What kind of year was 2010 at the movies? You tell me. It’s virtually impossible to find one yardstick to measure 365 days of cinema for a collective audience whose interests seem ever more segregated.
If your film interests are covered largely by the multiplex, chances are 2010 was an unusually unrewarding year for you, challenging even Hollywood’s standard quota of déjà vu — unless, of course, you’re an animation fiend, in which case there was a broad enough range of carefully crafted work to keep you happy.
If you tend to bypass the mall on your way to the arthouse, however, there was any amount of adventurous indie and world cinema, both newly unveiled and backlogged from previous years, to chew on — if, of course, you’re privileged enough to live in a regrettably narrow radius. And if you’re an Academy voter sifting through the crop of generously campaigned prestige fare, 2010 looks rather like the usual, only a little more so.
For me, 2010 was both immeasurably improved and somewhat complicated by the festival circuit — access to which is a luxury I shall never take for granted, but also one that inevitably skews my sense of how the film yearbook reads in the real world. When you’ve had access to most of the big-ticket winter warmers by early autumn, and when the likes of Cannes afford you a head start of many months or even years on certain international art films, things rather lose their shape.
All of which is a long way of saying that the following list is built on uneven foundations. As I don’t live in the US, sticking to that release calendar shoots me in the foot when I encounter films that are either very old news (take “Secret Sunshine,” released just weeks ago Stateside, but which I clapped eyes on in 2007) or still awaiting a UK bow.
In the end, the best my list can do is reflect my own filmgoer’s diary for 2010, of which festivals were such a significant part it seems silly to factor them out. Why wait 18 months or more to recognize films that are on my mind right now? My 2009 list included several titles (“White Material,” “Fish Tank,” “Dogtooth”) that are regular fixtures in the current spate of year-end collectives — in the end, it all comes out in the wash.
So, yes, there are some picks here you’ll have to wait for. I like to think they’re worth it, and in the case of a couple awaiting distribution, I can only hope the wait is a short one. (For the sake of parity, a list of the year’s top 10 US releases is included afterwards.) To each his own cinema, goes the phrase: in 2010, this was mine.
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As usual, let’s kick things off with a few honorable mentions, to make up a mathematically pleasing 25 films. (Pedants will no doubt point out, at the end of the list, that it actually adds up to 26. But I’m way ahead of you — I started 2010 as a 26 year-old, see, so of course this number was a symbolic target.) Not entirely a “next-best” list per se, but in terms of viewing experience, this handful of titles stayed nearer my heart than others. Since I spent so much of the year discussing films in the 140-character format, I’ll do these Twitter-style:
“BLUE VALENTINE”
Two peak-form stars and an elegant shuffle structure make raw wounds out of familiar domestic politics. Don’t see it with someone you love.
“BURLESQUE”
Dry-humping a lamppost at the corner of Tat and Treasure, with a sincere sense of pride in its performance that many loftier musicals could use.
“EASY A”
Pleasingly probing teen comedy loses the courage of its convictions, but I couldn’t omit the vehicle carrying the year’s most beguiling lead turn.
“EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP”
Banksy’s shapeshifting study of artistic banditry was the supplest and most penetrating of 2010’s rich run of are-they-or-aren’t-they docs.
“HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER”
Sweeping environmental detail blows up an intimate two-headed study of fraternal dependence and distrust into something well-nigh operatic.
“THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT”
Lisa Cholodenko’s sexy, sun-kissed, spryly performed comedy smartly makes its case for alternative family structures by making none at all.
“LOVE LIKE POISON”
In her startlingly controlled debut, Katell Quillévéré charts the thrills and fears of teenage sexuality with an unfailingly gentle hand.
“MONSTERS”
Director-writer-DP-designer-FX-artist Gareth Edward’s labor would be laudable even if his trim sci-fi debut weren’t this gutsy and lyrical.
