50. Inside Llewyn Davis (Coens, 2013)
The Coen Brothers have always had an unusual fascination with cosmic forces of misfortune as a cruel, misanthropic joke, but there's something about this one that's more interested in being a shoulder to lean on than some of their other ones. Surely a good portion of that can be attributed to the humanity Oscar Isaac brings to the title character.
49. The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open (Tailfeathers & Hepburn, 2019)
Does for North American cinema what Cristian Mungiu did for the Romanian New Wave. Bold formal choices as a socio-political statement. Rich in empathy without simply being pitiable.
48. Holy Motors (Carax, 2012)
If there's any movie out that there can get away with calling themselves original, it's probably this one. At once a perverse and pleasurable ride that constantly reinvents itself and cinematic conventions. Leos Carax is an absolute visionary.
47. Magic Mike (Soderbergh, 2012)
Speaking of pleasurable. Manages to pull off the bright summer-time entertainment about half-naked beefcakes that was advertised while also playing as a sly commentary on sex as capital. Easily top 5 Soderbergh for me.
46. Aquarius (Filho, 2016)
Sonia Braga's performance is a genuine force of nature, but there's even more to savor! From the opening prologue that would have made an exceptional short film on its own, to its audio-visual beauty, to its limber braiding of personal history and political conviction.
45. mother! (Aronofsky, 2017)
My initial impression of this movie was repulsion and unease, but I've grown to view this as part of the movie's odd, unique charm. "Charm," that is, less in its ability to shock its audience with baby cannibalism than with the ways it fearlessly bears its anger and devises a singular formal and thematic through line to siphon it into our own viewing experience. The dramaturgy is big but never heavy, revealing an opportunity for Darren Aronofsky to almost gleefully act out crazy Black Swan operatics of his own. I.e. a lacerating, heavy-handed experience that's all the more impressive for its commitment.
44. Beginners (Mills, 2010)
"Here. Here is simple and happy. That's what I meant to give you." Beginners is perhaps too downbeat to be labeled as a "happy" experience (though it frequently gives me joy) and is far from "simple" in its aims (but is in no way overly elaborate). If those are inappropriate ways to describe Mike Mills's sweet, funny, and touching comic drama, then let's call it a beacon of generosity and warmth.
43. Félicité (Gomis, 2017)
Casts a distinctive spell, diving deep into the complexities of a stubbornly opaque heroine.
42. It Follows (Mitchell, 2014)
Pushes its unusual horror conceit to so many fascinating places, and with such patience and control. Even when you think the finale is going off the rails, it still leaves you with an imposing sense of dread and moral quandary.
41. Norte, the End of History (Diaz, 2013)
Lav Diaz's Dostoevskian epic is four staggering hours of transcendent cinema. Brims with its own adroit sense of place and time, while evoking Crime and Punishment.
40. Zama (Martel, 2017)
I only wish that I had been able to watch this a little more recently, but the fever-dream haziness that lingers in my memory is most likely a sign of the film succeeding at what it sets out to do to its audience. A delirious and potent vision of colonialism rearing its ugly head.
39. My Joy (Loznitsa, 2010)
If Lucrecia Martel's Zama is a fever dream of colonial delusion, then Sergei Loznitsa's My Joy is a nightmare of national demise. Impeccable staging and tension, rendering contemporary Russia as a purgatorial picaresque that only further reveals its uglier sides.
38. The Missing Picture (Panh, 2013)
Director Rithy Panh's deeply personal document of scarcely-recorded Cambodian history takes a huge risk with its clay-figure approach and pays multiple dividends with it. A courageous feat.
37. Only Lovers Left Alive (Jarmusch, 2013)Everything about this movie is delicious: the blood popsicles, the rhythms (both sonic and narrative), the uncanny shifts into humor, its incredibly hot leading actors... Reveals new sides to vampires and Jarmusch (his best since Ghost Dog).
36. Weekend (Haigh, 2011)
A sexy, intimate, and moving portrait of a blossoming romance and a quietly radical depiction of two men's contrasting ideas of navigating your day-to-day life as gay. Andrew Haigh's observant eye imbues this brief encounter with such authentic feeling about meeting new people and acquiring romantic feelings for a person. This feeling is only enhanced by the chemistry and sensitivity brought from Tom Cullen and Chris New's excellent performances. I completely cherish it.
35. Girlhood (Sciamma, 2014)
Builds a keen and layered sociopolitical POV from one young woman's personal experiences and through collective ones. The Rihanna musical sequence is easily a top 5 movie moment from this decade.
34. Gravity (Cuarón, 2013)
A triumph of human ingenuity, I say this both in reference to what Sandra Bullock's character goes through and the bold execution of Alfonso Cuarón's direction. Truly immersive filmmaking.
33. Atlantics (Diop, 2019)
A late contender for the most assured debut of the decade. Weaves a variety of threads from different, vertiginous strains, unearthing a knotty, mesmerizing snapshot of life in Dakar and its social reverberations.
32. The Lobster (Lanthimos, 2015)
The ways in which totalitarian ideas of romance and self-isolating rebellion go hand in hand. Reveals equally candid and absurdist angles on its premise, inviting open-ended positions on the potential fates and motivations of the Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz characters. Both halves enrich the other.
A crystalline glacier exploding with storybook texture, magical realism, and a credibly child's-eye POV. A fantastical Bayou environment richly realized, neither exploiting or idealizing its characters' conditions. A young girl's emotional arc maturely handled.
30. Under the Skin (Glazer, 2013)
The film was already going strong as a pulsating series of hypnotic abstractions. And then the devastating beach scene arrives, harvesting everything we thought we knew about this lone figure and her tasks and replacing them with a visceral yet inchoate sense of vulnerability that never leaves the movie's spirit. I've never recovered from that scene and Jonathan Glazer guides the film's surprising emotional undertow from there as deftly as his previous features. Completely masterful.
29. Good Time (Safdies, 2017)
Not to spoil a two-year-old movie, but it's quite a relief when Connie decides to do the right thing and let up on his reckless and crackpot goal of freeing both himself and his brother from the possibility of prison. The Safdies, on the other hand, refuse to let up on the adrenaline-inducing desperation that has become their niche, with this and Uncut Gems (currently in theaters). If going through a full-blown anxiety attack is a risk of experiencing this duo's insane gifts for sound, cutting, and light, then that's a risk I'm willing to take.
28. In Jackson Heights (Wiseman, 2015)
Frederick Wiseman's observant, far-reaching eye is predictably virtuosic once again, but this one's heterogeneous focus and its ideas about communal solidarity make it even more special than usual. Packed with memorable moments and subjects.
27. Call Me by Your Name (Guadagnino, 2017)
Now that the dust has settled and we've all moved on from the (frankly bad) "Call Me by Your Name isn't queer enough" takes, it's nice to look back and savor the movie's multitude of treasures: like the tricky, seamless feat of adaptation from James Ivory, the Sufjan Stevens tracks gracefully permeating through the film's sound design, the soulful evocation of budding sexual identity, and the guarded masks of Timothée Chalamet slowly unraveling into heartbreak. All of which are guided by the sensuous direction of Luca Guadagnino.
26. Blue Valentine (Cianfrance, 2010)
Bruising take on falling in and out of love. Both conditions in wise, uncompromising conversation with the other. Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling are just so perfect.
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