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60) MOANA (2016)

There’s been a bit of a debate over the last few years over which modern Disney princess movie is better, Frozen or Moana. While I definitely do love Frozen, as I noted in my entry on this list, I’ve personally leaned towards Moana myself. This is a fun and vibrant movie, filled with spectacular colors, animation, and characters. Also, while many people became infatuated with “Let It Go” from Frozen, “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana was the real showstopping hit for me. Make no mistake, Moana was the best Disney princess movie to come out in years.

59) INVADER ZIM: ENTER THE FLORPUS (2019)

This is one of the entries on this list that I can recognize is more because of my tastes than pure objective quality. Invader Zim was my favorite animated show as a child, and so when I heard that the series would be revisited as a feature-length movie being released for Netflix, I immediately got excited. This isn’t the kind of movie I try to sell people on, because I know that not a ton of people are familiar with Invader Zim, and Enter the Florpus was made for fans of the show. This movie was a welcome return to a series that I love, and one that put a smile on my face for the entire duration.

58) JURASSIC WORLD (2015)

Not many people will debate the fact that the original Jurassic Park is one of the all-time greats, but the sequels have unfortunately been a bit more of a mixed bag. While the other sequels vary in quality from “meh” to just plain “bad,” Jurassic World is the closest that the series has come to recapturing the same magic from the original. Don’t get me wrong, Jurassic World still isn’t as great as Jurassic Park, but this was one of the best movie reboots I’ve seen all decade. It featured a stellar cast and some genuinely exciting action sequences, while also never forgetting to instill that sense of wonder into the audience that the original did.

57) WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES (2017)

Speaking of great reboots, the 2010s Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy is some of the best you’ll find. War for the Planet of the Apes is the third movie in that trilogy, and with each movie getting a little bit darker, it culminates here in a really depressing and hard-to-watch movie. It finds the apes in what are essentially modern-day concentration camps, and it’s really something to see. While this is my least favorite entry in the trilogy (spoilers for some upcoming entries on this list), War for the Planet of the Apes was another solid movie in a reboot franchise that did some truly remarkable things, and it closes out the story in a really satisfying way.

56) SKYFALL (2012)

Not only is Skyfall one of my favorite movies of the 2010s, it’s actually my favorite movie in the James Bond franchise (of which I’ve actually seen all 24 movies). I recognize that this might be a controversial opinion, but I thought that Skyfall excelled in literally every possible category. It’s the most personal story for a James Bond movie, it propels the series into fascinating new territory, while also never sacrificing the elements that make these movies great, and it just has some really fantastic action sequences. Skyfall blew me away when it came out, and director Sam Mendes delivered one hell of a Bond film with it.

55) EVIL DEAD (2013)

Look, The Evil Dead is one of my all-time favorite horror franchises. I love all three of the original Sam Raimi movies, as well as the surprisingly amazing Ash vs. Evil Dead TV series that came out a few years ago. So, I was as skeptical as anyone when the remake for the original movie was announced. However, while I’ll never claim that this remake is as good as the original, it’s actually really damn good for what it is. It presented the story in a really unique and interesting way, and has a style that’s separate from the original movie. This one’s a lot bloodier/gorier than the original, and so in the end it winds up justifying its reason for existing in the first place. This one really surprised me, but I thought it turned out to be one of the best horror remakes I’ve ever seen.

54) THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (2013)

The Hunger Games series was popular enough that you probably already have your own opinion on it. I was personally a huge fan of the books in high school, so I was really excited to see movie adaptations of them. Catching Fire is the second in the series, and is arguably superior to the first, depending on who you ask. I think there’s a case to be made for this, and if nothing else the filmmaking itself was improved for the sequel, delivering a deeper young-adult movie than most were expecting.

53) KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS (2016)

Kubo and the Two Strings is an animated movie that most people probably overlooked due to it not being associated with Disney or any existing franchise, but you’re only doing yourself an injustice by not giving this one a shot. This movie featured some of the most gorgeous animation I’ve seen in any movie this decade, tells a really interesting story, and is surprisingly epic in a lot of parts. You should definitely check this out if you’re looking for something different in the genre.

52) BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (2018)

I’m normally not too big on biopics, but Queen is one of my top 5 favorite bands, so I was really excited for Bohemian Rhapsody. The movie seemed to have been a bit polarizing, featuring a sub-par Rotten Tomatoes score, while also being nominated for Best Picture by the Oscars. Regardless, I absolutely loved it. Rami Malek delivers an incredible performance as frontman Freddie Mercury, and the story told here is really beautiful. Plus, the soundtrack is undeniably amazing, and it features some of the best songs in the band’s discography. Its final sequence where Queen’s performance at Live Aid is shown was one of the most exciting movie moments of the decade for me, getting me pumped up in a way few movies have.

51) RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2011)

While movie buffs like myself may have seen the original Planet of the Apes movies, for most it’s a bit of an archaic franchise. And if I’m being honest, aside from the classic first movie, the rest of the movies in the franchise simply aren’t that good. You wouldn’t think anyone could care about a Planet of the Apes reboot, but then Rise of the Planet of the Apes came along and changed all of that. This was one of the most successful trilogies this decade, and a big part of that is because of how amazing this movie was. It really instilled fresh life into the series, telling a story that was supremely interesting, delivering great action moments, and having some jaw-dropping CGI apes that really carried the medium forward.

50) SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD (2010)

Most people didn’t give Scott Pilgrim vs. the World a fair shot when it came out, if its low box office numbers were any indication, which is a shame, because this was one of the freshest movies of the decade. It has a really funny story, about a guy named Scott Pilgrim who wants to date a girl named Ramona Flowers, but in order to do so must first defeat her seven evil exes. This was such a neat concept, and this movie adaptation of the comic explores that idea in such a fun way. This movie was a true fanfare for anyone that likes comics and video games like I did, so I was definitely the right audience for this one.

