Happy mother fucking new years!!!
This was a shit show, especially on my part. I would like to fully & wholeheartedly apologize to all of you for my absence these past months. Please understand, I'm an artist, I'm sensitive as fuck! I was getting all these ideas in my mind, so much so that I couldn't sleep & I just had to put them all down and write them which meant putting everything on the back burner. Yes, this upcoming novella 'Under The Coma Sea' was impromptu & I promise that will be the last time I do this.
So, the 2010's. Before you bitch, yes I will be calling this past decade the 2010's because calling them 'The Aughts' sounds stupid in my ears.
Along with music & specific things pop culture loves to latch onto, film perfectly captures the day & time in every decade. You can sit there & watch a movie from the 70's & immediately say “That's how it was in the 70's.” or “The topics & trends it latched on to are very endemic of the 70's.” You can also watch a 90's movie & say “Based on the clothing, the music & the film look, this is very much a 90's movie.”
The movies of the 2010's are endemic of the 2010's & in a few years time we will be looking back at film of this decade & say “That's soooo 2010's”, whether it be for good or worse.
I managed to like quite a handful of movies from this decade, more than the previous one.
To make it clear, this is not an official list. This is a personal list which I concocted based on the DVDs I own. You know a movie is worth watching when you decide to go out & buy a physical copy. Streaming, it's convenient but there's a lot of bullshit to it as well. So this is all on me, this isn't some official list that should be cited. This is all opinionated & I hope you enjoy it.
First off!
This was a shit show, especially on my part. I would like to fully & wholeheartedly apologize to all of you for my absence these past months. Please understand, I'm an artist, I'm sensitive as fuck! I was getting all these ideas in my mind, so much so that I couldn't sleep & I just had to put them all down and write them which meant putting everything on the back burner. Yes, this upcoming novella 'Under The Coma Sea' was impromptu & I promise that will be the last time I do this.
So, the 2010's. Before you bitch, yes I will be calling this past decade the 2010's because calling them 'The Aughts' sounds stupid in my ears.
Along with music & specific things pop culture loves to latch onto, film perfectly captures the day & time in every decade. You can sit there & watch a movie from the 70's & immediately say “That's how it was in the 70's.” or “The topics & trends it latched on to are very endemic of the 70's.” You can also watch a 90's movie & say “Based on the clothing, the music & the film look, this is very much a 90's movie.”
The movies of the 2010's are endemic of the 2010's & in a few years time we will be looking back at film of this decade & say “That's soooo 2010's”, whether it be for good or worse.
I managed to like quite a handful of movies from this decade, more than the previous one.
To make it clear, this is not an official list. This is a personal list which I concocted based on the DVDs I own. You know a movie is worth watching when you decide to go out & buy a physical copy. Streaming, it's convenient but there's a lot of bullshit to it as well. So this is all on me, this isn't some official list that should be cited. This is all opinionated & I hope you enjoy it.
First off!
11-High Rise (2016): I've never read the J.G Ballard novel, but I hope to, so I can't nit pick or tell you all the difference between the book and this adaptation. Though I could clearly see the movie rushing through specific things the book would spend a few chapters elaborating, I still enjoyed the brutal insanity of this film. The film was enough for me to sell me a Tom Hiddleston as James Bond. He got a very suave demeanor that I can totally buy for this new Bond. This flick is full of fucked up stuff including a trippy, Stanley Kubrick-esque Baroque party, ultraviolent as all hell. The film is so unadulterated & wild, can you tell me of another movie (Mainstream or Indie) which has a woman bent over a desk & just shouts “Alright, who wants to fuck me in the arse!” Like, holy fuck, I had to drown in holy water after viewing this flick. Now noted, this isn't for everyone, which is why I put it last on the list. I'll admit, I kinda hated it at first. It wasn't until the second viewing I felt an appreciation of the grotesque & wild imagery.
10-Arrival (2016): Not to be confused with the 1996 Charlie Sheen movie of the same name. This is one of the more smarter, grounded alien on earth movies to come out this decade. Mind you, this decade we got the useless 'Independence Day' sequel & the mindless bullshit that was 'Battleship'. A movie where a linguistics professor is hired by the U.S military to decipher & try to communicate to aliens was very well executed. Now I can't call myself a huge fan of Dennis Villenue, I do have a love/hate relationship with 'Blade Runner: 2049' (Not on the list) but I can say this film was alright. Nothing I'd rewatch in a few months, but it's a film you shouldn't miss. My only problem (Call me pretentious for this) is everything is solved or explained by the end. I would have loved to have some sense of unsolved mysteries on this film, but that's just me. I dug the film & I recommend it to everyone who isn't a sci-fi movie person.
9-Snowpiercer (2013): Man, I remember the buzz & the shitstorm that occurred when this flick was on its way to U.S shores. People were about to riot when it was announced that the film would be released by (drum roll) The WEINSTEINS!! This is pre-MeToo movement so all us movie nerds were hissing at the Weinsteins for just butchering movies. They had plans of cutting the film down to an hour & thirty minutes. The full theatrical cut runs at 126 minutes. There was going to be narration that would basically spoon feed every single little bit of exposition, almost like a dumber version of the Blade Runner narration. Well, we got the full cut the director intended, but in turn the film was only screened in a few theaters & just silently released to DVD. It's a sad shame because all other countries got the film, gave it nothing but high praise & here comes the Weinsteins fucking it up, despite them not getting their greasy parmasian hands all over the print. Go to hell you fat fuck.
