Film 2010
55 titles... a lot of bad ones, a lot of good ones. Maybe one or two for the top 100, but nothing too memorable. Here's the breakdown:
The Worst
5 The Expendables
It surely was the manliest line-up of any film this year, but considered the ‘action’ talent involved, it wasn’t a good action movie.
4 A Prophet
Rants and raves are aplenty here for ‘A Prophet,’ but I didn’t see the draw.
3 Tooth Fairy
Okay, so obviously I didn't expect this to be good, so I took it with a grain of salt and had a surprisingly good time... but, oh yeah, it's bad.
2 44 Inch Chest
NOTHING HAPPENS.
1 The Spy Next Door
Pretty much as bad as you can get, but I was never tempted to walk out or scream in anguish.
Not The Best
(From Worst to Good)
I'm Still Here Could have been something with real meaning, but Phoenix opted for poop jokes and gay shit. Daybreakers was good for the tail end of a double feature... a fun sci-fi adventure, really. The Killer Inside Me wasn't good or easy to follow... sexy at times, but really disjointing and uninteresting for the rest. Splice was fun... not as terrible as Natali's Cypher or Nothing. Terribly Happy was Scandinavian, but it kind of confusing and not all too thrilling. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps was a great idea on paper, but it's premise morphed into a half-baked love story... and Gekko was relegated to bit-part status. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo has lots of room for improvement... it's not as thrilling as it should be, and the script and story are extremely elementary. I think there's someone on that... The Karate Kid resisted rampant product placement, for which I give it props (AHUHGCTHtheblindsideHUHGHTCH). It was fun to watch, and it didn't drag on. Dogtooth... shocked that it got Greece's foreign film submission slot; but it's really not as deliciously deranged as it looks. Life During Wartime was a minor Solondz effort... not maddeningly awful, but not good. Youth In Revolt was really funny and enjoyable to watch... but I don't remember a THING. Props to Fred Willard and Ray Liotta for great bit roles. Winter's Bone... to quote a colleague, it's a slightly elevated B-movie about, well, nothing when it actually comes to a close. How To Train Your Dragon will leave in awe... you just had an amazing non-Pixar animation experience! But you won't remember it. Mother is a great entry into Bong-Joon Ho's filmography... funny at times and thrilling at others. The Other Guys is funny and very quotable... but the strained plot drags on way too long. Easy A... loved it! Funny and relevant. The King's Speech is supposedly the best picture in the land... I don't have one bad thing to say about it, but I didn't leave the theater amped up on the royal British spirit. 127 Hours... any movie that starts with a cut-away shot montage of all of America's favorite fast-food joints as an exercise in illustrating 'America' deserves no credit. But, it gets kind of exciting, and it never dragged. Date Night was fun! Probably the best ensemble cast of the year. The Square was a wannabe Animal Kingdom, but it was thrilling enough to seek out and memorable enough...
Better Than Good
Fair Game
A great showcase for the potent combo of Penn and Watts... strangely, it made me the most patriotic I've ever felt leaving a movie.
And Everything Is Going Fine
A perfect tribute to Spalding Gray... what better way then to have an 88-minute montage of his monologue's? Well, some interviews, maybe. But it was okay...
Kick-Ass
This dropped a bit, but still hangs in my mind as a hella, balls-to-the-wall awesome cinematic experience.
The American
Very basic story, very un-basic cinematography and supporting performances... Clooney's as gruff as ever.
True Grit
Disappointing un-Coen... not as funny or thrilling as everyone's making it out to be. I think the brothers really sold out for this one...
Cyrus
Not too original and not too memorable, but Cyrus was a lovable diamond in the rough.
The Kids Are All Right
Great performances and a solid script, but it didn't have a purpose or a message, and the final scene gets my '500 Days of Summer' Award for 'you just ruined the whole movie the final line.'
Please Give
Total beauty of film I just randomly watched... this has a great message and a great cast. Awesome dialogue, too.
Greenberg
Ben Stiller's best role in years... loved a lot about this, and a lot about what it was trying to prove.
Fish Tank
The sexiest film of the year... I loved everybody's performances, and was really blown away by how everything played out.
20 Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
Some fucking random... a top 20 spot just for shits and gigs. Pure Scandinavian entertainment.
19 Enter The Void
This started out very high on my list, but then I realized it was almost three hours long and featured about an hour of people fucking with neon light coming out of their genitals... if I could have watched a movie exactly like the first 30 minutes, it would have been a masterpiece. Paz de la Huerta's performance definitely ranks as my least favorite female performance of the year.
18 Inside Job
Absolutely fascinating tale about how the 2008 financial crisis went down... especially for someone who didn't know dick about it walking in.
17 Toy Story 3
This also started high on my list, but dropped down after I realized how much of rehash it was... some touching moments and lots of tears, but the gimmicks really bring it down to 'oh, it's still a kids movie' territory (like Spanish Buzz). Really loved how it was all tied up, though.
