The MoFo Top 100 of the 2010s Countdown

→ in
Tools    





I always enjoy when Nolan makes one of these countdowns.



22: A Star Is Born
21: Birdman



Silver Linings Playbook was a personal choice for me. I bumped Inception onto my list because of its ambition, creativity, and influence, but I'm regretting it just a bit now that I see it knocked Silver Linings down a slot. This is my first twofer and almost certainly the last of what will show from my ballot.



1. Room (97)
2. Interstellar (33)
3. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (44)
4. Silver Linings Playbook (24)
5.
6. The Avengers (28)
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. Jojo Rabbit (89)
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18. Inception (23)
19.
20.
21.
22. Inside Out (59)
23.
24.
25.



I liked Silver Linings but I'm another who is surprised to see it at this point. I voted for a different film from the director that I thought would make it.

I wanted to watch Inception again for this countdown but ran out of time. It feels like I watched it 20 years ago. Practically all I remember is that it was a chore to get through.



mattiasflgrtll6's Avatar
The truth is in here
Inception was number 4 on my list, and the second highest that will make it at this point (2 and 3 have no chance at all).

It's one of the most mesmerizing experiences I've ever sat through, and my second favorite Nolan next to Insomnia. Of course this should be expected given the story, but I love the dreamy atmosphere throughout. You're really taken for a ride, and get to follow the characters on a journey you're not really sure where it's going to take you. The visuals and directing is utterly breathtaking, and the plot manages to be complex without becoming too complicated (Even Tenet as much as I enjoyed it was hard to follow at times). The cast fairly underplay their roles, but still brings emotional conviction to their characters, especially DiCaprio as Cobb. Elliot Page is also very memorable as a sort of student to Cobb's teachings, with Adriane being equally parts fascinated and frightened by the world she's taking a leap into.

Now, there have been accusations of it ripping off Paprika. As someone who's seen and love both movies, I think this does Inception a huge disservice. While on the surface there may be surface similarities such as both taking place inside a dream as well as the hallway scene, in terms of story they're completely different. The word "rip-off" isn't even used properly in this case, since that tends to be movies which are purely made to capitalize on earlier successful films, not ones which happen to share odd similiarities here and there. Whichever one you prefer, Nolan still had a grandiose idea full of imagination and wonder that he told in his own special way.
__________________



Victim of The Night
I'm honestly not sure why you think this. I said in the first part of my reply that "fair" depends on who we're talking about, and that we were necessarily speaking generally. If you can point me to something I've said that makes it seem like I'm talking about you, specifically, you'll have my apology for it.

If you do feel that way, though, shouldn't I take some offense at the idea that the film is not as intellectual as it claims to be? Should I take that as a shot at my intelligence, or assume you're lumping me in with the masses who've been fooled by it? I don't think you meant anything like this, of course, and I similarly didn't expect you to take my disagreement as being personal, either. I assumed it was understood we were both speaking generally, and went out of my way to say it explicitly just in case.


I responded to several of them specifically, so I don't really understand this. If you'd like to highlight some key point you think I've failed to address, please feel free.

I'm happy to go through the rest of the response point-by-point, but hopefully the above makes it unnecessary. But I will say, first, that while you did not literally say "not as smart as it thinks it is," I honestly can't see the distinction between that and "masquerading as intellectual." And second, that I definitely did not take "middlebrow" to mean "middlebrow narrative execution." I take lowbrow, highbrow, et al, to specifically be descriptors of intelligence and taste, not just synonyms for bad and good.
That may have been a misread on my part, even when I re-read it, it sounds like you are equating me with the people you think have a dismissive opinion of it, but it sounds like that is not at all what you intended. So, maybe at least partly my bad, please disregard.
But I do think there's a huge difference between "not as smart as it thinks it is" and "masquerading as intellectual". The former believes it is a very smart film when it's not and the latter knows it's not but is pretending/purporting to be or at least trading on the notion that it is smarter than it knows it is. I feel like Nolan dumbed the movie down for broader audience appeal, maybe that's the best way I can state it, and I feel like he kinda does that.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I was sure that the chance for Silver Linings Playbook to make the countdown had passed, but I'm very happy to see it make it this high. I watched it a few years ago, and I liked it enough that I knew that if I rewatched it, it would have a chance to make my list. I liked it even more the second time, and it was #20 on my list.


I've seen Inception a few times, but I still feel like I understand a little bit more every time I watch it. It didn't make my list, but it feels like the type of movie that, if I watch it enough times, it might make my list someday, (like maybe when we do the Top 100 Movies That Start With The Letter "I". )


My list so far:
15. The Avengers (2012)
20. Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
24. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
25. Nine Lives (2016) - (my one-pointer)
__________________
.
If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I know I'm in the minority, but as far as I'm concerned, it's a terrible, TERRIBLE film. Here is a link to my Letterboxd review, but here is the closing paragraph...

a mediocre script, cringe-inducing lines, an off-putting and awkward direction, and a whole bunch of generic clichés.

