About The Decade's Best Five Films

Post 492:

            Rarely do I venture off into list-making land, but here we are. I’m also not a traditional reviewer in that I don’t like to criticize. And yet.

            Here’s a list and a review, all wrapped up in one deal.

            The best five movies of the decade. So far. You know, having one more year left and everything.

            5. WARRIOR: Two of the best working actors in Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton. I like MMA, but it’s really about family enmity and the struggle to forgive. There’s power and magma underneath the depictions of the three main characters. All very distinctive. It’s a movie that is a little too convenient with its plot, but who cares. Good is good.

            4. CALVARY: An Irish movie that probably wasn’t seen by enough people. Brendan Gleeson is a virtuous priest who is told by an unknown parishioner that he’s going to be murdered in a week. The whole thing is a series of encounters with his flock. They are the worst people in the world. Watching him try to deal with the soulless vapidity surrounding him is hilarious and heartbreaking. It’s not uplifting at all, but the story manages to maintain enough focus and surprise you with a laugh or a cry at every turn. I love it.

            3. JOHN WICK: I wanted to put a straight action film into the list, and I almost went with Edge of Tomorrow, but I threw in with Keanu. The story is so simple and the action is actually visible. Once the plot kicks off it really is a frigging blast. The strange world of secret clubs and coins is neat. They don’t explain too much and I don’t care. It’s not Shakespeare, but very hard not to love.

            2. MUD: This could’ve been number one. This is the story of youth, crime, rednecks, betrayal, murder, family, and everything else you can put in a script. Probably not the most “exciting” movie in the world, but give it a chance. There are two or three plots all moving together seamlessly. All have to do with a kid’s version of love and his desperation to hold to his idyllic vision. So frigging good. Dang near perfect.

            1. HELL OR HIGH WATER: Looks like I’m beginning and ending with brother stories. Maybe I miss my brother… anyway, this movie is outstanding in every way. Pacing, acting, clever plot that seems simple but is really well thought out. It’s basically two Texas Rangers after two Texas bank robbers, but the characters and their motivations make this thing go. I couldn’t love it more, but again, the brother thing—and I’m from Texas. The class struggle rhetoric is pretty heavy-handed, but other than that, perfecto.

            Well. I took a long time coming up with that list. There’s a video on my Youtube channel where I talk a lot more about my reasoning behind each choice. Not that I’m right. But I’m right. These are the best five movies of the decade. At least, that’s my opinion today. Cheers and see you after.