The Blu-ray Community Top 25 Films of 2020 (Please Read 1st Post)

[thewerepuppygrr]

the Deadline for your votes is set for:
Sunday (Mar 28th) at noon eastern time (9 am pacific).

Happy New Year, Blu-Ray.com! Let's kick 2020 in the nuts and round up the best films this past year had to offer. You've got two whole months to catch up on anything you've missed (and there’s less than normal so no excuses!).

Guidelines

A bit different to previous years, simply list your top 10 - 25 films in order descending from your favorite, the higher up the film is the more points it'll get, like this:

1. 25 Points
2. 19 Points
3. 18 Points
4. 17 Points
5. 16 Points
................
16. 5 Points
17. 4 Points
18. 3 Points
19. 2 Points
20. 1 Point
................
21. 1 Point
22. 1 Point
23. 1 Point
24. 1 Point
25. 1 Point

Your top film gets 25 points, because it's your favorite so it deserves a little bit extra. This year continues the addition of 21 - 25 as we believe everyone should have a chance to add some runners up, they all get 1 point each, which will hopefully avoid us getting many tie breakers and might allow us to add some little known films that wouldn't of initially gotten many peoples attention last year. If you can't think of extra 5 films worth mentioning, then don't worry, the minimum amount of submission is 10 films, the extras are for people who might want them.

And please, list your films in the order given, no randomly ordered submission will be counted.

The Rules

1. Like mentioned above, Minimum amount of films listed is 10 and Maximum is 25. If you can't list 10 movies you've seen this year, all the films on your list will only receive 1 point each towards the total so be sure to reach that 10 milestone.

2. What counts as a 2020 release? - A film must have been released either limited, wide, on demand, or straight-to-dvd (which ever comes first) in the United States in 2020. This does not include film festivals or released internationally. It may be hard to determine if some films were released in 2020 or not, so that's what the strict rules on this are for. We stick to the US as our guide for no other reason than it is easier that way. That said, because releases have been totally weird this year, I will consider titles that have not had a wide release if you can provide a good argument for it.

Use the release dates on IMDb if you are unsure if it's eligible. As an example from a previous countdown, Snowpiercer was released in some countries and festivals in 2013, but did not get a limited release in the U.S. until June 27th, 2014. So that film will count as eligible for 2014. Likewise, a movie that doesn't get a wide release until January, but it had a limited release sometime in 2020, would also count.

Classic films that were re-released ARE NOT ELIGIBLE! Please do not include them on your list, you'll be asked to change it and if you haven't changed before the deadline, the films on your list will get 1 point each.

Only feature-length films, please. Short films don't count for this - if you are unsure, please ask.

And if you're unsure if a film is eligible, just ask and we will help figure it out for you!

3. Please only make one list - Make only one list on this thread. However, you are free to update and change your original post as often as you'd like until the deadline. It will make tallying very hard if there are multiple lists from one person. Just find your original post and click 'Edit' to make your changes. If you do re-post your list twice or more, I'll message you to remove them.

4. Add a short review of your film choices - In an attempt to personalize the list as a whole, I want members to post a short bit of prose about their choice. This can range from a short sentence consisting of a couple of words to a couple of lines long paragraph, or you can link to a previous review you wrote when the film was released.

5. This is not compulsory, and you can write these short pieces on however many of your choices you want, even if it's only for your first pick., however the more input the better, the short words of wisdom will be included on the final tallied up list in a well presented manner, and you're list will be linked with you're description so others who see your words will hopefully want to look at your other choices as well.

6. Any votes from brand spanking new accounts or accounts that are in anyway suspicious or suspect will be void. Play nice, or don’t play.

7. Finally, just to remind you, the Deadline is set for: Sunday (Mar 28th) at noon eastern time (9 am pacific). Please make sure you get your list in and make any final edits before this deadline, as any changes after that will not count.

[Member-244966]

1. Never Rarely Sometimes Always
2. Da 5 Bloods
3. The Invisible Man
4. Emma
5. Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn
6. Happiest Season
7. Soul
8. The Personal History of David Copperfield
9. I'm Thinking of Ending Things
10. Swallow
11. She Dies Tomorrow
12. All the Bright Places
13. The Hunt
14. Onward
15. Buffaloed
16. Calm with Horses
17. The King of Staten Island
18. Bill and Ted Face the Music
19. Underwater
20. Color Out of Space

[Cremildo]

10.

