The MoFo Top 100 of the 2010s Countdown

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2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ
Fun fact: This thread currently has the 4th highest number of replies for any MoFo countdown on this forum. It will likely finish in second place once everything wraps up.

Those commentary threads are killing it!



Those commentary threads are killing it!
But the 90s thread has this:

It's also missing all the images. Stupid imageshack. Wish I still had them.
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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."



Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is my #49, love it but too much of a Bruce Lee fanboy to consider it for my ballot. Re-watched two different cuts of the original Blade Runner in preparation for the Blade Runner 2049 premiere. That's probably the main reason why I was a tad disappointed, my expectations were too damn high. However I did still very much enjoy the incredible visuals, I have it at #77.

can not believe that we have no room for Steve McQueen. A solid filmmaker who tells interesting realistic stories.
Solid filmmaker indeed, expected him to make the 100 as well. Widows is my #84 and my favorite McQueen so far, haven't seen Shame yet.



Victim of The Night

#23 - Byzantium

Neil Jordan knows how to make a vampire film. Byzantium combines the familiar with something new. It's been ages since I saw this, but I remember it being good. Not a "true" horror film, but a drama with supernatural elements (if I recall correctly).
I really liked this film but felt it stumbled at the end. Had it not, it probably would have made my ballot.



2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ
But the 90s thread has this:

It's also missing all the images. Stupid imageshack. Wish I still had them.
By far the greatest thing ever produced on this forum.



2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ
How do commentary threads work?
We used to watch movies simultaneously together with people and just comment on the movies as we watched them it was a blast.



Victim of The Night
OUaTiH was one I was kind of dreading on this list, not because I think it's a terrible film or anything but just because how highly it is praised and how much it is loved really makes me feel lonely here.
To me, it's just Tarantino being given money, yet again, to indulge his personal fetishes, and he's just too good of a filmmaker overall to make total shit out of that, so he makes hit-and-miss hodge-podges, which is how I would describe probably all of his films since Death Proof.
On the positive side, it had some really good scenes and a fun vibe, and I have never liked Leo or Brad and the the two of them starring side-by-side should have driven me right out of the theater but, on the contrary, I thought they both gave me the best of themselves. I don't know if it was the best acting I've ever seen, but I finally saw them give something that could validate their existences to me.



OUATIH could ultimately rank higher on my list of the decade's best, but for now it's the highest ranking film I've only seen once. I am a Tarantino fan, and besides that I am very much into films set anytime from the late 60's through the 80's. Tarantino is one of very few directors who can do so well capturing this era.

5. The Shape of Water (#52)
7. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (#7)
20. The Wolf of Wall Street (#11)
21. Certified Copy (#84)
22. Knives Out (#74)
24. Inside Llewyn Davis (#22)

That will be it from my ballot.



Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood....not seen it, don't want to. Not surprised it made the countdown.
I think you would dig it if you skipped the last 20 minutes.



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
I couldn't find my review of Once Upon A Time in Hollywood but it said something like, "just in case you didn't know Tarantino likes old movies, driving around in cars, feet and a bit of the old ultraviolence, here are two and a half hours of all of those things."


It is not a favourite of mine.



Once Upon a time in Hollywood was number one on my list. I am unashamedly a massive Tarantino fan, and despite my ever-evolving film taste I just can't stop loving his films. They're like the cinematic equivalent of a great takeaway for me. I've already watched this so many times and I'll often stick it on when I'm bored to enjoy in the background.

The ending is one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen and something only he could pull off, I was crying laughing in the cinema when I watched it.

I love the airplane scene/montage with "Out of Time" too, that gives me goosebumps every time the music hits.

The ultimate buddy movie.



Don't think I've ever posted it on here, but my review from back when I first saw it:

A Western is a type of film that often has a powerful mythical feeling like no other genre, with the greatest of them mixing striking imagery with strong characters that follow through redemptive arcs whilst exploring grand themes such as masculinity and social responsibility. Quentin Tarantino has famously stated that when he gets “close to a girl” he shows her the Howard Hawk’s masterpiece Rio Bravo, and well… he hopes she likes it.

Rio Bravo is a film that follows a straightforward plot, so simple in its formula that even Howard Hawks remade it twice with El Dorado and Rio Lobo. What elevates the film to a level where it is endlessly dissectible, immensely rewatchable and deceptively brisk for its three hour running time is the fascinating posse of characters - John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson and co. - that bring every frame to life.

Like his plots, the camerawork of Hawks films can also appear to be misleadingly simple. His favouring of two-shot framing allows for maximum interaction and hi-jinx between his characters. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood echoes Tarantino’s favourite film with a similar style for the first hour, introducing us to Rick Dalton (Leonardo Di Caprio) and his stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt).

