Sorry this took so long to get out, but I think it was worth it. At least I finished before the actual Academy Awards like always though. So way to go for me! Let's talk about the films I liked from this year!
....ermm yeah, all the classics sure are here....just kidding, 2020 did have some great movies.
It was worth delaying this list a little bit longer so I can
talk about the movies that I did like this year. And in a year where I was stretched to find
content to talk about, I got to admit, maybe this best list is not going to be
as barren as I initially thought.
Remember how I talked about how my best list was going to have more 6 or
7 out of 10’s than previous years? Well
that only applied to the honorable mentions list. I think my best list is actually pretty
strong.
I mean let’s not get carried away. It’s not going to be as strong as the last
two years where there were so many damn great movies to talk about. But there were some pretty good movies that
made film this year worth salvaging. You
just had to put forth the effort to find ways to view them. And I finally did so on so many films that I
couldn’t get to watch due to the pandemic initially.
Don’t get me wrong.
The content is still pretty bare bones.
It is not like there were 600+ choices like there are in previous years
for film. And I’m giving you all a heads
up, that there are a lot of movies that you guys might not even know existed
and more niche category films that only a handful might have known existed more
so than ever. But you know what, those
niche films are still worth checking out in their own right and worth being
highlighted from yours truly.
And with so many studios finally finding ways to push out
some of these infinitely delayed films from last year towards 2021, movie talk
can only go up from here. So let’s get this
show on the road.
Honorable Mentions:
Promising Young Woman
Best performance of Carey Mulligan’s entire career. She carries this movie excellently. I also enjoyed the direction style choices of
first time director, Emerald Fennell.
This woman has a promising bright future ahead of her. If it wasn’t for the final ten minutes of
this movie just not working for me, then it definitely would have made my top
ten. But man, what a disappointing ten
minutes that was. I mean I got it. It made sense. But it just did not work for me in terms of
trying to make me feel the way this movie wanted me to feel. Sorry.
I loved 90% of the movie though!
Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm
The original was much better. Sacha’s shtick is really starting to run dry
for me when it comes to his material.
But I still got my fair share of laughs from this and I admire the fact
that at least he had a legitimate plot for this movie after most of his
vehicles being barren of that. Also all
the shots at the previous administration feel rightfully justified. Although that scene with Giuliani rightfully
would leave anyone uncomfortable. Lock
him up.
Freaky
Jason Blum does it again.
Definitely the best Vince Vaughn role in the past ten years. Seriously hope the guy gets more work again
after this.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Was super close to making the main list proper. Chadwick Boseman gives the best performance
of his entire career and that’s really saying something because this guy was
just so good in so many movies. It is
one of those rare instances that one performance makes a movie and while I
think the rest of the movie is good on its own merits, it’s Boseman’s
performance that raises this movie a few extra notches.
The King of Staten Island
Honestly pretty damn good movie that would make the list
proper depending on how you feel about Pete Davidson, which my feelings towards
him tend to fluctuate between “he’s pretty funny in more than just SNL” to
“good lord please get him as far away from me as humanely possible”. This is probably the best acting he’s ever
done that I’m willing to forgive the fact that this guy annoys me to no end as
a personality.
Minari
Such a beautiful film.
Steven Yeun is really as great as advertised here proving that he can
sustain an actual film career and stop being typecasted as Glenn from The Walking
Dead. Was considering placing this on
the list proper but I was still waiting for that one scene in the movie that made
me go, wow. I liked it plenty, but I
just did not love it like so many others.
Sorry.
Hubie Halloween
This was the sort of stupid garbage that I sorely needed in
a year where we could all use a few laughs to get through the misery of
2020. Not a good movie by any means of
the imagination but I liked it a lot more than I expected. Congrats Sandler. You get my seal of approval.
I think it’s only fitting we start off this list with the
movie that brought back my interest in film reviewing.
10. The Invisible Man
And honestly, this film has only gotten better over
time. More than likely due to being the
last theatrical film experience I had before the pandemic ruined movie theaters
for me for the forseeable future. If only
I can rewind time and tell myself that this would be the last time I sit in a
theater for awhile…
But man, what a last movie theater film for me in that
case. Sure I still have my problems with
some of the movie logic choices this movie decides to make. And I can absolutely see that being a downer
for many others. To me though, I’m
willing to let it slide because it leads to some pretty good scares from a
genre that has become so “jump scare” focused.
These are some legit good horror moments.
