As the year comes to a close, pop culture websites everywhere are publishing their lists of ‘Top fill-in-the-blanks of 2019.’ These lists rank movies, video games, music artists, restaurants, and more that had the biggest impact in the past year. If you can name it, there is likely a list for it on the internet. However, with 2019 also wrapping up this current decade, these lists go one step further in analyzing the top ‘blanks’ of the 2010’s.
This past decade was revolutionary in advancing technology that enhances several forms of media, one being cinema. Reflecting back on the past 10 years, these are, by popular opinion and in no particular order, the most memorable movies of the decade.
Melancholia – 2011
A psychological drama about the end of the world turns even darker when director Lars von Trier mixes it in with similar mental health references that he had battled himself. The emotional science fiction film explores the idea that depression and the end of the world often are misconstrued with one another.
Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse – 2018
Rarely do animated films make these lists, as your traditional Pixar movies, while heartwarming, follow a similar story plot. However, this innovative and humorous montage of past and present spiderman characters makes for an adventurous and exhilarating movie. Spider-Verse is comic book come to the big screen and one of 2018’s best box office hits.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
A typical Quentin Tarantino film that did not disappoint, Once Upon a Time delivered a hommage to 1960’s Hollywood. The story follows a Hollywood western movie star and his stunt double as they face the dangers of becoming irrelevant as well as a group of Charles Manson influenced hippies. Like most Tarantino films, the slow burn story plot ended with an epic final 15 minutes that leaves you on the edge of your seat.
Mad Max: Fury Road – 2015
Like the other Mad Max titles before it, Fury Road is a fast-paced and epic show of destruction from the first minute. It features a post-apocalyptic world in which Tom Hardy (aka Mad Max) teams up with a headstrong and tough-as-nails group of women to escape a cult leader. The entire 2 hour film is virtually one long road race with beefed up trucks, explosives, and a rock music score to enhance the feeling of intensity.
This past decade was rich with cinematic gold, and it is with much anticipating that film enthusiasts and movie-goers alike eagerly await what 2020 has to offer.