Top 10 Films of the Decade

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In the 2010s, cinema experienced the most change since the invention of television. With the rise of digital film, photo-realistic CGI, and streaming services becoming a new source for both viewing and producing films, the landscape has evolved radically in these ten years. The following films are representative of that change in terms of both technology and representation.

1. The Tree of Life (2011) Terrence Malick made more films in the 2010s than the rest of his 40+ year long career combined, but his first film of the decade remains his definitive masterpiece. Dealing with the personal, the spiritual, and the cosmic all at the same time, Malick's film can be divisive to say the least (as all great art tends to be). The film is a beautiful testament to both the wonder and terror of that thing we call "life", and it still amazes me that a mid-budget studio-backed wide release was so experimental. It is bold, gorgeous, poetic and the crowning artistic achievement of the decade. Fox Searchlight Pictures

2. Carol (2015) In the early '90s the "New Queer Cinema" only existed in the independent film scene, but as homosexuality has become more accepted, the genre has evolved. Todd Haynes' masterful film is an example of that change. The film lovingly portrays the budding romance between two women (Cate Blanchet and Rooney Mara, both never better), but it also avoids simplistic cliches. There are no real heroes or villains in the film. Just a situation that every character has to confront. In a way, Queer Cinema in the 2010s has just become "cinema," and that alone is cause for celebration. StudioCanal

3. Moonlight (2016) The 2010s brought us an unprecedented number of new voices that were horribly under-represented in the previous decades and of all them, Barry Jenkins' might be the best. His time-hopping character study is possibly the greatest statement about how our culture and the people around us shape our character, what we show the world and more importantly, what we don't. Intimate and deeply empathetic, the film says more about race and sexuality than a thousand  Green Books ever could, and its critical and commercial success has hopefully opened new discussions about what it means to be a man in the modern world. A24

4. The Act of Killing (2013) Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn, and an anonymous Indonesian set out to interview gang members hired by the Indonesian government to execute countless civilians in 1965. They told them they were making a film about their exploits but that was a lie. What they did was get the perpetrators of one of the worst crimes in the 20th century to finally, on camera, confess to those crimes. Easily the best documentary of the decade and one of the few times film has truly been used as a force for radical political change, the film will be remembered as evidence of an atrocity many have tried to make disappear. Drafthouse Films

5. Holy Motors (2012) Director Leos Carax floats through the walls of a hotel room and into a movie theater as panthers watch from a balcony and it just gets weirder from there. His film is about a man (Denis Lavant) who travels from place to place, assuming different personae and performing for an audience that doesn't seem to exist. In its own surreal way, Carax's film might be the most honest document of the state of film in the 2010s; in a world where the borders between reality and special effects are ever-shrinking and anyone with a smartphone can make a film, the art of filmmaking seems to be both everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Pierre Grise Productions

6. This is Not a Film (2012) Or is this the most honest document about the state of film in the 2010s? Jafar Panahi documents his life under house arrest despite being banned from making a film by the Iranian government for 20 years. The film's technology shows how what constitutes a "film" is changing rapidly. Shot on an iPhone and DV camera and smuggled into the Cannes Film Festival inside a cake, its mere existence is itself a miracle. Somewhere between a home movie and a bold statement about the inherent desire to create, it is a glorious, wonderful act of defiance against a totalitarian regime. Kanibal Films Distribution

7. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Every year dozens of big-budget spectacle movies get dumped in multiplexes and forgotten, but it took a 70-year-old man to show everyone how it's done. George Miller turns what could've been a tired retread or dreaded "soft reboot" into a dazzling, inspired masterpiece that entertained in ways I didn't think possible anymore. Miller injects action-adventure cinema with a shot of creative, hyper-kinetic energy with  Fury Road. If all the other big tentpole films that were released this decade were half as brilliant as Miller's vision of "a world of fire and blood," then the summer blockbuster season would be a very different experience. Warner Bros. Pictures

8. Roma (2018) This decade has been full of doomsayers, lamenting that the rise of superhero films and cinematic universes has completely killed off personal, director-driven mid-budget films. Then Alfonso Cuaron released a deeply personal mid-budget film that was a tribute to the women who raised him. Over the last several years, Netflix and other streaming sites have been a refuge for powerful dramas that have a filmmaker's stamp all over them and Cuaron's excellent film has finally helped the format garner some serious awards recognition. His film proves that audiences haven't lost their taste for quiet, personal films; only the way we watch them is changing. Netflix

9. Tangerine (2015) It is now easier to make a film than at any other time in history and this film is proof of that. Shot in just 25 days on an iPhone 5S for less than $100,000, Sean Baker's riotous comedy/drama may well be a trendsetter for how low-budget movies are made. Plus, not only has his film proven that anyone can make a movie, but it also showed that subjects and people previously ignored can be the subject of a film. The story and characters would never pass the vetting process in a studio, but on this budget, anything goes. Magnolia Pictures

10. A Town Called Panic! (2010) This quirky stop-motion animated fantasy definitely isn't one of the ten  best films of the decade, but it just might be the  most entertaining . In just 75 minutes, the film has more laughs and excitement than most films with double that runtime. The cinematic equivalent of a six-year-old playing with his toys, the adventures of a horse, a cowboy and an Indian is endlessly enjoyable for the sheer imagination that goes into it. Anyone who says there's no originality left in the movies needs only to be directed to this shot of pure enjoyment to learn just how wrong they are. Zeitgeist Films

Forest Taylor watches a lot of movies. He can be reached at forest@eriereader.com