My Very, Very, Very, Very Late Top Ten Films of "2020"

Normally my top ten films of the year list appears at the end of December or early January. However, as you may be aware there’s been the small matter of pandemic that has thrown a monkey wrench into many aspects of “normal” life including film releases and going to theaters. It has taken until past mid April for me to catch up with all the year’s releases and technically some of these films may have come out in 2021. The two factors I used to determine eligibility for this year’s list were if the film was released in 2020 and/or was deemed eligible for this most recent awards season. Anyway, better way late than never.

(I happily point out that women directed three of my top four films.)

1. Promising Young Woman (Fennell)

2. Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Hittman)

3. Mank (Fincher)

4. Nomadland (Zhao)

5. Sound of Metal (Marder)

6. The Assistant (Green)

7. Palm Springs (Barbakow)

8. I'm Thinking of Ending Things (Kaufman)

9. Judas and the Black Messiah (S. King)

10. One Night in Miami (R.King)

Honorable Mention: The Dig (Stone); Minari (Chung); Yes, God, Yes (Maine); First Cow (Reichardt); The Trial of the Chicago Seven (Sorkin) and The Father (Zellar).

Best Actress: Carey Mulligan Promising Young Woman. Runners Up, Frances McDormand Nomadland and Julie Garner The Assistant.

Best Actor: Gary Oldman Mank. Runners Up, Anthony Hopkins The Father and Steven Yeun Minari.

Best Supporting Actress: Olivia Coleman The Father. Runner Up, Olivia Cooke Sound of Metal.

Best Supporting Actor: Sacha Baron Cohen The Trial of the Chicago Seven. Runner Up. Leslie Odom, Jr. One Night in Miami