Best Films of the Decade (2010-2019)

lcbaseball22

Posts: 946

Joined: July 2012

I feel like you ignored the other good points I made regarding acclaimed directors having lost their touch as well as a stat I highlighted regarding a lack of original films succeeding at the box office.

Both aspects are playing into a declining decade as well as the future for the film industry. Perhaps Spielberg at least will return to form and give us something worthy with Bridge of Spies though...

P.S. Hate to tell you but nearly a dozen titles on your most anticipated list have already flopped

mosh89

Posts: 207

Joined: October 2014

LelekPL wrote:People who say original film will disappear when Nolan retires just don't know what the hell they're talking about.

Original movies are still made and you mentioned them Birdman, Gravity these are Hollywood films! Just because they happen to have a latino dir doesn't mean anything. They're Hollywood produced... And many more like them

Grand budapest hotel too!wes andersom is good at original stuff ,inaritu as well

josephcq

Posts: 189

Joined: January 2013

Kinda wish there was a little more love for Her and Prisoners. I honestly think those were the best movies of 2013.

Anyway there are still quite a few I need to see, but I think I can make a decent top 25. I'll do my best to rank them but if I wanted to take the time to get it right this post could take hours.

1-Interstellar
2-Her
3-Inception
4-Prisoners
5-The Dark Knight Rises
6-The Perks of Being a Wallflower
7-Warrior
8-Blue Valentine
9-The Town
10-Silver Linings Playbook
11-End of Watch
12-Catching Fire
13-Birdman
14-Django Unchained
15-Moonrise Kingdom
16-The Wolf of Wallstreet
17-21 Jumpstreet
18-Whiplash
19-Nightcrawler
20-The Master
21-Looper
22-The Tree of Life
23-The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
24-Boyhood
25-The Social Network

Honorable mentions:

The Descendants
Horrible Bosses
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
John Wicke
The Artist
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Gravity
Kingsman: The Secret Service
Fury
The Rover
The Heat
X-Men: First Class
X-Men: Days of Future Past
The Avengers

Just realized the thread title only includes up to 2014, BUT Kingsman is just badass and, fair enough, the only really good movie out yet this year.

josephcq

Posts: 189

Joined: January 2013

Damn. I keep looking over people's lists and want to make mine bigger! I think it's fair to say we've actually seen quite a few really great releases thus far this decade.

LelekPL

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lcbaseball22 wrote:I feel like you ignored the other good points I made regarding acclaimed directors having lost their touch as well as a stat I highlighted regarding a lack of original films succeeding at the box office.

Both aspects are playing into a declining decade as well as the future for the film industry. Perhaps Spielberg at least will return to form and give us something worthy with Bridge of Spies though...

P.S. Hate to tell you but nearly a dozen titles on your most anticipated list have already flopped

I was writing it from a phone on a 5 minute break from work... don't get too cocky.

First of all, whether original movies bomb or not was not the issue of the discussion. It was whether Hollywood makes good original films. Just because a film bombs doesn't mean it's not good or that they don't make them. If you want the updated version then there you go (I'll put it in the spoiler):

MOST of them are original films. And sure, some of them will bomb, some of them will end up dissapointing and some of them don't even sound great, just interesting. But that has happened since the dawn of cinema.

You referencing comedy is also a bad reference because they seem to churn out original R-rated comedies every year, more than ever. Some of them aren't that hilarious but they are made and a lot of them really deliver. And you refer to Meet the Parents as the best recent comedy? Well, then different tastes then. I can't help you with comedy if you enjoyed that film.

As for great directors working today? There's a bunch of them - Cuaron, Nolan, Tarantino, PT Anderson, Wes Anderson, Fincher, McQueen, Linklater, Coens, Park, Kim; a bunch of old time directors who still do great work like Scorsese or Spielberg; and a bunch of young, up and coming talent like Kosinsky, Johnson, Jones or Villeneuve.

