Top 10 of the Decade

Harryarts / Freepik

I've lived nearly half of my life in this very decade. Reflecting on the time 10 years ago… it’s unfathomable. One could say time flew so fast, or acknowledge the innumerable things that has happened. But for moviegoers and film enthusiasts, there’s a decades-worth of movies that has made a lasting impact in our memories. Choosing my favorites was tough, especially when it’s hard enough choosing a top 10 for a single year. I had no rigid criteria in mind when ranking the best, but the ones here, in my mind, unquestionably possess unparalleled originality, impact, and craftsmanship. While other titles may excel in one or two of these qualities, the movies of the decade have a healthy balance of all three. So in the spirit of decade this and decade that and as we move onto the satisfying ring of the year 2020, here are my personal top 10 movies of the decade.

10. Shutter Island (2010)

In the past, psychological thriller has been a specialty of Alfred Hitchcock, dubbed “the Master of Suspense”. It’s weird to me that his style has rarely been reproduced among modern filmmakers. But for director Martin Scorsese, no genre is ever out of date. In paying homage to the past, Shutter Island is easily the most suspenseful movie of this decade. The twists and turns of the story are deceptively believable because of the cast’s ultra-realistic performance, and not to mention using classical music of the past (most notably Gustav Mahler’s) to command fear. It’s thrilling. It’s ominous. It’s everything that I remember from watching and analyzing Hitchcock’s renowned works during high school psychology.

9. Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse (2018)

The best animated film of this decade. Who would have expected this from the same production company that gave us the abomination, The Emoji Movie? What makes the feat even more impressive is that this adaptation still gained popularity in the middle of the Spiderman hype, when Tom Holland was making big moves. If there were to be another Spiderman movie in the same year, it had to be different. For a long time, Pixar set the gold standard for all animated films, emphasizing not only the techniques, but also paying attention to the story-telling and the harmony between visual scenes and music. In that sense, Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse checks every box on the list of the ideal animated film, especially with its unprecedented method of using hand-drawn comic book styles and fresh take on a traditional character.

8. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Initially, I brushed this one off as another action-filled cliché. Looking back at it though, glossing over the production work was a huge mistake. The good stuff really lies in the details that the common eye can’t immediately appreciate. This is not at all to disparage the audience’s ignorance, but as I personally became more educated in cinematography and the nitty-gritty techniques, it’s hard to not notice the masterful job done by the producers and the film crew. This movie may have lacked flamboyant CGI and bright flashy colours, which could be a reason why it failed to garner much interest from the audience. But hopefully its numerous nominations and awards for costume design, video editing, sound mixing (and so on) did Mad Max: Fury Road some justice and gave the movie the credit that it deserves in this decade.

7. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Culturally significant, as I would describe it; more importantly, a milestone in cinematic history. Heroism have become the global language of this decade, and will continue to be the fad in the next. Heroes have been featured on the big screen before, but a whole cinematic universe is a gamechanger. Now, every movie franchise is trying to duplicate the same business model, but so far, it seems that only the pioneer possesses the perfect formula. From the first Iron Man, the work of 12 years is now complete. I was in elementary school when this all started, thinking that a cinematic universe was too bold for Hollywood. Yet, here we are with Avengers: Endgame. And now the MCU moves onto a new decade.

6. Get out (2017)

I don’t go much on mainstream horror films, except when it comes to Jordan Peele. He may be a comedian, but in this decade, he has also displayed his filmmaking prowess in inducing a different type of dread in the audience, compared to mainstream horror. Peele doesn’t rely on cheap jump-scares nor grotesque-looking monsters to fulfill the movie’s genre. The thrill predominantly comes from the unsettling atmosphere, the slow-building sense of danger, and the twisted revelation of what’s really going on. Even better is the seamless integration of social topics, depicting them as sometimes heinous when taken to overzealous extents. Evidently, Get Out represents a brand-new way of horrifying the audience through visceral storytelling, and it’s a big reason why it owned the box office with a budget of only $5 million. Pure craftmanship, no fripperies.

5. John Wick (2014)

Did you know that the director of John Wick used to be a stuntsman? So it’s not surprising to feel the same type of adrenaline here, but also the type you’ve probably never felt in other spy movies or the typical sort. Keanu Reeves plays a rather mute mercenary, not because he is apathetic, but because of grief. Much like the stuntsman, John Wick’s actions speak louder than his words. Or more appropriately, the action choreography speaks louder than the dialogue. The kills are as satisfying as John Wick’s search for revenge. No other movie in this decade embodies such quality more perfectly. Plus, unlike a certain God of Thunder, this professional assassin goes straight for the head.

4. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

You’ve guessed it. The move is indeed about hotels, and there is your source of the charming humor that is so devoid in the mainstream. As a lesser known title in its year of release, The Grand Budapest Hotel was a pleasant surprise. The essence of old Hollywood is apparent by the carefully made miniatures and hand-painted backdrops, its historical elegance even more amplified by the Broadway style performance. While you can juice out your enjoyment by the graceful jokes alone, it’s impossible to ignore director Wes Anderson’s unconventional visualization of history in an alluring yet sarcastic manner. To say the least, the experience was delightful, like biting into a surprise in an already decorative piece of cake. Thus, my taste buds tell me that The Grand Budapest Hotel should number 4 on the list.

3. Joker (2019)

This decade was marked by the age of superheroes. Marvel kickstarted a cinematic trend that will likely continue for another 10 years and we are already witnessing other companies trying to replicate the same business model. But Joker was not a mere imitation. Even as a superhero film, it stands by itself on top of the pyramid as a cinematic marvel (pun intended) with a profound message about society. Ever since The Dark Knight, we have compared every subsequent iterations of the character to Heath Ledger’s adaptation, never expecting to witness any other equals in the near future. But it’s safe to say that Christmas came early in October for many fans of the Clown Prince of Crime.

2. Dunkirk (2017)

There’s something about war that makes it a great drama. The Avengers, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings are a few popular titles that have harnessed, at their core, the grandeur of armed conflict. Dunkirk, however, was different. It portrays war just like a textbook: mundane, precarious, lifeless. There’s no over-the-top action or glorified heroism; we just watch the Allied soldiers escaping a beach. Despite this simplicity, the movie helps history to transcend into a palpable experience, as if we are inside a time machine. We experience a flurry of emotions with the Allied soldiers, from panic to relief, from sadness to victory, while understanding the realities of war. Dunkirk transforming the meaningless into meaningful is a masterful testament to the potential behind the art of filmmaking, and it deserves to be recognized in this decade.

1. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

When a movie sets the Guinness World Record for the most swearing ever, it’s an art. Cuss words, to me, is an unorthodox but versatile way of expressing the inexplicable. When Leonardo DiCaprio aesthetically yells “Fuck!”, it can mean many things: he met a hot chick, he snorted too much cocaine, he got caught by the FBI, or he managed to con the entirety of Wall Street into buying worthless stocks. There’s no breathing room to process the sheer ridiculousness of the fraudulent stockbroker’s life, and this ability to sustain lunacy for 180 minutes straight is in part why the movie is extremely one-of-a-kind. The story, for all its content, progresses in the most coherent way I’ve seen for 2.5 hour movie, and it’s thanks to DiCaprio’s talents serving as the primary lynchpin. I’ve enjoyed watching many films in this decade, but nothing triggered my uncontrollable laughter quite as much as The Wolf of Wall Street. Of course, it’s not just the humor that ultimately got me sold, but also the interesting choice to openly portray many immoral acts and infamous people, all of which are very unique directions to have within our modern PC culture.