Top 10 Anticipated Movies of 2020: CCC Issue #84

Most-Anticipated Movies of 2020

Now that I’m done looking back, it’s time to look forward again to the (hopefully) great movies coming this year. I’m predicting only four of these are likely to make it to my favourites of the year list, but hopefully I’m wrong!

10. Monster Hunter

 

This first one is something of a joke. The Resident Evil film series, which somehow got six entries before being wrapped up in a hilariously misguided final installment in 2016, starred Milla Jovovich, who is married to the writer of all six (and director of four-out-of-six) Paul W.S. Anderson. I like Milla, but she has been in some really atrocious movies, and Paul W.S. Anderson has made mostly terrible movies, but often, the two of them teamed up make something so bad it becomes entertaining, which is what happened with the later entries in Resident Evil. So here they are, teamed up once again, taking on another video game franchise. This one is exactly like the title suggests: it’s gonna have Milla fighting giant monsters in a fantasy world. Sign me the hell up. This thing is going to be so ridiculous; I can’t wait to ogle at the cheesy dialogue, lame effects, and ridiculous plot. Monster Hunter is set for a September 4^th release.  

9. Bad Boys for Life

 

This threequel is way, way overdue, and quite frankly I’m surprised it was even made, but here we go, the Bad Boys are back, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence teaming up once again to fight crime, and the trailer looks…surprisingly good? I wouldn’t say I’m super excited about this one or even any amount of hopeful, but Bad Boys and Bad Boys II are two of Michael Bay’s better action movies as far as I’m concerned, and with a different director behind the camera this time, it might make for fresher action sequences. Just seeing Smith and Lawrence back on screen again with their funny banter will hopefully make it a fun throwback and not a regretful redo of the previous movies. Coming out in January (literally a week from now) is a little worrying, but hopefully it’ll be a worthwhile sequel. 

8. The Eternals 

After 10+ years of multiple superhero movies every year, I have to be honest, I'm getting burned out. With Marvel's infinity saga now over and the stories of most of my favorite characters either concluded or continuing in further years to come, this is the first year in a long time that all of Marvel Studios releases are not among my most anticipated. I don’t care about Black Widow and I can’t even remember what the third release is supposed to be, but I'll put one of them on my list because The Eternals has a very interesting cast and, as far as I know, is largely set in space, and the cosmic MCU adventures have all been pretty good so far. I’m hoping it gives us a bit of a different spin on the space action and some new characters to enjoy until our favourites return. The Eternals comes out November 6^th.  

7. Color Out of Space

 

Look, I know there’s a huge legion of fans out there who are obsessed with everything Nicholas Cage does, but I’m not one of them, OK? Having said that, I am a fan of the works of one H.P. Lovecraft, whose gothic horror fiction has not been adequately adapted to film, despite having been around for almost a hundred years. This latest attempt, an adaptation of the short story of the same name (actually spelt “colour” originally) had a great-looking trailer, and early reviews for it have been positive. There’s even talk of this possibly being the first in a H.P Lovecraft Cinematic Universe, which I am all for, so hopefully this will make for a successful start. Color Out of Space invades theaters January 24^th. 

6. Malignant 

If you’re a horror fan, then you likely know the name James Wan. He’s part of the reason the genre came back so strong in the 2010s, with directing credits including the original Saw, The Conjuring, and Insidious. As he achieved greater success, he went on to some bigger movies, namely Furious 7 and Aquaman, but now he’s returning to his lower budget horror roots with Malignant, which I know nothing about, but given his horror movie track record, I think it’s a safe bet that this will be another great one. Whether it will turn out to be a major hit like many of his previous efforts or not I’m not sure, but we will find out when it creeps into theaters August 14^th. 

5. Last Night in Soho 

Anything Edgar Wright is doing next has me interested. Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Baby Driver, and now this, a psychological thriller set in Soho that somehow involves time travel. I don’t know much else about it at this point, and don’t really need to. I’ll be seeing it no matter what when it comes out September 25^th. 

4. Antlers 

Hollywood is clearly still on that horror kick, because 2020 has a lot of great-looking scary movies coming (I have four on this list) but this is the one that has me the most intrigued at this point. The trailer was chilling and showed just enough of the plot and monster to get me on board. It’s also from producer Guillermo Del Toro, who knows the genre well. Great-looking cinematography, some strong cast members, and a (hopefully) original story with some quality scares. Antlers is slated for release on April 17^th.

