Eric’s Best of the Decade: The 2010’s

Franchise of the Decade:              The MCU–  23 movies, all successful and for the most part all good culminating in the biggest and most profitable movie of all time, at least for the time being. This is still a very healthy franchise which is now shifting in a new direction, but for the past decade the MCU just delivered and delivered top notch entertaining films. 

honorable mentions:  Fast & the Furious, Star Wars

Action film of the Decade:            John Wick– This is also a comeback of sorts for Keanu Reeves. The first of 3 very well-made action films with some of the best choreographed fighting and action sequences you’ll ever see.

honorable mentions: Mad Max Fury Road, Kingsman: The Secret Service

Musical of the Decade:                  Les Miserables– It seems that every musical has been made into a movie and many work and some don’t. I’m singling Les Mis out because the movie captured the iconic Broadway show in scale and in quality more than any other adaptation in the 2010s.

honorable mentions: La La Land, Sing Street

Animated Film of the Decade:    The LEGO Movie– I’ll never get over the Oscar snub, so I’m going to honor it as the best animated film of the decade. It was original, funny and everything was just awesome about it. It also launched the beginning of a new franchise of animated LEGO films, good or bad.

honorable mentions: Wreck-it-Ralph, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse, Zootopia

The Comedy of the Decade:        Bridesmaids– Now I happen to think that Melissa McCarthy’s follow-up movie, The Heat was funnier, but you can’t deny the impact that Bridesmaids had on future female driven comedy projects.

honorable mentions: The Other Guys, Horrible Bosses, Spy

The Horror film of the Decade:   Get Out– Originality is key here. It’s more of a hybrid than anything that plays like a Twilight Zone episode. It took everybody by surprise and was a financial & critical success.

honorable mentions: The Conjuring, It Follows, Halloween

Reboot of the Decade:                   Mad Max Fury Road/Jurassic World (TIE)- Did anybody expect a Mad Max reboot or one that was going to be this good? An incredibly entertaining and mind-blowing time at the show which introduced Charlize Theron’s Furiosa to the screen. I also don’t think anybody was looking for Universal’s Hail Mary attempt at bringing back dinosaurs after a tepid Jurassic Park 3 more than a decade ago to be as successful as it was. Jurassic World delivered and then some.

Musical Bio Pic of the Decade:    Love and Mercy– The made some good ones, but this one I thought was the best capturing 2 very different stages of Brian Wilson played by 2 separate actors (Eric Dano, John Cusack) . I especially enjoyed the relationship with Wilson and Melissa Ledbetter (Elizabeth Banks.

honorable mentions: Straight Outa Compton, Rocketman & only the LIVE AID scene from Bohemian Rhapsody

Sci- Fi Film of the Decade:            Inception– I chose this title because it’s a mind blower. With all its layers, creative storytelling and imagery & a terrific cast this is a movie to watch over and over again just so you can keep learning from it because there is so much there. It’s a very complicated film, but if you stay with it, it’s quite a ride.

honorable mentions: Snowpiercer, Interstallar

Drama of the Decade:                    Boyhood– A controversial choice because you either loved it or hated it. I thought it was brilliantly made and extremely well written. I enjoyed getting to know this family over the course of a decade despite having to watch Patricia Arquette’s character make the same mistakes over and over. The kids are great, but I especially liked Ethan Hawke’s role as the dad who’s choices were as suspect as the mom’s but they were always there for the kids.

honorable mentions:      The Social Network, The Big Short

Crime/heist film of the decade: Drive– The movie is driven by Ryan Gosling’s quiet confident role as the driver who gets involved too deep. You also get a very menacing performance by Albert Brooks, of all people. It’s really a quiet film but with some very loud tense moments.

honorable mentions: Hell or High Water, End of Watch, The Town.

Sports film of the Decade:            Moneyball– There weren’t a whole lot of great sports movies this past decade. I remember a ton of great ones in the 90s and 2000s, but only a few stand out to me from the past 10 years. I chose Moneyball because I’ve probably seen it the most because I’m a big baseball fan and I like the subject matter. I still think the whole concept is BS when you have a killer pitching staff like the A’s did, but they executed it well and I loved Brad Pitt’s portrayal of Billy Beane.

honorable mentions:  Draft Day, 42, Creed

War film of the Decade:                1917– Maybe because I just saw this a couple days ago, but this movie really is the “goods”. It’s filled with incredibly tense moments and tells a harrowing war story that isn’t gory or excessively violent. It breezes by and you’ll be exhausted afterwards. Not many movies have been made during WWI and this is a good one. honorable mentions:      Hacksaw Ridge, Dunkirk

Documentary of the Decade:      OJ: Made in America– Not that I want to praise anything regarding OJ Simpson, but this multi-part documentary is extraordinary. You pretty much thought you knew everything about this case, but the film goes into incredible detail which is exactly what I want in a documentary. I was completely engrossed in this over the 8 hours this was on.

honorable mentions: Thou Shall Not Grow Old, Life Itself, Minding the Gap, Searching for Sugarman

Finally, my favorite movies from this past decade. These are the ones that resonated the most with me:

The Wolf of Wall Street
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Argo
The Avengers: Endgame
Hugo
Begin Again
The Big Sick
Grand Budapest Hotel
TRON: Legacy
Pacific Rim
BlackKklansmen
Spotlight
Dolemite is My Name
Nightcrawler
Brittany Runs a Marathon
Molly’s Game
The World’s End
Super 8
Baby Driver
Searching

#1 “The Avengers: Endgame”- The biggest and most anticipated movie of the year. It was also the most entertaining and most fulfilling. I go to the movies to have fun, escape and be entertained and for over 3 hours, I had an absolute blast. I never checked my watch and this movie lived up to everything that was riding on it. For that, in my world, it’s the best film of 2019.