Anyway, this flick was a surprise to me. I was hyped to see it back when it was announced & once again it was a science fiction story that was more human than your typical Transformers, CGI junkyards t-bagging each other. I'll admit, the climax kinda does fall short to an extent. The flick kinda looses me once Ed Harris appears & starts talking about how this is all fate 'n' bullshit. Still, it didn't wreck the film for me. It was a classic science fiction story done with more slash & bang. I highly recommend this flick. Don't listen to the haters, for some reason they still believe Weinstein got his way. This original cut is available on DVD, Bluray & might still be on Netflix right now.
Anyway, this flick was a surprise to me. I was hyped to see it back when it was announced & once again it was a science fiction story that was more human than your typical Transformers, CGI junkyards t-bagging each other. I'll admit, the climax kinda does fall short to an extent. The flick kinda looses me once Ed Harris appears & starts talking about how this is all fate 'n' bullshit. Still, it didn't wreck the film for me. It was a classic science fiction story done with more slash & bang. I highly recommend this flick. Don't listen to the haters, for some reason they still believe Weinstein got his way. This original cut is available on DVD, Bluray & might still be on Netflix right now.
8-Dredd (2012): When this was announced I was hyped! A much more darker, brutal & colorful movie adaptation of the comic. Hell yes, sign me up! Now I do see the flaws in that first attempt headlined by Stallone. The 1995 adaptation has this jovial, almost PG rated view of the comic that both makes me smile & makes me wonder if this was meant to be a kid's film, despite the few scenes of brutal violence. The original has its moments like when the ABC Warrior starts killing off the judges in that alleyway. I still get giddy & excited when Dredd takes on gangs in that apartment building.
“I AM TEH LERRRWWWWWW!!!!”
Aside from my few likes of the flick, I'll admit the 95 movie is a bland & slap dashed attempt at an adaptation of the comic. Then comes Karl Urban as Dredd in 2012 & I must say that man embodied every little gesture & tick that perfectly defined the character we read in those comics. Not only that but we had the first on-screen introduction of Judge Anderson, the psychic deputy played by Olivia Thrilby who also embodied that character. Can't forget Lena Heady as MaMa, a deliciously evil woman who does what we expected, care nothing about human life. That scene where she commands her goons to skin a couple of guys & drop them off a balcony was the epitome of badass villainess! I was shocked by how bloody & violent this flick was. In a time when all we were getting were action movies cut down to fit a PG-13 rating, this was a fresh cup of tea. I must add that the film also sports some gorgeous, colorful CGI & slo-mo scenes. Very much adding to the fact that it is meant to capture the fluidity &
colors of the 2000AD comics. Sadly this flick didn't get the recognition it deserved until after it's theatrical run. From what I heard it was because of the constant push to have this flick viewed in 3-D. Many theaters only screened this film in 3D, some people just aren't up for that or are near sighted so yea, 2-D should have been an option.
Still, this flick kicked ass & I regret not putting this flick higher on the list now that I'm re-reading this.
“I AM TEH LERRRWWWWWW!!!!”
Aside from my few likes of the flick, I'll admit the 95 movie is a bland & slap dashed attempt at an adaptation of the comic. Then comes Karl Urban as Dredd in 2012 & I must say that man embodied every little gesture & tick that perfectly defined the character we read in those comics. Not only that but we had the first on-screen introduction of Judge Anderson, the psychic deputy played by Olivia Thrilby who also embodied that character. Can't forget Lena Heady as MaMa, a deliciously evil woman who does what we expected, care nothing about human life. That scene where she commands her goons to skin a couple of guys & drop them off a balcony was the epitome of badass villainess! I was shocked by how bloody & violent this flick was. In a time when all we were getting were action movies cut down to fit a PG-13 rating, this was a fresh cup of tea. I must add that the film also sports some gorgeous, colorful CGI & slo-mo scenes. Very much adding to the fact that it is meant to capture the fluidity &
colors of the 2000AD comics. Sadly this flick didn't get the recognition it deserved until after it's theatrical run. From what I heard it was because of the constant push to have this flick viewed in 3-D. Many theaters only screened this film in 3D, some people just aren't up for that or are near sighted so yea, 2-D should have been an option.
Still, this flick kicked ass & I regret not putting this flick higher on the list now that I'm re-reading this.
7-Kubo & The Two Strings (2016): Yet another movie that just didn't make enough cash on opening weekend. Kubo is what I consider a mature story for children. It has enough lite humor for kids to enjoy & the young lead is smarmy/Wiley young kid, but the story is pretty dark & mature enough for adults to be engaged to. It plays a lot like a fable now that I think about it. Aside from some amazing & creepy visuals, this film has heart to it, which is something few children's films lack. It's a good flick to check out on family movie nights. The humor will hit kids as well as make the adults laugh, so it's not anything that the kids will dig & the adults will wish for retroactive Plan B. It's a film only the fine folks at Laika Studios could muster up.
6-Skyfall (2012): I put this flick up there along with 'GoldenEye' as in they both put the classic James Bond character into a much more modern context, all while keeping the original character & style intact. The movie's style & look gave it this almost neo-1960's look to it, especially that bit when they're in that Chinese casino & not to mention a very awesome ballad by Adele which echos the theme to 'Dr.No' and 'Diamons Are Forever' in tone & sound. It was a much needed recovery after the near-fatal disappointment of 'Quantam of Solace' where the whole film felt nothing like a typical Daniel Craig thriller. Gone was the famous gun barrel intro & gone were those ingenious gadgets. I was disappointed by that previous flick. This flick got back to its roots, maybe a little too much. I'll be honest, I did hate the fact that in the beginning you had this badass sniper lady who by the end decides to quit her position as agent & becomes the new Moneypenny. Why? She was a badass, why make her a secretary? It's that pulp joke/trope where you get this woman who is an expert in her field, but the men decided to regulate her to coffee making duties. This is why you now have people asking for a gender swapped reboot. I'm all for a female bond, I just want it to be a Wai Lin spinoff. Remember Wai Lin from 'Tommorow Never Dies'? Michelle Yeoh was a like a female James Bond, but even better because she knows martial arts! She's the huge reason why I own that movie on VHS!
