Trainwreck’d Society’s Top 50 Films of 2020 Part 2: 25 – 1 [Film]

 

Hello Folks! And welcome to this year’s Top 50 Films list for 2020. Needless to say, as it probably applies to most of you as well….I consumed ALOT of film content this year. In fact, by the time I realized that I was watching so many damn movies (about the time I wrapped up the majority of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as much as Disney+ would let me anyway) around May, I set 3 goals, 2 of which I came just shy of meeting: The goals were to watch 100 newly released films, 365 films I have never seen, and add 500 entries into my Letterboxd diary for 2020 (to include re-watches, comedy specials, short films, & mini-series such as Tiger King, which I still love).

As of this writing (December 29th) I managed to watch 110 newly released films, 307 films I have never seen, and have added 405 entries into my Letterboxd diary. And while these numbers may change by the end of the year, I have a feeling that I may not be about watch 58 movies in the mere 60 or so hours left in the year. Time doesn’t work in my favor on this one. But alas, I feel like I came pretty close at set of goals that took no real effort on my part and isn’t really worth mentioned. Except that this my site, and I will do as I please. So there you have it. 2020 sucked, but there was some pretty damn good viewing.

And for the task at hand, and the reason some (any?) of you are here, is that 2020 had some pretty amazing new releases. Now, I feel it is only right to clarify that while Trainwreck’d Society is prestigious for many (none?) reasons, we do not follow the traditions of the Oscars. Even pre-pandemic, I was shamefully not seeing many movies in theaters. The majority of my movie viewing is done via streaming services as well as digital screeners. Thus, alot of these films may have actually been made, and in some cases released in outside of the U.S. markets, the year prior or even earlier. In the case of 2020, one film literally goes all the way back to 2012 (what a year!).

The reason for this disclaimer is basically because of just that. 2020 was a year that we all (should have) stayed home and watched movies in the discomfort of our own house. Thus, there were several films released digitally that very well could have not even seen the light of day if the demand for streaming content and shit to watch in our own domiciles wasn’t in such demand. Thus, many of the films listed below were actually credited on sites such as IMDb as being released in 2019, or even later. I believe there is even a 2015 in there.

Alas, it doesn’t matter. Each of these wonderful hand-selected films received a release of some sort in 2020, and more importantly, they are all wonderful. I hope you dig the list as in the time it took to craft it all together, I could have probably watched another film, and would have had to do this whole thing over again.

So Folks, please enjoy Part 2 of Trainwreck’d Society’s Top 50 Films of 2020!

 

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25. The Last Blockbuster

Directed by Taylor Morden

Written by Zeke Kamm

Starring Doug Benson, Lauren Lapkus, Samm Levine

 

24. Da 5 Bloods

Directed by Spike Lee

Written by Spike Lee, Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo, & Kevin Willmott

Starring Delroy Lindo, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Clarke Peters

 

23. Up on the Glass

Directed by Kevin Del Principe

Written by Kevin Del Principe & Nikki Brown

Starring Nikki Brown, Chelsea Kurtz, Chase Fein

 

22. The Wall of Mexico

Directed by Zachary Cotter & Magdalena Zyzak

Written by Zachary Cotter

Starring Esai Morales, Marisol Sacramento, Carmela Zumbado

 

21. Una Great Movie

Directed by Jennifer Sharp

Written by Jennifer Sharp

Starring JoNell Kennedy, Numa Perrier, Melissa Pino

 

20. Quezon’s Game

Directed by Matthew E. Rosen

Written by Janice Y. Perez

Starring Raymond Bagatsing, David Bianco, Rachel Alejandro

 

19. A Private Dancer in Mom’s Kitchen!

Directed by Bill Briles

Written by Bill Briles

Starring Bill Briles, Aleta Doroudian

 

18. The Taste of Betel Nut

Directed by Hu Jia

Written by Hu Jia

Starring Bingrui Zhao, Yue Yue, Shen Shi Yu

 

17. My Hindu Friend

Directed by Hector Babenco

Written by Hector Babenco & Guilherme Moraes Quintella

Starring Willem Dafoe, Maria Fernanda Candido, Barbara Paz

 

16. The World Without You

Directed by Damon Shalit

Written by Dan Pulick

Starring P.J. Byrne, Radha Mitchell, Lyndie Greenwood

 

15. Same Boat

Directed by Chris Roberti

Written by Chris Roberti, Josh Itzkowitz, & Mark Leidner

Starring Chris Roberti, Leah Rudick, Katie Hartman

 

14. I’m Thinking of Ending Things

Directed by Charlie Kaufman

Written by Charlie Kaufman

Starring Toni Collette, Jesse Plemmons, Jessie Buckley

 

13. Drive Me to the End

Directed by Richard Summers-Calvert

Written by Richard Summers-Calvert

Starring Richard Summers-Calvert, Kate Lister, Eve Kathryn Oliver

 

12. Flint: The Poisoning of an American City

Directed by David Barnhart

Written by David Barnhart

Starring the unjustifiably wronged people of Flint, Michigan

 

11. Inside the Rain

Directed by Aaron Fisher

Written by Aaron Fisher

Starring Aaron Fisher, Ellen Toland, Rosie Perez

 

10. Red Rover

Directed by Shane Belcourt

Written by Shane Belcourt & Duane Murray

Starring Kristian Bruun, Cara Gee, Meghan Heffern

 

9. Limbo

Directed by Mark Young

Written by Mark Young

Starring Richard Riehle, Lucian Charles Collier, Mandela Van Peebles

 

8. Soundtrack to Sixteen

Directed by Hilary Shakespeare

Written by Hilary Shakespeare & Anna-Elizabeth Shakespeare

Starring Scarlett Marshall, James Calloway, Jamal Hadjkura

 

7. Complacent

Directed by Steven R. Monroe

Written by Steven R. Monroe

Starring Cerina Vincent, Adrienne Barbeau, Kerri Green

 

6. Call Me Brother

Directed by David Howe

Written by Christina Parrish

Starring Christina Parrish, Andrew Dismukes, G-Su Paek

 

5. All Joking Aside

Directed by Shannon Kohli

Written by James Pickering

Starring Raylene Harewood, Brian Markinson, Burak Agan

 

4. Immortal

Directed by Jon Dabach, Tom Colley, Danny Isaacs, & Rob Margolies

Written by Jon Dabach

Starring Samm Levine, Jason Stuart, Robin Bartlett

 

3. Nobody Knows I’m Here

Directed by Gaspar Antillo

Written by Gaspar Antillo, Josefina Fernandez, & Enrique Videla

Starring Jorge Garcia, Millaray Lobos, Lukas Vergara

 

2. Escaping Freedom

Directed by Edd Blott

Written by Edd Blott & Patrick D. Green

Starring Patrick D. Green, Kelly Godell, Brian Adrian Koch

 

1. American Trial: The Eric Garner Story

Directed by Roee Messinger

Written by Roee Messinger

Starring Eric Garner, Esaw Garner, Anthony Altieri