Year-End Lists

Cinema Scope: Top Ten Films of 2020

[see also 2010s, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011]

1. Days — Tsai Ming-liang
2. The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin) — Anders Edström and C.W. Winter
3. The Year of the Discovery — Luis López Carrasco
4. The Last City — Heinz Emigholz
5. Small Axe: Lovers Rock — Steve McQueen
6. The Woman Who Ran — Hong Sang-soo
7. Malmkrog — Cristi Puiu
8. DAU. Degeneration — Ilya Khrzhanovsky
9. City Hall — Frederick Wiseman
10. Fauna — Nicolás Pereda

Robert Christgau: Dean's List 2020

[see also 2010s, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2012]

1. various artists — Hanging Tree Guitars
2. Run the Jewels — RTJ4
3. Cheveu & Group Doueh — Dakhla Sahara Session
4. Fiona Apple — Fetch the Bolt Cutters
5. Lucinda Williams — Good Souls Better Angels
6. Backxwash — Deviancy
7. Billy Nomates — Billy Nomates
8. Dramarama — Color TV
9. Lori McKenna — The Balladeer
10. Wussy — Ghosts
11. Black Thought — Streams of Thought, Vol. 2
12. Peter Stampfel And The Bottle Caps — Demo '84
13. The Human Hearts — Day of the Tiles
14. Martin Creed — Thoughts Lined Up
15. Sam Hunt — Southside
16. Bob Dylan — Rough and Rowdy Ways
17. Young M.A — Herstory in the Making
18. Bktherula — Nirvana
19. Public Enemy — What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?
20. Taylor Swift — Evermore
21. Sad13 — Haunted Painting
22. Guiss Guiss Bou Bess — Set Sela
23. Ashley McBryde — Never Will
24. McCarthy Trenching — Perfect Game
25. 75 Dollar Bill Little Big Band — Live at Tubby's
26. Kirby Heard — Mama's Biscuits
27. Black Thought — Streams of Thought, Vol. 3: Cane & Able
28. Eminem — Music to Be Murdered By
29. Hinds — The Prettiest Curse
30. Les Amazones d’Afrique — Amazones Power
31. Yonic South — Twix and Dive
32. The Chicks — Gaslighter
33. Black Thought — Streams of Thought, Vol. 1
34. Elizabeth Cook — Aftermath
35. Waxahatchee — Saint Cloud
36. X — Alphabetland
37. Serengeti — With Greg from Deerhoof
38. Haim — Women in Music Pt. III
39. Brandy Clark — Your Life Is a Record
40. Princess Nokia — Everything is Beautiful
41. various artists — On The Road: A Tribute To John Hartford
42. Kehlani — It Was Good Until It Wasn't
43. Phoebe Bridgers — If We Make It Through December
44. Will Butler — Generations
45. Sunny Sweeney — Recorded Live at the Machine Shop Recording Studio
46. various artists — New Orleans Mambo
47. Dream Wife — So When You Gonna...
48. Hamell On Trial — The Pandemic Songs
49. Low Cut Connie — Private Lives
50. Mukdad Rothenberg Lankow — In the Wake of Memories
51. City Girls — City on Lock
52. Clem Snide — Forever Just Beyond
53. Chicago Farmer — Flyover Country
54. Justin Farren — Pretty Free
55. Munson​-​Hicks Party Supplies — Munson​-​Hicks Party Supplies
56. Fontaines D.C. — A Hero's Death
57. Ka — Descendants of Cain
58. Toots and the Maytals — Got to Be Tough
59. Open Mike Eagle — Anime, Trauma and Divorce
60. Drive-By Truckers — The Unraveling
61. No Age — Goons Be Gone
62. Lil Wayne — Funeral
63. Etran de L'Aïr — No. 1
64. Westside Gunn — Pray for Paris
65. Hayes Carll — Alone Together Sessions
66. Dawn Oberg — 2020 Revision
67. Serengeti and Kenny Segal — Ajai
68. Grrrl Gang — Here To Stay
69. Chad Matheny — United Earth League of Quarantine Aerobics
70. Al Bilali Soudan — Tombouctou
71. Mannequin Pussy — Patience

La Internacional Cinéfila Poll: Best Movies of 2020, a survey of 161 programmers, critics, and filmmakers from around the world, posted with entries and notes from each participant

[see also 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015]

• First Cow — Kelly Reichardt
• The Year of the Discovery — Luis López Carrasco
• Days — Tsai Ming-liang
• The Woman Who Ran — Hong Sang-soo
• The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin) — Anders Edström and C.W. Winter
• My Dear Spies — Vladimir Léon

Saige Walton: Favorite Films of 2020, as posted to Twitter

[see also 2019, 2018, 2017]

1. David Byrne's American Utopia — Spike Lee
2. First Cow — Kelly Reichardt
3. Another Round — Thomas Vinterberg
4. Uncut Gems — Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
5. Possessor — Brandon Cronenberg
6. Eurovision — David Dobkin
7. Apples — Christos Nikou
8. When Pomegranates Howl — Granaz Moussavi
9. The Invisible Man — Leigh Whannell
10. On the Rocks — Sofia Coppola

Jordan Ruimy: The 15 Best Movies of 2020, as published by World of Reel

[see also 2010s, 2019]

