So, I've been wavering on how to do this. I wavered through a straight forward list, a decadal retrospective, or just listing films down. After consideration, I finally came up with a novel solution. Basically, I put down films I felt were interesting or notable in the decade, whether big blockbusters or the smallest indies, and put them into categories that would work as a survey of the decade in general. I'll take about the commonalities in the films in relation to their category and why they are notable to me.
So, to finally get this out of the way,
Notable 2010's Films
Vaults, Crypts, and Haunts: So, this was a pretty good decade for horror movies. Or rather, this decade saw the rise of a genre referred to "post-horror", for snobs to distance themselves from what they regard as a lowbrow genre. "Post-horror", in spite of attempts to distance it from regular horror, notably takes cues from the "New Horror" period of the 70's and 80's and lurid Italian genre of Gianllo, distinctly political or psychological and with a penchant for wild violence. Films like It Follows, The Babadook, and Hereditary are often listed in this regard, with good reason. All three managed to capture some anxiety about the world and amplify it. Of course, alongside this particular brand, we still had traditional horror movies in form of slashers like Hell Fest, found footage like Europa Report, and horror satires like Cabin in the Woods. Perhaps the biggest name in more traditional horror was of course, comedian Jordan Peele, who made a truly iconic film in Get Out, which was used 70's New Horror tropes to get into some very cutting commentary on racial politics in America. He followed it up with the more traditional, nominally apolitical Us, and rebooted The Twilight Zone (to mixed effect). You also had truly out-there ones, like Doctor Sleep (which takes the Shining to whole new levels unheard of), and Cosmic Horror (my own favorite genre) in The Void and The Colour Out of Space. And I'd personally be remiss if I didn't mention my favorite film of the entire decade, The Shape of Water, which is among Guillermo del Toro's finest, taking his love of horror, and using it to tell a poignant love story.
Childhood's End: Another genre that rose in media in general this decade were stories catered to the sensibilities of teenagers and young adults. Whilst there were failures in this area (like the brief spout of YA dystopia adaptations that came and went entirely without notice), there were also some notable films about coming of age. The difficulties of it, the awkwardness, the weirdness of it all. Films like The Spectacular Now , The Fault in Our Stars, and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl all used the changing atmospheres of high school and the dawn of adulthood as the backdrop to romances which fit into the dramatic arc of this awkward period (in the latter case, complicated by cancer.) Outside the bounds of the traditional adolescent film, we have The Way, Way Back, which takes on adolescence and insecurity in a way rarely seen on film. Thoroughbreds and Assassination Nation used high school to explore political issues or show the depravity of the human spirit more specifically. Films like Blockers, Eighth Grade, and Booksmart were comedies exploring the distinct teenage culture of the late 2010's (different from how I remember middle high school at least) to uproarious effect. The Long Dumb Road was an... interesting sort of coming of age story that shouldn't be spoilers Even sci-fi thrillers like Attack the Block and blockbusters like Shazam and Bumblebee took on adolescence in interesting and enlightening ways.
Director's Cut: Simple enough category: Films that could be regarded as the works of so-called auteurs. While I have my own issues with auteurism as a concept, it's hard to deny that there were several films that were exemplar of a certain director and their style and/or interests. Martin Scorsese expressed his love for cinema in the superb early film homage Hugo , the Coen Brothers brought their brand of sardonism and dark comedy to the 60's folk scene in Inside Lleweyn Davies and 50's Hollywood in Hail Caesar. Edgar Wright did action comedies in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Baby Driver. Paul Thomas Anderson explored societal shortcomings and relationships in The Master and Phantom Thread. Quentin Tarantino gave an ode to a lost Hollywood with films like The Hateful Eight and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Guillermo del Toro brought the best film of the decade, both through his productions including Pacific Rim and the best film of the decade The Shape of Water. Along with those stalwarts of traditional film criticism, other directors brought new energy to large blockbuster films. Joss Whedon infused a witty script with good action and iconic moments in 2012's The Avengers. In the two Guardians of the Galaxy films, James Gunn explored concepts of family and belonging in a very heartfelt, sincere way (combined with great action and comedy). Ryan Coogler turned Black Panther into a global hit in part because of his explorations of racism and colonialism. Matthew Vaughn and James Mangold gave the X-Men good movies with First Class and Logan, respectively. Justin Lin put the Trek back into Star Trek with Star Trek Beyond. Patty Jenkins made a Wonder Woman movie that gave the character the treatment she deserved. Finally, you had some directors explore politics with their films. Adam McKay took out righteous anger in The Big Short and the uneven Vice. Barry Jenkins and Bong Joon-Ho gave probably the most radical films to win Best Picture with Moonlight and Parasite respectively. Finally, a shout-out to rapper Boots Riley, whose film Sorry to Bother You is still perhaps the only truly socialist work to gain widespread distribution, which deserves much respect. On a less political note, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone of the Lonely Island delivered a hilarious send-up of musician documentary with colleague Andy Samberg in Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping and James Grey for the epic Lost City of Z. Finally, to Gaurinder Chadha and Lena Khan for delivering immigrant stories that were very personal to yours truly in Blinded by the Light and The Tiger Hunter (If it seems I shoved a bunch of random films in here, yeah. I had a honorary mentions category originally, that was grew too small to warrant mention, so I just decided to dump the remaining ones here).
