Top 3 Movies in 2020
It’s fair to say that 2020 hasn’t quite gone as anyone planned or expected – and while it’s largely been an exceedingly difficult year, the past six months have still brought us a string of stellar movies, offering escapism, comfort and catharsis in unprecedented times. If the film landscape at this halfway mark looks very different than we expected – no Bond, Black Widow or A Quiet Place Part II yet – there’s been a considerable number of unexpected gems and attention-grabbing releases, some of which managed to hit the big screen, others emerging on streaming services and VOD.
As we enter the second half of the year, we present the best films of 2020 so far – knock-out thrillers, breathtaking romances, timely dramas, fascinating reinventions, must-see documentaries, vital returns from established greats, and fresh features from brand new voices. Each and every one of them is something to savour while we wait for the film world as we knew it to get back on track. Enjoy.
1) Parasite
Bong Joon Ho has been concocting heady genre fusions for years – and Parasite finds the Korean auteur at his most intoxicating. Is it a thriller? Or a dark comedy? Or a tragedy? Or a satire? All of the above, and more. The intertwined stories of the hardscrabble Kim family and the wealth-dripping Parks is deeply layered, richly thematic – and, most of all, breathlessly exciting, twisting and turning in such unexpected ways and with such surprising elements that you're never quite sure what comes next. Bathed in Hitchcockian suspense, nodding to decades of Asian horror movies, peppered with laugh-out-loud lines, it's a supremely entertaining ride, flawlessly executed by Director Bong's incredibly precise craft and his knockout ensemble cast. For once, ภาพยนตร์ใหม่ HD 2020 did go to the best picture.
2) Portrait Of A Lady On Fire
On an isolated island in 18th Century Brittany, artist Marianne (Noémie Merlant) is commissioned by a noblewoman (Valeria Golino) to paint a picture of her daughter Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) as a means of attracting wealthy suitors. The hitch? Heloise refuses to have her likeness painted, so Marianne has to pull off the portrait covertly. Out of this high concept, writer-director Celine Sciamma has created a masterpiece – a thrilling, intoxicating love story that has no truck with cliché or sentiment or male worldviews (this is a film where men are relegated to the background). Anchored by two terrific central performances, few films have so economically captured feelings of longing and love without diluting an ounce of passion. The filmmaking is impeccable – take a bow DP Claire Mathon for some of this year's most lucid imagery – all in service of a film about a connection so intense it burns a hole in the screen. Don't wait for the inevitable Emma Watson-Kristen Stewart remake, see it now.
3) Uncut Gems
The Safdie Brothers took their ability to create pure cinematic anxiety to new heights with a thriller that plays more like a sustained panic attack. Adam Sandler puts in a career-best performance as reckless diamond dealer Howard Ratner, who owes money all around town – and while a rare Ethiopian black opal looks set to improve his fortunes, he can't help but make yet more deeply dangerous decisions. Between Sandler's jittery performance (you'll root for him, while cursing every single terrible choice he makes), the hectic soundscape of overlapping chatter, and a wobbly Jenga tower of dodgy deals that threaten to collapse at any second, it's a pulse-pounding adrenaline ride without a single action set piece.
As we enter the second half of the year, we present the best films of 2020 so far – knock-out thrillers, breathtaking romances, timely dramas, fascinating reinventions, must-see documentaries, vital returns from established greats, and fresh features from brand new voices. Each and every one of them is something to savour while we wait for the film world as we knew it to get back on track. Enjoy.
1) Parasite
Bong Joon Ho has been concocting heady genre fusions for years – and Parasite finds the Korean auteur at his most intoxicating. Is it a thriller? Or a dark comedy? Or a tragedy? Or a satire? All of the above, and more. The intertwined stories of the hardscrabble Kim family and the wealth-dripping Parks is deeply layered, richly thematic – and, most of all, breathlessly exciting, twisting and turning in such unexpected ways and with such surprising elements that you're never quite sure what comes next. Bathed in Hitchcockian suspense, nodding to decades of Asian horror movies, peppered with laugh-out-loud lines, it's a supremely entertaining ride, flawlessly executed by Director Bong's incredibly precise craft and his knockout ensemble cast. For once, ภาพยนตร์ใหม่ HD 2020 did go to the best picture.
2) Portrait Of A Lady On Fire
On an isolated island in 18th Century Brittany, artist Marianne (Noémie Merlant) is commissioned by a noblewoman (Valeria Golino) to paint a picture of her daughter Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) as a means of attracting wealthy suitors. The hitch? Heloise refuses to have her likeness painted, so Marianne has to pull off the portrait covertly. Out of this high concept, writer-director Celine Sciamma has created a masterpiece – a thrilling, intoxicating love story that has no truck with cliché or sentiment or male worldviews (this is a film where men are relegated to the background). Anchored by two terrific central performances, few films have so economically captured feelings of longing and love without diluting an ounce of passion. The filmmaking is impeccable – take a bow DP Claire Mathon for some of this year's most lucid imagery – all in service of a film about a connection so intense it burns a hole in the screen. Don't wait for the inevitable Emma Watson-Kristen Stewart remake, see it now.
3) Uncut Gems
The Safdie Brothers took their ability to create pure cinematic anxiety to new heights with a thriller that plays more like a sustained panic attack. Adam Sandler puts in a career-best performance as reckless diamond dealer Howard Ratner, who owes money all around town – and while a rare Ethiopian black opal looks set to improve his fortunes, he can't help but make yet more deeply dangerous decisions. Between Sandler's jittery performance (you'll root for him, while cursing every single terrible choice he makes), the hectic soundscape of overlapping chatter, and a wobbly Jenga tower of dodgy deals that threaten to collapse at any second, it's a pulse-pounding adrenaline ride without a single action set piece.