Plus, all the great directors you mentioned, also didn't make their best films at the same time. They were spread out in history. It's not like all of them worked in the 40's and everything went to shit after that. Each period has only a couple of great directors. This period has its too.

You don't have to like all of them, film is subjective. But I cannot believe you can see a decline in film. I sure as hell don't see it and I'm watching more movies than you (as you, yourself admitted). So take advice from someone who had some good luck with films recently and watch the films we mentioned on these lists. You will be pleasantly suprised by MOST of them.

As for lack of original films succeding at the box office? American Sniper is the highest grossing movie of 2014

But let's use some other examples:
Interstellar, Gone Girl, Neighbors, Ride Along, Lucy, Unbroken, Edge of Tomorrow... all films that grossed over 100 million dollars at the US box-office. That's not counting many first time adaptations, which are also technically original projects, at least on the big screen. Films are made of screenplays... I can't see how a film based of a book is that much less original. And that's just 2014. The previous year was even better at that!

Of course franchise films make more money, they have a built in audience. But don''t say that they don't make more original content. Instead of being ignorant you can actually go to those films and support them if you want them to be successful!

PS. I've already seen two great films, original ones, that came out this year - It Follows and The Little Death. Both are a solid 8/10. There's also some other good films like Kingsman or White God that you can check out... and it's just March... all the great films usually come out by the end of the year.

LelekPL

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josephcq wrote:Damn. I keep looking over people's lists and want to make mine bigger! I think it's fair to say we've actually seen quite a few really great releases thus far this decade.

Most definitely. Also, check out It Follows! Best movie of the year so far.

lcbaseball22

Posts: 946

Joined: July 2012

LelekPL wrote:I cannot believe you can see a decline in film. I sure as hell don't see it and I'm watching more movies than you (as you, yourself admitted). So take advice from someone who had some good luck with films recently and watch the films we mentioned on these lists. You will be pleasantly suprised by MOST of them

Perhaps I would find myself pleasantly surprised by a few but what I know is this; the following is a list of favorite directors who are working today and my feelings towards their recent (or upcoming) work...

Steven Spielberg- again I'm hoping Bridge of Spies is a return to form but I'm not getting my hopes up since Lincoln and War Horse < many of Spielberg's previous directorial products such as Saving Private Ryan, Munich, Schindler's List, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Catch Me If You Can, Jurassic Park, Jaws, etc

Clint Eastwood- sure, American Sniper is technically the top grossing film of 2014, but Eastwood's prior three films were largely disappointing and unless Sniper proves otherwise I feel Clint hasn't made a great film since 2008.

David Fincher- Gone Girl, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and The Social Network are all in the range of good to great and I placed once in my Top 10 for the decade and the other two as honorable mentions, but it's hard to rank them above Se7en, Zodiac, and a few others when it comes to Fincher's collective body of work.

Sam Mendes- Skyfall is an excellent Bond film but in the scope of Mendes work I rank it below Revolutionary Road, Road to Perdition, and American Beauty

Ridley Scott- all his latest films have pretty much been a disaster; still waiting for the return of the director who made Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, American Gangster, Thelma & Louise, etc

Michael Mann- Judging by the reviews/reception Blackhat is a major misfire for this once great director of Heat, The Insider, and other quality films.

Chris Columbus- Pixels looks idiotic and Percy Jackson: The Lightning Theif was a lame Harry Potter knockoff

Alfonso Cauron- I've seen enough of Gravity from the trailers to know it's a crash and burn compared to Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Y Tu Mama Tambien

Martin Scorsese- Wolf of Wall Street and Hugo are mostly misses compared to his 2000's filmography (The Departed, Shutter Island, Gangs of New York, and even The Aviator)

Ron Howard- anyone actually excited about seeing Moby Dick brought to screen?

I'm sure as heck not. I'm probably looking forward more to the next Dan Brown adaptation, but that's not saying much. Hard to believe this guy once made great films like Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind.