3. Dune 

Most people don’t realize Dune was intended to be adapted to film back in the 1970’s even before Star Wars came out, and had that version of the film been realized, it may have ended up being what Star Wars became: the definitive space opera for generations to come. Instead, production was shut down, and while a Dune movie eventually did come out in 1984, it isn’t really remembered as a classic. There’s a ton of source material to draw from (six novels in the original series, plus numerous prequels and spinoffs written by other authors), and Hollywood is giving Dune another shot this year, but the reason I’m so excited for it is because of the director. Denis Villeneuve gave us the incredible alien invasion film Arrival in 2016, then followed it up with Blade Runner 2049, which is easily one of the best sci-fi sequels in years—in fact, probably not since Aliens has a sci-fi sequel which wasn’t created by the creators of the original been so good. With Villeneuve directing and a cast that’s truly stacked, including such powerhouse actors as Oscar Isaac, Stellan Skarsgard, Josh Brolin, and Jarvier Bardem, Dune is shaping up to possibly be one of the best remakes in recent years, and hopefully the start of a new, exciting sci-fi film franchise when it opens December 18^th.   

2. Tenet 

Any new movie from Christopher Nolan is automatically on my radar. In the 2010s, he only released 3 movies, Inception (one of my favorites), The Dark Knight Rises (not the best of his Batman movies but still pretty great) and Dunkirk (an expertly crafted war film), but now after a full decade he’s back with an Inception-like thriller that is still very mysterious even in the wake of the first trailer, but it looks like time travel mixed with espionage thrills. Hopefully it lives up to the intrigue and makes for another high point in Nolan's filmography. It comes out July 17^th. 

1. Godzilla vs. Kong

 

I quote Dr. Emmet Brown from Back to the Future: “This is the big one, the one I’ve been waiting for all my life!” When I was a kid, I imagined King Kong and Godzilla fighting before I even knew a movie already existed in which they do just that. It was the third Godzilla movie released by Toho, way back in 1962, and as fun and epic and successful as it was back then, the two world-famous giant monsters never fought again. Until now. Ever since they announced the new American iteration of Godzilla would be squaring off with the rebooted Kong (much larger than Peter Jackson’s 2005 version, so he'd have a better chance against the King of the Monsters) I have been waiting eagerly to see it, and now finally, in 2020, the rematch I’ve been wanting to see for so long will happen. My fingers are crossed; I really hope they don’t mess this up. Godzilla vs. Kong is set to conclude the Monster-verse, so hopefully they go out with a bang when it hits theaters November 20^th. 

Top 10 Favourite Films of the Decade: CCC Issue #83

Top 10 Favourite Films of the Decade

As someone who built a movie blog around top ten lists, I’d say I’m more than obligated to indulge in this trend among cinephiles to compile perhaps the most-impossible countdown list next to one’s favourite films of all-time. 

Coming up with top ten favourite films of each year since starting this blog has been easy some years, and damn near impossible a couple of times. Over the course of ten years, though, I’ve seen way more than ten films that have entertained me, provoked me, and stuck with me long after seeing them. Consider this list extremely focused and not all-encompassing. I could have done a top 100 list and still missed out on some, so instead I’m only doing the top ten films that defined what it meant for me to be a growing film fan in this decade—a decade that saw a revival in the horror genre, increased popularity of independent films, the domination of the superhero genre, Disney tightening their grip on the film industry as a whole, and the development of the “soft reboot”: a franchise of old is brought back with a nostalgia-fuelled “new” installment that’s basically the same as the original (like Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Terminator, and Robocop, to name the main ones). 

I’ve decided to make this an unranked list. Reason one: all of these films I would give 10/10, so it’s kind of impossible to place one over the other. Reason two: some films in this list just can’t be compared. Each one needs to be looked at on an individual basis. 

Special Honourable Mention: The MCU & Star Wars: The Force Awakens

My approach to this list was to imagine looking at the decade as a whole and attempting to pinpoint the absolute pinnacle of my movie-going experiences that will stick with me for years to come. That is why both Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole get special honourable mentions. When they rewrite the book on the greatest movies of all-time, Force Awakens and such Marvel Studios hits as Avengers or Civil War or Guardians of the Galaxy will definitely not be in there, and really, most of them probably shouldn’t be. They are undoubtedly fun, entertaining, well-made films, but to compare them against all the other greats of the decade is to compare a really tasty, high-quality hot dog to a steak and lobster dinner. Both are good, but obviously you’d be a fool to pick the hot dog, for so many reasons. This is just my opinion of course—if you love that hot dog more than lobster and steak, own it! No one should judge. 