“THE MOUTH OF THE WOLF”
The best documentary I saw in 2010: a freeform ramble through Genoa’s dank alleys, affording its subjects the time to tell their own stories.
“MYSTERIES OF LISBON”
All but gold-plated in its visual wealth, and leaking more narratives than I can count, Raul Ruiz’s latest is a sustained 272-minute swoon.
“RABBIT HOLE”
Okay, it rendered a script I wrote redundant. But this thistly domestic drama, elevated by Nicole Kidman in fifth gear, defeated my grudge.
“SOMEWHERE”
Sofia Coppola audaciously revisits the template of her greatest success, rerouting relationships and taking brave liberties with scene shaping.
“THE TEMPTATION OF ST. TONY”
Undressing policemen, gimp cabaret, Cannibalism on Ice… Veiko Õunpuu’s dazzling absurdist comedy had something (or nothing) for everyone.
“THE TOWN”
In a pretty joyless year for studio slam-bang entertainment, Ben Affleck and his choice ensemble kept it simple without skimping on effort.
“WINTER’S BONE”
The performances — and what performances — got the lion’s share of the praise, but Debra Granik’s clammy atmospherics take first billing.
(“How I Ended This Summer” will be released in the US through Film Movement, and is awaiting a release date. “Love Like Poison,” “The Mouth of the Wolf” and “Mysteries of Lisbon” are still seeking US distribution.)
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Foreplay out the way, then, I give you my, uh, 11 best films of 2010:
#10
“AU REVOIR, TAIPEI”
Directed by Arvin Chen
“COLD WEATHER”
Directed by Aaron Katz
I know, I know: starting the list with a tie is something of a copout. But when faced with choosing between two independents from twentysomething filmmakers — one that will have to fight for an audience in February and another that doesn’t even have US distribution yet — booting one out felt akin to kicking a puppy in the face. Plus, the two films make total sense as a double-bill, both of them playful, youthful riffs on the mystery genre: where Chen’s frisky, jewel-toned romantic caper comedy prompts thoughts of Stanley Donen dancing with Wong Kar-wai, Katz quietly clothes the ghosts of Raymond Chandler and Arthur Conan Doyle in dirty jeans and doleful wit. (“Cold Weather” will be released in the US through IFC Films on 4 February.) (Longer reviews here and here.)
#9
“EVERYONE ELSE”
Directed by Maren Ade
After months of waiting in vain for some enterprising British distributor to allow me a big-screen introduction to Ade’s critically massaged relationship drama, I finally lost patience and met the film on my laptop last week. It was an imperfect way to view a work whose aggressive sense of intimacy, like warm breath on the back of your neck, must be even more discomfiting in a darkened theatre, but the ruthless precision of this ostensibly simple breakup anatomy hits home on any format: Ade’s unfussy grasp of the central couple’s unspoken narrative suggests many critics’ Cassavetes comparisons weren’t idle ones, while stars Birgit Minichmayr and Lars Eidinger tackle uglier tensions head-on.
#8
“ANOTHER YEAR”
Directed by Mike Leigh
Like the builders’ tea his characters glug by the mugful, Mike Leigh’s films tend to be slow-brew affairs with me: in 2008, “Happy-Go-Lucky” went from a three-star appreciation in spring to a #6 year-end placing. His latest started on a higher rung, but still ascended: early concerns about an overly pat single-couple divide gradually evaporated, as savage supporting turns from Imelda Staunton and David Bradley tie knots in what might seem a placid endorsement of marriage. Push-pull auteur that he is, Leigh revisits his last film’s concern with the invention of happiness, but to chillier, more insistent enquiring effect — and finally hands the spotlight, one both generous and punishing, to his longest-serving company player, Lesley Manville. (Full review here.)
