Top 20 Best Films Of 2020

So… yeah, 2020 has not been a good year. But let it not be said that we didn’t get something good out of it. When the layman’s access to streaming services was at its most vital, a lot of legendary filmmakers teamed up with Netflix and the like to keep the art alive in this particularly rough patch. Not only that, but because all the major studios were busy salvaging their blockbuster titles for when people could actually get to cinemas and watch them (which became more and more of a distant memory as this year dragged on), everyone got a break from the flood of superhero movies that have clogging the market of late, and a lot of independent studios stepped up to the plate and filled in the gap with some truly stunning pieces of cinema.

And in honour of the features that helped keep my sanity intact during one of the scariest periods of my relatively short lifespan to date, let’s close out le grand shitshow not by reliving the shite, but by holding up the jewels that still managed to find their way to audiences in the midst of all this chaos. These are my picks for the Top 20 Best Films Of 2020. But first…

Top 20 Worst Films Of 2020

2020 was a shit year. Duh. However, this was a shit year even beyond the metrics that other recent years have been shit, like the one-two-punch to our ideal of cultural heroes over 2016-2017. As terrifying as it already is to be under constant threat of plague all bloody year thanks to COVID-19, the extent to which it affected our lives and even our entertainment was something else entirely. It felt like large-scale hubris for 2019, the Omnicorp-isation of Disney, and then in comes a plague no-one seemed properly prepared to deal with, that threw a monkey wrench into a system everyone was far too confident could withstand whatever came at it.

The release schedule was in a continual state of shuffling throughout, meaning that a lot of big-name productions got delayed ‘til next year, and with varying degrees of lockdown worldwide, cinema attendance took a sharp dive, to the point that not only were there more classic movies being shown than anything new just to fill up the cinemas that were still open, but a lot of independent cinemas likely won’t survive if this continues for much longer. And at a time when all we had was our screens to alleviate the cabin fever, it felt like we were more in need of entertainment than ever.

As a result of all this, a lot of what makes up the worst that 2020’s cinema had to offer comes down to a matter of releasing anything and everything that could be spared just to keep butts in seats and eyes on screens, meaning that there was quite a bit of disposable garbage that filled in the margins. Not only that, but there were a lot of astonishingly miscalculated attempts to say something meaningful so that this year wasn’t a total waste as a pop culture moment, which only ended up making this whole situation feel even worse. And since all that time indoors gave me plenty of space to write up more reviews than any previous year, there are quite a few movies that surely deserve to be on this list, but only just missed the cut. Jeff Wadlow should be counting his blessings that Fantasy Island got passed up because, as you’re about to see, I have no mercy in stock for the 20 that made it in. As such, let’s stop waffling on and get into my picks for the 20 Worst Films Of 2020.

We Can Be Heroes (2020) - Movie Review

It was tough figuring out what to review for my last write-up of 2020. I mean, this has been the most productive year in this blog’s history, and I still wasn’t able to get around to everything I wanted to see. So… what do I pick?

The new George Clooney movie? Eh, after Suburbicon, I haven’t been holding out much hope for that working out.

Death Of 2020, Charlie Brooker’s new production? I think this year’s been bleak enough without shining a light on someone else shining a light on how garbage the last twelve months have been. I want to end things more positively than that.

Well, how about Wonder Woman 1984? Can’t go see it in cinemas because of lockdown, and it isn’t streaming over here yet, so that’s out (same with Superintelligence, although quite frankly, I’m not exactly beating myself up over missing out on James Corden no doubt embarrassing himself once again).

Then this little feature popped up on Netflix earlier this week… looks like I got my pick.

The Forty-Year-Old Version (2020) - Movie Review

Normally, this is the kind of title (not even the film itself, just the title) that would get on my nerves because, let’s be honest, trying to bank on the popularity of The 40-Year-Old Virgin is quite an odd choice, even in a year dominated by odd choices on both sides of the screen. And yet, I have no vitriol about this one as it’s quite fitting for the film it’s attached to. The whole point at the heart of the Judd Apatow film (and a lot of what he’d make afterwards) is that there’s no age limit on ‘growing up’ as we understand it; late-bloomer doesn’t just apply to people in their late-teens or even 20s. With the docu-drama vision writer/director/producer/star Radha Blank gives here, it’s certainly in that same spirit, and it shine because of it.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020) - Movie Review

After gaining some traction with August Wilson’s words with Fences, Denzel Washington continues down that road with his latest production credit. And honestly, after seeing how this turned out, I can only see him stepping out of the director’s chair to be a good move. Don’t get me wrong, Fences was a solid production, but as a theatre adaptation, it felt a little too close to its origins to make full use of what cinema could offer such a story. Now, George C. Wolfe, on the other hand, hits the ground running on this one, and he’s not the only one doing so.

A Sunburnt Christmas (2020) - Movie Review

Looks like I missed the boat on making this a timely review, innit? Yeah, it’s a few days late, but with how much lockdown has slowed everything down to a crawl, time and seasons don’t mean as much as they have in previous years, so I think we can let a minor lapse through without much fuss. Besides, after the shocker I just got done reviewing, I’m in need of some bloody good cheer right now. And not only did I find it with this little ripper, it might be one of the best examples of a somewhat darker Christmas movie that doesn’t involve the words “Bad” or “Santa”.

The Prom (2020) - Movie Review

James Corden really, really, really needs a new agent. His choice of scripts is getting out of hand. The Emoji Movie, Peter Rabbit, Cats, even the British dub of Norm Of The North; whatever potential he may have had in Hollywood, he has pissed away entirely by contributing to some of the absolute worst movies of the 2010s, and dragging down the few good ones he gets (like being the biggest sticking point in the otherwise-excellent Smallfoot). He is a walking warning flare for any movie he’s attached to, but his presence within those movies is only a symptom of much larger problems with those productions. And the same is true for this one, to the point where watching this brought something… ugly out of me.