Best Films of the Year pt. 2

Hello again, now for the second part of the top 10 of 2010. I have to say, once I got down to the top 5 it was really tough, this was a strong list. Needless to say, all these films were strong for their own reasons and in the end, 2010 proved to be a great year for films. So, with that in mind, my picks for 2010 are:

Another Honorable Mention:

The Ghost Writer: Ewan Mcregor and Pierce Brosnan give their best performances yet in this well crafted political thriller by the masterful Roman Polanski (the genius behind the Pianist). This was yet another one that just barely missed my list, but I would recommend any day, truly a great film

7. The Town

Ben Affleck has shown that while he might be hit or miss as an actor, as a director, he is a master. Here he crafts a strong film based on crimes and robberies going on in Charleston located in Boston. Jeremy Renner, hot off a rather deserved Oscar nomination for Hurt Locker, will probably be looking at another nomination for this film, he is utterly fantastic. The cast, as a whole, bring the film’s caliber up a notch, they are all spectacular. This is quite a strong film, and has definitely helped shape Boston into its own form of movie genre after other great films such as Mystic River and the Departed. The Town delivers on such a level as such films, it’s really great.

6. Toy Story 3

Pixar gave us quite the gem with “Up” last year and I felt that it was the best Pixar has given us since Toy Story. Well, here they’ve done the unthinkable (at least to me); they were able to one-up themselves again with yet another masterpiece. Toy Story 3 not only brings back characters we know and love, but also give us a story that is not only strong, but really speaks true for those of us who have been with Toy Story from the very beginning (I was 6 when it first came out). Now, with the story focusing on what happens when their owner goes to college, Pixar creates a story of nostalgia, comedy, and the utmost sensitivity (The last 10 minutes or so are quite the tear-jerker). Toy Story 3 is fantastic on all levels and, I’ll say it again, one of Pixar’s best.

5. Winter’s Bone

Jennifer Lawrence gives an oscar-caliber performance and the cast is uniformly strong behind her, particularly that of Dale Dickey and John Hawkes. The Cinematography is very bleak and utterly beautiful, as is everything going on, which is frightening to the point where you can’t watch. You really feel the pain of Lawrence’s character as well as the raw intensity of the film as a whole. Filmed on a budget of just 2 million, set in the Ozarks, Winter’s Bone is quite an achievement and a very strong, powerful film.

Part 3 coming soon...

The American and The Town

Hi everyone,

So, I know I was going to do a blog on fall films in general, but I decided to instead do something else. In the span of a month, I have seen three films (two in one weekend). So I decided, rather than talk about fall films (expect a blog for that sometime later), I will focus my attention to these three rather diverse films.

The first film I saw was “The Town” by Ben Affleck, I say “by” because he directs, writes, stars and produces the film. The movie is about a group of bank robbers in Charlestown, Boston. Once on a heist, they take a prisoner hostage, played by Rebecca Hall (quite aptly, not too over the top). Affleck plays Doug McCray, and his crew (Renner, Slaine, Welliver and Burke) then realize she doesn’t live too far from them, which they find a problem. Affleck checks up on her from time to time, sparking romance amongst the two. We then have Jon Hamm of “Mad Men” plays Special Agent Adam Frawley, who is always one step behind Affleck’s crew.

Not going to lie, Boston is becoming one heck of a sub-genre of films when you have such films as the Departed, Mystic River and Affleck’s own Gone Baby Gone set in Boston this past decade. You’re going to notice this is very much a Ben Affleck film, which isn’t really a bad thing. Sure he has had his fair share of misses as an actor (Daredevil and Pearl Harbor to name a few), but as a director, he is 2 for 2. The action scenes are tremendous and the dialogue is quite intelligent and intense (you will never get a more nerve racking conversation of a 20 dollar bill than from Jon Hamm’s character). The cast is tremendous, even with cameos from Chris Cooper as McCray’s dad. I hold the highest honor for Jeremy Renner (Hurt Locker, 28 Weeks Later), who plays Affleck’s best friend Jeb. Renner takes his character to a whole other level as a robber who would rather die than face prison. I put this on my top ten for best picture, Affleck for Director and writing, film editing (flawless), Jeremy Renner for supporting Actor (my frontrunner) among others. I give The Town a solid A. On a side note: for a trailer, they used the song "Not Afraid" by Eminem. After seeing this movie, that song has been stuck in my head ever since.

Another film I saw was the American, starring George Clooney. It has a simple plot, Clooney is an assassin simply named Jack. He takes a vacation to Italy where paranoia kicks in. Not only that, but he seems to have been followed or tracked down. He falls in love and soon everything starts to get complicated as the story unfolds.

I could go on telling the story, but quite frankly, it’s really as generic as I am telling you now. You get very little background, the characters aren’t very interesting and at the end, I didn’t really have much of an interest. Clooney is good here, but he is nothing special. The fact is, coming off of Up in the Air though, I would expect more from Clooney. I would recommend this if you’re a fan of spy films, but as a rental, it’s no Bourne. I give this movie a C.

Film #3 coming soon