Molly's Favorite Films of the 2010s

Look, it’s the Decade in Review no one asked for!  You’re welcome!

Method:  I opened up IMDB and did a search for the top 150 movies of each decade (sorted by popularity) and picked out my absolute favorites from each list.  Some years were bountiful, others ... not so much.  I then chose my top choice (and in some cases, a runner-up).

Result:  There’s always the temptation, when making a list like this, to skew the list so I don’t come across looking shallow or narrow-minded or any other negative you can think of.  I made an effort to not fall into that trap this time around.  The movies on this list are movies that I liked for reasons I don’t think I need to defend (though I will, if called upon to do so).

So without further ado ...

Molly’s Favorite Films of the 2010s

2009

Star Trek, solely because nothing else -- NOTHING else -- in IMDB’s top 150 were things I’d want to watch again.  Hell, of the ones I saw, most were things I regretted watching once.  2009 was a shit year.

1. Star Trek
2. Coco before Chanel

Initial thoughts: (r-really?  That's it?  I mean, this year was a Really Bad Year for me, but ... really?)

2010

How to Train your Dragon because it made me cry like ... every time I watched it.  I also really liked the animation, and how Astrid was portrayed.

1. How to Train Your Dragon
2. The Fighter
3. Machete

2011

Attack the Block! was my first introduction to John Boyega, and it surprised me from start to finish.  Wasn’t expecting a good social commentary film to blend so seamlessly with a good monster horror movie without pissing me off several ways from Sunday, but this one pulled it off.

1. Attack the Block
2. Midnight in Paris

Initial thoughts: (This year had a LOT of really awful movies)

2012

Moonrise Kingdom looked like it was going to be amazing, but the icing on the cake for me was when we walked out of the theatre and David, who had dragged his feet about going to see it, looked at me, all confused, and said, “I really liked that movie.  Why’d I really like that movie?”  Because it was gorgeously crafted, dear.  That’s why.  (Honorable mention to Argo, which brought my master’s thesis to life one year after my defense.  Bless.)

1. Moonrise Kingdom
2. Argo
3. 21 Jump Street
4. Avengers
5. Wreck-it Ralph

Initial thoughts: (This year had a LOT of really good movies)

2013

Frozen wins because wow did I obsess over it for a good long while, but it didn’t have any real competition.  What the hell happened, 2013?  Did we think the 2012 apocalypse was coming so we didn’t plan any real bangers for 2013?

1. Frozen
2. White House Down?

Initial thoughts: (Fucking YIKES)

2014

The Grand Budapest Hotel beat out the rest solely because I was homesick for the world and characters as soon as the film ended, in a way I usually don’t feel after a movie, especially not one that moves as slowly as this one did.  The others on this list are all very special to me in their own ways, though.  Damn good year (which we needed after the clusterfuck that was 2013, jeez).

1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
2. What We Do in the Shadows
3. John Wick
4. Edge of Tomorrow

Initial thoughts: (Wow, 2014 kind'a owned)

2015

I saw Mad Max: Fury Road with David as a wedding anniversary gift, because he loves the Mad Max franchise.  Funny story about how I loved it more than he did and haven’t yet shut up about it.  (Also, it should be noted that 2015 ended with me discovering Star Wars and I haven’t shut up about that, yet, either.  I ain’t even sorry.)

1. Mad Max: Fury Road
2. The Martian
3. Hardcore Henry

Initial thoughts: (Honorary mention: Star Wars 4, 5, and 7)  (Also 2015 was a violent movie year.)

2016

Moana made me cry straight through it on a day I really needed a good 2-hour cry, and it’s only gotten better with repeat watchings.  Damn good movie.  Honorable mention to Hail, Caesar! because I had something of a religious experience watching it, and still haven’t figured out why.

1. Moana
2. Hail, Caesar!
3. Star Trek Beyond

Initial thoughts: (Did I even see any films in 2016?)

2017

Logan Lucky probably would have topped this list on its own merits, but the fact that I got to sit in the theatre and watch it with my parents (both West Virginians) made it all the better.  I love this movie, so very much.

1. Logan Lucky
2. Get Out
3. Thor: Ragnarok
4. The Lego Batman Movie

Initial thoughts: (There were a lot of good movies this year that just ... didn't make this list for Reasons)

2018

Spider-man: Into the Spiderverse edged out Won’t You Be my Neighbor by a spider’s silk, solely because I’m an animation nerd and this film was a masterclass in what can be done with animation and music.  And it just gets better with each rewatching! (Contrast that with Won’t You Be my Neighbor, which costs half a box of tissues every time I watch it.  Amazing documentary, but ... :sniff:)

1. Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse
2. Won't You Be my Neighbor?
3. Blackkklansman
4. Searching
5. Sorry to Bother You

Initial thoughts: (This year had either GREAT or TERRIBLE films. Little in between)
Edit:  Added Searching, because that movie was TIGHT.  If you're a parent, be prepared to want to hug your kids after you finish watching it.  Like, a lot.

2019

No competition here. Parasite is not only the best film I saw in 2019, I think it’s actually the best film I’ve seen in the decade.  Seamlessly written, acted, directed, edited, and scored, if it doesn’t win an Oscar for best EVERYTHING then the Oscars are even more useless than I’d originally thought (and I’ve always held that they’re pretty f’ing useless).  My love of Downton Abbey confuses me because I’ve never watched the series and generally don’t like that kind of film, but I ... loved it?  It made me cry?  And laugh?  And I’d 100% watch it again?  Proof you can make a good movie out of anything.

1. Parasite
2. Downton Abbey (why?)
3. Rocketman?

Initial thoughts: (Wow.  This year was not great for film?)

And then, because even more no one asked for it, my ranking of the top films from each year against each other would be:

1. Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse (2018)
2. Parasite (2019)
3. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
4. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
5. Logan Lucky (2017)
6. Moana (2016)
7. Attack the Block (2011)
8. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
9. Frozen (2013)
10. How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
11. Star Trek (2009)

(And for the curious, my Favorite Films of All Time list remains:

1. Aliens
2. The Full Monty
3. The Princess Bride
4. Willow
5. Jurassic Park
6. Moonstruck
7. The Matrix
8. V for Vendetta

 
There aren't 10 of these.  Deal with it.  Maybe something from this decade'll make the list ... eventually.)