Clint’s Best (and Worst) Films of 2020

It has been said a million times, but it deserves repeating, 2020 has been a very weird year. Everything started out smooth for the first couple of months, and then the theaters shut down and movies, as we knew them, disappeared. It was nearly six months before any of us would see the inside of a theater again. During that time the Hollywood studios, the major streaming services, and most of the theaters figured out a way for us to start watching films that were scheduled for theatrical release at home.

We have been trending in the direction of at-home streaming for several years now, but this year has forced that change to happen a lot faster than any of us could have imagined in January of 2020. I personally feel that the theater experience will always be a part of our lives, but it will be the market that determines how big of a role they play in the release of movies once everything gets back to “normal.”

For a while it looked as though we weren’t going to see a lot of films released in 2020, but through all of the various channels we ended up with a fairly full slate of films. Many of those films were pretty good. A few of them were outstanding.

These are my favorites in this very weird year.

1. The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Aaron Sorkin gives us a powerful, poignant, and timely film that is the most exciting courtroom film to be released since My Cousin Vinny. This is the kind of movie you want to watch again and again.

2. Eternal Beauty – This film will run you through the emotional obstacle course. You’ll laugh out loud, you’ll ugly cry, and you’ll cringe at the awkward, but you will also embrace everything that is not “normal” and out of balance. Most of all, you will completely fall in love with Jane (Sally Hawkins).

3. Enola Holmes – Millie Bobby Brown gives us the Holmes we all needed, even though we didn’t know we needed her. This is a fun, fast-paced film with an epic mystery that must be solved around the world’s smartest dysfunctional family.

4. Promising Young Woman – Carey Mulligan gives the performance of her career (so far). Her character is complex and complicated. She is playing chess while everyone around her is playing checkers. 

5. Words on Bathroom Walls – This film will have you doubled over in laughter one minute and ugly crying the next. It is wonderfully told, beautifully shot, and filled with deep characters.

6. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – This may not be an outstanding movie, but the acting by Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis is so extraordinary that it makes my top 10 list. If you want to see a true master class in acting, watch this movie. 

7. Sound of Metal – Imagine striving for one thing your whole life and then having that thing taken from you. What would you do? This film deals with that struggle in a powerful and moving way.

8. The Personal History of David Copperfield – This is the first film that I am aware of that didn’t pay any attention to race in the casting. It is also one of the most beautifully shot and costumed films of the year. Beyond that it is a fun and fanciful story suitable for the whole family. 

9. Mulan – Maybe it is because I have two Chinese daughters. Maybe it is because I have spent time in rural China and have an affinity for their culture. Maybe this is just a fantastic and beautiful movie. Whatever it is, I absolutely love this rendition of Mulan. 

10. A Call To Spy – A WWII-era spy flick filled with double-crossing, high stakes, and last-second heroics, and it’s all based in reality. What’s not to love?

Last Call – A lot of people hated this film, but I found it raw and powerful. It’s not a film for everyone, but check out the first five minutes and see if it captures your interest. 

The Last Vermeer – This is a fascinating combination of a war film and an art heist movie. And what makes it even better is that it is based on a true story.

Mank – Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried give award-worthy performances in this tribute to old Hollywood.

Onward – An animated fantasy that is accessible to all and has a redemptive message as well. Easily one of the best animated movies of the year.

Clint’s 10 Worst Films of 2020

As much as I would like to blame this list of bad movies on 2020, the truth is, this was a pretty good year for film. Maybe it is because there were fewer films released this year, but there weren’t a lot of colossally terrible movies released in 2020. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t any bad films released. No, there were several cringeworthy and sleep-inducing offerings this year.

These are the worst of the worst.

1. The Nest – The first four minutes of this movie are nothing more than three establishing shots that drag on and on. Upon first viewing, the studio should have immediately fired the editor and the director. The rest of the movie is not any better than the boring beginning. You would be more entertained staring at an empty bird nest for two hours than suffering through this drudgery.

 

2. Tenet – You know your movie is terrible when people who make a living understanding story structure are confused by the plot. You know your movie is even worse when thousands of people complain about the horrible sound quality and the director comes out and says he made the sound bad on purpose! Uh, what? Now, we are even more confused. 

 

3. The Rhythm Section – To say this movie is slow would be an understatement. A better description would be to say that this movie gives you an incredible opportunity to enjoy a 110 minute nap.

 

4. Centigrade – The two main characters in this movie are so annoying and so stupid you will find it almost impossible to hope that they live.

 

5. Tesla – Things you need to know before seeing this film: 1. It’s not a musical, but Ethan Hawk sings a song in full “music video” style for no reason other than to do it. 2. It is set in the early 1900’s, but Tesla has a smartphone. 3. Jim Gaffigan is a great actor, but when he is one of the best things about your movie you need to make some different choices.

 

6. Brahms: The Boy 2 – The first film in this franchise was brilliant. It had a spectacular ending that set up the potential for an equally good sequel. So the studio did what studios love to do. They took the set up from the first film, wadded it up, threw it in the trash, and cobbled together a bunch of nonsense disguised as a horror flick so they could make a quick buck. 

7. The New Mutants – Imagine if John Hughes had made The Breakfast Club with teens with superpowers. But instead of it being amazing and a classic, it is thoroughly boring and useless. That is The New Mutants.

8. The Call of the Wild – This is a movie that tried to please everyone and managed to please no one. For the animal lovers, sorry, the animals are all computer generated. (And done so very poorly). For the people looking for a hearty Western, sorry, it’s rated PG so the conflict is minimal at best. For the kids, sorry, even though it is only PG it is too intense for the little ones.

 

9. Shortcut – You know you don’t have much of a story when the opening and ending credits make up 15% of your film’s total running time. Throw in several useless “montage” scenes and you have an 80-minute movie that should have been 40 minutes at most. The best part of this movie is the climactic scene. It is spectacularly funny. It isn’t supposed to be funny, but it is.

 

10. Doolittle – Watching this feels like you are watching one of those kindergarten plays where all of the kids stand in a line then one by one they step forward, deliver their line, and step back. The good news is there is a fun game you can play while watching. I call it, “Guess the country where Doolittle grew up, because his accent changes in almost every scene.” 

 

Dishonorable Mentions

The Gentlemen – It’s slow, it’s barely funny, it’s not nearly as smart as it would like you to think it is.

 

The Grudge – We should have known that 2020 was going to be as bad as it was when this was the first theatrical release of the year. Just like 2020, this flick was of normal length, but it felt like it was twice as long as it should have been.

The Hunt – If you are the kind of person that goes to movies for the gratuitous violence and prefer your plots to be paper thin, this movie is your Magnum Opus.

 

The Turning – The first 15 minutes of this movie are dreadfully boring. And then, it gets worse from there.

 

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