So to me, while the Marvel Cinematic Universe and The Force Awakens are not movies I would call the absolute best out of an entire decade of films, I want to highlight them for generating more hype than perhaps any other movies I saw. The energy and anticipation surrounding the return of Star Wars was so palpable, my genuine enthusiasm has been immortalized on this very blog, and while that hype has faded, it still defines the halfway point through the decade for me as a film fan. Likewise, I can’t remember how many times I eagerly anticipated the next chapter in the ongoing MCU saga, getting my butt in that theater seat opening night for nearly every single one, year after year, until it all came to a close at the end of the decade with Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home. What a thrill ride it’s been, and again, while I won’t likely reflect on each film as a superior achievement that will hold up for all-time, they will always evoke memories of the joy they brought me throughout the 2010s. That, to me, is worthy of honouring. 

With that out of the way, here are the ten movies that, at this very moment, truly defined my decade. 

Toy Story 3 (2010) 

I had to put at least one animated film in here, and I had no difficulty picking what was, for most of the decade, the end of the Toy Story trilogy (and for me, it’s still the true end, not a big fan of 4 like most others). The first Toy Story was one of the first movies I remember watching, and unlike a large majority of movies I loved as a kid, it still holds up today, and my appreciation for it has morphed as I’ve grown up and matured. Toy Story 3 came out when I was still in high school, and yet there was something about it that drew me in, despite animated movies seeming “uncool” to me then because they were “just for kids.” Superficially, it seemed fun to see a new entry in a franchise from my youth on the big screen (and in 3D no less, which was still a huge selling point at the start of the 2010s), but I was truly shocked by the emotional weight brought to what I remembered being a fun, innocent fantasy adventure movie for kids. My innocence was disappearing as I matured, and so was the innocence of Toy Story. The toys’ owner Andy had matured, and it resonated with a generation who grew up with Buzz and Woody’s first adventure in the mid-90s. What I can’t believe is it’s already been almost a whole decade since Toy Story 3 came out, and yet it still feels like it only came out a few years ago. I’ve watched it multiple times over the decade, and it has not lost one bit of entertainment value or emotional resonance.  

Inception (2010) 

The very premise of Inception—infiltrating someone’s dreams and taking information—had me interested before it even came out, but the fact that it was from Christopher Nolan, who made one of my favourite films of the previous decade, The Dark Knight, had me locked in. I don’t even know how many times I’ve seen it. There’s so much to unpack from a narrative perspective, but the performances, the visual effects, and the action scenes are all part of what gives Inception its power. The fact that the cgi was (and still is) so impressive really says something, when practically every movie utilizes it extensively now. No other action-thriller has been as original or thought-provoking since, and it has left a lasting impact on popular culture. I can’t believe we’ve been referencing Inception for nearly ten years; any time any concepts of dreams-within-dreams or just dreaming in general comes up, the word Inception gets used. There’s something about this movie that is so cool and creative and thrilling that my enjoyment of it has never diminished.

What We Do in the Shadows (2014) 

I’m a huge horror fan, and it was great to see the genre come back strong this decade, especially after the abysmal early 2000’s string of remakes and sequels. Though I like a good scare, I like a good laugh just as much, perhaps even more, and while no new horror films were among my absolute favourites of the decade, What We Do in the Shadows is a comedy that feels perfectly calibrated to horror fans. Imagine if vampires were real (as were werewolves and zombies and witches and other various monsters) and they lived in our world, and a documentary crew filmed four vampires sharing a flat together. Mockumentaries are a peculiar sub-genre, but this might be the best one since This is Spinal Tap. I laughed at this movie more than any other movie from this decade, and I mean like hard belly laughs, even upon repeat viewings. It’s so original, so well-realized, and just so enjoyable, I’ve made it one of those movies I have to share with as many people as I can. Upon seeing it the first time, I loved it, and with many subsequent viewings, it has become a modern classic.

