Top 10 Movies of 2010

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, the most popular feature of the blog, my Top 10 list.  Actually, that's a lie, the Top 10 list isn't the most popular feature.  In fact, I don't know if anyone really enjoys reading my Top 10 lists all that much.  It's certainly not as popular as posts about exercise competitions or CPAP machines.  Still, I enjoy compiling the list and writing about the movies I dug over the course of the year. So, there's that...

Anyway, like I said in my Honorable Mentions post, 2010 was a pretty good year for movies.  Not amazing, but good.  Compiling the list wasn't all that difficult, but ranking the movies was.  For a time, I considered just listing ten movies without putting them in order.  Honestly, of the ten movies on my list, at least six of them were probably number one in my head at one point or another.  But, simply dropping a list without any order seemed like it would be pretty cowardly on my part, not to mention pretentious and lame.  So, I dispatched that idea pretty quickly.  After all, works of art were made to randomly compared to one another and ranked like football teams.  Who am I to argue with tradition?

So, without further ado, here is my list.  Feel free to quibble with my choices.

10. (tie) Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Yes, I always have a tie for 10th place.  You may want to ask why I don't simply come up with a Top 11 list.  Feel free to do so...

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was written and directed by none other than Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz).  He's one of a handful of directors I'd follow pretty much anywhere, regardless of the premise or how crappy the movie looked.  Luckily enough, with this movie, I didn't have to follow blindly.   

Scott Pilgrim was a difficult undertaking.  It's an adaptation of a comic book that features a whiny, usually unlikable protagonist chasing after the aloof, slightly-more-likable girl of his dreams.  On top of that, the story takes place in a world where reality and 8-bit video games overlap, people travel through subspace portals, and Mortal Kombat-like fights break out without really phasing anyone.  Needless to say, the film had a target audience, namely, men who grew up during the same period that I did.

Luckily enough, Wright came up with a whip-smart script and didn't blink when it came to the video game visuals.  The result is a hilarious tribute to geeks everywhere as well as the arrogant, whiny d-bags that most geeks are on the inside.  It also didn't hurt to have a killer soundtrack, featuring new garage-rock songs from Beck.



10. (tie) Shutter Island

Forget that this movie has story flaws.  Forget that it features a twist ending that you can see coming a mile away.  Forget that that ending is, in the end, pretty mediocre.  Even with those problems, this is a masterful piece of genre filmmaking by a director that, at this point in his career, most would think is above making a simple, straightforward thriller.


Shutter Island, directed by Martin Scorsese, has all the makings of a Hitchcockian thriller.  It builds continuously toward it's climax, staging perfect scenes and striking visuals.  And, though the story is, indeed, thin gruel, the tension is real and ever-present.  Scorsese's direction is mostly to thank for this, but no more so than the outstanding lead performance by Leonardo DiCaprio.  I know there were some naysayers about this movie, but I'd challenge them go back and watch it again and take note of DiCaprio's work.  It is, quite simply, some of the best work of his career.





9.  I Love You, Phillip Morris

No, this isn't a movie about the tobacco industry, though, when I heard the title, that's what I thought it would be.  It is the true story of Steven J. Russell, con artist, criminal, prison escapee, and lover.  This movie was made couple years ago and had the hardest time getting distribution.  It was finally released in December, though there was never a major push to get it out there and, thus far, it has stayed mostly under the radar.


Jim Carrey plays Russell.  Though his star has been on the decline, I've remained a pretty big Jim Carrey fan over the years.  Sure, his comedies are hit and miss, but he's never been in a bad serious movie.  The Truman Show and Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind are two of my favorite movies.  In, I Love You, Phillip Morris, Carrey effective melds his serious half with his comedic half, and the result is a performance that is, at once, one of the funniest and believable performances of his career.  If there was any justice in the world, he'd be in line for an Oscar nomination for this movie.  Sadly, I don't think that's remotely possible.

Ewan McGregor is Phillip Morris, the object of Russell's affection.  In the movie, Russell is a man under a constant facade who's only solace comes when he meets and falls in love with Phillip while both are serving time in prison.  Though that love isn't enough to get him to drop the facade, it gives his scheming a purpose: to free Phillip and build a life with him.  It sounds serious, but it's not.  Quite honestly, this was, in my opinion, the best comedy of the year.  





8. True Grit

Looking at this now, I can't believe I ranked this movie so low.  But, this is where it belongs.

I'm something of a Coen Brothers fanatic.  The release of any Coen Brothers movie is an event for me.  And, to top it off, I'm also a huge Jeff Bridges fan (and not just because of The Big Lebowski).  So, needless to say, this was one of my most anticipated movies of the year, and it didn't disappoint.

While the Coen Brothers are known for their ironic and nihilistic sensibilities, this movie is relatively free of such shenanigans.  It is, instead, a straight-up genre picture.  Every time it felt as though the movie might shift into something more, for lack of a better word, Coen-esque, it quickly fell back into the grooves of a traditional western.  This is actually a good thing.  It was refreshing to see my favorite filmmakers trying something new.  And, because they are immensely talented filmmakers, True Grit didn't feel like an experiment in genre filmmaking.  If you hadn't seen any of their other movies, you'd just assume they were old hands when it came to westerns.