#7
“CARLOS”
Directed by Olivier Assayas
“It’s not a biopic, not at all,” insisted Assayas in our recent interview (still coming on the site, when my hard drive deigns to release the transcript), and one couldn’t ask for a more welcome attitude from a director taking on a study of one of recent history’s most unknowable political figures. Raging, rumbustious and feeling scarcely a quarter of its imposing 330-minute running time (the shorter cut is a thoughtful but unnecessary gesture), Assayas’s epic daringly proves that a dense character study can be constructed as much from incident as from psychology, as it rattles from one electric set-piece to the next with all the letup of a Bourne thriller: its feet may be in TV, but its head is in the cinema. (Longer review here.)
#6
“POST MORTEM”
Directed by Pablo Larraín
Without any Venice awards to egg on nervous buyers, Chilean writer-director Larraín’s cold sweat of a follow-up to 2008’s minor critical hit “Tony Manero” looks likely to languish in distribution limbo for some time. That’d be a shame, but also a badge of honor for a probing and profoundly upsetting piece of political filmmaking: the film shares its predecessor’s off-balance milieu of Chile’s early-1970s military coup, as well as its bone-dry humor, but broadens both its personal and historical scope to accommodate black-hearted romance and brazen what-if manipulation of actual events. Larraín’s formal abilities have taken a quantum leap, too: ingenious framing and sound-design culminate in a breathtaking 8-minute closing shot that finally makes a horror film of this dangerous one-off. (Longer review here.)
#5
“BLACK SWAN”
Directed by Darren Aronofsky
Aronofsky’s glassily enchanting psychological fairytale faced a pretty tough brief at its early-morning Venice press screening: not only did it have to live up to expectations amplified by an alluring trailer, but it had to make me forget my blind (and ultimately unfounded) panic that I’d lost my passport. Both tests were easily passed, as well as others we didn’t know were on the line: Aronofsky’s gleeful folding of trash-film glitter into his independent sensibility, and Natalie Portman’s graduation, before our very eyes, from promising ingénue to self-possessed star. A sister to “The Wrestler” in its evaluation of the rigors and addictions of performance, clad in lace to its predecessor’s leather, and exciting proof of its director’s growing textural dexterity. (Full review here.)
#4
“THE FIGHTER”
Directed by David O. Russell
In retrospect, it’s hard to believe how low my hopes were pegged here: somehow, my instincts told me this was Russell’s “one for them,” his submission to studio formula as atonement for past professional sins. Happily, my instincts were wrong. Bolshily rousing where most sports dramas settle for being politely inspiring, this proves every inch A David O. Russell Film, spilling messy trails of language and rowdy life at the edges even as it makes unvarnished grabs for audience affection. Produced outside the studio system and then reeled back in by Paramount, the film solders an indie’s sense of domestic specificity and ensemble togetherness onto a noisier mainstream storytelling arc, and winds up winning both weight classes.
#3
“CERTIFIED COPY”
Directed by Abbas Kiarostami
It’s always tricky to watch a film one has been eagerly awaiting for years on end, not least in the unforgiving environs of the Cannes Palais – when you’re that desperate to love something, it can be hard to tell if you’re watching a film or a mirage. Five minutes into Kiarostami’s rapturous voyage to Italy, however, I was disarmed to discover the film wants to be a mirage: as Juliette Binoche and William Shimell idle away a honey-colored afternoon in Tuscany, the audience is feverishly deliberating whether we’re watching an languid brief-encounter romance, a harsh cross-section of a failed marriage or, somehow, both. A conversation piece, certainly, but loose, funny and humane with it, magnetized by La Binoche’s serene, origami-intricate star turn. (“Certified Copy” will be released in the US through IFC Films on 11 March.) (Longer review here.)
#2
“MEEK’S CUTOFF”
Directed by Kelly Reichardt
“So, Venice got the new Malick film after all,” I tweeted immediately after emerging from the first screening of Reichardt’s austerely exquisite Oregon Trail western. I was teasing, of course, but even my devotion to Reichardt’s shoestring 2008 drifter study “Wendy and Lucy” hadn’t prepared me for the immense formal advances on display in this lean road movie without a road. Reichardt and cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt scrutinize their severe, forgotten landscape like regionalist painters, conjuring narrative out of light, land and sky. In a film so burdened with physical beauty, the human thread could be neglected, but Reichardt is equally attentive to the minute, ambiguous gestures of trust and fear that alternately propel and misdirect her wanderers. (“Meek’s Cutoff” will be released in the US through Oscilloscope Pictures on 8 April.) (Longer review here.)
