The Year in Review- 2020

It was the year the Coronavirus delayed the release of everything you wanted to see. Were you covering your nose and mouth in public? Admit it, social distancing feels good(for a while). A Presidential election raised the tension, but at least the right guy won. Kobe Bryant died, movie theaters almost did, and streaming continued to change the way we consume content. In case you forgot(or never knew), here are the ten best films in order for 2020.

1. "Nomadland"(2020) The ever-increasing homeless population(or houseless, I should say) is presented in a subtle, moving documentary style by Frances McDormand's wandering widow and writer-director Chloe Zhao. The earthy cast is made up of real-life nomads and van-dwellers, an eye-opening experience for those unaware of the 2011 decimation of small towns like Empire, Nevada. The Academy Awards for Best Picture, Director, and Actress(McDormand's THIRD win in that category) were rightly rewarded to this sobering indie drama. As someone that once lived a life not unlike these characters, I urge everyone to see it.

2. "Mank"(2020) David Fincher, don't leave us again. It's been a long six years since "Gone Girl". The great Gary Oldman is Herman Mankiewicz, the alcoholic screenwriter and unsung hero of Hollywood's Golden Age, that Pauline Kael propped up in a 1971 article about the true authorship of "Citizen Kane". Erik Messerschmidt's Oscar-winning cinematography echoes the films of the 1930s and '40s, while the late Jack Fincher's screenplay(David's dad) delves into deceptive California politics that are eerily reminiscent to today's predicament. Amanda Seyfried is the standout in a supporting cast that includes Lily Collins, Arliss Howard, and Charles Dance.

3. "The Father"(2020) Anthony Hopkins is still an amazing actor. That's one of the comforting lessons we learned during the most challenging year in the history of the industry. The now-legendary Welshman, more than fifty years after his debut in 1968's "The Lion in Winter", became the oldest recipient of the Best Actor Oscar(his second) for this heartbreaking depiction of dementia. First-time director Florian Zeller adapts his own London play with intimacy and class and the same level of acclaim. Olivia Colman ably costars as Hopkins' long-suffering daughter. Christopher Hampton won Best Adapted Screenplay.

4. "Judas and the Black Messiah"(2020) Revolution is the only solution. Fred Hampton was the progressive 21 year old leader of the Chicago Black Panther Party and the founder of the working-class, anti-racist Rainbow Coalition movement. His 1969 murder by the police is even more and powerful and potent, in the year of George Floyd protests. Daniel Kaluuya is living up to the promise of "Get Out", and Shaka King makes an assured feature directorial debut. Will Berson's screenplay reveals the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover(Martin Sheen) himself as the masterminds of an insidious plot to eliminate Hampton. "Judas" William O'Neal(Best Supporting Actor nominee LaKeith Stanfield) committed suicide in 1990.

5. "News of the World"(2020) The "Captain Philips" team of Tom Hanks and Paul Greengrass reunite for this beautifully somber Western, based on a 2016 novel by Paulette Jiles. A grizzled Hanks is a former Confederate officer on a 400-mile wagon-ride with an 11 year old orphan(impressively played by newcomer Helena Zengel) to a home she no longer has. There's something very warm and soothing about an old-fashioned genre picture like this, even with peril and potential kidnappers all over 1870 Texas. James Newton Howard's score and Darius Wolski's cinematography are selling points. I'd like to spread the news on this one.

6. "Promising Young Woman"(2020) Carey Mulligan is magnetic in this aptly-titled vigilante thriller, confidently written and directed by a debuting Emerald Fennell. An unapologetic anti-male, MeToo manifestation where even the "nice guys" need to look in the mirror, "Woman" makes it's point with black comedy and plenty of twists and turns. Cassie Thomas is a tragic heroine on a righteous revenge tour that leads to her dead best friend's rapist. I can't believe they used a Paris Hilton pop song("Stars Are Blind") along the way. I can't believe it worked. Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Chris Lowell, and Connie Britton co-star.

7. "Soul"(2020) I've found my spark, and it's discovering movies like Pixar's 23rd film, a Christmas Day present released straight to Disney+. Jamie Foxx's jazz man has a near-death experience, which includes a tour of the afterlife and a friendship with Tina Fey's lost soul "22". Writer-director Pete Docter("Monsters, Inc", "Up", "Inside Out") is one of Pixar's founding fathers and chief creative officer beginning in 2018. "Soul" marks the final input of former boss John Lassiter.

8. "The Invisible Man"(2020) TV veteran Elisabeth Moss made the most of her big-screen close-up in "Saw" co-creator Leigh Whannell's laudable sci-fi thriller, that was a solid second at the box office when Covid shut the world down. It would have likely crossed the $100 million mark domestically. Loosely inspired by the literary work of H.G. Welles and 1930s director James Whale, this is a quieter, classier version of 2000's "Hollow Man" in more contemporary terms. Unseen mad scientist Adrien Griffin, played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen in the film's finale, earns a place in the horror pantheon.

9. "Pieces of a Women"(2020) What a year for women. Vanessa Kirby climbs the ranks in director Kornel Mundruczo's grueling adaptation of his own Polish play, an intensely-personal project co-written by his wife Kata Weber. A young couple sue their midwife(Molly Parker) in the aftermath of a devastating miscarriage that occurred in their Boston home. The astonishing 24-minute long-take child-birth sequence is an early contender for best scene of the decade. Is Shia LaBeouf still cancelled? The "Transformers" star is a legitimately good actor, that I hope to see continue to mature in movies like this.

10. "The Way Back"(2020) A downbeat Ben Affleck(is there any other kind?) rebounded from his bumpy Batman experience with this subtle surprising drama from sports movie master Gavin O'Connor("Miracle", "Warrior"). Norman Dale's 1952 Hickory Huskers have got some competition from a Catholic high school basketball team that offers a redemption arc for a recovering alcoholic Affleck. Another Covid casualty, the film was released in theaters on March 6th, and made available digitally two weeks later.

Honorable Mentions- "Horse Girl"(2020) I like Alison Brie. "Sonic the Hedgehog"(2020) The Sega sensation ends the video game-to-film curse. "Onward"(2020) Pixar pairs the voices of Tom Holland and Chris Pratt. "Da 5 Bloods"(2020) Spike Lee does Vietnam for Netflix. "The King of Staten Island"(2020) is played by Pete Davidson in this Judd Apatow comedy. "You Cannot Kill David Arquette"(2020) The title says it all. "Rifkin's Festival"(2020) Woody Allen's career is winding down. "The Trial of the Chicago 7"(2020) Aaron Sorkin sends us to 1968-69. "The Witches"(2020) Robert Zemeckis remakes Roald Dahl. 'The Midnight Sky"(2020) George Clooney directs and stars in the Arctic Circle. "Let Him Go"(2020) Kevin Costner and Diane Lane must rescue their grandson. "Hillbilly Elegy"(2020) Ron Howard adapts JD Vance. "Four Good Days"(2020) Two good performances by Mila Kunis and Glenn Close. "One Night in Miami..."(2020) Feb 25 1964 with Cassius Clay, Jim Brown, Sam Cooke, and Malcolm X. "Let Them All Talk"(2020) Meryl Streep talks to Lucas Hedges, Candice Bergen, and Dianne Wiest.