Compiled by Cinematary Staff and Contributors
I won’t spend too much time withnadin the usual “this year has been crazy” and other qualifiers and just say that 2020 has been a lot. Focusing solely on the movie output for the year was a tough task due to multiple factors and I’m happy that we had such a willing group of staff members and participants of the podcast or writing section that chimed in with their favorites from 2020.
If you’re interested in listening to the podcast episode where we break down the top-10, you can listen below:
If not, here is the top-10 films of the year, as picked by Cinematary staff and contributors, along with each person’s individual list.
– Zach Dennis, Cinematary host
#10
His House
Directed by Remi Weekes (Netflix)
#9
She Dies Tomorrow
Directed by Amy Seimetz (NEON)
“All in all, I think She Dies Tomorrow is not only a brilliant horror film, but it is also one of the best films about anxiety that I’ve seen. Throughout the pandemic, I have felt my own anxiety ebb and flow. I also know that I’m not alone in this feeling. Each day comes with its own set of mental obstacles to navigate. But, somehow, I keep trying to find some sort of solace and light. Is She Dies Tomorrow an optimistic movie? I’m not really sure. My answer to that question would have to come from Amy in that final scene. She looks out at the desert and goes between saying, “It’s okay” and “I’m not okay.” Maybe there is some sort of peace in that acceptance.”
#8
Tommaso
Directed by Abel Ferrera (Kino Lorber)
#7
Wolfwalkers
Directed by Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart (Apple+)
“Wolfwalkers feels like a massive step for both Moore and Cartoon Saloon and the film’s distribution by Apple should only expand its reach with general audiences. There has always been a bit of complacency with the major non-Disney studios, and the Mouse has begun to retread its old properties again after a period of new exploration when John Lassester moved to the studio from Pixar. Hopefully this will open up a wider field for Cartoon Saloon, but regardless, Wolfwalkers stands as one of the better, original animated films in years and one of the year’s best overall.”
#6
To the Ends of the Earth
Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa
#5
Palm Springs
Directed by Max Barbakow (Hulu)
Listen to a longer discussion in the first part of this episode:
#4
Da 5 Bloods
Directed by Spike Lee (Netflix)
Listen to a discussion of the film in the first part of the episode below:
#3
I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Directed by Charlie Kaufman (Netflix)
“Kaufman has sometimes been accused of miserablism, and there’s maybe nothing so miserable in his entire career as the person inside whose mind we are locked in I’m Thinking of Ending Things. It is a desperately lonely mind belonging to a person who is, by nature of upbringing and geography and class and perhaps mental health, living out the late stages of life in complete isolation, an isolation the movie implies has lasted a very long time, maybe even back to childhood. Within this mind, the road trip that occupies the majority of the film is actually just pure, pathetic wishful thinking, a grasp for human connection by inventing a fantasy of intimacy with someone who has never meaningfully existed within the character’s life.”
Also, an in-depth discussion on the film in part one of the below episode:
#2
Possessor
Directed by Brandon Cronenberg (NEON)
“Have you ever had an idea plant into your brain and you don’t know where it came from, but you can’t stop thinking about it? And that idea latches on like a parasite, feeding on your every waking moment? Ideas can be dangerous, especially if they are being planted by people with nefarious purposes. Brandon Cronenberg’s latest Sci-fi horror film, Possessor, presents a world where in which corporations have this power – they use technology to create elite assassins for hire, killing high profile targets. It seems far-fetched for such technology to exist and for it to be legal for corporations to choose any person to take over, but if you really dig into the metaphor here and think about how we are constantly being bombarded with advertising designed via data harvesting, then you might realize corporations are already trying to implant ideas into our brains. With Possessor, Cronenberg expands this scenario to encompass a variety of ailments that seem to be plaguing working-class people every day.”