So back to 'Skyfall', the film sports a ton of practicals & apparently Craig did most of his stunts in that flick. Also there's a lot of gorgeous scenery, all thanks to Sam Mendez's direction.
I've yet to watch 'Spectre' which follows up on the mystery that was set up on Skyfall. Oh, before I forget. Javier Bardem kills it as the villain & is much more brutal than your average “I'm gonna take over the world.” villain from previous flicks. He just point blank shoots the bond girl in the face & moves on like nothing happened! RATED PG-13 Hahahahaha!!!!
So back to 'Skyfall', the film sports a ton of practicals & apparently Craig did most of his stunts in that flick. Also there's a lot of gorgeous scenery, all thanks to Sam Mendez's direction.
I've yet to watch 'Spectre' which follows up on the mystery that was set up on Skyfall. Oh, before I forget. Javier Bardem kills it as the villain & is much more brutal than your average “I'm gonna take over the world.” villain from previous flicks. He just point blank shoots the bond girl in the face & moves on like nothing happened! RATED PG-13 Hahahahaha!!!!
5- Bettie Page Reveals All (2012): Who doesn't love Bettie Page? Seriously, I've yet to meet anyone who doesn't see the timeless beauty & sophistication from the queen of the pinups. There have been various documentaries on Bettie Page & even an HBO original docudrama that Bettie Page denounced at the time of its release. The story went that when Bettie Page was invited to the Playboy Mansion, they treated her to a screening of the film & during the film she rose from her seat & shouted “LIES LIES LIES!!!!”
I'll have to agree, the HBO movie was pretty exploitative. Of course most of it was fabricated because of the drama scenes & there were some moments where the acting was very hammy. Aside from those flaws, I must say Gretchen Mol beautifully captured Bettie Page perfectly. Especially in the scenes where she's recreated those iconic photos like the Bunny Yeager pictures with her & the cheetahs. She wasn't bad, it's just the movie wasn't that good. Anyway, if you want the real story straight from the queens' mouth, 'Bettie Page Reveals All' takes care of that. It's an hour & forty two minutes of Bettie telling her life story from the happy uprise to the depressing downfall, dealing with newfound religion, her past failed marriages & her battle with acute schizophrenia. She does not sugarcoat anything, straight up facts here. The only thing that bothered me was in the film's poster & in the credits we see the name 'Tempest Storm', so we're guessing she talks about her personal experiences with Bettie Page & the time she spent with her. After all she's the one who ties up Bettie Page, she's also got a place in pinup history. She appears for a few seconds in the beginning of the film at Bettie's funeral. I wanted to hear her stories, but we do get interviews (Even if it's a few words) from a bunch of the people closest to her, including the ever lovely Dita Von Tease & a few of her previous husbands and boyfriends.
This flick is a must watch if you are so enamored by the woman or are just a dirty old man, like me.
I'll have to agree, the HBO movie was pretty exploitative. Of course most of it was fabricated because of the drama scenes & there were some moments where the acting was very hammy. Aside from those flaws, I must say Gretchen Mol beautifully captured Bettie Page perfectly. Especially in the scenes where she's recreated those iconic photos like the Bunny Yeager pictures with her & the cheetahs. She wasn't bad, it's just the movie wasn't that good. Anyway, if you want the real story straight from the queens' mouth, 'Bettie Page Reveals All' takes care of that. It's an hour & forty two minutes of Bettie telling her life story from the happy uprise to the depressing downfall, dealing with newfound religion, her past failed marriages & her battle with acute schizophrenia. She does not sugarcoat anything, straight up facts here. The only thing that bothered me was in the film's poster & in the credits we see the name 'Tempest Storm', so we're guessing she talks about her personal experiences with Bettie Page & the time she spent with her. After all she's the one who ties up Bettie Page, she's also got a place in pinup history. She appears for a few seconds in the beginning of the film at Bettie's funeral. I wanted to hear her stories, but we do get interviews (Even if it's a few words) from a bunch of the people closest to her, including the ever lovely Dita Von Tease & a few of her previous husbands and boyfriends.
This flick is a must watch if you are so enamored by the woman or are just a dirty old man, like me.
4-A Most Violent Year (2014): One of the earlier A24 films to be featured on this list. A nice introduction to the acting talents of Oscar Issac. Set in 1981 New York, this flick tells the tale of Abel Morales, an immigrant who has made the American dream, set up a profitable heating oil business, married to a classy lady, father of two kids & believes his life can only go up from there. But when his workers come under threat by high jackers & his family's life is put in peril, things get complicated. It also doesn't help that Abel has long since been out of the crime game & police are watching his every move thinking the high jackings & home invasions are gang related. This is a prime example of a throwback done right. While not high budgeted, the film gets away with style & tone with its pacing and direction. It's a slow burn film with a mystery that keeps the audience engaged. Very reminiscent of a 70's William Fredkin film, something along the lines of 'The French Connection' with slight dabs of 'To Live & Die in LA'. I must also add that Jessica Chastain echos Elvira, Michelle Pfeiffer's character in 'Scarface'. From the hair, all the way to that bit where she shoots that deer on the road, I just see Elvira. A perfect thriller that has been absent in modern cinema.
