Top 10 Favorite Films and TV Shows of 2020
As you know, it’s been quite an interesting year and it has brought some hard time on a lot of people. The year also had a huge negative impact on the entertainment industry. Productions were forced to shut down, movie theaters were forced to close their doors, and studios and theaters have been trying to figure out how to survive.
I’ve had the opportunity to see a few films in theaters since the pandemic hit, but for the most part, I’ve been watching a lot of films at home. It’s not my preferred experience, but that’s just the reality that we’ve been living in. I also haven’t watched as many films this year as I usually do, so coming up with a Top 10 favorite list was a little different as I didn’t have a long list of films to pull from. So, this year I decided to mix things up a bit and do a list of my favorite films and TV shows from 2020.
The Queen’s Gambit
This was hands down the best story that I’ve seen told this year out of any medium. This was a brilliantly written series that told an incredible, beautiful, engaging story. It also featured one of the best performances of the year by Anya Taylor-Joy, she was just magnificent.
Set during the Cold War era, orphaned chess prodigy Beth Harmon struggles with addiction in a quest to become the greatest chess player in the world.
The Mandalorian Season 2
Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni have done some amazing things with the Star Wars franchise through The Mandalorian. This show has singlehandedly saved the Star Wars franchise and made fans care again after that sequel trilogy. This second season had fans jumping and cheering for joy!
A lone gunfighter makes his way through the outer reaches of the galaxy, far from the authority of the New Republic.
Let Him Go
It was great to see Kevin Costner and Diane Lane reunite for this intense slow-burn thriller. This movie isn’t for everyone, but Let Him Go tells a great story and character study. The character development is top-notch work and the script was fantastic. This was a near-perfect movie that I hope people take the time to watch.
Following the loss of their son, a retired sheriff and his wife leave their Montana ranch to rescue their young grandson from the clutches of a dangerous family living off the grid in the Dakotas.
Love & Monsters
This movie was easily the most fun I had at the theaters all year. This movie was filled with action, adventure, humor, and it told a great and heartwarming story that was filled with awesome Harryhausen-like creatures. I’m grateful that I was able to see this film on the big screen.
Seven years after the Monsterpocalypse, Joel Dawson, along with the rest of humanity, has been living underground ever since giant creatures took control of the land. After reconnecting over the radio with his high school girlfriend, Aimee, who is now 80 miles away at a coastal colony, Joel begins to fall for her again. As Joel realizes that there's nothing left for him underground, he decides to venture out to Aimee, despite all the dangerous monsters that stand in his way.
Nine Days
This was such a beautifully made and unique film filled with so much heart and soul and it’s one of those must-watch movies because it will make you look at life a little differently after watching it. I loved this film and it made my heart swell with emotion.
Will spends his days in a remote cabin watching the live Point of View (POV) on TV's of people going about their lives, until one subject perishes, leaving a vacancy for a new life on earth. Soon, several candidates — unborn souls — arrive at Will's to undergo tests determining their fitness, facing oblivion when they are deemed unsuitable. But Will soon faces his own existential challenge in the form of free-spirited Emma (Beetz), a candidate who is not like the others, forcing him to turn within and reckon with his own tumultuous past. Fueled by unexpected power, he discovers a bold new path forward in his own life.
Onward
This is hands down one of my favorite Pixar films. The film told an incredible and moving fantasy adventure story and that story completely connected with me because of the relationship of the two brothers that the movie centered around. I also dug the Dungeons & Dragons inspired story. Onward was a film that brought me pure happiness.
Teenage elf brothers Ian and Barley embark on a magical quest to spend one more day with their late father. Like any good adventure, their journey is filled with cryptic maps, impossible obstacles and unimaginable discoveries. But when dear Mom finds out her sons are missing, she teams up with the legendary manticore to bring her beloved boys back home.
Tenet
Christopher Nolan definitely made the biggest spectacle film of the year. He took an incredibly cool and unique concept and ended up building one hell of a ride around it. While the movie was far from perfect and there was a lot of stuff that audiences had a hard time understanding, it was still one of the best theatrical movie experiences I had this year.
A secret agent is given a single word as his weapon and sent to prevent the onset of World War III. He must travel through time and bend the laws of nature in order to be successful in his mission.
His House
I always try to include a great horror movie on my end of the year list of favorite films, and I have to include this one. This was a great horror movie that tells a terrifying haunted house story packed with genuinely spine-tingling scary scenes. This is a must-watch horror film!
A refugee couple makes a harrowing escape from war-torn South Sudan, but then they struggle to adjust to their new life in an English town that has an evil lurking beneath the surface.
Star Trek: Picard
It was so great to see Patrick Stewart reprise his role as Jean-Luc Picard in this series. I never thought I’d see that happen, and I loved the way they reintroduced the classic character to continue his story years after the events of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I can’t wait to see how the series continues.
Set at the end of the 24th century, 18 years after the events of `Star Trek: Nemesis', with Sir Patrick Stewart reprising his iconic role, `Star Trek: Picard' revolves around retired admiral Jean-Luc Picard; he is still deeply affected by the loss of Lieutenant Commander Data, portrayed by Brent Spiner, and the destruction of Romulus, and steps into the next chapter of his life.
The Flight Attendant
I love a good murder mystery thriller and HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant was a slick, stylishly pulp mystery series that I enjoyed a lot more than I thought I would. This show is incredibly entertaining and it was great to see Kaley Cuoco finally get a chance to really show off her acting skills. She was awesome in this show!
A flight attendant's life gets turned upside down after she wakes up in a hotel room with a dead man but with no memory of what happened.