Also, a longer discussion in part one of the below episode:
#1
First Cow
Directed by Kelly Reichardt (A24)
Listen to a longer discussion on the film in the first part of this episode:
INDVIDUAL LISTS
Courtney Anderson
His House
Parasite
Selah and the Spades
Miss Juneteenth
Birds of Prey
Disclosure
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
The Old Guard
Forty-Year-Old Version
Black Is King
Logan Kenny
To the Ends of the Earth
Da 5 Bloods
First Cow
Bloodshot
The Way Back
Palm Springs
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
David Byrne's American Utopia
Kajillionaire
Monsoon
Honorable Mentions: Bill and Ted Face the Music; Taylor Swift - Folklore: The Long Pond Sessions
Mike Thorn
Tommaso (Abel Ferrara)
To the Ends of the Earth (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
Color Out of Space (Richard Stanley)
City Hall (Frederick Wiseman)
Martin Eden (Pietro Marcello)
First Cow (Kelly Reichardt)
Sibyl (Justine Triet)
Alone (John Hyams)
Dick Johnson Is Dead (Kirsten Johnson)
Possessor (Brandon Cronenberg)
Reece Beckett
Tommaso
Still Processing
Red, White and Blue (Small Axe)
Tenet
Sorry We Missed You
Fourteen
IWOW: I Walk on Water
Education (Small Axe)
Martin Eden
The King of Staten Island
Honorable Mentions: Sound of Metal; Host
Joseph Bullock
Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
Possessor
David Byrne's American Utopia
Time
Da 5 Bloods
Another Round
Shirley
Lover's Rock
Kajillionaire
Farewell Amor
Honorable Mentions: Genus Pan; Mangrove
Seth Troyer
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
Will Carr
Dick Johnson is Dead
What the Constitution Means to Me
Da 5 Bloods
First Cow
Shirley
David Byrne’s American Utopia
She Dies Tomorrow
Time
Palm Springs
Mank
Honorable Mentions: Shithouse; Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Crue Smith
Possessor
Bacurau
Palm Springs
The Bee Gees: How Do You Mend a Broken Heart
Tenet
Capone
Mank
Spree
The Gentleman
Arkansas
Nadine Smith
Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
First Cow
Tenet
She Dies Tomorrow
Capone
The Hunt
To the Ends of the Earth
Let Them All Talk
This is Paris
Bacurau
Honorable Mentions: Hubie Halloween; Build the Wall
Lucy Palmer
Da 5 Bloods
Possessor
Shirley
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
The Invisible Man
Feels Good Man
The Platform
Matthias & Maxime
Mangrove
The Platform
Honorable Mentions: The Old Guard; The Half of It
Michael O’Malley
Wolfwalkers
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
Bad Education
First Cow
The Wolf House
Emma.
Residue
Invisible Man
Palm Springs
Time
Honorable Mentions: Da 5 Bloods; Shirley
Jessica Carr
First Cow
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
She Dies Tomorrow
Possessor
Lingua Franca
Wolfwalkers
Tiger Tail
Birds of Prey
Palm Springs
Bill & Ted Face the Music
Paige Taylor
My Octopus Teacher
Possessor
The Devil All the Time
Palm Springs
The Babysitter: Killer Queen
Reid Ramsey
Tommaso
The Invisible Man
Some Kind of Connection
Climate of the Hunter
The Way Back
Da 5 Bloods
Vampires Vs. the Bronx
Small Axe: Mangrove
Time to Hunt
Wasp Network
Honorable Mentions: Dick Johnson is Dead; Palm Springs
Cam Watson
She Dies Tomorrow
First Cow
Possessor
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
Lingua Franca
Wolfwalkers
Tigertail
Borat 2
Bill and Ted Face The Music
New Mutants
Andrew Swafford
Vitalina Varela
The Assistant
Bad Education
First Cow
Lovers Rock
Feels Good Man
Possessor
Wolfwalkers
Time
Host
Honorable Mentions: Forever (Charli XCX); Canceling (Natalie Wynn)
Emily Kubincanek
First Cow
Sound of Metal
Undine
Shirley
Nomadland
Martin Eden
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Lovers Rock
The True History of the Kelly Gang
Mank
Honorable Mentions: Da 5 Bloods; The Vast of Night
Grace Winburne
His House
Vast of Night
Palm Springs
-
The Gentleman
-
Borat: Subsequent movie film
-
-
Invisible Man
Honorable Mention: Circus of Books
Ash Baker
Kajillionaire
Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
The Hunt
Bad Education
Another Round (Druk)
Feels Good Man
Bill & Ted Face the Music
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
Time
Freaky
Honorable Mentions: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm; Ham On Rye
Zach Dennis
First Cow
City Hall
Wolfwalkers
Some Kind of Connection / Still Processing
The Assistant
MLK/FBI
Dick Johnson is Dead
Lovers Rock
Another Round
Da 5 Bloods
Honorable Mentions: Mangrove; Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project
Jessy Alva
The Haunting of Bly Manor
First Cow
Emma
Host
Palm Springs
Feels Good Man
Trolls World Tour
Happiest Season
Wolfwalkers
The Vast of Night
Honorable Mentions: Lovers Rock; Another Round
Dylan Moore
first cow
portrait of a lady on fire
bloody nose, empty pocket
to the ends of the earth
undine
the assitant
time
vitalina varela
dick johnson is dead
the invisible man
Honorable Mentions: david byrne's american utopia; emma.
Nick Armstrong
Hubie Halloween
Bloodshot
Sound of Metal
The Forty Year Old Version
First Cow
His House
Selah and the Spades
Dick Johnson is Dead
Da 5 Bloods
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution
Honorable Mentions: Capone; Fantasy Island
Etan Weisfogel
I Was At Home, But...
The History of the Seattle Mariners
Visit
Build the Wall
Hubie Halloween
To The Ends of the Earth
First Cow
Capone