#Runner-up The Art of Flight (2011) - I was obsessed with this snowboarding documentary when it came out in 2011. Since it wasn't very accessible, I practically forced all of my local friends and family to come over and watch this amazing film with me. It was a milestone in sports filmmaking, in my opinion. Using RED cameras with cranes up on the sides of mountains paved the way for what is possible today in sports media. The shots of these snowboarders are gorgeous. It still looks great, even today. Plus, the soundtrack is one of the best of all-time!
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#10 What If (2013) - This one will be a surprise to most people, but this little movie has found a special place in my heart. It was the first post-Harry Potter thing that I watched Daniel Radcliffe do and I thought he freakin' killed it. His back-and-forth with co-star Zoe Kazan is so quick and filled with humor. I'm finding that rom-coms with really unique storylines can do a lot for me and this is certainly one of those. What I love about it is it's unconventional ending. Most rom-coms end on this really big chasing the girl at the end moment and What If attempts to break those stereotypes. Also, Adam Driver (pre-Star Wars) plays Daniel Radcliffe's best friend and is absolutely hilarious in this movie.
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#9 The Cabin in the Woods (2011) - Usually, you can miss me with that horror stuff, but Cabin in the Woods is different. What starts out as a very trope-y horror flick quickly turns into a mystery and then a full-blown action movie. The second half of this movie is just crazy and it was one of the most fun times I had in a movie theater in the last decade. I've heard complaints from people who say it's not scary, but then I remind them about the first time they viewed the scene where one of the characters has to make out with a taxidermized wolf head and how tense it was. Sure, the movie isn't always trying to scare you, but it wasn't meant to fit into the horror mold that we are all used to.
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#8 Columbus (2017) - Columbus is the 2010's Lost in Translation for me. I've seen it quite a few times now and enjoy every single part about it. Haley Lu Richardson and John Cho are amazing together in this movie that involves architecture, parents, life, and more. I'm really excited to see how well director Kogonada does with his next feature, After Yang.
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#7 Whiplash (2014) - Writer and director Damien Chazelle's career has skyrocketed (almost, literally) after his debut feature-length film won the Audience Award and the Grand Jury prize at Sundance. It then went on to nab three Academy Awards, a Golden Globe, and three BAFTAs. I think Whiplash is one of the smartest movies we got to watch in the 2010s. The way it all comes together at the end is a remarkable achievement and I think we will be watching Chazelle movies for the rest of our lives.
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#6 Midnight in Paris (2011) - There are few movies that I would describe as magical. Midnight in Paris is one of those movies. It's a journey you don't expect to go on just as much as the main character. Though he has a controversial personal life, there is no doubt that Woody Allen is a talented writer and director. This is some of his best work.
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#5 The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) - It's not often that you get to watch a movie based on a novel that is written and directed by the actual author. What you get is the purest of page-to-screen translations. Not only that, but the movie is incredibly well-crafted and well-acted. It also tackles an uncomfortable subject that doesn't get a lot of screen-time in most Hollywood films.
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#4 Drive (2011) - About half-way through my first viewing of Drive, I knew that I was watching one of my favorite films. Director Nicolas Winding Refn fused together a heist action film with indie arthouse and made it work so well. The acting caliber is simply amazing. I mean, just look at this: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Oscar Isaac, Christina Hendrick, Ron Perlman. That's insane. Plus, it has one of the best soundtracks of the decade.
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#3 Like Crazy (2011) - My wife claims that I don't cry much. It's true. I don't know why. However, I balled in the theater when I went to see Like Crazy. This is one of those movies that I was able to relate to so much on a personal level. In the movie, two lovers are forced to live a long-distance relationship that spans continents. It's something that Wifey and I had to do while I was in the military stationed in Germany and we were engaged. It was hard. Probably the hardest year of my life. Writer and director Drake Doremus was able to capture the feelings and frustrations with it so accurately in the movie because he went through something similar, too. What's also amazing about the film is that it was shot with a budget of $250k and Canon 7D DSLR cameras, yet it is way more authentic than anything big blockbusters could ever deliver.
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#2 Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011) - Here is a movie that my wife and I already really enjoyed, and one that has grown on us even more over the years. It's a classic in my book and an underrated film that I promote to people quite often. It is what I would consider a smart comedy instead of your typical goofy or off-the-wall comedy. I think people were expecting Steve Carell's 40 Year Old Virgin, but this is actually a lot more intelligent than that. Ryan Gosling is hilarious in this movie and I wish he would do more stuff like this.
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Here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for...
#1 - Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (2010) - Sike!
#1 Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010) - If you are my friend, you know that I am obsessed with this movie forever and always. Scott Pilgrim is not only the most accurate graphic novel-to-film adaptation Hollywood has ever seen, but it broke new ground for how a movie can be edited. The actors are all incredible grabs, the lines are funny, the music is amazing, and the fight scenes are outstanding. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World has found a place on my coveted Top 10 List of All-Time at #5 (behind Oldboy, The Matrix, Lost in Translation, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, in order from top to bottom).
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Other Runners-up: Inception, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The King's Speech, Black Swan, Bridesmaids, The Artist, Attack the Block, Moonrise Kingdom, Frozen, Tangled, Upstream Color, Edge of Tomorrow, Birdman, Mad Max: Fury Road, What We Do in Shadows, It Follows, Sing Street, Sucker Punch, Kimi no na wa, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Her, Blade Runner 2049, The Goldfinch.
So, there you have it. Another decade has passed. An interesting thing you might have noticed about my list, like I did, was that most of the films come from the first half of the 2010s. Specifically, 2011 was a phenomenal year in film, imo, and we haven't had anything like it since! Part of me wants to say that it's just me; that my tastes have changed, or that movies don't interest me as much as they once did. But I don't think that's true. I honestly believe that, generally speaking, movies have gotten worse over the last few years. TV and gaming have really stepped up their games in the entertainment industry. I'm hoping to be proved wrong, but I guess we'll see.
Past lists:
Top 10 Movies of the 2000s
So, there you have it. Another decade has passed. An interesting thing you might have noticed about my list, like I did, was that most of the films come from the first half of the 2010s. Specifically, 2011 was a phenomenal year in film, imo, and we haven't had anything like it since! Part of me wants to say that it's just me; that my tastes have changed, or that movies don't interest me as much as they once did. But I don't think that's true. I honestly believe that, generally speaking, movies have gotten worse over the last few years. TV and gaming have really stepped up their games in the entertainment industry. I'm hoping to be proved wrong, but I guess we'll see.
Past lists:
Top 10 Movies of the 2000s
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