Best of the 2010s: Top 10

Every month I've been focusing on a particular genre of film and count down the 10 Best of the Decade from that genre. This will, ultimately, lead to a 100 Best list, which will be released in a few days, along with my picks for the Worst of the Decade. In addition to this, our podcast, The Movie Lovers, has had a corresponding segment monthly during the Film Faves portion of the show wherein we count down our favorite films.

We've gone through quite the list of genres over the past several months. So, this week, after taking a hiatus in December to focus on wrapping up 2019 and consider as many movies as possible, we are finally counting down the 10 Best Movies of the Decade!

10. Inside Out (2015)

Pixar has made some of the greatest animated movies of all time: The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, WALL-E, and Up. They had somewhat of a rough decade, focusing on sequels and producing work below their standards. They managed to produce one really good movie (Coco) and two masterpieces. The best of them is Inside Out, a movie that anthropomorphizes emotions while also helping us understand our own. Amy Poehler plays Joy, a bouncy and likeable emotion that, it turns out, keeps shutting out its greatest ally: Sadness (a tremendous Phyllis Smith). The third act revelations about the two are nothing short of extraordinary when one realizes how much American animation tends to fear sadness. In a time when so much of our sadness leads to tragedy in our country, Inside Out offers a salve to help heal its youth and a path towards understanding and acceptance of our feelings and, possibly, even wellness.

 9. The Act of Killing (2013)

The Act of Killing may be the decade’s greatest documentary. It sets out to do two things: 1) interview a couple of executioners about their experiences during the massive Indonesian genocide of 1965 where over 1 million supposed communists were interrogated and slaughtered and 2) have said executioners act out their experiences and the experiences of the victims for the camera in any film style they wish. What is documented is nothing short of extraordinary. We witness men responsible for thousands of atrocities admit to those atrocities and even feel consequences of their actions. We also witness them shake down Chinese business owners for money.

The Act of Killing exposes a part of history that our country was complicit in during the Cold War, but that is never talked about. But here it isn’t just talked about it is reenacted by those responsible. That is brilliant and absolutely unforgettable.

8. Boyhood (2014)

Boyhood did six years ago what The Irishman is currently being praised for doing – and did it better. Like The Irishman, Boyhood seeks to capture a period of someone’s life. We watch as characters age over time. The length of the movie nears three hours, so we feel like we’ve spent years with these characters. The difference is Boyhood didn’t use any digital trickery.

Boyhood was actually filmed over 12 years to depict 12 years of its characters’ lives. So, we see Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Ellar Coltrane, and Lorelei Linklater actually get older on screen. What’s more is Boyhood is actually an affecting film full of moments in our lives that make up our experiences during our formative years. The end result is a beautiful portrait of adolescence, family, and growing up.

7. Under the Skin (2014)

Back in 2014 when I first saw Under the Skin I couldn’t shake it. It was a head-scratcher that I didn’t know what to make of at first. But it got under my skin and wouldn’t leave me. It’s since become one of the decade’s most underrated and greatest pieces of science fiction. It lacks the thrills and adventure one typically finds in science fiction. It lacks dynamic dramatics and emotional beats one may expect in many backdrop sci-fi films.

Under the Skin is deliberate, slowly paced, and extremely easy to underestimate. Those patient enough to stick with it are rewarded with a film that would fit perfectly in the #MeToo movement to come. The 2010s was a decade full of change for women with regard to representation, body positivity, and sexuality.

Under the Skin may be the think piece the decade didn’t know it needed.

6. 12 Years a Slave (2013)

Steve McQueen made one of the most powerful films of the decade. It’s also one of the most challenging in how difficult it is to watch. Our country has a propensity towards hiding or ignoring its past horrors. Even now, you, dear reader, may have an instinctual reaction to this film as one you don’t want to see again or have avoided because of its reputation. In 2013 McQueen challenged that instinct in the theater by making audiences experience the life of a slave in very real ways that have never been done before. Audiences were forced to sit and watch as Solomon Northup (a breathtaking Chiwetel Ejiofor) hung by a rope, his toes dabbing the mud for dear life as life went on around him (children playing, slaves doing their chores, etc.) all afternoon until his owner (Benedict Cumberbatch) finds him and quickly cuts him down.

