long before it unfolded, taking a lot of the excitement and thrill away from the Third Act. I wondered what Nathan’s exact test criteria was for Ava—did he know Ava would try to escape and use Caleb as a means to do so? Was that considered a “pass” in his mind? If so, you’d think someone with his intelligence would’ve seen the possible dangers had Caleb actually succeeded in aiding Ava (which he obviously did). Maybe having Ava outsmart even her creator who was conducting the exam on her was the true test that the audience is merely observing from an undefined third-person perspective. I dunno, it was mostly just inoffensive if anything, and left me disappointed about how easy it was to see everything coming. But Oscar Isaac’s dance sequence is one of the best things ever."
Grade: C+ |
tectactoe
10.27.19 | And here for THREE BILLBOARDS (over character limit, will post in two parts):
Martin McDonagh is no stranger to verbose yet tightly wound scripts - see: IN BRUGES - and here, his greatest asset becomes his ability surprise us by proceeding with turns you wouldn't expect, also pulling the rug out from under several common tropes; the choice to eject Chief Willoughby at the halfway mark was both bold and admirable, setting up an unexpected second-half with a hefty focal shift towards another member of the police squad (played exquisitely by Sam Rockwell). Biggest subversion might be that Rockwell's "moment of redemption" with the possible killer's DNA turns out to be nothing doing; bleak, sure, but also much less painfully convenient than the feel-good alternative. But I'm too shamelessly pedantic, quick to let tiny details harrow at my brain until they ruin the movie for me. Like, why does that guy from Idaho even stop to razz Mildred at all? Why would an out of towner even care about this local news story as he's just passing through? And what kind of Chief - after seeing, with his own eyes, a subordinate throw a man out of a two-story window and kick him in the street - would not only allow a crazed man back in the station at all, but then *also* forget to take his keys upon firing him? |
tectactoe
10.27.19 | All which sets up the most cringe-worthy sequence in the film: The Molotov Cocktail firebombing. Patently silly and unnecessary. And although McDonugh goes to painstaking lengths to provide Rockwell's crooked, racist cop with a moral reprieve, it whiffs. Because one act of redemption doesn't exonerate a lifelong alignment of corrupt and malicious intent. (And the way he tries to "skew" Mildred's moral compass, too, by revealing that she has driven drunk with the kids and told her daughter, "I hope you get raped, too!" yields momentary shivers, but retroactively feels kind of cheap and wedged in, like no one can escape the complexities of human imperfection.) Hilarious at times (Harrelson is great) but awkwardly inert at others (McDormand is also great, but she's not well written, and simply swearing a whole lot doesn't automatically translate to humor) with a story that begs us to emotionally acquit a lifetime of evil in lieu of a single good act, effectively downplaying things like racism and police brutality. And for what? To prove that even the most scrupulously repugnant people can exhibit shreds of decency? (When it doesn't impede upon their discriminatory outlook, that is.) Ending was comparatively weak, though I'm not sure where you could've taken it (the friendly "road trip" to Idaho is just dumb, though). And good god, could they not afford someone who knew how to make even a moderately realistic CG deer, or what? (And if not, why bother? All it does is ostensibly give Mildred a reason to regurgitate McDonagh's Godless World Ethos aloud.) It was a decent movie, but nothing to get worked up about.
Grade: C+ |
el_newg
10.28.19 | Thanks for that, I like your analyses. You have a great passion for this, which clearly shows in your writing, but not wanky or pretentious. |
tectactoe
10.28.19 | Thank you, that means a lot. I'm not a professional by any means, just a guy who has enjoyed film and film analysis for a while now, and writing about it helps me justify it as a "hobby" haha. |
tectactoe
10.28.19 | Had high-ish hopes for EL CAMINO as a big 'Breaking Bad' fan but was skeptical on the basis that I think the show pretty much ended precisely where it should've and never once did I feel like I needed *more* 'Breaking Bad'. As such, the film wasn't bad, but is almost entirely pointless, adding very little (if any) depth to Jesse's character and left me with more questions than I had when the series ended. Contains one decent twist and one absolutely idiotic sequence, trying to close on a prophetic note and comes off a bit phony. Should've just left it alone, to be honest: There's no reason for this to exist aside from an attempt to cash in on the intellectual property of a hugely successful TV show. |
Rik VII
10.29.19 | Just stopping by to confirm that Burning is indeed a great film. Peppermint Candy remains my favorite Lee, but it's a well-rounded film. And despite being lengthy, its pacing feels very organic (something I noticed with his other films as well). Very well done. Now I've watched all of his films and they're all at least pretty good (not the biggest fan of Green Fish and Oasis, but even they have their merits). And while I don't LOVE any of them (I prefer some of Bong's films and literally all of Park's Korean-language films over his best), it's a rock solid filmography if I've ever seen one.
