10. Inception
Directed and Written by Christopher Nolan
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Dileep Rao, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine
I have seen only two movies in the theaters twice this year. Inception was one of them, and if you have seen the movie, you know why I did.
Christopher Nolan is well established as a great director. If people didn't know that before, it was cemented with his two Batman movies. And while I love those movies (and am eagerly awaiting the third, and final movie in the Nolan trilogy) I gravitate more towards Memento. Memento is one of the great movies of the last decade, and it is pretty much a movie invented for watching over and over again. In that sense, it's no wonder why I love Inception so much, as its the psychological mind****ery of Memento done on a $150 million budget.
However, to Nolan's credit, Inception really isn't all that confusing. It is confusing if you dose off for 3 minutes, but if you are alert for the entire running time, it should all make perfect sense. People have complained about the first hour as nothing but exposition, but I see that as missing the point. You need to set up the rules, and the Ellen Page character acts as an audience surrogate who is asking all the questions about the dreamworld that we all want to know. And once the dream levels start happening? Hoo boy. That's when the real fun starts.
The use of the car dropping in the water as a ticking clock was perfection, and added a real sense of urgency to the proceedings. The score, by Hans Zimmer with additional guitar work from Johnny Marr, is one of Zimmer's best scores yet (last scene/closing credits song "Time" is just a beautiful track in its own right), and the cast is really great. This is the movie you make after making the #2 (or #3 at this point) highest grossing movie ever made. You don't make a big, dumb popcorn movie. You make a popcorn movie with a brain. Thank goodness for Christopher Nolan and thank goodness for Inception.
09. The Other Guys
Director: Adam McKay
Written by Adam McKay, Chris Henchy
Starring Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Steve Coogan, Michael Keaton
Adam McKay has been criticized in the past for his movies (Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers) not having a lot of plot. The Other Guys is his middle finger to those critics.
What makes The Other Guys so superb, and the best comedy of the year, is that he balances a great plot we haven't seen before with the typical absurdist gags we come to expect from McKay/Ferrell movies. Another thing to McKay's credit: This isn't a lazy buddycop movie, where the target is a drugdealer. This is a movie set in the present where the villians of the piece are people trying to affect Wall Street, and are trying to swindle money from people. As McKay has said, in the days where execs are taking millions of dollars from people, trying to catch drugdealers seems awfully quaint. Furthering this is the best end credits sequence of the year, which is an informative infographic on how a Ponzi Scheme works (as Rage Against The Machine's cover of "Maggie's Farm" plays in the background).
With all of that said, you may think this is a serious movie. Again, far from it. It's a McKay/Ferrell movie, so there's plenty of inspired silliness, much of it I don't want to spoil. Just know that the term "soup kitchen" has a whole different meaning to me now. Also, a group of homeless people that are known as Dirty Mike and The Boys.
What Adam McKay does (and what makes him the best straight-up comedy director working today) is that he tries to put in some social message in between all the great absurdist gags they nail so well. Anchorman was about the culture clash between male and female anchors in the '70s, Talladega Nights was about the south and gross sponsorship by major companies, and Step Brothers was about the infantization of many current adults. Yet, all three of those movies are three of the funniest movies in recent memory (with Anchorman and Step Brothers in particular being two of my favorite comedies ever made). The fact that all of those messages don't feel at all preachy, and still play as silly comedies is all the credit of Adam McKay's greatness, and what makes The Other Guys the best comedy of 2010.
Oh yeah, and Michael Keaton is spectacular in this movie. He generally is, but i'm very glad for his comeback.
08. True Grit
Directed and Written by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen (Based on the novel by Charles Portis)
Starring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Hailee Steinfield, Barry Pepper
If I had to pick a favorite director working today, it would be The Coen Brothers (which is technically two people, but still!). Beyond a slight misstep in the early 00's with Intolerable Cruelty (which has its moments) and The Ladykillers (which doesn't), The Coens have never made anything close to a bad movie. That continues yet again with True Grit, which is surprisingly the most successful movie they have ever made.
I say surprisingly, because there's nothing at all mainstream about True Grit. But then, as proven with Inception doing well, we should have higher opinions of what major audiences will go for. Just because some daring movies fail doesn't mean that major audiences can't go for quality movies. Anyway, point being. True Grit, like many Coens movies, is very wordy, and uses the language and cadences of the 1800's, so I would hardly call it accessible. Yet the audience I saw it with, and many other audiences it seems, were enraptured by it.
