Mike’s Top 100 Films of the Decade (90-81)
And here we are. The big list. Theoretically the one we’ve been building toward. But really anticlimactic when you get down to it. You think the list of my ‘favorite’ films of an entire decade would be the thing you want. But really it’s just me going back over a lot of the stuff I covered on the other lists and a broad regurgitation of my top ten lists from the ten years. So, rather than treat this like some big holy set of rankings, I’m just gonna do what I did with all the other lists – try to get you to see some of these you haven’t seen before and maybe introduce you to some cool movies.
It’s important to note, as it’s important to note with all my lists – the rankings don’t really matter. The number is only a function of the day I put it together. The only way to truly get a real ranking of my favorite films of the decade is for me to take the pool of films I used and make up this list from scratch at least ten different times and then use some sort of formula to figure out the average position of each movie and then create a ranking. And that’s not the goal here. I don’t care about the numbers. I care about talking up the films I like and trying to get people to see some of them.
So, if you feel like you want to get upset about where something is ranked, know that it’s a broad ranking. For the most part, films are in the general range of the 25-50 where I’d generally rate them next to everything else. Things will change as I revisit stuff and as time goes on. Like I said, this is really just about telling you what I enjoyed most in the hopes that it gets you to check out some of the stuff you either didn’t know about before or never bothered to see (or maybe saw and didn’t fully appreciate at the time). That’s it. It’s really just about celebrating movies. Don’t get so hung up on the numbers.
So, here are my 500 favorite films of 2010-2019: (more…)
Mike’s Favorite Original Songs of the Decade: #27 – “Please Mr. Kennedy,” from Inside Llewyn Davis
27. “Please Mr. Kennedy,” from Inside Llewyn Davis
What a perfect film moment this song is. You’re watching this movie, and Oscar Isaac is singing folk songs, and then he comes in to do a studio bit with Timberlake and Driver and you’re thinking, “Okay, it’s more of that.” But no, it’s this. A novelty song. And it’s just perfectly written. Adam Driver’s vocals on this are just wonderful. I actually memorized just his part to the song after it came out, just because I loved it so much. But it’s a great moment, because you just see them performing this, and it’s both catchy and also funny (because of Driver) and you see Isaac’s character perfect in this moment — he helps with the song, makes it better, performs it well, and then is like, “This is shit and it’ll never make money.” All around one of the most memorable music moments of the entire decade.
Pic of the Day: “How can you talk like this? Your gun has got you everything you have. Isn’t that true? Hmm? Well, isn’t that true?” “Yeah, sure. Everything. After awhile you can call bartenders and faro dealers by their first name – maybe two hundred of ’em! Rented rooms you live in – five hundred! Meals you eat in hash houses – a thousand! Home – none! Wife – none! Kids… none! Prospects – zero. Suppose I left anything out?” “Places you’re tied down to – none. People with a hold on you – none. Men you step aside for – none.” “Insults swallowed – none. Enemies – none.” “No enemies?” “Alive.” “Well. This is the kind of arithmetic I like.” “Yeah. So did I at your age.” (60th Anniversary)
