The OSCARS were this past Sunday, which means it's time for my annual list of the year's best movies. The OSCARS themselves were dull, which of course is par for the course- when have the Oscars not been dull? The only thing more boring than the Oscars themselves is the annual pre-award hype, and the annual post-show bellyaching about said hype. Kudos to James Franco though, for being the first person to host the show ironically.
Anyhow, 2010 was a decent year for movies. Good but not great, despite the sub-par TIFF to kick off the fall movie season. So let's see what was the best of the best.
OVERRATED
The King's Speech (Tom Hooper)
A very well acted, finely written, competently directed film. But best picture? Not even close. The King's Speech isn't even director Tom Hooper's best film; make sure you catch the criminally under-watched 2009 The Damned United, starring Michael Sheen and Tim Spall, the two best British actors working in film today.
UNDERRATED
Iron Man 2 (Jon Favreau)
Jon Favreau's follow-up to his 2007 blockbuster was derided for its wandering script, and flippant tone. But it's the film's clever irreverence that made me enjoy the film so much (which also makes me the world's lone defender of Ocean's 12.) With the hiring of Shane Black, a solid filmmaker with complete Hollywood sensibilities, the Iron Man franchise seems to be heading back to it's more traditional roots.
10. Kick-Ass (dir. Matthew Vaughan)
Oddly dismissed by critics, Kick-Ass was 2010's best irreverent fun. With a deceptively clever and subversive script, Kick-Ass also contained the best off the wall performance by Nic Cage since his turn in the Herzog sequel to Bad Lieutenant. While some found the over the top violence and curse spewing 10 year old star off-putting, those of us young enough to have grown-up on Itchy & Scratchy were lucky enough to be desensitized enough to find nothing but endless entertainment.
9. Black Swan (dir. Darren Aronofsky)
Ludicrous? Absolutely. Shallow? Definitely. But if you're going to do melodrama, you do it the way this film does it: completely, and utterly over-the-top. Sure the ludicrous Black Swan / White Swan psychology that drives the film is ridiculous, but so is everything else in the film, from Barbara Hershey's scene chewing to Vincent Cassell's inane philosophical spewing. But subtlety has never been director Darren Aronofsky's thing, and he's at his over-the-top best here. High energy, and never, ever visually dull, Black Swan was the most visually enticing film of the year.
8. Blue Valentine (dir. Derek Cianfrance)
Blue Valentine isn't quite as perceptive about relationships as its defenders assert. The manner in which Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams get together seems so destined for implosion that it's hard to see the parallels between their coupling and the average marriage. But despite the constraints the film puts on itself, there is plenty of universality to be found. People in marriages fall out of love, with nothing to blame other than the inadequacy God put in them. There's no question that despite Ryan Gosling's good heart and self-sacrifice, he just isn't good enough for her; a fact which becomes more and more clear to both of them as the two grow older.
No two actors working today have less regard for their own vanity. These are not the eyes of two Hollywood stars staring back at you from the screen, as you witness their marriage crumbling under the weight of their own lives.
Roger Ebert, as he usually does, encapsulates the struggle in their marriage as eloquently as one can: “(Gosling) thinks marriage is the station; (Williams) thought it was the train.”
7. The American (dir. Anton Corbijn)
Anton Corbijn's existential anti action film got substantial critical praise but left audiences cold. It's not hard to see why. Muted, and understated, The American drifts in and out of action sequences like its main character drifts in and out of life. But there are thrilling action sequences here too: like a car and motorcycle chase through narrow streets, and a wonderfully taught final sequence between Clooney and his would be assassin. If Bergman directed an action movie, you couldn't help feel like it would something like this.
6. Inception (dir. Chris Nolan)
With Memento, The Prestige, and his debut Following, Nolan had already established himself as a master of intricate plotting, but with Inception, Nolan pushes himself to new extremes. Like a house of cards, you can't help but feel that Nolan's film will fall apart if you just stare at it long enough. But the ludicrous plot, which keeps circling and circling upon itself, eventually bowls you over with its immense scope and visuals, until you can't help but sit back and just accept it.
Next week, 5-1.