True Grit is a movie where everything about it works. Whether its Roger Deakins' typically amazing cinematography, the great Carter Burwell score, the work by The Coens directing and adapting it, and of course the cast. Jeff Bridges is a joy in this movie as Rooster Cogburn, as he mumbles his way throughout the movie. A lovable drunk, it is yet another iconic role in a career full of iconic roles. Matt Damon also puts in one of his funniest performances to date, and Josh Brolin also does very funny work as well. The star of the movie, however, is Hailee Steinfield as Mattie Ross. It is amazing that a girl who is only 13 years old could manage the cadence of the times like she can, but she makes it effortless. One of the best performances i've seen this year, period, if she doesn't win the Oscar for Supporting Actress i'll throw my remote at the TV. I greatly look forward to what should be a shining career.
As much as I love True Grit, I still prefer The Coens' more left of center movies like The Big Lebowski, Burn After Reading, A Serious Man, The Hudsucker Proxy, etc. True Grit, while it has very great Coens touches and is very funny, is a straight western, which is what makes it as great as it is. Just that I prefer The Coens' normal work to this. Not a criticism, just what I prefer. Still, if you watch True Grit and don't enjoy it, you should have your head examined. A bit harsh? Probably, but who cares.
07. Exit Through the Gift Shop
Directed by Banksy
The funniest documentary (if it is one) that you will ever see. Banksy's debut feature has the urgency of a skate video, and is as funny as any comedy this year. The reason why I am being vague is that this movie is best experienced when you don't know a thing about it. Just go watch it. You will enjoy it, as a great spotlight on street art and... something else. Something else that is very thought provoking and endlessly entertaining.
06. Greenberg
Directed and Written by Noah Baumbach
Starring Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, Rhys Ifans, Jennifer Jason Leigh
I will say up front that this movie won't be for everyone. A lot of people may find Ben Stiller's Greenberg character to be too mean spirited to watch, and that's their call. However, as I said during my Treme write-up, as long as the character is interesting, and adds something to the story, it doesn't matter if the character is likable at all. Greenberg falls in that same thing.
I adore Greenberg. I really do. I have loved Noah Baumbach's past movies like The Squid and The Whale, Kicking and Screaming (he most recently co-wrote the script of Fantastic Mr. Fox with Wes Anderson), and others, but Greenberg may be my favorite of his yet. It is an amazing examination of a bitter slacker from the Gen X generation, and how he is adjusting to his 40s. Seeing as Ben Stiller was the face of that Gen X movement for a while (with FOX's short-lived The Ben Stiller Show, and Reality Bites, which he directed), he is the perfect choice to play this part. It's one of Stiller's finest roles to date, as he can still be as funny as he usually is, but also act the dramatic scenes very well. Additional accolades should go to the radiant Greta Gerwig, who is so wonderful in this movie. Once I saw her sing Paul McCartney's "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" in the movie, she had my heart forever.
This movie has some wonderfully awkward, but spot-on moments throughout, such as Stiller's Greenberg stuck at a party with 20 year olds, and the most awkward (but funny) cunnilingus scene shot on film. I will understand if this movie is not for you, but if you have similar tastes to me at all, you will adore this movie as much as I did. This is a movie that stays with you long after it ends.
05. Four Lions
Director: Chris Morris
Written by Chris Morris, Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain
Starring Riz Ahmed, Arsher Ali, Nigel Lindsay, Kayvan Novak, Adeel Akhtar, Craig Parkinson
Chris Morris is a UK comedy giant. He was behind such shows as The Day Today, Brass Eye, Nathan Barley, and many other shows that changed the face of comedy forever. Four Lions, his first full-length feature film, finds him tackling yet another unlikely target: Terrorists.
What makes this movie so great and important is that it humanizes terrorists in a way we haven't seen before. It's obviously a very fine line to cross, but to portray this group of terrorists as a bumbling, Three Stooges-like group is a really helpful thing for North Americans to see. They aren't diabolical masterminds that are smarter than everyone; they are just a bunch of young people who live in a flat together who are as dumb and clueless as anyone. Stories in current events like the underwear bomber have shown this.
Another amazing, unthinkable thing that Chris Morris manages to pull off: By the end of the movie, we end up caring for these people who want to selfishly harm and kill people. But again, as Chris Morris comes from comedy, it is a very funny movie with biting satire all over the place. Some have compared it to a modern day Dr. Strangelove, and I wouldn't disagree with that. This is an Important movie that everyone should watch. It is shot and made as a silly, broad comedy, but the characters are a group of people we rarely see portrayed on the big screen. In the days of cookie cutter big event movies, seeing a movie as different as this being made (and being executed flawlessly) is a very great thing to see.
04. How To Train Your Dragon
Directors: Chris Sanders, Dean DeBloid
Written by Adam F. Goldberg, Peter Tolan, Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders
Starring Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Gerard Butler, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jonah Hill, Craig Ferguson
Why is How To Train Your Dragon (a Dreamworks movie!) the best animated movie of the year, and the best use of 3D I have ever seen? I have no idea! But, i'll try to explain.
