The MoFo Top 100 of the 2010s Countdown

I had The Grand Budapest Hotel at #7. Everything is clicking with this one, and probably Anderson's best film. Also on my list right behind it I had Isle of Dogs, equally great and maybe the one from my list I've seen the most time as I took my then five year old daughter to see it in the theatre and together we've watched it a bunch more times since.

My List:
2. Take Shelter (#67)
3. Drive (#17)
4. Midnight in Paris (#45)
5. The Shape of Water (#52)
7. The Grand Budapest Hotel (#3)
8. Isle of Dogs (DNP)
9. Nightcrawler (#55)
11. Birdman (#21)
13. Burning (#35)
14. Get Out (#19)
15. A Separation (#90)
16. Ex Machina (#49)
19. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (DNP)
20. The Accountant (DNP)
21. Shoplifters (#18)
22. Knives Out (#74)
23. Inside Llewyn Davis (#22)
24. Paterson (DNP)
25. The Mill and the Cross (1-pointer)

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I may go back to hating you. It was more fun.

well seeing how I never engaged on the previous ones that probably explains why those went faster for me 😆

HALLELUJAH! We HAVE arrived!!

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What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes

~Mr Minio

Grand Budapest Hotel is my #9. Huge fan of Wes. My third favorite of his behind The Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore.

I am way, way behind in posting this bit of trivia, but:

Phantom Thread (#15) was the highest film on the list to not receive any first-place votes.

I think the problem here is a conflation with adversity, a demanding instructor, tenacity, and competitiveness with abuse. That last one isn't what made anyone better and I think it's a common misconception that great artists have to be a certain way and have to be brought up a certain way. And, I think this is where the tacit endorsement comes in, I don't recall the world Whiplash presented as thinking there were truly talented people who weren't complete a-holes, which goes beyond the, "this one instance," and there doesn't seem much remorse by the movie of Teller's character choosing the JK Simmons' path at the end.

"If you torturing a prisoner leads to a good outcome on the battlefield"
What if engaging in the thought experiment of, "If you torturing a prisoner leads to a good outcome on the battlefield," leads you to torturing prisoners that don't lead to good outcomes. What if after tallying it up, you realize all the people who engaged in that thought experiment tortured a lot of people, partly because they engaged in the thought experiment, and didn't get any good results? Then was that first thought experiment a good thought experiment? Asking, because that was a real phenomenon observed in the aughts (ETA - or at least a phenomenon people said they were observing).

I'm quite happy that I've a lot to watch from this top 20, Haven't seen Get Out, Shoplifters, It's Such a Beautiful Day, Phantom Thread, The Florida Project, Her, La La Land or The Grand Budapest. I might watch Grand tonight actually, didn't know it would be so highly regarded.

I draw the line at Tree of Life, I almost died through boredom after 20 mins.

I'm amazed we haven't seen Infinity War show up, imo the strongest of the Marvel affairs, with several inferior (though not necessarily bad) entries showing up. I didn't vote for any comic book movie.

Whiplash was my #7. Performance of a lifetime from J.K Simmons, I think we all recognize that teacher from school, though perhaps not to such extremes. I think it does raise interesting points that to achieve greatness sometimes people have to be pushed beyond what is acceptable in society. I read Jackie Chan's autobiography once and his teacher/master effectively engaged in child abuse (non sexual) to get his students to such a high level of performance, and as a result the Hong Kong film industry was littered with people coming out of that small school, even some like Chan who have crossed into Hollywood. Jackie Chan's father had to sign a death waiver before Chan was allowed to board there.

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I've watched him very recently in Willow (2022-) series on Disney Plus. Loved him.

Anyhow, Grand Budapest Hotel. I'm mixed on Wes Anderson, but this is probably my favorite or second favorite one; not a completist though. But overall, rather positive on this one. Wasn't on my list.

Anyhow, I guess to stretch some relations and do some more reveals

16. Columbus (2017)



Finally caught up with this one this past year. Koganada. I struggle to think how to summarize this one because the plot descriptions really fail to capture the humanist angle the movie has of two people trying to reconcile their place in the world. But architecture plays a role in the film, so I guess it makes sense to reveal it with the Grand Budapest Hotel, what with Wes and his dollhouse sets.

18. The Lobster (2015)



Unfortunately, I haven't revisited this one since around the time that it came out, but I chose this over the favorite. People have something like 30 days to find a mate, or they are permanently changed into an animal of their choosing. It is, amongst other things, a deadpan satire of the silly reasons why people couple up. When the film launched, they had a promotional page to fill out a quiz to see what type of animal you would be. I can't remember what animal I got, but I do remember on the description of the animal, "likes anal sex," and all I could think was, "Yup. Just a reminder this isn't coming from Hollywood, which wouldn't do a by the numbers promotional page that might alienate possible viewers."
Oh, uh, the connection is, I don't know, a comedy and they're staying in a hotel type place.

19. Phoenix (2014)



I can't remember if I finally caught up with this last year or the year before. Weirdly, I saw Transit first despite knowing of this film when it came out. A survivor of the concentration camps gets reconstructive surgery. She can choose to look like anyone, but chooses to look exactly like she did before. She seeks out her gentile husband, who her friends say turned her in, which she refuses to believe. He refuses to believe the person in front of him is his former wife, believing that she's dead, but believes she's the spitting image he needs to claim her estate. The wife does not challenge his incorrect belief and goes along with it, interrogating him "about his wife, before the camps." A film about guilt, regret, and hope (the failure there-of).

The ballot thus far:

I quite enjoy Grand Budapest Hotel. It didn't make my list, but it's an enjoyable film to rewatch with fun performances.

First Reformed landed just outside of my top 25. Great film.

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.


The Farewell, my #13

Awkwafina plays a young woman who returns to China for a wedding. But really what's happening is that her grandmother has cancer. The family has decided not to tell the grandmother, and is using the wedding as an excuse to get the family together for one last bit of quality time with her. Awkwafina is uncomfortable with this, but reluctantly goes along. A really beautiful mix of melancholy and relatable family-dynamics humor. It's a very gentle (rated PG!) yet very powerful film. At the end I kind of wanted to laugh and cry.


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.


Phoenix, my #7

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.

One of my last cuts. Great film.

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2 of these made mine too.

A great bunch of contenders from Takoma's ballot. I liked Swiss Army Man quite a bit, but I never really considered it. Annihilation and Thunder Road, I hung on to for a while; especially the former. Agree with Tak's take.

I hate to be that guy but I usually am.
When can we expect the poll for the next one @Yoda ?

Sorry, but I think I speak for the group about how excited we usually are for these. It's especially exciting since there seems to be no true clear cut favorite for what the next countdown will be either.

Is there a fast/easy way to see everyone's ballot after this is over? Or do we have to depend on people posting them?

This cracked me up

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Grand Budapest Hotel, yea it was good.

I enjoyed "Budapest Hotel": the quirkiness, the set and production design, cinematography, and the pacing. IMO it's Wes Anderson's best. I have it at #11.

I think you're right that there's no clear cut favorite, which means we'd probably need to discuss which options even go in that poll first.