[Best Of] Top 110 Movies of 2010 - 2014

[Chaos]

I'll knock out the rest of this tie tonight. More to come as the weekend progresses! I will probably force myself to watch this one soon.

Spoiler

 

110. (Tied) Dogtooth - Yorgos Lanthimos - 2014 (92 Points, 1 Vote)
High Vote - Control #5
IMDB
Rotten Tomatoes - 92%
Metacritic - 73

What Critics Said? 
There is this. “Dogtooth” is like a car crash. You cannot look away.  - Roger Ebert

What Letterboxd Users Said?

This is what would happen if Stanley Kubrick and Gaspar Noé directed The Village. - Matt J. - /nhmetalhead 

 

[Jingus]

I've also never even heard of Hesher, but it looks interesting.  

Dogtooth is... well, it's SOMETHING alright.  Fearlessly acted, and with a premise that I don't think I've ever seen before.  Awfully hard to watch at certain points, though.  

[RIPPA]

I find it so weird that I have heard of Heshner and you guys haven't

[Ultimo The Great]

On 07/05/2016 at 0:28 PM, Jingus said:

Dogtooth is... well, it's SOMETHING alright.  Fearlessly acted, and with a premise that I don't think I've ever seen before.  Awfully hard to watch at certain points, though.  

Check out the mexican film El castillo de la pureza/The Castle of Purity (1973) very similar

[Chaos]

Sorry, I have had a pretty crazy week. I will try and rapid fire these posts a bit this week. Here's a couple of more before bed! This also marks the first film on the list that I was largely unaware existed before this list.

 

Spoiler

 

 

110. (Tied) Samsara - Ron Fricke - 2012 (92 Points, 1 Vote)
High Vote - Bald Henry #5
IMDB
Rotten Tomatoes - 77%
Metacritic - 65

What Critics Said? 
No film can possibly capture the human experience as globally and completely as Samsara attempts to, but there’s something stubbornly endearing about the way it tries and the surrender it demands, with photography so lavish and exquisitely framed, it soaks into the pores.   - Alison Wilmore

What Letterboxd Users Said?

A blissful, magical, and stunning tour of the world. Overall, breathtaking. A film everyone should experience. - Emily H. - /electic_em 

 

[Chaos]

 

Spoiler

 

109. Cold in July - Jim Mickle - 2014 (92 Points, 2 Votes)
High Vote - New Blood #15
IMDB
Rotten Tomatoes - 84%
Metacritic - 73

What Critics Said? 
While Hall and Shepard nail their parts, Don Johnson, still magnetic after all these years, steals the film as a sardonic private eye with a vintage cherry-red convertible..   - Ernest Hardy - Village Voice

What Letterboxd Users Said?

Cold, atmospheric and surprisingly unique. This film flirts between several genres, to become something that you're not quite prepared to watch. Michael C. Hall is wonderful as joe-average, who gets wrapped in a web of mystery and revenge.

Part action, character study, mystery, home invasion, horror and revenge story, Cold in July manages to succeed where other films would have perhaps failed.

This chilling crime drama was a pleasant surprise!

. - Peter Rogers

 

[caley]

19 hours ago, Chaos said:

Sorry, I have had a pretty crazy week. I will try and rapid fire these posts a bit this week. Here's a couple of more before bed! This also marks the first film on the list that I was largely unaware existed before this list.

 

  Hide contents

 

 

110. (Tied) Samsara - Ron Fricke - 2012 (92 Points, 1 Vote)
High Vote - Bald Henry #5
IMDB
Rotten Tomatoes - 77%
Metacritic - 65

What Critics Said? 
No film can possibly capture the human experience as globally and completely as Samsara attempts to, but there’s something stubbornly endearing about the way it tries and the surrender it demands, with photography so lavish and exquisitely framed, it soaks into the pores.   - Alison Wilmore

What Letterboxd Users Said?