#1
“THE ILLUSIONIST”
Directed by Sylvain Chomet
Sylvain Chomet’s blissful across-the-decades collaboration with Jacques Tati is, I’ll confess, a film I saw the morning after the night before: with my birthday falling in the middle of the Berlin Film Festival, drinking ran well into the A.M., with little regard for the one-off breakfast screening just a few hours away. With its airy narrative and moving-watercolor visual splendor, “The Illusionist” first proved a gentle hangover cure, before growing into something rather more precious: a near-wordless essay on aging, placelessness and companionship, leavened by the unmistakeable watermark of Tati’s wry observational comedy. Subsequent viewings reduce me to the same soggy puddle of tears each time. His Hulot-inspired protagonist may be a mere sleight-of-hand artist, but Chomet’s working with rarer magic here. (Longer review here.)
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So there you have it. My number one probably won’t come as a surprise to my regular readers, but kudos to Chomet for hanging doggedly on to my top spot from the dark days of February onwards. Apologies if the inclusion of unreleased festival titles irks some readers, but in the January chill, it can’t hurt to give you something to look forward to.
To recap, my top 11 films of 2010:
1. “The Illusionist”
2. “Meek’s Cutoff”
3. “Certified Copy”
4. “The Fighter”
5. “Black Swan”
6. “Post Mortem”
7. “Carlos”
8. “Another Year”
9. “Everyone Else”
10. (tied) “Au Revoir, Taipei” and “Cold Weather”
And, just to please everyone, the top 10 U.S. releases of 2010. (EDIT: “Dogtooth”‘s 2010 release totally slipped my mind here, so in it goes. And because I haven’t the heart to delete “The Portuguese Nun” — a film that needs every bit of attention it can get — we wind up with a First XI to match the above list. Neat, huh?)
1. “White Material”
2. “The Illusionist”
3. “Fish Tank”
4. “A Prophet”
5. “The Fighter”
6. “Black Swan”
7. “Dogtooth”
8. “Carlos”
9. “Another Year”
10. “Everyone Else”
11. “The Portuguese Nun”
That just leaves one thing. Last year, high on eggnog and holiday spirit, I generously dispensed with a “Worst of the Year” list, only to receive complaints from several friends and readers. Having delayed this year’s list to January, however, the Christmas cheer has worn off, and I’m back to my usual crabby self. So it’s back, with the usual disclaimer that until someone pays me to review the likes of “Cats and Dogs 2: The Revenge of Kitty Galore,” I’m certainly not going to see them.
With that, these are the 10 worst films I saw in 2010. (I’m not going to waste any words on blurbs — they certainly don’t merit the effort.)
1. “Chatroom”
2. “Knight and Day”
3. “The Tempest”
4. “Nightwatching”
5. “Alice in Wonderland”
6. “The Extra Man”
7. “A Sad Trumpet Ballad”
8. “Aftershock”
9. “Kick-Ass”
10. “Burnt by the Sun 2: Havana Nights”
And that, patient readers, is the year that was. From where I was sitting, anyway. Fingers crossed for 2011 to offer up its own share of delights — and while those in the know claim the outlook is decidedly grim, at least a couple of titles on this list say otherwise. Happy moviegoing, everyone.
[Photos: Fox Searchlight, Screen Gems, Film Movement, Focus Features, IFC Films, The Cinema Guild, Sony Pictures Classics, Paramount Pictures and Oscilloscope Pictures]
Comments
89 responses to “Watching and waiting: Guy’s best and worst of 2010”
Knight and Day the second worst film? Seriously?
