The MoFo Top 100 of the 2010s Countdown

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Annihilation, my #12

I was pretty sure none of the above films would make it (or even would make the honorable mentions). But this one genuinely surprises and saddens me. I think it's a really strong piece of character-driven sci-fi with themes about loss and trauma and mortality and grief that are wonderfully realized in both literal and allegorical ways.
Keeping with my, I guess if other people are mentioning them practice in the final stretch.
Annihilation was my #17.
It was a toss up between this an Ex Machina for me, but with the confined horror aspects of The Lighthouse, The VVitch, and Under the Skin, I decided for variety to lean more towards the open area, clearly Stalker-inspired, Annihilation. I think up until Whiplash and La La Land showed up, I did actually give it a dark horse chance of showing up even this late in the countdown (consider how large the gap was between The VVitch and The Lighthouse).
The Lobster was the other, really, really outside chance of being in the top 10 (which honestly would have still surprised me if it had). The one Alex Garland-penned movie I didn't consider for my ballot and might have made it if I did, was Never Let Me Go.

Yeah, the one movie in the top 10 that's on my ballot is pretty far down there. I was clearly a much more #22-#13 person.

My Ballot  



Here's my ballot

12. Mustang (2015)
22. King of Devil's Island (2010)
25. Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
Seen these. Strongly considered Mustang. One of my last 5-10 cuts.

Love to see King of Devil's Island mentioned. I haven't seen it in a while, but remember liking it quite a bit.

Beasts of Southern Wild is also a good film, but it was not close to make my list.
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They're private by default, so people would have to choose to post them.
Are we going to see mark_f's ballot at the end? Unless I missed it, I think he only had 3 or 4 show up on the countdown.



The trick is not minding
This was the big one I forgot. It should have been around the middle of my ballot.
It was an early cut for me, but I honestly prefer it over The Babadook.



It was an early cut for me, but I honestly prefer it over The Babadook.

If I had seen it before I made my list, it almost definitely would have made it.


Babadook was close to making it but was a last minute scratch



I forgot the opening line.
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel - Some people, very fairly, will always consider Rushmore Wes Anderson's best movie and greatest achievement, but for me it will always be The Grand Budapest Hotel. I haven't seen many movies in my life that look as good as this, with the crazy red and pink-skewed colour scheme and various Anderson touches like the papercraft scenery that illustrate some long shots. Every set absolutely dazzles with invention, and invites with it's cheery craziness. But visuals in a film mean nothing without a great screenplay and great performances. Tony Revolori was an absolute revelation in this, and unfortunately it might be in a role he never tops. Ralph Fiennes does what Ralph Fiennes does - his charisma binds us to the film. Then we have *deep breath* - F. Murray Abraham, Mathieu Amalric, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Jude Law, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Jason Schwartzman, Léa Seydoux, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson and Owen Wilson, making this one of the best ensemble films I've ever seen. Everything is a delight, even though the story can get quite dark for a Wes Anderson film, and story-wise it's a perfect bitter-sweet tale. The way it's framed - through a renowned and remembered author who once spoke to Moustafa, adds another layer. I could go on about all aspects to this endlessly rewatchable film. It's one of my all-time favourites, and a grand 2014 gift to cinema and cinephiles. It was my #2.

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Seen 90/98

Films on my radar : 3
Films I've never even heard about : 5

Films from my list : 16

#3 - My #2 - The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
#4 - My #5 - Whiplash (2014)
#6 - My #17 - The Social Network (2010)
#13 - My #10 - The Master (2012)
#14 - My #7 - The Florida Project (2017)
#15 - My #6 - Phantom Thread (2017)
#19 - My #21 - Get Out (2017)
#21 - My #3 - Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
#25 - My #20 - Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
#41 - My #16 - Melancholia (2011)
#54 - My #11 - Under the Skin (2013)
#60 - My #4 - Joker (2019)
#64 - My #8 - Manchester by the Sea (2016)
#71 - My #12 - Ida (2013)
#93 - My #15 - It Follows (2014)
#96 - My #1 - Hereditary (2018)
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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
A few more of mine that will not make it:


Swiss Army Man, my #19

A man lost in the wilderness (Paul Dano) goes through a powerful emotional journey with the corpse of a drowned man (Daniel Radcliffe). Funny and sweet and just incredibly creative. Really like nothing I've seen before.


