The MoFo Top 100 of the 2010s Countdown

Manchester by the Sea and Spotlight are two critically acclaimed movies that I've never seen, but not purely out of apathy. I suspect I might enjoy them, but they might also just be "alright". This is a step up from a number of the other movies that I hadn't seen, where the sense I had was a strong one of indifference (I don't know how the presence of the King's Speech is skewing my impression of what's on the list that I haven't seen).

Inside Out - I don't have any desire to see this movie.
Joker - I haven't seen it just because I've received the impression that it's ultimately going to be a shallow imitation of better movies, that thinks it's better than what it is. And life's too short. I've got movies to watch. Or apparently posts about movies on movie forums to write?

When I saw what the next films were going to be I almost laughed out loud. Funniest countdown pairing since the Refresh list's back-to-back reveals of It's A Wonderful Life and Aliens.

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Inside Out is good. It's Pete Docter. But I repeat myself. I cried a bit, so it's got something going for it, but after what he did with Up it was hard not to be slightly let down. Weirdly, I haven't rewatched it, but I know I should, and will, at some point.

Joker was just Good for me for most of the runtime...until the last half-hour. It really just let it fly in the finale and I was completely swept up in it. Before then it was the kind of admirable (but not actually enjoyable) film I've seen before, but which I just have so much emotional distance from. Taxi Driver, an obvious influence, was the same way: yeah, I'm impressed by the atmosphere, the sense of societal grime pervading the whole thing, but it's hard to feel close to it as a work of art, even if that's maybe the point. But the ending really did sell me on the whole affair.

It's particularly interesting to me when I get swept up in something like that, where for some reason something clicks, and the thing I wasn't enjoying adds an extra pinch of some kind of ingredient and suddenly I'm just along for the ride (edited to say I know this is terrible metaphor mixing but I'm too busy to fix it). It's hard to figure out how or why that happens, but it happened with Joker and that makes me a believer.

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Neither made my ballot, however.

I'll be damned, one I voted for. Inside Out was my #16.

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Look, Dr. Lesh, we don't care about the disturbances, the pounding and the flashing, the screaming, the music. We just want you to find our little girl.

Joker is mediocre. The fact it won at the Venice Film Festival is the final proof the event means nothing and that all film festivals mean nothing, etc., etc. All that being said it's not a bad movie. It's just that it isn't a good movie.

Inside Out is okay but I have to agree with Yoda that it's definitely inferior to Up.

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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.

There are upsetting scenes in movies and then there is Bing Bong in Inside Out.

Pixar do sometimes walk the edge of "hey kids, here's a fun kids movie" and "hey adults, here's a movie about the Death of Childhood, cry, damn you, cry!" (See also the start of Toy Story 3). Inside Out goes further than most.

(This impression was cemented for me when I once saw an ad before a Disney movie the message of which (not even subtext) was "take your kids to Disneyland before it's too late.")

I really didn't like Inside Out the first time I watched it. It was weird, it wasn't what I had expected from the trailer and it was actually pretty upsetting. I've seen it again since, I've seen clips of it and I think there's a lot of good stuff in there but it still seems much more about conveying the ideas and concepts than about being a coherent and enjoyable movie.

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Edge of Tomorrow - The kind of film that is basically designed for me to forget as soon as its over. But not bad for what it is trying to do. Not terribly bothered by the 'copying other movies' criticism. It's what you do with what you steal that matters. And I'm pretty sure Groundhog Day wasn't the first to play in this particular sandbox anyways.



Take Shelter - Another one I can't really remember, but I know I liked. Any movie that mixes allusions of mental illness with the Apocalypse is obviously going to speak to me. Before I totally forget about it, at least.


Before Midnight - Haven't seen it. As much as I like Linklater, I've never developed a taste for the first film. Everyone speaks about how realistic the dialogue is and how their banter is so natural and unaffected. Uhhhhhh....they are watching a different movie than me. Every line read in this film sounds so pampered with affectations to make it seem casual that it rings particularly hollow to me. I'd almost rather have purely scripted dialogue than purely scripted dialogue that is play acting as being improvised. Doesn't make it a bad movie but...it really limits how much it was able to hit me. And it didn't hit me.


Gone Girl - Fincher's worst. At least Benjamin Button (which is probably actually his worst) at least has a handful of glorious little moments. Not this which just lays there. A thriller with all sort of affected twists and turns and Ben Affleck looking constipated. Nah, not my jam. An absolute non-event of a movie.


Manchester by the Sea - Haven't seen but would like to


Spotlight - Mildly engaging, slow burn expose that isn't too bad. Think I am like some others when I would have been just as happy watching this as a documentary. As a film it is just competent and there. But nothing that makes me want to talk about it as an actual film.


