Jacob Spickelmire's Top 100 of the 2010s, or: The New War for the Soul of Rock n' Roll

One thing has become abundantly clear: all films are “youth films” now.

In ‘73 Lester Bangs declared that rock n’ roll was dead. “The war is over,” he said. “They won.”

Once upon a time in Hollywood, the term “youth film” meant “challenging, subversive, transgressive, exciting.” But the war is over. We won. Now we’re Hollywood’s only child, and when the film industry has a singular target demographic all those aforementioned adjectives quickly get swapped out for just one: “inoffensive.” Cuz nothing angers momma more than somebody upsetting her baby.   

One of the criticisms most often levied against S. Craig Zahler is that he “makes movies for the Alt-Right.” Let’s ignore for a second the implicit (or explicit) dismissiveness and laziness of such an accusation, as well as the implausibility of it, and just look at the basic premise: a filmmaker making movies for “problematic people.” Now, that’s a tricky thing, true or not. If the industry’s target demographic was Ben Shapiro’s audience then the Ghostbusters remake would be “problematic.” 

Of course, it’s obvious to anyone with the capacity for critical thought - or, frankly, just the ability to pay attention - that Zahler is not, in fact, a closet Nazi. But that’s beside the point, which is: since when does a film’s or filmmaker’s audience dictate the artistic merit of said film or filmmaker? It’s bad enough when someone dismisses a work of art because the person who made it was a woman-beater or a racist, but now we’ve graduated to guilt-by-association, and for what? What is the goal here? Do we have such a low opinion of one another that we cannot possibly fathom a world in which people are allowed to think for themselves because “stupidity will always prevail”? That’s a starkly pessimistic view of the human race from those who fancy themselves bastions of humanism. Looks like stupidity might prevail after all.

The truth is that what annoys people most these days is something we’re all guilty of: trolling. We’re all tribalists at the end of the day. We all love getting a rise out of our ideological opponents. It validates our ‘radical’ online personas. But admitting this isn’t enough, because there’s some much needed reckoning that awaits us.   

I don’t like Eli Roth - nor do I know anyone who does - but something I’ve heard from practically every swingin’ dick - including myself - is that he’s “immature”; that he engages in “shallow provocation” in order to satisfy his own misplaced sense of self-righteousness. 10 years ago that complaint might’ve stuck...but now? Conventional wisdom tells us that shallow provocation is a childish form of faux-rebellion, but when the world is being run by children, what higher form of rebellion is there? Just take a look at Eli’s critics: they’re as much to blame for this culture of slap-fighting as he is. 

Almost every “woke” movie I saw in the 2010s was a giant pile of fucking dogshit. Truth be told, I’m actually jealous of the so-called Red Pillers and Alt-Right Neo-Nazi Incel Jihadists because at least they have something to rebel against. I’m stuck here “agreeing” with Black Panther like a chump. The racists get Zahler, and who do I get? Patty Jenkins. 

Yeah, sure, I know: not every movie falls into this regressive binary, and there are plenty of “hidden gems” from throughout the 2010s that subvert the mainstream culture of milquetoast pandering. I know this cuz I’ve seen every “hidden gem” there is to see (many of them will appear on this list), but you know what? Fuck hidden gems. Rock n’ roll isn’t about being quiet.

I shouldn’t have to don a trenchcoat and magnifying glass to find something worth watching. This is just more ‘inoffensive’ pandering as far as I’m concerned: keep the meaningful art out of view of those who don’t want to be challenged. Put it on Netflix, where those who want to watch “that sort of thing” can find it. Then we can point at them and shout “problematic!” to protect the hegemony of cynical Hollywood execs who make their money off of brownnosing the very people ‘cancelling’ them for raping 5,000 women. 

That being said, lemme draw your attention to a woke hidden gem: Assassination Nation (2018)

If you haven’t yet seen the HBO series Euphoria, you will. That’s not a recommendation, it’s a prediction. And that’s where I’m going with this: although it’s hidden right now, I suspect (and more than that, I hope) Assassination Nation won’t be for long... 

When I first watched Euphoria, I was struck by a feeling that I’d never felt before; a feeling that I now know previous generations took for granted: I felt old. The sights, the sounds, the explicit sexual content, the confrontational politics - it was all a bit much for my coddled, Millennial brain to handle. Why? Because it wasn’t meant for me. This is a show about and for Generation Z (or Zoomers). I wanted to cross my arms with a disapproving frown and huff, “Kids these days!” This wasn’t the mealy-mouthed ‘pandering’ that I was used to. This was something more substantive; something with teeth. “Didactic” comes with a negative connotation, but perhaps that’s only because the movies and shows that usually talk down to us are dumber than we are. 

