All day long, betwixt conversations with slime ball attorneys, I have been compiling a list of movies from this year that I really liked and all genres are represented well. It was a pretty good year. While writing this, my list has a bunch of titles, and I can't think of many comedies that absolutely killed me. So my weird, senseless list will start there:
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work was excellent. You forget what a genius that lady is because she is kind of a joke due to all of her face lifts. But, she broke a crap ton of ground and is still going and hope I get a chance to catch her stand up. Get him to the Greek was okay. In the past few years, from roughly the same camp of actors, we've had Role Models, Sarah Marshall, Knocked Up and Pineapple Express -- to name a few -- and, although its very funny, the Greek doesn't reach the same status. Easy A was solid as well. I love Emma Stone. She is the new, less goofy Anna Farris. The Kids are Alright was alright. Good performances, and Mark Ruffalo always makes me wish I was cooler than I am. Monsters? It's even better when you find out it cost a minuscule 500k to make (and that's a high estimate). Buried may have been the biggest surprise to me. I'm not a fan of Ryan Reynolds, however, he is so good in this, and the pace is so intense, that I can deal with his face. 127 Hours was just as claustrophobic, but far more believable. This is perhaps the best we've seen James Franco yet. Danny Boyle is like puff Daddy: can't stop, won't stop. Scott Pilgrim can be placed in the same category as Kick Ass as an anti-comic book, comic book movie, but more for its quirky counter-pop-culture, post-punk, video game speed and wit. A couple of foreign flavors that I saw this year and really liked were The White Ribbon and The Secret in their Eyes. Those may have both been from 2009, however. I still need to see Black Swan and Blue Valentine and possibly The Kings Speech.
My top movies of the year.
1. Winters Bone was my favorite this year and, like the Animal Kingdom, is the story of a teen stuck dealing with a situation a child should even be involved in. It's a back country Noir where people's faces are defined by life (see the photo to the left) and scary to look at. Remind me to never live in a small town in the Ozarks. I would never last.2. Close with a Winters Bone at the top for me was Un Prophet. I've never been made to feel so helpless as the main character was early in the movie. It's suffocating. And you really think to yourself, "WTF would I do in this situation?" The whole thing is tense and it's what would happen if all of the characters from Goodfellas went to jail.
3. The (mock?) Documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop is a much needed introduction to the work/world of Banksy. I'd never heard of him before this and I love this movie. It's funny and interesting and the fact that it's probably fake makes it even better.
4. Animal Kingdom was intense. This kid got the shaft and was forced into living with a group of sociopaths led by the creepiest mother of all time (she totally mouth kisses her sons). Perhaps the best way to sum this movie up is the adjective my friend Renee used to describe it: frightening.
5. Kick Ass was great. A super hero movie about heroes that aren't super. Brilliant. Plus, the absurdity of a foul mouthed, invincible 10 year old girl is no more absurd than a flying man in tights - plus it's way more interesting.6. Cyrus is a serious movie that just happens to be very funny. Most awkward moment of the year is when Jonah Hill is playing John C. Reilly some techno music he crafter. Also, I <3 Marissa Tomei. --------------------------->
7. Speaking of allegedly faked documentaries, Catfish was fresh as well. It's a much needed social commentary on the Facebook age and takes you from wondering what is happening, to disbelief, to being creeped out, all the way to sadness.
7. Oh, Facebook, what did we ever do with out you. I love watching the rich white rowing guys getting worked in the Social Network. The movie proves that Jesse Eisenberg is a great talent. He really pulls it off; his Jewish look and neurotic tendencies make him a far more diverse version of Woody Allen -- hopefully he doesn't have an adopted daughter to marry.
8. For years, Ben Affleck has made me want to kill myself. I'm not sure why. I just never liked him. But beginning with Gone, Baby, Gone--in which his brother Casey does his best Sam Spade impression while traveling the under world and getting beat up--he proved he is a good filmmaker. I thought it would be a fluke, but The Town is another classic Noir, spiraling out of control, subsequently summing itself up neatly.
9. A lot of people didn't like it. "Shutter Island? Oh, I figured it out in ten minutes." Why are you trying to outsmart Marty? Eh? Don't try to figure it, just sit back and allow him to run you for a couple hours and enjoy.
10. Lastly, an exercise in humility, was the documentary Restrepo. Being in America, we never know what is happening in the Middle East, nor do we know what having a war on our street is like-- this is the closest we will come. It's scary and humbling and I am sorry to end this on a serious note.Let me know if I forgot anything or you want to crap on my picks. I don't care as long as you aren't Mike. He doesn't count because the only thing he's watched this year is Dinner for Schmucks and Home Movies.
