Top Ten Films 2010 — The Gourmand Film Writer

Aug 15

Aug 15 Top Ten Films 2010

Blue Valentine ****
Michelle Williams said that while she was filming this movie, she was also working out dealing with the loss of a former lover, a friend, and the father of her daughter: Heath Ledger. The real raw emotion of "“Blue Valentine” reminds me a Bergman film without any theatrics. Filming the movie entirely in chronological order, the film allows our main characters to actually fall in love and then deal with the horrible breakup that ensues. Scene were improvised in character. Ryan Gosling’s jump up on to a bridge to threaten to kill himself was not known to Michelle Williams. The result, the most heartbreaking film of the year.
Winter’s Bone ****
Debra Granik is an incredible filmmaker. What she has done in “Winter’s Bone” is capture a culture and a place in time. The Ozarks are an isolated community. Extremely poor, families that used to use alcohol to dull their pain have since turned to meth. Everyone does it. Families even make it together. In a performance that will undoubtedly make her a star, Jennifer Lawrence plays Ree, an eighteen year old girl who is already the provider of her family, raising her two young siblings by herself, while her mother, whose mind has been destroyed by meth, sits helplessly. She hasn’t needed her father until he doesn’t come back. A police car comes by to inform her that her father has been arrested for producing meth, but worse, he put the house up as collateral for his bail. If he doesn’t show up to court, they’re going to take the house. An Odyssey begins into the Ozark back county. Never ending rolling hills covered with dying trees and abandoned cars. There is a sense of place in this film unlike most. The actors don’t appear to be actors, but locals. John Hawkes provides the one kind person in the film, an uncle who has had his own run-ins with the law, but decides against his better judgement to get involved. An extraordinary film.
Black Swan ****
Watch how the camera shows the reactions of Nina (Natalie Portman in another glorious performance) as the Ballot director, touches the various women performers, judging and critiquing their every muscle. Nina wants to be the girl he touches, she yearns for it. We are unsure if he is indeed being that sexual with each of his ballerinas or if this is a projection of Nina onto what is happening. “Black Swan” takes place in the mind of an isolated driven girl who despite being a woman in age is as naive as they come. Her mother, played brilliantly by Barbara Hersey, paints portraits of her daughter and cries to them. She wants her daughter to be the perfect image in her mind and that involves ballet. Slowly the pressure inherited from her mother drives her to rebel and lose her mind. We are unsure of which, but the end transformation is one of horror and glory together. Free, but free to be what?
The Kids Are All Right ****
Soemtimes the kids are right. Two mothers, who are in a committed and loving relationship, have had children through artificial insemination. At the beginning of the film, Jules (Julianne Moore) is still trying to find herself, while her partner, Nic (Annette Bening), tries to control everything in her life. What they are not paying enough attention to are their children. Joni and Laser are doing a great job of being resilient. It’s not that Nic and Jules are bad parents, but they are certainly distracted. A common thing now adays, just go to the park and look at the amount of parents on their phones while their children play. So Joni and Laser decide to find their biological father; the sperm donor. Mark Ruffalo in a performance similar to the brother in “You Can Count on Me” plays their father Paul who despite running a successful company has always avoided personal responsibility for his personal life. Driven by the kids’ desire to know their father, Nic and Jules reluctantly bring Paul into their lives. It’s not a fantasy or fairy tale. It’s not like Paul changes their family dynamic for the better, but he provides another voice, another check, another pair of eyes for the kids who indeed are all right.
The Social Network ****
Aaron Sorkin is one of the great American writers. Here, he is on his game, creating a drama that borrows from “Citizen Kane” about a man who is so socially awkward that he sees how to turn relationships into algorithms even if it means fucking over the people who originally came up with the idea or even his best friend. Mark Zuckerberg is a fascinating character in this movie. Someone who is so driven to be liked that he creates a website where likes and the number of friends you have demonstrate how much you are loved. The parallels to Kane are numerous.
Exit Through the Gift Shop ****
One of the best documentaries I’ve seen in years. In a world of information, where secrets seem hard even for governments to keep, the fact that the identity of the street artist Banksy remains a mystery is incredible. In a show of his own artistry, Bansky convinces a French amateur filmmaker to abandon his goal of filming Banksy at work and reveal his identity, but instead convinces him to allow Banksy to make his own film with his footage and eventually turns the reluctant filmmaker into a street artist himself.
Another Year ****
Mike Leigh does it again. Could there be a more human film this year? A more moving movie? Compressing a lifetime into a film, a lifespan of a loving marriage and not a film version of one, but one that feels real, “Another Year” gives a stellar opportunity to its two lead actors, Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen, to shine. The film treats it’s characters so lovingly even during hard times that it is an uplifting movie about the ability to love and be loved. An incredible feat again from the master Mike Leigh.
The King’s Speech ****
Like “Mrs. Brown”, a film about a Scottish horse trainer who befriends a Queen, breaking all forms of British social structure, here is the story about two wounded men on opposite ends of that social structure. One is a Prince, who was never supposed to be King. He is the second son of an abusive father whose stutter has more to do with is father’s berating of him than he will ever admit. His older brother, rather than retreating inward like George, instead lashes out at tradition, dating an American woman who is divorced before deciding to abdicate the throne to his younger unprepared brother. The second character is a teacher who wants to be an actor. During the World War I, he was unable to fight, but he did lend himself to trying to help soldiers who returned from war learn to speak again. He is an Australian of low-class. That these two should share such an amazing journey is an incredible story, but first, they must learn to set aside centuries worth of elitist bigotry.
Toy Story 3 ****
I did not think I wanted nor needed a third “Toy Story” film. Boy… I was wrong. Pixar doesn’t take a wrong step in this movie. It is the perfect emotional climax to a trilogy. This time, Andy has grown up and his toys are accidentally donated to a day care rather than be stored in the attic to be forgotten. At first, the day care seems like a second chance at life until they meet a rancid, vengeful Hugs-a-lot Bear who rules the day care. Their final journey together could have ended on a tragic note, but actually pays off a joke set up in the first movie. A classic.
Lebanon ****
It is hard to make a film in a single location. Then make the location a small box the size of a car. “Lebanon” is an incredible feat of film-making about an Israeli tank that gets stuck behind enemy lines. The entire movie is filmed from inside the tank as their hopelessness grows so does the claustrophobia. A small independent, but incredible film.

Runners up: The Ghost Writer****, Last Train Home ****, Inception ****, A Prophet ****, Dogtooth ****, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work *** ½, 127 Hours *** ½, Animal Kingdom *** ½, Restrepo *** ½, Rabbit Hole *** ½, How to Train Your Dragon *** ½, The Town *** ½, True Grit *** ½

Best Actor: James Franco, “127 Hours”

Runner Up: Robert Duvall, “Get Low”

Best Actress: Natalie Portman, “Black Swan”

Runner Up: Michelle Williams, “Blue Valentine”

Best Supporting Actor: Jim Broadbent, “Another Year”

Runner Up: John Hawkes, “Winter’s Bone”

Best Supporting Actress: Barbara Hersey and Mila Kunis, “Black Swan”

Runner Up: Helena Bonham Carter, “The King’s Speech”

Best Cinematography: Wally Pfister, “Inception”

Runner Up: Michael McDonough, “Winter’s Bone”

Best Score: Daft Punk, “Tron: Legacy”

Runner Up: Randy Newman, “Toy Story 3”