Using the Five W's to tell you what a film is all about.
My Top 10 of 2010
1. The Fighter
2. 127 Hours
3. Exit Through the Gift Shop
4. True Grit
5. Kick-Ass
6. Inception
7. Let Me In
8. The Social Network
9. The Town
10. Harry Brown
My Top 10 of 2010
1. The Fighter
2. 127 Hours
3. Exit Through the Gift Shop
4. True Grit
5. Kick-Ass
6. Inception
7. Let Me In
8. The Social Network
9. The Town
10. Harry Brown
Crazy Heart
WHO: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall
WHAT: A fictional biopic mashup of an aging country singer-songwriter, based loosely on the lives of Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard.
WHEN: Present Day
WHERE: Southwest America
WHY SEE IT: One, for the music. If your heart isn’t ripped from your chest as you listen to Bad Blake pen one country masterpiece after another, you may want to check your pulse. T-Bone Burnett, the producer/songwriter who was responsible for the Grammy-award winning O’ Brother, Where Art Thou?, composed much of the music for the film.
And two, for Jeff Bridges. His Oscar-nominated performance reminds us that old dogs don’t always need to learn new tricks. You can practically smell the whiskey on his breath as he seduces one woman after another with his sun-scorched charm and wit. And he makes you feel his hurt as he battles the demons of regret and alcoholism while struggling to stay artistically relevant at the risk of losing everything.
FINAL GRADE: B+
Synecdoche, New York
WHO: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson, Dianne Wiest, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan
WHAT: A dream-like examination of the life and creative process of a chronically-ill and emotionally tortured playwright as he creates his magnum opus.
WHEN: Present day
WHERE: Schenectady, New York
WHY SEE IT: To see a legend in his own time. Charlie Kaufman is one of the greatest screenwriters living today, and with this film, his directorial debut, he has pushed himself and his audience to a new level. Watching this profoundly sad and confusing film feels much like listening to someone describe an amazing dream they just had: you know it had to mean so much to them but you can’t quite relate to all the pieces. However, Kaufman made sure to include all the pieces in this film. So whether you try to unpack all the film’s dense imagery or you just let yourself be carried along by its melancholy beauty, it will take you more than one viewing to take it all in. But it’s worth the effort.
FINAL GRADE: A
Avatar
WHO: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi
WHAT: An epic Sci-Fi metaphor for human greed, cultural displacement and one society’s quest for power at the expense of another.
WHEN: 2154
WHERE: The planet Pandora
WHY SEE IT: The visuals. James Cameron patiently held back production of this film until the technology that his audacious script required was available. The story is a timeless one but not a groundbreaking one. It is merely a conduit for a visual feast that will most certainly change the face cinema.
FINAL GRADE: Story: B; Visuals: A; Average: B+
Shutter Island
WHO: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer
WHAT: A psychological thriller that follows two U.S. Marshals on their investigation of a missing patient from a hospital for the criminally insane.
WHEN: 1954
WHERE: An island in Massachusetts
WHY SEE IT: One word: Scorsese. The master storyteller has yet again crafted an engaging work of art; this time, a thriller set in America’s dark ages of experimentation with mental patients, post World War II. And DiCaprio’s fourth performance with the director more than suffices at sucking you into this twisted world.
FINAL GRADE: B+
The Hurt Locker
WHO: Jeremy Renner, Anthonie Mackie, Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce
WHAT: A taut war thriller that follows a U.S. Army Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) team on their tour in the Iraq war.
WHEN: 2004, post-American invasion
WHERE: Baghdad, Iraq
WHY SEE IT: Kathryn Bigelow’s highly decorated film operates on two levels: it first makes it frighteningly clear just how vulnerable our soldiers are and how futile America’s presence in the Iraqi war seems to be while also simultaneously capturing the essence of the U.S. soldier and their raw, human desire to be needed, to be good at something and to be a part of something extraordinary.
FINAL GRADE: A-
Up in the Air
WHO: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick
WHAT: An adaptation of the novel that follows a corporate down-sizer on his travels as he wrestles with isolation and unwelcome changes in his career.
WHEN: Present Day America
WHERE: All over America and the skies above.
WHY SEE IT: Jason Reitman goes three for three in this near-perfect drama that so expertly captures the face of the working America and it’s fight for relevance and survival. And the timing of the film’s release couldn’t be more perfect, given America’s current economic crisis. Of course Clooney, Farmiga and Kendrick all give brilliant performances as well (if you had any doubts).
FINAL GRADE: A-
Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
WHO: Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz
WHAT: An unflinching adaptation of Sapphire’s novel, depicting the tragic story of a physically and sexually abused, undereducated teen from Harlem and her battle for liberation.
WHEN: 1987
WHERE: Harlem, New York
WHY SEE IT: For Sidibe’s and Mo’Nique’s Oscar-nominated performances. The film is ultimately an exercise in endurance as Precious experiences one life-altering tragedy after another. At times it even feels gratuitous. For an honest and holistic view of urban America, instead watch HBO’s The Wire.
FINAL GRADE: B
Inglourious Basterds
WHO: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Melanie Laurent
WHAT: A non-historical “what if?” mash-up of the war films of the 60’s & 70’s and spaghetti westerns.
WHEN: 1940’s
WHERE: Nazi occupied France
WHY SEE IT: This is Tarantino’s most realized creation to date. Even if there were another filmmaker out there that was crazy enough to change such a tragic piece of our history as the Holocaust and turn it into a stylized action flick, they certainly couldn’t do it with as much passion and creativity and heart as Tarantino does with Basterds. So suspend your analytical thinking for 153 minutes and let yourself be told a revenge bedtime story of Biblical proportions.
FINAL GRADE: A
