In a normal year I usually see well over 100 new releases. Clearly this year was anything but normal but I was still somehow able to see 75 movies (including about 20 that I saw on various streaming platforms while movie theaters were closed). When I compile my list of favorites for the year I don't really take into account the critical response or the box office receipts; I only think about the movies that I really enjoyed for one reason or another so the list is usually an eclectic one. In that regard, this year is not much different than any other year! So, without further ado, here are the movies I loved in 2020 (click the title to read my original review).
This movie blew my mind when I first saw it at Sundance this year and I enjoyed it just as much when I saw it again a few days ago. I love dark comedies and this one is brilliant because it is a subversion of the traditional revenge story with an ending that I was not expecting. It features laser sharp direction from Emerald Fennell, an outstanding performance from Carey Mulligan, an incongruous cotton candy visual style that belies the rage simmering beneath the surface, and a clever soundtrack that does much to enhance the mood. It is a lot of fun to watch (surprisingly) but it is also a provocative indictment of rape culture that I haven't been able to stop thinking about for almost a year.
9. The Way Back
I love the theme of redemption and an underdog sports story gets me every time so it is easy to see why I enjoyed this movie. Ben Affleck gives one of the best performances of his career in a role that is pretty unsympathetic. The story of a tormented alcoholic who is asked to coach his former high school basketball team and discovers that the only way to help them is to help himself is incredibly affecting. The basketball sequences are thrilling because director Gavin O'Connor puts the audience right in the middle of the action and the score really adds to the intensity. This is the kind of movie that makes you want to stand up and cheer and I loved it.
This movie is an absolute blast to watch because it is a return to director Guy Ritchie doing what Guy Ritchie does best! He has created a group of eccentric characters, assembled an all-star cast who look like they are having the time of their lives (especially Hugh Grant who is hilarious in an against-type role), devised a plot with enough twists and turns to keep the audience guessing until the final scene, and incorporated fast cuts and styled action sequences that are thrilling to watch! It is a bit of escapist fun and I laughed out loud through the whole thing!
This is a brilliant psychological thriller made all the more menacing because it is entirely believable. The monster from the H.G. Wells classic novel has been updated to a villain (a domestic abuser who takes gaslighting to a whole new level) that contemporary audiences can readily relate to. The tension builds and builds, more for what you can't see than for what you can, until there is a twist that I didn't see coming and a resolution that made me want to cheer. Elisabeth Moss gives a riveting performances and I was fully invested in her plight as a woman whom no one believes. I like to be scared by horror films rather than shocked and this is genuinely scary.
6. The Prom
As a fan of musical theatre, I had so much fun watching this feel-good story that is also a colorful and sparkly love letter to Broadway. I loved every song, especially "We Look to You," "Love Thy Neighbor," and "Unruly Heart." I loved every performance, but I found newcomer Jo Ellen Pellman as a teenager who just wants to go to the prom with her girlfriend to be absolutely luminous and Ariana DeBose as a girl who feels compelled to hide who she really is to be incredibly powerful. I loved all of the choreography, particularly the Fosse-inspired "Zazz" and the exuberant "It's Time to Dance." I loved the message that everyone should be accepted for who they are and who they love. I loved everything about this movie and I have already watched it again numerous times now that it is streaming on Netflix.
This is an old-fashioned Western that is incredibly beautiful to look at with an equally beautiful message about different people (and a nation) coming together to heal during the tumultuous days after the Civil War. Tom Hanks gives an affecting performance as a former Confederate Captain, tormented by all he has seen and done in the war, who takes it upon himself to take a young girl on a treacherous journey to her family. They bond over a series of misadventures and help each other confront the demons of the past. Damaged characters finding redemption is a favorite theme of mine and I found this contemplative story to be incredibly touching.
4. Tenet
This movie was the first big blockbuster to hit theaters after the lockdown so I may have enjoyed it more than is actually warranted but enjoy it I did. In fact, I was pretty much blown away by this action thriller! An unnamed protagonist must stop a Russian oligarch, who has access to technology invented in the future which allows people to travel backwards through time, from triggering a catastrophic event. I had only the vaguest notion of what was going on but that didn't matter because the action sequences are incredible and they kept me riveted, especially a battle where some of the soldiers are moving forward in time and some are moving backward. It was so much fun to see this on the big screen (and so much fun to try and unravel the complicated plot).
3. Emma
Anya Taylor-Joy is perfect as a matchmaker who meets her match in this delightful new adaptation of the Jane Austen classic. I loved her chemistry with Johnny Flynn as Mr. Knightley, especially when they dance at a ball and touch hands for just the briefest moment (it is unbearably romantic). She is surrounded by an eccentric group of characters in the village of Highbury who are brought to life by an outstanding ensemble cast, including the scene-stealing Miranda Hart as the chatty old maid Miss Bates, the dashing Josh O'Connor as the lovelorn Mr. Elton, and the brilliant Bill Nighy as the hypochondriac Mr. Woodhouse (I laughed out loud every time he moved a screen because he felt a draft). The production design is sumptuous with beautiful interiors, bucolic exteriors, and period-perfect costumes. Literary adaptations are my jam. Speaking of which...
I also really enjoyed this hilarious adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic starring Dev Patel as the title character. David Copperfield describes his many adventures with friends and enemies who come and go and teach him the important life lessons that turn him into a celebrated author. It is an incredibly whimsical and satirical version of the novel that had me laughing out loud throughout, especially when Mr. Micawber goes to great lengths to avoid his creditors, when Aunt Betsey tries to rid her lawn of an infestation of donkeys, and when Mr. Dick becomes preoccupied with the thoughts of Charles I. The entire cast is wonderful, the bold and colorful costumes are so much fun, and the production design, which blurs the line between imagination and reality, is incredibly original and theatrical. This was one of the first new movies that I saw on the big screen after the lockdown and I loved it.
1. Nine Days
This beautiful and thought-provoking exploration of what it means to be human is my favorite movie from the Sundance Film Festival this year and my favorite movie of 2020! On another plane of existence (an isolated house in the desert), a man who was once alive (Winston Duke, in a phenomenal performance) interviews a group of souls given temporary existence over a period of nine days in order to choose one of them for the privilege of being born. He tests them to see if they can handle the pain and sorrow of living but he is ultimately reminded by one of the souls (Zazie Beetz) that there is also happiness and joy to be found in life. The final resolution is so poignant that I had tears streaming down my face and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I saw it almost a year ago. This movie is scheduled to have a wide release next summer and I highly recommend it!
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