Best Film of 2010?

[Tom Baurain]

Honestly I do not think 2010 was that great of a year for cinema. However some gems really stood out. One of them was The Social Network. I went into it very skeptical but it was truly amazing. Inception's definitely up there, at least for me. 127 Hours, Exit Through The Gift Shop, Shutter Island, Gasland, The Town, and Toy Story 3 too.

Best film of 2010? Black Swan.

 

[Peter Chang]

CARLOS
(the 330-minute version)

An utterly mesmerizing portrait-epic of a real-life celebrity terrorist - 330 minutes of tense, high velocity political thrills, packed with vivid and dense detail amidst a highly relevant political tapestry - the Cold War, Palestinian conflict, Mideast oil. The white-knuckled 80-minute feature-length OPEC hijacking = scene of the year!

LA Times: "How good is Olivier Assayas' "Carlos"? Think of "The Bourne Identity" with more substance, or "Munich" with more of a pulse, and you begin to have a sense of what the French filmmaker accomplished with this globetrotting and epic look at one man's rise to the station of international guerrilla leader and terrorist celebrity."

Todd McCarthy (THR): "In what is certainly his best work, French director Olivier Assayas adopts a fleet, ever-propulsive style that creates an extraordinary you-are-there sense of verisimilitude, while Edgar Ramirez inhabits the title role with arrogant charisma of Brando in his prime. Carlos enters deep and dangerous waters as it takes on biography (of a still-living figure), international politics, terrorism, history, religion, sex and much more and handles all the issues with staggering dexterity, intelligence and skill. It's terrific."
http://blogs.indiewire.com/toddmccarthy/archives/2010/05/19/carlos1

The Indiewire 2010 critics survey ranks Carlos second only to The Social Network, with Edgar Ramirez deservedly listed as the best lead performance of the year, and Assayas second only to Fincher (they tied for LAFCA best director). Gaspar Noe is listed as the #5 director of the year.
http://www.indiewire.com/survey/annual_critics_survey_2010/

Which leads me to his film:


ENTER THE VOID

This grandly audacious and wildly psychedelic tour of the afterlife ("death as the ultimate trip") is a daring and ambitious metaphysical adventure. What in 2010 aimed higher? The cinematography was groundbreaking - who else had a vagina cam? Also, as Tarantino noted, it has "Hands down best credit scene of the year. Maybe best credit scene of the decade. One of the greatest in cinema history."

The French rule 2010 in terms of sheer cinematic testicles!

 

[David Battistella]

Has anyone mentioned: Never let me go

I liked the style, the writing, the pace and the fact that the concepts and performances stuck with me for days.

It's a very contemplative film, delicate but it might be a bit to "high concept" for an Oscar nomination.

I like The fighter a lot, there too, I was pulled in by the performances. Same with Hereafter.

Clint Eastwood just keeps getting better and better.


Not to stray, And I know this is kinda happening for you now Tom, but can somebody help me find a way to work with Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorcese and Francis Coppola And George Clooney at least once?

I am not kidding at all. Putting it right out there.

David

 

[Tim Hole]

TRUE GRIT initial thoughts. Underwhelming. The tacked on ending was completely unnecessary. The antagonists were caricatures. Josh Brolin was as disappointing as Anakin Skywalker. Cinematography was in parts wonderful other than that what you would expect from Roger Deakins and nothing to write home about. The three leads were great loved all three of them. The dialogue was heavy but worked really well for the most part, apart from when they met the antagonists - terrible.

Definitely not their best work but was very good nonetheless (all things considered).

 

[David Battistella]

TRUE GRIT initial thoughts. Underwhelming. The tacked on ending was completely unnecessary. The antagonists were caricatures. Josh Brolin was as disappointing as Anakin Skywalker. Cinematography was in parts wonderful other than that what you would expect from Roger Deakins and nothing to write home about. The three leads were great loved all three of them. The dialogue was heavy but worked really well for the most part, apart from when they met the antagonists - terrible.

Definitely not their best work but was very good nonetheless (all things considered).

I thought this was about the best films you saw in 2010, not what was underwhelming or not soneones best work.

David

 

[Christopher Barrett]

I loved King's Speech and Black Swan. Just got the Blu-Ray of TSN..... meh, not overly impressed. Let The Right One In was awesome, haven't seen the remake. Saw True Grit last night... it was ok.

By the way, Let The Right One In is available on Netflix's Watch It Now list... I may have to see it again.

 

[Tom Lowe]

"Let Me In" Bluray and DVD come out Feb 1st, I believe.

 

[Jason Murphy]

The white-knuckled 80-minute feature-length OPEC hijacking = scene of the year!

It was a pretty epic sequence. Assayas is a great filmmaker. And Ramirez is fantastic. Hopefully 'Carlos' gets him a ton of good work.

The cinematography was groundbreaking - who else had a vagina cam? Also, as Tarantino noted, it has "Hands down best credit scene of the year. Maybe best credit scene of the decade. One of the greatest in cinema history."

I'm not sure that 'vagina cam' should necessarily be our standard for what constitutes groundbreaking cinematography, though to be fair, the visual and aural aspects of 'Enter the Void' were indeed spectacular, certainly among the most audacious stylistics I've seen in quite some time (in a good way). The screenplay, on the other hand, felt like it was written by an adolescent trying to cobble sex, drugs and death into something profound. And failing (at profundity, not at cobbling sex, drugs and death together). Still, as a cinematic experience, it's pretty overwhelming.