The performances in this film our outstanding.  If Bridges wouldn't have won his Oscar last year, he likely would have won for his turn as Rooster Cogburn in this movie.  And, of course, the movie is the world's introduction to Hailee Steinfeld, who plays Mattie Ross, the heroine of the story.  She's wise, precocious, and feisty and, though this is her first movie, it's clear that she's going to be a huge star.  Fantastic movie all around.






7.  Black Swan

I, like virtually all human males, love Natalie Portman.  Clearly, she's very, very easy on the eyes.  Plus, she's always carried herself with seriousness and intelligence, even if she was working from the some of the worst scripts ever written (if you can't tell, I'm talking about the Star Wars prequels).  So, basically, she's every movie geek's fondest dream -- a hot chick who's usually in good movies.  Gotta love that.

Yet, she's a long way from Star Wars or Garden State with this movie.  Black Swan is an edgy, almost unbearably tense thriller about a dancer's descent into madness.  While, ostensibly, you could say that this movie is about all the things ballet dancer's put themselves through in order to be successful -- the weight-loss, the unrelenting physical training, etc. -- that's just the backdrop for a psycho-sexual thriller.  And, I guess I should say that, if the term "psycho-sexual" is one that would discourage you from seeing a movie, you should probably stay away from this one. 

The movie is directed by Darren Aronofsky, who also directed The Wrestler, The Fountain, and Requiem for a Dream.  I'm sort of a reluctant Aronofsky fan.  At first, I tend to admire his movies much more than I like them.  I thought The Wrestler and The Fountain were well-made films, but when I saw them in the theater, I didn't walk out thirsting for more.  But, upon repeated viewings, I think both are exceptional films.  I can't tell you how many times I've been sucked in by both of those movies when I've come across them on TV.  Black Swan is different, however.  It is easily the most accessible of Aronofsky's movies because the plot is, in a general sense, more conventional.  For the most part, it's a traditional psychological thriller (if there is such a thing).  The story doesn't come out of left field like in The Fountain.  Nor is it a physically brutal, slow-burn character study like The Wrestler.  But, while the plot of Black Swan is kinda boilerplate, the execution is all Aronofsky, which makes it amazing. 

Not to dwell on Natalie Portman -- though who wouldn't want to? -- but, I can't say enough about her performance in this movie.  I can't imagine anyone else walking away with the Best Actress Oscar this year.  The supporting cast, which includes Barbara Hershey, Mila Kunis, Winona Ryder, and Vincent Cassel is also outstanding. 





6.  Inception

At this point, I don't think there is any filmmaker with as much street cred as Christopher Nolan.  He is, quite simply, the man.  No other director working today is as lauded both by mainstream and movie-snob audiences.  And, quite simply, no other director's resume is as flawless as his is. With Inception, Nolan sought to do the impossible: to tell a complex, original story and sell it to mainstream audiences.  The result was the best "big" movie of the year. 

Nolan's recipe for success is pretty simple: keep the audience grounded in reality, even if it's a reality that you've created.  There's a reason why his Batman movies are so beloved -- the characters and stories feel as though they could be real, even if the action sequences would be impossible to pull off on the real world.   

Inception is based on a concept of shared dreaming and the literal construction of fantasies.  Yet, even though that concept seems fantastical, Nolan defines the rules of that concept from the beginning.  There is enough exposition in the story to make sure that every shift and twist is understandable, but the explanatory dialogue never feels forced or out of place.  That's because, in addition to being the king of story structure, Nolan is an outstanding writer.  Add that to a technical prowess that is on par with the Spielbergs, Jacksons, and Camerons of the cinematic world, and you get the best of all possible worlds.  Inception is, in my view, less a culmination than it is a confirmation of Nolan's exceptional talents. 

I won't go into details on the plot because, quite honestly, everyone has already seen Inception.  If you haven't, I weep for you.



 

5.  The Social Network

This is one of the few movies I reviewed on the blog last year.  Feel free to read my review here.  No real need to rehash it here.  Though, I will go out on a limb and predict that this movie will take home Best Picture and Best Director Oscars this year.  Obviously, it's not my pick for the best movie of the year, but it's very deserving of all the acclaim it's received.



There are simply too many great scenes in this movie to count.  But, I think this one was my favorite:



4.  127 Hours

When I began compiling this list, this movie was actually my first number one.  I just couldn't get over the kinetic intensity and unflinching nature of this movie, not to mention the raw emotional impact.  While I moved it down a bit upon reflection, it wasn't because it lost any luster.  This is a great film.

Directed by Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Millions, and Trainspotting) in that familiar Danny Boyle style, 127 Hours is "the movie about the dude who cut off his own arm." more specifically, it is the story of Aron Ralston, a mountain climber who gets his arm stuck under a boulder and, for more than five days, had to face his own mortality and decide that no cost was too great for his own survival. 

