Pan and Slam

by Jason Koenigsberg

Alrighty, we are about halfway through June of 2015, so that means we are about halfway through the decade so what better time than now to reflect and look back on the past half-decade and make a dubious list of the 5 Best Movies from 2010 up to today.

Maybe five and a half years from now we will look back and realize that I was really onto something, or maybe this will be a list of little relevance once the second decade of the millennium comes to a close. Regardless, these are the five films that I believe will continue to grow and appreciate and age well with time, some have already accomplished that in the few years since they were released.

5. Inception (2010) directed by Christopher Nolan

In some ways this is Christopher Nolan’s masterwork, a psychological thriller on the grandest scale with outstanding special effects, no it is not as riveting as Memento (2001) nor is it as entertaining as The Dark Knight (2008), but Inception is the most pure Nolan movie of his filmography so far. Through all the high tech special effects some great performances emerge especially Leonardo DiCaprio as a man struggling with his own reality and the dreams he inserts himself into.

4. Boyhood (2014) directed by Richard Linklater

A truly once-in-a-decade type of movie that touches on every emotion, Boyhood captures growing up in an intimate and realistic way that few films have ever attempted to. Richard Linklater’s masterpiece was a Herculean endeavor that took over twelve years to make and the results of this experimental film was astounding. I have seen Boyhood three times in the past year since it was released and each time I walk away captivated as if I had just experienced something truly powerful. The same feeling one might get after they walk out of a museum and seen priceless works of art. Those paintings and sculptures at the Metropolitan Museum will always remain cherished items, in time so will Boyhood.

3. Her (2013) directed by Spike Jonze

Something tells me that Her might end up being this decades Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). A film I loved when I first saw it in theaters, it ended up on my top ten but near the end, then once the decade came to a close it wound up on my best of the decade list. I have a feeling Her will only grow better and more insightful as the years go by. Even though 12 Years a Slave was a harrowing, brutal and important film that shed light on one of the darkest times in America and was my number 1 film of 2013, I think that Her in its short life has already surpassed 12 Years a Slave not in terms of importance or dramatic impact but in terms of relevance and ability to relate to the characters.

2. Zero Dark Thirty (2012) directed by Kathryn Bigelow

Released back in 2012 this film ended up number 4 on my top 10 movies of the year list, but since then has only grown in my opinion and unlike my top 3 films of 2012 (Django Unchained, Prometheus, and Lincoln) this is the only movie I can say of those four that is truly flawless. There is not one shot that I would change. Also unlike the other three, which could have been made almost any decade, Zero Dark Thirty has a heart pounding sense of urgency and relevancy that makes it stand out among its peers. Between 2009’s Best Picture Winner The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow has directed two of the best war pictures of the 21^st century.

1. The Social Network (2010) directed by David Fincher

This is head and shoulders the best movie of the decade so far. It is like Citizen Kane for the 21^st century only instead of newspapers it is about the Internet and how it simultaneously brings people together and isolates us from each other. With its outstanding soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, the movie feels refreshingly modern yet at the same time as if it could have been directed by Alan J. Pakula or Sydney Pollack during the 1970’s when they put out smartly written dramas for adults on a more regular basis. The Social Network is enthralling and intensely topical just as All the Presidents Men was for the 70’s and reflects the new century as well as Wall Street serves as a time capsule for life during the 80’s. This is a modern masterpiece that will stand the test of time.