Moonlight - Devastating and beautiful and actually achieves a trueish sense of realism even while it looks cinematically ethereal and can feel at times emotionally manipulative. I think its the films structure which makes the entire thing work so well as both a satisfying dramatic arc as well as an artful meditation on the feelings of 'otherness' that lay at its heart. Giving snapshots of three different times in the characters life, played by three different actors, with so much space imagined between each of its acts that we (as an audience) are forced to reconcile what happened in between. How they connect, not so much narratively, as intuitively. Both Takoma and Ash have articulated better than I could how the character of Chiron isn't a convenient avatar for an agenda, but is about as fully developed as a character can be. We just have to watch how he reacts and listen to what he says (or doesn't say) to understand the tragedy of his entire life. It's a great great movie, even if I chose not to put it on my list. On a different day though I could have placed it in my top 10.




The Favorite - will probably be my most shameful oversight on this list. Haven't got around to this one yet, even though Lathimos is a hero to me. I'm sure I'll love it.


Joker - One of the great shocks was realizing that not only did I not hate this, but that I actually thought it was pretty good. It should have been a perfect storm of disdain. Comic book shit. Overt attempts by the director to cosplay a better director (Scorsese). A rabid fan base of the type of people who make me want to barf. I put this on mostly to hate watch one night. Turns out a really great central performance and some decent direction can go a long way. As derivative as it is, I think the film still manages to get into the headspace of its Joker character. And he's both frightening and empathetic and occassionally amusing in his complete detachment from the human race. Certainly not a movie I would have considered for my list, but definitely a triumph of overcoming my own personal biases.


Inside Out - I think my favorite Pixar. Most of their films, while uniformly good to great, almost always have bits that don't work for me. Or even threaten to undo the parts I did like. But this one seems to fire on all cylinders the whole way through. It's a novel concept but its executed with such inventiveness and gentleness and humor that it has all sorts of edges on it to alternately tickle me or cut me. I even think there may have been a scene that had me struggling not to cry as I sat next to my heartless, toothless brother who would have never let me forget my tears. Just like I never let him forget his lack of teeth. Another great movie that didn't make my list.

The Joker is a good film with a great performance by Phoenix, but that last act comes off seriously contrived.

Inside Out is my #7.
Top 5 Pixar.

Absolutely hate Joker, sorry.

Inside Out was good but it's been a while since I've seen it.

34/42 seen.

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At least one other person thought the dialogue in Before Sunrise was unrealistic.
https://www.movieforums.com/communit...11#post2211711

I've heard many times before how this film had improvised dialogue, but it never feels that way. As you mention, both actors seem to be living in their own bubble when talking. If it was improv, and they have no reason to lie about this, it still never got them to the preferred effect that improv should have which is two people sharing a moment. Living in a moment together. Not reciting monologues they seem to have scripted before getting to that day's shoot.



The conversation these two actors have in Waking Life, presumably playing the same characters, has more naturalism than anything in this film. It's ultimately very similar, the kind of navel gazing, pop cultural obsessed conversation so in fashion at the time (90's), but they seem like they are actually interacting in that brief scene. Unlike here where it just never got me believing these two were actually discovering eachother for the first time through conversation. Which is kind of the whole point of the film. Either your knees buckle at their chemistry or they don't, and mine didn't.

Joker was one of the best theater experiences I had in a long time back when I watched it in a packed theater on 70mm film.

I gave it a full five back then, but the experience without a doubt lifted it… I’ve seen it three times in total and I still find it to be great. It was a 4,5 on my last watch and I’m sure it’ll either still be that or at least a 4. It’s so thick with atmosphere and style and Phoenix is amazing. As always. I did not have it on my list though.

I wrote a review a while back that I remember being quite satisfied with (spoilers follow).

Here it is:

As for Inside Out, I love the movie. Thought it was one of Pixar’s best in a long time on release. Still is one of their best newer efforts. Only Turning Red has really impressed me outside of that. So yeah, the best Pixar of the decade for me, I would say…

Inside Out is probably Pixar's best from the decade and I've seen it several times (always with my daughter), but I had no animated movies. And I love Joker, but I didn't include it because it's hard to see it without thinking it's an inferior version of The King of Comedy or Taxi Driver, though I find it fascinating untangling how much is "real" in the film and how much is in the character's mind, but I left it off my list.

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I may go back to hating you. It was more fun.

I forgot to post my revealed ballot entries.

My ballot

4. Endgame
8. A Separation
15. Gone Girl
18. Inside Out

60. Joker (2019, Todd Phillips) 118 points

Card: Forgive my Laughter: I have a Condition.

Coming from a guy who read comic books as a kid/teenager and graphic novels into my adulthood, I thought this was quite an excellent Origin Tale of Joker despite the flak that it has gotten from the comic book crowd. Taking the psychological fragmentation of a poor, desolate unknown, pitiful weakling that knows naught but sadness and abuse. As opposed to a criminal falling into a vat of acid or a similar glamorized mythos. Which, in my mind, is a far better route, and it is done amazingly well.
Joaquin Phoenix is a master at portraying the more broken, victimized psyches, and, as usual, Joaquin goes the extra mile, adding the malnutrition physique to Arthur Fleck. Creating an additional layer to this abused creature and the awkward infant steps of what would become the psychotic King of Chaos that all other comic book villains aspire to.

Phillips weaves a tension-filled street of Gotham, its cruel grittiness far more realistic than many predecessors. We see the vulnerability and the tortured soul that were only hinted at and never shown in regard to the various possible origins of Joker. Giving us the foundering first steps as Arthur decides that his life is no longer a tragedy but a f@cking comedy.