What I really still love about this though is how this movie
portrays abusive relationships. It is
very realistic how even after you leave your abusive ex, they can still abuse
you mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Add in the fact that your abuser is invisible and don’t know when he
will appear to traumatize you only adds to the tense mood this movie
consistently portrays. And Elisabeth
Moss really nails this performance to the point in one of the most underrated
acting performances in the entire year.
Like I legitimately believe she should get some sort of recognition in
the awards circuit for her role here.
Especially in a weaker playing field this year due to the pandemic.
Will this lead to the Dark Universe coming back? Or is this just Blumhouse Studios making
something out of nothing once more? I
honestly hope for both. I’m glad to see
Jason Blum bringing back the nostalgic horror properties of yesteryear and
giving them a modernized twist. Just let
him run the Dark Universe and watch the results churn out more great films like
this.
You know when the pandemic really took its toll on me
missing the old normal? The
summertime. The season where all the big
budgeted blockbusters normally came out?
Remember those? Remember sitting
in jammed pack movie theaters watching the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic
Universe? The newest Fast and Furious
film entry? Highly anticipated sequels
to beloved properties? I missed that
feeling especially during the summer time when theaters were still closed and
absolutely nothing came out to fill that gigantic void for me. Although there were a few exceptions…
9. Bill & Ted Face the Music
Really sad that this had to come out during a freaking
pandemic of all times for theatrical release.
Would have loved to seen this in a full theater with a bunch of other
20-30 somethings who grew up watching the previous two Bill & Ted movies. And you know what’s amazing? This admittedly unnecessary threequel still
has the same stupid charm that the others had.
I really missed when comedies like this were so stupidly
innocent and naïve. Because most of the
comedies we have in the present are so dark and grim reminding us that the present
sucks. And even though that doesn’t mean
I don’t like today’s comedy films (more on that later), I really enjoy comedy
films that focus more on just the escapism element of it all that just want to
make me laugh and have fun.
Hence Bill & Ted 3.
Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter still have absolutely amazing chemistry
together even though they are both in their mid-50’s and haven’t been in a film
together for nearly thirty years.
Meanwhile, their daughters played by Brigette Lundy-Paine and Samara
Wevaving respectively, also have the same undeniable chemistry. Watching these four go on their own
time-traveling adventures is just such a delight. Sure you can some of this is fan service-y
with the daughters basically having their own Excellent Adventure, while Reeves
and Winter get reunited with some cameos from previous films past as well. But this was the right amount of fan service
for me because the Bill & Ted films have that undeniable charm to them and
the callbacks have the right amount of time dedicated to them before they
become overbearing.
I really hope this movie ends up finding a following of some
sort. Hell I hope all the 2020 films
that were released during the pandemic find some sort of following since it’ll
be hard to earn their respective budgets back otherwise. But this one in particular because it goes to
show that even the most unnecessary of threequels can still hit the mark when
the proper amount of dedication is put-forth.
Plus in times like these, we need films like these to remind ourselves
to be excellent to each other and to party on dudes.
Happy twenty year anniversary to one of the worst
promotional tactics in the history of wrestling. Allow me to elaborate even further because I
know not everyone is a wrestling mark like me.
In the year 2000, former major wrestling conglomerate World Championship
Wrestling (WCW for short) was the focal point of the buddy comedy film, “Ready
to Rumble”. The movie was about two
slackers who go on a road trip to get their favorite wrestler back on his feet
after being outed by an awful promoter.
And in a terrible cross promotion idea, the film’s star
David Arquette (a real life major wrestling mark like me) was made the WCW
Heavyweight Champion. Even David
Arquette thought it was a terrible idea, but the company thought it would bring
in more viewers at a time where WCW was on life support as a company. It only made things worse as WCW folded in
2001 to what is still the biggest wrestling company in the world, World
Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
Was giving Arquette the company’s main title the worst move
in WCW history? Honestly, no. It’s definitely top five, but WCW was already
making bad financial moves like overpaying for aging talent, making horrible
booking decisions, and exploiting the business as kayfabe so blatantly that your
turning away your core audience (The Finger Poke of Doom is the worst move in
WCW history ftr). But David Arquette
unfairly and unjustly would get tons of heat from wrestling fans from around
the world for many years afterwards. No
matter how much money he donated to the business and how he would help
financially support those who lost their life to wrestling; fans still hated a
guy who honestly loves wrestling as much as they do.
Well in 2020, David Arquette gave back to the business in
ways that I hope will finally make his haters forgive him.
