12/30/10
This year was, if you dug deep enough, an abnormally beautiful year at the movies. Probably the best since 2007. Not only were there the great art house films like Black Swan and The American, but there were plenty of memorable blockbusters, comedies, foreign films, documentaries and, well, so on. Enough talk, let’s get on with it; here they are, Screentime’s so-far Top 25 films from 2010 (plus nine additional lists):
1. Un Prophete - Not just my favorite of 2010 but one of my new all-time favorites, Jacques Auidard’s fifth film is his by-far best, telling the story of a convicted felon and his unlikely rise to power while in prison. The endlessly soulful performance by powerful lead actor Tahir Rahim is one of the best I’ve ever seen and easily my favorite of this still-young millennium. The music, the editing, the photography, etc. is all so good. If you see one movie from 2010 - and have a brain that you like to use - make it Auidard’s epic gangster/prison classic.
2. Inception - John Ford. Then Akira Kurosawa and Orson Welles. Then, of course, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg and even Quentin Tarantino and Michael Bay. Now: Christopher Nolan. I’m talking about is the progression of movie magic. Filmmakers who have crafted pictures that were, at their time, so big, impressive, magical and unthinkable that everything else of the time looked, by comparison, simple. Nolan’s latest film somehow tops his last (The Dark Knight), standing as one of the most complete and masterful all around productions of all-time. That something so strange and artful did so well amongst both critics and crowds is somewhat confusing. That so many also seem to denounce it is, for cinephiles, a comfort. A complex art house epic dressed up as a summer blockbuster … who’d have thunk it?
3. The Social Network - My third viewing of this masterpiece from director David Fincher was the one that mattered. Sure, the direction is smart and clean and the acting is spot on. Sure. But it’s Aaron Sorkin’s masterful adaptation of Ben Mezrich’s book that makes this film an instant classic. Rarely will you see writing so precise anywhere in modern pop culture. Everything else about the production, from the score to the cinematography, being so spot on doesn’t hurt either.
4. The American - As much a Western as it is a spy story or nuanced art film for fans of cinematography, this, the second work from director Anton Corbin (Control), feels very retro, very European. The story is small and has been told many times before, but add a cool leading man (George Clooney), a visually masterful director, an Italian beauty (Violante Placido) and countless breathtaking locations (Castel del Monte) and you have a tight, satisfying story that simultaneously feels classic, familiar and new. Corbijn, simply puts, speaks the language of film.
5. Black Swan - A gritty, nightmarish look at the behind-the-scenes life off competitive ballerinas, Darren Aronofsky’s highly stylized fifth film is his best work since Requiem For a Dream, the movie that earned him a lifelong pass behind the camera. The style, as expected, is amazing, detailed and unique. What really pushes this very simple story beyond the competition is the acting, most notably by leading lady Natalie Portman, who gives the performance of her career and the most memorable from a female lead since Audrey Tautou in Amelie.
6. Exit Through the Gift Shop - Scam or no scam, this documentary from the mind of Banksy works well as both a story and think piece about the treatment and place of fine art in the modern world. More than anything else in 2010 - book, album, film or otherwise - Gift Shop was the one new release that I couldn’t stop talking about for days, even weeks after seeing it.
7. Winter’s Bone - Debra Granik’s small, moody Ozark-set film featured not just some of the year’s best direction, but one of its best scripts and acting performances from newcomer Jennifer Lawrence. Feels like the tough sister to early Coen Brothers films and Nash Edgerton’s little seen neo-noir classic The Square.
8. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - I knew that this movie was based on a book; I knew that there were two sequels already made; and I knew that there were three American versions coming of the same three films. By the time the movie ended, I also knew that it could never be topped (even if the other two easily can be). A big, strange story conquered with aplomb by its maker, director Niels Arden Oplev.
9. Greenberg - Noah Baumbach’s best since The Squid and the Whale gets funnier with each viewing. The result? My favorite comedy of 2010. Big, hearty laughs around every sun-drenched corner.
