Scots Taffer on 13/12/2010 at 01:03
This was truly the year of movies that failed to produce any sort of atmosphere or excitement; dead on arrival franchises, boring sequels with nothing to offer, and that was with me trying to avoid the real stinkers (though I did see one or two).
Still, here and there a couple of movies arrived as if on cue to awaken the cinematic senses from their slumber and bombard them. Beyond those precious few there were a number of fantastically crafted pieces of entertainment that didn't break the mould but provided more fun than art.
The Top Ten (in a quasi-order but not concrete)
The Social Network
I'm still decompressing this movie and feel that I need another run through it to pick up on every nuance of the stellar performances, dissect every razor-sharp line of dialogue, explore the depth of the visuals and direction, but even without a second viewing it's unequivocally the best movie this year.
Inception
The most pervasive movie of the year (and in some cases, divisive). A thrilling ride, not as deep or meaningful as it could have been (or people were expecting it to be), but still a cinematic pleasure.
Exit Through The Gift Shop
A clever and funny as hell combination of straight-faced doco on the merit or otherwise of the street art scene and delicious prank from the master of satirical understatement.
Winnebago Man
A documentary for the internet age, exploring the man behind one of the most hilarious internet viral videos of all time - a funny and often touching portrait of a man with a lot on his mind and very colourful ways of expressing it.
The Town
BEN AFFLECK. Doesn't have the same ring to it as MATT DAMON... This one was a genuine surprise, wanton rip-off of Heat it may be, it's so well crafted that it rose quickly to the top of my list. It's not going to leave anything particularly lasting but it's well worth your time.
Four Lions
Suicide bombing has never been so funny, but the movie doesn't stop there, nor does it pull its punches toward the end as you're led into the consequences of their stupidity.
Ghost Writer
I've said a fair bit about this movie already. It's got one or two holes but as a tightly wound mystery thriller, you won't find many better released in the past few years.
Scott Pilgrim Versus The World
Sparky and endlessly visually inventive, the third feature from Edgar Wright taps into unfamiliar material and as such there's a distance to some of the wild over-the-top action, but a very enjoyable romp.
Toy Story 3
A surprisingly bleak view on life after love for the children's toys we know from two previous adventures. I have not felt like revisiting this movie... perhaps a statement on how grim it was at times. Nothing to report on the 3D aspect... pretty uninvolving really.
Winter's Bone
Haunting backdrops of cold forests set the scene for this noir-esque tale of a daughter looking for her meth-cooking father, dead or alive, and venturing into the inbred underbelly of crime. Excellent lead performance and beautiful cinematography make this an easy recommendation though it can be a bit grim.
Still to come (and may possibly rock my world and the top ten): True Grit, Black Swan, 127 Hours
From Very Watchable to Unwatchable:
I Love You Philip Morris - Jim Carrey comes out of the closet again to remind us he can act, very funny and interesting little movie about a true life con man.
Hot Tub Time Machine - The only quotable comedy of the year, I think. Great white buffalo indeed.
How to Train Your Dragon - Fantastic kids fare, but nothing more than that.
Iron Man 2 - Pandering to a teenage audience is fine but at least try to have a point to your film not a half baked improv rehash of the first movie with a whole ton of shit that nobody but hardcore comic nerds give a fuck about.
Kick Ass - It can't decide if it's a parody of everything that comes before it or just a hyper violent rehash, but it was still largely watchable despite being tonally shit.
Easy A - Comedy about the girl who "gives it away" but not really, is sort of funny but mostly trite and un-involving.
The Other Guys - Will Ferrell trying to carry an entire comedy but proving his back isn't up to the challenge, still a few solid chuckles throughout.
Shutter Island - (In the opening five minutes) Okay, so he's obviously crazy... what the fuck, that's the twist? Oh... it's not... it's about how "crazy" being crazy is. ok. ... *tumbleweed*
Edge of Darkness - Not even putting Mel in a role that feels written for him can save this rote by-the-numbers conspiracy thriller.
