Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

Discussions of specific films and franchises.
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conspirator12
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#76 Post by conspirator12 » Mon Dec 27, 2010 1:05 pm

1. Black Swan
2. Enter the Void
3. Oddsac
4. Toy Story 3
5. The Fighter
Last edited by conspirator12 on Sat Jan 01, 2011 4:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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puxzkkx
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#77 Post by puxzkkx » Mon Dec 27, 2010 7:44 pm

The 17 I've seen so far from this year:

1. Lourdes ~ A
2. Dogtooth ~ A
3. Melody for a Street Organ ~ A-
4. Poetry ~ A-
5. Everyone Else ~ A-
6. Shutter Island ~ A-
7. Mother ~ B
8. The Milk of Sorrow ~ B
9. Love in a Puff ~ B-
10. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World ~ B-
11. Hadewijch ~ B-
12. The Girl ~ B-
13. Winter's Bone ~ C+
14. I Travel Because I Have To, I Come Back Because I Love You ~ C+
15. Applause ~ C
16. [REC] 2 ~ C-
17. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief ~ D

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HistoryProf
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#78 Post by HistoryProf » Mon Dec 27, 2010 8:34 pm

James Mills wrote:If I am to include White Ribbon and A Prophet, the former of which I think is arguably the best film of the decade, I'd appreciate this year a lot more. I don't think it's fair to include either
why? you live in the United States, right? then it's perfectly legitimate to include them considering they were only released in the U.S. this year. :shrug:

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Professor Wagstaff
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#79 Post by Professor Wagstaff » Mon Dec 27, 2010 9:23 pm

HistoryProf wrote:
James Mills wrote:If I am to include White Ribbon and A Prophet, the former of which I think is arguably the best film of the decade, I'd appreciate this year a lot more. I don't think it's fair to include either
why? you live in the United States, right? then it's perfectly legitimate to include them considering they were only released in the U.S. this year. :shrug:
I agree. These movies only received Oscar-qualifying runs in 2009 and not actual releases until 2010. I'm placing The Secret in Their Eyes on my list for 2010 for that reason. If I like A Prophet enough when I catch up to it late this week, I'll do the same.

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Jeff
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#80 Post by Jeff » Mon Dec 27, 2010 9:49 pm

A Prophet is officially a 2010 release in the U.S. It didn't get any sort of commercial U.S. release (not even an Oscar qualifying run) until February 26 of this year. It was eligible for the Best Foreign Film category only at last year's Oscars because it debuted in its submitting country before September 30, 2009. It would be eligible for Best Picture and all other categories at this year's awards if it hadn't been nominated for Best Foreign Language Film last year. There's a stupid rule that disqualifies it for consideration in other categories during it's official release year if it was up for Best Foreign Language Film the previous year. This rule worked out well for City of God. It was eligible for Best Foreign Language Film in 2002, because it was released in Brazil in August of that year. Many people assumed that it was a sure-fire nominee, but the rather conservative Foreign Language committee surprisingly passed it over. It was then officially released in the U.S. in January of 2003. A year later it was eligible in all categories except Best Foreign Language Film, since it had been passed over the year before. It received noms for Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing.

The White Ribbon was released commercially in Austria in September of 2009, and in the U.S. on December 30 of 2009. That means that it was eligible for Best Foreign Language Film and all other categories at last year's Oscars. It was officially a 2009 release in the U.S. It went on to get nominated in the Foreign Language category as well as Best Cinematography.

Of course, none of this means anything unless you want it to. You can play by whatever rules you want (when it was released in your town, when you saw it, whatever). I categorize my films according to the year in which they were first commercially exhibited in the U.S., like the Academy does, but it's a pretty arbitrary decision on my part. I saw The White Ribbon, A Prophet, and Uncle Boonmee all in 2010, but The White Ribbon is on my 2009 list, A Prophet is on my 2010 list, and Uncle Boonmee will appear on my 2011 list. Crazy, no?

