Best of the 2010s - Films

Some brilliant and not so brilliant films came out in the last decade and with them was also the rise of digital copies and 4K which allowed us to not only watch films anywhere at any time, but also gave us them in the best quality possible. Plenty of awards were given, lots of acquisitions were made and long established franchises got their reboots, remakes, sequels and prequels to keep fans amused, but not for long with some of them. So like with the video game one, this will be a list of the best films to come out of the 2010s all of which are my personal favourites. Again the rules are that the films are films I have seen and really enjoy. One film for each year, but with a list of runner ups to go with them. I will allow more than one film per franchise as well as films not just released into cinemas, but in other ways like direct to home media or on streaming platforms like Netflix. But whether any of these got awards or not, doesn't really matter because its my list. So sit back, relax, grab some grub and let's take a look at these films:

2010 - Inception

The first year of the 2010s saw an increase of films wanting to be released in 3D following the success of Avatar. Over the course of the decade, most would work in 3D really well (especially animated and sci-fi films) but you would find some pretty bad ones too. Also in 2010, 20th Century Fox celebrated its 75th anniversary and Disney had a profitable year with their releases. So I have always loved the work of Christopher Nolan because each of his films are different, but are based on a wide variety of concepts as well as some superhero and real life ones too. The first film of his I remember seeing was Inception which gave us a whole new concept on the idea of dreaming. It was a visual spectacle and was worthy of being watched in the best way possible because of how over the top it is. Not just that, but it would pave the way to make Nolan one of the best film makers out there and we owe it all to this film. If you like dreams, check this out but also the films below too.

Runner Ups:

• The Social Network
• Toy Story 3
• How to Train Your Dragon
• The King's Speech
• Shutter Island
• Kick-Ass
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
• Scott Pilgrim VS The World
• Despicable Me
• Tangled
• TRON: Legacy

2011 - The Artist

Most have considered 2011 to be the best year for cinema as well as the year to have the most sequels released. And you know what, they are right. Although there may have been some stinkers, the majority of the films released in that year were all really good. Also in this year, Paramount had a profitable year, at least three films grossed over $1 billion which set records high with one of them being part of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise which itself became the second film franchises to pass that mark. So yeah a great year for films overall but of the many that were released, I picked what can be described as both nostalgic but also original in a way. The Aritist is basically a film maker's attempt at bringing back the old black and white films that had only music and no dialogue or sound effects. What made it work was that it was basically largely that, but it would feature a moment in the story where the characters hear someone speaking and sound effects for the first time and thus change the course of the film from there. Its a good little film that shows that some things are not dead yet and can still be used well at a time where so many films have moved on from that kind of film. A lot of paitence is needed, but it will be totally worth it as are the films below.

Runner Ups:

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Hugo
• Super 8
• The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
• X-Men: First Class
• Captain America: The First Avenger
• Thor
• Tinker Tailor Solider Spy
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo#
• Attack the Block
• Horrible Bosses
• Rango
• Rio

2012 - Avengers Assemble

2012 had the two longest serving major film studios Universal and Paramount celebrate their 100th anniversaries which at the time was a first for the film industry. Also the framerate for films went up to 48 fps as opposed to the standard 24 fps (first seen in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey), the Dolby Atmos sound system was launched (first featured in Brave), several beloved films had 3D and IMAX re-releases and the James Bond 007 franchise celebrated its 50th anniversary with the then latest film Skyfall. Another box office record was broken when four film franchises reached the $1 billion mark. So yeah arguably another great year for films. This year also made cinematic universes popular again thanks to Marvel's successful attempt at a film that would be a crossover between the Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and Captain America films and the titular characters alongside Black Widow and Hawkeye would make up the superhero team known as The Avengers. This film was such great fun. Great one liners, great action scenes and great direction from the legend that is Joss Whedon (and I don't care what people say about his most recent work, I still like him). But overall, the film set the foundation for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and after so many years, its now considered not a crossover but now an in-universe film. Still a great film despite its sequels now being among the highest grossing films of all time and while we may not get any Avengers films for a while, I remain hopeful that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is in good hands and will continue to flourish for many years to come. So yeah a great film as are the following ones below.