Whiplash (2014)

Taking only the premise into account, Whiplash didn’t seem like the kind of movie I'd be interested in. For as much as I just love movies, there are certain subjects I simply do not care enough about to watch movies centered around them, and I am not a fan of jazz, so a movie about a jazz drummer would, naturally, not intrigue me. But, what this movie is really about is an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. Andrew Neiman would rather “die drunk, broke at 34 and have people at a dinner table talk about [him] than live to be rich and sober at 90 and nobody remembered who [he] was.” In other words, he wants to be one of the best drummers of all-time, and his teacher, Terence Fletcher, is the harshest teacher you'll ever meet, but that's only because he wants his students to be the absolute best they can be. What develops is one of the most-stressful-but-at-the-same-time-compelling relationships I've seen in any movie ever, and the way the tension builds is incredible. Not one second of Whiplash is dull, and it all comes together into one of the most satisfying final scenes of any movie I've ever seen. I know it sounds like I'm being hyperbolic, but it really is that good. The performances are a major part of what makes it so good, as well, with J.K. Simmons as Fletcher getting highlighted the most, and rightfully so, but Miles Teller is excellent as Neiman, too. Whiplash is a movie-going experience unlike any other I had in the 2010s.

Birdman (2014) 

“How did we end up here?” That's the first line of Birdman, and the first (and far from last) philosophical thought it puts into the minds of viewers. Birdman functions on so many levels it's crazy. It's gives a peek at mental health issues, commentary on the cutthroat nature of art criticism, points out problems with Hollywood, the ego of actors, the ramifications of leading a famous life, theater vs. film, and so much more I couldn't possibly do it justice. This movie has what I would call three mic drop moments, where characters just unload on someone and say it like it is and leave the other characters (and me) speechless. It's such a well-written, well-planned, well-acted, and well-directed cinematic achievement, I'd mark it as a turning point for me as a film fan: it made me pay more attention to how movies are shot (its famous for being created to look like one long take) and officially turned me on to artful, independent films that really have something to say while also being enjoyable to watch.

Ex Machina (2015)

Science fiction will always be my favourite overarching genre, and there were a number of incredibly original sci-fi films in the 2010s (Arrival, Looper, Snowpiercer, and Edge of Tomorrow to name just a few) as well as some excellent sequels or reboots (such as Bladerunner 2049 and the Planet of the Apes trilogy) but if I were to pick one that hooked me with its premise, performances, world-building, visual effects, and thought provocation more than any others, the one that stands out among the vast collection of greatness is Alex Garland’s Ex Machina. It’s extremely pared down, just two human characters in an isolated location, dealing with the dawn of true artificial intelligence. It has some of the most seamless visual effects of the decade, a unique score, and significant intrigue, and shows there is still plenty of original material to be mined from familiar concepts like A.I. rising up against humans and mad scientists experimenting in secret. This was a tough pick, but I have to give credit where credit’s due. In the years to come, I don’t think any other sci-fi film from the 2010s will rival Ex Machina for overall quality and entertainment value.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

At the start of 2015, I had never seen a Mad Max film. I saw the epic trailer for the new installment months before it came out, but more importantly, I heard the anticipatory buzz from critics and fans who had glimpsed an early cut of the film. Everyone was praising it and calling it the greatest action film in years. I thought that sounded exaggerated, but out of curiosity, I bought the three Mad Max films starring Mel Gibson and gave them a watch. I enjoyed them well enough. Sure, they were a bit dated, but I liked the low-budget feel of the original, the excitement of Road Warrior, and the strangeness of Thunderdome. But what I liked the most was the high-octane-post-apocalyptic world director George Miller had crafted, and with Fury Road, it felt like he had finally managed to achieve his complete vision first attempted in the original. Obviously the one thing everyone highlights about it is the action, but in addition, I find the world-building, production design, musical score, and editing to be immensely satisfying, entertaining, and well-developed. Those critical of Fury Road are quick to point out the not-great-performance by Tom Hardy as Max and the bare-bones storyline, but I think both criticisms are unfounded, and the pluses far outweigh any negatives. Mad Max: Fury Road is the kind of movie that doesn’t come along very often: an effects-filled action extravaganza that is nearly impeccable in pacing, presentation, and quality. If George Miller manages to direct even one more Mad Max adventure in the coming decade, he’ll be hard-pressed to outdo what I think is the crowning achievement of his career. 