The A Team - In 2010 a TV show got considered for a movie despite the fact it had been off the air for more than twenty years, no one can explain why the movie execs thought this would work, but if you have an average movie script and Liam Neeson needs a paycheque... maybe you can make The A Team.
The Losers - People who watch this movie.
Predators - When fanboys write scripts... they threw everything at this sequel and it still barely had a pulse.
Alice in Wonderland - Burton college art project let loose on the big screen without any consideration for how it actually functions as a movie.
Get Him To The Greek - What feels like a 10hr long comedy (slash drama wtf) about a wild frontman confronting his demons with a fat guy after spending 9 hrs doing drugs and talking shit.
The Book of Eli - Denzel kills dudes in a movie as boring as it sounds.
Greenberg - Dramedy where Stiller doesn't play a character with a name that sounds like a swearword... but is actually an unlikeable asshole.
Red - Masterclass of veteran character actors showing you how NOT to make an engaging action-comedy.
Frozen - Three friends get stuck on a ski-lift and two of them die slowly... wish they had all died quickly.
Wall St 2: Money Never Sleeps - But you will, a sleeping pill in movie form.
SubJeff on 13/12/2010 at 02:30
Loving your zings Scots. Unfortunately I've not seen many films this year but judging by your reviews I'm not missing much.
Nicker on 13/12/2010 at 06:49
Slagging Tiger, Midden Dragon - In before fett!!!
Bladebummer - In before dethtoll!!!
Fafhrd on 13/12/2010 at 07:05
I do believe that this going to be an extremely contentious year, Scots. I'm not compiling my list until after I see True Grit, Black Swan, and Tron: Legacy, but I can already say I pretty strongly disagree with you on Greenberg, Toy Story 3, and How to Train Your Dragon.
june gloom on 13/12/2010 at 07:26
I'LL BLADEBUMMER YOU :mad::mad::mad:
Nicker on 13/12/2010 at 08:30
Sorry, dethy - did I get my haters all mixed up again? Scots is Bladebummer ? And you are... Alien Erection?
Am I rite nao?
Gees! I've only seen three of Scots' Top Ten - I have some catching up to do before Dec 31.
june gloom on 13/12/2010 at 09:22
alien ABORTION more like :mad::mad::mad:
Angel Dust on 13/12/2010 at 10:15
There's gonna be a mix of 09 and 10 in this because a lot of the really good stuff doesn't wing it's way out here until the year after.
So yeah, a pretty shit year for mainstream cinema but that's not really much of a surprise and nowadays I go to games for my 'popcorn' entertainment fix. Still plenty of great films though and thanks to the local film festival resurrecting this year, I got to see a lot of them on the big screen too.
My favourites, more of less in order of preference
Mother - Bong Joon-ho delivers on the promise that was seen in his entertaining and original yet flawed previous features (The Host and Memories of a Murder). This time the mix of genres (we get black comedy, family drama, thriller, horror and of course, slapstick) all come together, and his technique remains as impressive as ever, in this rather twisted love letter to mothers.
Fishtank - Upcoming talent Andrea Arnold is now two for two with this powerful slice of British neorealism; think Mike Leigh but rawer and angrier. It features an excellent debut performance from Katie Jarvis (she had no acting experience before this film) and strong supporting work from Michael Fassbender and is also, incendentally, my wife's favourite film of the year!
A Prophet - Masterful gangster/prison film that tracks a young tough's rise through the ranks of the crime hierachy both inside and outside the prison walls. With a tone that shifts effortlessly and seamlessly between poetic and visceral, and a protagonist who is this sort of naive, innocent socio-path, this is a unique take on familiar genre material.
Animal Kingdom - Gritty and uncompromising crime drama from the land of Scots Taffer that had my stomach in knots for pretty much the whole second half, with terrible things always seemingly on the verge of happening. Ben Mendelsohn's is the standout in a fantastic ensemble cast with his chilling performance as 'Uncle Pope'; the most quietly dangerous and disturbing villain I've seen in a long time.