8. You Cannot Kill
David Arquette
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zsas3Wixmd0
Honestly, you need to understand the wrestling business and
its dedicated fan base to truly bask the full appeal of this movie. Because the internet wrestling community is
one of the most overly analytical fandoms I’ve ever come across. And this movie is, more or less, David
Arquette trying to atone for his infamous moment in wrestling history by giving
back to the industry’s die-hard fans by being a full-time wrestler. Granted it was only for a couple years, but
David Arquette fully committed to his promise and performed at indie shows,
backyard wrestling events, and even a few semi-major promotions. If there was a way to appease to his haters,
it’s by performing at the lesser known development systems and leagues that the
internet wrestling community adores. And
my god, does this make me sympathize with Arquette as a person more so than he
has in a long time. The injuries he
sustains, the blood he bleeds, the stunts he pulls…they are all real. Despite wrestling being a fake sport that has
forgone conclusions to all their matches, the moves they pull are all real and
what Arquette goes through is all real.
And at a guy his age, he should not be doing some of the stuff he goes
through just to make his haters forgive him for a braindead company’s last ditch
effort to be relevant twenty years ago.
Honestly, if you still hate David Arquette for that over
twenty years later after sitting through this, the problem is you.
…I swear this didn’t end up at 7 for the sake of the irony.
7. The Trial of the Chicago 7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVb6EdKDBfU
Aaron Sorkin does it again when it comes to just making
compelling filmmaking with his signature rapid fire dialogue. This time, he tackles one of the most
infamous trials of the 1960’s and this movie is completely built off of
Sorkin’s strengths as a writer-director.
I’m honestly surprised he hasn’t made a courtroom drama up until this
point. It reminds me so much as to why I
loved The West Wing back in the day.
Of course, don’t look at this movie thinking it’s a play by
play documentary as to what actually happened back in 1968. Because it does take A LOT of poetic license
after doing further research into the actual historical events. Certain events that take place in the movie
happened out of order or took creative liberties just for the sake of
progressing the movie. And honestly, I
didn’t mind it. Because it worked for
the sake of the movie and it reflects very well as to how the past is currently
the present. I don’t think it’s a
shocking development to say that we are living in culturally divided
times. This is the most politically
unrested the United States has been since the times of the Vietnam War, with
the amounts of protesting, questionable politics, social and racial
injustice. It only made sense that this
movie, which has been in development for nearly fifteen years, got released at
this point in time of history. A lot of
the events that did happen surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention
resonate fairly well with everything going on right now.
Outside of that, the acting in this is stellar. Frank Langella is played very well as the
antagonistic judge who is just vile in his mannerisms. Sacha Baron Cohen should receive recognition
this awards season for Best Supporting Actor as Abbie Hoffman because he just
steals the room every time he’s on screen.
Hell, even Eddie Redmayne (who I think is vastly overrated as an actor)
manages to surprise me with how many layers of depth his character has.
The Social Network will forever remain my favorite scripted
Aaron Sorkin film, but The Trial of the Chicago 7 is absolutely high up
there. Check it out y’all.
This next pick might be shocking. Shocking in that I think this was one of the
best movies of the year.
6. Happiest Season
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h58HkQV1gHY
Is this a perfect movie?
Honestly, hell no. I may have
given it high regards in my review of it, but even I know that this is a flawed
movie. One of the main characters is
extremely unlikeable and really hard to redeem up until the very end, with no
thanks to her but thanks to another character’s own personal story that relates
to her. This movie also takes full
advantage of things that could be fixed via movie logic. And honestly, there are plenty of aspects to
this movie that are supremely cringe.
But dammit, I’m willing to forgive a lot of these movies
flaws thanks to how seamlessly it made me feel normal this year during one of
my favorite times of any year, the holiday season. As most of you probably know by now, I LOVE
CHRISTMAS. My unhealthy obsession with
this holiday makes me extra kind towards Christmas movies in particular…unless
they totally suck like my Top 10 Worst Holiday Movies list (the Best List is
coming Holiday 2021 ftr). And at the
time, I thought this was one of the best holiday movies in recent years. Which still rings true to this day.
If you want to see more in depth analysis of why this is
great, read my review of it. I go into
full detail as to why so many aspects of this movie work with its charming
cast, smart writing, and its accessibility for making a mainstream LGBT
romantic comedy without highlighting it as being different. Easily my biggest guilty pleasure film in
quite some time except without the guilt.
It’s just an absolute pleasure to watch every time.
Also give Mary Holland more work. She’s a budding comedy star blossoming in the
wings.
