Can you believe I've stayed faithful to this blog for over 10 years? I started reviewing movies, books, and TV shows on here (mostly movies) in March of 2011, when I was 25 years old! Since then, I have provided a review of nearly every movie I've seen! I know for a fact that some have slipped through the cracks, but I'd wager that I've reviewed 90-95% of the movies I've seen this past decade. Since I have 401 entries, and some entries are batched reviews, that's probably around 500-550 movies reviewed!
And only a small percent of those movies stay with me. I've decided to rank my top 11 movies (I like to do top 11s, rather than top 10s) since 2011, as well as some honorable mentions.
The rules for this list are:
- The must be movies, not TV shows or books
- They must have actually been released in 2011-present
- These are not necessarily "the best" movies of the past decade, they are simply my favorites.
With that said, here is the list:
11) The Lobster
Imagine if Wes Anderson directed a horror movie. It would probably be something like Yorgos Lanthimos' The Lobster, a bizarre, deadpan film that takes place in a world where people are required to be coupled up. If you become single, through death or divorce, you have 45 days to find a new partner or you will be turned into an animal of your choosing.
Colin Farrell plays David, a man who goes to a hotel where singles live until they find a mate. They have the option of hunting down people who have left the hotel to live (as singles) in the woods...they shoot these people with tranquilizers and drag them back to the hotel where they will be transformed into an animal. You get one extra day per person you shoot. David soon realizes he would rather join the singletons in the woods...but he finds a strange conundrum when he falls in love with another woods-dwelling singleton (Rachel Weisz)...and according to the rules of the singles in the woods, you cannot fall in love.
I love how The Lobster, like Lanthimos' other films, feels like a magical realism fairytale. I also like what it says about our culture and how it often pits singles against couples, while maintaining unspoken rules for both groups that don't allow for nuance. Despite the inherent goofiness of the premise of The Lobster, the film is dark as hell and contains one of the most heart-breaking depictions of dog death I have ever seen on screen, and I strongly warn anyone who hates when dogs die in movies to avoid this one like the plague.
10) Green Room
I kind of went back and forth as to whether Jeremy Saulnier's Nazi vs. punk thriller Green Room should be ranked higher or lower than The Lobster, and I decided that it edged out Lanthimos' film since Green Room is more rewatchable.
Starring the late Anton Yelchin and Alia Shawkat (and others) as members of a punk band who take a gig at a rural Oregon bar frequented by Neo-Nazis, Green Room quickly descends into a life-and-death situation when the band stumbles upon a freshly committed murder in the titular green room. The Nazis hold the band captive while they ask their leader, Darcy (an excellent, chilling Patrick Stewart, using his polite British accent to great effect here), what to do.
Green Room may not be the most memorable film of the past decade, but I really, really love it. It's a tight thriller with excellent acting that will keep you on the edge of your seat, even if you know what's coming.
9) Moonrise Kingdom
The Grand Budapest Hotel gets most of the glory as Wes Anderson's best "recent" movie, but in my mind it pales in comparison to Moonrise Kingdom, which contains so much heart. Granted, I saw it a few weeks before I moved from Tennessee to Virginia, leaving a boyfriend behind and starting a new job. That kind of life disruption will make you sentimental for sure, and Moonrise, which is about childhood innocence and how everyone must lose that innocence, hit me right in the guts.
Between the quirky soundtrack, the soulful performances, and the signature Anderson color palate, Moonrise Kingdom does what Anderson does best: creates a colorful wonderland somewhere just outside of our reality, where people still have problems, but the world is somehow gentler. I rank it among Anderson's best films, alongside Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums.
8) Lady Bird
I love a good coming-of-age movie, and Lady Bird feels especially close to home because the character is one year older than me. Saoirse Ronan's self-named Lady Bird is set to graduate high school in 2003, and I graduated in 2004. Lady Bird dates a (closeted) gay guy and I was super into an (out) gay guy in high school and went to the prom with a (different) gay guy. Lady Bird cries to Dave Matthews Band's "Crash Into Me", which was one of my favorite songs in high school.
Director Greta Gerwig captures both the humor and sadness of growing up and going to college. The film really feels lived in and authentic. It also stars a bevy of talented young actors, including the aforementioned Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein, and Lucas Hedges...not to mention and wonderful, lovely performance by Laurie Metcalf as Lady Bird's mother.
Truly, this is a warm, funny, affectionate ode to growing up.
