Walter's Top Films of 2020

I made it to the theatre once in 2020. (And that was a dud – more later.) The bottom line is that I barely saw ten 2020 releases, let alone choosing ten for "top ten" list.

What I will do instead is write about seven impressive films from this past year in a non-ranked order. And, as usual, I will also suggest a couple of honourable mentions and a few older films I saw this year that are worth recommending.

Three of the most notable films were documentaries. One of those was My
Octopus Teacher, one of the few films that I reviewed earlier this year. It’s utterly unique, combining a beautifully shot underwater world with subtly luminous moments of contemplative insight. In a year filled with strange stresses and tensions, it was a perfect counterpoint and is much recommended.

The other documentary that I’ll mention is The New Corporation. This team’s first documentary, The Corporation, was the film that effectively called out the psychopathic nature (by practice and by legal necessity) of corporations. Now, they update their message by demonstrating the new face of the same old psychopathy among the “new corporations.” The new corporate emphasis on dangerously disingenuous charm, posing as though they are the best hope for the world, is surprisingly consistent with the psychopath diagnosis. Greenwashing and the myth of “corporate social responsibility” are just the surface; the corporate takeover of education in the developing world felt the most chilling. This isn’t the most scintillating entertainment in the world, but it’s solid quality and necessary education for all.

In between these two documentaries is David Attenborough’s A Life on Our Planet. The autobiographical form of this documentary gives it some of the personal appeal of My Octopus Teacher and adds a moving and effective urgency that is different from numbers alone, as we see the changes that have taken place during one attentive lifetime. The central portion of this film is hard-hitting - not for the faint of heart - but the ending, thankfully, adds some hope and optimism.

A couple of other very impressive films focused on court cases involving the fight for justice. The energetic and witty script of The Trial of the Chicago 7 saw Aaron Sorkin’s magic make an intense film (based on the trial of those falsely accused of conspiring to make the demonstrations violent at the 1968 Democratic National Convention) very watchable and entertaining. Of course, it also reflects Sorkin’s tendency to make a radical message more palatable to the mainstream, but I think there is some value in that – especially when others portray the grittier realities.

And Mangrove (part of the Small Axe film anthology by Steve McQueen) steps into this gap perfectly. This film depicts the struggle of the West Indian community in London to stand up against police harassment in 1970. While in many ways this depicts a similar court struggle, Mangrove centres racial hypocrisy (the West Indian community had been specifically invited to immigrate post-war) and the growing urgency for this community to come together and find their voice. In Mangrove, the energy comes less from fast and witty dialogue (though it is still a strong script) and more from the various life-giving threads within the West Indian community being woven together around a centre of food, music and socializing at the Mangrove restaurant. Watching the film, I couldn’t help but recall some recent wandering (in 2016 and 2018), when Carol and I saw the life of recent immigrant communities spill out into the streets of Paris (in edges of Montmartre and Belleville). I wonder about their struggles with police and other authorities.

Then there are two films worth recommending that star Carey Mulligan (they couldn’t be more different from each other, underlining Mulligan’s incredible acting range – though apparently the Dig has to wait until next year’s list). This year’s film is Promising Young Woman, a highly unique film that hits hard. I feel that even subtle spoilers are sensitive here, and so I won’t say why (though I wish I could – maybe I’ll write a spoiler-filled review at some point). Let’s just say that the film is quite effective in doing what it sets out to do, and it is a syrupy sweet (at times) gut-punch if that makes any sense. I understand there are some flaws, though if one accepts it as a contrived moral tale, I think it works.

Finally, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is a powerful drama that gives us Chadwick Boseman’s final, 
and magnificent, performance with some highly memorable monologues. I appreciate it when a filmmaker crafts a film that maintains the feel of a play.

Honourable mentions for the year include End of Sentence and Blow the Man Down, two indie dramedies that are well worth watching, giving us the depiction of characters and tales different from the mainstream as good indie flicks should. And as I watched the first half of Nomadland, I thought it would make my top list for sure, but then it just kind of wandered away and lost me. But it still deserves an honourable mention.

Over this year, I caught up on a few older films that I’d like to recommend: Just Mercy, And the Birds Rained Down, and from several years back a film that I never got around to, but clearly should have: Departures.

And this wouldn’t be complete without pointing out at least one disappointment: Tenet was a better film than those I usually add to my “spilled coffee list,” but it was such a disappointment, especially since it was the one film that I saw in a theatre. On top of serious plot problems, the pathetic sound editing (unforgivably) made me feel like an old man who couldn’t handle movie theatres anymore, until I heard Vic and others complain that the sound was indeed a serious problem. How on earth does that kind of mistake happen when so many millions are invested in a movie?? 

And now we brace for another year of the small screen...