I'm going to start this off with a disclaimer that there are very many films that were released in the past year that I have not had the chance to see. As such I feel unable to call this a "best of" list. Full disclosure, I've not yet seen the following films that have appeared on many other lists: Toy Story 3, Winter's Bone, The King's Speech, True Grit (seeing later this weekend, plan to review), Black Swan (going to see as soon as I can), The Kids Are All Right, Waiting for Superman (pre-ordered DvD), or How to Train Your Dragon
That said, the following list can likely be taken with a grain of salt as a ranking of the BEST movies this year. I'm omitting quite a few for the simple fact that I'd either overlooked them, they were on limited release, or I was just too busy to ever see them. Despite this, none of the films I'm about to list are slouches by any stretch of the imagination and can definitely stand up as some of the best movies this year.
7. Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Based on the graphic novel by Brian O'Malley this was an extremely fun and quirky video-game inspired film from the very talented director, Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz). Michael Cera is back as Michael Cera, but thats not always a bad thing. Is it an Oscar worthy art film? Nah. Is it an extremely fun watch that is endlessly quotable? Yes. See it.
6. Kick-Ass
I've already reviewed this film earlier, and I stand by what I said about its brilliant subversions of clichés and non stop fun action. Its brutal, its fun, and it is punk. I still find myself quoting this movie. See it with some friends and you won't regret it.
5. Soul Kitchen
One more comedy film before getting into the "serious" films. This is a really fun German comedy from the director Fatih Akin. It is actually a 2009 film, but it didn't reach the states until this year so I'm going to include it. The film chronicles the life of a restaurant owner of Greek heritage living in Germany, its a wacky farcical comedy done well. Also: the soundtrack kicks some major ass.
4. Inside Job
This is a great documentary that will have you shaking in rage by the end. Details step by step how world finances basically went in the toilet in 2008. Very well done and despite being much longer than your average documentary seems to zip right by. It never gets boring.
3. Inception
Christopher Nolan's second best movie of his career (behind Memento). This is a man who has yet to make a particularly bad movie. I've expressed my issues with his Batman films but at the end of the day, when Batman Begins is the worst film on your resume you are doing something right. This is a completely absorbing mind-bending film and really the only problem I have with it is that its still too logical. With the endless possibilities of dream worlds there still seems to be too much structure and order. Either way though, its a great film.
BONUS, what do you get when you combine the acclaimed video game Psychonauts with Inception? Something amazing:
2. 127 Hours
Danny Boyle is another director who never seems to disappoint. It takes a lot of talent to pull off a film that is almost entirely set in one location with just one character without it become boring. Not only is that character in just one location, but they can't even move! Despite this, Danny Boyle's film never drops a beat. There is always something going on. James Franco is a real contender for an Oscar this year. You will leave the theater with two things: a new appreciation for life, and a profound fear of Scooby-Doo.
1. The Social Network
I was excited for this movie since the moment it was announced. David Fincher, Aaron Sorkin, and Trent Reznor collaborating on the same film? It was like a dream come true. I was not disappointed. The screenplay is absolutely brilliant and all the actors did phenomenal jobs. It still pains me to say this... but Justin Timberlake should win Best Supporting Actor this year. He was that good. This film stands among the great biopics and in truth one of its only failings was that it was still a bit too nice to Mr. Zuckerberg. If you haven't seen it, go see it now.
Aaaand thats a wrap. I know I've made some Oscar predictions here, but I'll hold off on the rest until I've had a chance to catch up on some of the other movies that are causing a buzz among critics. Think I'm all wrong? Spot on? Need some tweaking? Feel free to comment.
I totally forgot until now that kick-ass was out in 2010 as well. I agree with social network as number 1 overall, despite how I feel about scott pilgrim. Btw some of the text got cut off by the video links.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering what you'd think about me placing Scott Pilgrim so low.
ReplyDeleteAlso: I'm trying to replicate the issue you had with the text being cut off, I've tried 3 different browsers on 2 different computers with no sign of it. I'll go back and put some spacing between text and video though, just in case.