LogFAQs > #930319540

Best Movie of the 2010s: Boyhood
Runners Up: Parasite, The Social Network, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Whiplash, The Irishman

I did a whole big topic for my top 250 movies ever made, so I'll try not to repeat what I already typed up (it's in the b8 archives somewhere). You can find my thoughts on why The Social Network is David Fincher's best film, the genius meta-narrative of Birdman and how it is aging with stunning grace in the era of the MCU glut, and why Whiplash is one of the most endlessly rewatchable triumphs this side of Rocky. But two movies came out in the last few months that not only would have made the list, but make my top of the top for the decade.

Parasite is Korean director Bong Joon Ho's magnum opus, and one of the only movies that rendered me mute for about 30 minutes after watching. On the surface, it's sort of a Kafkaesque screwball comedy, with a really interesting blend of thriller/suspense and horror on top of it. But by the end of the film, you suddenly realize that you haven't just been watching a really unique and fun genre-meld; rather, Parasite is a brilliant allegory for social mobility--and it's ending will leave you completely breathless.

The Irishman also leaves you with that haunting feeling. In the brilliant career of Martin Scorsese, arguably the greatest filmmaker who ever lived, he has never made something so personal and introspective as this movie. It's one of those rare films that works even better when you take yourself out of it and watch it knowing that it's just a movie. I'll explain: having an aging De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino in a septuagenarian's final mob movie elevates the themes in a way that could only be done with this cast and this director. It's a film about reflecting back on a lifetime of glorifying violence and wondering what the point of it all was. I can't get into it any further without spoilers, so you'll just have to sit through the 3.5 hours of it and see for yourself.

Both of these are still playing in select theaters and are absolutely worth watching on the big screen, so do yourself a favor and buy a ticket to both this week. You won't regret it.

But alas, we get to our film of the decade: Richard Linklater's Boyhood. I've written about this movie at length, so I'll keep this brief. For anyone born between roughly 1988 and 1992, this movie is like watching your entire life unfold before you in the span of 3 hours. The irony is that the best movie of the 2010s is actually a real-time reflection on the 2000s--the music, the events, the culture. Linklater managed to curate these moments for us as he was editing the film across 12 years, and what we're left with is an absolutely gutting experience that I will never forget.
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"A more mature answer than I expected."~ Jakyl25
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