Every Best Picture Nominee of the 2010's Ranked: #6-10

Scene from Parasite (2019)

As 2019 reached its end, another decade of cinema had passed. It's amazing to think about how things have evolved since 2010 when the biggest controversies were about recognizing genre movies. Things look different now, especially as genre films like The Shape of Water and Parasite are winning Best Picture and the voting body looks incredibly different with each passing year. With this period in the books, it feels like a good time to celebrate their accomplishments by ranking all 88 titles nominated for Best Picture from worst to best with the goal of seeing which films are more likely to stand the test of time. Join me every Saturday and Sunday as I count them down, five at a time. It's going to be a fun summer looking back on what was, especially as we prepare for the decade ahead and an even more interesting diversity that we haven't even begun to think of.

10. Phantom Thread (2017) – Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

In what was billed as Daniel Day-Lewis’ final movie, he plays a dressmaker who spends the film dealing with the struggles of love. He loves being in control, able to shape Vicky Krieps in his image: the colorful silks billowing off of her body. The more that he can’t control, the crazier things become. It’s a series of transgressions that make for a stuffy comedy that says a lot about what we’re willing to put up in the game of love, the petty revenge we play in order to prove we’re right. It’s one of Anderson’s most masterfully crafted movies to date, finding him creating a period piece rich with personality and detail, able to find the hidden messages that are right in front of us. 

9. The Favourite (2018) – Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos

With his third English-language movie, Greek filmmaker Lanthimos exceeded expectations by creating one of the most hilarious period pieces of the decade. It’s a petty story of women fighting for dominance, doing everything to be “the favourite” to the queen. The real star is Rachel Weisz, whose antihero creates one of the most complex figures in recent cinema, managing to be guarded in her love while exerting maliciousness at every turn. Every detail has a quality that suggests Stanley Kubrick if he was willing to crack jokes more often. There haven’t been sex jokes as elegantly written as they are here. Everything about it is perfectly in place, ready to catch you off guard with a brutal yet endearing force. 

8. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) – Dir. Wes Anderson

After two decades of fine-tuning his style of filmmaking, Anderson came up with his most distinctive film, well, ever. It’s a story within a story and the style begins to build along with the bright color scheme and eccentric costumes perfectly set to Alexandre Desplat’s Oscar-winning score. Everything about the film is cartoonish, and yet it captures something deep inside about humanity that is unsurpassed. Behind the buffoonish charm of Ralph Fiennes is a story of a man about to be oppressed by war. Don’t let the silent film homages confuse you, this is a layered journey unlike any other. It’s a beautiful film and evidence of what can happen when an artist is really allowed to follow their own vision, sometimes quite literally. 

7. Parasite (2019) – Dir. Bong Joon-ho

There are a handful of obvious reasons that this became the first foreign language Best Picture winner. The most noteworthy is that it’s just one of the greatest movies nominated in the past few years, managing to crib a haunted house story with an economic allegory that transcends the South Korean town where this story takes place. Everything about the film is an astounding achievement, from the set design which perfectly displays the economic classes on an elevated platform to the performances and the script. The more that is learned about the symbolism only makes one appreciate what Joon-ho achieved. This is a genre film, but it’s also the most inherently human tale on this list, finding how economics causes everyone to struggle, serving as a parasite to each other, even if it’s not intended.

6. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) – Dir. Martin Scorsese

Just when you thought it was safe to call Scorsese soft after Hugo, he came out with one of the most vital, hilarious views of an America that has only become more apparent in the years since. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as a Wall Street crony who slowly becomes corrupt, crashing expensive boats in Europe and taking expired drugs that lead to one of the funniest physical performances of the decade. It’s a cautionary story hidden underneath something so sexy that you too would want to throw money from your two-story yacht. It’s a fun movie and proves that nobody can do amoral dramas quite like Scorsese. He’s capable of making you see the appeal, but he hopes you’re able to see past it. This isn’t an endorsement. It’s dancing with the devil so you don’t have to.