16 Casino Jack And The United States Of Money
Just as WTF as Gibney's Enron doc... it plays out like a narrative because of how absurb it is. But, one must remember that there was someone out there named Jack Abramoff, and he did things like naming a surfing instructor as CEO of an international trade organization... must be seen to be believed.
15 Rabbit Hole
Good amount of tears for this one... based on a stage play, 'Hole' plays up one of the most devastating things that can happen to a marriage. Loved how this progressed and how it was wrapped up...
14 Exit Through The Gift Shop
I thought this was going to be some hipster-douche story of how art is gone forever and how we need to find it again... instead it IS about the loss of 'art' told by artists themselves. I literally can't explain what the hell this is about, but cannot strain enough that you MUST MUST see it.
13 Shutter Island
Absolutely stunning that this held up after being shoved off to a February death slot last year... features (easily) some of the best cinematography, best performances, and one of the best adapted screenplays of 2010. For a film that's literally 95% exposition, it's thrilling. Definitely 'major' Scorsese.
12 Let Me In
Matt Reeve's sophomore effort (Cloverfield being the first) was a ripe, perfect tribute to Tomas Alfredson's 2008 classic... probably 2010's second best love story. Can't wait to see where Smit-McPhee and Moretz go from here; they've got some talent.
11 Catfish
The quintessential Facebook movie of the year (and, yes, I've thought about that statement). You will not be able to figure where it's going, and it will touch you, believe it or not.
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Top 10
Top 10
10
Mother And Child
Naomi Watts and Sam Jackson sex scene? Pretty much the first word I heard of this, but I knew Rodrigo Garcia would deliver a touching and tear-filled tale of women in trouble. Loved the hell out of this film, and cried more than I did watching any other film this year. Annette Benning gives the best female performance of the year...
Naomi Watts and Sam Jackson sex scene? Pretty much the first word I heard of this, but I knew Rodrigo Garcia would deliver a touching and tear-filled tale of women in trouble. Loved the hell out of this film, and cried more than I did watching any other film this year. Annette Benning gives the best female performance of the year...
9
The Town
I'm probably your biggest fan of Affleck's directing debut, Gone Baby Gone. Couldn't wait this, and it wholly delivered. I will never get sick of Boston-based crime movies, especially ones with believable accents and performances and thrilling plots. Nothing bad I can say about this, and that's saying a lot.
I'm probably your biggest fan of Affleck's directing debut, Gone Baby Gone. Couldn't wait this, and it wholly delivered. I will never get sick of Boston-based crime movies, especially ones with believable accents and performances and thrilling plots. Nothing bad I can say about this, and that's saying a lot.
8
The Fighter
Originally gestated by Darren Aronofsky, this was a labor of love for Wahlberg, who started bulking up for this 6 years ago. I remember watching High On Crack Street: Lost Lives In Lowell back in middle school, and being blow away by how real it was. Seeing the other side of the coin (Dickie thinking the film was about his comeback) was heartbreaking. Loved the way this was filmed; it could have been very basic, but Russell turned this into an art film, with year-stealing performances from Bale and Leo.
Originally gestated by Darren Aronofsky, this was a labor of love for Wahlberg, who started bulking up for this 6 years ago. I remember watching High On Crack Street: Lost Lives In Lowell back in middle school, and being blow away by how real it was. Seeing the other side of the coin (Dickie thinking the film was about his comeback) was heartbreaking. Loved the way this was filmed; it could have been very basic, but Russell turned this into an art film, with year-stealing performances from Bale and Leo.
7
The Ghost Writer
Had absolutely no expectations for this film... but I trusted Roman Polanski's reputation and checked it out... and I loved it. I've never a Polanski film as thrilling as this. Such a simple premise, but it's got impeccable execution and great performances on it's side. Aside from an absolutely maddeningly piss-poor bit of BMW product placement, it was great. Did you Nic Cage was original supposed to play McGregor's role? Ughhh.
Had absolutely no expectations for this film... but I trusted Roman Polanski's reputation and checked it out... and I loved it. I've never a Polanski film as thrilling as this. Such a simple premise, but it's got impeccable execution and great performances on it's side. Aside from an absolutely maddeningly piss-poor bit of BMW product placement, it was great. Did you Nic Cage was original supposed to play McGregor's role? Ughhh.
6
Animal Kingdom
David Michod's directorial debut is amazing... the best movie about lives of crime since Heat (seriously). Featuring my favorite supporting male role of the year (Ben Mendelsohn as Pope) and another one of my favorites in the brand-new James Frecheville... the Oscar's had it wrong; Jacki Weaver was okay, but the men in this complex Australian crime family steal the show. So many great shots, so many great twists, and a lot of pent-up emotion.
David Michod's directorial debut is amazing... the best movie about lives of crime since Heat (seriously). Featuring my favorite supporting male role of the year (Ben Mendelsohn as Pope) and another one of my favorites in the brand-new James Frecheville... the Oscar's had it wrong; Jacki Weaver was okay, but the men in this complex Australian crime family steal the show. So many great shots, so many great twists, and a lot of pent-up emotion.
