I don’t usually do scores or ranked lists on my blog entries. I find it to be way too arbitrary for my tastes and I don’t like the idea of complex opinions boiled down to simple numbers. However, this is the time of year when amateur and professional critics start putting together their lists of the year’s greatest and/or worst entertainment offerings, so I may as well follow suit and give it a try.
I’ll be presenting three ranked lists of films released in 2010. First up are the films that made me think, made me teary and made me sit in awe at the filmmaking skill on display. These are the kinds of films that Academy voters go ape for, though a few of my choices have gained depressingly little awards press at present.
If 2010 is going to have any films that qualify as cinematic classics, then I submit that these are the movies most worthy of consideration (among those I’ve seen, anyway). Let’s get started.
Honorable Mentions: The Complete Metropolis and The Secret of Kells
Metropolis is a classic by any standard and the newly extended version is a great improvement. Likewise, The Secret of Kells is an exemplary kids’ film with some of the most eye-popping animation ever committed to celluloid. However, though both of these films saw American releases in 2010, Metropolis itself debuted in 1927 and Kells first premiered overseas last year. Therefore, I don’t consider them eligible for this list.
This was a wonderful capstone to Pixar’s trilogy. The opening sequence alone was a marvelous work of top-notch creativity and animation. The themes of change and mortality were very well-expressed, the ending was perfectly tearjerking and the climax was genuinely scary. Sure, the threat was undercut by the knowledge that Disney would never let Woody and Buzz die horrible fiery deaths onscreen, but still.
This was a well-written, thoughtful and heartfelt sendoff to Andy’s toys. It was also very humorous, particularly in how it gave punchlines to jokes that had gone running since the first movie. Disney and Pixar delivered three movies that I hold very dear, though I hope they continue having the sense to leave the franchise alone.
I’ve got three reasons for why this one makes the list: Robert Duvall, Bill Murray and Sissy Spacek. Murray is wonderfully droll as the honest scumbag in charge of a funeral home and Spacek is simply radiant as our main character’s old flame. Nevertheless, this is Duvall’s movie, and he carries it elegantly. With nothing more than raw emotion, Duvall makes every bit of his character’s age and emotional baggage plain to see.
Best of all, these three performances are wrapped around a narrative that serves as a thoughtful and poignant contemplation of death. The movie addresses mortality with staggering width and depth, which I personally find highly laudable.
Here is a cast loaded with acting talents, every one of whom gives a sterling performance. The only one miscast is Timothy Spall, but he’s clearly trying so hard and the film shows so little of him that I can’t hold it against the movie too much. We’ve still got Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce, Michael Gambon and Derek Jacobi, after all.
But foremost among the cast are Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush, both of whom are on fire here. Their teamwork in this movie is what makes it funny, emotional and amazing to watch. They make the gradual friendship of their characters believable and sympathetic in a way that simply must be seen to be understood.
Leo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley and Michelle Williams were all solid in this movie — especially DiCaprio — but everything that makes this movie great is entirely Martin Scorsese. Though the score often feels like it should be in a completely different movie, the sound design is otherwise crackerjack. The imagery here is unparalleled and the editing makes for a very well-paced film. Indeed, the editing does a lot to make the various hallucinations and flashbacks even more dazzling. Best of all, the story is presented in such a way that rewards viewers who pay attention, don’t watch passively and come back for another go-round. It’s hardly an uplifting film, but the execution of this psychological thriller was still amazing.
#6 (tie). Winter’s Bone / True Grit
Okay, maybe I should rate True Grit a little higher (call it #5.5, I guess), but these are both such amazing films that are great for such similar reasons that I can’t help but put them together.
Both are anchored by tough, fearless and Oscar-worthy performances from newly-discovered teen starlets. Both have wonderful actors in solid supporting roles (John Hawkes/Garret Dillahunt and Jeff Bridges/Matt Damon, respectively). Both use staggering cinematography to depict hostile settings far removed from anything we’d call civilization. Both have amazing screenplays with suspenseful plotlines and masterful dialogue.
