Best of 2010: Film

Before I get started, I'd like to point out that I've heard several people say recently that they'd like to go to the movies more often but they don't have anyone to go with. I went to the movie theater more than 40 times in 2010 and only five times was I accompanied by a friend or family member. After going to the movies by yourself a couple times, I guarantee you'll find it an enjoyable experience.

There is no real polite way to put it but 2010 was a shitty year in cinema; well, I suppose saying it was a bad year would have been more polite. That's not to say that it didn't have some excellent films but overall it was quite disappointing. These are the films I saw this year which did not disappoint:


10) Exit Through the Gift Shop

Exit Through the Gift Shop, directed by British artist Banksy, tells the story of underground graffiti artists and a very peculiar man named Thierry Guetta. Guetta starts as an avid fan of the graffiti artists documented in the film including his cousin who goes by the pseudonym Space Invader, but he eventually becomes so engrossed in the work that he begins to venture out as a graffiti artist known as Mr. Brainwash. There has been much speculation that the character and work of Mr. Brainwash is just an elaborate ruse by Banksy but either way it is a highly entertaining film.




9) The Social Network

It has been named the best film of the year by almost every major city's critics association and with good reason. The Social Network is director David Fincher's latest film which chronicles the rise of Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg. It may sound like a boring movie-of-the-week topic but the script written by Aaron Sorkin and the ensemble cast who recite his dialogue make this one of the year's best films. Jesse Eisenberg is excellent as Mark Zuckerberg but I was also very impressed by the performances of newcomers Andrew Garfield and Armie Hammer. The score by Trent Reznor and his partner Atticus Ross is dark, ominous and fits perfect with the tone that Fincher is trying to set.



8) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Based on the international bestselling novel of the same name by Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a Swedish thriller about the criminal computer hacker Lisbeth Salander. She assists the journalist Mikael Blomkvist in the investigation of a person who has been missing for 40 years. That leads to some intense drama as Salander also tries to escape her own personal demons. Also released this year was the follow-up The Girl Who Played with Fire which I found nowhere near as compelling.





7) Inception

I can't think of a film in the last decade that I was more eagerly anticipating than Inception. With a resume that includes films such Memento, The Prestige and The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan has earned my $10 before I even know what his film is about. So when I saw the first trailer for Inception in the summer of 2009, my interest was peaked. I made the trip to a midnight screening with some friends and while I was in awe of the scope of the undertaking and technical achievements, I was slightly disappointed. However, the more I debated the film, the more I appreciated it. After a second viewing, Inception makes more sense and is even more enjoyable.



6) Green Zone

Matt Damon teams up with the director of the last two installments of the Jason Bourne trilogy, Paul Greengrass for what is one of the most entertaining and intriguing films about the invasion of Iraq. Matt Damon plays US Army Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller who has led his team to several cites in Iraq that are reported to contain weapons of mass destruction but his team continues to come up empty. Green Zone follows his character as he investigates why there are no weapons of mass destruction to be found and how that information was obtained. It's a superbly entertaining film that is probably more based in reality than we'd like to believe.




5) The American

Within the first two minutes of The American, I knew I was going to enjoy this film. It opens with a beautiful snowy landscape and virtually no dialogue. As directed by Dutch photographer Anton Corbijn, The American has a subdued tone that I suspect many moviegoers would find dull but it helps to ratchet up the tension as the drama surrounding George Clooney's title character unfolds.








4) A Prophet

Nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 2009 Academy Awards was A Prophet which didn't received a release in the United States until February of 2010. Chronicling the life of a young criminal sent to prison and his ascent within a French crime syndicate, A Prophet is an amazing, even if sometimes difficult to watch, piece of film making. The star of the film is French actor Tahar Rahim who gives a tremendous performance in which a simple glance can tell an entire story.






3) Black Swan

I remember the first time watching director Darren Aronofsky's film Pi being blown away by the style and substance of a black & white film shot on a shoestring budget. Aronofsky has continued to choose challenging films and has never disappointed. In a tour de force performance Natalie Portman plays a dancer in a prestigious New York ballet company. It's a film that will leave you speechless at the end and want to see it again immediately.







2) The Ghost Writer

Say what you will about Roman Polanski's personal life but he has been one of the finest working directors over the last 40 years. His work in films like The Pianist and my personal favorite movie of all-time Chinatown is undeniable. The Ghost Writer is hands down the best thriller released this year. The Ghost Writer is adapted from a novel by Robert Harris whose title character is helping to write the memoirs of a former prime minister who closely resembles Tony Blair.







1) The Fighter

I'm not sure what it is about the sport of boxing that makes it translate so well to the silver screen but it does. From Raging Bull to Rocky to Million Dollar Baby to Cinderella Man to Teen Wolf Too (maybe not that last one) there have been more great films centered around the world of boxing than any other sport and The Fighter ranks among those other elite films. Based on the true story of "Irish" Micky Ward, The Fighter is an expertly crafted film directed by David O. Russell that sneaks up on you. Before you even feel like you care about Ward, you move the edge of your seat even if you suspect to know the outcome of the fights. Mark Wahlberg gives one of the best performances of his career as Micky Ward but Christian Bale steals the movie playing Ward's crack addicted brother and former boxer Dicky Eklund.



Honorable mention goes to:

The King's Speech
True Grit
Kick-Ass
The Town
Waiting for "Superman"
127 Hours
Fair Game
MacGruber