Films that define the 2020s
Now that we’re halfway through the 2020s, I’ve been thinking about which films will be regarded as the best of the decade many years from now. To stand out among tens of thousands of movies requires widespread critical appreciation that deepens over the years, along with enough originality in a film’s plotting or construction to keep it to memorable decades later.
Using that logic for the 2010s, I’d include films like Children of Men, Mad Max: Fury Road, Phantom Thread, The Social Network, and The Tree of Life. Each movie is broadly appreciated today, regardless of how many wins it received from various critics groups and craft guilds they received at the time. Each also stands out for its bold, original filmmaking, even if the film’s distinctiveness may not be apparent at first glance.
Take Phantom Thread, which has the outward appearance of a stately, serious period piece. But Paul Thomas Anderson injects enough humor and cattiness to make the picture play like a romantic comedy. He adds modernist flourishes like coded S&M and a partner who grows from muse to equal.
We undervalue how challenging it is to be both critically lauded and steadfastly original. Most movies that regularly crowd top ten lists and win Oscars succeed in one area but not both.
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