Top 200 Movies of the 2010s
Okay! I see your point! Perhaps choosing an image of VHS tapes isn’t an accurate depiction of the Top 200 movies of the 2010s. But, I thought it was funny and it made me nostalgic. I hope it makes you feel the same.
Nonetheless, you’re not here to read about Box-Office Smash Hits like Wrongfully Accused and The Flintstones. You’re here to see the Top 200 list of the 2010s and potentially find something to watch this weekend.
In an effort to make this Top 200 List different, the data has been filtered into 3 different views:
- Highest ratings by critics
- Highest ratings by the audience
- Highest box office dollars
Highest Ratings by Critics
The original data of the Top 200 of the 2010’s is data made available by Rotten Tomatoes. It shows the films that critics rated as the top films of the 2010s.
Assessing the visualization, only 6 films on the list received a 100% score. It is an impressive score since all of the films were reviewed by at least 80 critics.
Lady Bird, Parasite and Selma were among the most reviewed films — gathering over 300+ reviews and a very respectable score of 99%.
Highest Audience Ratings
However, looking at the same list with a simple filter presents a very different list. The Highest Audience Ratings filter shows films that received the highest ratings from the audience.
What is right-away noticeable is no films received a score of 100% or 99%. That could due to the large number of ratings by the audience. In fact, most films received tens of thousands of ratings by the audience.
The most ratings were gathered by Marvel’s The Avengers (cannot be seen in the snapshot of the viz), which received 1,135,199 ratings with a score of 91%.
Highest Box Office Dollars
Finally, the Highest Box Office Dollars filter shows a third view of the 2010s. The decade was dominated by Star Wars and Super Hero films. These films hold the top 5 spots bringing in a combined $3.7 Billion Dollars and counting.
It is interesting to note, that the films that did the best in the box office aren’t necessarily the films that were rated the highest by the audience. Makes you wonder…
Final Analysis — Overview of all 3 Lists
Overall, each filter and subsequent view tells a different story. It brings up an interesting point: how do you decide if a film is worth watching in theaters, when using Rotten Tomatoes?
- Do you choose films based on the highest score by critics?
- Do you choose films based on the highest score by the audience?
- Do you look at the combination of the two?
- Do you look at how the film is doing in the box office?
The answer is simple. Look at each view above and find the one that is most compelling to you. Then use that view to assess new movies.
The view that is most compelling to me — The Audience Scores — is what I look at first when deciding if movie is worth seeing opening weekend vs discounted theater vs renting vs streamed vs VHS.
