Ten best films of 2010
The year's 10 best films, some runners-up and some fudging:
1. "The King's Speech"(Directed by Tom Hooper) Plain outstanding entertainment, put together beautifully, wonderfully acted, inspirational and rousing. Don't you hate the British for making it look so easy?
2. "Winter's Bone"(Debra Granik) Who the heck is Jennifer Lawrence? Her portrayal of an Ozark mountain teen trying to hold her family together despite horror-show relatives and conditions is flawless; you never see her acting for a minute. Great ensemble work as well.
3. "The Fighter"(David O. Russell) This story of a fighter dealing with his massively dysfunctional family managed to be funny, inspirational and cutting all at once, with great performances from Mark Wahlberg, Melissa Leo, Christian Bale and Amy Adams.
4. "Black Swan"(Darren Aronofsky) Natalie Portman soars and falls in this mad, exhilarating and horrifying portrait of a ballerina driven to distraction by her own obsession with perfection. A crazy beautiful collision of clichés and creativity.
5. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" trilogy (Niels Arden Oplev; Daniel Alfredson) Noomi Rapace brought the extraordinary character of Lisbeth Salander — punk hacker, emotional ruin, warrior techno princess — to brilliant, chilling life in three Swedish films released in succession here this year.
6. "Catfish"/"Exit Through the Gift Shop" (Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman; Banksy) These two "documentaries" — about a Facebook love affair and street art gone commercial — brought the entire concept of documentaries and realistic cinema into question while being completely entertaining.
7. "Toy Story 3"/"Tangled" (Lee Unkrich/Nathan Greno and Byron Howard) What an incredible year for animation ("Despicable Me" and "How to Train Your Dragon" were no slouches either). Pixar hit it out of the park again with "Toy Story," while Disney finally returned to "Little Mermaid" quality with a spin on the Rapunzel story.
8. " 127 Hours" (Danny Boyle) Boyle has perfected a particularly modern and energetic style that he applied to the harrowing story of a man who had to amputate his own arm to survive in the wilderness. A triumphant performance from James Franco.
9. "Let Me In" (Matt Reeves) Reeves' adaptation of a Norwegian vampire film actually improved on the very good original, in large part thanks to splendid performances by the scary-good Chloe Moretz and Kodi Smit-McPhee. Not even sure I gave it an A originally, but it grows on you something fierce.
10. "Greenberg" (Noah Baumbach) This study in grown-up adolescence was good when Ben Stiller was on screen as the itchy-neurotic title character; it was great when Greta Gerwig's natural effervescence was added to the acid mix.
Also, in no particular order: "Fish Tank" ... "The Kids are All Right" ... "The Ghost Writer" ... "Tiny Furniture" ... "Splice" ... "I Am Love" ... "Shutter Island "... "Blue Valentine" (hasn't yet opened locally) ... "Inception" ... "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World"
1. "The King's Speech"(Directed by Tom Hooper) Plain outstanding entertainment, put together beautifully, wonderfully acted, inspirational and rousing. Don't you hate the British for making it look so easy?
2. "Winter's Bone"(Debra Granik) Who the heck is Jennifer Lawrence? Her portrayal of an Ozark mountain teen trying to hold her family together despite horror-show relatives and conditions is flawless; you never see her acting for a minute. Great ensemble work as well.
3. "The Fighter"(David O. Russell) This story of a fighter dealing with his massively dysfunctional family managed to be funny, inspirational and cutting all at once, with great performances from Mark Wahlberg, Melissa Leo, Christian Bale and Amy Adams.
4. "Black Swan"(Darren Aronofsky) Natalie Portman soars and falls in this mad, exhilarating and horrifying portrait of a ballerina driven to distraction by her own obsession with perfection. A crazy beautiful collision of clichés and creativity.
5. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" trilogy (Niels Arden Oplev; Daniel Alfredson) Noomi Rapace brought the extraordinary character of Lisbeth Salander — punk hacker, emotional ruin, warrior techno princess — to brilliant, chilling life in three Swedish films released in succession here this year.
6. "Catfish"/"Exit Through the Gift Shop" (Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman; Banksy) These two "documentaries" — about a Facebook love affair and street art gone commercial — brought the entire concept of documentaries and realistic cinema into question while being completely entertaining.
7. "Toy Story 3"/"Tangled" (Lee Unkrich/Nathan Greno and Byron Howard) What an incredible year for animation ("Despicable Me" and "How to Train Your Dragon" were no slouches either). Pixar hit it out of the park again with "Toy Story," while Disney finally returned to "Little Mermaid" quality with a spin on the Rapunzel story.
8. " 127 Hours" (Danny Boyle) Boyle has perfected a particularly modern and energetic style that he applied to the harrowing story of a man who had to amputate his own arm to survive in the wilderness. A triumphant performance from James Franco.
9. "Let Me In" (Matt Reeves) Reeves' adaptation of a Norwegian vampire film actually improved on the very good original, in large part thanks to splendid performances by the scary-good Chloe Moretz and Kodi Smit-McPhee. Not even sure I gave it an A originally, but it grows on you something fierce.
10. "Greenberg" (Noah Baumbach) This study in grown-up adolescence was good when Ben Stiller was on screen as the itchy-neurotic title character; it was great when Greta Gerwig's natural effervescence was added to the acid mix.
Also, in no particular order: "Fish Tank" ... "The Kids are All Right" ... "The Ghost Writer" ... "Tiny Furniture" ... "Splice" ... "I Am Love" ... "Shutter Island "... "Blue Valentine" (hasn't yet opened locally) ... "Inception" ... "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World"
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posted by Tom at
11:17 AM
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