10s of 2020 (pt. 1)

2020, as might be expected, has been a pretty slow year for movies. Not much has come out of interest in the first 5 months, and I doubt much more will be showing up over the next 7. That being said, I still have watched 10, so why not briefly keep track of them and order them as the year goes on? Sure, it will make my eventual year-end countdown less of a mystery, but I'm gonna break them up into isolated groups of 10, so this won't necessarily prove to be too much of a 10-months-from-now spoiler.

Alright, let's get into this.

#10. Underwater - This is a movie that feels like a bunch of crap from the '90s smashed together, and none of it gels. The main thrust of the plot starts too quickly, meanwhile the story itself is virtually nonexistent. But this isn't so much a bad movie as it is a really uninteresting one.

#9. Fantasy Island - Sometimes a concept alone can carry a movie, and while making a movie adaptation of a TV show isn't an original idea by any means, turning one into a horror movie is at least novel. Sadly, it never really works out, and by the end its layers of twists just bog it all down and leave you feeling confused and lied to.

#8. Sonic The Hedgehog - I'm not a big Sonic fan and with the most by-the-numbers screenplay in existence the ending result is just a very lame and very obvious family comedy movie. This might be fun for 9 year olds and people with serious '90s nostalgia (Sonic + Carrey = success), but I need something a little more interesting than that. I was mostly just bored.

#7. Gretel & Hansel - So far the biggest disappointment of a movie for me this year, Gretel & Hansel offers only surface level entertainment, but without the usual thrills. It's a well-shot movie that stagnates fairly early on, but mostly kept my interest in spite of the weak plot and pacing.

#6. The Invisible Man - Another competent horror movie that just never really takes off, The Invisible Man has the advantage of having Elisabeth Moss in the lead role, an actress who can elevate even the most bland of material. This was a very simple movie that has a slightly different angle, but really nothing too memorable here.

#5. Color Out Of Space - I wrote about 1300 words on this movie a couple months back, and while I was largely critical of it at the time, this is a movie that pops back up in my head a lot, and has me really wanting to give it a second try. Overall, it's not great, but it left a mark, had some cool visuals, and a fun Cage performance. Sometimes that's enough.

#4. Come To Daddy - A really odd sort of comedic thriller with an incredibly dark and childish sense of humor, which seems to be a trend in Elijah Wood movies, some bizarre plot twists, and a really fun appearance by a personal favorite of mine: Stephen McHattie. Certainly not for everyone, but a fun one for me.

#3. The Gentlemen - A wonderful return to form for Guy Ritchie, although slightly uninspired compared to some of his more classic crime comedies. Strong performances all around, but a few editing/narrative issues that made the plot a little hard to follow at times. Still a very enjoyable movie that I could see holding up well on rewatch.

#2. The Lodge - The first really good horror movie of the decade, this movie feels very similar to several horror classics, but manages to carve out its own identity really well. It's dark, morbid, and has some genuinely unsettling moments, even if it's not nearly as flashy as some of the things it takes inspiration from.

#1. The Vast Of Night - I didn't expect to find something I would genuinely love in the first 10 movies I saw from this year, but here we are. I was totally sucked in by the writing, characters, setting, and cinematography instantly, and it never let up on me. There aren't nearly enough movies that have this kind of brisk, action-less pacing, and especially not ones with stories this relaxed, mysterious, and engaging. It's gonna be a hard one to top, but the year is long. We'll just have to see.