3-Nightcrawler (2014): A modern noir that has surprised me by how raw & gripping it is. Not to be conf...yeah none of you were thinking of the X-men character. Nightcrawler is one of those movies I can safely say is the best film of 2014, hell best film of the decade in my book. It's a movie the perfectly captures that time & year perfectly. If my kids ask “What was 2014 like, dad?” I'm showing them Nightcrawler & just straight up telling them “That's what 2014 was like.” Errbody was fucking over errbody just to get that money! Jake Gyllenhall just knocks it out of the park with this flick. To sum up the synopsis here, Jake Gyllenhall fucks everyone over just to get footage of crimes & deadly accidents as they occur to sell to a news agency. A modern noir for the social media/instant news age. One thing that I find as a nitpicky flaw is how loose the film plays with reality. News agencies & local journalism isn't that ballsy. They have this KTLA ripoff news show straight up showing viewers horrific & bloody footage of murders that occurred as if it were nothing. In real life local news won't air anything of the like, unless it's live footage of a deadly accident. The last time I saw some fucked up shit on the news was when helicopters were dragging bodies off an overturned train in Chatsworth CA. They're too worried about FCC fines & offending advertisers to show anything that disgusting & brutal. Also, who in their right mind would watch that in the morning while eating their breakfast? So in turn this flick takes place in a sorta surreal world just like ours.
2-Splice (2010): It sat on the shelf for a year so this is a 2009 film that was finally released in 2010 so this flick counts. A film that I kinda avoided at the time for two reasons. 1.) I'll admit, the trailers did kinda freak me out. 2.) By this point I was heavily dissapointed by the (then) current crop of movies. We were so heavily bombarded by Judd Appatow wannabe comedies, shaky camera action movies & Oscar bait dramas. I felt cinema was dead by this point & sadly 'Splice' was tossed into that camp. It wasn't until recently I found a copy of this film & remembered the film's criticisms from the people who saw it. Everyone in my circles were complaining about how 'icky' the film was.
“This movie is sick in the head. Adrien Brody raises this alien girl & then later on has sex with it!”
I'm a fan of weirdo fringe cinema & this flick sounded like a fringe movie that just so happened to be released by Warner Bros. 'Splice' is a film Cronenberg would of made in the 70's & 80's. It's bloody, violent & pretty creepy flick about why scientists shouldn't play god. I was surprised by the routes the story takes, especially for an idea that could have easily been just another B-movie about a genetically mutated girl. Dren did not deserve the shit she got. Look, Adrien Brody is a fine actor. I just got a nagging feeling his nose is a serial killer. It's dark, bloody, violent, weirdly sexual & a pretty bleak mainstream feature. Most of that has to do with the fact that the film's director Vincenzo Natali got funding from French Film company 'Gaumont'. From an interview I heard with him on 'The Projection Booth Podcast' he talked about how he had creative control, but according to him working with Gaumont was on par with working with a grandmother so he was constantly trying to prove to the folks at gaumont that his decisions were wise ones. Sadly the film wasn't a huge hit. Budget of 30mil, only made 26.9 million worldwide. Ten years have passed, the internet has exposed people to fetishes beyond fucked up belief. I think it's time to revisit this film & see whether we have an underappreciated gem on our hands.
And finally.
“This movie is sick in the head. Adrien Brody raises this alien girl & then later on has sex with it!”
I'm a fan of weirdo fringe cinema & this flick sounded like a fringe movie that just so happened to be released by Warner Bros. 'Splice' is a film Cronenberg would of made in the 70's & 80's. It's bloody, violent & pretty creepy flick about why scientists shouldn't play god. I was surprised by the routes the story takes, especially for an idea that could have easily been just another B-movie about a genetically mutated girl. Dren did not deserve the shit she got. Look, Adrien Brody is a fine actor. I just got a nagging feeling his nose is a serial killer. It's dark, bloody, violent, weirdly sexual & a pretty bleak mainstream feature. Most of that has to do with the fact that the film's director Vincenzo Natali got funding from French Film company 'Gaumont'. From an interview I heard with him on 'The Projection Booth Podcast' he talked about how he had creative control, but according to him working with Gaumont was on par with working with a grandmother so he was constantly trying to prove to the folks at gaumont that his decisions were wise ones. Sadly the film wasn't a huge hit. Budget of 30mil, only made 26.9 million worldwide. Ten years have passed, the internet has exposed people to fetishes beyond fucked up belief. I think it's time to revisit this film & see whether we have an underappreciated gem on our hands.
And finally.
1-Fury Road (2015): Need I say more?
Honorable mentions. Now these are movies I'm deadass sure y'all are going to bitch at me for not putting on the list. Well excuse me, I'm just going by movies that came to mind immediately. These are flicks I saw either on a digital rental or on cable.
-Toy Story 3 (2010): Am I the only one who wished the toys all burnt on that incinerator?
-John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017): I felt this was a pretty good improvement over the first one. The kills are more brutal, the action is more fast paced & I love the elaborating of this secret criminal underworld with hotel/bars for assassins & you got these classy gun sellers with tailors making suits for John Wick. More than the first film, John Wick 2 is essentially a men's adventure paperback put to screen & I fucking love it for that.
-Kong: Skull Island (2017): You took monkey's bananas, now you die!
-Deadpool (2016): Despite it's flaws & it's constant quoting BS, I did have fun with this marvel film. I laughed at where it was funny & I did enjoy that highway action scene.
-Guardians of the Galaxy (2014): A science fiction adventure beyond the imagination. That should have been the tagline for this flick that tried to be a throwback to 70's & 80's sci-fi. I dug it, it's inoffensive. Talking raccoons are the shiznit.
-Django Unchained (2012): Apparently shooting a slave owner is only funny to me & neal.
If you got that reference, you are fucking awesome.
Prometheus (2012): Ah yes, the last good 'Alien' movie before Ridley Scott fucked everything up!
The Act Of Killing (2012): This shit is disturbing as hell. I kid you not, I saw this doc on PBS & I could not sleep that night after watching this. It's even scarier now seeing the parallels between the crazy shit that happened in Indonesia & the crazy alt-right shit I see when Trump got elected.
