THE 25 BEST FILMS OF 2020

So…

I don’t think I’m breaking any ground in expressing that we seemed to exist in a purgatorial state of being this year. Waking up and getting out of bed never felt so stagnant an activity. Each day’s order of operations always remained identical to the one before it: walk downstairs, pour a cup of coffee, and assess the day, which in so many ways seems to be the exact same as before. I feel like more often than not, I’d find myself introspectively examining my life, my routines, and how I could perhaps make that day fresher than the previous. That quest often led to the hazy daze of 3:00 p.m., nothing having been accomplished apart from daydreaming and a cluttered YouTube history.

Those of us that were lucky enough to either still have or to find jobs went to work, no matter its setting. For much of the pandemic’s beginning, I spent my days inside a nursing home, praying that my mask would fend off daunting viral opponents, and hoping it would protect the octogenarians with which I was assimilated. The latter half of my year has been spent in webcam windows, taking notes, researching, and scheduling appointments as an executive assistant. I suppose I’m proud of my ability to adapt as the once entirely motionless life of mine changed on a dime midway through July, but I should also just be grateful that it budged at all.

Perhaps the thing that changed the least for me in 2020 also changed the least: movies. While I watched more films from (and in) a single year than I ever have in any previous year, I also saw most of them on a television or an iPad as opposed to in the theater for anywhere from $2 to $15. Nevertheless, many of the films I saw this year will likely go down as some of my favorites from any year due to their existence at all. We lost DUNE and WEST SIDE STORY and BLACK WIDOW, but we got PALM SPRINGS and FREAKY and f*cking BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM, which yes, actually happened. I thank God that I had movies to fall back on when everything else felt like it was crumbling. I couldn’t see friends or family, nor could I travel or venture to cinemas, but I could check out new films from David Fincher, Sophia Coppola, and TWO from Spike Lee. I consider that a beautiful, albeit conflicting gift.

This video is a tribute to those films and more, those that kept me going, that made me laugh and smile and cry, that helped me sort through a chunk of this still-raging mess. It begins with a montage and is followed by a countdown of my 25 favorites from the year. I hope you’ll seek them out; I hope you’ll enjoy this.

Thanks to David Ehrlich, Lucy May, and Alex Quinn, all of whom made videos before I ever tried but inspired me to give it a go. I hope you enjoy this as much as I love yours each year.

Thanks to those who believed in me as I fiddled with Premiere for the second year; I’ve got it down now. Consider this the new home for my videos moving forward.

Stay safe out there.

Will

Films used in intro (in order of first appearance, all of which needed to be released on streaming or in theaters for at least one week to be eligible. You won’t find Small Axe here. I won’t further comment):

Hopper/Welles
Tesla
The Invisible Man
The Wild Goose Lake
The Call of the Wild
Night of the Kings
Driveways
Bacurau
Birds of Prey
On The Rocks
Stardust
Bad Boys for Life
Tenet
Mulan
Freaky
Bloodshot
Possessor
Clementine
Babyteeth
The Assistant
You Cannot Kill David Arquette
Host
The Painter and the Thief
Trolls World Tour
Proxima
Beanpole
The Photograph
The Glorias
Unhinged
Mank
Emma.
The Whistlers
Onward
Martin Eden
Hubie Halloween
Kajillionaire
Shirley
Bill & Ted Face the Music
Buffaloed
Swallow
Vitalina Varela
On the Record
Love and Monsters
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Blue Story
Weathering With You
Sonic the Hedgehog
The Climb
Tommaso
The Broken Hearts Gallery
Monsoon
Run.
Greyhound
The Truth
The Mole Agent
The Way Back
Irresistible
Saint Frances
Matthias & Maxime
Black Bear
I’m Your Woman
Bad Education
One Night in Miami…
Boys State
Ammonite
Mayor
Wonder Woman 1984
Ema
Downhill
And Then We Danced
Palm Springs
Letter to You
The Audition
Hamilton
12 Hour Shift
The King of Staten Island
Fatman
Promising Young Woman
Zappa
Beats
The Witches
The 40-Year-Old Version
Beastie Boys Story
Songbird
Happiest Season
Miss Americana
Cane River
News of the World
Deerskin
Miss Juneteenth
The Wolf of Snow Hollow
Minari
Capone
i’m thinking of ending things
Sometimes Always Never
The Nest
Synchronic
Sibyl
The Lovebirds
Lucky Grandma
Collective
Underwater
His House
A White, White Day
Let Him Go
The High Note
Dolittle
Save Yourselves!
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Soul
Nomadland
Notturno
First Cow
Color Out of Space
She Dies Tomorrow
Yes, God, Yes
Vivarium
The Other Lamb
The Lodge
The Gentlemen
Greed
End of Sentence
Wolfwalkers
Scoob!
Spontaneous
True History of the Kelly Gang
City Hall
Corpus Christi
The Prom
Banana Split
Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
I Still Believe
Da 5 Bloods
Les Miserables
Extraction