The Ten Best Movies Of The Past Ten Years

Well, my favorites, anyway. Fun stuff, guaranteed. No indie art films here. In reverse chronological order.

Sinners (2025)

Ryan Coogler's woke Delta Blues vampire masterpiece stars Michael B. Jordan in a dual role as twins Smoke and Stack, a couple of gangsters looking to establish the best juke joint in the Jim Crow South during the depths of the Depression. Monsters, monsters everywhere — not all of them with sharp, pointy teeth.

Barbie and Oppenheimer (2023)

A.k.a. Barbenheimer, the most-unlikely double feature in movie history, with Greta Gerwig fashioning a billion dollar phenomenon out of a plastic doll while Christopher Nolan finally won a long overdue Oscar for his biopic about the father of the atomic bomb. Barbie is pure genius, Oppenheimer, engrossing.

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

The sequel you didn't know you needed (or wanted) with Tom Cruise reprising his 1986 star-making role as a hotshot pilot, now older, wiser, and puffier around the jowls. A surprisingly-moving adrenaline rush with a heartbreaking cameo from the late, great Val Kilmer.

Little Women (2019)

The umpteenth (and best) remake of Louisa May Alcott's classic novel about the trial and tribulations of four sisters during and immediately after the American Civil War, Greta Gerwig revisits a recurring theme in her work: what is the role of an ambitious woman in a society that only values her for one thing? Featuring an all-star cast (Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Emma Watson, Timothée Chalamet, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper), Little Women is my favorite movie on this list and one of my favorites of all-time.

Jojo Rabbit (2019)

Taika Waititi's Jojo Rabbit is a wildly-funny and deeply-moving comedy about a goofy ten year old Hitler Youth (and his imaginary pal, Adolf) who discovers the Jewish girl hiding in the attic and learns what it really means to be a Nazi.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)

An insider's look at Hollywood at the end of the 1960s, Once Upon a Time is the story of a washed-up television actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), his long-suffering stunt double (Brad Pitt in an Oscar-winning role) and the real-life Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) who cross paths with the Manson family. But if you think you know where this is going, well, clearly you've never seen a Quentin Tarantino movie.

Paddington 2 (2017)

A shockingly fabulous comedy about a talking bear with a taste for marmalade, Paddington 2 features the best performance of Hugh Grant's career as a narcissistic has-been actor who stops at nothing to stage the musical of his dreams.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

The best Star Wars movie since the first one back in 1977 — and just between me and thee, better than that. A rip-snorting adventure about a ragtag band of outsiders who take on an evil empire and spark a revolution.

The Man from UNCLE (2015)

Guy Ritchie's stylish Cold War spy thriller that teams a dapper American thief, a brutish Russian cutthroat and a beautiful East German auto mechanic against a well-dressed family of Nazi war criminals. Fun stuff!

Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation (2015)

One of the eight movies starring Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, a secret agent tasked with the dirty jobs no one else can handle, this one involves a rogue spy hellbent on taking down the world's intelligence community. Or something like that. Mission: Impossible features amazing stunt sequences, a great supporting cast (Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner) and Rebecca Ferguson in her first turn as British super spy, Ilsa Faust.

Finally, a special shout out to A Complete Unknown (2024)

Timothée Chalamet should have won an Oscar for his turn as a young Bob Dylan. Certainly he won my eternal gratitude for turning Katie-Bar-the-Door from a lifelong Dylan detractor to one of his biggest fans. Thanks, Tim!