Rick Dalton is a fading actor who has failed to successfully make the transition from television to film, largely down to his perception with audiences as pointed out by film producer Marvin Schwarz (Al Pacino). Faced with the reality of his situation, Rick struggles to hold together his emotions throughout as Cliff attempts to console him.

The existential male crisis of a character fading away from their past glories is a tale explored throughout Tarantino’s work. These personal questions are posed within the backdrop of changing social landscapes where often ones moral code and self-pride is the only thing getting them through the moving times. In Pulp Fiction Marsellus Wallace tells Butch that “pride only hurts, it never helps”, a line Schwarz could have borrowed when explaining to Rick that he should move to Rome to make Spaghetti Westerns.

Rick is not the only character failing to fit in, with his partner Cliff proving even more problematic for the environment he inhabits. We are ambiguously provided with a scene that indicates that he may or may not have killed his wife, an incident that haunts him on set as producers swerve to avoid the negative vibe he brings with him. It is clear that Cliff’s days as a stuntman have effectively been over for a while. His role in the film is as Rick’s best friend and handyman, driving him around and carrying out his daily chores, every now and again chiming in with words of encouragement to try and kickstart his friends career.

Rick Dalton resent the world that is evolving without him, a world that seems happy to leave them him and carry on without him. Rick has a particularly strong resentment towards the “hippies” that he keeps encountering, preferring to direct his anger towards others and later drown in his sorrows rather than confront his own demons in any sort of purposeful way.

Like Dean Martin’s (who is incidentally shown on screen starring in The Wrecking Ball) troubled character in Rio Bravo, Rick is also an alcoholic who seems incapable of overcoming his problems and becoming a better man, although there are some glimpses that offer hope. In contrast to Rio Bravo, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s character arcs offer little in the way of redemption for our characters who remain ruggedly determined in their values in a time filled with chaos, with only their friendship bringing a reliable stability of sorts to their lives. Cliff is often the voice of reason and more liberal of the two characters. Despite the question marks over his past, he is accepting of his current situation and is happy to interact with "the hippies", take drugs, and spend time in his caravan with his dog.

In stark contrast to the negativity and struggles of Rick, his next door neighbour Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) is a glowing light, the personification of positivity that walks and dances around freely with a charming naivety. She has recently moved to Hollywood and is beginning to be recognised for bigger roles in major films alongside stars such as Dean Martin, with her husband Roman Polanski hot off the success of Rosemary’s Baby.

Those going into the film expecting a story about Sharon Tate and the Manson family may be disappointed. Whilst both feature heavily throughout, instead of using them as focal multi-dimensional characters, they are used in a fairytale-esque manner where there appearances feel like mythical figures, angels and devils.

The story of Sharon Tate runs parallel to the main story of Rick and Cliff, offering moments of positivity as she watches herself star on screen at a local cinema, and enjoys various parties with her friends such as Jay Sebring, interestingly cast as Emile Hirsch in his biggest role since his own personal problems that saw him serve 15 days in jail. The storytelling devices employed allow for the film to act as a commentary upon itself, examining the wider role and impact of cinema and media in general. The self-reflective nature of the film and in particular the final act raises questions about Tarantino’s own career and the responsibilities he might feel have been fostered upon him as a director often maligned for his use of violence.

Within the film there are many cinematic treats that I would rather not spoil, with a mixture of fictional and real life characters such as Bruce Lee and Steve McQueen. The film is littered with cinematic references that all film lovers will enjoy watching. Some may feel that certain scenes linger on for slightly too long, but for me I think back to this brilliant quote from Roger Ebert after watching Jackie Brown, “you savour every moment… those who say it is too long have developed cinematic attention deficit disorder. I wanted these characters to live, talk, deceive and scheme for hours and hours.”

In the middle of the film there is an extended Western sequence where Rick Dalton is appearing as a new television character opposite the excellent Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood) where he confronts the son of a ranch owner (Luke Perry) who has come to rescue his kidnapped daughter. This sequence takes place between two delightful scenes with the delightfully confident child actress Julia Butters who helps Rick confront his current acting crisis. As Rick reaches a possible turning point in his career, Cliff is drawn into the mysterious world of the Manson "family" cult as he travels out to Spahn movie ranch in one of the film's most suspenseful sequences.

Since its grand premiere at this year’s Cannes film festival, Tarantino has been adamant that viewers must not reveal any details about the film’s ending, and that's a request I will happy respect in order to maximise your enjoyment for the film have you not seen it. It is not a spoiler to say that it is absolutely glorious - pure Tarantino cinematic magic. Filled with hilarity, depravity and feelings of bittersweet melancholy in all the right places. All the Tarantino trappings we have grown so used to are there as usual, from laugh out loud dialogue to a soundtrack that you will struggle to get out of your head.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a film that lives up perfectly to its dream like title, a film created with love and filled with an admiration for a time gone by, for the magic that was lost in 1969. It is a film unapologetic in its machismo and bravado, but constructed in a way that feels self-aware, sincere and non-exploitative. Tarantino knows how to create exhilarating experiences like few other modern mainstream directors, and his latest film is certainly no exception. Here's to hoping that number ten wont be his last.

