12/23/10

As 2010’s conclusion draws near, we at ScreenTime have been reading over all the year end writing, jealous of the reviewers who get to see any and every film they desire. Of the 93 films on our must-see list for 2010, 29 remain. So, with our Top 10 list due to the boss man for the January 6 issue, we’ve put together a handful of advance features, staring with a list of the movies that either never came to town or haven’t yet seen a wide expansion. 

The 10 Probably Best of the 29 We’ve Not Yet Seen: 10. Life During Wartime (Todd Solondz); 9. Somewhere (Sofia Coppola); 8. 127 Hours (Danny Boyle); 7. Carlos (Olivier Assayas); 6. The King’s Speech (Tom Hooper); 5. Dogtooth (Giorgos Lanthimos); 4. White Material (Claire Denis); 3. Another Years (Mike Leigh); 2. Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance); 1. True Grit (Coen Brothers).

Top 10 Films You Possibly Have Not Seen That We Endorse: 10. Restrepo (Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger); 9. City Island (Raymond de Felitta); 8. Please Give (Nicole Holofcener); 7. Harry Brown (Daniel Barber); 6. Mother (Bong Joon-ho); 5. Jack Goes Boating (Philip Seymour Hoffman); 4. The Killer Inside Me (Michael Winterbottom); 3. Mic-Macs (Jean-Pierre Jeunet); 2. Exit Through the Gift Shop (Banksy); 1. Un Prophete (Jacques Audiard)

Top 10 Leading Performances We’ve Seen Thus Far: 10. Joaquin Phoenix (I’m Still Here); 9. Leonardo DiCaprio (Shutter Island and Inception); 8. Philip Seymour Hoffman (Jack Goes Boating); 7. Casey Affleck (The Killer Inside Me); 6. Michael Nyqvist (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo); 5. Kim Hye-ja (Mother); 4. Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network); 3. Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone); 2. Natalie Portman (Black Swan); 1. Tahar Rahim (Un Prophete)

Top 10 Supporting Performances We’ve Seen Thus Far: 10. Mark Ruffalo (The Kids are All Right); 9. Marion Cotillard (Inception); 8. Sarah Steele (Please Give); 7. John Ortiz (Jack Goes Boating); 6. Jeremy Renner (The Town); 5. Won Bin (Mother); 4. Mila Kunis (Black Swan); 3. Amy Adams (The Fighter); 2. Melissa Leo (The Fighter); 1. Christian Bale (The Fighter)

Best Cinematography We’ve Seen So Far: 10. Ben Davis (Kick-Ass); 9. Tom Stern (Hereafter); 8. Barry Ackroyd (Green Zone); 7. Robert Elswit (The Town); 6. Tetsuo Nagata (Mic-Macs); 5. Eduardo Serra (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1); 4. Black Swan (Matthew Libatique); 3. Martin Ruhe (The American); 2. Robert Richardson (Shutter Island); 1. Wally Pfister (Inception)

Best Direction We’ve Seen Thus Far: 10. Ben Affleck (The Town); 9. David O. Russell (The Fighter); 8. Bong Joon-ho (Mother); 7. Roman Polanski (The Ghost Writer); 6. Martin Scorsese (Shutter Island); 5. Matt Vaughn (Kick-Ass); 4. David Fincher (The Social Network); 3. Jacques Audiard (Un Prophete); 2. Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan); 1. Christopher Nolan (Inception)

And, if you’re considering a last minute (or late) holiday season gift purchase (or maybe looking to burn through some gift cards), here are some ideas …

Top 20 Criterion Blu-ray Titles: 20. Crumb (Terry Zwigoff); 19. The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick); 18. Videodrome (David Cronenberg); 17. The Third Man (Carol Reed); 16. Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick); 15. The Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa); 14. Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders); 13. Walkabout (Nic Roeg); 12. The 400 Blows (Francois Truffaut); 11. Bottle Rocket (Wes Anderson); 10. Yojimbo/Sanjuro (Akira Kurosawa); 9. Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard); 8. Mystery Train (Jim Jarmusch); 7. Chungking Express (Wong Kar-wai); 6. The Double Life of Veronique (Krzysztof Kieslowski); 5. 8 ½ (Federico Fellini); 4. Pierrot le fou (Jean-Luc Godard); 3. America Lost and Found: The BBS Story (Various); 2. The Man Who Fell to Earth (Nic Roeg); 1. Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick);

Top 10 Mumblecore Movies We’ve Seen (Post 2001): 10. Funny Ha Ha; 9. Nights and Weekends; 8. Humpday; 7. Mutual Appreciation; 6. Hannah Takes the Stairs; 5. Baghead; 4. Alexander the Last; 3. Beeswax; 2. The Puffy Chair; 1. Cyrus

Our Favorite Television Shows of 2010: 10. “Breaking Bad”; 9. “The Office”; 8. “Modern Family”; 7. “Boardwalk Empire”; 6. “Mad Men”; 5. “Dexter”; 4. “Community”; 3. “The Walking Dead”; 2. “Friday Night Lights”; 1. “Treme”

Check for the ScreenTime our next issue (set to hit stands on January 6), where we’ll list, celebrate and rant about our 10 favorite films released in 2010. That’s right, the big payoff.