This blog is hardly the forum for airing my grievances against Millennials but I’ll say this: we have more in common with Boomers than we want to admit. Like them, we’re a generation of Hall Monitors. That’s what I’ve been accustomed to for the past decade, so to suddenly be confronted by a piece of aggressively contemporary art... well, it was exhilarating. And it speaks to what’s around the corner (hopefully).

Sam Levinson is a guy who’s forward-thinking enough to rebel against the libs without being labeled “immature” and against the chuds without being labeled “thought police.” He is, I suspect, the voice of a new generation. 

Assassination Nation might be underseen by general audiences, but I doubt Levinson will abide that. He’s not making humble art films for Netflix or A24 and then giving polite interviews about them. To borrow a heteronormative, cissexist, patriarchal phrase: dude’s got balls. He possesses the directorial and screenwriting acumen necessary to go toe-to-toe with Quentin or Refn or PT, and he’s woker than his wokest detractors -- indeed, he has the bona fides to dismissively roll his eyes and say “OK Millennial.” 

We like to say that film is dead, but that’s too permanent. You can’t kill an art form any more than you can kill a season of the year, and if Assassination Nation and Euphoria are any indication, “youth films” in the 2020s may very well be smarter and ballsier than they’ve been in two decades. If that happens then winter could finally come to an end and rock n’ roll could rise again, as angry and rebellious as it ever was, ready for war. So rally your fucking crew. Grab your guns and hide behind your masks. Because this ain’t rock n’ roll, after all. This is genocide.

1. The End of the Tour (2015)
2. Under the Silver Lake (2019)
3. Bridge of Spies (2015)
4. Room (2015)
5. Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
6. Shazam! (2019)
7. Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016)
8. Alien: Covenant (2017)
9. Dragged Across Concrete (2019)
10. Assassination Nation (2018)
11. Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)
12. The Lost City of Z (2017)
13. Doctor Sleep (2019)
14. There’s Something Wrong with Aunt Diane (2011)
15. Wind River (2017)
16. The Void (2016)
17. First Reformed (2018)
18. Nocturnal Animals (2016)
19. Savageland (2017)
20. Wheelman (2017)
21. Honey Boy (2019)
22. Green Room (2016)
23. Concussion (2015)
24. Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017)
25. Uncut Gems (2019)
26. Split (2017)
27. The Nightmare (2015)
28. The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)
29. Blackfish (2013)
30. Nymphomaniac: Vol II (2014)
31. Gerald’s Game (2017)
32. Blue is the Warmest Color (2013)
33. Pain & Gain (2013)
34. 21 Jump Street (2012)
35. True Grit (2010)
36. The Lighthouse (2019)
37. Out of the Furnace (2013)
38. The House That Jack Built (2018)
39. Foxcatcher (2014)
40. Suspiria (2018)
41. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
42. Room 237 (2013)
43. The Hateful Eight (2015)
44. Interstellar (2014)
45. Overlord (2018)
46. Contagion (2011)
47. Whiplash (2014)
48. Sicario (2015)
49. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
50. Ford v Ferrari (2019)
51. Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
52. The Master (2012)
53. Bone Tomahawk (2015)
54. It Comes at Night (2017)
55. mid90s (2018)
56. Prisoners (2013)
57. Nymphomaniac: Vol I (2014)
58. Killer Joe (2011)
59. Blue Ruin (2014)
60. Looper (2012)
61. It (2017)
62. The Counselor (2013)
63. 22 Jump Street (2014)
64. Destroyer (2018)
65. Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
66. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I (2010)
67. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II (2011)
68. Red State (2011)
69. Glass (2019)
70. Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)
71. Annihilation (2018)
72. Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)
73. Hail, Caesar! (2016)
74. Logan (2017)
75. Melancholia (2011)
76. Locke (2014)
77. Pacific Rim (2013)
78. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
79. Mud (2012)
80. X-Men: First Class (2011)
81. Digging Up the Marrow (2015)
82. Waves (2019)
83. Only God Forgives (2013)
84. Anomalisa (2015)
85. Django Unchained (2012)
86. Tusk (2014)
87. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
88. Nightcrawler (2014)
89. Halloween (2018)
90. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)
91. The Revenant (2015)
92. First Man (2018)
93. Inherent Vice (2014)
94. The Nightingale (2019)
95. Krampus (2015)
96. Good Time (2017)
97. Moonlight (2016)
98. Knight of Cups (2015)
99. Take Shelter (2011)
100. Under the Skin (2013)