Robert Zemeckis- why is he making a film out of a story that was documented not too long ago and who cares to watch it even if it does star the popular JGL? That being said Zemeckis will always be a favorite if only due to his making of Forrest Gump.

Todd Phillips- The Hangover didn't require any sequels and even the original wasn't as funny as his previously directed films

Michael Bay- this director who once was a guilty pleasure has taken 'Bayhem' too far with his horrid continuations in the Transformers series

Peter Jackson- he went too far down the Hobbit hole...

Rob Reiner- The director behind classics The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Stand By Me and Best Pic nominee A Few Good Men has seemingly lost his way...

Jason Reitman- whatever happened to this guy? After hits with Thank You For Smoking, Juno, and Up in the Air last decade he's followed up with three bombs this decade

Ben Affleck- as I mentioned before, I was less impressed by Argo than I was The Town and Gone Baby Gone

David. O Russell- felt American Hustle was mostly a waste of time compared to Silver Linings Playbook and The Fighter which are both Top 10 films for their respective year and actually deserving of their award success.

So anyways, perhaps you can see more clearly now why I have been so discouraged by film this decade, particularly as of lately. Heck, even Nolan's most recent work has been a bit disappointing compared to what came before...

MyCocaine

Posts: 3395

Joined: September 2013

Location: Copenhagen

The very Best Films in the last few years.

01. “Inception”

02. “Drive”

03. “The Master”

04. “The Place Beyond the Pines”

05. “The Grand Budapest Hotel”

06. “Prisoners”

07. “Birdman”

LelekPL

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lcbaseball22 wrote:
LelekPL wrote:I cannot believe you can see a decline in film. I sure as hell don't see it and I'm watching more movies than you (as you, yourself admitted). So take advice from someone who had some good luck with films recently and watch the films we mentioned on these lists. You will be pleasantly suprised by MOST of them
Perhaps I would find myself pleasantly surprised by a few but what I know is this; the following is a list of favorite directors who are working today and my feelings towards their recent (or upcoming) work...

Steven Spielberg- again I'm hoping Bridge of Spies is a return to form but I'm not getting my hopes up since Lincoln and War Horse < many of Spielberg's previous directorial products such as Saving Private Ryan, Munich, Schindler's List, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Catch Me If You Can, Jurassic Park, Jaws, etc

Clint Eastwood- sure, American Sniper is technically the top grossing film of 2014, but Eastwood's prior three films were largely disappointing and unless Sniper proves otherwise I feel Clint hasn't made a great film since 2008.

David Fincher- Gone Girl, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and The Social Network are all in the range of good to great and I placed once in my Top 10 for the decade and the other two as honorable mentions, but it's hard to rank them above Se7en, Zodiac, and a few others when it comes to Fincher's collective body of work.

Sam Mendes- Skyfall is an excellent Bond film but in the scope of Mendes work I rank it below Revolutionary Road, Road to Perdition, and American Beauty

Ridley Scott- all his latest films have pretty much been a disaster; still waiting for the return of the director who made Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, American Gangster, Thelma & Louise, etc

Michael Mann- Judging by the reviews/reception Blackhat is a major misfire for this once great director of Heat, The Insider, and other quality films.

Chris Columbus- Pixels looks idiotic and Percy Jackson: The Lightning Theif was a lame Harry Potter knockoff

Alfonso Cauron- I've seen enough of Gravity from the trailers to know it's a crash and burn compared to Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Y Tu Mama Tambien

Martin Scorsese- Wolf of Wall Street and Hugo are mostly misses compared to his 2000's filmography (The Departed, Shutter Island, Gangs of New York, and even The Aviator)

Ron Howard- anyone actually excited about seeing Moby Dick brought to screen? I'm sure as heck not. I'm probably looking forward more to the next Dan Brown adaptation, but that's not saying much. Hard to believe this guy once made great films like Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind.

