15 January 2011
This article is a review of the movies of 2010. |
Happy New Year! As usual there was a wildly diverse selection on the silver screen. Some excruciating misfires on one end, all the way to the sublime on the other. I broke my personal record... and saw 342 films at the cinema! Woo-hoo! After attempting to digest all that, this is my review of 2010...
The Worst of the Year
I thought I’d start it by category this year:
The rom-coms: Date Night; My Last Five Girlfriends; The Bounty Hunter; Sex and the City 2; The Tourist; and Valentine’s Day.
The adaptations: Never Let Me Go; The Lovely Bones; and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
The original stuff: From Paris with Love; Huge; Self Made; Takers; and Unstoppable.
Sci-fi/Fantasy: Let Me In; Ninja Assassin; Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief; Shelter; Skyline; Soloman Kane; The Last Airbender; The Season of the Witch; and Twlight: Eclipse
The remakes/sequels: Brighton Rock; Clash of the Titans; The Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen; The Karate Kid; The Wolfman; and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.
Steve Carrel movies: Date Night; Despicable Me; and Dinner for Schmucks.
The Top 20 worst films of the year:
20. Unstoppable
19. Valentine’s Day
18. The Wolfman
17. The Bounty Hunter
16. Never Let Me Go
15. Let Me In
14. Brighton Rock
13. Twlight: Eclipse
12. The Karate Kid
11. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
10. TRON: Legacy
9. The Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen
8. Skyline
7. Date Night
6. The Season of the Witch
5. From Paris with Love
4. Huge
3. Sex and the City 2
2. Ninja Assassin
1. The Last Airbender
The Worst of the Year
I thought I’d start it by category this year:
The rom-coms: Date Night; My Last Five Girlfriends; The Bounty Hunter; Sex and the City 2; The Tourist; and Valentine’s Day.
The adaptations: Never Let Me Go; The Lovely Bones; and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
The original stuff: From Paris with Love; Huge; Self Made; Takers; and Unstoppable.
Sci-fi/Fantasy: Let Me In; Ninja Assassin; Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief; Shelter; Skyline; Soloman Kane; The Last Airbender; The Season of the Witch; and Twlight: Eclipse
The remakes/sequels: Brighton Rock; Clash of the Titans; The Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen; The Karate Kid; The Wolfman; and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.
Steve Carrel movies: Date Night; Despicable Me; and Dinner for Schmucks.
The Top 20 worst films of the year:
20. Unstoppable
19. Valentine’s Day
18. The Wolfman
17. The Bounty Hunter
16. Never Let Me Go
15. Let Me In
14. Brighton Rock
13. Twlight: Eclipse
12. The Karate Kid
11. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
10. TRON: Legacy
9. The Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen
8. Skyline
7. Date Night
6. The Season of the Witch
5. From Paris with Love
4. Huge
3. Sex and the City 2
2. Ninja Assassin
1. The Last Airbender
My Favourites of the Year
Ok, that’s over with. Phew!
The films that nearly made the list:
Blue Valentine; Gentleman Broncos; I Love You Philip Morris; Inception; Nightwatching; Nine; Ponyo; Route Irish; Soul Boy; Tetro; The Other Guys; 13 Assassins; and World’s Greatest Dad.
My Top 10 Favourites of 2010 in reverse order:
10. South of the Border
Forget the dross that was Wall Street 2, see instead Oliver Stone’s far more interesting documentary on capitalism. He interviews virtually every current Latin American president in a heartening look at the continent.
9. Another Year
After the wasted opportunity that was Happy-Go-Lucky, Mike Leigh knocks one out of the park. A deeply moving look at family, friendship and loneliness. This deserves an ensemble award for the acting on display.
8. A Screaming Man
From Chad, a tragic and powerful look at a man and the relationship he has with his son.
7. The Robber
One of the best thrillers of the last few years. A gifted marathon runner and bank thief leaves prison. He also is a recidivist. Is it a contradiction to be both heart-stopping and heart-pounding? This is.
6. The Social Network
One of the best directors in the world (David Fincher- Se7en; Fight Club) with one of the best writers in the world (Aaron Sorkin- The West Wing; Charlie Wilson’s War) team up to dissect Facebook. So enthralling it’s hard to believe it’s a drama and not a thriller.
5. Attenberg
A fascinating dissection of a young woman’s relationships, with her father, best friend and lover. Stayed with me long afterwards.
4. The Arbor
An extremely moving documentary looking at playwright Andrea Dunbar and her daughter. Really well shot, and interestingly had actors mouth the words that were spoken by the real people in interviews. British cinema at its best.
3. The Secret in Their Eyes
It controversially won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in an exceptionally strong year (The White Ribbon; A Prophet; etc.); but a thriller of this quality, set over a quarter-of-a-century, and this well acted, is not a controversial winner in my book. A gripping look at the repercussions of amorality and corruption.
2. I Saw the Devil
This has etched itself into my mind with a laser ever since I saw it. An intelligent and refreshing analysis of revenge, in a brutal, uncompromising white knuckle ride.
1. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
If you’re going to make fluff, make it this brilliant. Spaced rules, though am not a fan of Edgar Wright’s last two movies (Shaun of the Dead; Hot Fuzz), but here he gets it so spot on. It’s a love story and action film, with computer game tropes; and oh yeah it’s very funny. Crafted to an inch of its life, summer blockbusters of the future take note!
THE HEMANTH MOVIE AWARDS
Best Film
The films that nearly made it: Black Swan: Carlos; Les Signes Vitaux; Monsters; Nightwatching; Oki’s Movie; and Rapt.
The Top 10 Best Films of 2010 in alphabetical order:
- Agora
- Another Year
- Blue Valentine
- Dogtooth
- Four Lions
- Inception
- I Saw the Devil
- The Secret in Their Eyes
- The Social Network
- World’s Greatest Dad
Best Animated Film
A crazily strong year, one of the best ever surely, in alphabetical order:
- Chico and Rita
- How to Train Your Dragon
- Lascars: Round Da Way
- Mary and Max
- Ponyo
- The Princess and the Frog
- The Illusionist
- Toy Story 3
Best Documentary
And Everything is Going Fine
Armadillo
Catfish
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Fires from Babylon
Glass: A Portait in 12 Parts
Separado!
South of the Border
The Arbor
Best Acting - Dudes
Javier Bardem (Biutiful)
Youssouf Djaoro (A Screaming Man)
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
Martin Freeman (Nightwatching)
Aidan Gillen (Treacle Jr)
Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine)
Peter Mullan (NEDs)
Rafi Pitts (The Hunter)
Joaquin Phoenix (I’m Not Here)
Robin Williams (World’s Greatest Dad)
Best Acting - Ladies
Juliette Binoche (Certified Copy)
Helena Bonham Carter (Alice in Wonderland)
Monica Del Carmen (Leap Year)
Elle Fanning (Somewhere)
Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone)
Lesley Manville (Another Year)
Aggeliki Papoulia (Dogtooth)
Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Tilda Swinton (I Am Love)
Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine; Meek’s Cutoff)
Random Awards
Best Film Set in a Box
Buried
Best Voices of 2010
- Bruce Greenwood (Meek’s Cut Off)
- Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Losers)
The Craziest Films of the Year
- Cold Fish
- I Saw the Devil
- 13 Assassins
Best lighting
Tron: Legacy
Best Dialogue
- Easy A
- Four Lions
- Oki’s Movie
- Police, Adjective
- The Kids are Alright
- The Social Network
See you this time next year!!