The MoFo Top 100 of the 2010s Countdown

Edge of Tomorrow is good fun. With the possible exception of Palm Springs, it may be my favorite movie to use the Groundhog Day format.

It's great to see that Take Shelter made the countdown. It came very close to making my list. I love how rife with ambiguity it is. It hit me like a ton of bricks when I first saw it while I was single and just seeing it on the list made me misty-eyed. I'm sure it would hit me even harder if I saw it now since I also have a family, and not to make this too much about myself, also wonder if I've inherited and/or will pass down any mental disorders.

Both are films,although neither made my ballot.

Seen: Seen 32/34

Edge of Tomorrow AKA Live Die Repeat was #66 on the MoFo Top 100 Science Fiction Films.

__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

I'm glad Edge of Tomorrow made the countdown even without my help. I've seen it and enjoyed it many times. I liked Take Shelter the one time I watched it too.

Seen 22/34

Edge of Tomorrow is very good. Yeah, the premise of reliving a certain day over and over again was already done in Groundhog Day, but I really don't care about those criticisms. Both films differ from each other in numerous ways, so it's not like Nichols' film is a ripoff or anything. I also found it quite a bit of fun. It's the kind of film which is at a high risk of feeling repetitive, but I think it's able to add enough variation to the various 'days', so that it doesn't overstay its welcome and remains fresh. It also reminds me of playing a difficult videogame. The better you get, the more you're able to advance. Just a solid film, overall. It didn't make my ballot as I haven't felt any urge to revisit it, but I'm glad it made this list anyways.

Take Shelter was #12 on my ballot. It's a great film since it's able to find the right balance of how much info to reveal and how much not to reveal to remain ambiguously menacing. Watching the film, I frequently found myself struggling to identify what Curtis's visions were meant to signify. Whether they were nightmares, hallucinations, or premonitions, or whether the film was supposed to be about mental illness or a modern day tale of biblical prophecy, the film refuses to give a clear answer on what was happening to Curtis. However, I think this worked to the film's benefit. Just as Curtis was unable to decide what his visions were meant to be, the visuals were unable to decide either. Regardless of how you choose to interpret the film though, each of the interpretations remain compelling and make for a horrifying portrait of paranoia and being completely on your own in terms of people refusing to believe or support you throughout a crisis. So yeah, really glad it made this list.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12. Take Shelter (#67)
13. Certified Copy (#84)
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20. A Separation (#90)
21.
22.
23. Hereditary (#96)
24.
25.

__________________
IMDb
Letterboxd

Both were on my ballot. I really like both of these films, even though they're completely different. A really great "breadth of the artform" kinda day.

I talked about this on a podcast recently (which you'll all get to hear soon enough), but Edge of Tomorrow is an actual video game movie. Not in the sense of being based on one, but in the sense of feeling like one. In a good way. If anyone here likes the Cruise-McQuarrie M:i films, pretty good chance you'll like this, too. I have my gripes with it, but it's pretty daring, and it has a wonderful moment in the middle that speculative fiction sometimes has, where you realize what's possible, that the story is aware of all the places it can go and intends to explore them, which gives me a lovely rumbly feeling every time it happens.

I also really appreciate that it manages to put us in the middle of chaotic and complicated battle sequences without us having no idea what's going on, an underrated thing that is, to my mind, kinda the bare minimum an action film needs to be doing to be considered great.



Take Shelter is completely different. It's a character piece driven by performances, and man, what performances they are. Shannon really gets to show his stuff here, but Chastain, while not as showy, is just as good.

I did a podcast about it a few years ago:


Direct Download or embedded player:



It's also responsible for something Mark said that I think about all the time: he said Nichols' films were "like novels," and I was struck by how apropos that was. That was Mark at his best, taking a complicated, subtle filmmaker's body of work and distilling it into a short phrase that perfectly encapsulates not its literal content, but its feeling.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it, but I loved Take Shelter both of the times I’ve watched it. Great film. Great concept, great execution.

My list was tightly packed so it didn’t make it, but I do really like it. Glad to see it here.

I wrote a review once. Here it is for anyone interested:


As for Edge of Tomorrow I don’t care for that one much. I’ve seen it twice because so many is raving about it and I love Tom Cruise and the idea is pretty cool even if it’s been done a many times. But it just does very little to me. I felt about exactly the same on the rewatch as on the first watch.