Regarding El Camino, there was just no reason why it would exist. It would have been amazing if Vince had somehow pulled it off - it would have been a work of beauty if he had found a way. I - as a pretty huge story-telling nerd - for sure would never have found one. Anyway, most of the conflict in the story is artificially generated by flashbacks, which has always been a rather lame way to introduce plot elements in sequels (the "hey, this character has always been there, we just didn't show you" method). I also agree that it doesn't add any depth to Jesse's character, and the "duel" is just dumb. It has some great scenes though. I thought the way Todd's complete numbness regarding crime and violence was portrayed was actually incredibly well-done. I would have loved to see that in a film where it meant something. Like, anything. Not words from the mouth of a dead person that doesn't have any relevance to the main plot anymore whatsoever. Ah, well. Mediocre film altogether. |
Chortles
10.29.19 | In my book, Lee is easily up there with Park and Bong as far as powerhouse Korean filmmakers go. He may be my favorite of the bunch actually. Regardless, I think they all have very, very strong filmographies and I appreciate how different they are from one another |
EyesWideShut
10.29.19 | Inside Lleywn Davis.. such a good winter movie |
tectactoe
10.29.19 | Rik, your thoughts on EL CAMINO are almost exactly mine. Longer take:
https://letterboxd.com/tectactoe/film/el-camino-a-breaking-bad-movie/ |
Rik VII
10.29.19 | @Chortles: Yeah, as far as the "big 7" current Korean film-makers go (Park Chan-wook, Bong joon-ho, Kim Jee-woon, Lee Chang-dong, Kim Ki-duk, Hong Sang-soo, Na Hong-jin), Lee would be my third favorite, easily. He's special and consistent and his films always convey a lot. He's certainly the most politically relevant of them all. He's just got tough competition. Park is without a doubt my favorite film-maker ever, and Bong is still top 15 or something like that. Lee is one of the great ones for me (like, top 30? 40? don't really know), but those two - I just love their work.
Na hasn't made enough to really say for sure, but so far it's been 2 very strong films against 1 stupid one. And I'm ok with that. He should just ... not do another Yellow Sea, please. Kim Jee-woon is pretty cool but he's gone astray this decade. His recent films have been so empty and bland (albeit well-done and all, but still). He's also never been as inventive/intelligent as most of the others. Kim Ki-duk is the most hit and miss director ever. Hong has some stuff that I really like, but I find him very repetitive and kinda uninteresting. Sometimes very boring, too.
It's an amazing film nation. Probably my favorite to follow currently. It's so small, yet we get a real stunner from there, like, every two years at the very least.
@tec: Will look into it! (Edit: Read it and yup, we basically have the same opinion on that one. I'd give it the same score as well) |
tectactoe
10.29.19 | Strangely enough, of those Big 7 my favorite is probably Hong Sang-soo. I guess that small-scale, intimidate, meditative type of cinema is just my aesthetic. He reminds me of a Korean Eric Rohmer in a lot of ways. |
tectactoe
12.02.19 | Added:
* I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES (Scorsese, 2019) at #64
* KNIVES OUT (Johnson, 2019) at #49
Dropped out:
* HER (Jonze, 2013)
* DARLING (Keating, 2015)
No surprise that Marty's new film makes an appearance. (His second film on this list, the other being THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, ranked slightly lower.) Not at all the apex of his career as some are claiming (this wouldn't even make a Marty Top Five for me), but the fact that he's making films of this quality at this age is a godsend. Felt like a rebuttal to people who've previously condemned him for romanticizing the criminal lifestyle, as there's nothing but doom and gloom stretched over this thing. No need for the epic runtime, honestly; the first two+ hours felt like a more restrained genuflection of both GOODFELLAS and CASINO -- but the final forty-five minutes or so encompass some of Marty and Schoonmaker's best work.