Be warned.
Atomic Blonde (2017): A smash, bang, pow, ow flick where a blonde chick beats the ever loving fuck out of soviets. That makes it into my book of awesome movies.
Pacific Rim (2013): I enjoyed this flick the year it premiered on CineMax. I've yet to rewatch it.
Attack The Block (2011): A criminally underrated horror movie that did not get a chance here in the U.S. Everywhere else this flick was released theatrically. Here in America, straight to DVD. A shame.
The Raid: Redemption (2011): I prefer the sequel, but even then this one can't be ignored.
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011): One of thee best pulpy adventure Marvel films I have seen. I would of loved to have seen a 1950's Namor movie or a Human Torch movie from the 50's. All the stuff set in the interim between Cap America & Iron Man. Can't do it now because then they create a plothole. People would be asking what these characters were doing during Civil War & Endgame.
Machete (2010): People, including yours truly, bitching about a lack of a badass Mexican leads so much that we forget about 'Machete'. Let's admit it, the film is drenched in the political climate of the early 2010's & late 2000's. While still relevant, let's admit it by the end of this decade this flick will be outdated.
Shaun The Sheep Movie (2015): What can I say, it's an inoffensive animated film for kids where most of the story is told without much dialogue. This flick is the reason why I watched the series that aired on 'Bommerang'. Claymation always makes me smile so this flick didn't fall short.
The Expendables (2010): Alot of people hated this flick, I for one thought it was a fun return to the movies that I enjoyed as a child. Sure, Stallone's ego is seen all through this flick, but you had moments of excellence with that fight scene between Jason Statham & those basketball douches. Jet Li, Terry Crews with that crazy automatic shotgun, Mickey Rooney throwing knives. I'm sorry, Mickey Rourke. I enjoyed this flick & all it's cheesiness, aside from the bad CGI.
Now this last selection, this is worthy of the honorable mention title because it's not a movie. We all just wished it were a movie & in a way it felt like a very lengthy (talk about 18hrs) movie.
Twin Peaks: The Return (2017): Holy fucking hell, this series was a trip. After the finale of season 2, my mind went to a specific route as to where the story was going. Lynch straight up told everyone “Yea, I'm not going the way you think the story is going?” I for one am a card carrying fan of Dougie Jones, wholesome shit right there!!! Despite some of the decisions made, I did wish the show were a bit longer just to see what was going on with some of these characters like Audrey Horne. Despite that I was very much satisfied with this & wouldn't mind if this were the conclusion. This is the song that doesn't eeeennnndddd!!!!!
I would like to do a 'Worst of...' list but I feel if I rewatch most of them I might change my mind. There's still a ton of flicks from the 2010's I feel I still need to catch. Just a year ago I came across a pile of DVD's full of movies ranging from fun viewings to dreadful experimentations. One of them is that tornado movie that came out a few years ago. Another one is a film I've not heard of, yet according to google it has a solid score called 'Mrs.Sloane'. Then there's that netflix movie with Kevin James.....I'm dreading that.
To summarize film in the 2010's I can say this was an era shifting from the trend of the 2000's to what we see now. Like any decade it's clear the decade doesn't start until the second or third year. We didn't start seeing more of the superhero movies & the social media manipulation until that year. I started seeing more manipulation from marketing than previous years & it seems to work more to drum up hype among the audience. Before this there used to be taglines & excerpts from movie critics.
Roger Ebert raves: “BEST FILM OF 2003!”
For all we know the article went “This film could have been the BEST FILM OF 2003! But at the end of the day it falls very short.”
I don't know if it's people relying too much trust on social media or if people have gotten stupider & believe everything on social media. I believe the latter. I see a lot more manipulation & with it comes this mob rules mentality that has been annoying the crap out of me. Then we got the bitching from filmmakers complaining that their film is 'Misunderstood'. No, you just made a terrible movie. There was the shit with 'Gotti' where the filmmaker went to social media to start this revolution to get his movie a high score. Oh good dod, don't get me started on dumbass Kirk Cameron & his christmas movie bullshit.
Just because someone doesn't like a movie doesn't mean that movie is going to disappear or anything like that. Just look at how fanboys started bitching & moaning just because Martin Sorcesse thinks Marvel films aren't real cinema. It's his opinion, who cares. Then we get the shitstorm politics that happened during the Ghostbusters reboot. If you don't like a movie then that means you're a racist, mysoginist & possibly eat pizza with pinapples because yeah, apparently that's the greatest evil of all. With 'Ghostbusters' it's obvious they threw in the gender politics because they knew the film was destined for failure & the Sony hacks were proof of that. Now there were a few instances where people were just idiots & viewing poltics in something that is just a fun movie that told a story in their own way. Fury Road, good god the stupidity behind the incels against Furiosa. Then there's that shit with the new 'Black Christmas' movie. That one just sounds like a desperate attempt for the movie to seem progressive & the people seem desperate to be loud & offended by the film. Here's my view of the reboot, WHO CARES! Controversy has become as manufactured & doesn't seem natural now.
I just hate how quality is thrown out the window & instead people are focusing on whether or not a movie has a politically relevant theme. We can have movies with a progressive message or a progressive view, it's just I think now we've reached a point of no return where we can't have it be done as subtle like it was in the 70's. Then again, were politically charged movies from the 70's subtle in their time? I like to think when a movie like 'M*A*S*H' hit, there were the people who were hailing it as a genius view on war and on the other side you had conservatives viewing the film as 'SJW crap'. Mind you, in the 70's we had a John Wayne Vietnam movie that treated the war just like a WWII propoganda movie.