A blissful, magical, and stunning tour of the world. Overall, breathtaking. A film everyone should experience. - Emily H. - /electic_em 

 

Even if you haven't watched 'Samara' (And it's worth a watch, though I skipped past the footage of animals being processed/killed at a food facility), you've probably seen some of it, as portions of it were used in the film 'Lucy' with Scarlett Johansson.  There's some staggering stuff in there, though, I did not vote for it.

 

[caley]

19 hours ago, Chaos said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

109. (Tied) Cold in July - Jim Mickle - 2014 (92 Points, 2 Votes)
High Vote - New Blood #15
IMDB
Rotten Tomatoes - 84%
Metacritic - 73

What Critics Said? 
While Hall and Shepard nail their parts, Don Johnson, still magnetic after all these years, steals the film as a sardonic private eye with a vintage cherry-red convertible..   - Ernest Hardy - Village Voice

What Letterboxd Users Said?

Cold, atmospheric and surprisingly unique. This film flirts between several genres, to become something that you're not quite prepared to watch. Michael C. Hall is wonderful as joe-average, who gets wrapped in a web of mystery and revenge.

Part action, character study, mystery, home invasion, horror and revenge story, Cold in July manages to succeed where other films would have perhaps failed.

This chilling crime drama was a pleasant surprise!

. - Peter Rogers

 

This was a fun flick.  I watched thirty/forty minutes and was super into the idea of Sam Sheperd stalking everyman Michael C. Hall and was disappointed when the plot veered away from that and didn't get back to it until almost a year later at which point I realized I was an idiot and the film was SO MUCH BETTER than what I was expecting.  Dark, foreboding, occasionally funny and undeniably badass.  This is a good one.  Had it at #41 but will probably end up higher the next time I do this, after a rewatch or maybe two.

[Execproducer]

10 hours ago, caley said:

 will probably end up higher the next time I do this, after a rewatch or maybe two.

Haven't seen it since I pimped it for the 2014 poll, so I didn't vote for it here. But I can definitely see it rising in a future poll, on a re-watch,  even if just for the old man badassery of Johnson and Shepard. 

[Chaos]

Does everyone like the format of the posts so far for this? We will get out of the 100s and hopefully out of the 90s this weekend. Start powering through. Here's another film that's been on my "to watch list" for about 6 years. 

 

Spoiler

 

108. Fish Tank - Andrea Arnold - 2010 (94 Points, 1 Votes)
High Vote - S.K.O.S.
IMDB
Rotten Tomatoes - 91%
Metacritic - 81

What Critics Said? 
Arnold's first feature, "Red Road" (2006), centers on another outsider, a woman who monitors security cameras. The film is formally brilliant, but it doesn't have the breathtaking openness of Fish Tank...   - David Edelstein - Vulture

What Letterboxd Users Said?

Fish Tank is a small film with a big mouth. It has a lot to say about how tough and at the same time how fragile life can be and it does so staring you in the face unflinchingly

. - DirkH

 

[Chaos]

This director has proved to be one of the more interesting ones of this decade, and he's paired with two of the decade's breakout actor and actresses. 

 

Spoiler

 

107. A Most Violent Year - J.C. Chandor - 2014 (94 Points, 3 Votes)
High Vote - Chaos 33
IMDB
Rotten Tomatoes - 89%
Metacritic - 79

What Critics Said? 
A Most Violent Year, Chandor’s absorbing no-bull NYC drama, further clarifies what might be the most promising career in American movies: an urban-headed filmmaker attuned to economies of place and time, with an eye on the vacant throne of Sidney Lumet.   - Joshua Rathkopf - Timeout New York

What Letterboxd Users Said?

Let's do some math...

Bradford Young +
Oscar Isaac +
Jessica Chastain +
J.C. Chandor +
David Oyelowo +
Albert Brookes +
Alex Ebert =

Was there ever a chance this wasn't going to be fantastic?

. - Eli Hayes

 

[Control]

Two excellent films. Didn't make my list, but would have made a top 75.

[Jingus]

I dunno why you need to put them in quote boxes, those posts are the main reason we're here.  