The Social Network - David Fincher atones for the mistep that was Benjamin Button and continues the ascent to master filmmaker that was heralded with Zodiac. Just fantastic all across the board and manages to be very much a film of today while also echoing that titan of American film: Citizen Kane.
A Single Man - Colin Firth gives a career best performance as a man haunted by the death of his lover and who resolves him self to commit suicide. The most visually assured and beautiful film of the year, its haunting, elegiac mood really got under my skin.
Toy Story 3 - Attention Hollywood: This is how you do a 'threequel'. This is how you introduce new characters and bring back old favourites without anyone getting shafted for screen time. This is how you marry commerce and art. While Toy Story 3 was less daring than what we've come to expect from Pixar lately, it is there most consistently entertaining film (and certainly funniest) in a while and I think that Toy Story can now make a legitimate claim for the greatest film trilogy ever.
Honourable mentions
Winter's Bone, The Secret in Their Eyes, Exit Through The Gift Shop, How I Ended This Summer, The Illusionist
Still to see
Another Year, The White Ribbon (why hasn't that been released here yet?), The King's Speech, True Grit, White Material, Blue Valentine, Rabbit Hole, Get Low, The Kids Are All Right, Four Lions (missed this at the festival :mad:),l Biutiful
Not eligible cos it's 42 years old but if it was, it'd be #1
Once Upon a Time in the West - I'd seen this film a few times before but seeing it on the big screen made me realise that I'd never really seen it. The masterful pacing! The flinty stares! The magnificent, ugly faces! The impressive crowd scenes! THAT score! Claudia Cardinale! Easily the best cinema going experience of the year and perhaps even the last 5 years.
JediKorenchkin on 13/12/2010 at 15:14
No one has mentioned Tangled yet, which I thought was by far the best movie Disney has done (sans Pixar) in quite a few years. How to Train Your Dragon was also pretty cute, but not a favourite.
Inception was also, of course, brilliant. Christopher Nolan seems incapable of making a bad film. I also found that I really, really enjoyed Scott Pilgrim.
Iron Man 2 just continued to prove all the ways in which Marvel sucks at making films. Oh, and The Last Airbender and Tim Burton's Johnny Depp in Wonderland were a couple of the worst movies I've ever seen.
I still need to see Black Swan and Toy Story 3.
rachel on 13/12/2010 at 21:06
Am I the only one who thought that although it is in no way a bad movie, the Social Network was nothing too special either?
I was a bit let down by Inception, probably because of the hype, but it was pretty cool and I'm always impressed by how Di Caprio is becoming better and better as years pass.
Totally agreed on The Town. I was impressed by how good it was. Affleck can be pretty darn good when he wants to.
The Ghost Writer was also excellent. I loved Eli Wallach's small but significant cameo. Such gems are pretty rare these days.
I have a special mention for Bright Star, the John Keats biopic by Jane Campion. I know it is technically from 2009 but it was released only this year in Spain and I loved it.
A mention for the much maligned The American. I'm not saying top ten material but it was pretty reminiscent of moody melvillian dramas. We know how it's going to end, but that's not the point. It tries to go for a Ghost Dog feel without quite getting it, but I liked it for trying something different and refusing the obligatory hollywood happy ending. Plus the Abbruzzo backdrop is too gorgeous to pass.
Unstoppable was another good surprise. It doesn't look like much but it does what it's here to do with impressive efficiency.
Iron Man 2 was cool but nothing special.
The A Team should have been titled The B- Team. A freaking Martin Mars? Crossing the Atlantic? What the fuck people?
The Expendables was pretty cool retro testosterone-fueled action. And they had an Albatross. :D
Takers was forgettable action shit. Disappointed in Idris Elba here.
Bon Appétit was pretty good. One of these "blink and you'll miss it" movies. A nice tale of friendship and love. The realistic kind.
Nothing Personal (again technically from 2009) was some boring-ass shit that made me want to hit the main character on the head with her own freaking shovel. My God what a TURD. Ugh.
Burton's Alice in Wonderland had me looking around for some fork or whatever to gouge my eyes out.
I think that's pretty much it... I'll come back later if I find anything else to add...
