Top 10 of 2010

And here we are, once again, at that annual of annual traditions where one looks back over what was offered the prior year and evaluates what will indeed live on, for them, as a fantastic film. Of course all these lists were released in December, right? Well, yes, for the critics who get to see everything well in advance and are able to publish these lists. But I am just a common moviegoer, and must wait to see that latest foreign film or simply catch-up (as is the case this year) with films I missed because I was busy with life. But now I have seen the year's offerings and I can say that this turned out to be a better year then I initially thought. But before I release my top ten, I'd like to start off by naming the worst movie of the year:

And the worst movie of 2010 is...

The Human Centipede: First Sequence (2009)

It's grotesque, disgusting and pointless. Actually, I would half admire it if it lived up to its claim of depravity, but once you get past the idea of the premise, it is not a hard movie to swallow and becomes more frustrating with every dimwitted decision made by the principal females. The doctor (played by Dieter Laser) is very creepy, but the rest of the movie is unmemorable and doesn't even make the impact on you it wants too.

Sorry, I just figured it would be better to get the filth out of the way. Now, on to the top 10 of the year 2010!

10. The American

This is oddly one of the most underrated films of the year, as critics and the general public alike seemed to be taken aback by this movie. What most people were expecting, I suspect, is an exciting actioneer starring George Clooney. What we get instead is a mostly quiet film about a hitman who must live his life in solitude (the opening scene alone defies hitmen convention). Clooney acts like a samurai for most of the film, as he hides in a remote Italian village building a gun for a final job. The ensemble is quite strong, and while the movies last moments are a bit telegraphed, the preceding build-up makes the whole film worth it.

9. The King's Speech

It seems like this will surely win the Oscar for everything now, and I'm not unhappy about this prospect. The King's Speech is a terrific film with a great ensemble (Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter, along with the likes of Michael Gambon, Guy Pearce and Timothy Spall), telling the story of King George VI's rise to power and how he had to overcome his stammer to inspire his people to be strong during war. The film works because of the actors, especially Geoffrey Rush who breathes so much life into dialectical coach Lionel Logue. Its a film that inspires you and makes you happy, and we need that every now and then.

8. Animal Kingdom

I had the pleasure of viewing this film with a fiery latin beat thumping through the floors from our neighbors. But that did not alter this film's quality in the slightest (though I have never heard Surfin' U.S.A. played at a more inappropriate time). An Australian film about a teen whose mother dies and is forced to live with his uncles and grandmother, who also just happen to be a mafia-type family. Its a taut film that spends a fair amount of time establishing itself before it really takes off. Guy Pearce shows up here as a detective, and there is one terrific scene after another, building up to a Godfather-esque ending (no, not the executing the five families scene. The other one).

7. Toy Story 3

The long-awaited sequel to the most beloved animated franchise finally arrived and didn't disappoint. While it is a bit of a step-backward from the previous entries, Toy Story 3 still delivers on all fronts, equal parts hilarious, thrilling, and heartfelt. The film deals with that inevitable point in a toy's life when their owner grows up and gets more interested in...well, the internet these days. The toy's donate themselves to a daycare center where they feel all will be better, if not for the oppressive cuddly bear that rules over the place. If anything, the film is incredibly nostalgic for me because it brought me back to being a kid again, and remembering playing with my toys and watching these movies. I do not currently know where all my old toys and dolls reside, but the film's ending is an oddly touching scene (an almost-man bids adieu to his playthings) that leaves one with a sense of fulfillment about the Toy Story universe.

6. Another Year

Mike Leigh may be one of the best directors out there no one knows about. I mean, his films are distributed, but most of the people I know have never heard of Leigh. Its a shame because he turns out such terrific films, and writes them in such a wholly unique fashion (lets just say actors work extra hard on his sets) that I'm surprised hes not more widely known. Another Year concerns a happily married couple, Gerri (Ruth Sheen) and Tom (Jim Broadbent), and, well, a year in their life that takes through select days of the four seasons. Its a fantastic study of loneliness and relationships and connections. Really, I don't want to say too much about this film because I went into knowing the bare minimum (the trailer gives nothing away) and came out confident that there are still terrific filmmakers out there.

5. True Grit

Probably the Coens most straight-forward film...ever, this is a fantastic Western, set in the dying days of the West as technology and progress move in and take over. Jeff Bridges is expectedly great as 'Rooster' Cogburn, a role that one John Wayne his Oscar, and Matt Damon as the Texas Ranger is equally impressive. But the real star of the film is newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, who plays the fearless and gregarious Mattie Ross with such verve that she lights up every scene. The simple story of a girl seeking revenge for her father's death is played out through many quiet scenes, punctuated by brief spurts of violence. It's a deeply touching movie, and is bolstered by Roger Deakins stunning cinematography.

4. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

I only liked this movie initially, but like Edgar Wright's other films (Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead) repeat viewings brought this movie to the front of my attention. Its a simple boy-meets-girl story, and plays out much like a musical. Except, instead of musical numbers, fight scenes where our protagonist (Michael Cera) must defeat his sweetheart's seven previous lovers ensue. The film is a hybrid of video games and graphic novels (it is based of such a graphic novel from a lover of video games). The movie is a kaleidoscope of effects that take some time processing, as various texts fly through the scene to accentuate actions. It's absurd and a lot of fun, and though its characterizations are slight (his girlfriend is quite literally the girl of his dreams), its something I never tire of. And those films are just as important as the prestigious ones, right?