Thunder Road, my ##15

What a surprise! I voted for that movie I never stop talking about! I knew this had absolutely zero chance. It's very divisive with an almost normal bell curve distribution of people who love it, people who think it's okay, and people who hate it. (And some people really hate it!). But I think it's deeply funny, deeply empathetic, visually sharp, nuanced and over-the-top all at once, and well-acted. Normally I almost physically can't make myself watch cringe comedy, and weirdly this is one I can't look away from.


Annihilation, my #12

I was pretty sure none of the above films would make it (or even would make the honorable mentions). But this one genuinely surprises and saddens me. I think it's a really strong piece of character-driven sci-fi with themes about loss and trauma and mortality and grief that are wonderfully realized in both literal and allegorical ways.

Okay, back to "no chance" land. But this drama/thriller about a woman who gets a new appearance after being horribly disfigured in a concentration camp, tracking down her husband to figure out what he knew about her capture is something else. It has one of my favorite all-time ending sequences, satisfying and devastating all at once.


Far From the Madding Crowd, my #6

I suspect that if this were in my #25 slot, it would have been a 1-pointer, but I'm really over the moon for this sumptuous, excellently acted adaptation of Hardy's novel. It catches a lot of flack for the decisions of its main character, but I like that she's a driven character who makes some poor choices and then learns from them. You know, like a real person? A real favorite of mine and a delight every time I revisit it.
With Swiss Army Man I was amazed how sweet and beautiful a film about a man using a dead man like an All in One Handyman Tool could become. Lovely film.

Remember watching Thunder Road when you nominated it for an HoF. I'm not a fan of cringe comedy myself with rare exceptions, and I would place this in that group due to how much heart this film contained.

I've had both FFtMC and Annihilation on my peripheral; I just may have to remedy that.
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I forgot the opening line.
#16. ROGUE ONE
(2016, Edwards)





This is one I thought had a bit of a chance; at least in the first half of the list. Unfortunately, it didn't. I still think this is the best Star Wars film to come out in this century. I love the way it crafts this story about reluctant and unlikely heroes being borne out of "social rejects" and "outcasts", and out of sheer need, instead of the want for glory. Instead you have the desire and need for freedom. I love that this feels more sober and less "market-driven", which seems weird, considering it was made just to tie in with the original Star Wars. Still, I think Tony Gilroy does an excellent job in creating a world that feels real, inhabited by real people, and plagued by real issues.
I don't know if it would have made the cut in the end, but Rogue One would have been in consideration for a place on my ballot if I'd remembered it. Probably my biggest "overlooked" entry. Some people turned against this film for some reason, but I think it's the best Star Wars film since Empire, and probably what the prequels should have been like - this being "Episode III".



Woody Allen is a pedophille
My list:

1. Maps to the Stars (Cronenberg, 2014)
2. Burning (Chang-Dong, 2018)
3. And Everything Is Going Fine (Soderbergh, 2010)
4. It's Such a Beautiful Day (Hertzfeldt, 2012)
5. Womb (Barlow, 2017)
6. Baseball: The Tenth Inning (Burns, 2010)
7. Jackass 3.5 (Tremaine, 2011)
8. Right Now, Wrong Then (Sang-Soo, 2015)
9. Fantasmas (Oliveira, 2010)
10. Cameraperson (Johnson, 2016)
11. Sleep Has Her House (Barlow, 2017)
12. The Color Wheel (Perry, 2011)
13. First Reformed (Schrader, 2018)
14. Like Father, Like Son (Kore-Eda, 2013)
15. Jackass 3D (Tremaine, 2010)
16. 63 Up (Apted, 2019)
17. The Skin I Live In (Almodovar, 2011)
18. Nocturama (Bonello, 2016)
19. Moneyball (Miller, 2011)
20. Keep an Eye Out (Dupieux, 2018)
21. The Endless Film (Listorti, 2018)
22. Melancholia (Trier, 2011)
23. About Endlessness (Anderson, 2019)
24. Hinterlands (Barlow, 2016)
25. The Colony (Neshat, 2019)



