Enjoy, and please feel free to comment with what you think of the list, what your favourite movies were this year, etc.
Honourable Mentions (that just missed my list):
127 Hours, Black Swan, Buried, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Rabbit Hole, The Secret in Their Eyes
Special Mention:
I’m Here
(Director: Spike Jonze)
This 29-minute short, a major sensation at Sundance and an Internet hit, is presented by Absolut Vodka despite having nothing to do with alcohol. Except that it comes from the intoxicating Spike Jonze, still in tiptop form after 2009’s Where the Wild Things Are. Once again centering on outcasts, Jonze tells the story of an endearing, if deteriorating romance between two robots (voiced by Andrew Garfield and Sienna Guillory) living in modern times. The initial premise is sweet and poignant, but its second half culminates with an emotionally shattering conclusion. Look for this unforgettable short film online: it’ll take a piece from you.
10. Never Let Me Go
(Director: Mark Romanek)
Based off Kazuo Ishiguro’s beloved novel, this dystopian drama about three students (portrayed in their adult forms by Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightley, all excellent) and their coming-of-age at the idyllic Hailsham Academy is haunting and mysterious. The boarding school is preparing its students for an unconventional future - although I’m not going to divulge here exactly what it beholds, the film deals with experiencing real pain in a largely manufactured life. Director Mark Romanek stays true to Ishiguro’s sterile tone and formality, and drains the film’s second half of warm colours to reflect the characters’ woe. This is the saddest film of the year and packs an emotional wallop; simply, it does just what the title says.
A Little Trivia: Time Magazine named Ishiguro’s novel, released in 2005, as “The Best Book of the Decade.”
9. Inception
(Director: Christopher Nolan)
First, let me get this out of the way: Inception is a tad too light on character, a tad too heavy on exposition, and a tad too satisfied with its own bombastic complexities. This is why the film isn’t further up on the list. Regardless, it is an enormous achievement – how many new releases can you describe as "spellbinding," anyway? With big thrills and even bigger ideas, writer/director Christopher Nolan has constructed a labyrinthian sci-fi universe that is – literally – a mind-bender. Conceptual dazzle aside, Inception is still a formidable action picture and features one of Leonardo DiCaprio’s most assured performances, as an espionage agent who steals from the subconscious of others. The problem is that he’s having trouble grasping hold of what’s reality and what’s only a dream. It’s a beautifully designed and ambitiously structured thriller that kept my head, well, spinning for days.
A Little Trivia: In the film, the Edith Piaf song, “Non, je ne regrette rien” is used as a plot device within the “dream world.” Marion Cotillard, who played Mal in the film, won an Academy Award for playing Piaf in La Vie en Rose.
8. Animal Kingdom
(Director: David Michod)
The best family-centric crime thrillers are now commonly found on cable TV, but this feature film debut from Australia is lean, meaty and packs a major punch. A teenager moves in with his grandmother and three shady uncles after his mother dies, only to find out that they have ties to Melbourne’s criminal underworld and plan to initiate him into their menacing retreats. Michod lingers the camera on the natural habitat early on, and takes its time introducing the family dynamic while only giving hints to their darker undercurrents – we can only sniff out the tension, and are oblivious to when the menace will strike next. Led by an exceptional Australian cast, notably Jacki Weaver as the ruthless grandma and the hypnotically creepy Ben Mendelsohn, Animal Kingdom knows when to pounce on an unsuspecting audience. It’s a new crime classic.
A Little Trivia: It holds the record for the most number of nominations garnered by a feature film at the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards, with 18.
7. A Film Unfinished
(Director: Yael Hersonski)
In a year packed with great documentaries, A Film Unfinished ranks as one of the finest. Back in 1942, Nazi filmmakers oversaw the making of a propaganda feature, “Das Ghetto,” set in the grim heart of the Warsaw Ghetto. A blisteringly manipulative account of ghetto life, the film had not been fully edited and sat in a German vault for decades. When a fifth reel popped up in 1998, it unveiled outtakes that clearly document how the Nazis deliberately staged the proceedings. The five reels are presented alongside voice-over narration from a Jewish figurehead’s journal (who lived in the ghetto and wrote about the filming), as well as the reactions of Holocaust survivors watching the footage. Hersonski’s film is a searing depiction of inhumanity, and also an unmissable triumph that bears witness to one of the crudest historical accounts ever captured on film.
A Little Trivia: Filmmaker Yael Hersonski is the daughter of a Warsaw Ghetto survivor.
6. The King’s Speech
(Director: Tom Hooper)
Colin Firth gives the performance of the year (and his career) as the stammering King George VI, who must face his fear of public speaking after his brother abdicates the throne. Challenged to work out the mannerisms, rhythms and inner plight of a character who struggles to open his mouth, Firth brings remarkable colour and depth to the role. Surrounded by an ensemble at the top of their game, he’s in good company. This tale of adversity is extraordinarily moving and often hilarious, thanks mainly to a touching script from 73-year-old David Seidler and the ping-pong banter between Firth and his shrewd speech therapist, played by Geoffrey Rush. The bond between the two is not as much about fixing a voice as it is about finding one. On a recent box office surge, The King’s Speech will likely take the Best Picture race down to the wire – and deservedly so.
A Little Trivia: Guy Pearce, who plays George VI’s older brother, Edward VIII, is actually seven years younger than Firth.
