2020 was a terrible year for many people, not least because so many cinemas were closed for so long, and many closed permanently. Highly anticipated movies were pushed back, then pushed back again, and some still don't have publicized release dates. Others debuted on streaming services, which in this viewer's opinion does intense disservice to the films themselves, as people viewing at home (or, heaven forbid, on their phones) are subject to all kinds of distraction when not in a dark room with a large screen and surround sound. With so many streaming services, it became impossible to keep track of new releases and where they could be found. And then there are the increasing prices for these streaming services, or the ludicrous costs of on-demand viewing!
I have finally seen all the feature films on my watch list, and so now, while celebrating this year's Golden Globe Awards, I present to you my ten favorite films from 2020, along with several honorable mentions that almost made my list here: everything hyperlinked to one of my reviews was in the final running for my list, and each counts as a personal favorite.
9. Amulet
The profound horrors of this movie cannot be overstated. Writer/director Romola Garai is a major newcomer, aggressively, angrily challenging the status quo of women in horror -- indeed, in the world -- while changing the game for feminist genre pictures. I also loved the female-driven Relic and Underwater, but this Gothic nightmare is hard to escape.
The profound horrors of this movie cannot be overstated. Writer/director Romola Garai is a major newcomer, aggressively, angrily challenging the status quo of women in horror -- indeed, in the world -- while changing the game for feminist genre pictures. I also loved the female-driven Relic and Underwater, but this Gothic nightmare is hard to escape.
A brutal peek into a musical life rendered silent, this movie features one of the best performances of the year from Riz Ahmed. Sensitive, thoughtful, and deeply moving, we learn along with the characters the value of community, especially with people you'd never expect to learn from. A close contender here was News of the World, which also highlights community but primarily in a verbal form of communication.
This one is more than a little surprising to me, and frankly I should have watched it again before including it here. But after seeing it once, it hasn't left my mind. Haunting and deeply disturbing, this movie is nearly perfect for isolating during a pandemic. Which is to say, it's a terrible movie to watch right now. An overpowering sense of doom compels the film, and it only gets worse as its plague -- or perhaps only the contagious awareness of death -- spreads. Possessor, The Wolf of Snow Hollow, and the incredible reimagining of The Invisible Man were all close to claiming this spot.
What an amazing year for edgy movies about empowering women. Portrait of a Lady on Fire, I'm Your Woman, and Pieces of a Woman were all exceptional works, but Carey Mulligan and Emerald Fennell have crafted a movie meant to defy genre categorization at every turn, even multiple times in the same scene. While I still have trouble accepting the finale, this movie has bothered me since it came out, its uncanny ability to evade simple rationalizations making it a brazen assault on complacency after #MeToo.
5. TIE: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and The Boys in the Band
Two major plays were adapted to film in major ways this year. We were gifted with two of the year's best performances in the former from Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman as tensions ran hotter than the heat in a Chicago recording studio. We were blessed with a revamped queer classic in the latter, Ryan Murphy's star-studded tragicomedy about gay toxicity. Lots of queerness, lots of diversity, lots of drama. What can we say? Netflix had a great year.
Four Black men meet in a motel room to celebrate, sympathize, antagonize, and realize their potential over the course of one night. A chamber piece rife with philosophy and history, this anticinematic concept is brought to vivid life by pure movie magic. Who are these men? Their sudden fame does not fix their problems, and so they must collaborate before setting out to change the world. Mank similarly concerns itself with a man struggling against the system to cement his legacy, but it can't quite match the potency of Regina King's feature debut.
Much like the revisited turmoil of Vietnam in Spike Lee's new joint Da 5 Bloods, Aaron Sorkin's latest feature about the chaos at the 1968 Democratic National Convention is very possibly my favorite of his films simply as a result of its massive scope and thrilling timeliness. Manifesting the best of his work, the Chicago 7 teaches as it dramatizes, assembling an amazing cast and letting each major player have glorious moments in the spotlight. A dense screenplay cuts through difficult ideological and historical complexities even as it entertains, a feat crucial to historical moviemaking if we as a culture choose to learn from the past.
"The whole world is watching!"
2. The Prom
The most rousing musical comedy in at least five years has arrived to save us from 2020! Ryan Murphy's magnificent production is a nearly perfect explosion of color and light (and zazz), reminding us to be brave, kind, and loving. This is the kind of musical film we always want and rarely get, the glittering gaiety of Burlesque and The Greatest Showman. Future stage productions of The Prom will look to this movie for aesthetic inspiration, while the rest of us will just wish they hadn't cut any verses for time in this production.
1. TIE: The Vast of Night and Buoyancy
I saw these marvelous little movies at the Chicago Film Festival in October 2019 and included them as a special mention in my Top 10 that year, but I actually claim them this year because both have finally been widely released.
The Vast of Night is a miracle of independent filmmaking. Depicting two outsiders in a small rural community who suspect something supernatural is going on, we follow their unique odyssey as night -- and something more sentient -- closes in on the town. It's a love letter to nostalgic science fiction even as its execution leaps into the future of cinematic technique. Unbelievable cinematography, brilliant production design, and two stunning leading performances of a breakneck screenplay make this movie utterly unforgettable.
Similarly, Buoyancy is a brilliant, searing, and transcendent work about the essential human crisis in a world that values money more than lives. The film dramatizes the plight of one boy as he is sold into slavery and fights to be free again. But because it is rooted so clearly in real stories and frames itself against the current humanitarian crisis that controls the lives of over 200,000 men in the Thai fishing industry, the film reaches a heightened level of reality and urgency. When the fourteen-year-old protagonist decides he is not a victim, the movie becomes a thrill-a-moment game-changer through the most important twist on the slavery subgenre ever on film. This isn't just an exposé on modern slavery. We're watching something we shouldn't be seeing, something we all desperately need to see.
What were YOUR favorite movies this year? Let me know and we'll chat about some stellar cinema!
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