As we count down to New Year’s, it’s time to look back not just on this year’s movies, but also on the whole decade of film before we leave it behind. What are the movies our future selves will think of as most emblematic of our tumultuous 2010s? Every decade has its flag bearers: the ’70s are “The Godfather” and “Rocky” to me; the ’80s, Indiana Jones and John Hughes; the ’90s are “Titanic” and “Forrest Gump.” Looking back from a close distance (hindsight is 20/20, after all), here are my picks for the movies that best represent this decade:
Comedy: “This Is the End”
James Franco and Seth Rogan in “This Is the End.” (Courtesy photos)
I still talk about “This Is the End,” six years after its release. The buddy comedy about self-centered actors taking shelter during the Apocalypse pits its own cast against themselves, with a laundry list of cameos that still boggles the mind. The movie was tasteless and crass, and it held nothing sacred, but it also encouraged retrospection in its backward way. It was a perfect escapist movie for its moment, a brief calm before the political storms of the second half of the decade, a ludicrously silly and self-aware chance for Hollywood to laugh at itself before the shoe dropped.
Family/Kids: “Toy Story 3”
Some of the characters in “Toy Story 3.”
I also keep returning to “Toy Story 3,” whose arrival in 2010 predated the franchising explosion that marked the rest of the decade (and which led to this year’s “Toy Story 4”). The third installment in the series, which followed the fates of Woody and Buzz as their owner outgrew them, asked kids big questions, teaching hard you-can’t-go-home-again lessons without dumbing down. At the time it felt like a natural segue into the new decade; now that the decade is over, the movie lingers as a check against our older selves, asking how we’ve grown up since then.
Drama: “Roma”
Yalitza Aparicio stars as Cleo in “Roma.”
While Hollywood was building its franchise towers this decade, the rest of the world stayed closer to sea level with dramas that both explored the universal trials of being alive and re-exposed us to foreign cultures that had often lapsed into caricature in American media. There was Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi’s 2011 breakout “A Separation” and Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski’s heartbreaking 2013 film “Ida”; this year alone brought us beautiful movies like Pedro Almodóvar’s “Pain and Glory” and Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell.” But last year’s “Roma,” a reflection on director Alfonso Cuarón’s childhood in Mexico City, stands out—a generous and genuine story that transcends its size. There’s drama on the immediate, literal scale, and then there’s the drama of ineffable images that pry into the viewer’s subconscious; “Roma” excels at both.
Action/Thriller: “Blade Runner 2049”
Ryan Gosling in “Blade Runner 2049.”
Yes, “Blade Runner 2049” was another reboot, and no, nobody asked for an update to the original “Blade Runner.” But Denis Villeneuve’s approach to the dystopian world where robotic humanoids hunt down other robots was not so much reboot as rebirth. Mirroring its story about paternity and legacy, “2049” embraced its predecessor’s strengths while forming its own unique identity. It joined in on the genre exercises that dominated the decade, but it stood apart, a reminder that the old Hollywood dog is still, on occasion, capable of new tricks.
Independent/Arthouse: “Sorry to Bother You”
Tessa Thompson and Lakeith Stanfield star in “Sorry to Bother You.”
The best movie I had to go to the indie theater to see this decade was also the most outrageous—in the sense, genuinely, of outrage. Boots Riley’s feature debut, about employees at the telemarketing company from hell, is satire with teeth, wild and brazen and, despite the title, unapologetic. There were other great independent movies this decade—Lars von Trier’s operatically bizarre “Melancholia” comes to mind—but few arrived with such a commanding presence, with such an attitude, and with such a vital point to make.
Movie of the Decade: “Get Out”
Daniel Kaluuya in “Get Out.”
“Get Out” was surprising when it came out in early 2017, in the way that all great movies surprise us. Writer-director Jordan Peele, asked how he came to make his astonishing debut, answered that he simply tried to make a movie he would want to watch. It wasn’t just watchable, it was magnetic, this surreal mix of comedy and horror wrung from the story of a black man meeting his girlfriend’s white parents. “Get Out” became a phenomenon, one that still feels current nearly three years later. It perfectly reflected this decade where the personal became political—it showcased a new director’s technical skill and storytelling gifts; it combined Twilight Zone horror and romantic comedy and satire all at once. No matter how you look at it, it holds up without cracking, standing over the decade like a monolith. In 10, 20, 50 years’ time, when we try to describe this manic and staggering decade to our descendants, we’ll have to begin with the movie that bottled up the decade’s outrage and angst and served them back to us with the uncanny composure of an oracle.
Danny Eisenberg, a Bromfield graduate, lives and works in Denver, Colorado.
