Funny thing happened when I was prompted to list my favourite movies of the last decade
My friend Ben is a Movie Nerd and he posted a list of the top ten movies of the last ten years.
I agreed with Inception (2010) and Arrival (2016) and maybe even Fury Road (2015) but, as I looked over lists and considered my own selection, I soon realised my tastes had shifted.
The movies that were most meaningful to me were those I'd watched over and over with my children.
When I saw Scott Pilgrim... (2010), for example, I couldn't wait to share it my son because he would recognise the way it works to include the visual language from videogames and comics.
Even Arrival has recently become elevated because my daughter asks to see it, although I also like the way it incorporates the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis as that influenced me in first-year university.
And Whiplash (2014) has gone from being a film that's inventive in the way it presents music, to being a film I'd admire for the influence it had on my son -- who now plays drums after watching it a dozen times or more.
So I realised that, where I'd once been a film critic and would work to objectively justify the films I liked, I now subjectively like films I've come to appreciate after repeated viewings to meet the demands of my children.
As a result, I think the best movie of the decade is Chef (2014).
I've lost track of how many times I've watched this small film made by an actor, writer and director who has shaped many blockbusters, Jon Favreau.
One of the things I've come to enjoy is the way the titular chef rediscovers the joy in his craft through leaving restaurants to start a food truck.
I can't help but wonder if that's also true of Favreau, who has handled films with intimidatingly large budgets but brings his celebrity friends in to play minor parts in this wholesome family film.
My kids, I think, love how the character of the son helps the chef with social media.
I love that I get to put my arms around them on the couch when we watch it.
