Several years ago, we did a series of top ten articles going back a few years. After awhile, we both ran out of topics and interest. While going through some old documents, I found the submissions of two of our contributors: Pete and Thomas. It’s unfair to them not to have their work revealed, so in this special post, I’m going to present their selections and commentary.

Our last set of non-specific Top Tens was for the 2000s. The next was to be for the 2010s, so these are their (unedited) picks and commentary of the ten best films of the 2010s.

Pete Patrick’s Top Ten

Introduction:

There were a lot of films released in the first seven years of the current decade that I admired. Narrowing the list to ten wasn’t easy. My final selection runs the gamut from coming of age dramas, of which there are three, to historical dramas, of which there are also three, two of them musicals. Grief is the main subject of two of the films and a subordinate subject in several others. To lighten things up a bit, there’s a romantic drama with elements of science fiction, a rarity for me.

Boyhood

(2014), directed by Richard Linklater

Projects following subjects over a long stretch of time have been done before but is the first time a narrative film featuring the same characters for so long (13 years) has been made and released as a single entity. Amazingly, it’s not only fascinating but dramatically cogent and charming. Patricia Arquette in an Oscar winning role as the mother of the boy and Ethan Hawke in an Oscar nominated one as the father are both terrific as is Ellar Coltrane as the boy.

Call Me by Your Name

(2018), directed by Luca Guadagnino)

Beautifully filmed in Lombardy in northwest Italy, this coming-of-age drama about a gay teenager’s first love is buoyed by the Oscar nominated performances of Timothée Chalamet as the protagonist and Armie Hammer, showing previously unexplored depth, as his father’s research assistant and the object of his affection in the service of James Ivory’s literate and compelling Oscar-winning screenplay. Two sequels are planned.

Her

(2012), directed by Spike Jonze

An unusual love story to say the least, this remarkable film centers on Joaquin Phoenix in one of his best performances as a lonely writer who finds himself drawn to the voice of his new operating system. Soon she falls in love with him as well. The technological wonder (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) soon takes over his life as she continues to evolve. Spike Jonze’s best film to date earned him his first Oscar for his remarkable screenplay.

Inside Llewyn Davis

(2012), directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

The Greenwich Village folk scene of the early 1960s provides the backdrop for the Coen Brothers’ best film since Fargo. Featuring Oscar Isaac in a Golden Globe nominated performance that Oscar surprisingly bypassed, it did make amends somewhat by nominating it film for its cinematography and sound mixing. The score is a mix of period songs and new compositions in the style of songs from the era.

Lady Bird

(2017), directed by Greta Gerwig

Greta Gerwig, Oscar nominated for her solo directorial debut based her Oscar nominated screenplay on her own senior year in high school in Sacramento in 2002. Unlike the then strait-laced Gerwig, her title character, luminously played by Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan, is a born rebel. Oscar nominated Laurie Metcalf is also terrific as Ronan’s no-nonsense mother, as are rising stars Timothée Chalamet and Lucas Hedges are her first boyfriends.

Les Misérables

(2013), directed by Tom Hooper

Tom Hooper’s direction of the film version of the long-running hit musical was derided in some quarters for having too many close-ups, but when seen on TVs and computer screens, which is where many people today first see films, those close-ups don’t seem bothersome at all. All-in-all, it’s a thrilling version of Victor Hugo’s classic with stirring performances by Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Samantha Barks, Eddie Redmayne and Aaron Tveit.

Manchester by the Sea

(2016), directed by Kenneth Lonergan

Well-deserved Oscars went to writer-director Kenneth Lonergan for his screenplay and Casey Affleck for his portrayal of the depressed handyman who reconnects with the world after the tragic death of his own children when he becomes guardian of his brother’s teenage son (Oscar nominated Lucas Hedges) in this powerful film about the healing aspects of grief. Michelle Williams also turns in an Oscar nominated performance as Affleck’s ex-wife.

A Separation

(2011), directed by Asghar Farhadi

Writer-director Asghar Farhadi’s Oscar winning Best Foreign Language Film from Iran was an eye-opener for audiences not expecting a film about divorce from the Islamic nation. It was the second Iranian film nominated for a foreign language Oscar following 1997’s Children of Heaven and the first to receive a nomination for its writing. Director Asghard Farhadi’s 2017 film The Salesman later won the same award.

12 Years a Slave

(2012), directed by Steve McQueen

One of the most stirring films of recent years, this true story of a free black man from upstate New York abducted and sold into slavery in the antebellum south won three of the nine Oscars it was nominated for including Best Picture, Screenplay and Supporting Actress (Lupita N’yongo) but missed out on Best Director for Steve McQueen, Best Actor for Chiwetel Ejiofor and Best Supporting Actor for Michael Fassbender, among others.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

(2017), directed by Martin McDonagh

Like the previous year’s Manchester by the Sea, Martin McDonagh’s film was one about grief and the different ways in which people manage it. In this case, Oscar winners Frances McDonald and Sam Rockwell handle it in their own unique way in this dark comedy also featuring fine work from Oscar nominated Woody Harrelson as well as John Hawkes, Peter Dinklage and Manchester’s Lucas Hedges.