Why is that some many people have such bad taste in bad films?
Terrific list. Glad to see The Fighter at such a high rank. It is in my top 3, for sure.
Once again Guy, you have a unique taste that I can’t quite indulge in, but one that I fully respect.
I’m glad someone else didn’t really care for Kick-Ass either.
Cool to see only arguably two “Oscar contenders” on this list, and I’m pleased that the one I really liked ranked higher than the one I disliked. I admit I had extremely low expectations for The Fighter as well; I probably would have just skipped it had it not been for prodding from you and Tim Robey.
Were you disappointed that nothing could top your favorite film of last year?
Robert: After multiple viewings, I’m pretty convinced “White Material” is my favourite film of the past five or six years, and a likely all-time Top 100 candidate, so it’d be churlish to be too disappointed.
I think these are great best lists except for Black Swan.
Terrific list Guy, always refreshing to see a list with personality. I knew you loved The Illusionist didn’t know it would be your number 1. Are we going to get a list of your choices for the best in all the other categories soon?
Andrew: Thank you! As usual, I’ll do an ideal Oscar ballot ahead of nomination day.
This year kind of made me think I am the most difficult viewer to please. The films I loved were only old ones.
I saw The Illusionist yesterday and I only liked it though I admired it more. I thought it was visually beautiful and some specifics of the script were brilliant but I didn’t connect to it that much. I felt like it was a bit afraid to really go to dark places instead of just providing glimpses to pure misery.
I found the Certified Copy characters a bit cliche. Kind of like taking “You don’t bring me flowers” and making it a movie without adding much aside from the clever ambiguity. By the way, I find it interesting that you chose that picture (or are they two?).
I don’t know if I’m right to complain about your spoiler re: Everyone Else. I guess it’s not about what happens but how yet I would have preferred not to know the conclusion.
Anyway, thanks for the list and commentary!
Jim T: The “breakup anatomy” term in my “Everyone Else” write-up is slightly misleading on my part — it refers more to an apparent outcome than a concrete one. Plenty of ambiguities to ponder, so don’t fret!
The “Certified Copy” image is a single still, by the way. My favourite shot in the film.
I’m pleasantly surprised to see The Fighter on your list.
My experience of the year (without seeing reportedly blistering films like Blue Valentine or Dogtooth yet) has consisted of several excellent efforts, but with only one true knockout so far, which was Rabbit Hole. Laid me on the floor. Bluebeard was something, though. Still working out what that “something” is.
No mention of Inception even in the runner ups? That’s a little sad. I thought you gave it a B+ on release? Oh well. Glad to see Meek’s Cutoff, Black Swan, The Fighter, and Carlos here though. I loved Meek’s Cutoff when I saw it at AFF last October, it will certainly make my 2011 list, as, like Tapley, I go by US release date. Still need to see Another Year, The Illusionist, Certified Copy, and Rabbit Hole.
My list was
1. The Social Network
2. Shutter Island
3. Inception
4. Black Swan
5. True Grit
6. How to Train Your Dragon
7. The King’s Speech
8. Toy Story 3
9. Blue Valentine
10. Enter the Void
with my 11-15 being
11. 127 Hours
12. Winter’s Bone
13. The Town
14. The American
15. Let Me In
Great list as always Guy! I will definitely seek out the films on your list I haven’t seen yet. :)
no film writer’s taste overlaps so much with mine. i seriously can’t wait for the unreleased ones now.
our number one’s are the same.
and the rest of my top ten has the fighter, dogtooth (on your mentions last year), black swan, and everyone else.
sweet.
Guy, this list is amazing! I can’t wait to catch up with the entires I haven’t seen yet.
A side note: I saw the “Illusionist” poster displayed for the first time yesterday (it’s not playing in Canada yet)… and I’m so excited for you that you got quoted! You must be thrilled to be featured on the marketing for your #1 film of the year!
