This is a list of films, released between 2010 and 2019, that have personally connected with me.
I have to emphasise that there's a lot that I've not watched. Not because I've not wanted to, but because I simply haven't had time to (I must have been involved in making at least 800 films in the last decade maybe more, so you can imagine where my time goes).
My list will be completely unique and will now doubt be very different to yours. And that's totally fine. I'm okay with that.
I used to be someone who spoke openly about films I hated. This was wrong. After working in this kind of industry for ten years, I understand and respect that no-one sets out to make a bad film. There are many, many attributes that can contribute to a poorly received film, and many of these are often beyond the creators control. Filmmaking is a giant machine with too many moving parts. If you don't believe me... Try it.
So with this in mind, my choices have purely been based on films that I've had an actual real emotional response to, whether that be excited, scared, crying with laughter, crying with sadness, my brain bamboozled... Any kind of strong emotional response that lingers with me after watching. And especially if have the same or new reaction upon the second viewing.
I have over 80 films in this list. Any in bold and red are part of my top 20, and the rest are honourable mentions. All films are listed in alphabetical order.
I don't have a favourite film, per se... But the films that really stuck with me are:
Arrival (2016 - Denis Villeneuve)
A Ghost Story (2017 - David Lowery)
Monsters (2010 - Gareth Edwards)
One of my personal viewing trends I've noticed this decade, is that I watch a lot less foreign language films than I used to. I've put this down to being tired a lot and resisting reading the subtitles. Which, is actually quite ridiculous, as I'm suffering from quite awful hearing loss for someone of my age and actually have to keep subtitles on for everything I watch anyway.
So, I'll try to remedy this for the new decade... I have so many to catch up on. Starting with tonight, I'm watching Under The Shadow (2016 - Babak Anvari).
Enjoy reading and comparing. Feel free to suggest anything I may not have seen (again, there are many films I've not). And thanks for reading.
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016 - Dan Trachtenberg)
127 Hours (2010 - Danny Boyle)
21 Jump Street (2012 - Phil Lord & Christopher Miller)
A Ghost Story (2017 - David Lowery)
A Monster Calls (2016 - J.A. Bayona)
A Quiet Place (2018 - John Krasinski)
Arrival (2016 - Denis Villeneuve)
Attack The Block (2011 - Joe Cornish)
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012 - Benh Zeitlin)
Before Midnight (2013 - Richard Linklater)
Birdman (2014 - Alejandro Gonzàlez Iñàrritu)
Blade Runner 2049 (2017 - Denis Villeneuve)
Booksmart (2019 - Olivia Wilde)
Captain Fantastic (2016 - Matt Ross)
Christopher Robin (2018 - Marc Forster)
Coco (2017 - Lee Unkrich)
Crawl (2019 - Alexandre Aja)
Crimson Peak (2015 - Guillermo del Toro)
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014 - Matt Reeves)
Detroit (2017 - Katheryn Bigelow)
Dunkirk (2017 - Christopher Nolan)
Ex Machina (2014 - Alex Garland)
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them (2016 - David Yates)
Gerald’s Game (2017 - Mike Flanagan)
Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014 - James Gunn)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010 - David Yates)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011 - David Yates)
Her (2013 - Spike Jonze)
Hereditary (2018 - Ari Aster)
Hugo (2011 - Martin Scorsese)
Hunt For The Wilderpeople (2016 - Taika Waititi)
I Lost My Body (J'ai Perdu Mon Corps) (2019 - Jérémy Clapin)
Inception (2010 - Christopher Nolan)
Inside Out (2015 - Pete Docter)
Interstellar (2014 - Christopher Nolan)
IT: Chapter One (2017 - Andy Muschietti)
Knives Out (2019 - Rian Johnson)
La La Land (2016 - Damien Chazelle)
Leave No Trace (2018 - Debra Granik)
Looper (2012 - Rian Johnson)
Man Up (2015 - Ben Palmer)
Mary Poppins Returns (2018 - Rob Marshall)
Mission Impossible: Fall Out (2018 - Christopher McQuarrie)
Moana (2016 - John Clements & John Musker)
Monsters (2010 - Gareth Edwards)
Nightcrawler (2014 - Dan Gilroy)
Paddington (2014 - Paul King)
Paddington 2 (2017 - Paul King)
Personal Shopper (2016 - Olivier Assayas)
Real Steel (2011 - Shawn Levy)
Room (2015 - Lenny Abrahamson)
Source Code (2011 - Duncan Jones)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015 - J.J. Abrams)
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017 - Rian Johnson)
Submarine (2010 - Richard Ayoade)
Super 8 (2011 - J.J. Abrams)
Super Dark Times (2017 - Kevin Phillips)
Take Shelter (2011 - Jeff Nichols)
The Babadook (2014 - Jennifer Kent)
The Big Sick (2017 - Michael Showalter)
The Cabin in the Woods (2011 - Drew Goddard)
The Dark Knight Rises (2012 - Christopher Nolan)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014 - Wes Anderson)
The Hallow (2015 - Corin Hardy)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012 - Peter Jackson)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013 - Peter Jackson)
The Invitation (2015 - Karyn Kusama)
The Jungle Book (2016 - Jon Favreau)
The Muppets (2011 - James Bobin)
The Red Turtle (2016 - Michael Dudok de Wit)
The Revenant (2015 - Alejandro Gonzàlez Iñàrritu)
The Shape of Water (2017 - Guillermo del Toro)
The Witch (2015 - Robert Eggers)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011 - Tomas Alfredson)
Upgrade (2018 - Leigh Whannell)
Upstream Colour (2013 - Shane Carruth)
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017 - Matt Reeves)
What We Do In The Shadows (2014 - Jemaine Clement & Taika Waititi)
Whiplash (2014 - Damien Chazelle)
X-Men: First Class (2011 - Matthew Vaughn)
Zero Dark Thirty (2012 - Katheryn Bigelow)
Here's to a new decade of storytelling!
The next list to follow will be my top Podcasts of the decade...
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