Ok, this is super late, since I like to release this around on the Oscars, and I was planning to watch a lot of prestige movies to prepare my “Best Films of 2020” list. But in 2020 (and so far this year) I didn’t watch as many movies as usual, instead I binged TV shows. I didn’t go to a film festival in 2020, and I didn’t spend a few days straight this winter just marathoning Oscars nominees. Because of this there are many 2020 movies I missed. So instead of a Best of 2020, these are Favorites Movies of 2020.
Also, I swear this isn’t a bias, there were some good movies were always going to be on streaming services in 2020 and I enjoyed them, but none of them were compelling enough to move up from Honorable Mention.
Listed in U.S. Release order.
Birds of Prey
The original Suicide Squad was so dumb but it’s lone bright spot was Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. This movie wisely didn’t make it all about Harley, instead it gave her her own band of memorable female characters to share the movie with. All of whom are more interesting than anyone else in the Suicide Squad. The filmmakers also made the wise choice of changing Harley from sympathetic villain to sympathetic anti-hero, making that much easier to root for her. Also, all the action set pieces were fun and well- executed, unlike..well you know.
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
While Disney/Pixar wanted to make animated movies about the meaning/purpose of an individual’s life in 2020, this Shaun the Sheep movie is just a silly farm animal adventure with an alien element. Like most Shaun the Sheep it plays out like a silent movie with all sight-gags and character humor. My kids from 3-10 loved it, and I enjoyed it the whole time as well.
Sonic the Hedgehog
I think part of the reason why so many people liked this is that it worked at all. This is basically a road trip buddy movie between Sonic and a small-town Sheriff played by James Marsden. Jim Carrey pursues them as Dr. Robotonik in full ham mode. It was surprisingly watchable for this type of kids movie and actually a pretty good representation of Sonic.
The Invisible Man
The marketing for this movie did it no favors, making it look like a typical stupid horror remake. But what it actually is a metaphor for a toxic relationship. And it is surprisingly effective at that. It really puts in the shoes of Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss), the woman being terrorized by the Invisible Man. You could feel her paranoia, dread, and helplessness and how he was making her feel crazy and seem crazy to everyone around her.
Bill & Ted Face the Music
Yet another movie that surprised me by how good it was. Years after the events of the first two installments, Bill and Ted are now washed out musicians, who never wrote “the Song that saved the world”. Their marriages are falling apart and they have two young daughters who also seem to be going nowhere. But they end up going on one more time-travelling adventure and their daughters go on one of their own. But why I really liked this movie, is it that it was funnier and much more fun than I expected it to be. It wasn’t just a retread of the originals, it actually expanded on them and improved them in a few ways.
Tenet
Ok, so I’m not going to claim I understand auteur director Christopher Nolan’s time-bending story points. But this was basically Nolan’s James Bond movie. He’s the best technical director of the last three decades so it was a thrill ride to watch.
Promising Young Woman
There’s a lot left ambiguous in this movie, and I don’t really want to spoil any of the twists so I’m not going to talk about the plot too much. But this is an incredibly stylish revenge thriller that deconstructs romantic comedies along the way. It brutally dissects “nice guys” , slut-shamers, and those who are willing to just look the other way. It raises a lot of questions about consent, abuse, survivor’s guilt, and moral responsibility to do something. It’s certainly the 2020 movie that’s going to stick with me the longest. ++++++++
Honorable Mention – Minari, To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You, The Wrong Missy, The Lovebirds, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, Hamilton, Palm Springs, Mulan (2020), A Rainy Day in New York, Soul