2020 really has been our society’s worst nightmare indeed with grotesque racism, people losing their jobs, murder hornets, and of course, the COVID-19 pandemic. With all of last year’s events listed, all of us as a society have grown sick and tired of 2020. That does not mean we can treat 2021 the same as last year. Instead of dwelling on the negativity, we should really be rejoicing positively of what phenomenal works of cinema are on this list and I think you should be watching those as well. This is a mix of all of the hilarious, intensifying, and harrowing stories that should be witnessed. (Keep in mind that I have not seen the major award contenders like “Promising Young Woman”, “News of the World”, “Nomadland”, “Minari”, and “The Father”.)
#10 – MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
One of the worst losses of 2020, and quite easily, the worst, is the brilliant talent of Chadwick Boseman. He along with Robin Williams is a perfect example of an acting angel who had such a gracing presence on screen. George C. Wolfe’s fiery adaptation of August Wilson’s play, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” definitely showcases the greatest performance of Chadwick Boseman’s career as Levee Green, a trumpet player who wants to get his own stake in the music industry. Boseman perfectly plays this kind of character archetype where he wants to get his own way with creative control when it comes to the music of Ma Rainey. Speaking of Ma Rainey, the film itself is not just to rave about Chadwick Boseman, but also Viola Davis is the perfect actor to play blues legend Ma Rainey. She has the tough attitude and passionate soul to her personality and the glitzy looks in both her costume design and her makeup. It can feel stagey and dragged on here and there, but “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” is a accurate and authentic look on the troubles of creative control in the 1920’s music industry. It is also going to win maybe the most Oscars this year, obviously for the electrifying Boseman and Davis as well as the gorgeous costume work by Oscar-winner Ann Roth.
#9 – THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND
From all of the films I have seen from director Judd Apatow, his films tend to drag on WAY too long. It is sure that “The King of Staten Island” has this particular pacing issue, but that issue kind of melts away from being a fantastic dramedy that sends a strong message not even the average mainstream comedy can do. Pete Davidson, based on his own life trauma, plays a character based on him named Scott Carlin, whose father, working as a firefighter, died when fighting a hotel fire. Pete Davidson himself dealt with his father dying in real life, but instead, in 9/11. Scott is still dealing with this trauma ever since his childhood. Meanwhile, his mother Margie (played by Marisa Tomei) starts getting attracted by a tough father, (played by Bill Burr), of one of the boys Scott failed to promote one of his tattoos to, which Scott dreams of being a tattoo artist. Therefore, both Margie and Ray start to develop a relationship that Scott is unsatisfied with because Ray is a firefighter and to him, firefighters should not have families because of the trauma they go through. Now because of Scott’s reasoning of Ray, there comes the time where Scott is forced by Margie and Ray to live on his own and start a new life. I know this sounds like a lot of plot, but “Staten Island” is such a terrific film about not just dealing with family trauma, but also adapting to a new life that might seem hard. It goes through topics of parental marriage and toxic masculinity that feels so well balanced in its raw drama and sarcastic New York-comedy. Pete Davidson gives such a versatile performance as Scott Carlin that deserves Golden Globe recognition (cause the Oscars won’t care) while Bill Burr’s strong Boston accent might deliver one of the toughest father performances in recent memory. This is easily Judd Apatow’s best since “Funny People” back in 2009.
#8 – SOUND OF METAL
It is truly awful if you lose your hearing and become deaf. That can truly be one of life’s greatest tragedies and Darius Marder’s stunning debut feature “Sound of Metal” showcases this in so many spades. Riz Ahmed plays Ruben, a drummer for a heavy metal band who suddenly loses his hearing during a concert through a revolutionary sound design. It takes time for Ruben to process his deaf fate at a doctor’s office after having a tension with her girlfriend (and also singer of his heavy metal band), Lou (played by Olivia Cooke). Ruben then finds a community involving deaf recovering addicts that supports him which is run by Joe (played by newcomer Paul Raci), a deaf Vietnam War veteran who lost his hearing at the war. Ruben now must find a way to adapt to his new life and make friends in the deaf community there. This might be the most accurate and believable portrayal of losing hearing I have seen put to film. Darius Marder in his directorial debut portrays an honest and harrowing character study of being deaf without being too schmaltzy and cheesy. With this film, he hires Derek Cianfrance, the director of “The Place Beyond the Pines”, to co-write his script, adds such a flawless performance by Riz Ahmed, and intrusively adds one of the greatest sound designs ever put to film. There might be some scenes during when Ruben is deaf that subtitles can be necessary, but it is one of those movies where you will be glad you were educated by Darius Marder’s roller coaster.