Sing Street (2016) 

Sometimes, the right movie comes along at exactly the right time. I probably would have loved Sing Street had I seen it at any point, but it might not have taken root in my mind and heart quite the same had the circumstances been a little different. I finished 2016 at home with a horrible sickness. The year hadn’t been a great one, and to bring in the New Year stuck on the couch feeling like death was soul crushing. In the final hours of 2016, I put on Sing Street—a movie I had heard was great but knew little about—and for an hour and forty-six minutes, I escaped my depressing world. The characters and music were all I thought about for the next week, and it gave me a more positive outlook on the year to come—a year full of unknowns for me. I was finished my degree at University and had no idea what to do next. The second time I watched Sing Street was on a plane to Costa Rica: my first trip to another country alone. I watched it twice more while on the three-week trip, and then watched it again some months later in the summer…and again…and again…and found it only got better every time. Sing Street is one of the very, very few movies I have found to be infinitely re-watchable. It is a happy-sad experience (if you’ve seen it, you get what I mean), but mainly I find it uplifting. I’ll put it on to cheer myself up anytime. On the surface, it’s just about a kid who falls in love with a girl and puts a band together to win her over, but that’s an oversimplification. There’s so much more to it, and while I loved many movies in the 2010s, this might be the only one I would call an all-time favourite.  

Lady Bird (2017) 

Lady Bird was one of those movies that I heard was amazing, yet didn’t know a single person who had seen it when it first came out. It was talked about, it was praised as being one of the best of the year, it sported the highest Rotten Tomatoes score, like, ever, and I didn’t know a damn thing about it or why it was supposedly so great. Well, it turned out to be within a sub-genre that, as the decade progressed, became a new favourite of mine: the coming-of-age-high-school-set-comedy-drama. Famous examples: The Breakfast Club, Mean Girls, and most recent, Edge of Seventeen (shout-out to that movie, too, love that one). Lady Bird is so good it might be too good. There isn’t a single thing wrong with it, and those super high ratings are not exaggerated. It’s funny but incredibly poignant, it’s shot beautifully, and the performances are so real you forget these are actors with a script. Of all the movies to make the cut for this list, Lady Bird is the one I’m the most surprised about, but when I think of those films that really rose above all others as being so well done in every single way, it stands out, in a big way. There’s something undeniably unique and thoughtful about Lady Bird. It’s truly lightning in a bottle.  

The Lighthouse (2019) 

I’ve spoken before about expectations for movies, and since starting this blog, my excitement for movies hasn’t lessened, necessarily, but certainly come under more control. The first movie I remember being off-the-wall excited for this past decade was Prometheus in 2012. Ask any person who knew me then, I was nuts. As my obsession with movies grew and more and more new announcements floored me—a new Jurassic Park coming in 2015, and a new Star Wars! The Prometheus sequel coming in 2017! Every new Marvel movie!—I started getting excited for lots of new movies. But I also experienced the first truly crushing disappointments when things didn’t meet my expectations. Rarely, if ever, did any of the movies I looked forward to meet or exceed my expectations. Now, I rarely get genuinely excited for movies, but The Lighthouse is the most recent example of something I had moderate-to-high expectations for, and was utterly blown away by. This is a film that isn’t tied to any other films, it isn’t based on a comic book or TV show or even a novel, it isn’t trying to become a franchise, and it isn’t trying to trick audiences into paying to see it. The Lighthouse is just one director’s singular vision of a gripping, nightmarish tale set in one location with a couple characters played by actors giving it their all, and it is flawless. Seriously. I can’t think of a single thing wrong with it. It isn’t the kind of movie I would have liked or even wanted to see at the start of the decade, but it came at the right time (like so many of my picks for this list), and to have seen it so close to the end of 2019 and yet to still have been so affected and captivated by it? The Lighthouse will certainly always stand out to me as one of the best films of the 2010s.   

As a bonus, here’s a top 50 movies of the decade list I compiled with my cousin. We each picked our top 5 of every year, discussed and debated them, then distilled it down to a collaborative top 50. This list is also unranked. 

Inception

The Social Network 

Rango

Super 8

The Avengers

Django Unchained

21 Jump Street

Pacific Rim

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

What We Do in the Shadows

Guardians of the Galaxy

Ex Machina

Creed

Mad Max: Fury Road

Sing Street

Captain America: Civil War

Logan

Baby Driver

Logan Lucky

Avengers: Infinity War

Isle of Dogs

The Lighthouse

Avengers: Endgame

Knives Out

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Toy Story 3

How to Train Your Dragon

The Raid

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

This is the End

Whiplash

Birdman

Captain America: The Winter Solider

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Arrival

The Jungle Book

The Witch

Get Out

Thor: Ragnarok

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Bohemian Rhapsody

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

The Revenant

Good Boys

The Guest

The Lego Movie

Snowpiercer

Deadpool

Star wars: The Last Jedi

The Irishman

Hope you enjoyed my reflections on a whole decade of cinema, and of course I recommend checking out everything mentioned if you haven’t already. Here's to another decade of loving movies!