Okay we are now entering the part of the list that I think
supremely highly of. These last five
films I think would compete with most contenders from my best lists of past
years. Starting off with…
…I swear I also didn’t do this for the pun.
5. Da 5 Bloods
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5RDTPfsLAI
I don’t think it was intentional that Spike Lee released his
latest movie during the month of June.
Right when the George Floyd protests really started to push
through. Honestly wouldn’t surprise me
if Spike Lee did this movie so quickly because he honestly has done
fast-tracked movies at opportune times to discuss on the nose topics.
And once again, I absolutely love how direct Spike Lee’s
message was about the pulse of America.
It was extremely emotionally impactful and even included real footage of
real deaths. This was a very violent
movie with real archival footage that honestly made me uncomfortable at
times. But it served its purpose because
just like two entries prior, this is the most divided the United States has
been since the Vietnam War times. And
we’ve never had a film like this where it shows what it was like to be
African-American during this war. It is
as timely then as it is now. This movie
could have not come out at a more opportune time to really spread its message.
This is Spike Lee’s best movie since “Do The Right Thing”
over twenty-five years ago. His aspect
ratios in his direction perfectly represent the technological advancements
directing has taken in the past fifty years.
He should receive best director considerations just on that alone. And let me give some major acting props to
Delroy Lindo. This guy has been in the
business for damn near fifty years and this is the best performance he’s ever
given. His role as a soldier with
extreme PTSD is just absolutely a tour de force. Best role of his entire career. Sorry 90’s classics Ransom and Get Shorty.
Highly recommend this movie to those who haven’t seen it and
would be so much higher if those visuals didn’t scar my memory banks to such
extremities.
Time to talk about the odds-on favorite for this awards
season.
4. Nomadland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sxCFZ8_d84
I wouldn’t be surprised to see people calling this movie
“overrated” down the line. Because it is
getting heaped with praise by critics while early audience reaction for this is
kind of mixed. And let me be the first
to admit that this movie is honestly not for everyone.
It’s one of those observant movies that focus on the environment
it is in more than acting and story based.
This really doesn’t have a true narrative. The movie gives you the plot basically right
away that our lead is bored of her life after a recent loss of a love one, so
she becomes a nomad. She lives in her van,
poops in a bucket, bathes in the river, and interacts with real life nomads.
And I’ll be honest, I’m not normally a fan of these
non-narrative based films. Take for
example 2014 critical darling, “Boyhood”.
While it wasn’t an awful movie by any means, I felt like I was watching
this boy’s awkward home movies. That is
not the case with “Nomadland”. I feel
like I’m watching this woman find herself on this journey while the environment
around her. The many quiet, seemingly
inconsequential encounters and interactions gives us a different look of
outsiders existence in the real world.
So you can see why this movie works especially well in 2020 where a lot
of people were left jobless and contemplating their place in this world in the
confines of their homes in lockdown.
Great direction choices all around by Chloe Zhao. I can see why she has been winning as many
best director categories as she has thus far.
Chloe Zhao’s next film is Marvel’s “Eternals”. To say that I’m excited to see how she
tackles Marvel’s first family is an understatement.
God-tier Pixar is back baby!
3. Soul
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs--6c7Hn_A
I mean let's not kid ourselves here. Pixar's decline in quality was vastly overstated. I thought plenty of their movies since their so called "decline" were still pretty damn great in their own rights. I just think they scheduled all these sequels too close together to the point that people forgot what made them fall in love with this studio in the first place. Pixar's good not great films would still be better than a lot of other studios best input. Looking at you Illumination!
But even I've got to admit that Pixar has not made a film this great in quite some time. Soul is truly one of the studios most ambitious efforts in a very long time. Further proving that not all animated films need to be kid focused because this is easily Pixar's most adult film. Revolving around the ideology of life after death and what it means to fully embrace life while you are living is something that is going to float over a lot of kids heads as the kids will probably be entertained enough by the body swap story.
This movie is just a captivating journey from start to finish. Like some of the jazz compositions that our lead Joe fully loves, the framework of this movie veers off in so many unexpected directions that even its earned ending feels just right. Popping with colorful visuals, gentle messages of wisdom, and easily the best Pixar musical score ever; Soul is just a return to form of what made this studio so critically acclaimed in the first place.
And as someone who has found his purpose, but still loves to learn more about the meaning of life; "Soul" is easily one of my favorite Pixar films, period. Definitely top ten, possibly even top five. It's that perfect from a studio with many perfect films.
