Recap 2020 : Best Hollywood Films/Series, Disappointing and Worst

Just like the Hindi Movies, saw only 12 English/World movies in theatre.. and then 37 movies on the laptop (the count will keep growing here it seems). Also saw 10 series out of which 'Dark' was without any doubt the best I have seen ever, the final season lived upto the expectations to make it the best series till date. 

The Haunting of Bly Manor was a good follow-up to 'The Haunting of Hill House', this one however was more on love and loss concept in a horror surrounding. 'Sex Education' 2nd season was a fun watch minus the ending that was lets just say no one wanted it. 'Upload' was a nice surprise short series that I just out of curiosity watched and happy to have given it a go. 'Narcos Mexico' Season2 worked for me due to Felix and how he reaches his downfall, does require to sit through almost half or more of the season that is at a very snail pace, still a good watch. 

Talking of the top movies, the quality was lot higher in 2020, I loved almost every film listed and also the ones that didn't make the cut. The Trial of Chicago 7 works for the lovely courtroom drama that is mix of serious and comic moments. Soul is another great Pixar animation movie talking of the life on earth and relating to life after death in fun way plus the message of living every moment. 

Judas and the Black Messiah is hard-hitting with a spectacular performance from Daniel Kaluuya, and a brutal ending. Deservingly won an Oscar! While 'Promising Young Woman' is a very enjoyable take on revenge involving Carey Mulligan's lovely act 

Special mention to 'Another Round', a unique concept of using alcohol in right quantity to enhance the lifestyle and make body more active. There's no chance I would ever forget that final dance by Mads Mikkelsen on 'What a Life'.  Also, 'The Platform' very much like Parasite shows up the divide between upper class and lower class in a very creative manner. 

'The Half of It' was a surprise addition, a lighthearted rom-com that worked in all ways, mainly for the friendship angle between leads. While 'First Cow' also deals with friendship, as long as you can sit through the very very very slowish first 20-25 mins, the ending is very heartbreaking here. 

So, Here's my complete list ... 

Best Hollywood/World Movies of 2020 : 

1. The Trial of Chicago 7

2. Soul

3. Judas and the Black Messiah

4. Another Round

5. Promising Young Woman

6. Sound of Metal

7. The Platform

8. The Half of It

9. First Cow

10. The Father

Minari, Collectiv, Palm Springs, Onward and Better Days miss out.

Best Series around the World in 2020 : 

1. Dark S3

2. The Haunting of Bly Manor

3. Sex Education S2

4. Upload 

5. Narcos Mexico S2

The Sinner S3 misses out, while Money Heist S4 and 13 Reasons Why S4 were very average at best. 

Worst Hollywood/World Movies of 2020 : 

1. She Dies Tomorrow

2. Eurovision Song Contest : The Story of Fire Saga

3. Da 5 Bloods

'She Dies Tomorrow' suffered from a terrible execution of what was a good premise to build story on. Eurovision Song Contest didn't work for me because of the male lead otherwise in parts I did find it watchable. While Da5 Bloods felt a big bore even the cameo of Chadwick Boseman couldn't help.

Disappointing Hollywood/World Movies of 2020 : 

1. Wonder Woman 1984

2. Tenet

3. Mank

One of rare occasion in Hollywood when all biggies failed incredibly. Wonder Woman 1984 couldn't come anywhere close to the magic of 1st one, the idea of greed became tedious after a while. Tenet has a typical Nolan's confusing screenplay playing with time but this one lacked the feels and emotions completely. And Mank was well, just not my kind film specially when I couldn't like the classic Citizen Kane on whom it is based. 

Recap 2020 : Best Hindi Films/Series, Disappointing and Worst!

Didn't knew a year would come when I would see so less movies in theatre, just 8 in the theatre and 11 on laptop. Irony is that count of theatre might be 0 when I make list for 2021, well who knows corona goes away magically in coming months. 

Also, saw plenty of series with Scam 1992 knocking it out of the stadium, what a series, what performances and what a brilliant use of entire cast of talented actors that over the years have been wasted in nothing roles or cliched characters. 