*entries
Best:
1. The Secret in their Eyes
2. Toy Story 3
3. Let Me In
4. Another Year
5. The Ghost Writer
6. Red Riding
7. The Tillman Story
8. Tangled
9. A Prophet
10. The Kids Are All Right
Honorable Mentions: Hubble 3D, True Grit, Winter’s Bone, Cyrus, Monsters
Worst:
1. My Soul to Take
2. Jonah Hex
3. The Wolfman
4. Kick-Ass
5. Knight & Day
6. Micmacs
7. Saw 3D
8. Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader
9. Yogi Bear
10. The A-Team
Dishonorable mentions: The Last Airbender, Iron Man 2, Clash of the Titans, 127 Hours (as the most disappointing movie of the year), Your Highness (which I saw an early screening of and would be #10 if it was a 2010 movie)
Good list. I enjoyed your honorable mentions list a bit more, but only because I’ve seen more of those films. Between your honorable mentions and best of lists you probably named most of my favorite films from the past year. I have to check out some of the films in your top ten that I haven’t seen yet.
Also I’m glad to finally see someone with The Fighter so high up and The Social Network absent. Finally someone with some variety and not just the same movies that find their way on to every critic’s year end list. I also liked the inclusion of Burlesque in the honorable mentions. That was one of the most entertaining movies I’ve seen all year.
Guy really sees a boatload of movies. I haven’t even heard of half of those on his worst films list.
5/10 on your list played at this year’s New York Film Festival. I should have seen more there, especially since they were handing out free tickets on Twitter. I bypassed Carlos, Post Mortem and Meek’s Cutoff, a few of those because I just couldn’t wake up on a Saturday morning.
I did catch Certified Copy however and thought it was excellent. The dialog was on par with work by Sorkin, Linklater and Kaufman. For me to watch two people talk for an entire film and not lose concentration is really a tall order and yet it was accomplished here.
Oh man a few days ago I saw Pete Postlewaite’s name trending on Twitter and assumed the worst.
Just now I saw the name Hayao Miyazaki trending but it’s his birthday. Schew!
I really loved You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger. A deeper and sharper film than people think. Even better than Vicki Cristina Barcelona.
Knight and Day was perfectly enjoyable but not really top ten material (thought it’s closer to that than the bottom).
Knight and Day is truly awful. Jealous that I’m gonna have to wait a bit more to see Certified Copy and Meek’s Cutoff, but am otherwise surprised to see we’ll have very little overlap in our top 10s.
So now we’re just waiting on Chad, or is he not doing a list this year?
Wow, I timed that comment pretty perfectly. Never mind.
I so, sincerely, enjoy reading your writing. Very nicely done.
Great list Guy. Although your love for Burlesque always gets me. And I was surprised not to find Dogtooth on the top 10 U.S. releases of 2010.
What the hell is “Burnt by the Sun 2: Havana Nights”? Sounds like a pornographic film.
KevinK: I certainly never gave Inception a B+. I think I graded it a B- on release and, if I’m going honestly, it’s slid in my estimation since then. Sorry!
Ben M: Interesting to see “Red Riding” in your list — are you including the three films as a whole, or did one of them stand out for you? (I’m all about “1974” myself.)
Matthew Starr: I thought I played reasonably fair with my ’10 Worst’ list — only three of them (“Chatroom,” “A Sad Trumpet Ballad” and “Burnt by the Sun: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby”) are still awaiting US release. ”
Chad: Fascinated to see your list. That we (not to mention Kris) have managed pretty disparate selections suggests maybe this year was better than I thought.
Delicious, delicious reading!
Colin Walsh: That’s a disastrous oversight on my part. I will correct that.
/3rtfu11: “Burnt by the Sun 2” is Nikita Mikhalkov’s hugely embarrassing sequel to his 1994 Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, which crashed and burned at Cannes — and will likely never get US distribution. The “Havana Nights” subtitle (pinched from “Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights”) is an extension of a game critics have been playing since Cannes. I think I initially reviewed it as “Burnt by the Sun 2: Armed and Fabulous.”
