Highlights from the 50 best films of the decade so far:
50. Gravity
Too low in my opinion. It could only be a piece of cinema (and as a piece of cinema it was outstanding).
30. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
Very pleased to see this here. In 20 years of films based on computer games this is both not actually based on a computer and yet the best film computer games have given us.
8. The Grand Budapest Hotel
Moonrise Kingdom shows up earlier on the list and I enjoyed that a lot (I’m a big Wes Anderson fan) but Grand Budapest Hotel is just a delight. It’s so so wonderful. I thought the Oscar nominations this year weren’t great but I could happily see this walk away with plenty of statuettes.
7. Under the Skin
One of the most unsettling things I’ve ever seen. I can completely see why a lot of people might not like it but it’s brilliant. Both the sound and the visuals are perfectly pitched to give you a completely inhuman view of the world.
2. Her
I loved Her. A genuine love story between a man and an AI is no mean feat but at no point does it mock any of the things it so easily could have. Genuinely wonderful.
The list has largely reaffirmed my desire to catch up on a lot of films (Love is Strange, Only Lovers Left Alive, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Whiplash, The Master).
There is also a glaring omission: Calvary. By the time we hit Under the Skin I still wasn’t worried because Calvary is easily one of the ten best films of the decade so far but no joy. A criminal omission.
