The 50 Best Movies of the Decade (So Far)

 

We are halfway through the decade now… more than half, actually. So where has this list been for the past four months? It’s been incubating, as CraveOnline’s four film critics – William Bibbiani, Witney Seibold, Fred Topel and Brian Formo – could gather some perspective on the films of 2014, free from the awards buzz and the incessant chatter. The time has finally come to put together what we consider a proper list of The 50 Best Films of the Decade (So Far), and as usual for these types of articles, the results are eclectic but we stand by them.

(And yes, you could argue that “the decade” started in 2011, because there was no year A.D. 0, but since there weren’t any films being made back in A.D. 1 we don’t really see how that’s relevant. It’s the 2010s, damn it. Just let it go.) 

The rules were relatively simple. Any feature-length film, initially released to the public in the United States between 2010 and 2014, qualified. Films released internationally before 2010 only qualified if their U.S. release was in 2010 or later. All of our critics were invited to vote for 50 films, ranked from 1-50. When the votes were tallied, every film ranked at #1 was given 50 points, every film ranked at #2 was given 49 points, and so on down to #50, which received only 1 point. Those points were then added up to present The 50 Best Films of the Decade (So Far) that you see below, and the 50 runners up below that.

 

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Some stats: Only two filmmakers have more than one film on the Top 50, and they are Richard Linklater (#19 and #7) and Adam Wingard (#49 and #20). Many actors appear in two films on the Top 50 – including Joaquin Phoenix, Miles Teller, Sharni Vinson, Jessica Chastain, Brie Larson, Ethan Hawke, Leonardo DiCaprio, Amy Seimetz and Mary Elizabeth Winstead – but only two, as far as we could surmise, appear in three. Those actors are Joseph Gordon-Levitt (#45, #43 and #18) and Kyle Chandler (#41, #24 and #22). There are twelve films each from 2010, 2012 and 2013, eight films from 2014 and a measly six films from 2011. There are also twelve foreign language films on the list, ten science fiction films, seven action movies, six horror movies and four animated films, in addition to dramas.

But did your favorite films of the decade (so far) make an appearance? There’s only one way to find out. So scroll through CraveOnline’s picks, read our thoughts on each entry (each written by one of the critics who voted for that particular film), and check out the runners up while you’re at it, because each of them comes highly recommended too.

 

The 50 Best Movies of the Decade (So Far):

 

The 50 Runners Up 

 

 

51. The Lego Movie (dirs. Phil Lord & Chris Miller, 2014)

52. Winter’s Bone (dir. Debra Granik, 2010)

53. Selma (dir. Ava DuVernay, 2014)

54. Beginners (dir. Mike Mills, 2010)

55. Amour (dir. Michael Haneke, 2012)

 

 

56. Like Crazy (dir. Drake Doremus, 2011)

57. Warrior (dir. Gavin O’Connor, 2011)

58. Hugo (dir. Martin Scorsese, 2011)

59. The Avengers (dir. Joss Whedon, 2012)

60. Paranorman (dirs. Chris Butler & Sam Fell, 2012)

 

 

61. Coherence (dir. James Ward Byrkit, 2013)

62. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (dir. Tomas Alfredson, 2011)

63. House of Pleasures (dir. Bertrand Bonello, 2011)

64. Noah (dir. Darren Aronofsky, 2014)

65. Mother (dir. Bong Joon-ho, 2010)

 

 

66. Nymphomaniac (dir. Lars von Trier, 2014)

67. Rabies (dirs. Aharon Keshales & Navot Papushado, 2010)

68. Le Quattro Volte (dir. Michelangelo Frammartino, 2010)

69. The Skin I Live In (dir. Pedro Almodovar, 2011)

70. Exit Through the Gift Shop (dir. Banksy, 2010)

 

 

71. Inherent Vice (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014)

72. Gone Girl (dir. David Fincher, 2014)

73. Tabu (dir. Miguel Gomes, 2012)

74. Black Swan (dir. Darren Aronofsky, 2010)

75. American Animal (dir. Matt D’Elia, 2011)

 

 

76. Rango (dir. Gore Verbinski, 2011)

77. MacGruber (dir. Jorma Taccone, 2010)

78. Le Havre (dir. Aki Kaurismaki, 2011)

79. Django Unchained (dir. Quentin Tarantino, 2012)

80. White House Down (dir. Roland Emmerich, 2013)

 

 

81. Red State (dir. Kevin Smith, 2011)

82. Sinister (dir. Scott Derrickson, 2012)

83. Mr. Turner (dir. Mike Leigh, 2014)

84. Cold Sweat (dir. Adrian Garcia Bogliano, 2010)

85. Blue Ruin (dir. Jeremy Saulnier, 2013)

 

 

86. Nightcrawler (dir. Dan Gilroy, 2014)

87. Only Lovers Left Alive (dir. Jim Jarmusch, 2014)

88. Interstellar (dir. Christopher Nolan, 2014)

89. Force Majeure (dir. Ruben Ostlund, 2014)

90. Midnight in Paris (dir. Woody Allen, 2011)

 

 

91. Looper (dir. Rian Johnson, 2012)

92. American Hustle (dir. David O. Russell, 2013)

93. The First Time (dir. Jonathan Kasdan, 2012)

94. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (dirs. Joe & Anthony Russo, 2014)

95. A Touch of Sin (dir. Zhangke Jia, 2013)

 

 

96. Melancholia (dir. Lars von Trier, 2011)

97. The Muppets (dir. James Bobin, 2011)

98. The Cabin in the Woods (dir. Drew Goddard, 2012)

99. Leap Year (dir. Michael Rowe, 2010)

100. A Late Quartet (dir. Yaron Zilberman, 2012)

 

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