I never heard of Aftershock or Nightwatching either.
And yet another worst list that isn’t really a worst list. Knight and Day? Kick-Ass? You’re a sad (and naive) person if you think those are worst of the year material.
My friend and I went into The Fighter yesterday with the lowest of expectations and could not believe how far they were surpassed. A very pleasant surprise and I’m glad to see it so high on your list.
Do you have a ranking for The Social Network? Would it be in the 20s or the 30s or not even worth thinking about?
Matthew: “Aftershock” is China’s foreign-language Oscar submission, a blockbuster in its home country (it outgrossed “Avatar,” I believe), and entirely hilarious. It received a limited US release in October, and I capsule-reviewed it here.
“Nightwatching” is Peter Greenaway’s hideous Rembrandt biopic (of sorts). It bowed at Venice in 2007 and has limped its way to release ever since — I believe it went straight to DVD in the US.
Tony Rock: No less sad and naive, I think, than those who can’t accept that not everyone sees a film as they do. I sincerely thought “Knight and Day” the most inept, incoherent attempt at a mainstream entertainment I saw all year. I was gobsmacked. But good for you if you got something out of it.
Anita: I like “The Social Network,” but don’t really treasure it in any way. It’s perhaps a more valuable and substantial film than some of my honourable mentions, but I prefer my lists personal.
I love your lists, Lodge. Your disregard for release dates mean that you always give me a list of must-see films for the next year (Summer Hours, Fish Tank, and A Prophet have been this way in your previous columns). Of your top ten, I have only seen Black Swan and Everyone Else. I disliked Black Swan, but Everyone Else is truly a powerful film.
I can’t wait until Criterion releases Carlos.
Guy, I’m including Red Riding as a whole, but I did feel 1983 was not quite as good as the other two.
My list:
I haven’t seen to many foreign films, and the The Prophet would be considered for last year. Haven’t seen The Illusionist, Another Year, Certified Copy, and Blue Valentine.
1.The Social Network
2.Black Swan
3.Exit Through the Gift Shop
4.Toy Story 3
5.Shutter Island
6.True Grit
7.Restrepo
8. Inception
9. The Kids Are Alright
10.The Fighter
Great list Guy. Gotta see Meek’s Cutoff
Thank you for posting your list Guy! I wasn’t having a good start to the week and this definitely cheered me up. Lots of great movies to seek out, hopefully it won’t take as long to get to some of those rare festival films without distribution, but most likely I will have to wait a long time to see them. I am sure it will be worth the wait however.
I don’t know if it is masochistic of me, but seeing Chatroom, The Tempest, Nightwatching, and A Sad Trumpet Ballad on your worst of the year list only makes me want to see them more…
I’m absolutely thrilled to see The Fighter that high on your list Guy! I had not expected that.
It’s also one of my favorites of the year and I hope it can fool them all and win the big one. I so hope for an Oscar nod for Mark Wahlberg. The least showy part but in my mind it’s by far his best performance ever.
I did want to comment on White Material, which I finally saw last night coincidentally. I have to say that I was a tad underwhelmed. And it pains me to say that, b/c I really wanted to be a part of the group that champions that film. It started with your high praise for it at Venice 2009, and then all of the other great reviews came out, Sight and Sound’s top ten list, the trailer looked amazing, and then it ended up in many a critics favorite of the year list for 2010. On paper it seemed like a movie that I was guaranteed to really enjoy. (Full disclosure, I have only seen 3 Claire Denis movies: I liked Beau Travail, I LOVED Trouble Every Day, and I admired 35 Shots of Rum.) But something just didn’t come together for me, and I wasn’t satisfied in an emotional or intellectual level by the film.