KNIVES OUT, I have to admit, completely took me by surprise. Went into it expecting to hate it, thinking it'd be a flashy, self-important, but ultimately lousy whodunit. I was shocked at how swift and nimble and great the whodunit *actually* is (reminded me of a modern day DIAL M FOR MURDER), but was even more impressed by the political undercurrent and, more than anything, the poignancy achieved during the climax, which nearly brought me to tears. Go see this movie. |
Winesburgohio
12.03.19 | counterpoint regarding The Irishman: I thought the middle section plodded along (although it did need that for it's surprisingly poignant, stab-in-the-heart finale) but my main compunction is the amount of exposition - there was so little mimesis, and Frank's purported personality - his charisma, his brutality, his arc - seemed to coast on previous performances by De Niro rather than offering anything about Frank himself, with the notable exception of the hand-crunching scene. idk. really didn't feel it.
stoked to see knives out tho!!!!!! |
tectactoe
12.03.19 | Don’t disagree with that. Actually, it seems like Scorsese doesn’t care much about Frank at all until Tony Pro shows up. But the film coasts on a handful of delectable scenes, some fun tangents, and an all-around amazing Pesci performance for 160 minutes until we reach the stirring coda. As far as where it ranks among Scorsese’s films for me, though...maybe eighth? Ninth? |
tectactoe
12.03.19 | (Also I am stubbornly refusing to call it THE IRISHMAN since the title card makes it very clear that Scorsese wanted it to be called I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES.) |
Rowan5215
12.03.19 | Knives Out fucking slapped, most fun I've had in a cinema since Spider-verse |
Ryus
12.03.19 | i really was not feelin drive when i saw it. 2 is my 1 though, astounding movie |
Rowan5215
12.03.19 | might be because Drive is fucking garbage? just a thought |
tectactoe
12.03.19 | Wow Rowan, didn't peg you as a DRIVE hater. Thought for sure you were smarter than that... :o) |
Zig
12.03.19 | My Top 7 would be:
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, Roy Andersson, 2014
Cavalo Dinheiro, Pedro Costa, 2014
Amour, Michael Haneke, 2012
The Turin Horse, Bela Tarr, 2011
Ida, Pawel Pawlikowski, 2013
The Hunt, Thomas Vinterberg, 2012
La danza de la realidad, Alejandro Jodorowsky, 2013
|
Deviant.
12.03.19 | I liked Enemy, but I feel like it was one of Villeneuve's minor missteps. Prisoners on the other hand? That film is a masterpiece. Between that and The Prestige I'm reminded that Jackman can actually act from time to time instead of just perform |
Rowan5215
12.03.19 | yeah man, guess I don't have the IQ required to enjoy Drive or whatever. to me it scans like overly stylised, self-indulgent, all-style-no-substance garbage which mistakes loud pop music and jarring bursts of extreme violence for having a point/reason to exist/literally anything to take away from the movie
...but the same goes for every Refn thing I've seen. swear to god I passed out for a week in like 2009 and that dude bought you all off to like him, I just do not understand him |
tectactoe
12.03.19 | I'm just teasing you. Though I agree that everything else he's done is mostly garbage. (VALHALLA RISING was okay, but THE NEON DEMON and especially ONLY GOD FORGIVES are insufferable.)
Dunno. For me, DRIVE struck a perfect balance between aural and visual pleasure that spoke in the absence of heavy dialogue (Gosling, obviously, but Mulligan's facial expressions throughout the film contain more strength than any words could muster), and the arch reminded me heavily the "Man with No Name" persona established by Leone in the late 60s, only revamped to a stylized retro-80s environment instead of the Frontier. Any more exposition or backstory or edification would've ruined the mystique, which is precisely what Refn was going for. I think. I remember walking out of the theater seeing DRIVE for the first time, stunned because I was expecting something like THE ITALIAN JOB and given something completely different.
It helped at that time, too, that Refn hadn't been so far up his own ass yet. Unfortunately he would try to recapture the same magical aura of DRIVE twice afterward and fail miserably. |
ramon.