One thing I just want is a return to escapist cinema. Movies that transport the audience to a new world with it's own logic, it's own reality, a movie where I can just escape for two hours & not treat me like a fucking idiot. That's where I think independent cinema is beating mainstream movies. I'm not just being a pretentious douche here, all the real excitement & imagination are happening with the indies & foreign films. Hollywood has become too decadent & are straight up spoiling a generation to a point where they can't watch anything with a few flaws here & there or anything that takes its time to build up. I can already hear your half assed responses.
“OK BOOMER!”
Fuck off, let's just push the button we'd be better off dead cause IIIIIIIII HATE YOU & IIIIIIII BEEERATE YOU!!! AND IIIIIIII......... I totally forgot the lyrics to the rest of that song.
Only OG Star Trek geeks & OG punk rockers get them lyrics.
Action movies by 2012 got a little better. Better than the crap we were getting in the 2000's full of bad quick cuts & shaky cam. We also got past the whole 'Let's turn this wrestler into a action star' bullshit. It worked with Dwayne 'La Piedra' Johnson & Roddy Piper, but let's face it most wrestlers lack charisma & acting chops.
We got a resurgence of not just the small science fiction movie, but we also got a brief but welcoming resurgence of the crime thriller with movies like the American 'Girl With The Dragon Tattoo', despite its flaws.
Dramas have entered a kind of ghetto because most of the dramas I see that get any kind of publicity are the select theater type films like that Nicole Kidman one where she's trying to protect her sons from those 'pray the gay away' camps. If it's not a oscar bait film, nobody really cares & when it's not done as an Oscar bait it's always a religious movie. All I can say is Dramas aren't real big money makers nowadays.
One thing I will say has gotten worse in this decade it's comedies. I think most of the comedies that came out this decade use gross out humor & politics to hide the fact that their films don't have any real humor. I know I'm gonna make a lot of enemies stating this but it's true. 'Sausage Party' could have been a good jab at Pixar & kid's 3D animated films. Instead what we got was dick jokes, vagina jokes & a bunch of food getting high. Then we get those Judd Appatow movies that just...................I used to like Judd Appatow but ever since 'Bridesmaids' his name has become poison to me. The fact that a movie with bridesmaids shitting Brazillian food in sinks & the bride shitting in the middle of the road while Kristen Wiig continues to be a jealous bitch was nominated for best screenplay by the Oscars & won AFI's 'Movie of the Year' just made me livid. 2012 was the year I gave up on the Oscars. FUCK YOU, BILLY CRYSTAL.
All I can say about horror movies this decade is it all became this Wash, Rinse & Repeat of ghosts & found footage junk. We also saw a lot of mom horror. Oh no, creepy children & posessed toys. EEEEH!
'Sigh', I should stop getting actively mad.
I feel despite most of the shit we had to trudge through in cinema, we did get some great flicks both in Mainstream & Independent cinema. Most of the flicks I mentioned were mainstream so I don't want to hear this whole “Jebus is a fucking art douche.” monologue because YES I am. One thing I will say my thoughts on 2010's cinema is on par with the video games of this decade. We had a lot of cool stuff, but we also had a lot of stupid shit like micro transactions & half completed games, EA. I will say 'LA Noir' is one of the best games/movies of that decade in my opinion.
As I wait for the hatemail to fill the inbox, I'm here to fill you in on what's gonna happen in 2020. Well, there won't be a 2020 movies list because of time. So next Blogbabble might be one of the three topics here. A 'TSDMUTFW' on hygine, get ready for that shit. Remember that three part Blogbabble on Music I wanted to do? I decided I will get to it but I will make it one entry. Also coming soon, a blog entry that is more of a remake of a badly researched, badly written early Blogbabble entry I did in the early years of doing this. The weird, wild & amazing world of Gen X marketing! Oh yeah, I had such a great response doing those Christmas commercials back in 2018, I'm gonna recapture that same success....might not be as successful but I can at least try.
So to all of you, happy 2020. I wish all of you better than what I faced.
I tell you, I feel pretty unlucky to make it out of 2019. I'll admit, I was pretty close to just going nuts because of the shit that's been happening. Alot of you have spousal or support from partners. I got nobody so every day I gotta struggle with the shit that's thrown to me & deal with it on my own. I don't know how I'm still going but I'm going. I'm not going to give up on this blog, on the brand, on my life. We keep on trucking you hear? WE KEEP ON TRUCKING!!! On 2020 expect to see more Blogbabble, more short stories (I got one I want to post on here) and I cannot wait to publish 'Under The Coma Sea'. I will take a month to edit it so don't get creeped out if you don't get a Blog entry or two in a month. I'll still be alive. I promise this impromptu book writing will be the last time I'll do this. Next time I will warn y'all when I get the writing bug.
So happy trails & if you think you've seen all that I got to offer. Guess what, you ain't seen nothing yet!!!
Email: blacktime.epress@aol.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BlackTimeEPress/
Twitter: (It's now my own personal twitter joint) https://twitter.com/BlacktimeEPress
Site: www.blacktimepress.com
Honorable mentions. Now these are movies I'm deadass sure y'all are going to bitch at me for not putting on the list. Well excuse me, I'm just going by movies that came to mind immediately. These are flicks I saw either on a digital rental or on cable.
-Toy Story 3 (2010): Am I the only one who wished the toys all burnt on that incinerator?
-John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017): I felt this was a pretty good improvement over the first one. The kills are more brutal, the action is more fast paced & I love the elaborating of this secret criminal underworld with hotel/bars for assassins & you got these classy gun sellers with tailors making suits for John Wick. More than the first film, John Wick 2 is essentially a men's adventure paperback put to screen & I fucking love it for that.
-Kong: Skull Island (2017): You took monkey's bananas, now you die!