Audiences were forced to confront the absolute hopelessness of a man having a life one day and being abducted from that life the next with no willing ear to save him from torture and abuse. This is not just another movie about slavery. This is a film about the injustices and cruelty that one man experienced for 12 whole years – and a system that enabled it. Crazy to think those systems still exist today in the form of trafficking…

5. Arrival (2016) 

At its core Denis Villeneuve’s film Arrival is about two things: 1) how essential it is to take the time to communicate with those who are different from us (be it nations, races, or, in this case, aliens) and 2) the question of whether you would make a life-changing choice if you knew that choice would cause you great pain in the future.

Arrival balances personal conflict with global conflict. It does so under the guise of a very intelligent First Contact story. On top of that the film is absolutely visually stunning with a haunting score by Johann Johannsson and a script by Eric Heisserer (Lights Out, Bird Box) that deserves to be considered among the most intelligent of sci-fi writing. It is an unforgettable film thanks to Villeneuve’s ability to bring all of these elements together and coax a remarkable performance out of Amy Adams.

4. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) 

There are very few films this decade as iconic as Fury Road. This film shouldn’t work. It’s a sequel of sorts to a series whose last entry was 30 years prior. You had a young new talent (Tom Hardy) taking over an iconic role that made Mel Gibson famous. Add on top of that production troubles that caused filming to change continents.

Fury Road should have been, at best, an entertaining blip on the pop culture radar. It became so much more than that.

Fury Road became a feminist manifesto in a time when women were beginning to speak louder against the gender pay gap and body shaming imagery. It came at a perfect time and arguably helped move the needle forward towards the #TimesUp movement. I mean, it’s a film about women breaking free from the bonds of an old white man! C’mon! If it takes a few more years in real life for the patriarchy to fall, we at least could relish in its destruction in this post-apocalyptic tale.

3. Inception (2010) 

Inception is the most influential pop sci-fi film of the decade. I think, nearly 10 years later, most people forget that and how ingeniously executed it really is. The climax, which cuts between reality and three levels of dreams, is nearly balletic in its ability to bounce with intensity and clarity between all the action that is going on simultaneously in every set piece. It is truly remarkable. Add to that the incredible intelligence behind the story, its themes, and characters and you have a masterpiece that is one stroke of genius after another. Nolan has yet to top it since.

2. Her (2013)

You’re heard the word ‘masterpiece’ mentioned a time or two in this post – and when you’re talking about the best of roughly 8,000 theatrically-released movies you better be talking about the absolute cream of the crop. Well, this pick for the second-best film of the decade is no exception. I’ve praised it as the best love story of the decade. It was one of my picks for the best sci-fi films of the decade. It is one of only a couple films to be mentioned on more than one list in this series of articles. And that is because every single aspect of this film is perfect. The performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson are remarkable. The story absolutely works on multiple levels. And it is one of the most beautiful films created in the past 10 years. Check out my previous remarks on the film – or, better yet, do yourself a favor and watch this film and remind yourself of what a great film looks like.

1. The Social Network (2010) 

The Social Network is the only film in the nearly 10 years of The Gibson Review that has been given a 10/10. In that review, which I called The Social Network the Next Great American Film, I wrote, with regard to Facebook’s significance, “On a cultural level it’s bigger and influential in ways we may not fully understand for years,” and “knowledge is power and Facebook gives us a lot of knowledge about each other.” That became truer than I could have imagined – or, at least, it gave Facebook and any interested parties, a lot of knowledge about us. There have since been hearings on privacy issues and even the likelihood of an entire election being manipulated by foreign entities via Facebook.

The Social Network is prescient. It defined an era of the moment and a decade that followed. Not to mention, it has an incredible minimalist score by Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor, a career-high performance by Jesse Eisenberg, star-making performances by Andrew Garfield, Armie Hammer, and Rooney Mara, an extraordinary script by Aaron Sorkin, and direction that gave David Fincher the best reviews of his career.

There are a lot of films that we’ve seen since The Social Network back in the fall of 2010. But none were compared to one of cinema’s gold standards, Citizen Kane, like this film was. Like that seminal classic, The Social Network was not crowned Best Picture. And it might still be underrated by the average moviegoer. But make no mistake: The Social Network is one of the greatest films ever made and will be remembered as such by cinephiles in time.

Honorable Mentions... keep an eye out for the next and final piece in the Best of the 2010s series: The 100 Best and 10 Worst.

What do you think are the 10 best of the decade? Comment below.

Be sure to also check out the upcoming episode of The Movie Lovers where we look back on the decade as a whole. That will be available Tuesday, 1/21.