lists & essays.

I like making lists. Top 10 films of every year, lists of my favourite films of each decade, and of all time. I have also posted a few essays I wrote back when I was much younger as a University of Sydney student, where I did film studies before moving on to my law degree.

top 10 films of all time.

1. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

2. Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)

3. The Godfather (1972)

4. The Godfather: Part II (1974)

5. The Shining (1980)

6. Arrival (2016)

7. Interstellar (2014)

8. Blade Runner (1982)

9. Big Business (1988)

10. Parasite (2019)

Honourable Mentions: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1969), The Matrix (1999), The Talented Mr Ripley (1999), Aliens (1986), Beaches (1988), Children of Men (2006), Contact (1997), The Dark Knight (2008), Elizabeth (1998), The Family Stone (2005), Goodfellas (1990), Inception (2010), My Cousin Vinny (1992), Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), Psycho (1960), The Remains of the Day (1993).

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image credit: Andrew Sebastian Kwan

top 10 films of 2021.

1. Dune (Denis Villeneuve)

2. The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion)

3. CODA (Sian Heder)

4. Pig (Michael Sarnosky)

5. Spider-Man: No Way Home (Jon Watts)

6. The Worst Person in the World (Joachim Trier)

7. Belfast (Kenneth Branagh)

8. Don’t Look Up (Adam McKay)

9. Mass (Fran Kranz)

10. The Tragedy of Macbeth (Joel Coen)

Honourable mentions: Violet, The Green Knight, House of Gucci, West Side Story, Old Henry, Parallel Mothers

top 10 films of 2020.

1. The Invisible Man (Leigh Whannell)

2. I’m Thinking of Ending Things (Charlie Kaufman)

3. Judas and the Black Messiah (Shaka King)

4. Nomadland (Chloé Zhao)

5. Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell)

6. The Father (Florian Zeller)

7. La Llorona (Jayro Bustamante)

8. The Mole Agent (Maite Alberdi)

9. Another Round (Thomas Vinterberg)

10. Relic (Natalie Erika James)

Honourable Mentions: The Outpost, The Hunt, Falling, Da 5 Bloods, The King of Staten Island, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Quo Vadis Aida?

top 10 films of 2019.

1. Parasite (Bong Joon Ho)

2. Joker (Todd Phillips)

3. The King (David Michod)

4. Us (Jordan Peele)

5. 1917 (Sam Mendes)

6. The Irishman (Martin Scorsese)

7. Little Women (Greta Gerwig)

8. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (J.J. Abrams)

9. Pain and Glory (Pedro Almodovar)

10. Jojo Rabbit (Taika Waititi)

Honourable Mentions: Ad Astra (James Gray), Aladdin (Guy Ritchie), Marriage Story (Noah Baumbach), Hustlers (Lorene Scafaria), The Traitor (Marco Bellocchio)

top 10 films of 2018.

1. Hereditary (Ari Aster)

2. Black Panther (Ryan Coogler)

3. A Star is Born (Bradley Cooper)

4. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (Christopher McQuarrie)

5. Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Marielle Heller)

6. A Quiet Place (John Krasinski)

7. Roma (Alfonso Cuaron)

8. Annihilation (Alex Garland)

9. Cold War (Paweł Pawlikowski)

10. Three Identical Strangers (Tim Wardle)

Honourable Mentions: BlacKkKlansman (Spike Lee), Minding the Gap (Bing Liu), Green Book (Peter Farrelly), The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos), Bird Box (Susanne Bier), Vice (Adam McKay), Crazy Rich Asians (John M. Chu), The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Joel Coen & Ethan Coen), Ready Player One (Steven Spielberg), RBG (Betsy West and Julie Cohen).

top 10 films of 2017.

1. The Greatest Showman (Michael Gracey)

2. Get Out (Jordan Peele)

3. Blade Runner 2049 (Denis Villeneuve)

4. Wonder (Stephen Chbosky)

5. Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan)

6. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Rian Johnson)

7. Call Me By Your Name (Luca Guadagnino)

8. Victoria and Abdul (Stephen Frears)

9. Molly’s Game (Aaron Sorkin)

10. War for the Planet of the Apes (Matt Reeves)

Honourable Mentions: Split (M. Night Shyamalan), Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig), Alien: Covenant (Ridley Scott), BPM (Beats Per Minute) (Robin Campillo), Baby Driver (Edgar Wright), I, Tonya (Craig Gillespie), In the Fade (Fatih Akin).

top 10 films of 2016.

1. Arrival (Denis Villeneuve)

2. Lion (Garth Davis)

3. La La Land (Damien Chazelle)

4. Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)

5. Hell or High Water (Taylor Sheridan)

6. Jackie (Pablo Larrain)

7. Deadpool (Tim MIller)

8. Sing Street (John Carney)

9. 13th (Ava DuVernay)

10. Tanna (Martin Butler and Bentley Dean)

Honourable Mentions: Moana (Ron Clements, John Musker), A Bigger Splash (Luca Guadagnino), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Gareth Edwards), Nocturnal Animals (Tom Ford), Finding Dory (Andrew Stanton, Angus MacLane, Jose Luis Angulo).

top 10 films of 2015.

1. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller)

2. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (JJ Abrams)3

3. The Revenant (Alejandro González Iñárritu)

4. The Martian (Ridley Scott)

5. Amy (Asif Kapadia)

6. Inside Out (Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen)

7. Creed (Ryan Coogler)

8. Phoenix (Christian Petzold)

9. Burnt (John Wells)

10. Ex Machina (Alex Garland)

Honourable Mentions: Son of Saul (László Nemes), Brooklyn (John Crowley), The Big Short (Adam McKay), Sicario (Denis Villeneuve), Spy (Paul Feig), Gett: The Trial of Vivian Amsalem (Ronit Elkabetz, Shlomi Elkabetz), Straight Outta Compton (F. Gary Gray), Truth (James Vanderbilt).

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