Runner Ups:

• Skyfall
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Django Unchained
• Prometheus
• Brave
• Wreck-It Ralph
• Rise of the Guardians
• Frankenweenie
• ParaNorman
• Ted
• The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists
• Les Miserables
• Dredd

2013 - Gravity

2013 saw the 3D and IMAX re-release of three more beloved films (all live action ones no less with one managing to became an all time high grossing film thanks to the re-release) and following Marvel's launch of their cinematic universe the previous year, DC decided they would start theirs by doing a reboot of the Superman film series and basically try and keep up with Marvel, but wouldn't be able to figure out what works until a few years later. This year also saw the phenomanon that is Frozen get passed the $1 billion mark and become among the all time highest grossing animated films out there. So in a year that surprisingly had plenty of variety and some of the best films ever, I chose a film that at least for me was a film that works really well in 3D and gives us a fairly accurate portrayl of a space disaster happening. Yes I am of course talking about Gravity, a film that basically told the film industry how a 3D film set in space should be made. Its a great film with edge of your seat action and is probably one of a few films out there to have long continous shots rather than different lengths of shots. That would put most actors off, but not George Clooney or Sandra Bullock who acted their socks off with this film. A great one for those wanting a great 3D film and don't mind some vertigo and so are the ones below.

Runner Ups:

• Man of Steel
• Iron Man 3
• Star Trek: Into Darkness
• World War Z
• The World's End
• Pacific Rim
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
• Saving Mr. Banks
• Frozen
• The Wolverine
• All is Lost
• The Wolf of Wall Street
• This is the End
• Despicable Me 2
• Captain Phillips
• Kick-Ass 2

2014 - The LEGO Movie

This year was a pretty intense year for films. In the midst of a terrorism threat on showing The Interview, we got down with a lot of great films. Unfortunately the then latest Transformers film became the highest grossing film for this year (god only knows why) while Disney's first animated film to be loosely based on a Marvel property, became another all time high grossing animated film. But in a year that had a lot of sci-fi, a lot of conspiracies and just some great acting all around, the best film this year for me was a feature length advertisment for LEGO disguised as a film. I joke of course because it is a surprisingly great film that pays tribute to all the stop motion LEGO film makers out there while doing a great job at being a stop motion CGI film that makes the LEGO look like real LEGO. It was arguably the best animated film of that year that unfortunately was famously snubbed at the awards. But it nevertheless had LEGO's signature humor, lots of great fun, a heartwarming message that we can all relate to and only a few instances of non-LEGO elements being used. Plus it also sky rocketted Chris Pratt's career as an actor which would later be cemented with a certain Marvel sci-fi western film. But yeah a great film as are the ones below.

Runner Ups:

• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Interstellar
• Edge of Tomorrow
• Boyhood
• X-Men: Days of Future Past
• Birdman
• The Imitation Game
• Captain America: The Winter Solider
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
• Whiplash
• Godzilla
• 22 Jump Street
• How to Train Your Dragon 2
• Big Hero 6
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
• The Theory of Everything
• 300: Rise of an Empire
• Maleficent
• Paddington
• The Interview

2015 - Mad Max: Fury Road

2015 saw more box office records broken than any other year at the time. Five films went over the $1 billion mark with three being Universal films and two being Disney films. The Marvel Cinematic Universe also became the all time highest grossing film franchise with their films released this year. So yeah this year is arguably one of the more profitable years for the film industry which comes as no surprise when it comes to sequels as well as a certain space opera getting a film this year too. Sometimes when it comes to film franchises, some sequels take longer periods of time to make than others. This was true for Mad Max: Fury Road which for a long time has been known as one of those films that was stuck in development hell for so long. But unlike many that are in that so called hell, this one actually was really well done. Most would consider the film more as a spectacular visual 3D experience than an actual film and with very minimal dialogue but great acting from everyone nonetheless, its clear as to why that is. Its epic, loud, great fun, visually stunning and I'm so happy it got loads of awards and managed to re-introduce the franchise to a whole new generation. A shame that the video that also came out that year didn't have as much of an impact like the film did. But yeah a great film overall as are the ones below.

