Movie Forums Top 100 of the 2010s - Group Watch

I'll have to see if this one is available to me, will watch if it is.

edit: sadly not on either Amazon Prime or Netflix here.

Come on bud, bring back a little of that rebel in you.

Capernaum (Capharnaüm) (Nadine Labaki, 2018)
(Recommended by @cricket)

This movie was incredible, but also incredibly devastating to watch. It's always tough to watch films where children suffer from abuse and neglect, but this one hit me harder than most I've seen. Zain Al Rafeea gives a potent performance as Zain, an impoverished Lebanese boy who flees home after his 11 year old sister is sold into marriage. It's really amazing that Zain had not acted before and was discovered on the streets by the film's director.

It's a lot to ask of an adolescent boy to carry an entire film, but - owing much to his real life of poverty - he does it incredibly well. The movie and his performance feel absolutely authentic. This is a young man who has been failed by his parents and by society, who is forced to become an adult at an age when he should still be very much a child. Even when he leaves home and finds the help of a sympathetic adult, he must take on responsibilities that no 12 year old should ever have.

The movie does end on a hopeful note, but if you haven't seen it before, I'd advise keeping a box of tissues close at hand. I'm always very hesitant to give any first-time watch a rating higher than 4, but I think this one deserves it and it is definitely a contender for my ballot.

Of course I never vote for a film that I don't love, that would be silly and I certainly don't vote for movies because other people love them unless I love them too...But I have a huge list of at least 50 or more films that I'd like to have on my ballot, so I have to find ways to weed them out until I hit 25...I think we all have that problem. So we have to find ways to decide between movie A and movie B and movie C and so on. How does one decide? I can't personally say I love movie B more than movie C, I don't relate to movies that way and nothing in my decision making process is binary it's all shades of gray. So I'm looking for other criteria to help me decide which films get cut. Example, I ask myself: am I voting for what I only enjoy and if so that might mean giving up a ballot spot to a fun but not great movie. Or should I vote for what I think is a great film regardless if I personally love it or not (as long as I didn't dislike it)? Or is it more important to get recognition for films that I think are worthy and need the recognition because without my help they might not make the ballot?

So let's say I love a film because it's a fun watch for me, but I know it's not really all that great of a movie (say like Real Steal, it was fun but I know it's just a popcorn Hollywood film), then my preference is not to include it on my ballot as I rather give that honor to a movie that is more than just a fun 'comfort' movie but is also amazing in it's construction and dynamics.

Real miserable day here weather-wise so I rewatched Real Steel this morning, the robot-on-robot fights are certainly fun and make it a worthwhile watch but I feel just the same about the pat Spielbergian type of tale as I did on my initial watch - simply not really my cup of treacle.

I recorded Capernaum recently as it was on Film4 over here in the UK. I'll try my best to watch it soon and let you guys know what I think.

Wish I could have watched Real Steel. I’ve been meaning to. Likewise with Capernaum, as I am interested in anything by Labaki.

It isn’t available on anything streaming so I’ll have to miss this as well. 😒

For those in the U.S. with a valid library card, Capernaum is on Kanopy.

Thank you for posting this! It's not listed as being on Kanopy on JustWatch, so I thought I was out of luck.

I'll see if I can get to it tonight or tomorrow.

Well crap, I checked it yesterday and it came up, but now it isn't. So... maybe not anymore?