7) Magic Mike
"The Citizen Kane of male stripper movies", Magic Mike probably pleasantly surprised as many people as it inevitably disappointed. Those who went in thinking that would see a shallow but entertaining film filled wall-to-wall with tight asscheeks were probably surprised (and maybe peeved) that the film bait-and-switches us into a drama about male friendship and how you should stay away from drugs. However, those, like me, expecting a shallow, but entertaining film who got, you know, a good fucking movie, were probably pretty excited to have our low expectations met and raised.
To be fair, the ideal way to watch Magic Mike is as if it's the first part of a two-part series alongside Magic Mike XXL, which is also a good movie that gives the audience what it wanted in the first place: MORE MAN ASS. However, if you ask me which movie I think is just the better movie, it's the original. Very funny and surprisingly heartfelt, the movie is more about Mike's (Channing Tatum) relationship with Adam "The Kid" (Alex Pettyfer), a young guy with no direction in life whom Mike takes under his wing as a newbie male stripper.
Magic Mike does have man butt in it, as well as many laughs, but there is a surprisingly dark current running underneath all the fun and tequila body shots. The sequel, Magic Mike XXL, does away with that dark current entirely and is just plain fun. But I do think the darkness is what gives the original Magic Mike a certain weight and is the difference between "fun" and "good".
6) The Love Witch
Written, directed, produced, edited, and scored by Anna Biller, The Love Witch is one of the most unique films I've seen, well, ever. Filmed in eye-popping technicolor, it recalls movies of the 60s and 70s, even though it takes place in an ambiguous present day (even though the characters dress like it's the 60s, we see modern cars in the background...I think the film is purposefully anachronistic in the same way It Follows is).
Samantha Robinson plays Elaine, a young woman who calls herself a Love Witch. Her goal in life is to be in love and she has some very retro ideas about gender roles...she tells her friend, Trish, that you need to care for your man, spoil him, indulge him, cook for him, etc...and in exchange you'll get what every woman secretly desires the most: love.
But don't let Elaine's attitude fool you into thinking this is an anti-feminist film. Elaine goes on to seduce and, inadvertently, kill many men in her selfish quest for love. She feeds professor Wayne a potion that causes him to fall so deeply in love with Elaine that she is turned off by his clingy behavior and leaves him, causing him to die of heartbreak (or maybe poison...). Another man kills himself after realizing he can't be with Elaine. And a third is straight-up stabbed by Elaine.
Even though Elaine is obsessed with men and thinks women should serve them, she also sees men primarily as interchangeable objects to be manipulated and discarded as she sees fit. The Love Witch is just a fun, weird horror-comedy-satire. It defies categories and conventions. It's also incredibly pretty to look at.
5) Bridesmaids
Bridesmaids is definitely one of the best comedies of the past decade. It had a lot of expectations weighing on its shoulders and it rose to the challenge. Starring Kristen Wiig as maid of honor Annie who ends up competing with glamorous Helen (Rose Byrne) to be closest to mutual friend and bride Lillian (Maya Rudolph), Bridesmaids has so many iconic moments: "This is a very strict plane", Rudolph shitting in the street, and every word or action to come from Melissa McCarthy's breakout role as the strange and gregarious Megan.
Wiig was never my favorite SNL performer, but she is so perfect here as the vulnerable, jealous Annie. She elicits so much sympathy as the down-to-earth (read: poor) single friend who is scared of losing Lillian not just to marriage, but to rich Helen who has the money to do things like treat Lillian to a trip to Paris. The bridal shower freakout that the Paris trip induces in Annie is both cringey and, on some level, deeply understandable. And what's great about Bridesmaids is that is both holds Annie accountable for her bullshit while also giving her a chance for redemption--which she takes.
It's such a good-hearted, dirty-mouthed movie. And someone once told me that I reminded them of Annie, "only you're much less of a mess". Thank you...?!
4) Get Out
Get Out seemed to come out of nowhere. Released in February 2017 (Feb is infamous as a dumping ground for shitty films), I had seen a preview for it a few months earlier and thought "this could be really good...or awful".
It turns out that Get Out would be one of the most zeitgeisty films of the past decade. Of all the movies on this list, I think this one deserves to be remembered and revisited the most.
