Fritz: The decade is
over, which is always a fun time for film critics because we get to revisit our
favorite films of the decade. The first I'll bring up is Mad Max: Fury Road.
At first glance, it might seem like it was yet another drab attempt to cash in
on a popular franchise from the past. But George Miller's film is one of the
most impressive action spectacles I've ever seen. But it's anchored by two
great performances from Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron (the gold standard for
feminist action heroes this decade).
While it was better to see Fury Road in
theater, the film still plays very well at home. However, in terms of
spectacles, I feel the need to mention the almost entirely forgotten Robert
Zemeckis film (from 2015, the same year as Fury Road) The Walk.
It's based on the true story of a man who walked a tightrope between the two
World Trade Center towers in the 70s. This one does not play as well at home,
BUT...on the big screen in IMAX 3-D, it made me sweat, gasp, and clutch my arm
rests (and I'm not someone who's normally terrified by heights). It's a shame
so few people saw it in the theater.
The other one I want to mention in my first
salvo is Damien Chazelle's La La Land (2016). Ryan Gosling and Emma
Stone have fantastic chemistry, the songs are good, the cinematography is
gorgeous, and it's a moving story about how the way we hope and dream our lives
will turn out does not match the way our lives actually do turn out. Even those
of us who have good lives on aggregate don't get to see all of our dreams come
true. It's not a fashionable sentiment, but I think the Oscars got it wrong
when they gave the Oscar for Best Picture to Moonlight instead of La
La Land.
I have a few more I want to discuss, but how about you? What are some movies that leap to mind when you think of your favorites of the decade?
David: I wholeheartedly agree with
your above choices. In fact, I will go further and say if I had to pick one movie,
Mad Max: Fury Road would be my favorite film of the decade. And yes, it
is a shame that The Walk didn't do very well at the box office. Most
films shown in theaters in 3-D these days are usually converted to 3-D in post
and the effects are ineffectual. These converted 3-D films are just a gimmick
to get you pay more to see the film. The Walk, however, is a true
experience. I do hope that someday there are revival screenings of the film in
IMAX 3-D. And I am glad you mentioned La La Land. It did deserve Best
Picture, but maybe the spectacle of those wonderful musical numbers made
Academy viewers gloss over the fact that the movie did deal with heavy themes
and that there was a conflict in the story that the lead characters had to
seriously deal with.
Now, for my first pick I am choosing a picture
you don't like from a filmmaker you don't care for. Admittedly, the films of
Terrence Malick (Badlands, Days of Heaven) are an acquired taste,
but I am a fan. I feel that Tree of Life (2011) is his masterpiece. The
story of an emotionally distant man (Sean Penn) thinking back on his childhood
is only the jumping off point of a movie that explores the mysteries of the
universe and the existence of the soul.
Director Martin Scorsese explores his love of
cinema in Hugo (2011), a wonderful tribute to Georges
Méliès (A Trip to the Moon) as well as an engaging fantasy film.
Like The Walk, Hugo was shot in 3-D, which really enhances its
many eye-popping visuals.
Before La La Land,Damien
Chazelle wrote and directed the frenzied fever dream of a movie Whiplash
(2014), about a young drum student (Miles Teller) squaring off with the
bullying, sociopath of a music teacher (J.K. Simmons). This is more intense
than most so-called thrillers.
Back to you.
Fritz: I do like Hugo and Whiplash a lot. I think Hugo
got overlooked because it can be dismissed as a kids' film, but it's deeper
than that (just like La La Land is not the fluffy musical its detractors
said it was during the Oscar race).
My next picks are two other movies that were nominated for
Best Picture, but fell short. Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
is a film by Martin McDonagh about a mother's (Frances McDormand) efforts to
find justice for her raped and murdered daughter. It's funny and heartbreaking
in equal measure, but what's refreshing about it is the empathy it shows to all
of its characters. A lesser movie would've just turned McDormand into a
righteous saint and the characters around her into cardboard obstacles in her
path. But no one in this movie is entirely an angel or a devil, even its least
likable character (Sam Rockwell).
Director David Fincher told the story of
Facebook's birth with The Social Network (2010). It's another movie
without saints or devils, but it's an endlessly fascinating look at how people
turn on each other when money's at stake and at an awkward young man's (played
to perfection by Jesse Eisenberg) attempts and failures to find human
connection.
What are some others on your mind?
David: Again, excellent picks.
My next choice is one of
those gosh darn feel-good movies you can't help but fall in love with. Sing
Street (2016) is yet another personal comedy/drama centering around music
by Irish filmmaker John Carney (Begin
Again, Once). Set in the mid
1980s, a Dublin teen (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) forms a band and attempts to make a
music video, all with the sole purpose of wooing his beautiful neighbor (Lucy
Boynton).
We
just saw it in July of 2019, but Quentin Tarantino's love letter to the last
glimmer of Hollywood's golden age, Once
Upon a Time...in Hollywood, has really stayed with me. It's a masterpiece.
It was a good decade for cinema.
Fritz: Sing Street is a wonderful movie, and I'm glad you
brought it up. I hope someone reads this and decides to rent it online. If
we're going to talk about feel good movies, I think we need to acknowledge
Pixar's continuous mastery of that genre. Inside Out (2015) is probably
my favorite of theirs this decade.
Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood has
stayed with me as well and has gotten even better with repeat viewings (I've
seen it three times).
It was a good decade for cinema, and I hadn't
realized this until we started to write this. There's several other movies I'd
want to discuss but we can't for space reasons (Boyhood, Moneyball,
Arrival, Before Midnight, The Death of Stalin, among others).
David: Right. Here's a
few more of my favorites from the past decade - Won't You Be My Neighbor?,
The Favourite, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Youth, The
Sessions and Silver Linings Playbook.
So, to the reader, if you haven't seen some of these movies, please check them out.