Let Them All Talk

A delightful, thoughtful romp by Soderbergh that goes some unexpected places. Character-driven like his best work, not en empty formal experiment (though it does often look ravishing). Multigenerational interaction, artistic self-absorption, a writer's responsibility towards their subject, a woman's worth in her old age - actually a multilayered affair for such a seemingly frivolous dramedy. The cast works wonders with the mostly improvised material. Always a pleasure to see Dianne Wiest onscreen; Bergen is the MVP. Composer Thomas Newman low-key kills it.

9.

Les Misérables

8.

Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist

7.

First Cow

6.

Soul

5.

One Night in Miami...

In his Great Movies essay on Spielberg's The Color Purple, Roger Ebert wrote: "When a movie character is really working, we become that character. That's what the movies offer: Escapism into lives other than our own. I am not female, I am not black, I am not Celie, but for a time during The Color Purple, my mind deceives me that I am all of those things, and as I empathize with her struggle and victory I learn something about what it must have been like to be her."

So true. I'd never seen the "n" word used in such an unexpected, shocking way as in here. I'm not black, yet I felt it like a punch to the gut.

Regina King's directorial debut is a meaningful, empathetic sociopolitical chamber drama. Sharply written by the author of the play it's derived from and expertly performed by the ensemble of four, it gets even better - more focused, its power concentrated - once the leads hole up in that hotel room to discuss themselves and what it meant to be an African American in 1964.

4.

Mank

Lo and behold! Fincher branches out and aims for poignancy by bringing his late father's sole script to the screen. Less about the making of Citizen Kane than about the sheer willpower required not to sell one's soul in Hollywood, this impeccably mounted throwback to the aesthetics of old elects that most undervalued asset of the movie industry - the screenwriter - as the focal point in what amounts to a classic David versus Goliath story, in which the little guy (the free-thinking artist, a man of vices but unshakable integrity) goes up against the powers-that-be (corrupt, reactionary studio suits and media moguls). Transporting and delightfully entertaining, Mank should be savored by anyone who has an interest in the so-called Golden Age and in filmmaking itself, which might explain the subdued reception by those who expected just another display of technical showmanship and mordant cynicism by its director.

3.

Nomadland

2.

Minari

1.

Sorry We Missed You

A middle-aged working-class man is systematically crushed by the inhumane demands of gig economy and its deceptive bait of self-employment; the strain and the compromises spread like a virus to his financially struggling but loving family. That hospital breakdown might be the scene of the year. Pared-down, laser-focused social-realist filmmaking, when done by artists who know (and care) about their subject, can be as eloquent as the most baroque exercise in style.

[StarWarsIsAwesome123]

1. Tenet
2. Soul
3. Bad Boys For Life
4. Onward
5. The Croods: A New Age
6. The Invisible Man
7. Sonic the Hedgehog
8. Extraction
9. The Gentlemen (2020 release in the US)
10. The Way Back
11. Love and Monsters
12. Mank
13. Greenland
14. Unhinged
15. Bad Education
16. Freaky
17. Honest Thief
18. Underwater
19. Birds of Prey
20. Bill & Ted Face The Music
21. Bloodshot
22. The New Mutants
23. Mulan
24. Wonder Woman 1984

List is finalized!

[CreasyBear]

1. Wonder Woman 1984
2. Tenet
3. Relic
4. Da 5 Bloods
5. Swallow
6. The Invisible Man
7. The Way Back
8. Underwater
9. Possessor
10. Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
11. Sound of Metal
12. Bad Education
13. Bill & Ted Face The Music
14. King of Staten Island
15. Happiest Season
16. Mank
17. I'm Thinking of Ending Things
18. You Should Have Left
19. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

[thewerepuppygrr]

Originally Posted by StarWarsIsAwesome123

Will add more as I watch more. Definitely slim pickings.

Yeah I know some may struggle, which is why I lowered the minimum to 10 this year. Hopefully that will be achievable for most in what has been an insane year.

[Mandalorian]

01 | Hamilton

02 | Minari

03 | The Nest

04 | Another Round

05 | Black Bear

06 | Tenet

07 | Soul

08 | The Forty-Year Old Version

09 | Sound of Metal

10 | Da 5 Bloods

11 | Dick Johnson is Dead

12 | One Night in Miami...

13 | Possessor

14 | Nomadland

15 | The Invisible Man

16 | Mangrove

17 | Promising Young Woman

18 | Palm Springs

19 | Time

20 | The Gentlemen

21 | Never Rarely Sometimes Always

22 | Wolfwalkers

23 | The Trial of the Chicago 7

24 | The Wolf of Snow Hollow

25 | First Cow


work in progress, more to see.

