The 35 Best Movies of the 2010s | Pop Off – Medium

At the end of the day, these six 2010s films rose to the top of my list. Theyre the DVDs I just had to own and the movies Im still thinking about and processing

Another Michael Lewis entry, I recently re-watched Moneyball and it was even better than I remembered. I waited anxiously eight years as my favorite sports book shuffled from one adaptation to the next, then was delighted when it fell into the hands of Aaron Sorkin and Brad Pitt, who did not disappoint.

Im still blown away how that team skillfully transformed a set of superficially connected baseball analytics narratives into a flowing film with a real plot let alone how they actually made me like Jonah Hill.

The Big Sick was Kumail Nanjianis producer debut and based on his real-life interracial romance with co-writer Emily V. Gordon. Its an exploration of race and family and love, all caught in the intersection of Nanjianis Pakistani upbringing and the American culture hes grown up in. Everything changes when Emily goes into a coma, and youll have to watch the rest for yourself. This resonated with me in so many ways, from facing difficult decisions to growing up and understanding culture and family.

Its the only movie in this top tier that wasnt the best of its year, only because Get Out was so spectacular. Im not a horror guy and I fell into every white-person trap set brilliantly by director Jordan Peele, but this was much more than a scary movie. The real horror is the systemic racism the film underlines.

Amy Adams delivered one of the acting performances of the decade, and Im still stunned she wasnt even nominated for an Oscar. Adamss Louise is a linguist taken from her daily life in a flash at the mysterious arrival of UFOs from outer space, but Arrival was so much more than just a another alien thriller. It was about language and communication and time, and the thrilling conclusion left me thinking about everything for weeks afterward.

Spike Jonzes Her is the beautiful and haunting science fiction romance of Joaquin Phoenix and, well Siri. Like a full-length Black Mirror episode, Her reveals the dangers of artificial intelligence thats a bit too intelligent and instant messaging thats a little too accessible.

A lonely Phoenix finds friendship in just about the last place youd expect: the voice inside his computer. Samantha is only a voice, but she provides true companionship and comfort to Theodore Twombly and with Scarlett Johansson voicing her, who can blame him? Samantha truly knows Twombly. Shes read every email hes ever written, converses intelligently about his favorite topics, encapsulates everything Theodore wants in a companion.

The problem is that Samantha isnt real. But the bigger and more interesting problem is the pretension of the woman Theodore has created, a perfected and shambolic version of himself.

Technology ultimately rises to the top of my list. Who could have imagined a goofy movie that kicked off the decade would become so meaningful?

Facebook is something else entirely 10 years later, a strange intersection of politics and friendship, a place America increasingly seems to get its information amidst quarantine and fake news. I will forever picture Mark Zuckerberg only as Jesse Eisenberg, who seems much more nefarious than naive looking back.

Social media has fundamentally changed how we think and communicate, and this was much more social commentary than entertainment in retrospect. Aaron Sorkin wrote a brilliant screenplay, and Trent Reznors score was perfect. Im not the first to put Social Network atop a list like this, but I dont care. No other film better encapsulates the past decade.

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The 35 Best Movies of the 2010s | Pop Off - Medium

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero