Joe's Complete Ranked 2020
The dearth of blockbuster fare available (save for Christopher Nolan's erstwhile nigh-incomprehensible "Tenet") makes it easy to assume there just weren't that many movies released in 2020. But you'd be wrong.
In 2020 I saw 201 films released throughout the year, my highest personal total in many years. And though that number may seem high, there are a great number of films I didn't see, including mainstream fare like "Sonic the Hedgehog," the Pixar flick "Onward," and the Jon Stewart joint "Irresistible."
And while there is a year's worth of stinkers in here, in terms of top-to-bottom quality, 2020 was, at worst, an average year, cinematically speaking. If there are few strikingly, timelessly memorable films perhaps, there are still a few dozen very good ones.
It's for that reason I decided to list all of the movies I saw that were released during the year, and making comments on a few notables throughout. Some might be surprisingly good, others disappointing. But suffice it to say, if you haven't watched a lot of movies this year, know that there are many of quality out there. On my list, which you'll see below, you'll get into the hundreds before you find a movie I'd call "bad," and really only the last 40 or so are what I'd call "irredeemably bad."
So here is my complete 2020, ranked in ascending order (from worst to best):
201. Assassin 33 A.D.: My choice for worst movie of the year is a faith-based film where Muslim extremists invent time travel so they can go back in time to assassinate Jesus. Why assassinate a guy who is most famous for being assassinated anyway, you ask? Well, they hope to kill him before it's known that he's the Savior and Son of God, thereby ensuring Christianity never happens. But a group of Christian scientists seek to foil this plot, leading to an often graphic, oddly entertaining cat-and-mouse game where just about every character is killed multiple times, only for someone to go back to the future to warn them, leading them on another path. It's xenophobic and makes Muslims a laughably offensive stereotype, and contradicts the teachings of its subject, but is still something that must be seen to be believed.
200. Tyler Perry's A Fall From Grace
199. Circus of the Dead
198. Love, Guaranteed
197. Capone
196. Welcome to the Circle
195. Hillbilly Elegy: Ron Howard's worst movie, and I think you can throw that distinction into Amy Adams' and Glenn Close's filmographies as well. Dunderheaded and often mean-spirited, this film just makes one series of unfortunate choices after another, with backward wisdom, odd moral statements that may or may not be true, and one of the most awkward moral "there are X types of people in the world" using Terminators of all things (and by the way, "neutral Terminators" is NOT A thing).
194. Infamous
193. A Perfect Host
192. The Voices
191. Dangerous Lies
190. Gretel and Hansel: A toothless, un-scary horror adaptation of the classic fairy tale. A missed opportunity on every level.
189. The Main Event
188. Abigail Haunting
187. The Stand At Paxton County
186. A Dim Valley
185. Fatal Affair
184. Spenser Confidential
183. Inheritance
182. Let's Scare Julie
181. Bad Therapy
180. Money Plane
179. The Christmas Chronicles 2
178. Amulet
177. The Wretched
176. The Sleepover
175. The Lie
174. Scoob!: A Scooby Doo movie that establishes a Hanna Barbera universe and co-stars the Blue Falcon? My excitement turned to despair when I saw the final overstuffed, underinspired product. Maybe my biggest disappointment of the year for what should have been a slam dunk fun movie.
173. Downhill: "Force Majeure," the film this one is based on, is a fantastically dark exploration of ethics, morals, and how it can affect a marriage and family. This remake starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell is an awkward clown show where we're somehow supposed to sympathize with a guy who left his family to die in an avalanche, then create a silly comedy from it. No thanks.
172. The Last Thing He Wanted
171. Bad Boys For Life
170. The Last Days of American Crime
169. The Vast of Night
168. Fantasy Island
167. Koko-Di, Koko-Da
166. Tesla: Notable mostly for the WTF moment of the year, where an in-character Ethan Hawke, as Nikola Tesla, does a karaoke rendition of Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." Seriously. This happened.
165. Time Apart
164. Open 24 Hours
163. Wander Darkly
162. My Spy
161. The Way Back
160. Behind You
159. The New Mutants: Not quite as bad as its reputation (and multiple delays) would have you think, but it's also not all that great either.
158. Olympic Dreams
157. Worth the Wait
156. Love Type D
155. Blush
154. Kindred
153. Nocturne
152. The Unfamiliar
151. Enola Holmes
150. The Lovebirds
149. The Beach House
148. Mank: The overstuffed awards bait film of the year, "Mank" loses points for its arrogant sense of self-importance, its affectation of shooting in black and white, and a marketing campaign that led you to believe this mediocre flick would have a strong sense of style and humor.
147. The Night Clerk
146. Dark Encounter
145. Black Box
144. Centigrade
143. Troop Zero
142. The Rental
141. Sophie Jones
140. The Midnight Sky: A sprawling disappointment from George Clooney, one of my favorites, but who makes a film here that is mostly head-scratching and rarely engaging.
139. Save Yourselves!
138. Resistance
137. Evil Eye
136. Ravage
135. Dick Johnson is Dead: The Indiana Film Journalists Association named this Best Documentary, and I strongly disagree. The premise is fun and cute, and no doubt was cathartic to filmmaker Kirsten Johnson and her father, but I found this to be repetitive and focusing on the fun while not showing the negative aspects of Alzheimer's. I respect Johnson's choice to hold back, but the unwillingness to show how it helped during dark times keeps it from becoming a great documentary.
134. The Jack in the Box
133. Lost Girls
132. Nesting Dolls
131. Eat Wheaties!
130. Getaway
129. Tenet: An incoherent, rambling mess. "Tenet" is an action film where you aren't exactly sure who the good guys and bad guys are, or what their goals are. They just speed around in cars (sometimes in reverse), shooting at (or un-shooting?) and punching each other, with little indication of what their ultimate objective is.
128. Radioactive
127. The State of Texas vs. Melissa
126. La Dosis (The Dose)
125. The King of Staten Island
124. Clementine
123. 18 to Party
122. Project Power
121. Extraction
120. Sputnik
119. The Lodge
118. #Alive
117. The Climb
116. The Outpost
115. Vivarium
114. Spiral
113. Game Master
112. Vagrant
111. 537 Votes
110. Sea Fever
109. Blow the Man Down
108. The Hunt
107. An American Pickle
106. The GoGo's
105. Stardust
104. 7500
103. The Prey
102. You Cannot Kill David Arquette: David Arquette launches an apology tour to pro wrestling fans for his infamous run in the group WCW 20 years ago. It's often touching and soul-baring, as Arquette's mental health issues are addressed, and sometimes terrifying, as Arquette engages in a hardcore match where he is severely cut on his neck by a light tube. But in the end it's a vanity project that needed a more neutral observer as filmmaker.
101. Escape from Pretoria
100. The Old Guard
99. Happiest Season: A well-worn Hallmark holiday trope--young urban professional comes home for small-town family Christmas with a secret--in this case that she's gay. Performances from Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Mary Steenburgen, Aubrey Plaza, Alison Brie, Mary Holland, and Dan Levy, make this a movie at least twice as good as it has any business being.
98. Horse Girl
97. A Secret Love
96. Unhinged
95. Arkansas
94. Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
93. Becoming
92. M.O.M.: Mothers of Monsters
91. Scream, Queen: My Nightmare on Elm Street: A fun and surprisingly touching documentary about the making of "A Nightmare on Elm Street, Part 2: Freddy's Revenge," demystifying some of its gay overtones, and how it affected star Mark Patton's life.
90. The Last Action Heroes
89. Resisterhood
88. Greyhound
87. Cut Throat City
86. Unknown Origins
85. Mulan
84. The Social Dilemma: This documentary posits social media is systematically dividing us, and even setting us up for a civil war. In the current political climate it's kind of tough to find much disagreement in that.
83. Sound of Metal
82. Becky: An R-rated Home Alone, only with a Nazi Kevin James and his thugs battling a young girl. How can you not like this film?
81. You Should Have Left
80. Rebuilding Paradise
79. Black Bear
78. Bad Education
76. Ava
75. Wonder Woman 1984: I love Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman, but the film director Patty Jenkins built around her didn't help much, leaving her pining for Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) for much of the film, and giving us a half-baked "The Monkey's Paw"-inspired wish maguffin plot. Cheetah (Kristen Wiig) was hardly a worthy adversary, and that all-gold armor was as dumb as it was unnecessary. That magic lasso action, though, was pretty tops, I have to say.
74. I'm Your Woman
73. Blood Quantum
72. All Together Now
71. Class Action Park: Probably the most fun documentary you'll see this year, centering around a real water park in New York that threw all caution--and safety precautions--to the wind in the name of a good time (and cash money). Just be ready for the consequences, which are much less fun.
70. Uncle Peckerhead
69. Good Boy
68. MLK/FBI
67. Alone
66. American Murder: The Family Next Door
65. The Nest
64. Beasts Clawing at Straws
63. Synchronic: This drama starring Anthony Mackie (Falcon from the MCU) and Jamie Dornan (the "50 Shades" series) has one of the more interesting premises from the past year, where a drug makes you time travel, leading to unforeseen dangers and consequences.
62. Emperor
61. Wolfwalkers
60. Pieces of a Woman
59. Ammonite
58. Made in Italy
57. The Assistant
56. Run
55. Host
54. The Invisible Man
53. My Octopus Teacher: A fantastically touching documentary about a skin diver who dives to the same spot every day for a year and befriends an octopus. Gorgeously shot, and you see the relationship between the two and learn what incredible animals octopi are. Maybe the most underrated film of the year.