So the Academy Awards are this Sunday. We can spend all day talking about the odds
on favorites and the underrated choices who should be recognized. But let’s talk about the snubs because the
fact that this movie only earned one nomination overall proves the Academy is a
fucking joke.
2. One Night in Miami…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8vf_Cmh9nY
While I obviously have one more film that I loved more than
this one for my best of list, this would have been my odds-on favorite in
nearly every category that mattered for the Academy Awards. It’s just such a powerful movie that really
hit in so many ways. And instead it only
got nominated for three categories. Just
three. What a fucking joke.
Don’t get me wrong, I will still be happy if it won any of
those three awards. Leslie Odom Jr. in
particular does a fantastic portrayal of Sam Cooke. But so many other snubs were made, most
notably Best Picture and Best Director for Regina King. Regina King’s direction in particular was
absolutely stellar for a first time director.
Instead of making this a theatrical stage adaptation like the source
material, this just feels like a realistic conversation between four African-American
historical icons in the 1960’s. The
conversations just felt so smooth and so real that I kept forgetting that I was
watching a movie adaptation. That’s when
you know you’ve got real directional talent and I’m just flabbergasted that
Regina King didn’t get a best director nomination.
Honestly this movie is just so fantastic that it is actually
making me want to seek out the stage play.
Something that I rarely have the urge to do. Highly suggest you guys seek this one out so
you can understand how powerful of a movie this really is.
My number one for this year was set in stone for many months
after I saw it. Let’s just cut to the
reveal:
1. Palm Springs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpBLtXduh_k
It’s one thing to love a movie. It’s another thing entirely to say that a
movie helped you through some pretty dark moments in your life. And in this year where I, as well as many
others, felt like their whole world was turned upside down due to the global
pandemic; I needed this movie to help bring some joy back into my life.
I’m not one to speak of my personal life so openly,
especially on this sort of playing field like blogs. But this year, I started seeking a therapist
due to battling depression. I wasn’t the
only one certainly who had to battle some sort of depression. A recent case study shows that therapy
sessions went up this year in terms of visitations whether they were in person,
over the phone, virtual, etc. But most
of my pandemic based depression stemmed from losing three of my favorite
hobbies all at the same time: eating out at local restaurants, sports, and
going to the movies. Sure all three of
these are still accessible months later with takeout becoming more popular,
sports still going on with limited fan capacities, and movies being sent to
streaming services more and more. But I
love eating out at restaurants inside to get the full experience and I haven’t
done that since the pandemic started due to it being too risky. Sports are much more entertaining with
maximum fan capacity. And there is
nothing like sitting in a full movie theater with popcorn and stadium
seating. Someday these will all be
available to us again but it won’t be for awhile. I’ve learned to accept this reality we are
living in, but I’m still fairly sad that this is the time we are currently
living in.
But enough about my anxiety being pushed to its absolute
limits this year. What exactly does that
have to do with my attachment to this movie?
If you haven’t seen Palm Springs, it is about making the best of the
worst situation. Our two leads played by
Andy Samberg and Cristin Miloti, both phenomenal in this movie, have to relive
the same day over and over and over again as they are stuck in an infinite time
loop ala Groundhog Day. And while yes they
both wallowed in self-pity and came to terms with their little personal hell,
they eventually did escape it. And even
when they were stuck in it, they tried to constantly make the best out of it
every day. This was exactly what I needed
to remember at a time where I thought this past year couldn’t get any worse as
more and more bad news kept piling on and on to make 2020 such a hell-ish year.
And you know what? I
did have a few good things happen to make 2020 salvageable. I got re-attached to video games again after
spending hundreds of hours on multiple titles, most notably Animal Crossing:
New Horizons. I bought my first house
and now have multiple projects to keep me busy in terms of home
improvement. And I also became an uncle
to a nephew that I love dearly. Would I
like for things to be different than it is right now? You bet.
But I’m reminding myself every day to try and see the good amongst all
the bad we are currently facing. And in
a way, this movie reminded me of that.
Is “Palm Springs” a perfect movie? Of course not. But it didn’t need to be. It ended up becoming my own personal escapism
and a reminder at a time I needed one to live life to its fullest every
day. And that’s why it is my best movie
of 2020.
So those are my favorite films of 2020. Sorry again for the lengthy delay, but I hope it was worth the wait. Agree or disagree with my choices? What are your best films of 2020? And who do you think will bring home the gold this Sunday? Let me know in the comments below and as always, thank you for reading!
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