Runner Ups:

• Inside Out
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• The Martian
• Jurassic World
• Ant-Man
• Avengers: Age of Ultron
• Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
• Spectre
• Everest
• Creed
• Fast & Furious 7
• Straight Outta Compton
• The Hateful Eight
• Minions
• Tomorrowland

2016 - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Arguably one of the worst years for the industry as so many actors passed away this year including Alan Rickman and Carrie Fisher. Disney had a whopping five films that all became high grossing films this year with an almost combined $5 billion in total. Even more records were broken this year with China have quite a few films beat domestic records there. Plus the Merc with a Mouth's film became the first non Superman, Batman or Iron Man film to be among the highest grossing films this year. And Universal finished their acquisition of DreamWorks Animation. So yeah a good yeah for profit but not a great year for people involved with films regardless of whether it be a passing or cybe bullying. Now I don't care what people say about my pick for this year, but when you think about all the Star Wars films that Disney have made so far, the best one that comes to mind is Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. I picked this one not just for Darth Vader making an appearance, but for how it feels more like a Star Wars film than most of the films Disney have made. Sure it has under-developed characters and a story that could have been done better. But it gave us another chance to see rebels try to prevent the Empire from terrorising the universe. This is in every way the prologe of the original trilogy and one of the more important films of the Star Wars timeline in terms of what the rebels are trying to do and thus set the events of the original trilogy into motion. It has great visuals, great action scenes, lots of fan service and nostalgia and just goes to show that its not all doom and gloom for Disney's efforts in making Star Wars films despite the looming problems this particular film has. But it really isn't as many problems as their other Star Wars films. So yeah a great but not perfect film, but check these other ones too if you prefer something different.

Runner Ups:

• Deadpool
• Arrival
• Zootropolis
• The Jungle Book
• Ghostbusters
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
• Captain America: Civil War
• Batman VS Superman: Dawn of Justice
• Finding Dory
• Moana
• Suicide Squad
• Sausage Party
• Kubo and the Two Strings
• The Secret Life of Pets
• Lights Out
• Sing
• Doctor Strange

2017 - Dunkirk

2017 saw the controversal event that was the Wiensten effect. This relates to one Harvey Wiensten who was accused of sexual harrassment towards people and as such, this caused his production company the Wiensten Company to shut down. As a result of that news story, many other actors and people from the film industry either admitted or were themselves accused of sexual harrassment. Among those were Disney Animation (including Pixar) legend John Lasseter and acting legend Kevin Spacey. But despite all of that, the year was actually an alright year for films in general. More box office records were broken which made the MCU to continue being the all time highest grossing franchise while the Despicable Me franchise became the all time highest grossing animated film franchise. This year also saw a resurgence in female led films and thanks to Wonder Woman, the DCEU finally had their long needed strategy of moving forward for the better but still had the hurdle that was Justice League to get over first and even now people still want that Zach Snyder cut. Another huge year overall for the industry, but also a year that many may never forget. So in a year of sexual allegations, unreleased director's cuts and more records broken (at least for Disney and the superhero genre at least), the film I went with just so happens to be based on an actual historical event which in this partiuclar year marks the almost 70th anniversary of the event in question. Plus preperation was made for it to stand out from other war films and it ceratinly did just that. From the brain that was Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk is one of those event and edge of your seat films that make many question the survival of the main characters. The film is told from three perspecives; the first on land set within a week, the second at sea set within a day and the third set in the air within an hour with each part intertwining with one another. With minimal dialogue, a lot of action scenes and some of Hans Zimmer's most intense music (some could argue that this film was more of a Hans Zimmer showcase than anything else) and great direction from Nolan, Dunkirk is basically a war film unlike any other and best seen in IMAX. But the films below that also came out in this year are great too.