Jordan Peele's horror movie about white liberals who prey on Black people stars an electric Daniel Kaluuya in his breakout movie role. Who can forget those crying eyes as he sinks into the Sunken Place? Kaluuya plays Chris, who is meeting his girlfriend, Rose's (Allison Williams in a excellent villain role), parents for the first time. At first, parents Dean (Bradley Whitford) and Missy (Catherine Keener) seem to be typical awkward white Boomers who proclaim their love of Barack Obama. But after a bizarre party filled with white older people and one young Black dude (Lakeith Stanfield) who is inexplicably married to an older white woman, Chris starts thinking that something is just not right.
Turns out, Rose's family has developed a surgery where you can implant someone's brain into another person's body. White people are paying for the privilege of having their brains put in the bodies of young, Black people. Why Black people? Because they're cool! They're athletic, sexy, and...well, some of them won't be missed.
Get Out is an excellent allegory about how white people fetishize and feel entitled to Black people's bodies. Even so-called liberals do this, bragging about their love of Black culture and music, and by dating Black people not because they love the person, but because there is liberal cred in doing so.
Race relations in America continues to be a thorny topic and white people's unwillingness to have difficult conversations and admit that they could learn to be less racist costs actual lives of Black people. Peele's film contributes to the conversation through the medium of horror, which is an excellent platform for exploring taboo subjects.
3) Midsommar
I think I've spent more money on this film than any other one on this list: I saw it three times in the theatre, and actually bought a fourth ticket to see a midnight showing of it and then didn't go when the person I was going to go with backed out. Then I rented it. So I probably spent like $55 in the pursuit of watching this film.
To me, Midsommar is as near to perfect as a movie can get. The acting is excellent, the plot is fascinating, the film balances dread and humor while also throwing in the occasional gut-punch. I feel that while Ari Aster's Hereditary was a great, dread-inducing horror film, Midsommar is his magnum opus.
Florence Pugh plays Dani, a graduate student who loses her entire family in tragic murder/suicide. Dani's boyfriend, Christian (Jack Reynor, excellent in a role designed to make you loathe him) clearly wants to break up with her but can't bring himself to do it in the wake of the tragedy. So when Christian and his fellow anthropology students, Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren), Josh (William Jackson Harper), and Mark (Will Poulter), plan a trip to Pelle's native Sweden and specifically to the commune where he grew up to witness once-in-a-lifetime midsummer rituals, Dani invites herself along much to everyone's (except Pelle's) chagrin.
Although the Harga people are all smiles and welcoming words, it becomes pretty clear that they are a cult. A turning point in the movie is when Dani, Christian, and Josh witness an attestupa ceremony where two older members of the community commit ritualized suicide. Not only is this the most violent scene in the movie, it's the point where Dani has had enough and wants to leave. But Pelle convinces her to stay.
I love how people argue about whether the movie has a "happy" ending or not. The ending suggests that while all the other outsiders will die, Dani will be integrated into the cult. We don't know this for sure, but given that Pelle clearly wants to put his D in Dani and she also won the May Queen competition, I'm thinking that with enough brainwashing and love-bombing, Dani will fit right the fuck in. The question is: is this fate better than Dani going back to America and being completely alone in a culture that couldn't give a fuck about her? Is it worth losing your freedom to gain love (or "love") from a group that wants you? Maybe the real horror is that Dani is fucked either way. She may survive, and she may even thrive amongst the Harga...but it wasn't her choice to do so in the first place.
Midsommar is haunting, devastating, yet still has enough moments of levity to not be a true bummer. It's one of my favorite horror movies, and indeed, one of my favorite movies of all time.
2) The Duke of Burgundy
In addition to The Love Witch, The Duke of Burgundy is one of the most unique film I've seen. Directed by Peter Strickland and starring Sidse Babett Knudsen and Chiara D'Anna, the film takes place in world without men or children. There are only women, so the relationship between the two leads, who play Cynthia and Evelyn, cannot be called a lesbian relationship since there is no such thing as heterosexuality.
Additionally, the location or decade is never made clear. One can guess that it takes place in a European country in the late 60s perhaps, based on accents and contextual clues, but by allowing the film to be ambiguous, Strickland has stripped away all of the markers that guide us to make assumptions about relationships.
Cynthia and Evelyn are in a Dom/sub relationship, where Cynthia (Knudsen) is the Dominant who directs Evelyn (D'Anna) to clean her house, shine her boots, and wash her panties. However, it is revealed that actually Evelyn is running the show by writing detailed directions for Cynthia to follow. Cynthia does so out of love and devotion for Evelyn even though what she really wants to do is hold Evelyn and tell her how much she loves her (Evelyn prefers Cynthia to tell her how bad she is, so that Evelyn can furiously masturbate to Cynthia's words of disappointment and disgust).