-Deadpool (2016): Despite it's flaws & it's constant quoting BS, I did have fun with this marvel film. I laughed at where it was funny & I did enjoy that highway action scene.
-Guardians of the Galaxy (2014): A science fiction adventure beyond the imagination. That should have been the tagline for this flick that tried to be a throwback to 70's & 80's sci-fi. I dug it, it's inoffensive. Talking raccoons are the shiznit.
-Django Unchained (2012): Apparently shooting a slave owner is only funny to me & neal.
If you got that reference, you are fucking awesome.
Prometheus (2012): Ah yes, the last good 'Alien' movie before Ridley Scott fucked everything up!
The Act Of Killing (2012): This shit is disturbing as hell. I kid you not, I saw this doc on PBS & I could not sleep that night after watching this. It's even scarier now seeing the parallels between the crazy shit that happened in Indonesia & the crazy alt-right shit I see when Trump got elected.
Be warned.
Atomic Blonde (2017): A smash, bang, pow, ow flick where a blonde chick beats the ever loving fuck out of soviets. That makes it into my book of awesome movies.
Pacific Rim (2013): I enjoyed this flick the year it premiered on CineMax. I've yet to rewatch it.
Attack The Block (2011): A criminally underrated horror movie that did not get a chance here in the U.S. Everywhere else this flick was released theatrically. Here in America, straight to DVD. A shame.
The Raid: Redemption (2011): I prefer the sequel, but even then this one can't be ignored.
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011): One of thee best pulpy adventure Marvel films I have seen. I would of loved to have seen a 1950's Namor movie or a Human Torch movie from the 50's. All the stuff set in the interim between Cap America & Iron Man. Can't do it now because then they create a plothole. People would be asking what these characters were doing during Civil War & Endgame.
Machete (2010): People, including yours truly, bitching about a lack of a badass Mexican leads so much that we forget about 'Machete'. Let's admit it, the film is drenched in the political climate of the early 2010's & late 2000's. While still relevant, let's admit it by the end of this decade this flick will be outdated.
Shaun The Sheep Movie (2015): What can I say, it's an inoffensive animated film for kids where most of the story is told without much dialogue. This flick is the reason why I watched the series that aired on 'Bommerang'. Claymation always makes me smile so this flick didn't fall short.
The Expendables (2010): Alot of people hated this flick, I for one thought it was a fun return to the movies that I enjoyed as a child. Sure, Stallone's ego is seen all through this flick, but you had moments of excellence with that fight scene between Jason Statham & those basketball douches. Jet Li, Terry Crews with that crazy automatic shotgun, Mickey Rooney throwing knives. I'm sorry, Mickey Rourke. I enjoyed this flick & all it's cheesiness, aside from the bad CGI.
Now this last selection, this is worthy of the honorable mention title because it's not a movie. We all just wished it were a movie & in a way it felt like a very lengthy (talk about 18hrs) movie.
Twin Peaks: The Return (2017): Holy fucking hell, this series was a trip. After the finale of season 2, my mind went to a specific route as to where the story was going. Lynch straight up told everyone “Yea, I'm not going the way you think the story is going?” I for one am a card carrying fan of Dougie Jones, wholesome shit right there!!! Despite some of the decisions made, I did wish the show were a bit longer just to see what was going on with some of these characters like Audrey Horne. Despite that I was very much satisfied with this & wouldn't mind if this were the conclusion. This is the song that doesn't eeeennnndddd!!!!!
I would like to do a 'Worst of...' list but I feel if I rewatch most of them I might change my mind. There's still a ton of flicks from the 2010's I feel I still need to catch. Just a year ago I came across a pile of DVD's full of movies ranging from fun viewings to dreadful experimentations. One of them is that tornado movie that came out a few years ago. Another one is a film I've not heard of, yet according to google it has a solid score called 'Mrs.Sloane'. Then there's that netflix movie with Kevin James.....I'm dreading that.
To summarize film in the 2010's I can say this was an era shifting from the trend of the 2000's to what we see now. Like any decade it's clear the decade doesn't start until the second or third year. We didn't start seeing more of the superhero movies & the social media manipulation until that year. I started seeing more manipulation from marketing than previous years & it seems to work more to drum up hype among the audience. Before this there used to be taglines & excerpts from movie critics.
Roger Ebert raves: “BEST FILM OF 2003!”
For all we know the article went “This film could have been the BEST FILM OF 2003! But at the end of the day it falls very short.”
I don't know if it's people relying too much trust on social media or if people have gotten stupider & believe everything on social media. I believe the latter. I see a lot more manipulation & with it comes this mob rules mentality that has been annoying the crap out of me. Then we got the bitching from filmmakers complaining that their film is 'Misunderstood'. No, you just made a terrible movie. There was the shit with 'Gotti' where the filmmaker went to social media to start this revolution to get his movie a high score. Oh good dod, don't get me started on dumbass Kirk Cameron & his christmas movie bullshit.
Just because someone doesn't like a movie doesn't mean that movie is going to disappear or anything like that. Just look at how fanboys started bitching & moaning just because Martin Sorcesse thinks Marvel films aren't real cinema. It's his opinion, who cares. Then we get the shitstorm politics that happened during the Ghostbusters reboot. If you don't like a movie then that means you're a racist, mysoginist & possibly eat pizza with pinapples because yeah, apparently that's the greatest evil of all. With 'Ghostbusters' it's obvious they threw in the gender politics because they knew the film was destined for failure & the Sony hacks were proof of that. Now there were a few instances where people were just idiots & viewing poltics in something that is just a fun movie that told a story in their own way. Fury Road, good god the stupidity behind the incels against Furiosa. Then there's that shit with the new 'Black Christmas' movie. That one just sounds like a desperate attempt for the movie to seem progressive & the people seem desperate to be loud & offended by the film. Here's my view of the reboot, WHO CARES! Controversy has become as manufactured & doesn't seem natural now.