#7 – THE WAY BACK
I may not be the hugest fan of sports films and sports in general, but Gavin O’Connor is one of those directors that can make a sports film so realistic and believable and “The Way Back” fits into this category. Jack Cunningham (played by Ben Affleck) is an alcoholic who occupies as a construction worker and has a strong passion for playing basketball. He then gets a call from his high school he went where they want him hired as a basketball coach. When coaching for his team, Jack needs to make sure that his alcoholism does not get in the way. Granted, it sounds like a film we have seen before in films like “Hoosiers”, but Gavin O’Connor tells us that “The Way Back” is not your average sports film where you are rooting for his team to win. It is instead a very hard-to-watch film about the effects on alcoholism and what those consequences mean for someone’s life. Ben Affleck may not be known for being a showy and transforming actor, but he absolutely shows it in this film and the result remains that this is the best performance I seen him in any movie he is in. What is interesting about Affleck’s role is that he went through alcoholism in real life, which can be a hard role for anyone if someone went through it realistically. To be aware, this is a film that solely revolves around a single performance and it is one of the best sports films since “Bleed for This” with Miles Teller.
#6 – THE 40-YEAR OLD VERSION
Former playwright Radha Blank does such an excellent job with her writing, directing, and acting debut “The 40-Year Old Version”, a humorous, original, and creative Sundance festival favorite that seems to be unfortunately very overlooked on Netflix. Radha Blank plays a character named after herself who is struggling as a school playwright due to her plays not nearly being as successful. Even her students are not jiving with Radha’s personality when they mock her. Meanwhile, Radha gets inspiration when she hears rap music and soon develops a passion for writing her own raps. Hilarious antics ensue when she accepts that rapping can be her new interest. Radha’s “The 40-Year Old Version” is such an intelligent comedy that deals with an empowering message about chasing your dreams. This message relating to the title of the movie can also be relatable to forty-year old people who have such a hard time living up to their own dreams. This film also has such a brilliant sense of humor, where one of the first scenes involving Radha rapping for the first time busted myself up in laughter. Plus “Poverty Porn” might be this year’s “Drive It Like You Stole It” from “Sing Street” because it will of course get ignored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Blank’s direction with “The 40-Year Old Version” when it comes to her storytelling is so comical, yet so brutally honest at the same time. Please support this film.
#5 – THE INVISIBLE MAN
Leigh Whannell is starting to become one of the most consistent directors working today with 2018’s “Upgrade” and this phenomenal horror reboot of the Universal Monster classic “The Invisible Man”. Even if he directed an okay “Insidious” sequel before, he proves with just two films that he is an unstoppable and versatile genius to look out for. Cecilia (played by Elisabeth Moss) is a woman trapped in a violent and abusive relationship at an apartment with her boyfriend Adrian (played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen). She soon escapes the apartment by drugging him with Dyazapam. Cecilia is then reminded by her lawyer (who also is Cecilia’s brother) that Adrian died of an apparent suicide, but when she is trying to recover from the tragedy, Cecilia notices something invisible bothering her where it makes her believe that it is her boyfriend Adrian. This now means that she must face her fears and confront the invisibility that is Adrian. Not only is this a textbook example that Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes needs to take note of when producing horror reboots, but also this can be considered one of the most intriguing stalker films in quite some time. It’s kind of funny that Jason Blum produced this reboot and he produced some of the worst horror reboots as of lately. Isn’t that saying a lot? Elisabeth Moss will be ignored unfortunately for Best Actress this award season and that is a shame because she probably delivers the most committed female performance in a horror or thriller film since Mary Elizabeth Winstead in “10 Cloverfield Lane”. When watching the character of Cecilia, you are immediately invested in her beliefs of Adrian invisibly stalking her even if other characters in the film do not. I also think a lot of people do not give enough recognition for Aldis Hodge’s great supporting performance as James Lanier, who is Cecilia’s friend in the film. Hodge with this, “Straight Outta Compton”, and “Brian Banks” could easily be a star in the making. All I have to say is for anyone complaining about horror reboots being soulless, show them this movie.
#4 – BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM
I’m going to be honest with everyone that I was not expecting a sequel to one of my personal favorite comedies, “Borat” in the dreadful year of 2020. Looking on my Twitter feed that Amazon Studios was going to release a sequel to the hysterical “mockumentary” was like craving the best deep dish pizza. “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” is the best comedy sequel in years with Sacha Baron Cohen still keeping the same offensive and boundary-breaking humor like the first film. Borat now is embarking on a mission where he now knows that his arch nemesis neighbor has a daughter named Tutar (played by a groundbreaking Maria Bakalova). That means Borat now has to give Tutar as a bride to a political figure close to Donald Trump during the pandemic and the current election. Note to everyone that this is not a film for everybody, but this film like the first hilariously mocks a lot on modern-day politics and our current state of our society. Sure Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat is still amazing as Borat, but Maria Bakalova delivers my favorite comedic performance of 2020 as Tutar and absolutely is my favorite aspect about the film. Bakalova is so good that she should be the lead of the next “Borat” film due to her humor deliveries having the same mockery style of humor as Baron Cohen. “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” is for sure not for everybody, but it absolutely is fit for fans who loved the original and fans of “mockumentary” comedy. I am still a happy man that Amazon made a comedy sequel containing the same aspects I loved about the first. I think they are going to copy and paste it again with “Coming 2 America” later this year.