Thomas La Tourrette’s Top Ten

Introduction:

I was worried about coming up with ten films to fill out this list, but it turned out that there were too many to use. The serious but terribly entertaining The King’s Speech came the closest to making the list. Wes Anderson’s humorous Moonrise Kingdom and Spike Jonze’s meditation on people and operating systems, Her, were contenders. BlacKkKlansman is the only film of 2018 that I considered, but other films rose to the top before it. It is nice to realize that so many new films are that good.

Arrival

2016, Denis Villeneuve

This time warping science fiction film keeps one wondering where it is going. A linguist seemingly has flashbacks to her daughter’s life, illness and death while trying to figure out the language of alien beings that have arrived at various places on earth. The imagery is striking and one never quite knows where the movie is headed, but it keeps one glued to their seat. Amy Adams holds the movie together and again shows how strong an actress she can be.

The Artist

2011, Michael Hazanavicius

This French film is a fond look back at the transition from silent films to talkies, filmed in luscious black and white. Done as a silent film with a lively score by Ludovic Bource, it boasts radiant performances from Jean Dujardin as a silent film star on his way out and Berenice Bejo as the young ingenue who becomes a star with the new talking format. It reflects both A Star is Born and Singin’ in the Rain, but is very much its own film. It may not be deep, but it is delightful.

Birdman

2014, Alejandro G. Inarritu

I am not sure that I like this film, but I do find it fascinating. A Hollywood actor is trying to reinvent himself by starring, writing and directing a play on Broadway. He may also be losing his mind. Or perhaps he is actually gaining powers of telekinesis. Cinematographer Emmanuel Luzbecki earned his second straight Oscar for the long shots that follow actors around the New York Theater. They are virtuostically done. The film almost feels like it could have been filmed in one long take even though the action takes place over a couple of days. The characters may not be the most likable, but the actors make them fully come alive.

Brooklyn

2015, John Crowley

Saoirise Ronan showed that she had grown into adulthood with her beautifully nuanced portrayal of a young Irish woman who moves to the new world to start a new life. She is torn between the life she has created and the possibilities of a different life she could now have in Ireland when she returns for her sister’s funeral. The film did a great job of making us feel the time period, and all the actors were good, though Ronan was superb. In many ways it is an old fashioned movie, but so beautifully told to feel new again.

Deadpool

2016, Tim Miller

This is the most unlikely entry, but it is a film that I just truly enjoy. I had grown tired of the action packed serious films that Marvel releases seemingly monthly. Then came Deadpool. Starting with slow motion opening credits, it was apparent that this was a different type of super hero film. Deadpool is a foul-mouthed, wisecracking mercenary and Ryan Reynolds played him to perfection, with wonderful asides to the audience. I did not expect to like it so much, and it was just as good the second time around.

Gravity

2013, Alfonso Cuaron

The destruction of a space shuttle by satellite debris basically starts this film as an astronaut desperately needs to find her way to safety and then back to earth. Sandra Bullock turns in the best performance of her career thus far as the embattled astronaut, but she is aided by the warm presence of George Clooney who was the only other survivor from the shuttle. It is a tense film, with long beautiful shots from master cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki who won the first of three straight Oscars for his work on this film.

Life of Pi

2012, Ang Lee

A film about a boy and a Bengal tiger adrift on a raft in the Pacific Ocean made for a good book by Yann Martel, but it seemed unfilmable. I was amazed when I heard that Ang Lee was adapting it not only for film, but in 3D. It turns out that he made a lyrical film filled with beautiful imagery, which was lovely in both 2D and 3D formats. The journey of the two across the ocean after the ship they were on sinks, is fraught with tension between the two, but seemingly also shows a respect between the two. Lee continues to surprise with his ease of filming in many different genres.

A Separation

2011, Asghar Farhadi

It felt like this film gave us some insight into life in Iran. A woman wants to leave the country to raise her daughter in better conditions, but her husband does not want to leave. They argue over this and the care for his elderly father who is suffering from dementia. Trouble with a caretaker who is hired to care for the father leads to legal complications. Will she be allowed to leave with her daughter? It will have to be decided by a judge. It made for a fascinating movie that deservedly won the Oscar for foreign language film.

The Shape of Water

2017, Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro has always been able to mix genres, but he created his most successful film by taking a 1950s monster film and a romantic drama and putting them together. Sally Hawkins plays a deaf cleaner who works at a high security government laboratory. An amphibian creature is brought in and she is the only one who figures out how to communicate with him. She figures out a way to get him out of the facility and eventually falls in love with him. It could easily have been a throwaway film, but was good enough to win several academy awards including best picture.

Toy Story 3

2010, Lee Unkrich

I never would have guessed that the second sequel of an animated film would end up being the best of the series. Toy Story 3 returns Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the rest of the gang. They are at a crossroads as their boy Andy is getting ready to go off to college and is deciding what to do with toy collection. Should he take some to college, put them in the attic or just get rid of them. The toys also ponder their fates. The film is both light hearted and touching, and still brought a tear to my eye on a second viewing.