The Cinematic Courier Awards 2010

Well another year is in the books. 2010 was a great year for movies, and provided us with several films that will be great for years to come. In anticipation of the Oscar nominee announcements tomorrow, I figured it was time to revisit the blog and post my favorites of the year. As of today I have seen 51 movies for the year, and I still have a few I will want to catch before Oscar night, but I feel I have seen a high percentage of the films that will be represented. With that being said here is the list of the movies I would vote for if I had an Oscar vote. These are not necessarily the movies I am predicting will be nominated (although I think there will be a significant overlap), but they are simply my favorite movies of the year.

The Cinematic Courier Top Ten Movies of the Year:

#10- The Town- (Dir- Ben Affleck: Starring Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, John Hamm and Rebecca Hall)- The Town breathed some fresh life into the heist movie genre. Not only did it succeed in being thoroughly entertaining and fast paced, it dug past the typical action movie and examined the mindset and legacy that is tough to escape growing up in a life and family of crime. Beautifully shot in the tough neighborhoods of Boston along with some other key landmarks, Ben Affleck proves in his sophomore attempt that he can be outstanding behind the camera.

#9- Shutter Island-(Dir- Martin Scorsese: Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley and Michelle Williams)- Being released at the beginning of the year is going to really hurt this film in terms of Oscar nominations and that is a shame because this was a great psychological thriller and a rare gem of a movie that did its book justice. Set in the 1950's on a secluded island "prison" that is home to damaged and dangerous psych patients. As a massive storm is rolling in, two US marshals are tasked with locating a missing patient that seems to have disappeared, only to discover that they may uncover more than they are supposed to. DiCaprio and Ruffalo are both at the top of their games as the US marshalls and Scorsese adds yet another feather to his cap.

#8- The Way Back- (Dir- Peter Weir: Starring Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Colin Farrell and Saoirse Ronan). I hope the production company in charge of promoting and marketing this movie is out of business. This movie will end up being the best movie of the year that no one heard about. Based on the incredible true story (supposedly) of a group of men sentenced to a Siberian labor camp during WWII for being anything from political dissidents, criminals to simply foreigners. They perform what is possibly the most lengthy prison escape in history. Escaping the prison compound is the easy part, as the group must then traverse across the wilds of Siberia, the shores of lake Baikal, the sands of the Gobi desert, the steppes of Mongolia and finally over the Himalayas of Tibet to India in order to escape the reaches of Communism. The cinematography alone is worth the price of admission to this movie and a solid cast of actors makes the trek both entertaining and awe inspiring.

#7- Toy Story 3- (Dir- Lee Unkrich: Starring the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cusack). Pixar just never seems to miss. Each year it seems they can't do any better and then they do. It is fitting to because the original Toy Story was Pixar's first film as an independent company and now the story has come full circle with this endearing and sentimental coming of age story. As Andy prepares to leave for college what is to become of the toys that defined his childhood? Get ready for one last wild ride with Woody and the gang as they desperately cling to their sense of belonging and loyalty, only to realize that childhood is fleeting, kids grow up, but memories last a life time.

#6- 127 Hours- (Dir- Danny Boyle: Starring James Franco) How do you make a movie about a man trapped in a crevasse by a rock? Well Danny Boyle and James Franco have the answer. Based on the true story of adventure seeker Aron Ralston who became hopelessly trapped during one of his weekend getaways into the wilds of Utah. The movie traces the events of that day as Ralston ultimately becomes trapped when a boulder crushes his arm, he is forced to reflect on his life as he prepares himself to deal with what is rapidly becoming his only chance of escape. Franco is riveting as Ralston as he embodies the sense of adventure, excitement and passion for life in a man who felt invincible in his element. Franco provides both comical relief and an intense sense of survival as he contemplates both the options of his present predicament along with events of his life that have led to this moment.

#5- The Fighter- (Dir- David Russell: Starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Melissa Leo). Due to its focus on the individual and the struggles that most of its greats have overcome, boxing more than any other sport has provided more than its share of great sports movies. Count The Fighter in the list that also includes Raging Bull, Rocky, Ali and Million Dollar Baby. This movie achieves greatness in large part due to its great cast. Everybody is at the top of their game here and it results in an entertaining and interesting movie that dives into the family politics of boxing. Mark Wahlberg shines as the local boy turned boxing legend Micky Ward, but it is Christian Bale who steals the show as his trainer/brother and former one hit wonder boxer whose life has been derailed and consumed by drugs.

#4- Black Swan- (Dir- Darren Aronofsky: Starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassell and Barbara Hershey). By far the most accomplished artistic movie of the year. Natalie Portman is outstanding as the newly crowned prima ballerina for her New York City company and her first test is the season opening production of Swan Lake. The role necessitates that she be able to dance with the grace and innocense of the white swan as well as express the sensuality of the black swan. As the pressure and stress builds for her to more adequately express her dark side, the lines between reality and psychotic break begin to blur as well as the delineation between good and evil.

#3- Inception- (Dir- Christopher Nolan: Starring Leonardi DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Marrion Cottilard and Michael Caine). Nolan has done it again. He continues to prove that action movies do not have to be merely entertainment devices surviving on absurd plot lines and cheesy one liners mixed in between gunfights and stuff being blown up. He has shown that action movies can be both extremely intelligent and entertaining at the same time, and in so doing has solidified his name on the short list of directors that studios will be willing to write blank checks to in order to make their movies. Inception takes the simple construst of a heist movie but deviates from the brick and mortar objects such as banks and money and instead lands in the surreal landscape of dreams and ideas. What ensues is edge of your seat cinema and brain melting plot devices that will have you thinking and talking about this movie for days after you have seen it. Surrounded by an all star cast this was easily the most entertaining and talked about movie of the year and for good reason.

#2- The King's Speech- (Dir- Tom Hooper: Starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bohnam Carter). This is the type of classic moviemaking that defined Hollywood for decades. A piece of little known history centered around a prominent historical figure with a disability he has to overcome. This is probably the movie that surprised me the most this year as I went in with somewhat low expectations and was astounded by the entertainment value of what you would think would be a boring movie. The movie survives on its two great performances by King George VI (Colin Firth) and his speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). Set in the time leading up to WWII, with the royal family in dissaray the heir to the throne is unfortunately a man who can not utter two words without stumbling all over himself and he needs to be the voice to instill bravery and confidence into a nation on the brink of war. Ultimately about an unlikely friendship and the changing face of leadership in the beginning of the technolgical age, this would have been a worthy best picture of the year if not for my #1.

#1- The Social Network- (Dir- David Fincher: Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Rooney Mara and Armie Hammer). Where to begin. Not only was The Social Network the best movie of the past 5 years, it will ultimately become one of if not the defining movie for the current generation. A movie on its surface about the eccentrically brilliant individual who invented facebook and for forever changed the face of social interactions in the modern technolgical world, but ultimately about friendship, greed and the obsession of power. The movie's foundation is its great script written by Alan Sorkin whose quick, witty dialogue is fired at a mile a minute and strikes the perfect chord between an instant gratification society and the mind of an intelectual genius but social inept. As the movie moves seamlessly between Harvard, the courtroom and California it becomes apparent that despite all the money and power in the world sometimes that can be the most lonely place of all.