It pleases me greatly to hear that Jennifer Lawrence and Hailee Steinfield are getting Oscar buzz for their respective roles and I hope that this year marks the start of long and successful careers for both of them. In the meantime, we have these two great movies that deserve to be honored in their own right.
This was a hard one for me to place. On the one hand, I’m aggravated by the fact that this movie has so many plot holes that it tries to explain away with the ambiguous premise that it’s all a dream. That’s a pretty lame excuse, in my opinion. On the other hand, I personally found it very difficult to notice these storytelling deficiencies until after the movie was done.
This film is superbly crafted without a doubt. The premise is wonderfully creative and executed with staggering effects. The rotating hallway scenes alone are Oscar gold. It also helps that the film is wonderfully cast with actors who are giving their all, particularly DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy.
It’s a truly fun and unique movie made by a man who’s earned his place as one of WB’s most prominent directors currently working. It integrated top-notch visual effects with story like precious few other movies I’ve ever seen. That’s more than enough to put this film on the list, in spite of its imperfections.
Easily the greatest thing about this movie is how superbly it puts us inside the head of our protagonist. The tight editing, the brilliant camera work, the inspired sound design and the Oscar-worthy performance by Oscar host James Franco are all expertly coordinated by that extraordinary director, Danny Boyle, with the singular intention of making the audience feel Ralston’s pain. And man, does it work.
Boyle shows us exactly how any liquid would look to a man dying of dehydration. He shows us the pain Ralston went through as he amputated his own arm. He leads us to share Ralston’s descent into desperation and madness. And paradoxically, every second of it was as grueling as it was captivating.
There will be hell to pay in Hollywood if this film doesn’t get the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Aaron Sorkin filled this movie with whip-smart dialogue and an ingenious way to depict a compelling legal drama in a way that also provided narration. This is a very wordy movie, but the text and its themes of success and overconfidence in the face of rejection are delivered by a crew of stellar actors, every one perfectly cast and firing on all cylinders.
Meanwhile, David Fincher proves once again that he is incapable of making a film that doesn’t look good. Fincher and his crew set up every shot superbly and expertly edited the film through all of its speeches. Add in a surprisingly good score from Trent Reznor and sound design that makes dialogue clearly audible in a thumping club and you’ve got a film that succeeds on every level.
A tale of suffering for art’s sake, meticulous in how it depicts every moment of pain and madness. The dance scenes are wonderfully shot and choreographed, often done in a single take. The color scheme and set design are harshly simplistic in a way that highlights the central Swan Queen/Black Swan conflict. Every actor in the cast turns in a staggering performance; Natalie Portman in particular takes her acting talent to new heights with this one. What’s more, this film had dream sequences that were more horrifying and brain-teasingly ambiguous than any other movie this year, which is quite an accomplishment against Inception and Shutter Island.
This is a great film that’s absolutely worthy of all the awards buzz it’s been getting… yet I still wouldn’t quite call it the best of the year.
This is, in every possible way, a beautiful film. Every shot is gorgeous. The music is wonderful. The cast is led by three adult actors and three child actors, all of whom are phenomenal. The script has a wide variety of very intimate themes and commentaries on the human condition, all of which are interconnected with great care and expressed in poignant ways. Even the film’s handling of exposition is inventive and compelling to watch, presenting huge chunks of we know about this film’s world either as ambiguous and hope-filled hearsay or as tearjerking calls to reality.
This is a coming-of-age tale that’s heartbreaking and life-affirming in equal measure. Call it manipulative, but I still found this film to be more deeply moving than any other this year, so much so that it’s why I’m calling Never Let Me Go the year’s best. Pity it isn’t getting any awards buzz, though. Seriously, what gives?
For an alternative take on the year’s best, check out my sister blog at Smart in Name Only.