2010 Pretentious Film Awards - Top Ten Films (10-6)

Without further ado, here is the first part of my top ten list for 2010.

10. (dir. Mark Romanek)

From my review: "The adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel of the same name was, for my money, an incredibly effective and emotionally devastating film (take note of the word "devastating," a much harder and more lingering emotion to evoke than "depressing"). I was impressed up and down with this film... Yes, there is a conceit at the core of this story that hangs over the narrative, but the film is more concerned about matters of the heart than the soft sci-fi element." To expand, I'm aware that this is a controversial citation of a movie that so thoroughly disappointed a great number of people. But I could not ignored a film that swept me up and moved me so beautifully. Whether taken as a piece of soft science fiction, or a as a quiet meditation on life and death, it's ultimately a graceful and challenging piece of cinema.





9. (dir. Sylvain Chomet)

What's this? There's an animated film on my top ten list and it's not Toy Story 3? As I've stated many times, I believe these lists have to be honest. Honestly? I was deeply moved and effected by The Illusionist, which I caught just in time. I ventured out on a thirty-minute drive to a small theater on the outskirts of Los Angeles. How fitting. As I walked into this tiny theater and the movie began to roll, it was as if I was an audience member in magician's sparsely attended show. It's at once a heartbreaking portrayal of the need for human connection and a portrait of a dying profession in an increasingly modernized world. It's classically animated (there doesn't seem to be much place for that these days) and it's sparse, slow and stately, all to its credit. Who would think that the words "Magic isn't real" would bring tears to my eyes?




8. (dir. David Michôd)
From my review: "This tautly structured, well-paced Australian crime drama is more than meets the eye and rewards repeat viewings. Writer-director Michôd has constructed a film that is rife with character specificity that sucks you into this family of clumsy yet conniving and often loving Melbourne criminals...Animal Kingdom's ability to build tension to a fevered pitch, particularly in the much talked about scene that involves a car backing out of a garage, is something to marvel at and I'm amazed this is Michôd's first feature."





7. (dir. Mike Leigh)
From my review: "There's a moment towards the end of Another Year when Mary (Lesley Manville) tearfully tells her friend and co-worker Gerri (Ruth Sheen), "As long as we're friends, I'm all right." It's a sentiment that is at once incredibly sweet and incredibly sad, expressed with aching conviction...[The actors here have an extraordinary ability] off of each other. The don't just act, they react. It may seem like I'm speaking little of plot. Mike Leigh's films are not creatures of plot. This is, in many ways, his most observational film. And yet it never feels boring or stale. It's heartwarming, honest and refined. I literally didn't want it to end."




6. (dir. David O. Russell)

From my review "In spite of the presence of Black Swan and The Social Networks (splendid films in their own right, certainly), one can't help but wonder if The Fighter is the true directorial achievement of the year. David O. Russell takes one of the oldest and most hackneyed cinematic genres ("The Boxing Movie") and imbues it with so much life, specificity and directorial flourish that's true to his style...The actors here all play like their role is fully fleshed out and realized. Every inch of this film, from its performers, its director, its wonderful script ("She's an MTV girl"), Hoyte van Hoytema's unshowy cinematography--they all seem to be working in perfect synergy with one another."



Next:
My Best Picture Nominees for 2010

Pretentious Film Awards 2009--Top Ten Films (10-6)

Before I launch into the bottom half of my top ten, I'd like to first acknowledge the finalists. Films very good in their own right that failed to make this list.

I found A Serious Man to be very enjoyable, if clearly inferior Coen Brothers fare. Moon elicited some very emotional reactions from me, even if it is very uneven and greatly overestimated. Ditto for District 9. I greatly enjoyed (500) Days of Summer, more than I did on the first outing and more than I thought I would in both cases. And Julia brought me Tilda Swinton's great performance--for that, it will always hold a special place in my heart.

What about James Cameron's Avatar? I enjoyed it immensely on the first outing. The further away I get from it, the more the cracks start to show and the worst the aftertaste becomes. But it is a singular cinematic achievement...not that Cameron really needs my endorsement at this point.

With no further ado...

10. dir. Spike Jonze
"Yes, it takes a while to get started and yes it's a little dark for the same youthful audience it desperately needed to attract in order to recoup its budget, but what a wholly engrossing, enriching and beautiful moviegoing experience it was. All of the little flourishes--Karen O's score, Spike Jonze's direction and Max Records pitch-perfectly petulant performance make for an imperfect but resonant piece of cinema that will be talked about for years to come."




9. dir. Pete Docter and Bob Petersen
"I remember watching Beauty and the Beast as a child and being extremely excited and entranced. It was a feeling marked both by the majesty and the splendor of the film, as well as remnants of similar feelings from The Little Mermaid...Now, as an adult, we are smack dab in the middle of another golden age. One need only watch the first ten minutes of Up (Pixar's tenth feature) to realize this--ten minutes of perfectly hewned storytelling, marked by rich, earned emotion..Up is definitely one for the ages. The year's not even half over yet, but this is top ten material if I ever saw it."(my full review here)


8. dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga
"Beautifully acted, well-paced and heartwarming, in all the ways that Slumdog Millionaire tried and failed to be (whilst offending many in the process in its failure). It wisely never fetishizes its exotic locale, nor does it try to over explain or provide context into said locale, knowing that doing either would serve to suppress the realness achieved here."