Don’t get me wrong, I liked the film – I guess I was just expecting to LOVE it. The filmmaking was beyond belief, so wonderfully restrained and composed in such lush layers. The acting was really good (although I couldn’t help but feel I had seen better performances from Isabelle Huppert in the past.) But there was some je ne sais quoi that is usually apparent in Claire Denis films that I wasn’t feeling in this. I don’t know if I was just not receptive to the material, or if it was just not there in the first place (to me.)
Something about the arm’s length approach to the story felt really cold and calculated to me. It didn’t help that I didn’t really find any of the characters likable or relatable (which I admit may have been the point.) I wouldn’t have wanted the film to go all Hotel Rwanda on me or anything like that, but it felt like the movie was suffocating on itself. I just thought I would share my lengthy response to the film, and my regrets that I am not able to join you and many others in the praise for the film. To each their own and all that :^P
p.s. – your praise way back in the summer for Monsters had turned into a months-long pursuit of that film and it has remained an absolute gem in my eyes, and one of my favorites of the year. You definitely suggest countless films that I love all of the time, but I wanted to extend my thinks once again for discovering that film – which I doubt I would have been aware of without reading this site. :^D
Anita and Michael W – I know! Wasn’t that a lovely surprise. I’m not at all convinced the commercials for THE FIGHTER are doing it justice – although I did find the glimpse of a tough Amy Adams very motivating. But I went in expecting an OK experience and really enjoyed myself. Guy writes about the “messy trails” and rowdy edges” and that just captures it so well, don’t you think? And I can honestly and happily say I hope Christian Bale does get an Oscar for his performance. He played such a dick with heart and verve and clarity too – really special. And I was not disappointed in Adams either – not sure she deserves to get a Sup Actress nomination out of it but I sure did like seeing her tough and tawdry. What did you think about Leo – some reviewers say she’s too mannered and almost over the top but I found her really recognizible and entertaining (but of course I live in the New York area so what are you gonna do?). I was really surprised it was Guy’s #4 though – it’s true.
Although Michael W I disagree about Wahlberg – he was great in the movie but not one of the top 5 performances of the year for me. Very, very good though.
And like Andrew M – I can’t WAIT to see MEEK’S CUTOFF now!
Alice was NOT that bad.
^I wanted to extend my *thanks and not thinks – bad typing error on my part.
Guy – I second Michael’s sentiment – I would NOT have seen MONSTERS if it hadn’t been for your comments so THANKS from me too. I think you’ve finally convinced me to go see 5 hours of CARLOS too.
Guy’s #1 The Illusionist
Kris’s #1 Exit Through the Gift Shop
I love the individuality of InContention and that no matter what year it is I won’t end up reading a Travers-esque Academy prediction list top ten.
Good list Guy, you sure can’t be accused of following the pack mentality, and yet it’s not one of those lists where every single film is something most of us won’t have ever heard of, let alone seen either.
Nice to have some chilean representation thrown in the mix ☺ I wonder why did our film comitee decided to send Life of Fish instead of Post Mortem, especially after Venice. Maybe they thought that sending two consecutive Larraín movies would be too much or something.
At a local cinema I saw trailers and posters for Post Mortem, but I don’t know if they premiered it yet or what. I’ll ask around next time I go there.
Just getting around to this. Great line-up, as usual. Everyone Else was probably the film I most wish I had caught up with this year.
Guy: No need to apologize about the lack of Inception! I was just a little surprised not to even see it on the honorable mentions list. I know you and Kris weren’t as enamoured with it as I was, and as always, that’s just fine. I’ve offered plenty of level headed counterpoints to you and Kris’s evaluations of the film over the year, but I certainly don’t begrudge anyone not responding to it the way I did. Never apologize for something like that. Just how the cookie crumbles sometimes. I cannot wait to see the Chomet film, and I am very impressed it remained your favorite all year. Thank you, as always, for pointing me towards films I’ve either not heard of or wasn’t entirely sold on before. I can’t wait to see some if these based on your recommendation! :-)
Nice to see Kick-Ass in your list Guy! I don’t get the love for that film… Really….