Sam’s Top 10 Movies of 2020
Welcome to 2021. May this year be better than the garbage that we had in 2020. Whenever this last year will be discussed, I hope we do not forget all of the terrible things that happened so that we can improve upon our ways. But even in 2020, a few good things happened. I got married to my best friend, and she makes my life better every day. It was a special ceremony, just her family and mine there. Not to compare the most important decision of my life to a year that will go down as probably the worst in my small lifetime, but there can be diamonds in the rough. And I found when it came to picking my best movies of 2020, like our intimate wedding, the smaller and more personal stories really spoke to me this year. So here’s my top 10 movies of 2020.
10. Da Five Bloods
If there is one thing we know about director Spike Lee, the man is a legend and the man can fuse important subjects with important relationships. Probably the best movie of the 1980s is his legendary movie Do the Right Thing. You can say all you want about Raiders of the Lost Ark or E.T. or whatever else comes to mind, but he captured the tension that has always been in America’s DNA. Da Five Bloods captures the story of four Vietnam veterans going back to where they toured and trying to dig up a lost treasure they buried with their fallen leader Stormin’ Norman (the late Chadwick Boseman). It captures the camaraderie between these men and how their time since they came home from the war has affected them. As usual, Lee delivers a moving story and pulls a powerful performance from a strong cast.
9. Hamilton
I don’t know if this counts as a movie; apparently, the Oscars aren’t gonna count it. But hearing such amazing music performed by the original cast is breathtaking. Every member of the cast could be the highlight of a movie on their own. Combined they are an ensemble to be reckoned with. I was blessed to be able to watch it with my family and my wife in my parent’s home. It felt like being in front of the stage and seeing the cast perform right in front of us. It’s one of the three big popcorn movies of the year in my opinion along with Wonder Woman 1984 and Bad Boys for Life. I wish I could’ve been able to see it with a big audience in an auditorium. That’s what it deserves.
8. The Forty-Year-Old Version
Back to the smaller stories. (I hate calling them smaller. Size comparison isn’t the right medium to convey what I mean here. The truth is they are more personal.) Anyway, back to the more personal stories. The Forty-Year-Old Version follows New York City playwright Radha (Radha Blank) as she discovers the joy she has in performing in hip hop. It’s a shock to her friends and family, but she truly enjoys the art. I love the musical and stage performances depicted here. On one side of it you get to see the hypocrisy of theater shows, and on the other you see the joy of a musician discovering herself.
7. The Assistant
If La La Land is about the joys and challenges of pursuing your entertainment dreams in Los Angeles, then The Assistant is it’s pefrect foil. Jane (Julia Gardner) is an assistant for a powerful movie producer who struggles through an uncaring workplace that is all in cahoots to protect the shady interests of said film tycoon. It’s so subtle with the discrimination that Jane experiences. While no one ever says explicitly to her, “grin and bear it” is the entire matra of Jane’s job. Gardner shows incredible range compared to her role in Ozark. It’s not exactly a cautionary tale about the exploitative world of Hollywood (heck it doesn’t even take place in LA), but it’s the most honest move about the film business I’ve ever seen.
6. Soul
This movie already got its due praise from me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t sit here and tell you it’s amazing. Because this is my blog and I can talk about a movie again if I want to, let me tell you one more time that this movie is tremendous. The animation style. The voice cast. The story. The concepts. It blows every Pixar movie of the last 10 years out of the water. Go watch it again. And remember that you don’t have to pay $30 to see if you’re already paying for Disney +. So that’s nice too.
5. A Promising Young Woman
Again, I already talked about this one. So I don’t feel the need to talk about it again. It’s a difficult watch, and it’s right up the alley with The Assistant with its subject matter. The performance from Carey Mulligan here is exceptional. She’s like ‘01 Allen Iverson or ‘18 LeBron James, historic. Except the supporting cast isn’t trash.
4. Boys State
The most interesting documentary I have ever seen. Granted I am a little behind on my documentary viewing, but the subject matter is so specific. There is a camp in Texas that takes place every year and acts as a place where young men can experience the political system of leading a party or running for office. It gives an inside look at a place that I kind of grew up in. Being homeschooled I went to events like this and seeing the honest portrayal of what these camps can be like is both hilarious and thought-provoking when one considers what a place like this teaches the young men in our country.
3. The Vast of Night
Aliens. No seriously. This movie has the tenseness of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the realness of a gritty detective story. A few teens here some garbled frequencies one night in their small midwest town. So they go searching for its source and run into some worried and lonely folks along the way who need their story told. Without having a single explosion, laser blast, or bug-eyed being appearance, a sense of fear and isolation creeps off of the screen with every word spoken or strange sound heard. Our protagonists find an answer of sorts, but that does not keep me from enjoying the ride along the way.
2. Palm Springs
What happens when you put the most famous one-third of The Lonely Island, Ted Mosby’s wife, and the walking meme known as J. Jonah Jameson in a homage to Groundhog Day? It gets pretty deep and still makes you laugh a lot. At a wedding in the aforementioned local, Nyles (Andy Samberg) and Sarah (Cristin Milioti) live the wedding day over and over again. Some of the best character writing of the year is here as our characters accept and combat the world in which they live where they can’t escape a single day. Honestly, you could laugh yourself to tears as our protagonists explore this world and then keep crying as we watch our protagonists struggle to escape this world. It’s probably the easiest movie to rewatch on this list.
And the best movie of 2020 according to Sam is…
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
If anything, this year is just stacked with heavy hitters. This movie will punch you in the gut and then push you into a therapy chair to talk about it for a while. The story follows Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) and her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder) as they journey into NYC to get Autumn an abortion without the consent of her parents. This is the epitome of a sad story. Aside from each other not a single person is kind to them on their journey. Everything they get is fought and scrapped for as they try to get the help Autumn needs. I am not interested in having a political discussion about this movie, because in my mind typing behind a keyboard is not the way to have such a discussion. The story here is about the single-mindedness of the world. How everyone is only out for themselves and wants nothing more than to get their own way. It’s haunting and sad, and not something I cherish to watch. But it’s something we need to see, to remind ourselves to have more decency and kindness for our neighbor. Please at least watch it once, you’ll get what I’m talking about.
Well, there's my list. Enjoy the watches folks. These are all exceptional movies.
Until I see another one, and may 2021 be better for us all.