7. dir. John Hillcoat
"Gorgeously shot, necessarily slow paced and well-acted. This is a film that was made with such a full understanding of its almost unfilmable source material. I believe that this is the best film that could have been made based on Cormac McCarthy's staggering and beautiful novel."




6. dir. Jane Campion
I saw this just in time. It slipped in just under the wire and I'm glad it did. Knowing that it's written and directed by the peerless Jane Campion should prohibit a literate watcher of films from regarding this as a stuffy costume drama, even at face-value. This is a true period piece. It is immersive, resonant and attentive to detail and aesthetic in a way that few period films can boast. You never catch the actors or the filmmakers "playing" period. We are watching John Keats and Fanny Brawne fall in love in their time, with their obstacles and hurdles and their gorgeous words. I first fell in love with Ms. Campion when the rest of the world did with The Piano. And yes, it's true that (as John Keats could tell us) your first love always burns bright. But she is still burning bright, unfading, unflickering...

Best Picture Nominees Coming Tomorrow...

The Pretentious Film Awards--Top Ten (10-6)

I would first like to give special mention to:
The Dark Knight
A Girl Cut in Two
and
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

These are three films I enjoyed immensely, and if it were a top thirteen list, they'd be on it. But thirteen is an ugly number. I just wanted to recognize these films, which were each singular achievements, despite very different goals (obviously). And yes, this does mean that I liked The Reader better than The Dark Knight. Sorry, blogosphere.

And now without further ado...

10. (dir. Thomas McCarthy)
How do you follow-up a landmark achievement like 2003's poignant, introspective The Station Agent? You do it again. This film hit me on all levels. As a tale of friendship and the symbiotic nature of need in its first and second act, and as a frustrating indictment of immigration policy and a system that ensnares the unlucky. Jenkins harrowing and now Academy Award nominated lead performance carries the weight of this film, which never feels preachy, overblown or obvious. Beautiful and profound.





9. (dir. Kelly Reichardt)
This tale of a girl and her dog is more than meets the eye. Ushered and elevated by Michelle Williams subtle, heartbreaking and affecting lead performance, this is one of the year's best. Yes, it is a tale of a woman and her dog, but it is also a harrowing look at about 72 hours adrift in the seemingly endless sea that is middle America, with no way out. Wendy is trapped. Lucy is her only companion, something fate and mercy won't even allow her. And in the end, Wendy makes a choice. Right or wrong, it is a choice that will break your heart, if you have one. It broke mine (and I prefer cats, for the record).




8. (dir. Stephen Daldry)
It will forever be remembered as the film that stole the best picture slot from The Dark Knight. It will likely be hated by some for that reason, but if you're looking for a film that challenges, I recommend this one. I admire it for its valiant efforts to introduce nuance, romance and humanity into a genre that is often stripped of at least one (if not all) of these qualities. Kate Winslet plays Hanna Schmitz, a former Auschwitz guard whose past is hidden, with a visceral intensity and longing. David Kross is appropriately doe-eyed as the young boy who has an affair with her, and heartbreakingly jaded as the young adult who witnesses her trial for Nazi war crimes. But this film is not about what it's about. It's not about what people tell you it's about. I'm so tired of hearing it being referred to as a "Holocaust movie" because it isn't, and it's emotional center draws not from emotions tied to the Holocaust. It's not an easy film. It's prickly and divisive, like Hanna herself. And in the end, the mystery is only half-revealed. There are still questions. You are still haunted as you leave the theater. And it evokes many emotions, one of which is sadness, yes. The film's beauty lies in its ability to understand and navigate these complex characters. The themes of guilt and guilty by association are universal, but so is love. Michael and Hanna know that.



7. (dir. Mike Leigh)

"Mike Leigh has created another piece of cinema that puts complex women on display in full force...Everyone has someone in their life like Poppy, and if you don't, you're probably her. Perpetually cheerful, always trying to put the best face on everything. I will preface everything by saying that Sally Hawkins truly gives one of the year's best performances. That she was able to stop me from hating this character is a testament to her power. Imagine this character, as played by say Cameron Diaz, directed by Nancy Myers. Actually don't. I just went to a really horrible place." (Read my full review of Happy-Go-Lucky here).



6. (dir. Charlie Kaufman)
The year's most divisive film. Beautiful, misanthropic and often tragic. It also has Philip Seymour Hoffman (don't let that detract you--he actually works here). My cup runneth over with great actors and performances in this tale of a playwright who is consumed by his work. Charlie Kaufman directs this tragicomedy with aplomb, never missteping. He is firing on all cylinders here, and although the concept is strange and sometimes off-putting in execution, Kaufman commits and never strays from his vision. Whether that is good or bad is up to you. Whichever you choose informs your view of the film. Here he is--Kaufman in full force. The world needs its Caden Cotards and Kaufman might be one of them.


Coming soon...the rest of my top ten list and a few tech awards for the 1st Annual (Knock on Wood) Pretentious Film Awards.