Runner Ups:

• Blade Runner 2049
• Wonder Woman
• Baby Driver
• Logan
• The Disaster Artist
• The Shape of Water
• War for the Planet of the Apes
• Spider-Man: Homecoming
• Thor: Ragnarok
• The Post
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
• Paddington 2
• Beauty and the Beast
• Coco
• Atomic Blonde
• Kong: Skull Island
• The LEGO Batman Movie
• It

2018 - Ready Player One

In what was considered a less controversal year than 2017, 2018 saw the MCU to continue dominating the box office while setting the build up for the finale to their Infinity Saga. Empowerment was also a big one this year with the release of Black Panther in which what Wonder Woman did for female led films, Black Panther would do for people of a different race led films. Also Spider-Man had his biggest year with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse becoming one of the few superhero films to be considered a masterpiece. Plus Disney announced their intent to buy 21st Century Fox which was at the time the biggest acquisition to ever be done not just by them, but by any studio in general. But I think when it comes to all the films that came out this year, the one I really enjoyed the most was Ready Player One. It was one of the few films I have seen where I have actually read the book before seeing the film and I gotta say, I really like it. Sure its not perfect and has a nostalgia overkill. But it is great fun finding all these different easter eggs and pop culture references not to mention how awesome the Oasis would be if a video game like it was made. I guess for now the closest we will get to having a game like that is say VR Troopers or any one of those many crossover video games. But yeah its a great film that makes use of nostalgia and combines it with something that at the time only recently became mainstream which is of course VR headsets. Worth a watch if you get a chance and check out the ones below too.

Runner Ups:

• Black Panther
• Avengers: Infinity War
• Ant-Man & The Wasp
• Aquaman
• Mission Impossible: Fallout
• Deadpool 2
• Isle for Dogs
• Mary Poppins Returns
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
• Venom
• Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
• Ralph Breaks the Internet
• Solo: A Star Wars Story
• Bumblebee
• Bohemian Rhapsody

2019 - Rocketman

Disney's biggest year by far. So many films released and lots of success financially and critically as far as Marvel and some (not all) of their other films are concerned. They also completed the acquisition of 21st Century Fox, launched Disney+ and bought about the end of the Infinity Saga in the MCU and the Skywalker Saga in Star Wars with only one of the two being more successful than the other. Also this year, DC started a new line of films seperate from the DCEU starting with a fresh new version of the Joker's origin story (which at the time of writing this, I still haven't seen). But I guess the film that really stood out for me from this past year was Rocketman. Another film that was stuck in development hell and yet it was such a good film. Unlike the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman had all its music (old and new) tie into the plot and thus make this biopic a more fantasy take on the life of one Elton John. It complements Bohemian Rhapsody with it using the original director as well as finally being in production around the same time after so many companies wanting a more 12 rated film than a 15 (Google the BBFC if you want to know the meaning of those ratings) for many years. Plus its got a few people involved who Elton John is familiar with such as Matthew Vaughn and Taron Egerton whom had both worked with Elton on Kingsman: The Golden Circle and the latter of which had sung "I'm Still Standing" in character in the film Sing. Overall it sets out what it wanted to do and its brilliant. Great covers of Elton's greatest hits and a great biopic that has a little bit more fantasy elements than most other films like it. A great film made just before Elton's retriement and is among some of the best films ever made. But do check out the others below too.

Runner Ups:

• Avengers: Endgame
• Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
• Captain Marvel
• Spider-Man: Far From Home
• Toy Story 4
• The Lion King
• The Irishman
• Aladdin
• Dumbo
• It: Chapter Two
• The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part
• Pokemon: Detective Pikachu

And there you have it. Films have come a long way since they first began and I really do look forward to what this new decade has in store for us. Let's hope we get more great films in the future and please leave comments below on your favourite films of the last decade.