The MoFo Top 100 of the 2010s Countdown

I saw Inside Out a while ago with my kids. I really enjoyed it, but it really didn't hit me as hard as I was expecting. I have plans of seeing it alone, see if I can focus more on it.

I haven't seen Joker.


So, here's where I'm at...

Seen: 33/42

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I'm still puzzled by the second hint.

I’ve seen Joker, I appreciate what they were going for and Phoenix’s performance, but I’m just so ****ing burnt out on that character, and this is coming from a big ole Batman fan.

Inside Out is wonderful.

Two very good films I didn't vote for.

Joker is clearly a pastiche of Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, but it's also a very well-made one. As someone who's been jaded from superhero films for years at this point, I like how this one does away with the senseless cgi fights which I've gotten tired of and takes a more grounded look at the origin of Joker. What violence is shown onscreen is all the more shocking as a result, whether you're referring to the subway scene, the first couple murders, or the final 10-15 minutes or so. I don't think it's a masterpiece or anything, but I do think it was better than it had the right to be.

Inside Out is very good and probably the best Pixar film from their post-golden age (I'd even argue it's better than most of their golden age films, tbh). Its ruminations of memory and forget are really compelling and make for a handful of powerful scenes and characters, like some of what's mentioned in Gatsby's review upthread. It might have made my ballot (or, at least, be in contention for my ballot) if I rewatched it for this countdown, but I haven't seen it since the theaters, so I didn't vote for it.

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IMDb
Letterboxd

Has Mark had anything show yet? Can't remember

I doubt this is why the clue was made, but I was instantly reminded of Up by the image, which was also directed by Docter. I wish I would have been smart enough to connect that dot.

Behemoth was a one pointer. Also, World of Tomorrow and 1917 made his ballot.

Cool. I must have missed the 1917 vote from him. Thanks.

Also, sorry if the Inside Out hint was too vague. I was initially going to post a particular scene from the ending of Society, but since it had the title of the film in the video (and was also a spoiler for the film), I felt it would've been too obvious. My idea with the hint was to see if I could find an image of a sky decorated with bricks, wood, or something you'd normally expect to be indoors, hence something inside being out. I wasn't able to find that online though. The image of the house in the clouds was the closest I could come up with. I don't know how well the image translated to the film title though.

I really need to get one of the two hints tonight The pressure is on.

I'll give you two free points now if you say that Themroc is a good film.

Nice try

So basically my one chance at getting something, LOL?

Joker has a strong central performance (and supporting performances), but it never got out of "good" territory for me.

Inside Out was very fun to see in the theater, but aside from being a really useful allegory to talk with my students about their feelings, it's not a film that really stuck with me. Aside from one really pivotal scene, I couldn't even tell you what happened in the last act of it.

Good guessing.

I liked Joker and I'm not a fan of the Batman movies, in fact I haven't seen any of them except way back when Michael Keaton played the lead.

My old review of Joker:

Joker (2019)

Brilliant first hour! The film held me spellbound like few films do. I was very focused on the story of the mentally ill Arthur Fleck and his continual downward spiral into something very dark and disturbing. And yet I liked Arthu or at least I had great sympathy for him. In the first hour of the film three key ingredients came together: a disturbing story of the ultimate underdog...and a music score that accentuated the emotions of the scenes...and the third key component is Joaquin Phoenix who in my opinion is one of the best actors working today. Phoenix is able to dive into his roles and bring a resonances that makes us believe his angst, even when his character is unsavory as is the Joker. That first hour gets a 5/5+ rating. And Phoenix well deserved the Oscar for Best Actor.

However and you know there had to be a however! Like most all blockbuster Hollywood movies Joker goes to far over the top and lost it's balance in my eyes in the second half. The first killings in the subway was justifiable (in movie standards) as Arthur had just been attacked and beaten. But the next two killings were more for shock value and gore and lost any empathy I had for the character. I get it that the target audience like that type of shock/gore, but it's too bad because what I seen building in the first hour was washed away by the super-hero movie craze of the second half.

Don't get me wrong there was still moments of genius in the second half but to much of it relayed on Scorsese's The King of Comedy (1982). I couldn't believe how similar the two were. Now if someone tells me the director/writer Todd Phillips was a fan of The King of Comedy and was paying homage to it...then cool. But otherwise it looks pretty close to plagiarisms to me. Maybe not by legal standards but as far as creative script writing goes, pffft.

I rate the second half at 3/5

I'll balance out the two ratings and my official rating:

Two absolutely wonderful movies that I initially had reservations about.

Inside Out came after a string of mediocre Pixar movies (nothing but sequels, prequels, and the turd that is Brave) that had caused this fangirl to lose faith in their ability to capture the magic of their previous efforts. But I went and saw it anyway because even mediocre Pixar is still good by most metrics and I was treated to a movie that really, uh, brings out the emotions. Especially joy and sadness. I loved it and when this countdown was announced, I never had any doubt that it would make my ballot and it did at #14.