Very Hard Science: Short category, but one that applies specifically to me, since my favorite genre is in fact hard science fiction. Of course, while accurate, the hard science fiction films of the 2010's came in a variety of tones and themes that explore the human condition. Interstellar and Ad Astra explored the extremes of the debate around space exploration: the former for, the latter against. The Martian was pro, but managed to add a bit of humor and fun into the proceedings, which made it one of the most entertaining films of the decade. Arrival is fairly agnostic, but instead discusses perceptions of time and language, and how it ultimately is universal, in spite of massive differences.
Crime and Punishment: Another relatively short one, partially because some of these crime, thriller, and comedy films were mentioned before, partially because there is a large amount of variance between many of these. For crime and thrillers, sometimes, you'd get a straight forward thriller that keeps you at the edge of your seat, like Tinker Tailor, Soldier Spy or the very innovative Searching. Sometimes, you'd get a story about the crimes of culture or government or society or whatever, like The Big Short, God Bless America, and Hustlers. Sometimes, you get crime satires or comedies, like I, Tonya, Knives Out, and The Art of Self-Defense. Finally, there's the WTF category, with Parasite, Assassination Nation, and Thoroughbreds.
Animation Nation: Finally, this decade saw many great animated films. Pixar had a .... rougher period this decade than the last, but they still managed to get those feels with the second best film of the decade Inside Out and the superb Coco. Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli were still in their A-Game, with such fare as The Wind Rises and The Tale of Princess Kayuga . Comic adaptations The Adventure of Tintin, Peanuts, and Into the Spider-Verse brought the energy and spirit of their respective source materials to the screen with stunning, memorable animation. Even The Lego Movie, which seemed like an ad for LEGOs, turned out to be a pretty interesting look into the nature of creativity and the value of sharing (also being incredibly funny.)
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So, that's my decade retrospective. It's been a rough month, but luckily, I was able to get this out before the month of February ended (and if some of it seems off, that's why.) Anyway, thanks for reading, it took me a while to write this because of unrelated issues. In the intervening time of starting and finishing this, I started something called a Ko-Fi. Basically, if you like this or any of my other writing, you have the option of giving some money in appreciation. Absolutely not necessary, and these will remain free. Still, it would be appreciated to have some supplementary income. Check it out here and if you want (again, absolutely not necessary, you can give some money): https://ko-fi.com/rohithc
So, to finally get this out of the way,
Notable 2010's Films
Vaults, Crypts, and Haunts: So, this was a pretty good decade for horror movies. Or rather, this decade saw the rise of a genre referred to "post-horror", for snobs to distance themselves from what they regard as a lowbrow genre. "Post-horror", in spite of attempts to distance it from regular horror, notably takes cues from the "New Horror" period of the 70's and 80's and lurid Italian genre of Gianllo, distinctly political or psychological and with a penchant for wild violence. Films like It Follows, The Babadook, and Hereditary are often listed in this regard, with good reason. All three managed to capture some anxiety about the world and amplify it. Of course, alongside this particular brand, we still had traditional horror movies in form of slashers like Hell Fest, found footage like Europa Report, and horror satires like Cabin in the Woods. Perhaps the biggest name in more traditional horror was of course, comedian Jordan Peele, who made a truly iconic film in Get Out, which was used 70's New Horror tropes to get into some very cutting commentary on racial politics in America. He followed it up with the more traditional, nominally apolitical Us, and rebooted The Twilight Zone (to mixed effect). You also had truly out-there ones, like Doctor Sleep (which takes the Shining to whole new levels unheard of), and Cosmic Horror (my own favorite genre) in The Void and The Colour Out of Space. And I'd personally be remiss if I didn't mention my favorite film of the entire decade, The Shape of Water, which is among Guillermo del Toro's finest, taking his love of horror, and using it to tell a poignant love story.
Childhood's End: Another genre that rose in media in general this decade were stories catered to the sensibilities of teenagers and young adults. Whilst there were failures in this area (like the brief spout of YA dystopia adaptations that came and went entirely without notice), there were also some notable films about coming of age. The difficulties of it, the awkwardness, the weirdness of it all. Films like The Spectacular Now , The Fault in Our Stars, and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl all used the changing atmospheres of high school and the dawn of adulthood as the backdrop to romances which fit into the dramatic arc of this awkward period (in the latter case, complicated by cancer.) Outside the bounds of the traditional adolescent film, we have The Way, Way Back, which takes on adolescence and insecurity in a way rarely seen on film. Thoroughbreds and Assassination Nation used high school to explore political issues or show the depravity of the human spirit more specifically. Films like Blockers, Eighth Grade, and Booksmart were comedies exploring the distinct teenage culture of the late 2010's (different from how I remember middle high school at least) to uproarious effect. The Long Dumb Road was an... interesting sort of coming of age story that shouldn't be spoilers Even sci-fi thrillers like Attack the Block and blockbusters like Shazam and Bumblebee took on adolescence in interesting and enlightening ways.