3. A Prophet

This foreign film was up for the best Foreign Language Oscar last year, but was not give a real release until February so it counts. A stark, harrowing look at life in prison, as a young Arab is sent there and soon ends up working closely with mafia kingpin stuck inside. The movie kicks off with a fantastic first thirty minutes, in which Malik (Tahar Rahim) must sneak a razor in his mouth to a meeting with a victim and then kill him. Everyone remembers the shot of him, as his mouth bleeds, pulling the razor out. The movie flows seamlessly and is one of the standout films of the year.

2. Exit Through the Gift Shop

I don't think I've every ranked a documentary this high before, but this is that good. It may be in part because the film could be fake (I don't believe Thierry, the frenchmen who is the film's subject, is made up). But one thing is for sure: it gets us close to Banksy, the director of the film, a famously elusive and anonymous street artist whose work includes the guantanamo prisoner at Disney Land and stencils on the West Bank wall. It's about street art, it's about a mad frenchmen who films everything about the movement, and its about how art can be exploited and people are so hungry to grab the hottest item that they'll pay outrageous money for something that isn't necessarily art at all, but imitation. Its definitely one of the finest documentaries, and finest films, I have ever seen.

1. The Social Network

Yes, I know, I know. I have now associated myself with the hive mind of critics out there that declared this the best film. But I have seen it four times and know that there is nothing better this year. The film is about Facebook, and part of what makes it so damn brilliant is how it takes what sounds like the most boring film of the year and makes it the most fascinating. Aaron Sorkin's brilliant dialogue is supported by an exception cast that includes Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield (our new Spider-Man), Justin Timberlake (ironically playing the man that brought down record companies), Rooney Mara (the new Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), and Armie Hammer (playing both Winklevoss twins). From the sumptuous cinematography (shot on the R3D no less), to the perfect editing, to the fantastic and utterly unique score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, there is no other film like this one. It is a film for out time, for our generation, our opportunity to turn to the world and say "Fuck you, I'm CEO, bitch!"

The Social Network (2010)

When David Fincher's latest film (and quite possibly his best) ends, you may wonder what was it about this film that you loved? I find it almost indescribable to tell you what was so wonderful about the film, but let me try and explain.

The movie concerns the invention of the social networking site, Facebook. It is about Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), his friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), and the various other members who take part in this revolutionary invention. When it was announced two years ago that they were making a Facebook movie, many of us (including myself) scoffed at the notion. How could they make a movie about Facebook? Then when Fincher was signed to direct and Aaron Sorkin, creator and writer of the West Wing, signed to pen the script, many of us breathed a collective sigh.

And they have delivered. I think the film benefits more from Sorkin then from Fincher; his memorable dialogue is what drives every scene, and I would be surprised if this didn't win for Best Adapted Screenplay at this year's Oscars. Of course, Sorkin's dialogue would be nothing if he didn't have a fine cast to embody those words and make their own. And I am not diminishing Fincher's role in all of this; it was his sure hand that guided them through it all to the very finish.

Besides telling the story of how Saverin, Zuckerberg's only real friend, came to sue him for $600 million, the movie meditates on how Facebook has infiltrated our very lives. What made it appealing and different from MySpace or Friendster? Exclusivity. The site was founded solely for Harvard students, then expanded to Cambridge, Yale, and Stanford, and eventually across two continents and farther. When I first joined Facebook four years back, I had to be invited to join (I was only in High School), and it felt like I was being admitted into an exclusive club (I believe it had only recently be opened up to email invitation). Now to sign up is as simple as couple clicks, but then, it was something special.

The movie also does an excellent job of balancing between the invention and meteoric rise of Facebook, and the two depositions, one for Saverin, the other for three Harvard men who had an idea for a site called The Harvard Connection, which Zuckerberg essentially took and made better. These three men, two of the brothers, have a legitimate case, as does Saverin. In fact, from the very first scene, Zuckerberg isn't entirely likable. And I think that's what is amazing about this movie.

We've had unlikable protagonists before, but I think Zuckerberg's portrayal is so poignant because it proves that success and glamour don't go hand in hand, as people would like to believe. Before he invents Facebook, Zuckerberg is nobody, just a computer hacker and programmer (and an excellent one). But after, he gets groupies, and he suddenly becomes the person everyone wants to be friends with. If they spent time getting to know him, they might not like the person they see. The film opens with Zuckerberg on a date with Erica Albright (Rooney Mara, who will play Lisbeth in Fincher's remake of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), and she says, "You are going to be a successful programmer, and you are going to spend your whole thinking girls won't date you because you are a nerd. And I tell you, from the bottom of my heart, that that is not true. It's because you're an asshole."

The movie cites this incident as Zuckerberg's initial creation of Facebook. If you search Erica Albright Real on Google, you'll return articles contemplating whether this character actually exists or not. In fact, Zuckerberg said the movie plays out a lot like fiction, some of it weighed in fact, of course, but certain events dramatized or invented for the filmmakers benefit.

And I say good for them. My favorite biopic (which this essentially is) ever made is Amadeus (1984), but that movie makes a rivalry between Salieri and Mozart that didn't actually exist in real life. But do I care? No, because the movie plays out with terrific drama and is one of the best movies I have ever seen. If you want straight fact, go find a biography (which I'm sure we'll see one soon about the ACTUAL Zuckerberg story).

Fincher and Sorkin and everyone involved have crafted one of the year's best pictures, and one I eagerly await seeing again. It's a film about our times, about lives. It is also the story of how to skillfully screw your friend out of a business. Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), the founder of Napster, exclaims to Zuckerberg "This is our time!" Indeed it is.