10. Shutter Island - Martin Scorsese’s long awaited adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s book is an thoughtfully crafted film that brings to mind the moods and pacing of Hitchcock and the dreamy/hypnotic set pieces of Kubrick. The kind of production that only a tried and true master could manage.
Also: 11. The Town; 12. Kick-Ass; 13. The Fighter; 14. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Pt. 1; 15. The Ghost Writer; 16. The Secret in Their Eyes; 17. True Grit; 18. Mic-Macs; 19. The Killer Inside Me; 20. Jack Goes Boating; 21. Let Me In; 22. I'm Still Here; 23. Toy Story 3; 24. Cyrus; 25. Mother
Ten Worst Movies I Saw in 2010: 1. The Wolfman (Joe Johnston); 2. The Last Airbender (M. Night Shyamalan); 3. Dear John (Lasse Hallstrom);4. Sex and the City 2; 5. Death at a Funeral (Neil LaBute); 6. Extraordinary Measures (Tom Vaughan); 7. Cop Out (Kevin Smith); 8. Robin Hood (Ridley Scott); 9. Eclipse (David Slade); 10. Frozen (Adam Green)
Top 15 Movies I Need to See Before These Lists Can Be Final: 1. Blue Valentine; 2. Another Year; 3. Biutiful; 4. White Material; 5. Dogtooth; 6. The King's Speech; 7. Carlos; 8. Barney's Version; 9. 127 Hours; 10. Somewhere; 11. Life During Wartime; 12. Never Let Me Go; 13. Tiny Furniture; 14. A Woman, A Gun and a Noodle Shop; 15. Enter the Void
Ten Favorite DVD Releases of 2010: 1. The Thin Red Line; 2. America Lost and Found: The BBS Story; 3. Un Prohpete; 4. Paris, Texas; 5. Vivre sa vie; 6. Inception;7. Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence; 8. Exit Through the Gift Shop; 9. Night On Earth; 10. Mic-Macs
Ten Favorite Documentary Films of 2010: 1. Exit Through the Gift Shop; 2. I’m Still Here; 3. Waiting For Superman; 4. Restrepo; 5. Inside Job; 6. The Tillman Story; 7. Waste Land; 8. Client 9; 9. Freakanomics; 10. Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
Ten Panned and/or Largely Ignored Films from 2010 (That I Loved): 1. Mic-Macs; 2. The Killer Inside Me; 3. Jack Goes Boating; 4. Hereafter; 5. Please Give; 6. Harry Brown; 7. Devil; 8. The Runaways; 9. City Island; 10. Nice Guy Johnny;
Five Favorite Foreign Language Films of 2010: 1. Un Prophete; 2. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo; 3. The Secret in Their Eyes; 4. Mic-Macs; 5. Mother
Five Favorite Pedestrian Comedies of 2010: 1. Get Him to the Greek; 2. Hot Tub Time Machine; 3. The Other Guys; 4. She’s Out of My League; 5. Due Date
Five Good But Overrated Films of 2010: 1. The Kids Are All Right; 2. Restrepo; 3. The Girl Who Played With Fire; 4. Youth In Revolt; 5. Alice in Wonderland
Seeing as how very few of my Top 10 films are straight genre pictures, I figured I’d list my favorite common genre releases, as well as a few other favorites. Favorite Pure Comedy: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World; Favorite Offbeat Comedy: Greenberg; Favorite Pure Horror/Thriller: Let Me In; Favorite Pure Drama: Mother; Favorite Pure Action: The Town; Biggest Cheap-O Adrenaline Rush: Unstoppable; Most Impressive All-Around Production: Harry Potter; Most Fun at the Movies: Kick-Ass; Best Movie Almost No One Saw: Please Give; Most Memorable Usage of CGI: The Book of Eli; Most Memorable Editing of 2010: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World; Biggest Credibility Rise of 2010: Natalie Portman (Black Swan); Biggest Credibility Drop of 2010: Johnny Depp (Alice in Wonderland and The Tourist)