And Tarantino's got it right, it's certainly one of the best opening credits sequences of all time. Fantastic work.

 

[David Battistella]

I'm going to add Black Swan because it was well told until the very last shot and it was impeccable work by Portman.

David

 

[Tim Hole]

I thought this was about the best films you saw in 2010, not what was underwhelming or not soneones best work.

David

Apologies if u thought it was off topic, rather than start a new thread I addedy opinion to what others hailed as one of the best films of 2010. Technically it has not yet been released over here.

I thought I had already given my personal list but it must have been a similar thread elsewhere.

Films that struck me in 2010/11

Social Network
Black Swan
Enter the Void
Tron
Inception
Biutiul
Killer Inside Me
Blue Valentine

Can't really say that Kings Speech has stood out to me, seen it twice and although I found it a nice film, it was not exceptional in my opinion.

 

[Emyr R. E. Pugh]

Has anyone mentioned: Never let me go

I liked the style, the writing, the pace and the fact that the concepts and performances stuck with me for days.

I had the same experience. My thoughts kept returning to it many days after watching it. Mostly the concept. Not sure if I'd want to watch it again, though; mainly because I know that idea would stick with me long past the credits. Maybe after a couple of years...

I thought it was a slow year - most of the films of note ame out in the last quarter.

Inception and Social Network were good.

Black Swan was terrific - Aronofsky is firing on all four cylinders now. Thought Libatique did a fabulous job too; the whole crew really considering how tight that budget was.

I also very much liked The American, great low-key film.

If I had to choose a favorite it would be that or Black Swan.

 

[Andrew Rieger]

Let Me In (2010)

It's a tough call this year. No one single film really stands out. I really liked "Social Network." I was impressed with "Inception", and I got a kick out of "True Grit." But the more I think about it, the more I loved "Let Me In", a subtle, dark remake of a recent, acclaimed Swedish horror film.

Normally I would not consider a remake as best picture of the year, let alone a horror film. The director does not seem to come from a particularly impressive background. But what can I say? This film really got to me. It stands on its own, and speaks for itself.

What film do you think was the best of the year?

Tom, I will say that Let Me In was very very underrated. I am actually mad that I did not receive a best cinematography nomination. In my opinion, it was the best shot film of the year. The DP, Greig Fraser is a not well known but based on his past works, and his stunning work in Let Me In, I expect him to ascend to the top of the cinematography A-List. If you have not seen it, watch these clips and tell that the cinematography is not oscar material.

Car Scene: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3386378521/

Please Don't See That Boy: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3369601305/

Hit Back: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3554150681/

Hospital: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3403155737/

Other Clips:

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3587705113/

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3604482329/

 

[Tim Hole]

Forgot about The American. Really loved it.

Never let me go hasn't come out over here yet, will be interesting to see how the book transposes to the screen.

Wasn't in a hurry to see Let Me In. Even with some of the elements going for it, I still think it's discourteous to remake a film within a few years of such a great film. Will watch it though at some point. Nice to know It has some good qualities to it.

 

[David Battistella]

Apologies if u thought it was off topic, rather than start a new thread I addedy opinion to what others hailed as one of the best films of 2010. Technically it has not yet been released over here.

I thought I had already given my personal list but it must have been a similar thread elsewhere.

Films that struck me in 2010/11

Social Network
Black Swan
Enter the Void
Tron
Inception
Biutiul
Killer Inside Me
Blue Valentine

Can't really say that Kings Speech has stood out to me, seen it twice and although I found it a nice film, it was not exceptional in my opinion.

Tim,

Thanks for adding your list.

David

 

[Tom Lowe]

ENTER THE VOID

This grandly audacious and wildly psychedelic tour of the afterlife ("death as the ultimate trip") is a daring and ambitious metaphysical adventure. What in 2010 aimed higher? The cinematography was groundbreaking - who else had a vagina cam? Also, as Tarantino noted, it has "Hands down best credit scene of the year. Maybe best credit scene of the decade. One of the greatest in cinema history."

Peter, I have been stockpiling my supply of drugs so I will have enough to watch this movie properly.

 

[Spencer Black]

Apparently nobody has seen Machete!

 

[Gavin Greenwalt]

I think we need a moratorium on Boxing or Wrestling films for a few years in the Best Picture category.

 

[Omar Saad]

Apparently nobody has seen Machete!

Yes! Good call! Machete was awesome! And I also forgot Youth in Revolt that was a hilarious film... and Fair Game wasn't bad either.

 

[Meryem Ersoz]

I skipped "Let Me In," having seen "Let the Right One In" so recently. I just didn't understand why they bothered with a re-boot of a 2008 movie in 2010...the first version was very effective, so I never really understood the grounds for do-overs, so soon after its original release. Points off for lack of original material...

I did like The Social Network quite a bit - great casting and acting. It also told a very original story - business films often leave something to be desired, they are often rather flat. It can be a challenge to make the story of business interesting (let's wait and see how RED does it!). But I found this story quite dynamic. Part business parable, part coming-of-age, part story of a very specific, possibly non-repeatable moment in the history of technology...good stuff.

 

[Michael Millichamp]

Tom, I am so happy that someone feels the way I do about "Let Me In"! I thought it was beautiful. The characters seemed so much more vulnerable. Don't get me wrong, im a huge fan of "Let the Right One In" but the remake just felt like it had so much more emotion. I really loved it.

But, i'd have to say my favorite of the year is definitely "The Social Network". Ive been watching it over and over since the dvd release. It's superb.