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tartarlamb
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#81 Post by tartarlamb » Wed Jan 05, 2011 1:39 am

I don't have the nerdy diligence to discern between what was 2010 and what wasn't. I'll just do what I saw this year, whether or not it was a 2009 film that washed up late on my distribution shore.

1. White Ribbon (Haneke)
2. White Material (Denis)
3. Somewhere (Coppola)
4. Around a Small Mountain (Rivette)
5. Ghost Writer (Polanski)
6. Bluebeard (Breillat)
7. Wild Grass (Resnais)
8. A Prophet (Audiard)
9. Mesrine: Killer Instinct (Richet)
10. Greenberg (Baumbach)

Didn't like Inception, Black Swan or Shutter Island.
Last edited by tartarlamb on Wed Jan 05, 2011 1:17 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Lemmy Caution
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#82 Post by Lemmy Caution » Wed Jan 05, 2011 6:16 am

I still think 2011 was a fairly weak year, but of course the late December Oscar-qualifying releases have created the usual backlog of quality films. And like everyone else, I have catching up to do.

I finally caught up with swo's fave Katalin Varga and it is a pretty potent revenge drama. Made my 2010 list, even if it seems I bought the Dvd way back in late 2009 and now swo has forwarded it on to 2011.
With multi-regional players and international films being readily accessible, I'd prefer going by year of actual release, not just US release, but whatever.

Three underseen 2010 films I'd like to rec:
Facing Ali -- fantastic doc of olderwiser ex-pugs reflecting back on life..
Katalin Varga -- potent revenge drama
The Wind Journeys -- wandering through Northern Colombia with an accordion has become my backup plan in life. I wrote a mini-review on the bottom of Page 2 in this thread.
A Room and a Half -- Andrey Khrzhanovskiy's imaginative re-creation of Joseph Brodsky's life growing up in the USSR.

Okay so maybe that's four ...

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aox
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#83 Post by aox » Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:55 am

Lemmy Caution wrote:The Wind Journeys -- wandering through Northern Colombia with an accordion has become my backup plan in life. I wrote a mini-review on the bottom of Page 2 in this thread.
For those interested (as I am), this film is streamable on Netflix.

Thanks for the recommendation.

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foofighters7
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#84 Post by foofighters7 » Wed Jan 05, 2011 11:06 am

My wife's and my own. Still haven't seen a number of films that might make it into my top list but so far-

My wifes-
1. Winters bone
2. Inception
3. Black Swan
4. True Grit
5. Scott Pilgrim
6. The Kings Speech
7. Kick Ass
8. The American
9. Get low
10. Hot tub time machine
11. Social Network
12. A prophet
13. Please Give
14. I'm still here
15. I am love
16. Harry Potter
17. The Other Guys
18. Get him to the Greek
19. Shutter Island
20. Iron Man 2

Mine-
1)Winters Bone
2)The Kings Speech
3)A Prophet
4)The Ghost Writer
5)Black Swan
6)Inception
7)True Grit
8)The Social Network
9)Get Low
10)Please Give
11)Other Guys
12)Shutter Island
13)I'm Still Here
14)The Town
165)The American
16)Scott Pilgram
17)Catfish
18)The Next Three Days
19)127 Hours
20)I Am Love

I have not seen-
Micmacs
Jack Goes Boating
Leaves of Grass
Animal Kingdom
The Killer Inside Me
Cyrus
Toy Story 3
Never Let Me Go
Mother
You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger
Buried
Greenberg
Chloe
The Fighter
Somewhere
Biutiful
Blue Valentine
Last edited by foofighters7 on Tue Jan 11, 2011 9:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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LQ
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#85 Post by LQ » Wed Jan 05, 2011 11:18 am

Lemmy Caution wrote:Accordion music and machetes, and a lead character who knows what tune to play during a machete fight to the death. What more could you want?
You're right, that's pretty much all I could ask for in a movie. Echoing aox, thanks so much for the recommendation...I can't wait to get home and watch this.

