General: Top Films of 2020

This is my personal list of the 10 best films of the year. As I remind you each year, to qualify for inclusion in the list I must have seen the film in the cinema during the year. As you know, this has been a difficult year for cinemas, especially Germany. Because of the Coronavirus, cinemas were closed from March to June, and from November to December. Even when cinemas where allowed to open, from mid June till the end of October, some chose to stay shut voluntarily, while others only showed old films. The reason is that the Coronavirus has stopped film production. Not so many blockbusters were made, so the cinemas were expecting to lose money if they only showed small budget films for the rest of the year. Older films, classics like "Casablanca" and "Citizen Kane", were a desperate attempt to coax audiences into the cinema.

Normally I watch more than a hundred films in the cinema each year. This year I only watched 25, the smallest number since 2013. Of these films only 23 qualify for the list, because I watched two of the films twice. This warps my list, because every film I watched had almost a 50% chance of making the top 10.

1. Jojo Rabbit

A comedy about a young boy who has Hitler as his imaginary friend. This isn't an anti-war or anti-Nazi film, it's pure comedy.

2. 1917

A surprisingly good film about a rescue operation in the First World War. Maybe I shouldn't say surprisingly, because Sam Mendes is a very good director, but it's surprising that it appealed to me.

3. Judy

The true story of Judy Garland, told in flashbacks looking back from 1968, when she was bankrupt. I've always had a weakness for true stories.

4. Guns Akimbo

Daniel Radcliffe delivers a supreme performance as an online troll who's forced to fight for his life.

5. The Gentlemen

Guy Ritchie returns to form with a new gangster film. Almost.

6. Tenet

Chris Nolan's long awaited film about a world where technology makes it possible to live backwards while those around you are living forwards. It's a film that needs to be watched more than once. It's possible that I'll rate it higher after seeing it again.

7. A Hidden Life

The true story of Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian who was executed in 1943 for defying Hitler.

8. Midsommar

A slow bubbling horror film. I don't consider the story itself very good, but it's visually one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen.

9. When Hitler stole the pink rabbit

This is the true story of the childhood of the children's book author Judith Kerr, from 1933 to 1935. That makes three films with true stories in my list. I told you I like true stories!

10. New Mutants

This is the only Marvel film in my list this year. The New Mutants are a group of super-heroes, originally launched as a spin-off of the X-Men. The film is good, but not great. In a normal year it wouldn't have made it into my top ten.

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So that's my list for this year. I welcome comments from my friends, as well as your own top 10 lists. Cinemas are planned to reopen in mid January, but I'm not holding my breath.