How To Train Your Dragon didn't look entirely promising due to trailers and ads. it looked like yet another dumb Dreamworks movie that sacrificed characters and plot for gags. I then went to see it (not due to me not liking the ads. I'm clearly leaving out the middle step) in IMAX 3D, and was utterly blown away. I had seen Avatar at that same theater a couple months prior, and while I enjoyed its 3D, Dragon's 3D was on a whole other level.
Yes, people criticize 3D, but the reason why I give it pause is 100% How To Train Your Dragon. You truly feel like you are flying in the air. I have never felt a sensation like it before. With that said, the movie is a lot more than a theme park ride. The story, while done before, is so well done and perfect. The story is pretty much just a story about a kid and his pet Dragon (you can sub in a dog, cat or whatever your pet is), and it's such a beautiful story showing that relationship.
The voiceacting is also very good. This isn't a stunt-cast. Jay Baruchel is perfect as Hiccup. Hiccup is forced to become a viking like his father (played by, in quite possibly his best acting to date, Gerard Butler), even though he isn't well suited for it. America Ferrea, someone who I wasn't really a fan of, has also never been better than she is here, as well as a typically great job by Craig Ferguson.
Also, in terms of those Dreamworks pop culture references? None to be found in this movie. There is humor, but it is done out of character. Also, the battle scenes involving the dragons are very well done. And John Powell's score is one of, if not the best score of the year. It makes the flying scenes all the more pleasurable.
Since the movie did very well, Dreamworks plans to make at least 4 more of these movies, and I find that to be a huge bummer. What made How To Train Your Dragon so special likely can't be duplicated in further movies, and I don't want a movie I admire so much to turn into another Shrek.I don't think I conveyed how much I enjoyed this movie, so I just advise you to see it. I really felt so much joy watching it, and with the IMAX 3D, it was one of the best theater experiences I have ever had.
03. Black Swan
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Written by Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, John McLaughlin
Starring Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder
Yet another example of Darren Aronofsky being a master of his form. While it's not the movie of his I will rewatch many times (The Wrestler is still my soft-spot favorite of his), it is just so well done that you can't help but get wrapped up in it.
First off, Natalie Portman. She has gotten a lot of attention for this role, and even I think that is underselling it. She is late '70s DeNiro good in this movie. To even hold a Best Actress competition when this performance happened seems silly to me. She learned how to do ballet, she showcases the downward spiral of a human being, and plays her unraveling with perfection. You want to talk about committing to do a part? This is ****ing committing to do a part.
How Aronofsky managed to make a horror movie out of this material is also very great. Some people may say this movie is camp, but I find that claim to be ridiculous. Have they seen Polanski's Repulsion? This is very much in that same lineage.
This movie has the best third act i've seen since my #1 movie of 2009 Inglourious Basterds. The way, similarly to that movie, it builds and builds and builds to an amazing climax and ending is exhilarating to watch. Aronfosky is doing his best directorial work in this movie, and it shows. A concept that could easily go off the rails, but instead is a nice bit of organized chaos.
I love this movie. I would say you should go see it, but due to the constant media attention it has gotten you have either a) already seen it, b) are planning to, c) have no interest.
02. The Social Network
Director: David Fincher
Written by Aaron Sorkin
Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Brenda Song, Rooney Mara, Rashida Jones, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella
Quote:
Originally posted by Last Year's Movies of 2010 Preview
Hey, people who laughed about the Facebook movie when it was first announced: Prepare to eat crow.
For some reason people were hung up about status updates and people poking each other, which I mean, really?! You have Aaron Sorkin writing the script, who is one of the most talented writers there is (besides the great Studio 60 disaster of 2006). A master at his craft, and the script for this film, based off the 2009 book The Accidental Billionaires, is said to have Adapted Screenplay wrapped up next Oscars.
I read a 6 page or so Rolling Stone profile on the beginnings of Facebook, and it was endlessly fascinating. Definitely the topic of a great film. And to my knowledge, there has yet to be a major motion picture based off the whole internet boom of the aughts. That's a whole sub-culture that is dying to be tapped into. I also really love the casting of the wonderful Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg. Too perfect. and Timberlake as Napster co-founder Sean Parker is inspired, as well.
Another interesting thing about this movie to me is the fact that David Fincher is directing it. This is by far the lightest movie he has ever made, and I just love it. It'll be like an aughts version of Zodiac, but without a serial killer, about the internet mogul scene, and with more humor. I really can't wait to check it out.
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I hate to say I told you so, but I TOLD YOU SO!!!
