Films of the Decade Rankdown

[Deeee]

7 minutes ago, Alex95 said:

Anyways gonna work on 19 and post it on the next page.

Getting back to the write-ups in just a second. I took a length nap because COVID is the most fatiguing experience of my life. PM me if you need my #19. 

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[Alex95]

19. Incendies

14.3/20

@.Rei - 1/20

@*Chris - 8/20

@Steven_ - 13/20

@1234567890 - 14/20

@Elliott - 14/20

@#jeah - 16/20

@aliasocfan - 17/20

Public - 18/20

@totes4totes - 18/20

@Deeee - 19/20

@NGM - 19/20

 

Rei

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Incendies is such a tragic story and it is definitely a hard film to digest after finishing it and watching the whole reveal. I literally was left with my mouth open at the end and finish the film with a lot feelings inside. While I agree that the whole plot might be too coincidental, I don't care cause the whole story was beautifully displayed  and the performance of the actors, especially the one from Lubna Azabal, was simply mesmerizing. The whole final act with the two letters, one addressed to the twin's fathers and one to her oldest son, which is the same person is just incredibly sad. The whole moment when the twins realize the whole truth of their origin is also terribly sad. The scene when Nawal figure out that the person that she desperately searched for, ended up doing such a terrible thing to her, is just devastating to watch. Just thinking of this film really give me the chills and while I know this movie is not for everyone, I absolutely love it. 

 

This movie received critical acclaim and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in the Oscars but ended up being robbed that year. This is probably my favorite war film of all-time and I'm glad it got a lot of recognition internationally.

 

I'm happy that Incendies made the top 20 as it is the last one of my top 5 favorite films from the 2010's. I'm gonna give it my #1 ranking even if I know that it won't win or rank high, but I'm actually ranking the films from my least favorite to my top favorite. I would actually be surprised if this movie doesn't get ranked in last place as it is known that it is one of my favorites and nearly all the rankers tried to cut my favorites IN PURPOSE for not apparent reason than to just being petty. But this is the nature of these game, so it is what it is and none of that really matters anymore.

 

Rei Score: 97/100 

 

Chris

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I am incredibly proud to have been able to bring this movie all the way to the Top 20 despite it constantly having a target on its back; I am truly shock that it was able to survive the final cut as I considered this movie to be one of my shield to protect my bigger favourites. In fact, I do really like this movie but it's not in my Top 5 of the decade & I am not sure if I would necessarily have it in my Top 10 outside of this rankdown - I am hoping a somewhat high ranking from myself and Rei will prevent it from being in 20th but I am fully expecting it to rank at 20th place. If it is not in 20th place, I will truly be surprised as many people seemed to have strong opinion about this movie which made it a polarizing movie somehow - I do understand that the final plot twist is interesting, but I personally do not believe that makes it a terrible movie. 

 

As you all know by now, Incendies is a movie by Denis Villeneuve - what most of you know may not know is the movie was adapted by a play of the same name inspired by the life of Souha Bechara.  The movie features a great cast with Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette, and Rémy Girard in the lead roles - I knew of the three latter actors prior to the movie so I was not surprised that they excelled in the role. But the revelation of the movie was certainly Lubna Azabal who delivered an incredible performance as Nawal, for which she would later win in the Best Actress category at the Genie & Jutra awards.  

 

The movie used a lot of flashback to help drive the story, and I feel it does it pretty well to retain its audience's attention as I find that it's easy to lost one's attention when you introduce flashback & flashforward.  With many memorable scene in the movie, one of the most memorable scene of the movie was bus explosion - this scene certainly had an impact on me, and it is one that I often think about when I think of the movie.  And we cannot talk about Incendies without talking about the big reveal at the end regarding the identity of the father & son/brother - it was certainly an interesting twist but the movie gave us subtle clues throughout the movie regarding the feet (e.g.: as he leave the prison cell, the focus are on his feet which makes sense now especially considering how the movie focused on the three dots on his feet).  And personally, the reveal didn't really bothered me as much as it seemed to have bothered some of you. 

 

As a whole, Incendies is an excellent movie - it is not a movie that I would rewatch often but it is a movie that I will remember for a long time.  And without this movie, one could say that Denis Villeneuve would still be making movies in French rather than English while taking into consideration this was the first movie of his to be noticed by Hollywood as it was nominated at the Academy Awards.  

 

Once again, no matter its placement, I am super happy that I was able to bring it all the way to the Top 20 - thanks to Rei for being a fan as well, which I am sure helped the movie in the long run. 

 

Steven

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I wasn't familiar with Incendies before this rankdown, so I didn't know what to expect when I ended up watching it. It turned out to be a dramatic story that was often hard to watch. This is not a feelgood movie at all - there isn't one happy moment in this film. Nonetheless, it remained an interesting story with a jaw-dropping final reveal.