Am I missing something here? You wrote about how much you dislike Silver Linings Playbook, but then you wrote:


Obviously, it didn't make my list, but I had Silver Linings at Playbook at #3.



Am I missing something here? You wrote about how much you dislike Silver Linings Playbook, but then you wrote:
Thief does like the movie after all. I knew it!
__________________
IMDb
Letterboxd



Am I missing something here? You wrote about how much you dislike Silver Linings Playbook, but then you wrote:
Last sentence was a joke. If you see my ballot, which was at the end of that post, I didn't have it on it.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Last sentence was a joke. If you see my ballot, which was at the end of that post, I didn't have it on it.

I looked at your ballot, and saw that your #3 hasn't been revealed yet, so I couldn't figure out what you meant, but I guess I missed that it was a joke.



I looked at your ballot, and saw that your #3 hasn't been revealed yet, so I couldn't figure out what you meant, but I guess I missed that it was a joke.
Nah, my real #3 takes Silver Linings Playbook to the cleaners!






It is a lot of fun especially for someone who lives in that area. SLP is not filmed predominately in Philadelphia, but in Delaware County where I live. It was so exciting to see Delco in a movie. I know all those places and I know those people.
What follows is just a funny observation and isn't meant to offend anyone.

I've never understood why some people are so interested and hyped to see their own surroundings in a movie. My mother is the same; she rarely watches films or television series, but every now and then she starts to talk about how she's going to watch something, and it's almost always because it's shot in a place near her home or she knows someone involved in the production.

I just don't get that kind of familiarity bias
__________________



Yes! I had Silver Linings Playbook at #4 on my list. This is a movie I love. I'm one of the few people I know that really loves Jennifer Lawrence and for me this is her best movie role. Of course I haven't seen Winter's Bone yet and I hear she's great in that. But I enjoyed everybody's performance in SLP. So glad to see it make it so high.

I really liked Inception and I need to watch it again. I haven't seen it in a while so I didn't consider it for my list. I'm glad to see it up here so high also.

My List so far:
#2. Moonrise Kingdom #37
#4. Silver Linings Playbook #24
#5. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri #44
#6. True Grit #40
#10. Hell or High Water #73
#11. Zero Dark Thirty #58
#15. Edge of Tomorrow #68
#24. Gone Girl #65
__________________
"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."



22. 20 Feet From Stardom
21. American Hustle



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
Maybe Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are just way more popular than I expected so I'll guess


22. A Star is Born
21. Passengers



I forgot the opening line.
A lot of good, future classics made this countdown without me voting for them - I like most of 'em, but they weren't the films I have at my absolute top.

24. Silver Linings Playbook - I hold this film in very high esteem, but it's been a while since I last watched it. Still, I've seen it a few times, and kind of relate to the family dynamics Bradley Cooper's Pat is involved with - the Robert De Niro part matches my father pretty much dead on. Jacki Weaver I never get used to in big American films, because I've been seeing her all my life in Australia, and for her to suddenly be in just about everything always seemed like two worlds had collided. Anyway, a very clever screenplay, and an Oscar stolen from Cooper by Daniel Day-Lewis, who hardly needed another one for imitating Lincoln. Jennifer Lawrence was the only winner, but this was nominated for just about everything. It's a very wry, amusing and romantic movie about mental illness, and it always puts a smile on my face. It would fit into my top 100 of the decade, but had no chance beating what I had in my 25.

23. Inception - Yeah, look - I used to love Inception, but I think I watched it too many times and got a little tired of it. That doesn't mean it isn't an all-out classic though - it is, and is probably Christopher Nolan's best big budget film that goes crazy with special effects. I still reckon Memento is his best overall, but Inception is second and simply blew me off my cinema seat when I first saw it. There are all kinds of philosophical concepts that it taught it's audience, and by extension a good percentage of the movie-loving public with it's idea of mind, memory, time and reality. Of course, I don't buy the possibility that we could walk around in the mind of another person like happens in this film - perhaps it's possible, but it would feel a lot different to the high definition world-building computer game it looks in this. In any event - the score (boom! roar!), the visuals and the story are enough to make this film remembered for the rest of the 21st Century. I think Nolan should stop now with this whole direction, and look towards something removed from the high-concept, special effects-driven films he's stuck on.

Seen - 70/78
__________________
Remember - everything has an ending except hope, and sausages - they have two.
We miss you Takoma

Latest Review : Le Circle Rouge (1970)



We've gone on holiday by mistake
Silver Linings was my #24 and a big favourite of mine for the decade which is strange because it's not the sort of film I would go for, but it's such a brilliant journey for Cooper and Lawrence's characters. Definitely a high point for Lawrence who has sort of become the female Gerard Butler making a string of forgettable movies ever since.

Inception was such a big thing at the time but I find no desire to watch it again. I think it would have been so much better if the viewer was left with a REAL sense of is he dreaming all this, they really go for that but it's clear he isn't. Brilliant score from Zimmer as always. Some truly amazing sequences though but I just wish it had more depth.
__________________