#2 “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”– I loved this breezy trip through LA in the late 60’s that culminates with a disjointed view of the Sharon Tate murders which in director Tarantino’s mind never happened. The production and detail to the movie is incredible from the commercials to the Kraft Mac & Chez boxes. Brad Pitt has never been better and Leo is in his element.

#3 “Marriage Story”– Sort of tough to sit through because of the subject matter, but an acting tour de force by Adam Driver really drives this movie. It’s a very detailed and well written film about a couple going through the divorce process.

#4 “Brittany Runs a Marathon”– One of the most uplifting films I can remember. I think this film resonated me so strongly, esp. the ending because I trained and ran of these things and know what she went through with her body. Even if I didn’t, it’s a terrific movie with a good arc, a great message and a very strong performance from Jillian Bell.

#5 “Dolemite is My Name”– Another great movie with a strong message about not giving up. It’s also a triumph for Eddie Murphy in probably his best movie since the 80’s.

#6 “Thou Shall Not Grow Old”– Peter Jackson’s terrific WWI documentary is incredibly detailed and completely engrossing. The background on what he did technically to even get this movie made is fascinating.

#7 “The Irishman”– What, you mean this isn’t your #1? No, it’s not. This is actually a 3.5 film that felt it’s length and if I was still editing editing movies, I’d chop a good 40 minutes out of it. It’s still a compelling story with knockout performances from Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa and a very subtle Joe Pesci. Martin Scoreses’ gangster opus is not one to miss, but is it a masterpiece? No. It’s a very good movie.

#8 “Knives Out”– An old fashioned murder mystery done Agatha Christie style is one of my favorites this year because it took me so much by surprise. It’s fun, funny, the plot moves and it keeps you guessing.

#9 “Booksmart”– Olivia Wilde’s coming of age raucous comedy about 2 book worm good two shoes and they’re one night out of rowdiness and partying the night before high school graduation. I loved the leads and thought the film was hilarious.

#10 “Apollo 11”– A terrific and very detailed documentary of the Apollo 11 launch.

I also liked very much- “Us”, “Rocketman”, “Richard Jewell”, “Blinded By the Light”, “Fighting with My Family” & “Crawl”

Where is “Parasite”? I haven’t seen it yet, so it can’t make my list. I also haven’t seen “1917” (releases in Chicago Jan 10) or “Bombshell”.

*Didn’t like it the first time, but will give it another try: “Midsommar”
*Didn’t enjoy it, but still a very good film and worthy of discussion: “Joker”

My Least Favorites of the year:
#1 The Hustle
#2 The Dead Don’t Die
#3 Dumbo/Lion King
#4 Hellboy
#5 Upside, The
#6 Serenity
#7 X-Men: Dark Phoenix
#8 Gloria Bell
#9 Long Shot
#10 Glass

There’s been a lot of attention lately about some comments that director Martin Scorsese made a couple weeks ago stating that the Marvel films are not cinema, but are more like thrill rides.

“What has to be protected is the singular experience of experiencing a picture, ideally with an audience. But there’s room for so many others now, and so many other ways. There’s going to be crossovers, completely. The value of a film that’s like a theme park film, for example, the Marvel-type pictures, where the theaters become amusement parks, that’s a different experience. I was saying earlier, it’s not cinema, it’s something else. Whether you go for that or not.”

As much as I respect and admire Scorsese’ work, I can’t agree with him. I think I get what he was trying to say. He considers the Marvel films true escapism and popcorn where a drama such as his upcoming The Irishman is more of a movie that deals with story, emotion, strong writing & intellect. What’s great about the movies and going to the movies in a theater is the experience you want to take in. I go to the movies a lot and I love all kinds of genre. The cinema, as Scorsese still calls it covers many different kinds of genre and moviegoers can enjoy them all. The Marvel films are popcorn movies and if they’re escapism too, so what. They’re great movies that are very well made. They also contain some terrific acting and can cover lots of emotional range, esp. for the viewer when you’ve become so invested in some of these characters covering 23 films.

I believe that any genre can be considered cinema or great cinema as long as it’s done well. A piece of shit like “Battlefield Earth” or something of that ilk I would not consider good cinema. It’s garbage. Mainly because the movie is bad. But some people liked it, so for them I guess it’s a cinematic positive experience. Like any movie, it’s subjective and if it’s your thing, than you liked it. It worked for you. Listen, I’ve sat through a few of Scorsese movies that I thought were a boring slog. He’s a brilliant director, and I can’t wait to see “The Irishman”, but that doesn’t mean that he’s right about this topic. It’s his opinion and that’s ok, but I’m willing to bet that the gazillion people who went to see The Avengers End Game wouldn’t agree with him either.