Take Shelter is the fourth film from my ballot to show. I had it all the way up at number five, accounting for twenty-one of its 102 points. I was already a fan of writer/director Jeff Nichols from Shotgun Stories (2007) which also starred Michael Shannon, whose profile had been increasing in recent years with Revolutionary Road, World Trade Center, Bug, The Runaways, and one of my very favorite underrated movies The Missing Person. Take Shelter was a major step forward from Shotgun Stories and may still be Nichols' best film (subsequently making Mud, Midnight Special, and Loving) and for all of Michael Shannon's triumphs in both lead and scene-stealing supporting roles this still may be his finest work, as well. Jessica Chastain, Shea Whigham, and Katy Mixon are all good but the power of the film is surely tied up in Shannon's simultaneously odd, wonderful, frightening, and protective soul, portraying a man haunted by visions he cannot ignore be they schizophrenic or Biblical or something in between. Take Shelter got attention at Sundance and Cannes and was praised by critics but criminally ignored by The Oscars and found its audience slowly. Happily it is at least on the radar here at MoFo.

HOLDEN PIKE’S LIST
5. Take Shelter (#67)
6. The Artist (#87)
15. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (#72)
21. Room (#97)

Edge of Tomorrow is absurd, but it's fun absurd. Tom Cruise as always gives 110%. I know that's mathematically impossible, but somehow he does it. I didn't vote for it, but it's nice to see here. Haven't seen Take Shelter.

Love Groundhog Day and science fiction is another love of mine. Mix them together, throw in Emily Blunt, Tom Cruzito a pinch of Bill Paxton and voilà you have my #9.
Take Shelter is good but I'm waiting for another Jeff Nichols..

__________________
Letterboxd
Entertainment log

Swore I've seen Edge of Tomorrow but I have no track record of it so I won't count it as seen.

Take Shelter was my number 12. Thoughts can be seen in the review that SE posted of mine. I was wondering if any of my very few reviews here would make the cut and glad to see one did.

This is one of the films I was worried about if or not it would show. I may possibly get around 20/25 to appear.

Seen both and I like both quite a bit, but no votes from me in this round. Take Shelter represents another film that just missed the cut on my ballot.

Seen 22/34

__________________

Like both of these quite a bit, but not enough to make my list. Take Shelter I have seen twice now, waiting for it to all snap into place and make it a film I love. Performances ate fantastic. It has what has to be one of my top five scenes of the decade. Both watches there was just a little something missing. Definitely a movie that will be in the rotation and get watched every few years.

Only seen Edge Of Tomorrow once in theater. Sometimes that’s enough for these blockbusters for me. Just enjoy that initial big screen watch. I won’t be opposed to seeing it again if I get the opportunity though.

No votes this round.

__________________
Letterboxd

Take Shelter was extremely good but I remember being disappointed by the ending.

Yay a rare twofer (and an even rarer three-in-a-row, following on from Prisoners yesterday) - Edge Of Tomorrow was my #16 and Take Shelter my #20.

Seen: 28/34 (Own: 18/34)

Pffff, silly Emily. You can't kill Tom Cruise

__________________

Anyway, seen both but neither made my ballot...

Edge of Tomorrow was fun, but it didn't stick with me the way it has for a lot of people. For some weird reason, what has stuck with me most was Bill Paxton's performance. Anyway, here's what I wrote on Letterboxd back when I saw it in 2014:

As for Take Shelter, it's another film I haven't seen in a while, which might have damaged its chances on my list, cause I do remember loving it. Here's what I wrote back in 2012:


So, here's where I'm at...

Seen: 26/34

Have not seen any of the last 4. My brother had Easy A (left behind by his ex) and Edge of Tomorrow, so I guess I can get to them soonish.


Easy A is a surprise, as I wasn’t aware some held it in such esteem.

I expected to see Take Shelter.

I haven't seen Take Shelter or Easy A, though my room mate really likes the latter and I think there's a copy in the house somewhere. I've seen Prisoners and enjoyed it quite a bit, but it wasn't one of the three Villeneuve films that were on my original short list for the Countdown.

Edge of Tomorrow was high on my ballot at #9, but for some reason I can't think of anything to really say about it. I definitely agree that it's a fantastic video game film, despite not actually being an adaptation of one. I frequently get the urge to rewatch it again, but never seem to make the time to do so.

It might not look like it now, but I promise there are at least a couple titles on my list that aren't science fiction, action, or horror films.

Seen: 23/34

My List: 6
03. The Raid (2011) - #100
09. Edge of Tomorrow (2014) - #68
10. The Raid 2 (2014) - #75
14. The Martian (2015) - #82
15. Hereditary (2018) - #96
20. Cabin in the Woods (2011) -#88

__________________

Edge of Tomorrow....fun film! Glad to see it make the countdown and I almost voted for it.