The MoFo Top 100 of the 2010s Countdown

AKA Popcorn Reviews

12-20-22

Trivia

The Descendants - When Matt King describes his inherited wealth, he says, "I don't want my daughters growing up entitled and spoiled. And I agree with my father; you give your children enough money to do something but not enough to do nothing." This is based on a well-known quote from billionaire investor Warren Buffett in a 1986 Fortune magazine interview. "Setting up his heirs with a lifetime supply of food stamps just because they came out of the right womb can be harmful for them and is an antisocial act. To him the perfect amount to leave children is 'enough money so that they would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing.'"

Room - Brie Larson isolated herself in her home for a month without a phone or internet and followed a strict diet in order to get a sense of what Ma and Jack were going through. Larson has said that because she considers herself an introvert who prefers to stay at home, she thought that her month of isolation would be a vacation, but towards the last week she became very depressed and would cry all day.

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Sedai

A system of cells interlinked

12-20-22

I've seen neither and obviously, neither was on my list!

Seen 1/4

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ScarletLion

Wales, Europe

12-20-22

The Descendants has never really been on my radar. Not sure why as I like both Clooney and Payne and looking at the trailer, the cinematography looks great too, unsurprising as Payne has teamed up with Phedon Papamichael again. I will have to watch this.

'Room', very nearly made my ballot. There was so much to get out of it despite being set in such a limited location. Brie Larson was great. Solid film. Just didn't quite have the punch to break my top 25.

SpelingError

AKA Popcorn Reviews

12-20-22

MoFo Reviewers

The Descendants

Originally Posted by Takoma11

Clooney anchors the film as a man who has way too much on his plate and is barely managing to juggle his many responsibilities. Steve is repeatedly forced into the role of middle-man: deciding who his family will sell the land to; mediating between Alex and her unconscious mother; even deciding that he should offer Elizabeth's lover a chance to bid her farewell. He surfs through the film in a mode of barely-kept control. In every moment, he is constantly being forced to think about others, and it complicates the way that he would like to express himself.

Read the full review here.

Room

Originally Posted by Gideon58

This film is not an easy watch, but it is a worthwhile one, thanks to Abrahamson's atmospheric direction and the performance by Brie Larson as Joy, which won her the Oscar for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role and she is matched note for note by Jacob Tremblay's extraordinary work as Jack, one of the best performances by a child I have seen in a long time. I also enjoyed seeing Joan Allen and William H. Macy onscreen together as Joy's parents, the first time they have worked together since 1998's Pleasantville. This was a heartbreaking and unique motion picture experience that did actually have me shedding a few tears...this is one of those movies that leaves you frozen as the credits roll.

Read the full review here.

Torgo

Mu-Tant

12-20-22

The Raid is #9 on my list. Maybe except for a certain desert-set film starring Tom Hardy, it's my favorite action movie of the last decade. I've enjoyed every movie inspired by its structure from Dredd to even the Hulu-exclusive The Princess from this year, for what it's worth. There's something about the progression and claustrophobia that really appeals to me. The 2004 Johnnie To movie Breaking News is another one like it worth checking out if that's also your thing.

SpelingError

AKA Popcorn Reviews

12-20-22

mark f

Originally Posted by mark f

The Descendants (Alexander Payne, 2011)

Nick Krause, Amara Miller and Shailene Woodley follow George Clooney

Originally Posted by mark f

Room (Lenny Abrahamson, 2015)

Five-year-old Jacob Tremblay has only known the confines of a small room; his Ma (Brie Larson) was kidnapped and imprisoned seven years ago and has only been concerned with his welfare since his birth, but now the time is ripe for their attempted escape.

Neither film made mark f's ballot.

Chypmunk

Registered User

12-20-22

Two decent films in The Descendants and Room, both were on my long list but neither of them eventually made the cut for my ballot.

Seen: 4/4 (Own: 2/4)

My ballot:

Faildictions

Last edited by Chypmunk; 01-12-23 at 12:29 PM.

John Dumbear

Out in God's Country

12-20-22

"The Descendents" was my #3 film of the decade. Feel this is Clooney's best role. Payne has a stellar resume, enjoy all his films, sans "Downsizing".

" Room" was my #13 film. Another solid storyline and in dire need of another watch.