 

Fish Tank goes on My Big To-Watch List simply on the basis of "directed by Andrea Arnold".  After the difficult, challenging Red Road (like a version of Haneke's Cache for people who don't like their movies to be aggressively hostile to the audience) and the tactile you-are-there brilliance of her Wuthering Heights (finally starring an actual black guy as Heathcliff!), I'm already on the bandwagon for pretty much anything she does.  

[S.K.o.S.]

On 06/05/2016 at 9:43 PM, S.K.o.S. said:

I'm very curious whether my #4 got any other votes.

And there's my answer.  I haven't watched it in a while, but I remember the climactic scene being so perfect at evoking sympathy and tension, and doing it in such a unique way.  A teenager, who thinks she knows better than everyone else, getting in way over her head.

A Most Violent Year also made my list, somewhere in the bottom half... looks like I had it at #45.

[RIPPA]

1 hour ago, Jingus said:

I dunno why you need to put them in quote boxes, those posts are the main reason we're here.  

I am pretty sure he is using spoiler boxes to help with load times (since those are large posts/images)

Folks using the mobile only are going to appreciate that

[Chaos]

4 hours ago, RIPPA said:

I am pretty sure he is using spoiler boxes to help with load times (since those are large posts/images)

Folks using the mobile only are going to appreciate that

Yeah, the spoiler tags are because of the image size, and I know how this board can be even on desktop versions with both loading and scrolling.

[Chaos]

 

Spoiler

 

105. (tied) The Exploding Girl - Bradley Rust Gray - 2010 (96 Points, 1 Vote)
High Vote - S.K.O.S  #3
IMDB
Rotten Tomatoes - 74%
Metacritic - 69

What Critics Said? 
Gray has an artful, understated way of conveying what’s going ?on inside, often simply by focusing his camera on Kazan. And the actress has a unique capacity for projecting the complexity of feminine stillness.  - Lisa Schwarzbaum - EW

What Letterboxd Users Said?

Nicely shot with a naturalistic touch and anchored by sensational work by Zoe Kazan this is worth seeking out.

. - Brian Hammons

 

[Chaos]

 

Spoiler

 

105. (tied) Young Adult - Jason Reitman - 2011 (96 Points, 1 Vote)
High Vote - Hobo Joe  #3
IMDB
Rotten Tomatoes - 80%
Metacritic - 71

What Critics Said? 
Young Adult, which has been directed with acute insight by Reitman with heightened attention to the way people behave when they're alone, is good as far as it goes, but it feels more like a snapshot that a full canvas, a weekend jaunt rather than a real journey. -Todd McCarthy

What Letterboxd Users Said?

The returning home plot is familiar yet it often subverts expectation, going down dark and frequently funny avenues and delivering a strong third act breakdown. Whilst Reitman’s rather restrained direction is perfectly suited to the story it is a film that triumphs thanks to Theron and Cody’s creation.

. - Adam Cook

 

[Swift]

On 2016-05-07 at 10:35 PM, Chaos said:

I'll knock out the rest of this tie tonight. More to come as the weekend progresses! I will probably force myself to watch this one soon.

  Hide contents

 

110. (Tied) Dogtooth - Yorgos Lanthimos - 2014 (92 Points, 1 Vote)
High Vote - Control #5
IMDB
Rotten Tomatoes - 92%
Metacritic - 73

What Critics Said? 
There is this. “Dogtooth” is like a car crash. You cannot look away.  - Roger Ebert

What Letterboxd Users Said?

This is what would happen if Stanley Kubrick and Gaspar Noé directed The Village. - Matt J. - /nhmetalhead 

 

God damn it! Completely missed putting this on my list and it likely would've been a top 10 film too.

[caley]

13 hours ago, Chaos said:

 

  Hide contents

 

105. (tied) Young Adult - Jason Reitman - 2011 (96 Points, 1 Vote)
High Vote - Hobo Joe  #3
IMDB
Rotten Tomatoes - 80%
Metacritic - 71

What Critics Said? 
Young Adult, which has been directed with acute insight by Reitman with heightened attention to the way people behave when they're alone, is good as far as it goes, but it feels more like a snapshot that a full canvas, a weekend jaunt rather than a real journey. -Todd McCarthy

What Letterboxd Users Said?

