The MoFo Top 100 of the 2010s Countdown

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I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
These last two were both on my ballot. Phantom Thread was my #6 and It's Such a Beautiful Day was my #11. I think they will be the last ones from my ballot to show.


PTA is a bit hit or miss for me, but Phantom Thread was hypnotically watchable.


It's Such A Beautiful Day was something different... different enough that it doesn't even count as a movie? No. Not all movies do all things. Some look good, some are entertaining, some make you think, some make you feel, some are animated in all kinds of styles, some are documentaries and some are character focused, action focused, idea focused...but they're all movies.



Society ennobler, last seen in Medici's Florence
• #15. Phantom Thread (2017) - this is my #16.
I've seen it twice after its release. It is a pleasure to watch that grandeur, beautifully photographed and Daniel Day-Lewis is just the guy for it.
(89/100)


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• #16. It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012) - I was not familiar with Don Hertzfeldt. I saw this film about a month ago, together with World of Tomorrow (2015) because the later was on the first reveal in this countdown. Yes, these both are good works.
+ (78/100).

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my stats

Top 100 seen 44/86.
(#441-458 • seen 2/18
one pointers • seen 4/35)

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My list:
1.
...
9. Albert Nobbs (2011) [#453.]
...
14. Ida (2013) [#71.]
15. Midnight in Paris (2011) [#45.]
16. Phantom Thread (2017) [#15.]
17. Moonrise Kingdom (2012) [#37.]
...
25. Ága (2018) [one-pointer]



==============================
(my extended top 60)

27. The Hateful Eight (2015) [#20.]
28. Certified Copy (2010) [#84.]
29. Hell or High Water (2016) [#73.]
30. Jagten[The Hunt] (2012) [#57.]
31. Django Unchained (2012) [#27.]
...
34. Nightcrawler (2014) [#55.]
...
41. Boyhood (2014) [#32.]
...
44. The King's Speech (2010) [#78.]
45. Joker (2019) [#60.]
...
55. The Descendants (2011) [#98.]
56. 1917 (2019) [#86.]
57. The Revenant (2015) [#53.]
...
60. The Artist (2011) [#87.]


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Cool to see Camo tagged. Near the top of my list of people I wish would come back to mofo.

I can’t let Rauldc be alone in the list rants so it’s time to bring the negativity. It’s Such A Beautiful Day is a really well written you tube video. Like if Joe Schmo showed this to me on his phone one day in the break room, I would respond “that’s pretty cool”. It’s not a movie. It’s content. I hate when I get this reductive, but if we have Hollywood directors running around saying the MCU aren’t real cinema, I feel safe in saying this isn’t a movie. 15? Whatevs.

Phantom Thread rocks, and even though I didn’t vote for it I will never be upset when PTA shows up. My PTA choice is still to come.

I mean, Marcell the Shell with Shoes On did pretty well with critics this year. And I think that was literally a YouTube series smashed up onto theater screens*.


*: I think I slightly off on that description, but not by that much.



I have some animated features on my all time list but not the 2010s. I feel 'The Red Turtle' may have featured here but maybe not enough people have seen it.

It's kind of sad how long ago I bought that and I still haven't gotten around to watching it.
Maybe by 2040 at the rate I'm going.



I'll give Phantom Thread a visit again some day because I love me some PTA (mostly) but I was very underwhelmed with both of these.



A system of cells interlinked
Catching up with the titles I haven't commented on yet:

The Avengers - Ah, back when the future Marvel films was oh so very bright. I had a lot of fun watching this in theaters, but was still never in danger of being labeled as great, even back then. Not on my list.

Django Unchained - Bottom tier Tarantino for me.

Spider Man: into the Spiderverse - Went to the theater not expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this. Additional viewings have only reinforced this notion. Didn't make my list, but was in contention for it.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire - Haven't seen this, and the trailer isn't generating much interest, so may be a while before I rectify this one, if at all. Also: my wife would hate this, which is yet another obstacle.

I already commented on SLP...

Ditto Inception

Inside Llewyn Davis - I am normally a pretty big Coens fan, but have yet to get to this one. People keep mentioning Bob Dylan when they talk about this film, which sends me running the other direction. That said, I will definitely rectify this one at some point.

Birdman was on my List at #13. A wonderful, creative film with stellar cinematography, thought provoking concepts, excellent acting, a fantastic script, and some totally bananas sequences. One of the films from the last decade that has a fairly high number of re-watches for me.

I found The Hateful Eight to be a well-shot but tedious experience for me. I guess I should give it another shot, but I dunno, it;s super long and I probably have better things to do.

Get Out was on my ballot at #23. I had cut it at one point, but after a re-watch right before the deadline, I had to rotate it back on to give it at least a few points. Really well done stuff.

I haven't seen either of the last two entries. So many people have commented on how good The Phantom Thread is, but the subject matter just doesn't interest me at all, and PTA films set my teeth on edge. Will probably still see it at some point, though.
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It's Such a Beautiful Day was my #4. I don't think there's much I can add to it that I didn't say in the comedy countdown.


I went a different options with PTA instead of The Phantom Thread (we'll see if either appears. One seems likely). Admittedly, The Phantom Thread hasn't had the rewatch benefits from me his other films from the decade have had, and I know they both increased tremendously on rewatch (well, actually, in both of the other cases, the first viewing in the theater, I came out feeling like my brain wasn't on the right wavelength for what I was expecting, so I went back the following weekend and rewatched them. The Phantom Thread seemed close enough to what I was expecting, that I only watched it once on theaters. I don't think I've rewatches it since then. Admittedly, would have been really weird if it hadn't made the top 100, IMO though).


My Ballot  



Taking advantage of a slow patch at work. Some facts about directors and their averages...

Robert Eggers currently has a 100% average, putting both of his eligible films in the countdown. On a similar line, both Ari Aster and Jordan Peele already have 1 each. If Midsommar and Us make it, all three would've put all their films on the countdown. Do you think these two will make it?

The Coen brothers are at 50% now, with two films out of four eligible in the countdown, and it seems it will stay that way, unless Hail, Caesar! and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs can pull a miracle. Christopher Nolan is on the same spot, with The Dark Knight Rises and Dunkirk unlikely to make it at this point.

On the superhero front, the Russo brothers are also at 50% with two out four eligible films. If they go beyond that depends on The Winter Soldier and Infinity War making it, which seems more and more unlikely as the list goes on.

Quentin Tarantino is at 67%, and will likely finish at 100% if/when Once Upon a Time in Hollywood makes it. Wes Anderson and Paul Thomas Anderson will probably stay at 67% both, with Grand Budapest Hotel and The Master probably making it soon. A bit lower down the "notability" scale, Gareth Evans is currently at 67% with both Raid films placing.

The big battle remains between Denis Villeneuve and Martin Scorsese, both right now at 50% and 60% respectively with 3 films on the list each. Both have two films that will probably not make it in Enemy and Hugo, but Villeneuve likely has Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 still coming, while Scorsese only has The Wolf of Wall Street.

The "biggest loser", so to speak, out of notable and prolific directors that didn't even get one film in the countdown, that's probably Clint Eastwood with 7 eligible films and none of them placing. Ridley Scott and Woody Allen would probably be next with only one each out of 7 and 9 eligible films.
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With the low placement of Hereditary, I'm losing hope for Midsommar
Yeah, I would've thought it would go the other way around. But even though I prefer Hereditary by a significant margin, I know Midsommar has a lot of hardcore ardent fans, so I'm still not counting it out. Very similar to Peele and Us, although on that case, I'm on the other end of the spectrum I know Get Out is more popular and critically acclaimed, but I loved Us and I'm still hoping it gets in *crossing fingers*



9/88 on the list
49/88 seen


Here's my prediction for what will show on my ballot

1. Silver Lining's Playbook (2012)
2. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
3. Birdman (2014)
4. highly unlikely
5. no way in h ll
6. highly likely
7. doubt it
8. probably not
9. don't think so
10. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) I wasn't sure about this one but was hoping.
11. maybe
12. don't know
13. probably
14. should but won't
15. probably not
16. The Descendants (2011)
17. probably not
18. it should but won't
19. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
20. Get Out (2017)
21. Spotlight (2015)
22. probably not
23. Boyhood (2014)
24. probably not
25. don't think so


I have seen both and neither was on my list. I didn't like The Master. It was too long and the only good parts are when Joaquin Phoenix is on the screen. I liked the Florida Project alright. Don't remember it too well.



It's Such a Beautiful Day was my #16. You get points from me if you're a movie I think about for years after viewing.

I watched Phantom Thread semi-recently and it was a very strong piece of work on just about every level. It didn't quite hit the emotional notes I need for something to be on my favorites list, but I am pleased to see it on this countdown in the top half.



Neither film made mark f's ballot.
That's not true. It's Such a Beautiful Day did make his list. I just double-checked what I sent Yoda and it was at #7. Though, obviously, he hadn't actually finalized his list and all of his picks could have ended up in different places. I do remember him talking a lot about how the rankings of his lists and even what ended up on them were entirely dependent on how he was feeling that day and any number of things deserved to make his lists even if they got the boot on that particular day.

I obviously love Don Hertzfeldt, as I mentioned earlier in the thread, and I think It's Such a Beautiful Day was my #1. It's just a really beautiful movie.
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Just finished watching Shoplifters.

I really enjoyed it, despite my state of mind lately, where I’m having difficultly completely surrendering to a film.

By the start, I wasn’t quite with it, but by the end, I remembered why I still love watching films. So while not the perfect fundament for a great movie experience, it did manage to slowly get to me and I’m very happy that I watched it.

I’ll be looking to see more from Kore-eda.


Seen 80/86 if I counted correctly.



It's Such a Beautiful Day was my # 15. It's a wonderful, beautiful, poetic, insightful, witty, wise, and enchanting masterpiece. Phantom Thread is well made, but not a personal favourite.

Seen: 82/86



It's Such a Beautiful Day was my # 15. It's a wonderful, beautiful, poetic, insightful, witty, wise, and enchanting masterpiece.

Don't forget frightening and funny and sad.


Pretty sure it was my number one. Only one other film would have been in contention for that spot. And, yes, it's a masterpiece if anything is.


It seems people get hung up on its vignette like structure. That this keeps it from qualifying as a 'movie". But the narrative arc, while deliberately fragmented (as it should be, we are after all looking at a disintegrating life from the point of view of a man whose mind is similarly disintegrating), these fragments it show us build towards a personal revelation with the character. And while it isn't perfectly neat and tidy, and is full of asides and non sequitors, there isn't a single scene, no matter how random, which doesn't give us further insight into the mysterious trauma he is going through.


Personally, I have no idea how any one can get to how this film concludes and not see how the whole film was pulling in one direction the entire time. Part of its brilliance is how much it embraces the terror of arbitrary elements all of our lives are plagued with, how often it can also veer into pure surrealistic fantasy, but work as an entire piece and still be about as honest depiction of the trauma of human existence as you can get.


And let's not even get into the brilliance of the animation. If all you see are stick figures, I pity you.



Re: It's Such a Beautiful Day.

The ballot tabulator shows me that four people voted for the short, from 2011, rather than the feature, from 2012. I'm not sure how many of those were deliberate, but I'm going to PM them individually to find out. Just a heads-up. I'm not sure we can/should do anything about it now, but it might still be instructional for people to know where it would've ended up otherwise.