59. Inside Out (2015, Pete Docter) 119 points

I LOVE Pixar.
There are a couple that I do not. I'm looking at you, Cars while films like Ratatouille and Wall-E were on my 2000s Countdown at #3 and #11, respectively, and I'm pretty d@mn sure if I had done a rewatch, this would have, quite easily.
But I didn't.
It's silly, really, but like @Thursday Next commented and @Thief brilliantly illustrated, Disney plays hardball when it comes to tugging the heart streaks, and I always felt like this one, which I DO love (because Disney told me I do). It felt, I don't know, a bit blatant, or maybe it was the social media when it came out (telling me to feel - I don't know, resentful?)

I reiterate it's silly, and yeah, breaking the story down to core emotions does feel like a Class on "Your Emotions and You," but, in the end, it's Pixar, and I love me some Pixar. And, f@ck, they got Lewis Black as Anger.




Movies Seen 22 out of 42 (52.38%)
1. Upper Fifty
2. Jojo Rabbit (2012) #89
3. Lower Thirty, if at all
4. Will be a Surprise
5. Mid Pack
6. Mid Pack
7. Upper Fifty
8. Hell or High Water (2016) #76
9. Unlikely
10. Upper Twenty
11. Mid Pack
12. Probably Not
13. The King's Speech (2010) #78
14. Upper Fifty
15. The Raid (2011) #100
16. Mid, maybe Upper Fifty
17. Mid Pack
18. Upper Fifty
19. Joker (2019) #60
20. Lower Fifty
21. Hopefully Places
22. Lower Fifty
23. Mid Pack
24. Mid Pack or Higher
25. A Royal Affair (2012) (One Pointer)


One Pointers Seen 7 out of 35 (20%)


Rectification List
86. 1917 (2019)
71. Ida (2013)

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What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes

~Mr Minio

To be honest, hadn't seen either one of these. I can't help but think Joker reminds me a bit of The King of Comedy, and I'm not sure if it helps that film out or not. Odds are I'd like Inside Out...I like Lewis Black as Anger (inspired casting) and I can vibe with Amy Poehler as Joy.

Since we're in the second fifth, it's time to look at my list's updated odds:

1. 80 percent
2. The Artist
3. Ida
4. World of Tomorrow
5. Less than 1 percent
6. 75 percent
7. 5 percent
8. Less than 1 percent
9. My Life as a Zucchini (#449)
10. 25 percent
11. Spotlight
12. 5 percent
13. 2 percent
14. 65 percent
15. 90 percent
16. 2 percent
17. Scott Pilgrim vs the World
18. Less than 1 percent
19. 50 percent
20. 1 percent
21. 70 percent
22. 60 percent
23. A Separation
24. 0 percent
25. The Retrieval (1 Pointer)

Honorable Mentions:

Moonlight
80 percent
70 percent
10 percent
55 percent
5 percent
2 percent

I think I'll be doing some explaining at the end!

Manchester by the Sea - great performances, writing, etc, very good film but didn't quite make it to my upper tier for the year. Spotlight was good too but you know one of those movies that you know before watching how it's all going to play out - and that's not because it's based on a true story.

Moonlight made my list and it's an excellent film. I like seeing all the back and forth here: for and against. I find people criticizing the final act and that's fine and all but I don't see it. I've been wanting to watch The Favourite for some time, and it's not really my kind of movie but for some reason..

Joker made my list. Loved it. One of the last movies I saw at the cinema. The feeling in that theatre was great. Good experience. But it's been three years since I've last gone. There was some...unpleasantness.. I can never go back. I just don't feel safe after The Rise of Skywalker. Inside Out is upper tier Pixar. Not top tier but still pretty good. I just checked out the full list of Pixar features, the 2010s had some low points and this decade isn't looking good. But there's an Inside Out 2 coming out in 2024. I bet you it's not good.

edit: Forgot to include my list so far.

12. Joker (2019)
14. The Turin Horse (2011)
22. Moonlight (2016)

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

Inside Out was my #10. My review:

Inside Out is a masterpiece and one of the greatest animated films of all time. Beautiful, hilarious, and touching, it is Pixar's finest achievement. An intelligent screenplay and wonderful characters makes Inside Out a must see for people of all ages.

Joker is a fantastic film, but didn't make my ballot. My review:

Joker puts a fresh and new spin on a very well known character and makes him feel real and human. Phoenix's performance is fantastic, a layered, complex, and compelling interpretation. The viewer becomes fascinated with the character, feeling both sympathy and fear. Phoenix absolutely deserves at least an Oscar nomination for this transformative and memorable performance. The film raises a lot of interesting questions and has something worthwhile to say. Joker doesn't play it safe, but gives us maverick, renegade filmmaking that we don't see that often any more. It feels like a film from the 70s or a one that could have been directed by Martin Scorsese. Joker is an exceptionally well made and rewarding film.

Seen: 40/42

Hints:

58.



57.

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IMDb
Letterboxd

Joker is decent. Inside Out was decent and deserves another look quite soon from me.