Director's Cut: Simple enough category: Films that could be regarded as the works of so-called auteurs. While I have my own issues with auteurism as a concept, it's hard to deny that there were several films that were exemplar of a certain director and their style and/or interests. Martin Scorsese expressed his love for cinema in the superb early film homage Hugo , the Coen Brothers brought their brand of sardonism and dark comedy to the 60's folk scene in Inside Lleweyn Davies and 50's Hollywood in Hail Caesar. Edgar Wright did action comedies in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Baby Driver. Paul Thomas Anderson explored societal shortcomings and relationships in The Master and Phantom Thread. Quentin Tarantino gave an ode to a lost Hollywood with films like The Hateful Eight and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Guillermo del Toro brought the best film of the decade, both through his productions including Pacific Rim and the best film of the decade The Shape of Water. Along with those stalwarts of traditional film criticism, other directors brought new energy to large blockbuster films. Joss Whedon infused a witty script with good action and iconic moments in 2012's The Avengers. In the two Guardians of the Galaxy films, James Gunn explored concepts of family and belonging in a very heartfelt, sincere way (combined with great action and comedy). Ryan Coogler turned Black Panther into a global hit in part because of his explorations of racism and colonialism. Matthew Vaughn and James Mangold gave the X-Men good movies with First Class and Logan, respectively. Justin Lin put the Trek back into Star Trek with Star Trek Beyond. Patty Jenkins made a Wonder Woman movie that gave the character the treatment she deserved. Finally, you had some directors explore politics with their films. Adam McKay took out righteous anger in The Big Short and the uneven Vice. Barry Jenkins and Bong Joon-Ho gave probably the most radical films to win Best Picture with Moonlight and Parasite respectively. Finally, a shout-out to rapper Boots Riley, whose film Sorry to Bother You is still perhaps the only truly socialist work to gain widespread distribution, which deserves much respect. On a less political note, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone of the Lonely Island delivered a hilarious send-up of musician documentary with colleague Andy Samberg in Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping and James Grey for the epic Lost City of Z. Finally, to Gaurinder Chadha and Lena Khan for delivering immigrant stories that were very personal to yours truly in Blinded by the Light and The Tiger Hunter (If it seems I shoved a bunch of random films in here, yeah. I had a honorary mentions category originally, that was grew too small to warrant mention, so I just decided to dump the remaining ones here).
Very Hard Science: Short category, but one that applies specifically to me, since my favorite genre is in fact hard science fiction. Of course, while accurate, the hard science fiction films of the 2010's came in a variety of tones and themes that explore the human condition. Interstellar and Ad Astra explored the extremes of the debate around space exploration: the former for, the latter against. The Martian was pro, but managed to add a bit of humor and fun into the proceedings, which made it one of the most entertaining films of the decade. Arrival is fairly agnostic, but instead discusses perceptions of time and language, and how it ultimately is universal, in spite of massive differences.
Crime and Punishment: Another relatively short one, partially because some of these crime, thriller, and comedy films were mentioned before, partially because there is a large amount of variance between many of these. For crime and thrillers, sometimes, you'd get a straight forward thriller that keeps you at the edge of your seat, like Tinker Tailor, Soldier Spy or the very innovative Searching. Sometimes, you'd get a story about the crimes of culture or government or society or whatever, like The Big Short, God Bless America, and Hustlers. Sometimes, you get crime satires or comedies, like I, Tonya, Knives Out, and The Art of Self-Defense. Finally, there's the WTF category, with Parasite, Assassination Nation, and Thoroughbreds.
Animation Nation: Finally, this decade saw many great animated films. Pixar had a .... rougher period this decade than the last, but they still managed to get those feels with the second best film of the decade Inside Out and the superb Coco. Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli were still in their A-Game, with such fare as The Wind Rises and The Tale of Princess Kayuga . Comic adaptations The Adventure of Tintin, Peanuts, and Into the Spider-Verse brought the energy and spirit of their respective source materials to the screen with stunning, memorable animation. Even The Lego Movie, which seemed like an ad for LEGOs, turned out to be a pretty interesting look into the nature of creativity and the value of sharing (also being incredibly funny.)
-----------
So, that's my decade retrospective. It's been a rough month, but luckily, I was able to get this out before the month of February ended (and if some of it seems off, that's why.) Anyway, thanks for reading, it took me a while to write this because of unrelated issues. In the intervening time of starting and finishing this, I started something called a Ko-Fi. Basically, if you like this or any of my other writing, you have the option of giving some money in appreciation. Absolutely not necessary, and these will remain free. Still, it would be appreciated to have some supplementary income. Check it out here and if you want (again, absolutely not necessary, you can give some money): https://ko-fi.com/rohithc