[h0h0x]

Reserved

[dunnbluray]

1.) The Gentlemen
2.) Tenet
3.) Greyhound
4.) Extraction
5.) The Informer
6.) The Invisible Man
7.) Bloodshot
8.) The Hunt
9.) Sonic The Hedgehog
10.) Bad Boys For Life
11.) Unhinged

[DanTheMan]

01) The Invisible Man
02) Soul
03) The Trial of the Chicago 7
04) Promising Young Woman
05) Minari
06) The Forty-Year-Old Virgin
07) Weathering With You
08) Never Rarely Sometimes Always
09) Run
10) Possessor
11) Sound of Metal
12) I Care A Lot
13) Judas and the Black Messiah
14) Bad Education
15) Tenet
16) The Devil All the Time
17) Da 5 Bloods
18) Swallow
19) Antebellum
20) The New Mutants
21) Birds of Prey
22) Happiest Season
23) The Gentlemen
24) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
25) Palm Springs

Just Missed the Cut:

[Show spoiler]26) One Night in Miami
27) Nomadland
28) The Father
29) Underwater
30) Let Him Go

[Rodney-2187]

1.Hamilton
2.Soul
3.Mank
4.The Sound of Metal
5.Extraction

6.The King of Staten Island
7.The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special
8.Possessor
9.Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
10.I'm Your Woman

11.Archive
12.The Invisible Man
13.The Trial of the Chicago 7
14.Color Out of Space
15.Vivarium

16.My Spy
17.Evil Eye
18.The Midnight Sky
19.The Old Guard
20.Tenet

21.Honest Thief
22.The Way Back
23.Mulan
24.Godmothered
25.Blow the Man Down

[hasslein]

1. Let Him Go

[Creed]

Sweet, I can add more to my list, but I'll wait a bit for future change.

[Hucksta G]

1. Possessor
2. Minari
3. Hamilton
4. Promising Young Woman
5. Another Round
6. The Devil All the Time
7. Corpus Christi
8. Exile
9. Sorry We Missed You
10. The Dissident
11. Time
12. The Father
13. Nomadland
14. Collective
15. Sound of Metal
16. Trial of the Chicago 7
17. Mank
18. The Kid Detective
19. Synchronic
20. I’m Thinking of Ending Things
21. Deerskin
22. The Invisible Man
23. The Gentlemen
24. Da 5 Bloods
25. The Nest

Will update up until the deadline.

[JayTL]

1. Hamilton
2. Palm Springs
3. Trial of the Chicago 7
4. The King of Staten Island
5. Another Round

6. Sound of Metal
7. Tenet
8. The Vast of Night
9. Soul
10. Small Axe: Mangrove

11. Da 5 Bloods
12. Bill And Ted Face the Music
13. Wolf of Snow Hollow
14. Mank
15. Love and Monsters

16. Host
17. The Way Back
18. Onward
19. Mulan
20. Bad Boys For Life

21. Small Axe: Lover's Rock
22. Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpions Revenge
23. Happiest Season
24. Borat 2
25. Sonic The Hedgehog

26. Freaky (just in case Hamilton doesn't count)

[Britnasty]

With theatres shuttered and every film being pushed back years due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Film in 2020 looked bleak. However, it turned out to be one of the strongest years on record in terms of quality and stories represented. Here's my Top 25!

The Top 10



1. Quo Vadis, Aida?

Director Jasmila Žbanić delivers a sobering and shattering look at the 1995 Srebrencia massacre. Told through the eyes of UN translator Aida, Jasna Đuričić carries the entire film on her shoulders, offering up the singular most devastating performance I’ve seen committed to film in my entire lifetime. With an ending scene that will leave you gasping for air, Quo Vadis, Aida? will be must watch cinema for decades to come.

2. Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Never Rarely Sometimes Always tackles the difficult topic of abortion and women’s rights at a time when our country’s focus on said issue is laser focused. Director and Writer Eliza Hittman’s script takes the subject on headfirst and instead of being preachy, gives us a level of compassion and humanism that we rarely get with these types of stories. Newcomer Sidney Flanagan consumes herself so in the role that the viewer becomes protective of Autumn and her situation as if it was your own daughter/friend/relative/etc.