I just hate how quality is thrown out the window & instead people are focusing on whether or not a movie has a politically relevant theme. We can have movies with a progressive message or a progressive view, it's just I think now we've reached a point of no return where we can't have it be done as subtle like it was in the 70's. Then again, were politically charged movies from the 70's subtle in their time? I like to think when a movie like 'M*A*S*H' hit, there were the people who were hailing it as a genius view on war and on the other side you had conservatives viewing the film as 'SJW crap'. Mind you, in the 70's we had a John Wayne Vietnam movie that treated the war just like a WWII propoganda movie.
One thing I just want is a return to escapist cinema. Movies that transport the audience to a new world with it's own logic, it's own reality, a movie where I can just escape for two hours & not treat me like a fucking idiot. That's where I think independent cinema is beating mainstream movies. I'm not just being a pretentious douche here, all the real excitement & imagination are happening with the indies & foreign films. Hollywood has become too decadent & are straight up spoiling a generation to a point where they can't watch anything with a few flaws here & there or anything that takes its time to build up. I can already hear your half assed responses.
“OK BOOMER!”
Fuck off, let's just push the button we'd be better off dead cause IIIIIIIII HATE YOU & IIIIIIII BEEERATE YOU!!! AND IIIIIIII......... I totally forgot the lyrics to the rest of that song.
Only OG Star Trek geeks & OG punk rockers get them lyrics.
Action movies by 2012 got a little better. Better than the crap we were getting in the 2000's full of bad quick cuts & shaky cam. We also got past the whole 'Let's turn this wrestler into a action star' bullshit. It worked with Dwayne 'La Piedra' Johnson & Roddy Piper, but let's face it most wrestlers lack charisma & acting chops.
We got a resurgence of not just the small science fiction movie, but we also got a brief but welcoming resurgence of the crime thriller with movies like the American 'Girl With The Dragon Tattoo', despite its flaws.
Dramas have entered a kind of ghetto because most of the dramas I see that get any kind of publicity are the select theater type films like that Nicole Kidman one where she's trying to protect her sons from those 'pray the gay away' camps. If it's not a oscar bait film, nobody really cares & when it's not done as an Oscar bait it's always a religious movie. All I can say is Dramas aren't real big money makers nowadays.
One thing I will say has gotten worse in this decade it's comedies. I think most of the comedies that came out this decade use gross out humor & politics to hide the fact that their films don't have any real humor. I know I'm gonna make a lot of enemies stating this but it's true. 'Sausage Party' could have been a good jab at Pixar & kid's 3D animated films. Instead what we got was dick jokes, vagina jokes & a bunch of food getting high. Then we get those Judd Appatow movies that just...................I used to like Judd Appatow but ever since 'Bridesmaids' his name has become poison to me. The fact that a movie with bridesmaids shitting Brazillian food in sinks & the bride shitting in the middle of the road while Kristen Wiig continues to be a jealous bitch was nominated for best screenplay by the Oscars & won AFI's 'Movie of the Year' just made me livid. 2012 was the year I gave up on the Oscars. FUCK YOU, BILLY CRYSTAL.
All I can say about horror movies this decade is it all became this Wash, Rinse & Repeat of ghosts & found footage junk. We also saw a lot of mom horror. Oh no, creepy children & posessed toys. EEEEH!
'Sigh', I should stop getting actively mad.
I feel despite most of the shit we had to trudge through in cinema, we did get some great flicks both in Mainstream & Independent cinema. Most of the flicks I mentioned were mainstream so I don't want to hear this whole “Jebus is a fucking art douche.” monologue because YES I am. One thing I will say my thoughts on 2010's cinema is on par with the video games of this decade. We had a lot of cool stuff, but we also had a lot of stupid shit like micro transactions & half completed games, EA. I will say 'LA Noir' is one of the best games/movies of that decade in my opinion.
As I wait for the hatemail to fill the inbox, I'm here to fill you in on what's gonna happen in 2020. Well, there won't be a 2020 movies list because of time. So next Blogbabble might be one of the three topics here. A 'TSDMUTFW' on hygine, get ready for that shit. Remember that three part Blogbabble on Music I wanted to do? I decided I will get to it but I will make it one entry. Also coming soon, a blog entry that is more of a remake of a badly researched, badly written early Blogbabble entry I did in the early years of doing this. The weird, wild & amazing world of Gen X marketing! Oh yeah, I had such a great response doing those Christmas commercials back in 2018, I'm gonna recapture that same success....might not be as successful but I can at least try.
So to all of you, happy 2020. I wish all of you better than what I faced.
I tell you, I feel pretty unlucky to make it out of 2019. I'll admit, I was pretty close to just going nuts because of the shit that's been happening. Alot of you have spousal or support from partners. I got nobody so every day I gotta struggle with the shit that's thrown to me & deal with it on my own. I don't know how I'm still going but I'm going. I'm not going to give up on this blog, on the brand, on my life. We keep on trucking you hear? WE KEEP ON TRUCKING!!! On 2020 expect to see more Blogbabble, more short stories (I got one I want to post on here) and I cannot wait to publish 'Under The Coma Sea'. I will take a month to edit it so don't get creeped out if you don't get a Blog entry or two in a month. I'll still be alive. I promise this impromptu book writing will be the last time I'll do this. Next time I will warn y'all when I get the writing bug.
So happy trails & if you think you've seen all that I got to offer. Guess what, you ain't seen nothing yet!!!
Email: blacktime.epress@aol.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BlackTimeEPress/
Twitter: (It's now my own personal twitter joint) https://twitter.com/BlacktimeEPress
Site: www.blacktimepress.com