49) LIFE OF PI (2012)

I actually forgot that Life of Pi came out this decade, but once I saw the title again in preparation for this list, I immediately remembered what was so special about it. The movie is all about a boy named Pi, who finds himself stranded in a boat at sea. To make matters worse, he discovers that there’s one other passenger on the boat with him: a ferocious Bengal tiger. Pi must learn to tame the tiger, and we follow their growing bond as we see their journey of survival. This was a beautiful movie, both conceptually and visually, and one of the best “arthouse” movies of the decade for me.

48) NIGHTCRAWLER (2014)

Nightcrawler reminds us that sometimes we don’t always want to follow a hero in the journey. Sometimes it can be just as fun to watch a villain. In one of his all-time best performances, Jake Gyllenhaal plays Lou Bloom, a true psychopath in every sense of the word. Lou is concerned only with being successful, and doesn’t care who he has to destroy to get what he wants. Lou finds himself in the field of journalism, as he films crime stories for local news outlets. However, to be the best at his field, Lou finds himself willing to interfere with what he’s reporting on just to get a better story. Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance alone makes this movie worth it, but Nightcrawler was all-around just a fascinating movie that more people need to see.

47) GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014)

Guardians of the Galaxy was one of the first examples of Marvel deciding to try to make audiences care about properties of theirs that hardly anyone previously cared about before. Even being as much of a fan of superheroes as I am, I didn’t even know who the Guardians of the Galaxy were before this movie was announced. At the time, I thought it was a bit of an odd choice, and I wasn’t really all that excited for it. However, due to a great cast, well-written characters, dazzling visuals, a great soundtrack, hilarious jokes, and a real sense of style from director James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy went on to become one of the best sci-fi/superhero movies of the 2010s.

46) THE JUNGLE BOOK (2016)

The market has become saturated with Disney live-action remakes in the past few years, and most of them really haven’t been all that great, if we’re being honest. However, The Jungle Book was the rare live-action remake that was not only great, but actually better than the movie it was remaking. Maybe part of the reason I feel this way is because I never had a huge affinity for the original animated Jungle Book, but while the original never grabbed me, this remake blew me away. I’m not sure how it managed this, since 2019’s The Lion King live-action remake ruined itself by trying to use realistic-looking lions in a silly Disney fashion, but The Jungle Book looks incredible. The CGI is amazing, and it brings the story to life in a whole new way.

45) BOYHOOD (2014)

Say what you will about the actual quality of the narrative in Boyhood, but I don’t think you can ever take away the fact that this was one of the most interesting, ambitious, and unique projects to come out this decade. Created by legendary director Richard Linklater, he wanted to make a movie all about growing up, and went about it in the most fascinating way ever. He began production on the movie in 2001, and finished in 2013, shooting scenes every so often over the course of 12 years. In doing this, he managed to take a six-year-old actor and follow him until he was 18, chronicling the journey of boyhood into adulthood in a genuine way. Some people were a little too harsh on the actual story of Boyhood, but I thought this was such an amazing idea, and it’s insane to watch a little boy literally grow up over the course of 3 hours.

44) CREED (2015)

I was initially skeptical of Creed, being as big of a fan of the Rocky franchise as I am. I generally find that once a franchise starts going into spin-off or “legacy” (starting to be about the child of a big character or something along those lines) territory, it usually means that the series is losing what’s made it great, and that it’s a sure sign of impending death. This was why it was all the more impressive that Creed, a kind-of “Rocky VII” sequel, kind-of-its-own-thing spin-off, was as good as it was. Not only was this a fitting continuation for the franchise, it’s actually one of the best entries in the whole series.

43) JOKER (2019)

I’ll be the first to admit that I was one of the most skeptical and critical people of the Joker movie when it was first announced and trailers started to come out. In my mind, superhero movies that are all about the villain are usually terrible ideas, and this is especially true of a character like Joker, whose allure is founded in the idea that we don’t really know who he is. This is why I thought giving the character an origin story would be a huge mistake, but Joker is perhaps one of the best examples of the philosophy that “you can make a good movie out of anything.” Featuring one of the best Joker performances ever from Joaquin Phoenix, and a really dark and compelling story that’s fitting for the character, Joker is provocative, challenging, disturbing, and unsettling, and that’s all the more reason why it’s such an amazing movie.

42) SEARCHING (2018)

Found-footage movies have a lot of critics, but I’ve personally been a pretty big fan of the medium, especially when it’s utilized in interesting ways. Searching is one such example of that. While a majority of found-footage movies have been horror films, Searching is a thriller that’s all about a man whose teenage daughter goes missing. The entire movie takes place on a computer screen, showing father David’s journey as he searches through his daughter’s files/browsing history/etc. in order to find clues that might lead him to his daughter, while also finding some dark secrets that she’s kept from him. Searching uses its found-footage concept to the fullest, and was one of the most thrilling and interesting movies I’ve seen in years.

41) GET OUT (2017)

Get Out is another one of those movies that I don’t really need to sell anyone on, because it’s become one of the most talked-about movies in the last few years, being the surprising directorial debut horror hit from comedian Jordan Peele. The movie is all about a black man who’s dating a white girl, and goes with her to visit her family for the weekend. He starts to sense that there’s something off about the family, and that they have it out for him. As the viewer, we get to keep guessing whether something really is going on, or if it’s all just part of the main character’s paranoia. This was a really unique horror movie that deserves all of the praise it gets.

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