Saturday, January 22, 2011

Favorite films of 2010

There's a lag time between the calendar year and the movie year. Films that were officially released before the end of December often don't find their way into mainstream (i.e. Fresno) movie theaters until January. This means I can't put together my list of my favorite movies of the year until around now. Anyway, here were my favorite movies of 2010. And the worst movies of 2010? Well there weren't many BAD movies that I saw, but definitely some that were disappointing and could have been avoided.

Favorite films of 2010
1) The Social Network. See my previous review for details. Epic. Must see.

2) Somewhere. This is Sophia Coppola's latest movie, a limited release but a real gem. Stephen Dorf plays Johnny Marco, a movie star drifting through Hollywood (and life) alone in a black Ferrari, and later reacquainting with his lovely daughter, played by Elle Fanning. I loved the pace and tone of this movie. Very patient, warm and touching but not sticky sweet. Also a cool Phoenix and Strokes soundtrack.
3) Winter's Bone. Again, see previous review. This movie felt very original, with an unfamiliar setting and relatively unknown cast. Creepy as hell.
4) True Grit. Coen brothers (probably my favorite filmmakers) come through with another winner. What I've always liked about the Coen brothers' movies was their defiance of convention. The unpredictable twists, surprises, outlandish characters and dialogue have made their movies stand out among the rest. True Grit is probably their most straightforward/crowd-pleasing movie, with the biggest surprise being the amount of humor for a revenge western.
5) 127 Hours. As a Danny Boyle fan (28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire, Shallow Grave are my favorites) and an outdoor enthusiast, this movie was pretty well suited for my tastes. James Franco was awesome, plus the Clemence Poesy cameo and Sigur Ros song at the end were nice bonuses.

Stinker films of 2010.
1) Biutiful. A film set in Barcelona, starring Javier Bardem and directed by IƱaritu (Amores Perros, 21 Grams). Recipe for a great movie right? Wrong. This was the most depressing movie I've seen since Requiem for a Dream. Absolutely no redeeming qualities. Seriously, who wants to watch hematuria, asphyxiated immigrants washing up on a beach, exhumed corpses, and most disturbing of all, boob butts?
2) Inception. See previous rant for further ravings. This movie was visually spectacular but stupidly complicated. If you want to see an excellent mind-bending movie, I highly recommend Charlie Kaufmann's Synecdoche New York. FYI Christopher Nolan's third and final batman movie The Dark Knight Rises is reportedly starring Anne Hathaway as Catwoman and Tom Hardy as Bane, to be released July 2012!
3) Scott Pilgrim vs the World. Sorry but this movie was not funny, and for all it's flashy effects and sound, pretty boring after a few minutes, not unlike the 8 bit graphic video games the film so lavishly glorifies.
4) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part I. As far as I'm concerned, the only Harry Potter movie that came close to being as good as one of the books was Alfonso Cuaron's Prisoner of Azkaban. Granted this latest installment had the impossible task of adapting the best book of the series. Still, somehow the movie just doesn't quite capture the sense of terror I felt while reading the book. When I read the scene of Harry's escape from Privet Drive (photo below), I was really horrified, but in the movie, it was just another chase. Also, the scene where Hermione is tortured? To me that was probably the most atrocious part of the series, but in the movie almost unnoticeable. The best part of this movie was Hermione's animated narration of the story of the deathly hallows. And the worst part? Definitely the dancing scenes. Potter has no moves!!