1. Never Rarely Sometimes Always — Eliza Hittman
2. Small Axe: Lovers Rock — Steve McQueen
3. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets — Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross
4. Da 5 Bloods — Spike Lee
5. First Cow — Kelly Reichardt
6. The Invisible Man — Leigh Whannell
7. Bad Education — Cory Finley
8. Young Ahmed — Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
9. Sound of Metal — Darius Marder
10. The Assistant — Kitty Green
11. Promising Young Woman — Emerald Fennell
12. Bacurau — Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles
13. Pieces of a Woman — Kornél Mundruczó
14. David Byrne's American Utopia — Spike Lee
15. Palm Springs — Max Barbakow

Runners-Up

• The Nest — Sean Durkin
• Spree — Eugene Kotlyarenko
• Possessor — Brandon Cronenberg
• The Father — Florian Zeller
• Host — Rob Savage
• Incitement — Yaron Zilberman
• Small Axe: Mangrove — Steve McQueen
• The Devil All the Time — Antonio Campos
• 76 days — Hao Wu, Weixi Chen and Anonymous

Todd McCarthy: Top 10 Films of 2020, as published by Deadline

[see also 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016]

1. Nomadland — Chloé Zhao
2. The Father — Florian Zeller
3. Promising Young Woman — Emerald Fennell
4. Dick Johnson Is Dead — Kirsten Johnson
5. Small Axe: Mangrove — Steve McQueen
6. Into the Deep — Emma Sullivan
7. Soul — Pete Docter
8. The King of Staten Island — Judd Apatow
9. The Outpost — Rod Lurie
10. Devil Between the Legs — Arturo Ripstein

Runners-up

11. Minari — Lee Isaac Chung
12. First Cow — Kelly Reichardt
13. The Dissident — Bryan Fogel
14. Never Rarely Sometimes Always — Eliza Hittman
15. Martin Eden — Pietro Marcello
16. I'm Thinking of Ending Things — Charlie Kaufman
17. The Painted Bird — Václav Marhoul
18. Beanpole — Kantemir Balagov
19. On the Rocks — Sofia Coppola
20. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom — George C. Wolfe

Jordan Cronk: Top Ten Films of 2020 as posted to Patreon

[see also 2010s, 2019, 2018, 2017]

1. DAU — Ilya Khrzhanovsky
2. Days — Tsai Ming-liang
3. Malmkrog — Cristi Puiu
4. The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin) — Anders Edström and C.W. Winter
5. Beginning — Déa Kulumbegashvili
6. Her Socialist Smile — John Gianvito
7. The Salt of Tears — Philippe Garrel
8. Siberia — Abel Ferrara
9. The Woman Who Ran — Hong Sang-soo
10. The Year of the Discovery — Luis López Carrasco

Hyperallergic: Favorite Movies of 2020

[see also 2010s, 2019]

1. Time — Garrett Bradley
2. Bacurau — Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles
3. Small Axe — Steve McQueen
4. Dick Johnson Is Dead — Kirsten Johnson
5. First Cow — Kelly Reichardt
6. Vitalina Varela — Pedro Costa
7. I May Destroy You — Michaela Coel & Sam Miller
8. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets — Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross
9. Never Rarely Sometimes Always — Eliza Hittman
10. Shirley — Josephine Decker
11. małni—towards the ocean, towards the shore — Sky Hopinka
12. Through the Night — Loira Limbal
13. Lingua Franca — Isabel Sandoval
14. David Byrne's American Utopia — Spike Lee
15. City Hall — Frederick Wiseman

Honorable Mentions

• T — Keisha Rae Witherspoon
• How To with John Wilson
• BLKNWS (installation) — Kahlil Joseph

Sheila O’Malley: Top Ten Films of 2020, as submitted to the RogerEbert.com Survey

[see also 2019, 2018, 2017]

• Bacurau — Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles
• Beanpole — Kantemir Balagov
• Collective — Alexander Nanau
• Da 5 Bloods — Spike Lee
• Minari — Lee Isaac Chung
• The Nest — Sean Durkin
• Never Rarely Sometimes Always — Eliza Hittman
• Small Axe: Lovers Rock — Steve McQueen
• Time — Garrett Bradley
• The Vast of Night — Andrew Patterson

Jeremy D. Larson: Favorite Albums of 2020

[see also 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015]

1. The Microphones — Microphones in 2020
2. Fiona Apple — Fetch the Bolt Cutters
3. Waxahatchee — Saint Cloud
4. Nubya Garcia — SOURCE
5. H.C. McEntire — Eno Axis
6. Dogleg — Melee
7. Destroyer — Have We Met
8. Moses Sumney — Græ
9. Special Interest — The Passion Of
10. KMRU — Peel
11. Beatrice Dillon — Workaround
12. Alabaster DePlume — To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1
13. Rio Da Yung OG — City on My Back
14. Bartees Strange — Live Forever
15. Kate NV — Room for the Moon
16. Jeff Parker — Suite for Max Brown
17. The Soft Pink Truth — Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase?
18. Soul Glo — Songs to Yeet At The Sun
19. Angel Bat Dawid & Tha Brothahood — LIVE
20. Roc Marciano — Mt. Marci
21. Lomelda — Hannah
22. The Killers — Imploding the Mirage
23. Chris Forsyth / Dave Harrington / Ryan Jewell / Spencer Zahn — First Flight
24. Phoebe Bridgers — Punisher
25. Oneohtrix Point Never — Magic Oneohtrix Point Never
26. Country Westerns — Country Westerns