#3 – SOUL
They may not have had the best decade in animation last year like Walt Disney Animation Studios, but Pixar will always be my favorite animation studio working today. They were my favorite growing up and I will never forget watching “Toy Story” on VHS as a quarter of my height. Pete Docter, the best director in the animation studio and quite frankly, the greatest living animated director, directs this hilarious, yet such an emotional adventure about discovering the meaning of life called “Soul”. This brilliant adventure of passionate jazz teacher Joe Gardner experiencing life’s meaning in “The Great Before” is a unique film you do not see quite often from Pixar. While it may pale in comparison to other modern-day Pixar movies like “Inside Out” and “Coco”, “Soul” provides such a beautiful message on how your life means a lot to yourself. With the “You Seminar” in the film, Docter supports this location as an vital storytelling device for how a passion is distributed there. Just like Pete Docter’s other films, “Soul” adds an artistic blend of sarcastic humor and emotion that makes you want to cry your eyes out. The voice cast lead by Jamie Foxx as Joe Gardner is brilliant. Speaking of Joe Gardner, the audience feel like they are in his “soulful” adventure throughout the film feeling every emotion of him. The detailed and textured animation, especially in the “You Seminar”, is absolutely game-changing in the genre. It is my least favorite of Pete Docter’s films, but it all adds all the amazing ingredients which makes a Pixar film great. Pete Docter don’t miss.
#2 – THE LODGE
Horror films have been one of the weakest genres lately in modern-day film. Not since “The Cabin in the Woods” has a horror film been so unpredictable and satanic as Austrians Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s (also directors of foreign film “Goodnight Mommy”) “The Lodge”. The film tells the story of a father (played by Richard Armitage) and his two children Aiden and Mia (played by Jaeden Martell and Lia McHugh respectively) going to a “lodge” on vacation with the father’s newly married wife, Grace Marshall, during a wintery and bitter Christmas. Talking about Grace for a moment, she is raised in an extremist Christian cult and was involved in a horrific event her father committed by leading a mass suicide, which now leads to Grace facing her demonic past. “The Lodge” reminds people that it is not your average mainstream horror film. The film reminisces the slow pace and its grim mood of A24 horror films like “It Comes at Night” and it’s aforementioned lookalike “Hereditary”. Both the critic and audience receptions reminisce of those films as well. I know it is a film that not everyone will be satisfied with, but “The Lodge” contains those top-notch eerie and storytelling aspects I love about a horror film from around the late ’60’s to the early ’70’s. Jaeden Martell and Richard Armitage are phenomenal, but it is Riley Keough’s performance that is the greatest aspect of the film. She is incredibly three-dimensional where you understand where she is coming from when it comes to her involvement with the cult. “The Lodge” is a film where it also requires multiple viewings to understand its undeniably brutal themes. It may be too comparable to “Hereditary” with the opening sequence involving an authentic doll house, but “The Lodge” is a new stroke of genius when it comes to the genre of horror.
#1 – RUN
I am going to repeat this again. Aneesh Chaganty is one of cinema’s greatest working filmmakers working today and quite possibly in the future, ever. His debut film “Searching” back in 2018 easily skyrocketed as my favorite of that year because of how his storytelling does not categorize as a typical thriller. “Run”, the first film since the 1940’s to have a wheel-chaired actress, quite possibly is one of the smartest and thought-provoking thrillers of our century and Aneesh Chaganty strikes my “favorite film of the year” spot once again. It is insane during a worldwide pandemic that we have such a filmmaker like Chaganty who can develop a hornet-stirring chemistry between Sarah Paulson’s Diane and Kiera Allen’s breakthrough performance as Chloe. Filled with so many inspirations from so many classics like “Carrie” and “Misery”, Aneesh Chaganty’s mystery of what pills Chloe took is such an unraveling mystery that goes into many unforgettable twists and turns. Sarah Paulson as Diane Sherman plays a dishonest and disgraceful mother that you do not want to have your children adopted with. How she is not getting awards attention does not make a lick of sense. Kiera Allen as Chloe (whom also deserves awards attention) delivers one of the best debut performances in quite sometime that she feels like she is an experienced actor in the film industry. I think I said a lot in my review of how much I loved “Run”. Just go watch this masterwork on Hulu and see why Aneesh Chaganty loves the movies so much.
Hopefully, you enjoyed my thoughts on what I think are the ten best films of 2020! This is meant to be a message for anyone who are not just having a hard time during lock down, but also experiencing some of cinema’s greatest works in the first year of the new decade. That also means I will not be doing my worst films of the year list this year to not spark any negativity. I am also not going to produce any more worst lists in the future because the more I cover awful movies, the more I waste my time and money on them. I predict 2021 will in great hopes be an almost normal year for not just the film industry, but for everyone as well! Just keep in mind that 2021 is not going to be a light-switch back to normal life. Instead of feeling lonely and negative, always look to the positive, my friends!