I don't like superhero movies. I can tolerate Batman stuff because Batman doesn't actually have superpowers but even then I often struggle with it. When it was announced that Joaquin Phoenix was starring in a movie about The Joker, I was not excited. When the initial test shots and on-set photos came out, I was even less so but I knew that I would see it anyway because the Phoenix fangirl in me wouldn't allow me to miss it. Then the teaser trailer dropped and holy shit. I must have watched that thing a hundred times. I was absolutely bursting with anticipation. Then it finally hit the theater and I saw it and... didn't quite love it. I loved lots of things about it but somehow didn't quite love it as a whole. So of course I had to go see it in the theater again. And another time. Since then I've watched it many more times and I absolutely do love it now and there was never any doubt that I would vote for it. Different drafts of my ballot had it in a few different positions and ultimately I settled for putting Joker at #7.

As an aside, when I saw the clue for #60 I immediately thought of Joker, but didn't guess it because I thought it surely would've made it higher than this. I guess I misjudged how divisive the movie is.

Seen: 25/42
My Ballot:
7. Joker (#60)
11. The Man From Nowhere (#95)
14. Inside Out (#59)
20. Jojo Rabbit (2019) (#89)
25. Kitbull (One Pointer)

Reviews in My 2010s Countdown Preparation Thread

My Most Recent Review for Inside Out:
My Most Recent Review for Joker:

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60. Joker (2019, Todd Phillips) 118 points - Enjoyed it way more than I thought I would based on my scorn for the world the Joker character comes from. But was never in the running for my list.


59. Inside Out (2015, Pete Docter) 119 points. Not my thing at all.

No votes

Joker is some of the best of DC, that brings a human look into one of the most caricatured villains. It's a very raw look into his meltdown, and Phoenix delivers some of his best. Similarly to American Psycho, unfortunately much of the audience has missed the point. +

I'm sure Inside Out is great, but I'm not in a particular rush to watch

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Others have commented on the tragedy of the emotional weight of the statement in the movie, but to lay out what the implication was...
The line is, "you the only man that's ever touched me," not, "I've waited for you for over a decade." The implications are quite different.

Chiron grew up being bullied for his perceived otherness, then beat up in high school for clearly being gay, and then had his one friendship weaponized against him, cutting deeper because of the betrayal because of the romantic connection.

He then moved into a life where violence would involve firearms. I think it's safe to assume that for both personal and emotional safety reasons, he's repressed to the point of being closeted, if not actually just simply closeted. (Which emotionally speaking, in the longing desire angle, does also cause someone to keep mentally returning to their memories of their formative experiences where they briefly felt okay being vulnerable). I even take his not drinking alcohol to be a sign that he's afraid he might drop his guard and accidentally make a move on someone.

Moonlight's been compared to Brief Encounter (when a movie is directly inspired by WKW films, it's going to get compared to other films those WKW get compared to). If it hasn't been compared to Splendor (honestly, I only read the play in high school and don't remember anything about it), it's probably more because Splendor isn't an example that's actively jumping to people's minds these days/at the moment/in the current film zeitgeist.

Moonlight - was in consideration for my ballot, but ultimately didn't make it. I go back and forth on it. I know the third act gets referred to as, "it basically becomes a Wong Kar Wai movie." I think I needed to live in that third act more, because I get flashes of that longing, but it isn't as present as I would like. I know a number of critics I respect and follow, love this movie (as do the few film friends I have IRL), but I'm just more tepid on it. It definitely got Barry Jenkins into a spot where every subsequent venture was one I was actively looking forward to (The Underground Railroad got postponed because the time commitment put me off for a while, but that was the one that turned out to really hit for me). For some reason I never went back and looked for Medicine for Melancholy; finally bought it recently. Planning to watch it in the upcoming year.

The Favourite -
Dogtooth - loved it, this is wild
Alps - eh...., interesting, but not really connecting to it
The Lobster - loved it
The Killing of a Sacred Deer - ehh... More interesting than Alps, but for some reason the flat affect is kind of distancing and not landing here for me for some reason.
The Favourite - strong enjoy! Probably the most tame Lanthymos film to date I've seen, but still has a good amount of that weird social satirical take on things, but kind of puts it in the middle of the pack for me.
...
some years later.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer - still living in my mind. Might owe this one a rewatch.
then for the comedy countdown, rewatched Dogtooth, but didn't laugh. Might not have been in a laughing mood. These movies live on in my mind (outside of Alps for some reason), but I haven't really rewatched them. Still enjoy them in my memory though, who knows how things shake up long term. It could be argued that my comparative response to The Favourite is similar to In the Mood for Love back when it was first released, and now it's hard for me to deny that's actually WKW's best (speaking of him, since he's on the mind). The Favourite didn't make my ballot. The other one, I will say for now was at least in contention for the ballot.