12.05.19 | Mother! is so fucking good mmm bebyyyy |
tectactoe
12.09.19 | Added:
* MARRIAGE STORY (Baumbach, 2019) at #14
Dropped Out:
* ON THE BEACH ALONE AT NIGHT (Hong, 2017)
That makes three Baumbach features on my decade’s best list now (also: FRANCES HA, MISTRESS AMERICA), though this one is spellbinding in ways that his past work, however funny or honest or endearing, never quite managed. Amazing film, favorite of the year, and one of the best of the decade. |
Ryus
12.09.19 | the trailer did not entice me but im hearing amazing things about marriage story. havent seen any baumbach movies yet so itll be my first |
oltnabrick
12.09.19 | need to see this new adam sandler movie tbh |
Ryus
12.09.19 | lol it looks dope. got my tickets already |
oltnabrick
12.09.19 | it does. 0PN did the soundtrack
kinda crazy tbh |
Ryus
12.09.19 | yeah he did the soundtrack for the directors' other movie too, good time
havent heard it/seen it though |
hal1ax
12.09.19 | hell ya i've always loved 7 and thought it deserved more love. great list. and i still need to check coherence |
oltnabrick
12.09.19 | good time is a great movie tbh
soundtrack is great too |
Rowan5215
12.09.19 | good time fucks |
Gyromania
12.09.19 | I thought inside llewyn davis was pretty w.e. and I love Isaac, but coherence, drive, and enemy are superb. Always wanted to see #1 and your list has convinced me to see it tn |
Gyromania
12.09.19 | And I've been putting off mother because everyone whose opinion I trust on film has said it's over indulgent trash |
Ryus
12.09.19 | "I thought inside llewyn davis was pretty w.e. and I love Isaac"
me too man, maybe i gotta rewatch but it didnt grab me at all |
tectactoe
12.18.19 | RYM list updated:
Added:
* AN ELEPHANT SITTING STILL (Hu, 2018) at #90
Dropped Out:
* LISTEN UP PHILIP (Perry, 2014) |
tectactoe
01.02.20 | RYM list updated:
Added:
• UNCUT GEMS (Safdie, 2019) at #83.
Dropped Out:
• INTERSTELLAR (Nolan, 2014) |
tectactoe
01.06.20 | Finally watched OKJA. Did not love it. |
tectactoe
02.09.20 | Casey Affleck's LIGHT OF MY LIFE added all the way at #4. Not only the best film of 2019 by a walk, but one of the finest films of the entire decade. It is currently streaming on Amazon Prime US, and I urge everyone with access to watch it immediately. |
EphemeralEternity
02.09.20 | Robert Pattison and Adam sandler formidable actors now...makes you wonder to what crazy extent actors merit/worth is determined by their characters |
tectactoe
02.10.20 | Well Sandler proved he had it in him back in ‘02 with PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE imo. (And again with THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES.) Pattinson didn't quite have the pedigree of shittiness that Sandler did, though. Like yeah he was "the Twilight guy" but Sandler had years and years in his portfolio of shitty scat comedy films and whatnot. |
Pheromone
02.10.20 | Sandler's performance in PDL absolutely sold me on the film. Also, in regards to Lighthouse, I enjoyed it a decent bit as an atmosphere, and Defoe was insanely good, but I didn't love it at all other than the ending.
Still think OATIH is my favourite from last year, though that seems to be getting more shit recently. Watched 'I Am Twenty' yesterday and other than the weird girl chase scene I adored it. (idk if this is the film thread anymore, you made too many more lists Tect)
|
tectactoe
02.10.20 | Haha, this is for Films of the past decade (2010-2019), so you're on point ;)
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD is currently my #3 for '19 behind MARRIAGE STORY (#2) and LIGHT OF MY LIFE (#1), the latter of which I highly recommend checking out asap if you have Amazon Prime Video (and are in the US).
My "yearly" lists usually aren't solidified until at least halfway through the following year, since that's when I catch up on all the stuff I didn't catch in theaters. So there's still a chance a lot of my 2019 list will change. But it's hard to imagine anything beating out LIGHT OF MY LIFE, honestly. One of the best films of the decade, easily. |
Pheromone
02.10.20 | I never really make an active enough effort to stay up to date with watching the films of the current year. Too much classic old stuff out there, so that usually takes my priority. Same with music tbh. |
tectactoe
02.10.20 | I hear ya. I try to find a balance between the two - old classics and new releases - if for no other reason than to be able to partake in the discourse. It's easy to talk about old/classic movies as well as "new" movies. But there's a big dead zone for movies that are, like, 3-to-10 years old where no one really wants to discuss them haha. |
tectactoe
02.19.20 | YOUNG AHMED (Dardenne, 2019) added at #35. Crazy that people are getting so up in arms about *this* film, which leads me to believe they're merely picking apart superficial facets rather than actually engaging with the film and what it's trying to say. Anyone who has seen more than one film from the Dardennes will know that they are humanists, through and through, and claiming this film is anti-Muslim, anti-Islam, or even anti-religion are missing the entire point. (And clearly did not see the film's final scene, which makes VERY clear the theme of the film. Almost too clear imo.)
