It's always difficult to tell what films will stand the test of time. After this year's Oscars, it's fairly easy to see which among the nominees will go on to attain classic status after the requisite number of years have passed: for example, 12 Years a Slave and Gravity, this year's big winners, are bound to endure. Unanimous praise from critics and big box office numbers, plus Oscar recognition, will ensure 12 Years a Slave and Gravity will go on to be referred to as 'classics' in the future. There are other modern classic movies that are harder to spot, however. These are the sort that were perhaps critically divisive on release, or largely ignored by awards bodies or audiences at the time. Time will go on to rank some of these as classics regardless - after the dust has settled, the contemporaneous critical and audience reception won't mean a thing; all that will matter will be the reputation of the movies after film-lovers have had years to study and dissect them. Here, in no particular order, are ten recent films that will no doubt find their way to classic status in the years to come.
10. All Is Lost (2013)
Like a Gravity of the waves, J.C. Chandor's All is Lost is a tale of survival, pitching man against the elements - this time the vast sea - and watching him struggle in territory where he's totally out of his depth. Instead of a zero-G, zero-oxygen environment, All is Lost puts its lead - Robert Redford's Our Man, sailing around the world on his yacht for nothing but adventure when a rogue shipping container punctures the hull and leaves him floating helplessly in the ocean - back on Earth, and the terror arises from the idea that, even on home turf, mankind is still at the mercy of mother nature. If anything, All is Lost is a superior film to Gravity - as good as Alfonso Cuaron's sci-fi is as a visually and aurally breathtaking thrill-ride, it's still emotionally cold. All is Lost, on the other hand, is rich with feeling, and is just as full of visual splendour, thrills and, in particular, transcendent orchestral cues. The original score, by musician Alex Ebert, is every bit as good as Stephen Price's Gravity soundtrack, if not better. As a film with no dialogue, save for an opening monologue by Redford and a scattering of curse words by his increasingly desperate mariner, Ebert fills in the blanks and deepens the film, reflecting Our Man's thoughts and feelings through his music. Redford gives the performance of a lifetime (literally - he's carrying the weight of his entire career in this movie) and Chandor reveals himself as a master of economical filmmaking.