Asur took the next spot.. totally enjoyed the shuddh hindi and the plot despite some visible flaws. Maybe flawed cheezon ko pasand karne ki aadat ho gayi hai. PaatalLok was another great series that was engaging and didn't disappoint in the finale.

Even though there wasn't a single special film that I could love to the core, there were still plenty good films and considering the times we living in, have to be satisfied by that. Top5 were actually very neck to neck in terms of quality, sorted them out in terms of their repetitive appeal for me. 

Ludo was at the top, another of Anurag Basu's enjoyable films that has a great ensemble cast. Rajkumar Rao's Mithun mimicry and habit of dancing whenever in tension was highlight of the movie along with the ever reliable Pankaj Tripathi. Gunjan Saxena, does get little caught in the cliches of routine biopic yet it provides some hard-hitting moments with a lovely father-daughter relationship involving Pankaj Tripathi and Jhanvi Kapoor (she can act for me). 

Raat Akeli Hai was a lovely slow-burner, didn't really go KnivesOut way as trailer suggested which actually worked in its favour with the mystery angle done well while exploring male dominance and violence against women themes and ofcourse Nawazuddin Siddiqui's great performance. 

The experimental AK vs AK is terrific with Anil Kapoor in super form, only let down by the unwanted spoon-feeding in final 10 mins. While Tillatome Shome's performance in 'Is Love Enough? Sir' is great to watch in a very good movie that explores a very taboo relationship. 

Malang despite having some regular routine mess Mohit Suri world always has, works for its tight screenplay and the Aditya-Disha chemistry. Easily my guilty pleasure movie of the year. 

Special Mention to Bulbbul that reunited the 'Laila Majnu' pair, it was also a good watch.  The much talked about 'Dil Bechara' was lets say 

This year again I ain't posting Best Performances, so the ones that stood out for me were - Pankaj Tripathi (Gunjan Saxena), Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Raat Akeli Hai), Tillatome Shome (Is Love Enough? Sir', Tripti Dimri (Bulbbul) and Anil Kapoor (AK vs AK), 

Not posting Hindi Albums and Top100 songs too this year, couldn't listen most of the albums, will try to cover it up with the 2021 list if possible. 

Here's my complete list... 

Top 10 Hindi Movies of 2020 : 

1. Ludo

2. Gunjan Saxena : The Kargil Girl

3. Raat Akeli Hai

4. AK vs AK 

5. Is Love Enough? Sir

6. Malang

7. Bulbbul

8. Thappad

9. Kaamyaab

10. Tanhaji : The Unsung Warrior

Angrezi Medium, Indoo Ki Jawani and Lootcase miss out. 

Best Series of 2020 : 

1. Scam 1992

2. Asur : Welcome to your Dark Side S1

3. Paatal Lok

4. Panchayat 

5. Special Ops S1

Mirzapur S2 misses out.. Also 'She'  and 'JL 50' was interesting in many parts. 

Worst Hindi Movies of 2020 : 

1. Coolie No.1

2. Baaghi 3

3. Love Aaj Kal

Varun Dhawan overacted both versions, the Mithun mimicry was torturous and Sara Ali Khan again disappointed, I think some songs were the only saving grace in this film. Baaghi3 was silly with another over the top action like the 2nd part. And Imtiaz Ali enters the list where I don't like him to be, Love Aaj Kal trailer was so good but the movie never worked for me minus some parts of 'Kal' where as the 'Aaj' part felt no connect and emotions at all, again Sara Ali Khan a let-down but I feel any other actress won't have made any difference too. 

Most Disappointing Hindi Movies of 2020 : 

1. Angrezi Medium

2. Love Aaj Kal

3. Gulabo Sitabo

Irrfan Khan deserved a better last movie, no where close to Hindi Medium, he however still gave some good scenes to enjoy. And Shoojit Sircar's run of great films ended atleast for me Gulabo Sitabo was pretty average even with the great twist.