3. La Vita Davanti A Sé (The Life Ahead)

Coming out of semi-retirement, the always fantastic Sophia Loren returns to film for the first time in 11 years in La Vita Davanti A Sé (The Life Ahead). As a former prostitute and Holocaust survivor, Loren’s Madame Rosa is tasked with housing a troubled orphan named Momo. As the viewer, we are truly gifted the opportunity to watch Loren create magic again, developing a deep bond with Momo, helping him unconsciously work through his traumas and find meaning in life again.

4. Nomadland

Set in the aftermath of the Great Recession, Nomadland tells the story of those who befell its repercussions with respect and curiosity. Chloe Zhao continues her streak of getting stirring, raw performances out of everyday real humans, living these situations. While the film is told through the always excellent Frances Macdormands Fern, real life nomad Swankie delivers one of the most heartfelt monologues that will have you reflecting on life for days after viewing the film.

5. Promising Young Woman

“On the path to revenge, dig two graves.” - Confuscius.

With a biting, witty script from Emerald Fennell and a ferocious lead performance from Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman rises above the pack to issue a searing indictment on rape culture, consent and toxic male fragility. With quick witted jokes and colorful pop songs, Emerald’s directorial debut turns the revenge genre on its head and leaves you thinking long after the screen fades to black.

6. Relic

Horror has always been a genre that isn’t tied to any firm strings, being able to play any role and using haunting imagery to tell deeper stories. In Relic, director and writer Natalie Erika James expounds on her short film Creswick, telling the story of Edna, an older woman who has gone missing for days with no recollection of where she had gone, worrying her daughter and granddaughter. As the film progresses, it slowly pulls back the layers revealing a beautiful metaphor about love, family and the hard truths of dealing with a loved one who is succumbing to the throws of dementia.

7. Soul

Every single year, Pixar manages to outdo themselves consistently. With the 2015 release of Inside Out, many thought the studio had released its most ambitious film yet. Well, Soul outdoes it in every aspect and proves Pixar has only further heights to hit. Told through the eyes of Joe and 22, a lost soul stuck in limbo, Soul teaches us the viewer that life is short and every now and then you need to stop and smell the roses.

8. Minari

In Minari, Director Lee Issaac Chung tells the story so many directors have before but instead of telling that story out of the gate, he took the time in his career to better understand his childhood and delivered a stunning tale of assimilation, family and the chance at the greatly sold American Dream. With stunning turns from Steven Yeun, Alan Kim, Yeri Han and the impeccable Youn Yuh Jung, Minari delivers a heartwarming story of how one summer can make an impact on your life forever.

9. Misbehaviour

Tackling the now legendary 1970 Miss World pageant in London, Misbehaviour tackles the difficult task of balancing the topics of intersectionality, the Women's Liberation movement and geopolitical controversies surrounding the 1970 pageant, all while making it palatable for wide audiences and told through a comedic lens. It nails the high wire act and delivers a film that is sensitive to all those involved all while making the audience chuckle along the way. Keira Knightley and Gugu Mbatha-Raw lead a stellar cast that humanizes each character along the way instead of turning them into stereotyped caricatures.

10. Summerland

Actress Gemma Arterton has developed a strong filmography over the years, turning in performance after performance, proving she is one of the most promising actresses of today. In Summerland, she plays Alice, a researcher and recluse who the people in the village call "the witch", whom is tasked with fostering a child during World War II. As she welcomes Frank into her life and opens up about why she is an outcast, the two develop a beautiful bond. The film slowly reveals Alice and features a twist that will leave you with warmth and a smile. It's one of two films this year I classify as "comfort food".

11-25



11. The Half of It

It took 16 years but Alice Wu returns behind the camera lens and delivers a masterpiece coming of age tale about small town life, high school love and accepting ones self.

12. Let Them All Talk

Meryl Streep, Candace Bergen and Dianne Wiest turn in stellar performances in a film about three older women coming to terms with how one's success impacts them all and the ramifications it puts on all of their lives.

13. I Care A Lot

In this dark, satirical comedy, Rosamund Pike plays the Amy Dunne-esque Marla, who games the guardianship world and inevitably meets her match in Dianne Wiest and Peter Dinklage. All too real, while still being hysterical, I Care a Lot is polarizing but presents as a necessary conversation starter about guardianship abuse.

14. The High Note

The other "Comfort food" on my list, The High Note presents itself as another chick flick but is actually so much more. It is a deep look at the music industry and how it treats older female singers, especially one of color, wanting to reinvent herself but being told to rely on nostalgia. Tracee Ellis Ross plays the stellar Grace Jones and Dakota Johnson is Maggie, her assistant who seems to be the only one fighting for Grace to remain true to herself.