52. All the Bright Places: Elle Fanning comes into her own in this teen-focused romance.
51. Palm Springs
50. She Dies Tomorrow
49. Come to Daddy
48. Soul: Pixar's second release of the year is the best animated film of the year, but is also somewhat lacking relative to its better entries. Less inspired, thoughtful, and insightful than it could be.
47. First Cow
46. Frances Ferguson
45. Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
44. After Midnight
43. John Lewis: Good Trouble
42. Swallow
41. Nomadland
40. Small Axe: Red, White and Blue
39. Driveways
38. Color Out of Space
37. Guns Akimbo
36. We Summon the Darkness
35. Long Gone Summer
34. Crazy, Not Insane
33. Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist: A documentary that is largely William Friedkin sitting in a chair discussing how he made "The Exorcist." In other words, riveting from start to finish.
32. All In: The Fight for Democracy: An outstanding look at voter suppression and how the American system of voting, designed with checks and balances in mind, has some pretty large blind spots, many there by design. Also uses the Georgia gubernatorial race of 2018, where blatant conflicts of interest and some shady dealings casts doubt on the election's fairness.
31. Hamilton
30. Relic
29. News of the World
28. Charm City Kings
27. Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics
26. Totally Under Control
25. Bacurau: A slow-burn film that takes one heck of a left turn and keeps on going. A Brazilian village has some pretty deep, dark secrets, and when a gang of murderous marauders targets it, they uncover said secrets.
24. Da 5 Bloods
23. Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen
22. The Father
21. The Half of It: Another film with a well-worn premise, this take on Cyrano de Bergerac somehow rises to become something much more touching. Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis) is a smart, shy teen who helps a tongue-tied football player (Daniel Diemer) woo a girl (Alexxis Lemire) she also is crushing on. Using a small-town setting allows elements of homophobia and race to seep in as complications, and director Alice Wu creates a rich environment beyond just the main three players.
20. Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm
19. Athlete A: A group of Indianapolis Star reporters uncover a systematic cycle of sexual abuse by US gymnasts by Dr. Larry Nassar, an athletic trainer for Michigan State University who used his position to abuse hundreds of girls, which was not only covered up by USA Gymnastics, but allowed to continue. Think of this documentary as a cousin to the 2016 Best Picture winner "Spotlight," only with big-time athletics standing in for the Catholic Church. It'll make you wonder what other institutions are hiding abuse of this nature.
18. On the Rocks
17. Small Axe: Mangrove
16. i'm thinking of ending things
15. Buffaloed
14. The Trial of the Chicago 7
13. Yes, God, Yes
12. Minari
11. Tijuana Jackson: Purpose Over Prison
10. The Twentieth Century
9. One Night in Miami...: Regina King's directorial debut is a fantastic fictionalization of an evening with Malcolm X (Kinglsey Ben-Adir), Cassius Clay (Eli Goree), Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), and Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom, Jr.), four large black personalities who affected society as a whole and especially the civil rights movement all in their own ways. The four pontificate, bluster, and argue, with factions forming, breaking, and re-forming in different ways, but the underlying love between them remaining.
8. Another Round
7. Never Rarely Sometimes Always
6. The Glorias
5. Possessor
4. Promising Young Woman
3. 76 Days: A harrowing look at the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic at Ground Zero: Wuhan, China. Cameras go inside the hospital and capture terrifying, harrowing stories of people dying alone or confused, or fearing for their lives. A sequence where nurses pull patients from a "queue"--essentially a large room full of sick people--is absolutely heartbreaking. Don't miss both parts of my chat with epidemiologist Eileen White about the movie.
2. Uncle Frank: Sophia Lillis stars as Beth, a liberal teen whose small-town South Carolina family (circa 1973) may or may not be ready for her Uncle Frank's secret. Beth and Frank have to travel from New York back home for the funeral of the family patriarch (Stephen Root), they learn things about each other and their family along the way. This story is hardly original, but writer/director Alan Ball ("American Beauty") tells it with gusto, and Lillis stands strong opposite Bettany and the rest of the cast, which includes Judy Greer, Steve Zahn, Peter Macdissi, and Margo Martindale.
1. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom: A powerhouse effort from director George C. Wolfe features stunning performances from Chadwick Boseman in his last role before his passing, and Viola Davis, who makes Ma Rainey a complete force of nature. Tensions are high as producers and Ma's band anticipate her arrival to record the title song, and she's in no mood for anyone's nonsense. A struggle emerges between Ma, troubadour Levee (Boseman), and the white producers who hope to profit off of her silky voice. It's a powerful battle of wills with a barrier-busting racial component that only heightens the poignance. Boseman has never been better, and don't sleep on Colman Domingo as Cutler, the band leader who looks to keep the peace.