 

Incendies is about the life of Nawal, an immigrant who lived in Canada with her twins Jeanne and Simon. She has passed away, and she left behind two letters for the twins' father and brother. They thought their father was dead, and they didn't even know they had another sibling. She has requested Jeanne and Simon to find them and hand over those letters before they can give her a proper burial. Jeanne is willing to find them and learn about her mother's past, but Simon is not interested. Throughout the film, there are flashbacks to Nawal's life. She was forced to give her baby away after birth, but she is determined to find him. When she can finally go on her quest, there is war that has broken out. Violence is everywhere, and the orphanage her son was supposed to be has been destroyed. After Nawal joins Muslim fighters and kills a nationalist leader, she is sent to jail for several years. While in jail, she gets raped by a torture specialist. I'll put a SPOILER ALERT here. She ends up getting pregnant, and she gives birth to twins. So, this was Jeanne and Simon's father. However, (and I'll put another SPOILER ALERT here), it is later revealed that Nawal's long-lost son was turned into a child soldier. He then grew up to become a torture specialist. Do you see where this is going? It is revealed that Jeanne and Simon's father is also their long-lost brother. So, Nawal was raped by her own son. WTF?! The movie ends with Jeanne and Simon handing over the letters to their father/brother, and the closing shot is the father/brother looking down at his mother's grave.

 

Incendies isn't a movie I would want to watch again. There are moments that are just too hard to watch (especially the bus massacre scene). I don't think it's a bad movie though. The filmmakers succeeded in creating an emotional and memorable movie. It was a harrowing film, and it has a 93% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The site also says, "It's messy, overlong, and a touch melodramatic, but those flaws pale before Incendies' impressive acting and devastating emotional impact." I know Chris fought hard for this film's safety, so kudos to him for getting it to the Top 20.

 

Victoria

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I didn't get a chance to watch this movie either but I see that is a war thriller. It's Canadian so yay for representation. The movie is in Arabic and French. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film so it must be good!

 

Elliott

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Same comments as The Master, though I don't really have any interest in seeing this one.

 

Andy

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I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I would! Given some of the comments in the thread lol I thought this was going to be a disaster, but it held my attention (mostly) throughout! It’s a stark reminder of the horrors that still very much exist in the world due to religious extremism. Incendies is an engaging mystery with one really intense and horrifying scene that has stuck with me since I watched the movie several days ago. It ultimately paints a really sad story of a woman who went through hell and back and her kids are uncovering the mysteries of the life she lived. I do think the pacing was a little uneven and there were parts that kinda lost me a bit but I enjoyed this overall!

 

Anne

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I just could not get into the movie at all. I guess wiki and the trailer will have to great me through this. (Sorry Chris, I swear I will try watching it again another day) 
It is classified as a Canadian war thriller movie. It is also an indie film festival darling. For more critical acclaim, it was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards. It won 8 Genies. I have absolutely no idea what a Genie is. So awkward. (#uncultured)
It made about 16 million from a 6.5 million dollar budget. Given all the awards, it is well received by critics. Let's see how others responded as well. It holds a solid 93% approval on Rotten Tomatoes. That is with an average rating of 7.92/10. Metacritic has an average score of 80/100. 
This sounds like a great movie. Some day I will be able to describe it properly. 

 

Alex

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As I posted earlier in the thread…GURL WHAT?! Okay I know there’s more to the movie than the ending, but I’m legit shook. Incendies was one of three films that I hadn’t seen before. I thought it was great, but I did rank it in 17th place. I can’t rank it higher for a few reasons. I’m still not sure if I love the twist :dead:. While it did leave me #shook I don’t think they necessarily had to go for the shock value. Everything about the ending was almost a bit too convenient for my liking, how all the pieces just fit together so easily. But also having said that, the ending certainly makes the movie stand out more. I thought the movie was great the whole time, but there was nothing iconic about it making it deserving of this endgame. So while I didn’t love the ending, it did completely make me feel something, and it’s not like I hated it or anything. Honestly, there’s just a lot of movies I love more, and have loved for a longer time, so it’s hard for me to justify placing it any higher. Denis Villeneuve is a genius though and I’m glad we get to honor two of his films here in the endgame.

 

Tom

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A Franch-Canadian war movie! Sounds like a Chris fave. Couldn't get around to watching this but maybe someday.

 

Megan

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Unfortunately for Incendies, it's like the one movie in this Top 20 that I hadn't watched before (that's kind of why I kept nominating it because I didn't really want to have to do a write-up on it). And so just because I haven't really had enough time to get attached to it like some other movies and still even after watching it thinking of all the movies I'd rather have it ranks in my #18 spot. So not last place which honestly an achievement for it. It's a good movie, certainly deserving on quality for a Top 20 place in the decade (perhaps objectively though you can say that about a lot of movies) but I think Denis Villeneuve does better work. Especially in this Top 20. 

 

Dee

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"But I say your story begins with a promise, to break the chain of anger."

 

Pretty sure Incendies survived about ten thousand nominations. It nearly was my choice for the final cut, but only because I suspected Chris would come for me. I am so glad I decided against this and just went with my gut in the final round. Because I fell in love with Incendies after finally getting to watch it! The only film in the finals that I had not seen, I knew this film would inevitably end up at the bottom of my list. Not because of any sort of strategy, but simply because this group of finalists contains many of my all-time favorites, and Incendies just happened to be the "new kid on the block." That being said, I went in really optimistic about the film. Denis Villeneuve is one of my favorite directors, so I knew the film would be good. Just did not know how good it would be.

