I usually wait until the decade's over to assess my favorite films, but inspiration strikes when the Mets get knocked out of the playoffs, and the Jets plain old stink.
Naturally, it's time to talk about movies.
Let's jump right into my favorite 30 films of the decade thus far...
30. Poor Things (2023): Director Yorgos Lanthimos isn't exactly my cup of tea, but his twisted sense of humor got some laughs out of me in Poor Things. He pushes Emma Stone to the brink of exploitation, but she handles it well, and Mark Ruffalo is truly laugh-out-loud funny at times. And of course, I always credit any director who has "his own look." You know a Lanthimos film as soon as you see it.
29. The French Dispatch (2021): Here we go again, when it comes to "his own look." The French Dispatch is an unmistakable Wes Anderson film, and I really liked the aesthetics of this one. The Benicio del Toro storyline is BY FAR the best in the film, whereas the rest of it gets uneven and disjointed. Wes never really puts a whole film together, to me.
28. Fair Play (2023): A sexy corporate thriller about gender and business dynamics. Good chemistry between the leads, and it pushes the boundaries of what you'd expect at times. I think you can find it on Netflix at any time.
27. The Fabelmans (2022): I probably would have ranked this higher, had I not already seen the documentary 'Spielberg.' I got a lot of the necessary backstory there. But I appreciate that Steven Spielberg didn't get too saccharine with his personal story, here. He really went for it and attacked some of his own personal trauma. The kid he hired to play 'himself' is good, too.
26. The Card Counter (2021): Director Paul Schrader's films all end up about the same in the end - lonely guy, doing lonely things in an unforgiving world - but I'll watch just about anything with Oscar Isaac. He just makes everything interesting, naturally. This is the best - and most comfortable - I've seen Tiffany Haddish, too.
25. The Dry (2020): Australian mystery/investigation done very well. It's tight, it makes sense, and Eric Bana holds down the center of the story quite well.
24. Deep Water (2022): There's something fun about watching Ben Affleck trainwreck, right? Here he is in this one, living out his relationship trauma with the incomprable Ana de Armas. You can see their attraction, disconnect and fire. Some of it feels a bit too real.
23. King Richard (2021): I'll never look at Will Smith the same way after The Slap Heard Round the World, but he undoubtedly does great work here. Richard Williams is an extremely memorable character, full of maddening inconsistencies yet poignant truths.
22. Glass Onion (2022): Another 'tech billionaire takedown' wrapped in a murder mystery. I like it because we get to see Ed Norton having fun with the Mark Zuckerberg/Elon Musk role.
21. John Wick 4 (2023): The best Action series of its generation. This one is a little overlong and a little overwrought, but it still does the genre better than anybody else.
20. The Good Nurse (2022): Sometimes I like a movie because the real-life story itself is so fucked up. The nurse that Eddie Redmayne plays is SO disturbing. It's interesting to watch Jessica Chastain navigate this guy, after she realizes what a total psychopath he actually is.
19. Untold: Johnny Football (2023): A quick-and-dirty documentary about the meteoric rise and fall of quarterback Johnny Manziel aka "Johnny Football." So much fun, and Johnny's a good sport about it. No pun intended.
18. Knock at the Cabin (2023): The best work M. Night Shyamalan's done in awhile. There's just something so intriguing about the whole setup. I watched this film over like 3-4 sittings because I kept getting interrupted by life, but I kept going back to it to see how it would resolve. Former wrestler Dave Bautista gives a nice performance at the center, too.
17. Top Gun: Maverick (2022): The movie that saved the movie theaters. Just good, old-fashioned fun.
16. Leave the World Behind (2023): It never COMPLETELY comes together, but this is a very intriguing film about an apocalypse we can never quite see or touch. There are many good elements here. Mahershela Ali gives the best performance in the film, as per usual.
15. Promising Young Woman (2020): Effective revenge flick with the always-convincing Carey Mulligan at its core. The ending will stick with you, for sure.