5. The Town
(Director: Ben Affleck)
Proving that his directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone, and his screenwriting Oscar were no fluke, Ben Affleck shows that he’s not just a triple threat – actor, director and co-writer – but also an accomplished filmmaker and master storyteller with his latest film. Affleck plays a bank robber who falls in love with the manager he once held at gunpoint (Rebecca Hall) in Charlestown, the gruff “bank robbery capital” that gives the film its plain name. But this suspense/thriller is far from plain: it has a strong sense of character and place, concerned as much with the characters and their veering moral compasses as it is with taut, efficiently paced heist sequences. Ben Affleck has our attention once again, and they’re for all the right reasons.
A Little Trivia: The film's premiere was held at Fenway Park, which also served as a pivotal setting for The Town's climax.
4. Toy Story 3
(Director: Lee Unkrich)
Toy Story 3 is the best Holocaust film in years. Yes, you read that correctly. Packed with parallels to the finest WWII escape films and with some terrifying moments (including an unnervingly intense incinerator scene), this is Pixar’s saddest, coldest and darkest outing yet. That said, it is still a raucously fun ride. Woody, Buzz and Co. are clinging on to the last shreds of joy before their owner, Andy, leaves for college. It’s an exceptional sequel that works as a roller-coaster of exhilarating fun, whiz-bang inventiveness and sparking visuals (including the best, most nostalgic opening sequence of the year, crediting the boundless creativity of childhood playtime). It also excels as an emotionally grueling throat-grabber, an intelligent and moving meditation about growing up and moving on. Director Lee Unkrich and screenwriter Michael Arndt are often a stitch away from packing in too much, but understand that all of the mayhem is worthless without these characters we have such investment in. The finale to the finest screen trilogy of my generation, animated or otherwise, was well worth the ten-and-a-half year wait.
A Little Trivia: The Jack in the Box who yells “New toys!” after Andy’s gang arrives at Sunnyside is voiced by director Lee Unkrich. It is one of 302 characters in the film.
3. Trigger
(Director: Bruce McDonald)
This Canadian-made gem was rushed into production after its star, character actress Tracy Wright, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last December. (She passed away this June.) Trigger is Wright’s swan song, a terrific film that encompasses her versatile talents, from her scathing wit to her classy sense of cool. A struggling musician who has moved toward spirituality (Wright) and a successful music advisor in Hollywood (Molly Parker) meet up for a one-night-only reunion. They used to play in a punk-rock duo called Trigger and have not seen each other in 12 years. Together, they reflect on their fragile, dysfunctional friendship, as well as past triumphs and regrets. Playwright Daniel MacIvor, who penned the script, unleashes both blunt, gutless profanity between the women in the blistering opening scenes before settling into their inner demons, such as Vic’s memories of her sex- and drug-fueled escapades (in a brazen, anguished monologue, one of the film’s many highlights). Wright’s performance is high-velocity – energetic, poignant and passionate – and one would be hard pressed to imagine a more perfect way to honour her career.
A Little Trivia: Sarah Polley and Don McKellar (Wright’s real long-time partner) cameo in bit roles, as a controlling stage manager and Vic’s scrounging novelist boyfriend, respectively.
2. The Social Network
(Director: David Fincher)
Let’s get things straight: this film is not called The Social Network because it deals with Facebook. Instead, the title refers to the pursuit of a lonely Harvard student named Mark Zuckerberg who tried to navigate toward the pantheon of social life – and he did so by creating that popular website. Riveting, insightful, entertaining, and with dialogue so sharp it could cut glass (courtesy of Aaron Sorkin), the film is also a terrific piece of journalism. It was based off an equally breathless non-fiction bestseller by Ben Mezrich, who only got one side of the story (that of the best friend and twin tag-team that sued Zuckerberg). So, director David Fincher structured the film by jumping back and forth between the events surrounding Facebook’s founding and the subsequent legal proceedings. It’s up to the audience to decide whether Zuckerberg’s a genius, or as many characters within the film put it, "an asshole." Jesse Eisenberg’s performance is cold and malignant, but instills Zuckerberg with such an inert pride and intelligence, we can't help but admire his genius (his misery and drive is the basis for the film’s rumbling, moody, electric score). This is certainly the year’s zeitgeist-defining film, one which uses Zuckerberg as a symbol for the impersonality of our tech-savvy era.
A Little Trivia: Jesse Eisenberg’s cousin works for Facebook, near the real Mark Zuckerberg.
1. Exit Through the Gift Shop
(Director: Banksy)
Directed by the elusive art-world icon known as Banksy, Gift Shop is a fascinating look into both the underground world of street art and the psyche of celebrity. Whether or not this howlingly funny and thrillingly original documentary is actually a non-fiction film at all is besides the point. The film tells the story of a bumbling filmmaker named Thierry Guetta who becomes obsessed with the rising world of street art in Los Angeles and around the world, insisting on filming these artists’ works for his own documentary. Watching the craft unfold on Guetta’s camera is fantastic, but Gift Shop is not merely an effort to broadcast the triumphs of a subversive movement. Instead, it targets the phonies and posers who withhold any artistic integrity, capitalizing on art’s commodity value rather than its expressive purposes (hence the title). When Banksy turns the gears in the final third, examining Guetta’s own motivations, he offers a potent, compelling analysis of the “meaning of art” in modern society. Is it all true, is it all a prank, or does Banksy’s manipulations actually add up to a greater realization of the truth? Whatever it is, Exit Through the Gift Shop is a sublime treat that celebrates art while also being a work of art worth celebrating.
A Little trivia: Swiss filmmaker Joachim Levy has accused Banksy of having stolen footage of his own and including it in Exit Through the Gift Shop without giving proper reference.
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