 

Based on the 2003 play of the same name by Wajdi Mouawad, with the screenplay written by Villeneuve and Valérie Beaugrand-Champagne, the story is about Canadian twins that travel to their recently-deceased mother's native country in the Middle East. Upon the reading of her will, the twins are prompted to search for a mysterious brother that they never knew they had, and for their father, who they had always thought to be dead. Little do they know, the twins will uncover the story of a woman infamous during a past civil war, a woman much unlike the mother they knew. A woman with a hideously bloody, traumatic past.

 

The film completely surprised me. A war film. A Greek tragedy. A mysterious thriller. A political commentary on the state of Middle Eastern affairs and religious acceptance and tolerance. Incendies is much more than I had expected it to be! Seriously. The movie took so many gnarly turns that I was seriously so thrown by the end of the film. Jolted. Unsettled. Startled. Uneasy. Incendies is a film with impact that will leave you speechless in its final moments. But most likely, you were speechless the whole time the film unravels, with each secret, with each truth, with each death, with each tragedy.

 

Incendies is not an easy watch. But it is an unforgettable one. Mainly in part due to the unforgettable performances from its four leads, Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Pulin, Maxim Gaudette, and Rémy Girard. Particular praise goes to Azabal and Désormeaux-Pulin, both of whom are so emotionally gripping. The latter of who kills me in the scene depicted in the gif above.

 

The film released to widespread acclaim. 80/100 on Metacritic. 93% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. A ton of accolades received from Canadian film awards. The film earned a lot of awards' attention in the US as well, even garnering an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Well-deserved.

 

I am very glad that this game brought me to this film. There is so much to be learned from the story of Nawal Marwan. I cannot rank it any higher, simply because of how deeply attached I am to everything ranked above it, but I am so glad to have experienced its power.

 

Nico

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First: the plot of this movie. WHAT THE FVCK??? I’m trying to make some time to read the play and understand where it’s coming from and why was the like, reasoning/life experiences that got the plot twist (to call it in some form) to be what it was. Aside from that it was a really fine movie, the acting is really good, and it made me interested in reading the source material; but I don’t think I can justify ranking it higher over movies I tried to defend all game, so it kinda ends up in the rear end of my rankings.

 

Edited December 25, 2020 by Alex95

[1234567890]

[1234567890]

The other movie I didn’t see. This is working out great so far.

[~Tom~]

Congrats to @.Rei and @*Chris for Incendies not placing #20!

[1234567890]

4 minutes ago, 1234567890 said:

The other movie I didn’t see. This is working out great so far.

I just remembered there was a third movie I didn’t see but I ranked it the highest got @aliasocfan and @#jeah. No deal just wanted to do it.

[Deeee]

Rei having his #1 appear right after his #20 feels violent...LOL

[1234567890]

6 minutes ago, Deeee said:

Rei having his #1 appear right after his #20 feels violent...LOL

[1234567890]

5 hours ago, NGM said:

hmmm i think i will come back when the winner is revealed if this keeps up

It got better for you.

[Alex95]

I've finally been able to catch up on 2020 movies now that this game is done

Chadwick made me ugly sob in Ma Rainey  

Wolfwalkers was amazing and is gonna be one of the best of the year

Another Round was shockingly delightful!

[.Rei]

It actually ranked one position higher than I thought it would so I call that a win 

Edited December 23, 2020 by .Rei

[Elliott]

9 hours ago, Alex95 said:

@Elliott!!!!!!!!!

 

6 hours ago, Alex95 said:

Sorry, I wound up having to go into work yesterday because our lockdown is starting in Boxing Day. >.< I’m off in the afternoon starting on Christmas Eve so I promise I’ll start getting them to you then.

[*Chris]

9 hours ago, .Rei said:

It actually ranked one position higher than I thought it would so I call that a win 

Same here! 

[*Chris]

Also @aliasocfan, Genie Awards is Canada equivalent of the BAFTA - it merges with another award show to be the Canadian Screen Awards nowadays. 

[totes4totes]

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[.Rei]

1 hour ago, totes4totes said:

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[*Wallace]

Yikes poor Rei's #1 being posted already.  

 

But LMAO Once again.... he's proving to be iconic with his #20 and #1 showing up back to back like this.  Although crazy how this was the exact opposite on Quinn Glee's round vs. here.

[Alex95]

Gonna wait a bit longer to see if @Deeee sees my pm but if not I'll post 18 soonish.

[1234567890]

[aliasocfan]

6 hours ago, *Chris said:

Also @aliasocfan, Genie Awards is Canada equivalent of the BAFTA - it merges with another award show to be the Canadian Screen Awards nowadays. 

Thanks 

[Alex95]

Sorry work ended up crushing me after my lunch break. Working on the next one now!

[Alex95]

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