15. La Llorona

From Guatemala, director Jayro Bustamante takes the very real atrocities committed during the Guatemalan Genocide of the 1980's and uses the legendary horror tale not as a source of scares but to show the audience how one is complicit in oppression.

16. The Mauritanian

Based on harrowing true events, Tahar Rahim turns in a performance to be seen, portraying Mohamedou Ould Slahi and the cruel torture he had to endure as a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay following the events of 9/11, despite never being charged for a crime with no evidence.

17. Underwater

While it doesn't reinvent the underwater horror genre, Underwater features a stellar lead performance by Kristen Stewart, palpable tension that will have you gripping your armrests and a third act twist that almost made me crap my pants from excitement. This is what having fun at the movies should be.

18. Happiest Season

Let all Christmas comedies be as intelligent as Happiest Season. While it features a cliche dysfunctional family dynamic, it manages to one up the romcom genre by taking a delicate topic of coming out to ones family and the implications it may bring, Happiest Season presents the story with warmth and cheer, giving your characters you can believe in and root for.

19. The Lovebirds

In The Lovebirds, the audience gets more than their moneys worth because the film does exactly what we want it do: put Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae in hilarious situations and get even funnier results from the gifted comedic actors.

20. Bad Hair

In an intelligent mix of horror, camp and satire, director Justin Simien of Dear White People fame, takes the everyday women's beauty treatment of installing a hair weave and tells a deeper story of cultural identity and self-worth.

21. The Invisible Man

In this update of the classic H.G. Wells tale, director/writer Leigh Whannell turns the story upside down and delivers an inspiring female empowerment film told through real life horror elements and a sci fi twist, with Elisabeth Moss driving this car until its stunning conclusion.

22. Sound of Metal

In this drama about a musician losing his hearing, Sound of Metal features a beautiful performance in Riz Ahmed that will only leave you empathetic and heartbroken.

23. Collective

In this documentary from Romania, this searing exposé of government corruption and lies told to coverup unnecessary deaths following a nightclub fire in Bucharest, Collective will tear you open with anger.

24. Black Bear

In this trippy drama told in 2 acts and anchored by a stellar turn from Aubrey Plaza, Black Bear will leave you questioning what you just watched and if any of it was real.

25. Possessor UNCUT

In this dystopian horror thriller, Possessor tells the story of an assassin who inhabits her subjects minds and bodies through groundbreaking technology. With gruesome violence reminiscent of the Italian Giallo film genre, Brandon Cronenberg channels his legendary father David and delivers a disturbing, timely film, speaking at large about the world we already live in.

[SSGT_BOND]

1. Tenet
2. The Invisible Man
3. Soul
4. Da 5 Bloods
5. Wonder Woman 1984
6. News of the World
7. Extraction
8. I'm Your Woman
9. Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey
10. Let Him Go
11. Onward
12. Justice League Dark: Apokolips War
13. Greyhound
14. The Old Guard
15. VFW
16. Archenemy
17. A Good Woman Is Hard to Find
18. The Wretched
19. Love and Monsters
20. Anything for Jackson
21. The Midnight Sky
22. 1BR
23. The Platform
24. The Babysitter: Killer Queen
25. Vampires vs. the Bronx

[the one who knocks]

1. The Trial of the Chicago 7
2. Promising Young Woman
3. Da 5 Bloods
4. Another Round
5. The Kid Detective
6. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
7. Tenet
8. The Invisible Man
9. Extra Ordinary
10. The King of Staten Island
11. Come to Daddy
12. The Gentlemen
13. Vivarium
14. Bad Education
15. Palm Springs
16. Bruce Springsteen's Letter to You
17. Bill and Ted Face the Music
18. Freaky
19. The Hunt
20. The Rental
21. Mank
22. The Wolf of Snow Hollow
23. Run
24. An American Pickle
25. Possessor

[Comicman494]

1. Just Mercy
2. Soul
3. The Invisible Man
4. Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
5. The Devil All the Time
6. Tenet
7. Extraction
8. Palm Springs
9. The Rental
10. Unpregnant
11. 1917
12. Rebecca
13. The Call of the Wild
14. Mulan
15. The Broken Hearts Gallery
16. Justice League Dark: Apokolips War
17. Superman: Red Son
18. Bill and Ted Face the Music
19. Da 5 Bloods
20. Spontaneous
21. Happiest Season
22. Love and Monsters
23. Wonder Woman 1984
24. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
25. Enola Holmes

[nichart]

Reserved