It goes without saying that 2020 was a hell of a year. With a virus that changed our way of life, I've had to re-evaluate what counts as a "movie" and what doesn't. The clear delineation between streaming and theatrical was further blurred, as movie theaters in the Los Angeles area have remained closed since March. What follows is my list of the top 10 movies, regardless of the platform of release. I should also note I haven't been able to see certain notable releases yet (Nomadland and Minari key among them) since they have not been made available on VOD yet, and so I will count those movies as 2021 releases.
10. Color Out of Space, 111 min. Unrated
Who doesn't love Nicolas Cage going full, well, Cage? The actor who has transcended stardom into memehood has actually turned out a couple of good indie horror flicks recently (see: Mandy for a stellar example of Cage fully unhinged). Color Out of Space, adapted from the H.P. Lovecraft story, is about a family living in the woods who have an unexpected encounter with a force of extra-terrestrial origins. What follows is a wild ride full of some true horrors, and is a film that actually left me shaking, a feat few horror films achieve. A lot of this has to do with director Richard Stanley, who was famously fired from directing a version of The Island of Dr. Moreau, breaking free of director's jail. While some performances are rocky, the sense of terror and discovery is exhilarating, and the result is a film I still haven't' forgotten.
9. Promising Young Woman, 113 min. R
Emerald Fennell's directorial debut is an inciting take on rape culture, how it permeates our society and excuses men for their decisions that have a lasting, psychological impact on their victims. Carey Mulligan is fantastic as a female-predator who pretends to be helpless and drunk before a gentleman swoops in to escort her home. More often than not, the gentleman begins taking advantage of her, until she drops the act and confronts the man on his perverted actions (usually followed by profuse pleas of "sorry"). In a brilliant bit of casting, male comedians who are usually perceived as friendly are thrown into these roles, further revealing that you can never fully trust someone. Fennell is a confident director and infuses Promising Young Woman with a fantastic style, down to the soundtrack that includes a fantastic, hair-raising rendition of Britney Spears' Toxic. The plot wraps up a little too neatly, but overall it is satisfying to watch Mulligan serve everyone their just desserts.
8. Da 5 Bloods, 154 min. R
Spike Lee is a fascinating, if frustrating, filmmaker. He seems to have found his foothold again with his most recent films, and Da 5 Bloods is a captivating experience. Four Vietnam veterans return to the country to retrieve a stash of gold they left behind on their last tour together, and to reclaim the body of the troop's leader (played by Chadwick Boseman). A terrific cast that includes two The Wire alumnus (Clarke Peters and Isiah Whitlock Jr.) and a standout performance by Delroy Lindo, Lee's war epic isn't always focused, and there are some notably cheesy subplots. But Lee is a master of suspense and always delivers a thrilling ride that doesn't disappoint.
7. Sound of Metal, 120 min. R
For any of us blessed with our senses, you sometimes wonder if you had to lose one (sight, sound, speech) which one would you choose? Sound of Metal chronicles one drummer's experience (Riz Ahmed) as his hearing rapidly deteriorates. A touring duo with his girlfriend (Olivia Cooke) on lead guitar and vocals, Ahmed's character, Ruben, becomes obsessed with raising enough money to pay for cochlear implants to restore his hearing. It's a more subdued film, and there are some truly heartbreaking, moving moments here, including a downright devastating, yet perfect, ending. The debut of director Darius Marder adds another creative to the list of emerging, young talent to watch.
6. David Byrne's American Utopia, 105 min. TV-14
Now here's a film that definitely blurs the line between streaming and theatrical. It's a filmed version of a broadway production, yet because it is directed by Spike Lee (making his second appearance on this list!) it feels far more cinematic than the other big filmed production released in 2020, Hamilton. I enjoyed the hell out of Hamilton but that felt much more like a "filmed play", whereas American Utopia draws you into David Byrne's abstract style and gives you an experience unlike any other film this year. I'm not a big Talking Heads fan (I know their hits) but I was still engrossed by the various songs and staging. Maybe it's because I'm so starved for live entertainment, but I enjoyed this and would recommend it to anyone (it's streaming on HBO/HBO Max).
5. Soul, 100 min. PG
Pretty much the only person keeping Pixar's output to high quality is Pete Docter; the man seriously needs to be included on any list of great directors, because his work with Pixar is consistently terrific. Soul is very reminiscent of Inside Out, although this time we get a personification of the ethereal plane. Jamie Foxx is Joe Gardner, an aspiring musician who tragically dies on the day he finally gets his big break. Sent to the afterlife, he escapes the big glow in the sky and ends up in the "before-life", where souls are assigned various attributes before heading to earth. Soul is rather plotty (my summary covers maybe the first twenty minutes of the movie and doesn't even mention Tina Fey's character), but once again Docter conceives of a fantasy world and brings abstract ideas to life. Co-director Kemp Powers should also be commended for the texture and authenticity he brings to Joe Gardner's New York life, and the score, divided between Jon Batiste for the real world segments and Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross for the spirit world, is stellar. It doesn't quite hit me in the same way Inside Out did, but it's still a fantastic piece all the same.
4. Never Rarely Sometimes Always, 101 min. PG-13
Sometimes a film delivers a gut-punch of a sequence that elevates the rest of the movie. Never Rarely Sometimes Always is a terrific drama about a pregnant teen girl who must travel from her hometown in Pennsylvania to New York to get an abortion. Accompanied only by her friend and meager funds, the film is a harrowing account of her trials and the hurdles one must encounter in the abortion process. But what really hits home is a sustained shot in the middle of the film; the main character, Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) must answer a series of questions from a caseworker. Slowly, the true nature of sexual abuse she's suffered at the hands of many (including family members) is revealed, and Flanigan's performance is astounding as you slowly watch her guarded walls crumble. It's a well-earned sequence, a moment the film has been building too, and it's executed with absolute perfection.
