Top 10 Movies of the 2010s

I've never done a Top 10 Movies list for a decade before. I've written up some Top 10 of the Year lists, which were quite do-able, but for the decade... well, this took much more effort and time. When I became a member of the Letterboxd (social media site for movie fans) community in 2014, I compiled my yearly Top 10 Movie lists (though for whatever reason, I missed 2017, so I had to dig back and research that one). At least I had something to refer to as I made preliminary lists for each year of the decade. Prior to 2014, it was a little tricky, because I had to wade through online lists (Wikipedia was helpful but not exhaustive) of releases for each year to determine what I saw and liked enough to rank in a Top 10. I may have missed something important, but I did my best. If anything comes to mind later on, I'll revise this 2010s list.

Black Swan is, I believe, my very favourite film of the 2010s

A short analysis of my favourites list of the 2010s (below) reveals that this was the decade of modern science fiction gems. And there were even more great ones that missed making my list; for example, there were futuristic marvels like Interstellar, Oblivion, Gravity, Edge of Tomorrow, Blade Runner 2049, Source Code, Cloud Atlas, and many others.

According to my preliminary "best of" lists for each year, I also noted that the first half of the decade was most heavily loaded with hit (my favourite) films. 2010 and 2013 in particular boasted the most, with at least a dozen favourites each, while 2015 contributed the most films to my final Top 10. These numbers made it extra hard for me to pare down those yearly lists to achieve an initial cut for the decade. Believe me, this was not an easy task. As I knocked entries out of the Top 10 into my Honorable Mentions, it became clearer what the best of the best were. But then ranking my Top 10 was the most difficult of all. 

I suppose my top three were the easiest to pick, but after that, the order could change any day, depending on my mood. For example, I keep thinking The Witch 'ought to place higher, yet how could I knock Ex Machina or Inside Llewyn Davis down lower? I had to develop some criteria to help me decide on the order: should one genre take precedence over another, like sci-fi over drama... do I prefer one over the other? Then I thought about how re-watchable these films are - like how many times have I watched and remained a fan of Turbo Kid versus The Witch? Turbo Kid is a fun and breezy flick, easy to digest, whereas The Witch demands close attention and patience for its slow-burn pacing. Some people might choose the slow-burn. I also considered how each film makes me feel when I watch it - just how powerful is the experience? And what are those feelings, and how often do I want to feel them? You know?

So here is my final list, which does contain my absolute faves, yet the order may not be entirely carved in stone. But close enough for now. Enjoy!


My Top 10 Movies of the 2010s:

1. Black Swan - slow, creepy psychological thriller with great acting and compelling story
2. Prometheus - a much maligned, perhaps flawed, yet captivating Alien-esque sci-fi 
3. Frances Ha - indie darling of the decade that introduced me to Gerwig & director Baumbach
4. Ip Man - exciting biographical tale of Wing Chun Grandmaster, teacher to Bruce Lee!
5. Turbo Kid - a modern youthful sci-fi blast from the past... fun, violent and magical

6. Ex Machina - thoughtful sci-fi look at AI and our fascination with what could be

7. Inside Llewyn Davis - introspective drama-comedy with a great cast and even better music

8. Mad Max: Fury Road - an exhausting thrillride of insanity and violence... it's glorious!
9. The Witch - this subdued, atmospheric period piece ranks among the best horror ever
10. Kick-Ass - forget Iron Man & Spidey... this gritty "real life" superhero captured my heart

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):

Under the Skin
Sicario
Silver Linings Playbook
Sing Street
Her
Marriage Story
Arrival
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
Skyfall
Super 8
Spectre
Drive
Baby Driver
Heavy Trip
Yesterday
The Dirt
The Ghost Writer
Nightcrawler
Birdman
Blue Ruin
Hugo
The Master
Prisoners
Hell or High Water
Lady Bird
Roma
Annihilation
Mid90s
Dolemite is My Name
Midsommar
The Lighthouse

And as always, I have a little catching up to do on late-2019 releases. I'll see these once they are available as online rentals or on streaming services like Netflix.