In a year where the world decided to shit itself, I can’t help but appreciate the irony in having so much free time to watch movies, but with so few options to fill the time. Surprisingly I still managed to crank out an average of almost 2 new release films a week, although it must be said, the quality of those films was often questionable at best for the most part.

It’s a shame really, because 2020 started with a bang (cinematically speaking) with three 5 star films in the first 6 weeks of the year (even more impressive given the fact that only one film achieved that rating from me in all of 2019). Sadly, when the reality of Covid-19 reached the cinema landscape both here in Australia and throughout the world in late March, screens were shut and release dates pushed back in a lot of cases to next year. Some films were moved straight through to streaming platforms, often diluting the gravitas of their full, big-screen effect (RIP Mulan). Thankfully here in Australia we were still able to appreciate Wonder Woman: 1984 in all its glory on Boxing Day. 

The small benefit of the cinema shutdown is that cinephiles such as myself were so desperate for new films to watch, we branched out into viewing things that perhaps wouldn’t have been on our radar before. This sometimes led to gems like Burden and The Peanut Butter Falcon….unfortunately more often than not, it took me down the path of dumpster fires like More Beautiful for Having Been Broken. 

All in all though, I am just appreciative of the fact that we still had films to watch, regardless of quality. Looking forward to 2021, I can only implore people to support the industry. When safe to do so, go back to the cinema, buy popcorn from the candy bar and an overpriced cola. Because if 2020 taught me anything it’s that I would be lost without movies, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that. 

So in reflection of this bizarre year, here are my best, worst and most disappointing movies of 2020:

SIMPLY BEST….BETTER THAN ALL THE REST

#1 – 1917

It was an absolute travesty that 1917 didn’t take home the Best Picture and Director Oscars, as it’s a cinematic MASTERPIECE.  Telling the story of two soldiers who make their way across enemy occupied land in WWI to deliver a message to save the lives of more than 1000 fellow soldiers, this is an instant classic.  

IN A PHOTO FINISH

#2 – Just Mercy / #3 Richard Jewell

It’s almost impossible to split these two films. The only others to rate as a perfect 5 (along with 1917). Just Mercy is the true story of a civil rights attorney working tirelessly to free a wrongly convicted man on death row. Similarly, Richard Jewell is the true story of the man who was wrongly accused of the bombing at the Atlanta Olympics. Both brilliant films, superbly acted and gripping throughout. 

NOT FAR OFF THE MARK 

#4 – Little Women

The latest adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott classic saw Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh and Emma Watson light up the screen as the March sisters. Perfectly directed and adapted by Greta Gerwig, it’s no easy feat to add contemporary flare to such a well-trodden tale, but in this instance, Gerwig certainly succeeds. 

#5 – Military Wives

It must be the year for brilliantly told stories taken from life. This time it’s the story of a group of British soldiers wives who (to pass time while their partners are in combat) create a singing group. Staring Kristen Scott Thomas and Sharon Horgan, this is one that makes you laugh and cry at all the right moments. 

AH, WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN

Every year there are films you are so excited to see. The ones you mark in your calendar and eagerly await their release date. This year one that adorned my calendar was Greyhound. Tom Hanks as a WWII Naval Commander, I was expecting a Saving Private Ryan-esque performance, unfortunately I got a 90 minute snooze instead. I’ll try and cut this one some slack though, as I’m hoping that it would have been more captivating on the big screen as originally intended. However when Covid-19 hit, Apple+ purchased the release rights to the film and the rest is history. 

Unlike Greyhound, one film that was made for the small screen that failed to live up to expectation was the Netflix production Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Starring Viola Davis in the supposedly titular role, I was expecting a film about none other than the ‘Mother of Blues’ herself, however this was not at all the focus. Adapted from the August Wilson play of the same name, it should perhaps have instead been called ‘The Maddening Trumpeter’. Most of the film revolved around Chadwick Boseman’s (in his final role) Levee, the uppity trumpeter in Ma’s band. Don’t get me wrong, Boseman was heartbreakingly brilliant in this, but the director may as well have filmed a stage performance of the show, such was the lack the evolution in its delivery. Maybe one day Ma Rainey will get the film she so definitely deserves. 

AND THE REELS THAT SHOULD BE BURNED

Sifting through the numerous 0.5-1.5 films to pick out a worst picture of the year was a tougher task than usual this year. After watching rubbish like Fantasy Island, Like a Boss and Bloodshot, it was going to take a steaming turd to be worse than most of those…..then came Escape and Evasion. The Australian film that tried to tackle post war PTSD, but instead created an incoherent mess, it should come as no surprise that this one wasn’t an easy film to come by even when it was available to stream. If you stumble across this one on a sleepless night…keep stumbling and save yourself the cinematic equivalent of an enema.