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I saw The Grand Budapest Hotel a few years ago, but I didn't really get the comedy in it, so I rewatched it for this countdown. It's an interesting movie, but I still don't get Wes Anderson's style of humor.
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OPEN FLOOR.



Society ennobler, last seen in Medici's Florence
One possibility I’d also like to throw out there is a 10th anniversary edition for the 90’s.

Second this



Society ennobler, last seen in Medici's Florence
OK, we're in the big day when number one of the countdown is to be announced.
Before that, I'd pull out one more card from my ballot:

My #12. Mandariinid [Tangerines] (2013)
An Estonian-Georgian Production

Written and Directed by Zaza Urushadze
Starring Lembit Ulfsak


An Oscar award nominee (foreign language movie), this title impressed me a lot when I saw it for the first time back then. A proof how a skillful filmmaker can produce superb work without huge budget, just a few actors and idea.
Covering a noted regional conflict in the Caucasus area, it is a hell of a drama, yet type of an antiwar movie focused on couple of people who desperately try to care for the tangerines crop at a place in-between politically-religious fights.

Alas, despite the fact that someone nominated it in the Group Watch and many people expressed their satisfaction (it was a lock for my ballot long before that), it didn't appear even in the near misses 101-130, something I've hoped for...
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As we wind down, I'll say what I've said on a few countdowns, and that is that one of the joys of countdowns is that we get to see movies mentioned that we've not heard of and want to add to our personal watch list, or be reminded of movies we forgot about and want to see. So thanks, @Takoma11 for mentioning Thunder Road, the Jim Cummings film. I'd forgotten all about that movie existing. I was aware of it when I saw his following movie, The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020) and looked for what else he had done. But again, it slipped my mind, so thanks, Takoma11 for reminding me!

@cricket The Way Way Back was one of my first cuts but I really love that movie. An awesome cast including Sam Rockwell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, and Steve Carrell, and directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (of TV's Community fame). Just as an aside: maybe it's a bit of dyslexia on my part but every time I see Nat Faxon's name, I see it as Fat Nixon.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is my second-favorite Wes Anderson movie, with my favorite already revealed at #37 on the countdown. Already the crew of offbeat characters played by great actors and the usual appealing color scheme has been mentioned, and I'll repeat what some have said about Ralph Fiennes doing so great in a comedic role. He was the top character for me, and every time I think about this movie I think about the cliff scene and Fiennes' hilarious reaction to a certain character
WARNING: "" spoilers below
going over the edge, shall we say.
But it's all good and some of the things Fienne's Gustave spouts to Zero are so over the top that I still smile thinking about them. Really pleased that it hit so high. It was my #8.

List so far:
#2. Moonrise Kingdom #37
#4. Silver Linings Playbook #24
#5. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri #44
#6. True Grit #40
#7. Arrival #12
#8. The Grand Budapest Hotel #3
#9. Brooklyn No chance for it.
#10. Hell or High Water #73
#11. Zero Dark Thirty #58
#13. The Nice Guys DNP #103
#15. Edge of Tomorrow #68
#16. The Edge of Seventeen I knew it wouldn't place but I had to vote for it.
#17. War Horse Old-fashioned Spielberg flick I had to include.
#18. How to Train Your Dragon Wish it had made it
#21. 10 Cloverfield Lane I thought for sure this would show up a ways back.
#22. Train to Busan Pretty shocked this one didn't make the Top 100.
#23. Looper Thought for sure this great Sci-Fi flick would show.
#24. Gone Girl #65
#25. Heaven Is For Rea l Will not place.
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