Dropped out: IRRATIONAL MAN (Allen, 2015). Sad to see this go, it's one of Allen's better post-millennium films, second only to MATCH POINT. (Yes I prefer it to MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, which is still really good but also just a modernist revamp of THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO.) |
tectactoe
02.19.20 | Also (finally) saw TOY STORY 4, which was weird. It was my least favorite Toy Story movie for 90 minutes and then (almost) my favorite for the final ten. Though that ending hinges heavily on nostalgia, it still kind of recontextualizes much of what comes before it. But not quite enough for me not to deem TOY STORY 4 my least favorite of the (very strong) series.
As far as Toy Story goes:
2 > 1 >>> 3 > 4
TOY STORY 2 is easily the best thing Pixar has done, imo. |
tectactoe
03.31.20 | Finally saw a few of the Best Picture nominees from 2019 that I was missing:
• 1917 - totally fine, but completely a gimmick. a cool gimmick, at times, and roger deakins is a madman, but the emotional core of the movie is kind of deflated because everything is constantly underpinned by the technical bravura.
• FORD V FERRARI - kind of like FAST AND FURIOUS: DAD EDITION. enjoyed it more than i expected, honestly, but i didn't expect to enjoy it at all. typical overdramatic biopic that is actually more of a "buddy" flick than a "car/racing" flick, both to its advantage and detriment at times. also no reason for this to be 2.5 hours long.
• JOJO RABBIT - legitimately one of the worst films i've ever seen. |
tectactoe
03.31.20 | none of them come close to cracking the top 100, as unfortunately expected. |
Pheromone
03.31.20 | Haha I’m certain Jojo is shit - need to watch it. I’m interested in watching the new(ish) Chris Morris movie though that’s meant to be nothing special |
ramon.
04.01.20 | what's your rationale behind that jojo assessment, tect? haven't seen it and didn't plan on it but now i'm curious! |
tectactoe
04.01.20 | Here's what I wrote about it. Not much, but I couldn't waste anymore time on this hunk of crap:
Repulsive. Not because it applies a satirical, slapstick framework to one of the world’s most tragically gruesome realities, but because it’s so dreadfully unfunny. And, sure, that lack of (what I consider) humor feels exponentially heavier when unfolding in such a prickly context, but this brand of skittish, cutesy, self-consciously reflexive “comedy” wouldn’t be funny regardless of the subject matter. Parody that openly betroths incompetence as a forerunning component is very, very difficult to employ with unfaltering success—hence why great, purely comedic films in the vein of e.g. THIS IS SPINAL TAP are so few and far between—and right from the get-go, with the obnoxious Hitler-as-imaginary-friend pep talk, I knew this would be a slog: Loaded with sub-SNL jokes and devoid of anything remotely approaching cleverness. Worse yet, the biggest emotional bid (re Jojo’s mother) is so haphazardly jutted into the obliques of this squeamish caricaturing that it registers as entirely arbitrary, coming off as more of an obligatory “well, we can’t make a WWII film without some monumental scene of knee-buckling sadness” than something earned and truly felt. Others will argue that that’s not intended to be the film’s emotional core anyway, which is fine, but the alternative is: A misguided boy, dangerously misled by propaganda, slowly comes to the realization that Nazis are horrible, horrible people. Nothing wrong with that had it been appropriately handled, but between the interstitial, increasingly inane talks with (the always peppy) fake-Hitler and the carousel of other never ending cartoons like e.g. Fraulein Rahm and Captain Klenzendorf and Yorki always poking and prodding as obvious counterpoints to the ridiculous nature of Nazism amplified to the nth degree, I can’t possibly consider Jojo’s trajectory as anything but a blatantly transparent destination for this dumpster fire to finally conclude. How the fuck was this even considered as possibly the best released film of 2019? |
ramon.
