The Usual Choices
Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky)
The Fighter (David O. Russell)
Inception (Christopher Nolan)
The King's Speech (Tom Hooper)
The Social Network (David Fincher)
But how about...
Never Let Me Go (Mark Romanek)
It's a rare sci-fi film which is cleverly imagined, quite feasible and emotionally touching. The premise is that the human race will use clone technology to make living & breathing spare-parts supplies. To avoid the in-your-face harshness of setting it in the near-future, the story is set in an alternate past, based on maybe the early/mid sixties. The three mains all reluctantly accept their fate / purpose in life, but want to find out if their memories and imaginations are real or merely implants. I know it sounds terribly downbeat, but somehow it's not: more wistful than depressing.
...and what about...
Rabbit Hole (John Cameron Mitchell)
If you're looking for a good time, pass on this. If you're hoping that it does a MASH and mixes tragedy with laughs, pass on this. This deals with the ultimate adult trauma: the accidental death of a child while they were with you. Superb acting from the leads and the supporting cast takes you through all the expected (guilt; anger) and unexpected (coldness; resentment) emotions which the entirely-decent characters go through. No rights; no wrongs; no blame (although all are sought). Just human beings going through a life-horror and coming out the other side, changed. But, I tell you: I've watched this twice now, cried on both occasions, and that's enough.
...not to mention...
Kick-Ass (Matthew Vaughn)
I admit it: I'm a comic-book geek BUT I'm an old one. Y'know...pre-movies. I get upset if the basics of the superhero genre are messed with too much or openly ridiculed. It helps that K-A, possibly the greatest comic/movie hybrid (as opposed to a movie made from a comic), isn't one of the old-guy icons like Batman or Hulk. As much of a coming-of-age flick as Rebel Without a Cause, and as explicit as The Wild Bunch (but with the violence sped up rather than slowmo-ed), K-A is also very funny (thank you for showing us how to do that, Quentin T). If you can get past the little-girl profanity and the parade of blood-letting, knife-play and torture, it's a helluva fun ride.
...and one personal unmentionable...
I Love You Phillip Morris (Glenn Ficarra; John Requa)
As has been mentioned by a number of critics, Jim Carrey is the Jerry Lewis of our time. Now, imagine a movie starring Jerry Lewis where he is a gay man who funds his and his partner's extravagant lifestyle through financial fraud. Jerry is jailed, his lover dies of AIDS and Jerry falls in love with his cellmate. Close-ups of Jerry's enraptured face as he enjoys the ecstasies of sex with his new lover. There are other deaths, a fake death, freedom and re-imprisonment and yet another death. At least half of this tries to be comedic. I think. Awful, right? Now replace Jerry Lewis with Jim Carrey. Still awful? Damn right.
My Top 10 Films of 2010
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| "Found a big one back here. That'll take some squeezin'." |
#02 A Let Me In (Reeves)
#03 A- Winter's Bone (Granik)
#04 A- Never Let Me Go (Romanek)
#05 A- Kick-Ass (Vaughn)
#06 A- Rabbit Hole (Mitchell)
#07 A- Shutter Island (Scorcese)
#08 B+ Inception (Nolan)
#09 B+ Easy A (Gluck)
#10 B+ Meek's Cutoff (Reichardt)
Overflow: More A-/B+ Films
#11 B+ The Way Back (Weir)
#12 B+ Another Year (Leigh)
#13 B+ Barney's Version (Lewis)
#14 B+ The Fighter (Russell)
#15 B+ Animal Kingdom (Michod)
#16 B+ Boy (Waititi)
#17 B+ The Ghost Writer (Polanski)
Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
> B The Kids Are All Right [they are, too; it's the adults who need to grow up and stop being so pathetic]
> B Greenberg [why does Noah Baumbach insist on keeping his characters at arm's length?]
> B True Grit [Jeff Bridges is good but John Wayne is John Wayne; the kid's good too]
> B The Runaways [one-hit wonders who gave us "Cherry Bomb" and Joan Jett and nothing else]
> B Submarine [nice coming-of-age film that doesn't manage to be much more than quirky]
> B Alice in Wonderland [how many more times?]
> B You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger [same old same old Woody]
> B Spud [not bad, but for a kids' film, it's precociously and uncomfortably obsessed with sex]
> B- Iron Man 2 [should've been based on the groundbreaking "Demon in a Bottle" storyline; a missed opportunity]
> B- Fish Tank [powerful & unpleasant: kitchen-sink Art that nobody needs]
> B- Red [proves that old farts can kill people too]
> B- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World [I know what it wants to be, but wanting ain't being]
> B- Blue Valentine [I don't like these people]
> B- Diary of a Wimpy Kid [grow a pair, kid]
> C The King's Speech [unconvincing & trite: I know of what I speak]
> C 127 Hours [all I kept thinking of while it played was THAT scene, then when it happened, I couldn't watch it]
> D Little Fockers [bodily-functions humour...the new American wit]
> D Hereafter [what is this shit?]
> E I Love You, Phillip Morris [A Personal Unmentionable]
"Ah!..Sweet Mystery of Life...": 2010 Films I Apparently Still Need to See
The American (Corbijn); Beginners (Mills); Fair Game (Liman); Harry Brown (Barber); Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates); Salt (Noyce); Third Star (Dalton); The Town (Affleck)
Best Performances of 2010
Christian Bale (The Fighter)
Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right)
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Lesley Manville (Another Year)
Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom)
But how about...