I remember typing that and being in the very small minority of being incredibly excited for a movie about Facebook. I am still kinda baffled by all the vitriol that the movie got. Did people even understand what the movie was going to be? Anyway, enough gloating.
What else is there to say about the most written about movie of 2010? I feel much of it is well-trodden teritory. I will try, though. TO THE POINT FORM LIST!
- The way David Fincher shot this movie digitally, and with it being a very dark movie (literally dark) was a great touch. It added a sense of disturbance to the whole movie.
- Aaron Sorkin's script was as great as advertised. As much as I hated Studio 60, I really love Sorkin's writing, so to see him come back like this is a really nice thing.
- Trent Reznor's (with Atticus Ross) score is perfect. It's no wonder that Fincher just hired Reznor again to score The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Reznor was made to score films, and his pulsing score adds urgency to the movie.
- Jesse Eisenberg: Perfect. It's too subtle of a performance to win awards, but the way he mastered Zuckerberg's deadeyes is the mark of a great actor.
- Andrew Garfield, Rooney Mara, Justin Timberlake: All great! Mara, especially in about 5 minutes of screentime makes a huge impression. Also noteworthy: Armie Harmer, who I last saw on Gossip Girl, of all things. Playing the Winklevoss twins, he really nails that jock guy swagger.
- To the tech types who complained about this movie not being accurate: Shut up. If you think this movie is ABOUT the founding of Facebook, then you aren't paying attention. The plot of the movie may be about the founding of Facebook, but in truth it is really a tale of about two best friends whose relationship got torn apart due to greed.
- To the people who criticized Sorkin's writing of female characters: Shut up. As the title of this well-written piece by IFC's Alison Willmore went
"The Social Network doesn't have a problem with women - Its characters do."
I could go on. While my #1 movie went for my heart, The Social Network went for my mind. Just an amazing movie.
01. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Director: Edgar Wright
Written by Edgar Wright, Michael Bacall (Based on the series of graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley)
Starring Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jason Schwartzman, Kieran Culkin, Ellen Wong, Alison Pill, Mark Webber, Johnny Simmons, Anna Kendrick, Brie Larson, Aubrey Plaza
Going in, I loved the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels, and adored everything Edgar Wright had made so far. Shaun of The Dead is one of the best movies of the aughts, Hot Fuzz is right up there with it, and the TV series Spaced is really great too. So, I was pretty predisposed to love this movie. And, boy, did I ever.
First, let's clear this thing up: The Michael Cera "backlash" is one of the dumbest things that has happened in the past couple years. It is called a comic persona! Hey, you know those great Woody Allen movies from the '70s? He played the same character in all of them! And they were all great! Hey, you know those great Bill Murray comedies from the '80s? He played the same character in all of them! And they were all great! That's what baffles me about this Cera backlash. Beyond that the group of movies he has done are quite different from each other (and last I checked, Cera hasn't used a sword before in a movie), why would you want to strip someone with his naturally gifted talent of comic timing? What kind of animals are you people??? I hope Scott Pilgrim silenced these buffoons once and for all, as it has always irritated the hell out of me.
So yeah, the movie. Edgar Wright did many smart things in adapting this to the big screen. One, I think bringing it all together into one movie was a very smart idea. When an adaptation is not a literal retelling of a book, it is always for the best. You get the die-hard fans by nailing the casting of the characters (which they certainly did), and you get the people who have never read it by making a cohesive movie that makes them want to read the books.
As great as the entire cast is, Edgar Wright is the star of this movie. One of the 5 best directors working today, he pulls out all the stops, and he does some amazingly inventive things. The way he does transitions! Just so great. The way he also balances the tone of this movie which is a quarter comedy, a quarter action movie, a quarter musical and a quarter kung-fu movie is also superb.
There are many other things I could say about this movie. The use of music is perfect (If you haven't already, pick up the soundtrack. It is the best), the Who's Who cast of all of Young Hollywood is very impressive, the slight references that don't stop the movie cold to the people who don't know the reference are amazing. Just so many things.
This movie is a hymn to people who have been obsessed with pop culture out of the womb. At the same time, it is a moving love story that involves Scott Pilgrim getting rid of Ramona Flowers' baggage (AKA The 7 Evil Exes), before he finally gets to date her. A romantic comedy that is both romantic and actually funny. That also happens to have kung-fu moves, which helps.
BTW, this was the other movie I saw twice in the theaters. I saw it first in Calgary to a small crowd (home country crowd! as it is set in Toronto), and then later in Spokane, Washington with an even smaller crowd that enjoyed it the most. Such a great theater movie.
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Next up: ALBUMS 3 AND 2.
Thanks for all the comments!