Choosing what film to watch can take longer than the picture itself at the best of times. You could spend hours and hours scrolling on the likes of Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb and Metacritic looking for your next watch. But there’s no need. A Letterboxd user has compiled a list of the top ten films of the 2010s by using a means of ratings and averages.
Prof. Ratigan has taken the composite scores from the likes of Letterboxd, IMDb, Metacritic, and Rotten Tomatoes, as well as a quantification of the movies’ presence on several well-established lists and created a list of the best films of the decade 2000-2010. In this case, the top two films are from the same franchise, can you guess what they are? Here are the top 10 films ranked from lowest to highest.
10. City of God
City of God is a 2002 Brazilian epic crime film directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund. The screenplay was written by Bráulio Mantovani, and is adapted from the 1997 novel by Paulo Lins, though the plot is also loosely based on real events. The film’s synopsis reads: “In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket (Phellipe Haagensen) is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood. José “Zé” Pequeno (Douglas Silva) is an ambitious drug dealer who uses Rocket and his photos as a way to increase his fame as a turf war erupts with his rival, “Knockout Ned” (Leandro Firmino da Hora). The film was shot on location in Rio’s poorest neighborhoods.”
9. There Will Be Blood
There Will Be Blood is a 2007 American epic period drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, and loosely based on the 1927 novel Oil! by Upton Sinclair. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Kevin J. O’Connor, Ciarán Hinds, and Dillon Freasier. The film’s synopsis reads: “Silver miner Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis) leads a hardscrabble life with his son, H.W. (Freasier). When he hears about oil oozing from the ground near the Western town of Little Boston, Daniel takes his son on a mission to find their fortune. Daniel makes his lucky strike and becomes a self-made tycoon but, as his fortune grows, he deviates into moral bankruptcy.”
8. Werckmeister Harmonies
Werckmeister Harmonies is a 2000 Hungarian drama film directed by Béla Tarr and co-directed by Ágnes Hranitzky. It is based on the 1989 novel The Melancholy of Resistance by László Krasznahorkai. The film’s synopsis reads: “A mysterious circus excites a small Hungarian town into a rebellion when a promised act doesn’t perform.”
7. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a 2000 epic romantic drama wuxia martial arts film directed by Ang Lee and written for the screen by Wang Hui-ling, James Schamus, and Tsai Kuo-jung. The film’s synopsis reads: “In 19th century Qing Dynasty China, a warrior (Chow Yun-Fat) gives his sword, Green Destiny, to his lover (Michelle Yeoh) to deliver to safe keeping, but it is stolen, and the chase is on to find it. The search leads to the House of Yu where the story takes on a whole different level.”
6. In the Mood for Love
In the Mood for Love is a 2000 romantic drama film written, directed, and produced by Wong Kar-wai. The film’s synopsis reads: “In 1962, journalist Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) and his wife move into a Hong Kong apartment, but Chow’s spouse is often away on business. Before long, the lonely Chow makes the acquaintance of the alluring Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung Man-yuk), whose own significant other also seems preoccupied with work. As the two friends realize their respective partners are cheating on them, they begin to fall for one another; however, neither wants to stoop to the level of the unfaithful spouses.”
5. The Pianist
The Pianist is a 2002 biographical film produced and directed by Roman Polanski, with a script by Ronald Harwood, and starring Adrien Brody. It is based on the autobiographical book The Pianist (1946), which is a memoir by the Polish-Jewish pianist, composer and Holocaust survivor Władysław Szpilman. The film’s synopsis reads: “Wladyslaw Szpilman (Brody), a Polish Jewish radio station pianist, sees Warsaw change gradually as World War II begins. Szpilman is forced into the Warsaw Ghetto, but is later separated from his family during Operation Reinhard. From this time until the concentration camp prisoners are released, Szpilman hides in various locations among the ruins of Warsaw.”
4. Yi Yi
Yi Yi is a 2000 Taiwanese drama film written and directed by Edward Yang. Its synopsis reads: “Set in Taiwan, the film follows the lives of the Jian family from the alternating perspectives of the three main family members: father N.J. (Nien-Jen Wu), teenage daughter Ting-Ting (Elaine Jin) and young son Yang-Yang (Issei Ogata). N.J., disgruntled with his current job, attempts to court the favor of a prominent video game company while Ting-Ting and Yang-Yang contend with the various trials of youth, all while caring for N.J.’s mother-in-law, who lies in a coma.”
3. Spirited Away
Spirited Away is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It was produced by Toshio Suzuki, and animated by Studio Ghibli. The film’s synopsis reads: “In this animated feature by noted Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, 10-year-old Chihiro (Rumi Hiiragi) and her parents (Takashi Naitô, Yasuko Sawaguchi) stumble upon a seemingly abandoned amusement park. After her mother and father are turned into giant pigs, Chihiro meets the mysterious Haku (Miyu Irino), who explains that the park is a resort for supernatural beings who need a break from their time spent in the earthly realm, and that she must work there to free herself and her parents.”
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a 2001 epic high fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson from a screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Jackson, based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s 1954 The Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume of the The Lord of the Rings series. Its synopsis reads: “The future of civilization rests in the fate of the One Ring, which has been lost for centuries. Powerful forces are unrelenting in their search for it. But fate has placed it in the hands of a young Hobbit named Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), who inherits the Ring and steps into legend. A daunting task lies ahead for Frodo when he becomes the Ringbearer – to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom where it was forged.”
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic high fantasy adventure film directed by Jackson from a screenplay he wrote with Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. It is based on 1955’s The Return of the King, the third volume of the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. The film’s synopsis reads: “The culmination of nearly 10 years’ work and conclusion to Peter Jackson’s epic trilogy based on the timeless J.R.R. Tolkien classic, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King presents the final confrontation between the forces of good and evil fighting for control of the future of Middle-earth. Hobbits Frodo and Sam reach Mordor in their quest to destroy the `one ring’, while Aragorn leads the forces of good against Sauron’s evil army at the stone city of Minas Tirith.”