Even though this film is weird in so many ways, I see it as a fairly accurate depiction of how BDSM relationships need to be negotiated and navigated. One issue is that Evelyn needs Cynthia to stick to the script in order to be satisfied, even though Cynthia is struggling to maintain her dominant persona. There are so many funny scenes in this movie, such as when Cynthia decides to truly dominate Evelyn by forcing her to bake a cake on her (Evelyn's) birthday and then Cynthia, wearing comfy pajamas instead of her sexy lingerie, which Evelyn prefers, eats the cake in front of her. Basically, Evelyn only wants to be dominated in ways that get her off, not caring about Cynthia's preferences.
Happily, the women work it out. In addition to the plot (I love a good S&M movie), the soundtrack is gorgeous and the cinematography and costumes are strikingly beautiful. This is such a dreamy, different film and I love showing it to people. (Maybe not my parents, tho).
1) Call Me By Your Name
Despite Armie Hammer being revealed to be a sex cannibal, I will not let his presence ruin Call Me By Your Name, which is one of the most gorgeous, poignantly acted, sexy, sweet, sad, and soulful movies ever to grace the silver screen. I will DIE on the CMBYN hill!
Based on the novel by Andre Aciman, CMBYN follows 17 year old Elio (Timothee Chalamet in his breakout--and best--role), the only child of a professor of archaeology (Michael Stuhlbarg, playing one of the warmest fathers in film history). Elio and his parents spend their summers in Italy so that Professor Perlman can work. Perlman always has a graduate student help him, and this summer the lucky candidate is Oliver (Armie Hammer, pretty good in this role, but also miscast), a 24 year old American graduate student.
Yes, Elio and Oliver fuck. But it's a long, slow journey as the two dance around each other (sometimes literally) and test the waters before even kissing. Now, some people find this film "problematic" because of the age difference, and that's legit, even though the age of consent in Italy is (a kind of concerning) 14. Also, while Oliver makes a pass at Elio early on, he backs off when Elio pulls away from him...only for Elio to be the one to initiate the rest of their encounters. I mean, some people are not going to be ok with this and I truly think that if Oliver was played by an actor who was actually 24 and looked it, people wouldn't bat an eye (not only is Armie Hammer a creep IRL, he was 30 years old and looked even older when he was cast in this movie...I think that was a bad choice on the Luca Guadagnino's (the director) part, although Luca explicitly stated he wanted to cast someone who would feel like an unattainable god to Elio).
So you're either in for the ride or you aren't. The reason I love CMBYN so much is the acting, mostly on Chalamet's part. The young actor 100% carries this movie on his slim shoulders. His performance is so intensely authentic that it kind of blew my mind. All complaints about Hammer aside, the two men really play off of each other very well and have pretty insane chemistry on screen. I admit that I find gay cinema to be the best cinema and my long history of loving movies about gay men in particular definitely plays a role in how much I love this movie, but I feel like there is something undeniably lovely and tender and intimate about this film.
CMBYN's screenplay was written by James Ivory, who also directed A Room with a View and Maurice, which are movies based on books by E.M. Forster. Forster's books are deeply humane and are about the importance of love--not shallow love, but the love you feel when you are seen for who you really are. I see a lot of similarities between those books, their movie adaptations, and Call Me By Your Name--the book and the adaptation. There is a quiet feeling of introspection, a deep sense of empathy, and an open-heartedness that manages to be painfully earnest without being overly sentimental. I don't know what the secret spice is, but I fucking want more of it.
If you haven't seen CMBYN, especially if you're put off either by Hammer's presence or by the age difference thing, I implore you to give it a chance and see how you feel. There might be something in there that you will be glad you didn't miss.
***
Honorable Mentions
Here are all the movies I have loved over the past 10 years that just didn't make it to the top:
It Follows
Her
Bernie
12 Years a Slave
Carol
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Lighthouse
Bo Burnham's Inside
Blow the Man Down
The Sound of Metal
Gone Girl
Parasite
Wild
Brooklyn
First Reformed
The Conjuring
The Wolf of Wall Street
Promising Young Woman
The Invitation
Nymphomaniac, vols. 1 and 2
Killer Joe
The Cabin in the Woods
For a Good Time, Call...
Sorry to Bother You
...and many, many more!
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