79/94 seen.
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Her was number 24 on my ballot. Having said that, I knew it would get in. It gave me more of Spike Jonze's incredible meta storytelling, which I absolutely adore. That's why Scream is my favorite horror movie. HOWEVER, if I'm getting an Arcade Fire soundtrack, I want a better and more creative soundtrack than a generic ambient one. Everyone's doing ambient these days.


Blade Runner 2049 was my number 10. It's a perfect spiritual successor to the first with a better story, albeit one that's making up for worse music than the brilliant Vangelis one. I had the soundtrack album in my top ten for years.


Old Ballot:
1. The Avengers
3. The Lighthouse
4. Endgame
8. A Separation
10. Blade Runner 2049
11. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
15. Gone Girl
16. Django Unchained
18. Inside Out
19. Incendies
22. Black Swan
24. Her


New Ballot:
1. The Avengers
3. The Lighthouse
4. Endgame
8. A Separation
10. Blade Runner 2049
11. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
15. Gone Girl
16. The Shape of Water
17. Django Unchained
20. Inside Out
21. Incendies
22. Interstellar
25. Midnight in Paris

Seen 57/94



I think you would dig it if you skipped the last 20 minutes.
Yeah the subject matter is right up my alley, so that seems interesting. But skip the last 20 minutes? Do you mean because of this:
I was enjoying "Once Upon a time in Hollywood" until Tarantino went all "Tarantino" with that cartoon ending. ...



I don't think so. What's the year on the short?
2017; it came out just before 2049, to hype it:



Yeah the subject matter is right up my alley, so that seems interesting. But skip the last 20 minutes? Do you mean because of this:
Yea the ending is violent, but it is very sweet.



Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was fine. It definitely had a lot going for it on different fronts. As with most Tarantino films, I had to struggle to stay engaged. I appreciate that a Hollywood setting plays in an interesting way with the artificiality and try-hard "I know stuff about movies!" thing he always has going on.

I've read several reviews from people who really liked/loved it. It's one of those movies where I get why people like it, but I don't get what they're getting.

I feel indifferent to it placing this high.

Seeing the mention of Death of Stalin upthread, I just want to say that that was one of my favorite films that I watched in preparation for the countdown.



Coincidentally I too had Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood as my #7 as well. Here is some commentary from a few years ago:


Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)

We went to a new theater in Biloxi yesterday to see QT's OUTIH. First time I'd seen a film at a theater in several years, and there are quite a few innovations: electric seats that have controls for reclining, head piece, and swivel table for your food/drinks. There was a pizzeria in the lobby, along with a liquor bar!

The picture was not in the main what I imagined it was going to be, given all the hype and speculation about it for the past year. I admired the film, chiefly for it's first rate acting from all, and secondly for the Hyd/L.A. settings of which I am so familiar.

It was certainly somewhat of a nostalgic plum to the end of the 1960s (when Tarantino was only 6 years old). He obviously loves the time period (the way I love the 1940s), its styles, its music, and its films. I hadn't suspected a comedy/fantasy, and it was a relief not to see his typical gore fetish on display. In fact the fictional outcome of the Manson crowd may have been the way Tarantino wished it would have been.

He did about as good a job as could be done with re-creating the settings of that era, because so many of it's iconic buildings have been torn down. But there was enough to give a fairly authentic representation of the time. One thing that's very difficult to recreate is the atmospheric haze/smog that was continuously present
in 1969. I've never seen that in any other city. That, along with the characteristic flora, semi-arid conditions, and crazy architecture everywhere made L.A. unique.

The story lines were in the main believable, and the relationship was solid between the two leads. Look for future films with this pairing.

Doc's rating: 7/10



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
To the gentlemen, the scholars, the men about town;
SpelingError & Yoda, a most heartfelt
BRA th' F@ck Oh, Gentlemen.

BRA
THE F@CK
OH



Now for my tardy @ss,




24. Silver Linings Playbook (2012, David O. Russell) 198 points

A great lil RomCom for the emotionally dyslexic. I quite enjoyed this.




23. Inception (2010, Christopher Nolan) 202 points

And then the drugs kicked in. YAY
When dancing in the mind's eye, all reason seems frivolous, so with a strong cast, Christopher Nolan lets loose a far-reaching visual spectacle of mind manipulation.




21. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance (2014, Alejandro González Iñárritu) 207 points

A manic show within a show from behind the scenes involving the loss of an actor's mind to mythical disillusion and what a strange, strange trip it's been.