04.01.20 | that's pretty stellar writing haha, kudos for finding a way to weasel spinal tap into it. sounds like a conceptual waste. a shame. i feel like hitler and nazi germany are probably a comedy goldmine just waiting for the right writers. maybe. seems like ill be passing on it. |
tectactoe
04.01.20 | Appreciate it. But yeah, in short: Don't waste your time!!! |
Winesburgohio
04.01.20 | tec: i love u |
tectactoe
04.02.20 | you kno i love u too bb |
Pheromone
04.07.20 | Someone rec me a film in the vein of Yi Yi, ISABD & End of Evangelion - something to blow my balls off pls |
tectactoe
04.08.20 | • THE COOK THE THIEF HIS WIFE & HER LOVER (1989)
• TRUST (1990)
• LA BELLE NOISEUSE (1991)
• THE RIVER (1997)
• GERRY (2002)
• THREE TIMES (2005)
• THE TURIN HORSE (2013) |
tectactoe
05.14.20 | You can add PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE to the list of "critical darlings that are totally fine but hardly superlative or fresh in nearly any capacity, and at least partially hamstrung by their strenuous efforts to bridge the gap between wide accessibility and true art-house" films.
Don't miss it, surely, but don't get your hopes up, either. |
Zorg
05.15.20 | I also didn't like Jojo Rabbit and I understand what you're saying, but that's some top notch purple prose that you wrote. |
tectactoe
05.15.20 | I will take that as a compliment and so thank you very much. |
Winesburgohio
05.15.20 | hmm don't see ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL here despite my repeated entreaties must be some kind of error on your end |
tectactoe
05.15.20 | I swear to god it's in the queue. It just so happens that the queue is several hundred films long. I promise, I will see it within the next few months.
Finishing up Hayao Miyazki's filmography right now (never was a huge fan but figured I owed it to cinephiles everywhere to rank the canon) and will move on to either completing Guy Maddin or Hou Hsiao-hsien (maybe both) afterward.
I'll squeeze it in somewhere! |
tectactoe
05.15.20 | Speaking of incessant recommendations, have you watched HISTORY IS MADE AT NIGHT yet ?!?!?! |
Winesburgohio
05.15.20 | what STAFF giveth they can taketh away you recalcitrant / yes and i really liked it despite misgivings that occur in your head - but not your heart. great film.
oh man i really like Miyazaki, not sure if we've discussed this but if his better known ones don't capture you try his lesser-acclaimed ones. then again me and my brother were talking about our top 5 scenes in cinema and the train scene in Spirited Away was on both of ours, that Doppler effect is so haunting and poignant |
tectactoe
05.15.20 | The only Miyazaki I haven't seen at this point in time is CASTLE IN THE SKY, which I will probably watch within the next few days.
I should clarify, I don't hate the guy (nor his films) at all, but I wouldn't toss him in the realm of 'superlative filmmaker', either. Superlative animator - absolutely. But in totality, he falters because his skills as a narrative storyteller are too weak by comparison. And, paradoxically, the zanier he gets, the more I rescind, and I find stuff like SPIRITED AWAY aesthetically rapturous but conceptually tiresome.
I don't outright detest anything by him (though I'm not a big fan of MONONOKE or PONYO) but a large chunk of his filmography ends up in the slightly-favorable-to-middling area.
My two favorites are PORCO ROSSO (#1) and THE CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO. |
tectactoe
07.31.20 | Updated the full list here:
https://rateyourmusic.com/list/tectactoe/top-100-films-of-the-2010s/
Added: FIRST COW (Reichardt, 2019) at #46.
Dropped out: THE HANDMAIDEN (Park, 2016) |
Pheromone
08.01.20 | Cannot believe Spirited Away only gets landed in the slightly-favourable-to-middling area of Miyazaki. I love Porco Rosso but it's a bit flat to warrant it being my favourite. |
Winesburgohio
08.01.20 | dude have u seen the room lol CLASSIC film and i am a genious and hilarious for suggesting it / it's time for Me and Earl and the Dying Girl bb would i purposefully lead you astray (don't answer that) |
tectactoe
08.02.20 | Hype is a dangerous thing, and possibly the reason for my ambivalence when I first saw SPIRITED AWAY many years ago after having heard it lauded as one of the - if not THE - greatest animated film of all time. Though a second viewing more recently didn't really change my opinion on it, but that was during a Miyazaki binge so maybe I was suffering from a bit of battle fatigue. I just can't get into the guy's films same as everyone else and I'm not sure why. PORCO is the one major exception for reasons I think I attempted to defend in my Miyazaki Ranked list.
Wines - downloading it as we speak. |
Pheromone
08.02.20 | I get the thought process and I have a similar thing with Wes Anderson where his more subdued works are my favourites. Just hard to comprehend |