14. Dirty Tricks (2021): Very entertaining documentary about a notorious Bridge cheater. Or was he simply a world-class player?
13. Oppenheimer (2023): Very good, workmanlike film from Christopher Nolan, but I still have to revisit it. It flew by too quickly to really stick with me in the way I'd like. I just remember liking Josh Hartnett and the guy who played Einstein.
12. Elvis (2022): If we're gonna watch a movie, let's watch a movie, right? That's Baz Luhrmann for you, all pomp and circumstance, bright lights and loud music. That's why he was the perfect director to remake The Great Gatsby (ultimately its best version). In Elvis, of course Austin Butler breaks out in a major way, and Tom Hanks gets some unfair treatment for his memorable-but-odd role. The trick of the film is that Luhrmann really makes you feel for Elvis' circumstances in the end.
11. The Old Guard (2020): Charlize Theron is the undisputed queen of the Action genre right now, and this was a fresh, innovative take on superheroes, antiheroes, action heroes - whatever you wanna call them.
10. I Used to Go Here (2020): A small, little film about a "successful" author who goes back to speak at her college campus. She falls into 'the old life.' The narrative isn't as strong as it should be, but there's something melancholy about the whole experience. It sneakily hits the right emotional notes.
9. Untold: Crime and Penalties (2021): An irresistibly entertaining documentary about the most infamous minor league hockey team of all time: The Danbury Trashers. As a sports fan, you won't wanna miss this one.
8. Tick, Tick... Boom! (2021): I don't particularly love musicals, but Andrew Garfield always tends to knock everything out of the park. I love watching him work here, channeling the late theater legend, Jonathan Larson. Lin-Manuel Miranda directs.
7. The Alpinist (2021): An awe-inspiring, thrilling, melancholy documentary about one of the greatest alpine free soloists of all time, Marc-Andre Leclerc. Some truly incredible stuff.
6. Nightmare Alley (2021): I don't particularly love Guillermo del Toro, but he 'toned down' here to create a more grounded film about deceitful and despicable characters. Great visuals, superstar cast, takes some interesting twists and turns. Leans into the weird and nasty.
5. The Banshees of Inisherin (2022): Absolutely LOVED the setting. Just gorgeous visuals and vistas from director Martin McDonagh. And we love to see Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson work together on a film, right? They strike magic here again, as they did In Bruges.
4. Napoleon (2023): The critics panned this one, but I have a lot of respect for the power combination of Ridley Scott and Joaquin Phoenix. Joaquin makes quietly sitting in a chair interesting. Though, this movie is anything but quiet, as Napoleon whines, screams, shouts and pushes his way through French history. I like the way they DIDN'T glorify this world-famous man of short stature.
3. BlackBerry (2023): The Social Network and Steve Jobs got me into slick, corporate America/Silicon Valley stories, and this one certainly doesn't disappoint with Glenn Howerton and Jay Baruchel at its center. Career-best work from both. I didn't know much about the BlackBerry story coming in, either. Same as 'Rent' with Tick, Tick Boom and alpine free soloing with Marc-Andre - I like learning while I'm watching a film.
2. Emily the Criminal (2022): When I think about Emily the Criminal, I think... now THIS is what a movie is supposed to be. Tight, lean, mean - gets to the point and tells an interesting story. Aubrey Plaza does the best work of her career, and this thing hums along at a great pace, telling a cool story with a tough girl - willing to do anything - at its beating heart.
1. Babylon (2022): Director Damien Chazelle came on strong with Whiplash, then he completely lost me with La La Land.
Well, guess what? He definitely won me back with Babylon, his most daring film to date, one that takes both narrative and stylistic risks. I love watching true movie stars at work, and this one boasts Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt. It's loud, it's bombastic and Chazelle creates three or four TRULY memorable sequences. Of course the film flopped, because Chazelle actually chose to make a real one.
Sad state of affairs in the modern film industry.
John Frascella is a 2nd generation film critic. Follow him on Twitter aka X @FrascellaMovies and @NFLFrascella.
