Favorite/Best Movies of the 2010 Decade

The Descendants marked my introduction to the works of Alexander Payne, and boy was it a proper introduction.  It's really stuck with me throughout the decade,  Sure, Payne showed that he is in fact fallible with his most recent work, Downsizing, but The Descendants showcases why he's such a strong storyteller when he has the right material.  This is a movie about grief, most of all, and Payne renders that beautifully in his portrayal of The Kings, who have to come to terms with the fact that they're going to have to take the mother of the family off life support after she was involved in a boating accident.  Somehow, Alexander Payne just knows how to portray people being themselves.  Whether it be his cut-to-the-heart honest writing or the incredibly naturalistic and relatable performances he gets out of his actors, an Alexander Payne movie is sure to be a sometimes painful, sometimes cathartic but always truthful slice of real life, and The Descendants is certainly no different.  It also features George Clooney's career-best performance and it's an absolute crime that he lost out to Jean Dujardin for The Artist (remember that movie? Yeah, didn't think so).  I'd have to think on it a little, but The Descendants would be either my first or second favorite film in Payne's filmography.  Though it's an odd bit of symmetry that he would start the decade with one of his strongest works and then end it with easily his weakest.

The movie that should've won Best Picture over Argo.  And, sort of like The Descendants, a case of a director beginning a decade with a bang but ending on a whimper.  Zero Dark Thirty is perhaps one of the best procedurals ever put on film, precisely because it leans confidently into that designation.  Some have criticized it for feeling too clinical and focused on just the various ins and outs of the operation to take down Bin Laden, but that's exactly why I think it's so great.  Much like director Kathryn Bigelow's previous movie before this, The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty further hammers home her ability to craft a film that feels so real, it’s like the camera is a fly on the wall that’s capturing real interactions and situations as they play out. What’s more amazing is Bigelow’s flawless way of building suspense, even when we know the outcome of this story. The climatic raid in the Third Act is still just as suspenseful as it was in the theater.  And then you've got Jessica Chastain anchoring this whole thing.  The best thing about Chastain’s performance here is how internal she keeps Maya’s struggle, and through the “less-is-more” approach, manages to get our sympathy almost effortlessly. Some may call this film emotionally lacking, but I found its decision to let the audience decide how they feel about everything, rather than being spoonfed it, much more effective and representative of how a story like this would play out in real life.

Cheat #2.

I debated whether or not to include just one film from the trilogy and if I had to single out a favorite of the three, it'd be Dawn, but I ultimately feel this whole series is worth recognition.  If for no other reason than it crept up on us with how great it ended up being.  I know it did me, cause back in 2011, the marketing for Rise was doing not very much to entice me.  But then I saw it and was REALLY shocked at how good it was.  And it all boils down to one reason: Andy Serkis.  The dude made an ape one of the most sympathetic, well-rounded and compelling screen characters of the decade.  Caesar's whole arc throughout the trilogy feels fully fleshed out both from a scripting and performance level.  It's amazing just how much Serkis is able to communicate in a performance that's mostly physical with very limited dialogue.  Also, these films are so much deeper than just "apes on horses."  The sequels especially tackle themes of diplomacy, law, leadership and trust among many others and does so with all the grace and sophistication as if all the characters were human instead of about half.  Mark this trilogy down as one of the best and biggest surprises of the past decade.