Best Films of the Decade 2010-2020: A Separation

Posted: June 24, 2021 at 12:35 PM in Mark Whelan Best of the Decade Mark Whelan Film Picks and Essays
Text only version available below image. Best Of The Decade A Separation (2011) There is a laborious level of intensity creeping beneath the surface of A Separation (2011). From its haunting opening sequence–a voyeuristic first-person-view concentrated directly on a married couple in dispute lamenting their grievances to a magistrate–Asghar Farhadi’s potent family drama starts out … [Read More]

The Best Films of the The Decade: Like Father Like Son

Posted: September 18, 2020 at 10:18 AM in Mark Whelan Best of the Decade
Best Of The Decade Like Father Like Son (2013) Text Only Version Hirokazu Koreeda’s Like Father, Like Son (2013) boldly questions the explanation of what constitutes as “family.” The multi-talented Masaharu Fukuyama lays out, in heartbreaking earnestness, a typical Japanese businessman driven by ambition and success, only to have his world come to a screeching … [Read More]

The Best Films of the The Decade: The Social Network

Posted: May 20, 2020 at 9:59 AM in Mark Whelan Best of the Decade
Best Of The Decade The Social Network (2010) Text only version below It’s hard to imagine a world without Facebook. Ever since it originated in 2004 and slowly but surely integrated into our everyday lives (and in turn spawning countless variations to its likeness) the idea that modem life existed at all without Mark Zuckerberg’s … [Read More]

The Best Films of the The Decade: How to Train Your Dragon

Posted: May 13, 2020 at 12:06 PM in Mark Whelan Best of the Decade
Best Of The Decade How To Train Your Dragon (2010) Upon its release, How To Train Your Dragon (2010) was, like several computer–generated animated films at the time, capitalizing on newfound 3D technology. However, dissimilar to some features utilizing this application, it was recorded with this specific implement from the onset and the result is … [Read More]

The Best Films of the The Decade: The Revenant

Posted: April 21, 2020 at 5:16 PM in Mark Whelan Best of the Decade
Best Of The Decade The Revenant (2015) Accessible text version below: T H E R E V E N A N T If you walk into The Revenant ( 2015) expecting an historically accurate rendition of real-life pioneer Hugh Glass you will be disappointed. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s broad adaptation of that specific source material (yet … [Read More]

The Best Films of the Decade 2010-2020 by Mark Whelan: Introduction

Posted: April 13, 2020 at 3:20 PM in Mark Whelan Best of the Decade
When James Cameron‘s Avatar smashed into cinemas in late 2009, its immediate success promised a new era in motion pictures: a third dimension. This wasn‘t an antiquated novelty of red and blue shaded lenses, but a technological leap ushering in a revolutionary and exciting way to experience moviegoing. However, try as it might, that evolutionary … [Read More]