Here’s a repost on a slow news day.
My list of the best films of the 2010s was already published on12.13.19. I found it to be the weakest decade for film since … the one we’re currently in? At least, the ‘80s, a weak decade by its own right, was churning out mid-budget adult dramas on a near weekly basis. In comparison, the 2010s felt like a whole other level of mediocrity.
As with most lists dating back from a few years, some things have changed. For example, I find The Safdies’ “Uncut Gems” now deserves top 10 consideration on my list. The Safdies and Sean Baker, among others, opened the door for what I like to term the “gutter poetry” movement in cinema.
As far as critics go, a good blueprint would be the massive critics poll I conducted in the summer of 2019. And now, how about the underrated gems of the past decade?
The term “underrated,” for me, at least, means a film that slipped under the radar and wasn’t talked about much at the time of its release, or even now. I went through my archives and found these 25 titles that deserved a better fate or some kind of reappraisal in the near future.
Jeremy Saulnier’s Blue Ruin, JC Chandor’s A Most Violent Year, Trey Edward Shultz’s Krisha, Sebastien Schipper’s Victoria, Casey Affleck’s I’m Still Here, Sylvain Chomet‘s Le Illusioniste, William Friedkin’s Killer Joe, David Ayer’s Fury, Dan Trachtenberg’s 10 Cloverfield Lane, Kogonada’s Columbus, Evan Glodell’s Bellflower, Dee Rees’ Pariah, Craig Zobel’s Compliance, Jim Rash/Nat Faxon’s The Way Way Back, Joe Swanberg’s Drinking Buddies, Woody Allen’s Irrational Man, Kelly Fremon Craig’s The Edge of Seventeen, John Lee Hancock’s The Founder, Robin Swicord’s Wakefield, Matt Spicer’s Ingrid Goes West, Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell, Craig Zahler’s Dragged Across Concrete, Neil Burger’s Limitless, and Steven Soderbergh’s Logan Lucky, Julia Leigh’s Sleeping Beauty
Time for some recommendations. What are your undervalued movies of 2010s?