The returning home plot is familiar yet it often subverts expectation, going down dark and frequently funny avenues and delivering a strong third act breakdown. Whilst Reitman’s rather restrained direction is perfectly suited to the story it is a film that triumphs thanks to Theron and Cody’s creation.

. - Adam Cook

 

I really enjoyed this one.  Theron's character was like an 'Arrested Development' character played for shock and (eventual) sympathy.  Patton Oswalt was also really good.

[Chaos]

I think this was the only Best Picture nominee from that year that I did not see. Trying to pick a review for this one was fun, as the positive and negative ones are definitely on polar ends among "top critics." Even the most liked Letterboxd reviews were the staunchly negative ones.

 

Spoiler

 

103. (tied) Les Misérables - Tom Hooper - 2012 (96 Points, 2 Votes)
High Vote - Jingus #6
IMDB
Rotten Tomatoes - 69%
Metacritic - 63

What Critics Said? 
Part of the success of the performances in the film owes greatly to Hooper's decision to record the actors singing on set, rather than have them lip-sync to pre-recorded tracks, the usual method for filming musicals. The technique works exactly as intended: The actors, freed from having to match a vocal performance from weeks or months prior, are able to live in the moment. The impact on the emotional immediacy of the songs is striking. -Ian Buckwalter NPR

What Letterboxd Users Said?

The most unapologetically poignant and theatrical musical in years mesmerizes with sincere, razor-sharp performances and unforgettable production numbers whose nuanced emotional spectrum, ranging from epic heroism to sublime intimacy, is sure to surprise, delight and inspire.

. - Ruslan Mavrodinov - /bulgar

 

[Chaos]

If a movie could be both fun and frustrating at the same time, I think that perfectly would encapsulate our next entry.

Spoiler

103. (tied) American Hustle - David O. Russell - 2013 (96 Points, 2 Votes)
High Vote - SolidGoldBomb #13
IMDB
Rotten Tomatoes - 93%
Metacritic - 90

What Critics Said? 
The film zigs and zags, chasing after many different characters. And that sprawl, the rogue's gallery of strays, cheaters and deceivers, activates the film rather than deflates it.. - Michael Philips - Chicago Tribune

What Letterboxd Users Said?

This is to Martin Scorsese's great '70s movies as the McRib is to authentic Memphis barbecue: you know it's a pale imitation of the real thing, but you enjoy it while you're in the middle of it. But then again the whole film is about con men, bullshit, fakery, and people pretending to be something they're not. So maybe that's not entirely a bad thing.

. - Matt Singer - Film Critic for many outlets this half-decade

 

[The Z]

I was the other vote for Les Misérables. I'm not even a big musical guy, but I liked this one a lot for some reason. I even liked Russell Crowe's singing.

[Jingus]

Honestly, Crowe's singing was just average.  He only stood out because he was in a cast full of really good singers who were all better than him.  And he ACTED the part of Javert better than anyone else I've ever seen in the role.  

[Chaos]

Spoiler

102. Caterpillar - Kôji Wakamatsu - 2011 (98 Points, 1 Vote)
High Vote - S.K.O.S
IMDB
Rotten Tomatoes - 91%
Metacritic - 75

What Critics Said? 
If it plays in any theaters beyond New York and Los Angeles, that'll probably come as a surprise to its distributor (the estimable Lorber Films). None of that diminishes the power and intensity of this claustrophobic mini-masterpiece of the Japanese antiwar tradition, which blends a B-movie aesthetic, brilliant use of montage and documentary elements and a scathing critique of nationalism and militarism. - Andrew Harris - Salon

What Letterboxd Users Said?

Caterpillar is at times challenging to watch on an aesthetic level, but more so on a thematic one. The idea of fighting for one's country or a sense of nationalism, is already a problematic and shaky concept, but this picture challenges us to think of what of those who come back do.

- Patrick Terry