Jackie Daytona

Regular Human Guy

12-20-22

Originally Posted by ScarletLion

In what way?

Seems like fans of the genre put it up as one of the best martial arts films of all time. Would I put it in my top 100 of the decade? Possibly?

Thief

Master of None

12-20-22

Seen both, but none of them made my list.

The Descendants is a fine drama with some great performances, but I've never thought of it as a "great" film.

Room, on the other hand, really got to me. I loved how Abrahamson chooses to reveal things as the film goes on, and how effectively he transmits the isolation of the characters, and how they feel at certain moments. Brie and Tremblay are superb. It is probably my favorite film from 2015, and I had it on my list, but I think it went out on one of my last 2 or 3 cuts.

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SpelingError

AKA Popcorn Reviews

12-20-22

Haven't seen The Descendants.

I have seen Room though and thought it was pretty good. I'll second some thoughts which Jinnistan wrote awhile back on the first half being unnecessary, but by the same token, I wasn't bothered by it per se. Still though, the movie doesn't come alive until the second half, which makes for an emotionally absorbing film about struggling to fit into society and regret. At its best, I don't think the movie provides anything special, but I do think it's a well-made movie of its kind. It didn't make my ballot though.

SpelingError

AKA Popcorn Reviews

12-20-22

Btw, this is the thread that yesterday's hint was referring to:

https://www.movieforums.com/communit...ad.php?t=65936

rauldc14

2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ

12-20-22

The Descendants was my number 1 because I knew it needed all the points it could get. At least it made it.

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

12-20-22

The Descendents a fine film that I considered for my ballot but just didn't have the Room not the kind of subject matter I want to spend an evening with.

John McClane

You ready? You look ready.

12-20-22

Still haven�t seen Room and probably won�t for awhile. I try my hardest to not purposefully trigger myself.

Tugg

Registered User

12-20-22

I didn't like Room when I saw it in cinema.

Miss Vicky

MoFo's Resident Bitch

12-20-22

Oh cool, I got it right!

Room is a very good movie. I'm happy to see it here, but didn't vote for it. If I were ranking a top 50 for the decade it might be on there.

My aversion to George Clooney has thusfar kept me from watching The Descendents. I don't plan to rectify that.

Seen: 3/4
My Ballot:
25. Kitbull (One Pointer)

Reviews in My 2010s Countdown Preparation Thread

Here's what I thought of Room the last time I watched it:

Originally Posted by Miss Vicky

Room (Lenny Abrahamson, 2015)
(Rewatch)

There are a lot of movies out there that deal with kidnapping and rape. It's a premise that's been used over and over and over again. Many of those movies focus on the crimes themselves, some to the point of feeling exploitative of them, but Room doesn't do that. We get a brief glimpse of how Joy, played by Brie Larson, interacts with and is treated by her captor and from the things she tells her son Jack, we learn how her situation came to be, but that is not the focus of the film. Instead we get a picture of a young woman who first must find a way to get herself and her son out of captivity and then must find a way to navigate and adjust to life in the outside world.

And I really respect the way that the world is depicted. She doesn't emerge to a wonderful, happily ever after. She finds her parents divorced. Her father, unable to even look at her son, quickly disappears again from her life. She struggles to relate to her family or to her past self. A cruel television interviewer plants seeds of doubt about her fitness as a mother and Joy simply cannot cope. It's probably an all too realistic depiction of the hardships people face once they escape from such circumstances. But, though I respect it a great deal, I don't love it and since I don't love it, I'm probably not going to vote for it.

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kgaard

Msg

Registered User

12-20-22

I have some regrets about watching The Descendants on a plane (something I tend to reserve for rewatches or lowbrow comedies or "bad" movies). I've never really clicked with Payne's films in general, though I liked this one pretty well.

Room is very good and had I done a Top 50 it almost certainly would have made that. Not Top 25 though.

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

12-20-22

I thought of Raul as soon as I saw The Descendants pop up. I personally thought it was solid enough but nowhere near a favorite or something I feel like watching again.

I really liked Room a lot and it was kinda sorta in the running to be on my list. However, I tried not to have movies on my list that I only saw once. It�s hard to say if I would like it as much on the second watch. I would like to see it again in the future though.

donniedarko