Ralston is played by James Franco and, while the term "tour de force" is overused in our cinematic lexicon, it is very appropriate here.  He is in every scene and virtually every shot.  The movie depends 100 percent on his ability to bring in the audience and win their sympathies.  He does that and more.

Though the story is about a dude stuck in a cave, it never feels boring or slow.  That's due in large part to Boyle's trademark style.  The camera work is fast-moving, with quick cuts and unconventional angles and movement.  If you're familiar with Boyle's work, this movie is precisely what you'd predict it to be.

Now, the part that everyone wonders about is the climactic scene in which Aron does the unthinkable in order to get out of his predicament.  I won't lie, that scene is gut-wrenchingly brutal.  Boyle pulled no punches in depicting that scene and, in the end, I don't know anyone who got through it with out averting their eyes at some point.  But, that part of the movie isn't effective only because it's graphic.  It's because the movie has sufficiently built up to that moment, letting the audience feel Aron's desperation, horror, and eventually, the joy of his freedom. 

Loved this movie.  Honestly, even watching this trailer makes me choke up. 



3.  Toy Story 3

Again, we have a movie I reviewed here on the blog.  Once again, there's no need to say much more here.  I'll just say this:  Pixar rules!

 

2.  Winter's Bone

Some movies just stick with you.  That pretty much sums up what I think about this movie.  It's a story about an Ozark family unwillingly tied to meth dealers and criminals.  Ree Dolly is a 17-year-old girl forced to play the adult after her father has disappeared and her mother is beset by mental illness.  Her father put up the house to make bail and has missed his court date, meaning that Ree is forced to find him in order to keep a roof over her family's head.  The movie follows her as she tries to infiltrate a backwoods meth syndicate and has run ins with all sorts of dangerous people, some of whom are members of her father's own family.

Ree is played by Jennifer Lawrence in a subtle, star-making performance.  She is simply incredible in the role and, in my opinion, the performance was the best by any actress in 2010, save for Natalie Portman's.  John Hawkes is equally impressive in the meatier role of Teardrop, Ree's uncle, who wants keep the mystery of his brother's disappearance a secret even though he is angry about what has happened to his family.  Really, every role in this movie is a colorful one and each actor seems perfectly cast.

Winter's Bone starts off with an overall feeling of dread, like something terrible is about to happen.  It builds on it slowly, but surely, reaching a climax that's as tense and terrifying as that of any movie in recent years.  Like I said, it just sticks with you after you see it.



1.  The King's Speech

There are some movies that seem like they are made for the sole purpose of winning a Best Picture Oscar.  These are movies that sacrifice being interesting in order to be appealing to a broad base of people.  Most of the time the movie is historical -- or at least quasi-historical.  They're inspirational, but not in any sort of meaningful, I-can-relate-to-that kind of way.  Does anyone personally relate to Forrest Gump?  Do you really feel deeply about the fate of Maximus in Gladiator?  Is there anyone who lists A Beautiful Mind among their favorite movies?  Not really.  These are the kinds of movies that you forget about, unless you happen to see them on TNT some night and you rewatch them, only to realize that they're not as great as you originally thought they were.  Other movies in this category:  Titanic, Braveheart, and Dances with Wolves. 

These are all fine films, but they're not the stuff of greatness.  Think about it, in almost all of these years, there are movies that are more remembered and renowned, at least by film geeks.  Is there any real fan of movies who thinks that Forrest Gump was better than Pulp Fiction?  That Dances with Wolves was better than Goodfellas?  That Titanic was better than L.A. Confidential?  That The English Patient was better than Fargo?  Of course not.  But, these movies followed the Best Picture formula and, though none of them was really the best movie of their given year, they were rewarded by their adherence to convention.

2010 was an exceptional year for a number of reasons.  Not the least of which was the fact that the most Oscar-friendly movie released during the year was also the best movie to come out.  There's nothing earth-shattering or incredibly innovative about The King's Speech.  It's a straight-forward story about a larger than life character -- the King of England -- overcoming a very human obstacle -- a stammer.  It doesn't tread new ground or mine any new cinematic territory.  But, what it does it does so well that you can't help but both love and admire the finished product. 

Colin Firth stars as King George VI, a reluctant monarch who spent most of his young life trying to stay out of the spotlight.  When the spotlight comes after him, he realizes that he needs to get his speech impediment under control, for his own sake and for the good of his country.  He seeks out the help of Lionel Logue, an Australian speech therapist played by Geoffry Rush, who may just very well be the best actor on the planet.  The movie follows their relationship as the King works to overcome his fears, assume the throne, and then lead his country through one of its most difficult periods.  Both Firth and Rush give excellent performances and it is their interaction that is the heart of this movie and is what makes it so memorable. 

Yes, this is the stuff of generic Best Picture winners.  So the hell what.  Perhaps I've gone soft, but I was completely taken in by this movie, moved with sympathy for the characters, and inspired by the story.  While it appears that the Academy will end up rewarding something a little less conventional this time around, this is one year where adherence to the formula should win out. 







There you go.  Please let me know where I screwed up.