Ben Mendelsohn in Animal Kingdom
Being a fellow Aussie, I am used to seeing Ben play decent blokes (Spotswood; Mullet), so I just wasn't prepared for the shock of seeing him be (not act) a complete nutjob, frightening psychopath. A perfect performance that had me forget the actor and be nailed by the character. And he was able to scare the bejeezus out of me without major histrionics and booming firearms poked into my face - a slight turn of the mouth, a stare, soft and slow spoken menaces, and a confidence which comes from knowing that you really are capable of anything.
...and what about...
Andy Serkis in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
I am an Ian Dury fan. I love his wordplay, English Music Hall sensibility and his preference for punk-jazz-dance music. Thank God I didn't know him. To quote Paul Beatty: “Heroes. Idols. They're never who you think they are. Shorter. Nastier. Smellier. And when you finally meet them, there's something that makes you want to choke the shit out of them.” This performance, a brilliant impersonation but also a sharp interpretation, highlights the shit-choking aspect of the artist who, while clearly loving his son, also clearly hated himself. And everybody else who didn't see things his way.
...not to mention...
Kodi Smit-McPhee & Chloe Grace Moretz in Let Me In
Let the Right One In, the 2008 Swedish movie this is based on, is excellent. Cold, bloody and first, it is generally regarded to be better than the US remake. I won't get bogged down in that red-wine conversation, but I will throw this in: Kodi & Chloe are better in the leading roles than the two Swedish kids. Why?: they are more like real children; they have an obvious rapport which is missing between the other two; and base-experiences like fear, rejection and the early rumblings of carnality are better expressed. In fact, try to come up with a better mutually-dependent double-act in any horror film ever made.
...and one personal unmentionable...
Robert De Niro & Dustin Hoffman in Little Fockers
ROBERT DE NIRO = Mean Streets + The Godfather Part II + Taxi Driver + The Deer Hunter + Raging Bull + Once Upon a Time in America + Goodfellas + Casino + Heat +...Little Fockers??
DUSTIN HOFFMAN = The Graduate + Midnight Cowboy + Straw Dogs + Lenny + All the President's Men + Straight Time + Kramer vs Kramer + Tootsie + Rain Man +...Little Fockers??
Does it really have to dwindle down to this in a great actor's career?
Fock me.
My 10 Favourite Performances of 2010
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| Christian lost a lot of weight for the role, and developed severe jaundice as a result. |
#02 Kodi Smit-McPhee & Chloe Grace Moretz (Let Me In)
#03 Andy Serkis (Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll)
#04 Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
#05 Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone)
#06 Emma Stone (Easy A)
#07 Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass)
#08 Lesley Manville (Another Year)
#09 John Hawkes (Winter's Bone)
Overflow: More List-Worthy Performances
#11 Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech)
#12 Nicole Kidman & Aaron Eckhart & Miles Teller & Dianne Wiest (Rabbit Hole)
#13 Amy Adams (The Fighter)
#14 Ben Stiller (Greenberg)
#15 Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
#16 Christian Bale (The Fighter)
#17 Carey Mulligan & Andrew Garfield & Keira Knightley (Never Let Me Go)
#18 Troye Sivan (Spud)
#19 Paul Giamatti (Barney's Version)
#20 Gemma Jones (You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger)
#21 Michael Shannon (The Runaways)
Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
> Colin Firth in The King's Speech [the man is best as a light comedian]
> Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom [I've seen her in too much fluffy shite over the years for her to be convincing as a tough old moll]
> Melissa Leo in The Fighter [she's fine, but not great; Amy Adams...now she was great]
And so...onto the annual awards (with a nod of appreciation to Danny Peary)...
The Alternate Oscars for 2010 are:
FILM of the YEAR
GOLD: The Social Network (David Fincher)
SILVER: Let Me In (Matt Reeves)
BRONZE: Winter's Bone (Debra Granik)
LEAD ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Andy Serkis (Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll)
SILVER: Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
BRONZE: Ben Stiller (Greenberg)
LEAD ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone)
SILVER: Emma Stone (Easy A)
BRONZE: Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Ben Mendelsohn (Animal Kingdom)
SILVER: John Hawkes (Winter's Bone)
BRONZE: Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Lesley Manville (Another Year)
SILVER: Amy Adams (The Fighter)
BRONZE: Gemma Jones (You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger)
ENSEMBLE or PARTNERSHIP: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Kodi Smit-McPhee & Chloe Grace Moretz (Let Me In)
SILVER: Nicole Kidman & Aaron Eckhart & Miles Teller & Dianne Wiest (Rabbit Hole)
BRONZE: Carey Mulligan & Andrew Garfield & Keira Knightley (Never Let Me Go)
JUVENILE: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass)
SILVER: Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
BRONZE: Troye Sivan (Spud)
The Alternate Razzies for 2010 are:
CRAP FILM of the YEAR
I Love You, Phillip Morris (Glenn Ficarra; John Requa)
CRAP MALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
Robert De Niro & Dustin Hoffman (Little Fockers)
CRAP FEMALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
Barbra Streisand (Little Fockers)