My #7


18. Shoplifters (2018, Hirokazu Kore-eda) 210 points

A loving, caring, safe, positive haven in a desolate situation. A family of "collectors" that we learn includes the members of this current family. Each truly cares about their fellow beneficiaries in this safe, loving, positive hovel. The entire clan also excels at the art of shoplifting as a strategic plan of operation.
I LOVE how I happily drifted off into engrossment/endearment to this family.
And, oh my dear, sweet lord, the ending? I cried, learning where they all ended up. Shoulders shuddering in tiny gasps, sobs.

It
was
glorious.

That is why it resides on my list.
It's beautiful.
Truly, truly, oh so very, very beautiful.




17. Drive (2011, Nicolas Winding Refn) 212 points

The movie's pacing matches Gosling's character's "still waters" VERY well.


My #14

15. Phantom Thread (2017, Paul Thomas Anderson) 232 points

The first time I watched this, I was enchanted - from afar as if gazing through a window. the second time when it won the 20th HoF, I was engulfed, immersed, and adrift.

There is a terrifyingly delicate composition to this film. A fragility that, at any moment, this attention to minutia may fracture and fall away. The turbulence beneath bears an equal sublime delicateness that is a mirror surface. Both delicate natures create an unbreakable bedrock.
Such is the regimented, refined world of couturiers set in the 50s that Paul Anderson Thomas has brought forth with such diligence as one would in creating a masterful tapestry. Creating a Wonder that traverses both the beauty and the darkness of creative exposition.

Before starting, Daniel Day-Lewis spent a year learning how to sew; his final work was to recreate a Balenciaga sheath dress so that he would be able to immerse himself into a Couturier's mindset—creating this astounding character that is a brooding lake that, at times, will erupt upon itself and those nearby when it is disturbed.
This is enhanced and beautifully complimented with the formidable triangle of Reynolds' sister, Cyril, played with a disciplined armor protecting the warmth beneath by Lesley Manville, and his muse, Alma, a disturbance to the calm with measured determination by Vicky Krieps.

Their creations of life and characters seemed SO intensely real that I firmly believed they were based on specific people and not an interpretive conglomeration of people and their occupations. That kind of intricate creativity reels my mind, and I am intoxicated by it.




14. The Florida Project (2017, Sean Baker) 238 points

I will state that everyone did a very good job of portraying their characters. The little girl playing Moonie was phenomenal. And, of course, Dafoe, for me, can do no wrong.

As for the characters within this film. . . it was like having to sit through a youtube reality video montage clips. This is something I avoid, and having lived in some dire areas in my lifetime, these were all folks I did my utmost to steer clear of simply because of the constant drama. It may be amusing to watch from a safe distance on a screen; it is the worst kind of stress to be in the same neighborhood. And these were in an apartment complex. And that's where it is nearly impossible NOT to get dragged into the drama.
So that lil mindset impeded my enjoyment of this movie.


My #16



9. Her (2013, Spike Jonze) 287 points

Boy meets operating system. Boy falls in love with the operating system, discovering his inner self.
Delving into the alienation of human contact while exploring the therapeutic relationship of Her voiced wondrously by Scarlett Johansson, Pheonix, as per usual, creates a uniquely layered socially awkward character with the soothing, inspiring voice of Johansson's operating system, his eyes opening to the joys of life is mirrored in our own through the films' progression.
With a film that touches the heart so intricately, how could it NOT be on my list? lol




8. Blade Runner 2049 (2017, Denis Villeneuve) 292 points

While I admit there was a kind of jet-lag effect to viewing this film, it was still a solid film and very worthy of its place on this list.




Movies Seen 47 out of 92 (51.08%)
1. This may be a surprise, and OH, that would rock
2. Jojo Rabbit (2012) #89
3. Beloved High Volume Revisits
4. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) #39
5. John Wick (2014) #48
6. True Grit (2010) #40
7. Shoplifters (2018) #18
8. Hell or High Water (2016) #76
9. Beloved High Volume Revisits
10. Upper Twenty and very much in the running
11. Beloved High Volume Revisits
12. Beloved High Volume Revisits
13. The King's Speech (2010) #78
14. Phantom Thread (2017) #15
15. The Raid (2011) #100
16. Her (2013) #9
17. Beloved High Volume Revisits
18. The Revenant (2015) #53
19. Joker (2019) #60
20. Only a few views but simply adore
21. All sorts of endeared love for this with only a few views
22. Bless ya, Miss Vicky, for this'un
23. I did not expect this to place this high but definitely expected it SOMEWHERE
24. This - this is my Heartbreaker. I utterly adore and am INCAPABLE of endearing the sadness that erupts endlessly to revisit
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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