5
Biutiful
Well, it's beautiful... Inarittu's first Spanish-language feature after Amores Perros isn't as fleshed out and well-organized as 21 Grams or Babel, but it's heart-wrenching and inter-weaving as ever. Death and existentialism is pretty much my favorite topic for a film, and this explores it so magically and adeptly.
Well, it's beautiful... Inarittu's first Spanish-language feature after Amores Perros isn't as fleshed out and well-organized as 21 Grams or Babel, but it's heart-wrenching and inter-weaving as ever. Death and existentialism is pretty much my favorite topic for a film, and this explores it so magically and adeptly.
4
Black Swan
It had all the right stuff from the start… Natalie Portman in the lead role, Darren Aronofsky writing and in the director’s chair, and a lot of pent-up demand from the public to see what he could craft from the world of high-stakes ballet; and it delivers. The film began its life rolled in with Aronofsky’s previous feature The Wrestler… that movie would have seen Randy the Ram (Mickey Rourke) fall in love with a beautiful ballerina. A ballet movie sounds stupid on paper, but I thought the same thing about wrestling when I saw The Wrestler... it's awesome.
It had all the right stuff from the start… Natalie Portman in the lead role, Darren Aronofsky writing and in the director’s chair, and a lot of pent-up demand from the public to see what he could craft from the world of high-stakes ballet; and it delivers. The film began its life rolled in with Aronofsky’s previous feature The Wrestler… that movie would have seen Randy the Ram (Mickey Rourke) fall in love with a beautiful ballerina. A ballet movie sounds stupid on paper, but I thought the same thing about wrestling when I saw The Wrestler... it's awesome.
3
Blue Valentine
It really hit the spot... it's an emotionally-draining, infuriatingly honest story of falling in and out of love... Derek Cianfrance is definitely a director to watch out for, and I didn't love a single male performance this year more than Ryan Gosling's.
It really hit the spot... it's an emotionally-draining, infuriatingly honest story of falling in and out of love... Derek Cianfrance is definitely a director to watch out for, and I didn't love a single male performance this year more than Ryan Gosling's.
2
Inception
A film written by Christopher Nolan in his teenage years, and also his first original work since 1998's Following (both feature a character named Dom Cobb in the lead role). Given free-reign after the widespread acclaim The Dark Knight received, Nolan churned out one of the most fascinating and thrilling sci-fi films of the last decade (sci-fi, right? Whatever).
A film written by Christopher Nolan in his teenage years, and also his first original work since 1998's Following (both feature a character named Dom Cobb in the lead role). Given free-reign after the widespread acclaim The Dark Knight received, Nolan churned out one of the most fascinating and thrilling sci-fi films of the last decade (sci-fi, right? Whatever).
1
The Social Network
A damn shame that David Fincher did not take home an Oscar for this... but 20 years down the line, when he does, we'll all be like 'finally, David Fincher got an Oscar,' and it will be much more satisfying... think of this as his Taxi Driver or Raging Bull. He's my favorite living director, and I can say with confidence that this is his most fully fleshed-out film; not his best, but probably the one he's put the most effort into. Believe what they say about watching it a second time, too... it gets great. So perfectly edited, such a perfect and well-timed ending, and such a timeless message: on your road to fortune, you will lose friends.
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All in all...
Not a very stand-out year by any means, though we did get treated to the likes of Fincher, Aronofsky, Nolan, Polanski, Scorsese, the Coens, and a lot of promising newcomers... 2011 going to be a hell of a year with Malick returning with The Tree of Life, Fincher's Dragon Tattoo, 2 Soderbergh features, more Scorsese (in 3D), sci-fi from von Trier, some much needed period romance from David Cronenberg, and a great batch of promising Sundance titles. Let's hope it's a great one...
A damn shame that David Fincher did not take home an Oscar for this... but 20 years down the line, when he does, we'll all be like 'finally, David Fincher got an Oscar,' and it will be much more satisfying... think of this as his Taxi Driver or Raging Bull. He's my favorite living director, and I can say with confidence that this is his most fully fleshed-out film; not his best, but probably the one he's put the most effort into. Believe what they say about watching it a second time, too... it gets great. So perfectly edited, such a perfect and well-timed ending, and such a timeless message: on your road to fortune, you will lose friends.
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All in all...
Not a very stand-out year by any means, though we did get treated to the likes of Fincher, Aronofsky, Nolan, Polanski, Scorsese, the Coens, and a lot of promising newcomers... 2011 going to be a hell of a year with Malick returning with The Tree of Life, Fincher's Dragon Tattoo, 2 Soderbergh features, more Scorsese (in 3D), sci-fi from von Trier, some much needed period romance from David Cronenberg, and a great batch of promising Sundance titles. Let's hope it's a great one...
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