Robert Zemeckis- why is he making a film out of a story that was documented not too long ago and who cares to watch it even if it does star the popular JGL? That being said Zemeckis will always be a favorite if only due to his making of Forrest Gump.

Todd Phillips- The Hangover didn't require any sequels and even the original wasn't as funny as his previously directed films

Michael Bay- this director who once was a guilty pleasure has taken 'Bayhem' too far with his horrid continuations in the Transformers series

Peter Jackson- he went too far down the Hobbit hole...

Rob Reiner- The director behind classics The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Stand By Me and Best Pic nominee A Few Good Men has seemingly lost his way...

Jason Reitman- whatever happened to this guy? After hits with Thank You For Smoking, Juno, and Up in the Air last decade he's followed up with three bombs this decade

Ben Affleck- as I mentioned before, I was less impressed by Argo than I was The Town and Gone Baby Gone

David. O Russell- felt American Hustle was mostly a waste of time compared to Silver Linings Playbook and The Fighter which are both Top 10 films for their respective year and actually deserving of their award success.

So anyways, perhaps you can see more clearly now why I have been so discouraged by film this decade, particularly as of lately. Heck, even Nolan's most recent work has been a bit disappointing compared to what came before...

I guess what we have here is just a case of a classic difference of opinion.
Spielberg - War Horse and Lincoln might not be in the top 10 of his best movies but they are still good films. He clearly had much worse films than these two.
Eastwood - AS wasn't a good film and he is a director who is actually on decline if I'm going to be honest
Fincher - he's as strong as always. No drop in quality. Just because Fight Club and Se7en are my favorites doesn't mean Gone Girl and TSN aren't FANTASTIC films. TGWTDT was pointless, though
Mendes - Skyfall is Mendes's best film since American Beauty
Scott - Prometheus was great. Very ambitious and delivered on exploring the Alien mythos even further. Plus, Shaw was a better character than Ripley was in the first film. The Counselor was bad though, there's no defending that film.
Cuaron - again, Gravity is probably his BEST film. Well, Gravity or Children of Men... but Gravity is the more exciting film
Scorsese - I hated Hugo... But I really dug The Wolf of Wall Street and Shutter Island (that's a 2010 film). He had better work in his career but he also had far worse films
Howard - his Moby Dick film is actually getting an awards season push
Zemeckis - Flight was a solid comeback to live-action films and his new project looks even better.
Affleck - sure, Argo wasn't as good as his two previous films but it's not like they were done decades ago. Heck, The Town is also from THIS DECADE. And with him you've only got a sample of 3 films.
Russell - dude, Silver Linings Playbook and The Fighter are also films from this decade

And in my opinion, Nolan is only getting better as an artist. Interstellar really solidified that to me.

The rest I would agree with, but that's just a small sample of directors working today. Like I said, there's a whole bunch of fresh directors who do amazing work each and every year. So case in point - watch the movies on the list, and then make an educated opinion on the "state of Hollywood" and not just a handful of directors.

lcbaseball22

Posts: 946

Joined: July 2012

First of all I listed significantly more than just a "handful" of directors and secondly I realize some of the films I mentioned are from this decade, but my main point from the beginning was that the last few years (2013 and 2014) didn't really deliver. Aside from a few exceptions (ie Inception) even the best films I've seen from that "handful" of directors I feel don't compare to what they've done previously. I also feel that in what I've missed the last couple years I haven't missed much, and 2015 doesn't look too promising either. Sure, there are some films I haven't seen but I've kept tabs on the directors I like who are still working. Likewise I've kept tabs on directors I do not like (ie Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, Terrence Malick, Tim Burton) as well. Regardless of the director though trailers and/or reviews are often indication enough for me whether a film is worthwhile, which is why I have avoided at least some of the films I listed I should probably see for legitimacy sake that have appeared on other's "Best" lists...

Last edited by lcbaseball22 on March 19th, 2015, 2:23 pm, edited 2 times in total.