2019 has been a pretty amazing year in film. As we close the book on the 2010s, we decided to take a hard look back at some of the best films of the last decade.
Metro’s best films of the decade
Photo: Univcersal Pictures
“Bridesmaids” (2011)
The best film to break up the comedy boys club
Aside from comic book adaptations and anything with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, the buddy comedy has been one of the most successful film templates at the box office over the past decade. But no other film has stood the test of time quite as well and as consistently hilariously as “Bridesmaids.” The film starring and written by Kristen Wiig, with her writing partner Annie Mumolo, and directed by Paul Feig not only cemented the film career of Melissa McCarthy — and crowned her the undisputed champ of dropping F-bombs onscreen — but also earned Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for McCarthy. Pat King
“Holy Motors” (2012)
Best art house film to watch while low key dosing (not micro-dosing)
Look, so I don’t do drugs anymore, but if I did, I would certainly do it while watching “Holy Motors.” I wouldn’t do too much though. “Holy Motors” provides a lot of stimulation cause for anxiety and paranoia. Look, just set aside two hours one evening with one close friend. The sensations and enigmas buried in this mesmerizing film will stay with you through the next decade. Thank me later. James Case
“Inside Llewyn Davis” (2013)
The best film to capture the existential battle between art and capitalism
In “Inside Llewyn Davis,” the Coen Brothers use the backdrop of 1960s Greenwich Village to create a meditative allegory on what it means to be an artist with convictions in a world that only sees dollar signs. Davis, played by Oscar Isaac in his breakout role, is a has-been folky trying to make it in the city’s burgeoning scene without having to compromise his artistic vision or returning favors from friends who let him crash on their couches. It’s a film about the existential push and pull between being a creator and a consumer told in a poignant and hilarious way only the Coen Brothers can. PK
“John Wick” (2014)
The best film to make you immediately want to hug your dog
Allow me to paint the scene for you. It’s the wee hours of the morning and I’m bending to the will of my insomnia with a viewing of “John Wick” on HBO on low volume in the one-bedroom apartment that my wife and I shared at the time with our dog, Annie. As the movie begins, I’m shaken to my core that a group of thugs has killed Mr. Wick’s brand new puppy that his deceased wife bought him as a present. By the end of it, I’m standing up and cheering for Keanu Reeves as he gets his righteous bloody revenge. Who says movies don’t make you feel things? PK
“Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015)
Best mainstream blockbuster to watch while low key dosing (not micro-dosing)
In some way, everyone wants maximalism and “Mad Max: Fury Road” delivers. Subtlety and minutia is just so dishonest sometimes. I want to be battered over the head with over-the-top deranged action, with a random guy playing a guitar on the front of a f–king truck. I want a goddamn chase movie. I don’t want a movie to end or think about an opportune time to go to the bathroom. I want to piss my pants during the movie. I want to keep f–king going. JC
“Arrival” (2016)
Best film to watch completely supine with the film projected onto the ceiling in, say, an observatory
Denis Villeneuve has been my favorite director this decade. I was torn between picking “Prisoners,” “Sicario” or even the polarizing “Blade Runner 2049” as his best movie of the decade, as his work (notably supported by the expert cinematography of Roger Deakins) has been the most consistent between art house and mainstream this decade. “Arrival” will be seen in retrospect as his most accessible, and it has aliens, mind-bending perspective shifts and an elaborate time travel plot. JC
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Photo: TriArt
“The Square” (2017)
Best film with a guy pretending to act like an animal
A lot has been said about the central scene in Ruben Östlund’s contemporary epic, but “The Square” is so much more than that. It’s an art satire, a send-up of feigned altruism and male privilege, and modern relationships. It’s really funny, really messy and absolutely captivating. JC
“First Reformed” (2017)
Best ending
The problem with the elevation of television as the go-to medium for prestige narratives is that endings are utterly undefined and pushed off. By the time a series ends, the original writers and creators may be long gone. It’s not particularly hard to start great works, and it’s particularly unchallenging to open a lot of threads without the audience’s focus coming on how it will all end. Film can’t do that. Paul Schrader’s “First Reformed” is utterly cohesive with each part having a function, and the ending is sublime and reminds us that film has core strengths over television. JC
“Mandy” (2018)
The best film to unleash the RAGE CAGE
Despite some of the choices the man has made over the last, oh, twenty years or so, there is no actor that can so effortlessly bring any project he’s a part of past the brink of screaming on the subway insanity as Nicolas Cage. While it seemed like we had lost him to direct-to-streaming action film purgatory for good, he turned in one of the most entertaining and unhinged performances of his career with Panos Cosmatos’ revenge-horror classic “Mandy.” Watching the Rage Cage screaming and chugging a bottle of vodka in his underwear may have been one of the single greatest moments that 2018 had to offer the universe. PK
“Cats” (2019)
The best film to … Psyche!
