Every Best Picture Nominee of the 2010's Ranked: #30-34

Scene from Arrival (2016)

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.

34. BlacKkKlansman (2018) – Dir. Spike Lee

Easily the most racially charged film nominated for Best Picture this decade. You can feel Spike Lee’s anger steaming off of every second as he finds undercover cops going after a local branch of The KKK. While it’s a period piece, it’s one that becomes painfully relevant to the modern era (then AND now), reflecting how media informs racism and how difficult it is to fight something that has become normalized. The message may be obvious, but there is so much confrontation and discomfort in the frame that it’s amazing how it has any time to reflect the strength of the Black community, such as in a passage that pairs 1915’s Birth of a Nation with a narrated version of a lynching. It’s maybe Lee’s most powerful scene in his entire career and one that gets to the heart of why this film matters. So long as racism exists, this film will be a relevant reminder that the past isn’t gone. It just took on a new form.

33. Arrival (2016) – Dir. Denis Villeneuve

The film has only become more endearing in light of current events. Not an event, but the idea that America is polarized, unable to communicate in an effective manner. The idea of discovering an alien species and learning to empathize with them suddenly seems more powerful, able to create this deeply emotional understanding about how the world is united. With one of Amy Adams’ best performances, it manages to create a new species full of visual splendor and a story that becomes more awe-inspiring the stranger the details become. It’s an optimistic story for our negative times, and one that will lift your spirits and see the beauty in the world, making you think differently of time, and appreciating what you have. 

32. 1917 (2019) – Dir. Sam Mendes

Unlike Birdman, this gets closer to the long take achievement that it promised with a war movie that’s maybe the most visually arresting movie of the decade. The story may be straightforward, but the execution is ingenious, finding ways to turn every lingering shot into a way to advance the story, and in the process making it feel more lived-in, making you as full of dread for the actors as you are the worry that they’ll botch the take. Add in tons of visually stunning moments and this is one of the greatest World War I movies ever made, serving as a narrative and technical achievement that manages to still feel lived in, reflecting the impossibility of human survival within the madness but also the hope that tomorrow will be better than today. All you have to do is keep moving forward and look for the sun on the horizon. 

31. Her (2013) – Dir. Spike Jonze

Many have tried to make contemporary love stories that reflect our times perfectly, but nobody did it as perfectly as Jonze. We love our technology and in many cases we’re practically married to it. He takes it literally here, managing to create a hipster vision of the future where The Arcade Fire score the film and everything has this eerie abstraction to it. Phoenix’s loneliness sells the whole film, eager to find any human connection in a society that feels a bit distant at every turn. When he finds love in his phone, it creates a poignant commentary on what it means to find any connection. It’s beautiful and among the most creative looks into love that The Academy has recognized. That is the magic of Jonze. He has to challenge everything, and in the process makes cinema a far more interesting place.

30. Black Panther (2018) – Dir. Ryan Coogler

Don’t get it twisted, this is a groundbreaking moment in the Best Picture field. Once Black Panther made the cut, it became clear not only that The Academy finally saw superhero movies as a legitimate art form, but that they would reward it top prizes. Even if it’s the umpteenth entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s still one of the few films that feel like its own beast, commenting on the Black identity from varied perspectives, making a story that came fully formed with its own personality, presenting an Afrofuturist world that was unlike anything that a big screen movie would allow. It’s also among the most entertaining and dazzling comic book movies of the century, hopefully starting a new mentality around blockbuster filmmaking in the process.