3. Boys State, 109 min. PG-13
I never thought I'd enjoy a documentary about a group of teenage boys recreating representative democracy over one chaotic week. Directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss have pulled off a remarkable feat, with a documentary so well shot that it feels like a real movie rather than a doc. Combine this with a cast of charismatic young men and you've got the recipe for one of the best films of the year. The doc says a lot about our government and just how low some people are willing to stoop to maintain their level of control. There are some very dishonorable tactics employed by the boys throughout, but the doc is so well edited that you are engrossed the entire time. Can't wait to see what this team of filmmakers brings us next!
2. Portrait of a Lady on Fire, 122 min. R
Now, normally this is a film I wouldn't have qualified as a 2020 release, as it did have a one-week theatrical run in LA in 2019, before its official US release on February 2020. But, since we are breaking all the rules, I figured this one was too good NOT to include this year since it missed out on my best of 2019 list. Sumptuously photographed, this film is damn near a masterpiece and was one of my final theatrical experiences before everything shut down (Corpus Christi is the last film I officially saw in theaters). Céline Sciamma's tale of a painter, the woman she falls for while completing a commissioned portrait of, is romantic and captivating. It's a story I was sad to see ending and is a film I look forward to revisiting soon.
1. I'm Thinking of Ending Things, 134 min. R
Netflix's habit of giving auteur directors a blank check is both a blessing and a curse; Alfonso Cuaron's Roma and Martin Scorsese's The Irishman were both bloated epics that could've done with some outside influence (The Irishman was still one of my 10 favorites of 2019). But sometimes when you get a writer-director like Charlie Kaufman, taking the reins off can have fascinating results. An adaptation of a slim novel (a rare occurrence for Kaufman, whose other famous adaptation morphed to include him in the movie), I'm Thinking of Ending Things takes place over one very long day as a young woman (Jessie Buckley) meets her boyfriend's family (Jesse Plemons as the boyfriend, Toni Colette & David Thewlis as the parents). Soon, though, it's apparent that what is happening may not be taking place in reality (Kaufman is a big fan of films that explore the mind, sometimes quite literally). To me this is Kaufman at his most assured as a director; while Synecdoche, New York (2008) is a fascinating film, stylistically it lacks what other directors brought to his scripts. But here is a fully realized vision, a perpetual fever dream that sucks you in. I will admit I had no idea what it meant at the end (I had to read a Vanity Fair article to understand it), but I enjoyed the journey and found myself pondering the movie long afterward (in a rarity for me, I even read the book it was based on). It's by no means perfect (knowing the book helps you understand the plot more, and you'll be very lost if you don't know Oklahoma! or who Pauline Kael is), but it's the film that resonated with me the most and took me on the wildest ride.
Other notable mentions:
Best Films I saw not from 2020
Of course, I saw many other films this year, and I'd like to highlight a few that really stuck out to me that was not a "2020 release." First was Fires on the Plain, Kon Ichikawa's harrowing tale of Japanese soldiers at the end of WWII, abandoned in the jungles of the South Pacific as forces withdrew from the island. It's a horrifying film, and I never thought a film from 1959 could make me feel so sick.
I also saw David Cronenberg's The Fly, another gross-out horror film, although this one fascinated me more than it repulsed me. Jeff Goldblum stars as the scientist who discovers teleportation, and the horror show that ensues when a fly gets into his telepod with him. Delightfully gruesome, this film was made in the 80s when practical effects were at their best before CGI began to overtake and dominate the medium. There are some great, gruesome makeup effects here, making The Fly one of the best movies I saw all year.
Finally, this was the year I finally got around to watching The Up Series. I had seen the first two entries years ago but was intimated by the sheer volume of films to get through. However, I'm happy I did, as the result is one of the most fascinating documentary experiments ever. Not every entry is a hit (I personally think they get really good at 42 Up), but watching these people grow and change is stunning and somewhat horrifying. By the time you get to 56 Up, you are watching someone age decades over the span of a few short edits. The director of the series, Michael Apted, very recently passed, and the 9th entry, 63 Up, was released around a year ago (I still haven't seen it as it has not been made easily available via disc or streaming). It may very well be the final entry (although I'd love them to make a 70 Up is a final hurrah), and I look forward to finishing it.
Stinkers
And of course, I saw plenty of crap this year as well. Let's start with Dolittle, starring Robert Downey, Jr. and a cast of famous voice actors. Downey is affecting a most peculiar accent, and the bizarre plot has Dolittle and the animals venturing across the ocean to stop a dragon or something. The gags are bizarre, the CGI animals are terrible, and Downey is seriously out of place.
Also terrible was The Devil All the Time, a slog of a Netflix film starring Tom Holland and a host of talented people. It was a miserable story that had no redeeming qualities to it, and I hated watching it. Don't waste your time.
Finally, Tenet. While not terrible, it was definitely a letdown. Christopher Nolan has his weaknesses, and it feels like this film was all of those things brought to the forefront. Nolan gets so wrapped in his inverted time gimmick that he fails to build a cohesive story or characters that we care about. Like all Nolan films "stuff just happens" but that has never been truer than this film. There are some cool sequences and the score is great (although it is loud), but the script is terrible and to top it all off, Nolan should never be allowed to supervise another sound mix again.
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