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mfunk9786
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#86 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Jan 05, 2011 11:28 am

So glad to know what foofighters7's wife's 19th favorite movie of the year is.

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tavernier
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#87 Post by tavernier » Wed Jan 05, 2011 12:07 pm

I guess he saw "The Next Three Days" without her (lucky gal).

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foofighters7
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#88 Post by foofighters7 » Wed Jan 05, 2011 12:36 pm

HAHA, actually, yes your right I seen it without her, and perhaps it was the special feeling you get when you see a film without your wife. (kinda like cheating only without the bodily fluids...usually), and although I didn't think 'The Next Three Days' was anything special, I don't think it was that bad as far as 'those' type of films are concerned. I certainly expect it to fall off my list when I see the the other films I have yet to see.

mfunk- I would be interested to know what your wife's 19th pick was???

Oh can you imagine if it was 'Shutter Island' Too!!! Oh, the irony would be delicious!

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LQ
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#89 Post by LQ » Wed Jan 05, 2011 12:39 pm

foofighters7 wrote:mfunk- I would be interested to know what your [soon-to-be] wife's 19th pick was???
I cap that bidness at 10 here, pal. But t'wasn't Shutter Island, I can tell you that.

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mfunk9786
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#90 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Jan 05, 2011 12:43 pm

Wow, I don't even know what to say to a post like that. It just has to stand on its own.

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aox
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#91 Post by aox » Wed Jan 05, 2011 12:46 pm

LQ wrote:But t'wasn't Shutter Island, I can tell you that.
BECAUSE IT WAS #2?

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LQ
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#92 Post by LQ » Wed Jan 05, 2011 12:50 pm

aox wrote:
LQ wrote:But t'wasn't Shutter Island, I can tell you that.
BECAUSE IT WAS #2?
That'd be a twist to rival Shutter Island's own.

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Jeff
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#93 Post by Jeff » Wed Jan 05, 2011 1:15 pm

Lemmy Caution wrote:With multi-regional players and international films being readily accessible, I'd prefer going by year of actual release, not just US release, but whatever.
I never meant to imply that there were any rules for what films could go on lists here. I was just explaining my rationale for what I put on my own list. Nothing would have my head on a platter if he thought I was telling everyone that they had to go by U.S. dates. You can go by the Chinese release date, when you saw it, when you got the DVD, whatever. Do whatever makes sense to you. It's all pretty arbitrary anyway. I only go by U.S. releases because I happen to live in the U.S.

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Lemmy Caution
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#94 Post by Lemmy Caution » Wed Jan 05, 2011 2:44 pm

Sorry, actually I was posting in response to swo's post from a few days ago, after I watched Katie Varga, and only went back and read your post and a bunch of others after I posted. Certainly in the thread it does look like I was responding to your post, but that's just a montage trick. I pretty much go by US release date, because that's what the Academy does, with most Americans following. And Chinese pirate dvd release date hasn't caught on globally.

But I cheated and put Facing Ali in 2010, even though it was released direct to Dvd on Dec. 28, 2009 -- because no one saw it in 2009. Really hope some give that a look, I was blown away with how moving and poignant that whole documentary was. No need to be a fight fan; it's about aging men looking back over the years. Very well put together. I've watched it twice already, despite being the King of Kevyip.

Btw, The Wind Journeys has also been released on dvd by Film Movement, however their distribution works. Maybe I'll start a Wind Journey thread if some people see it. It's not without flaws, but I got involved in the journey, loved the scenery, was impressed with the oddball apprentice character, and was intrigued by the music (and machetes).

And Katalin Varga is well worth a watch as well.
Last edited by Lemmy Caution on Sun Jan 09, 2011 3:30 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#95 Post by paranoid-knight2008 » Thu Jan 06, 2011 6:42 pm

There are still a few more things I need to see before I really have a finalized list but, in all honesty, the one I have now is very sturdy to the point where I feel maybe there is only possibility for one or two changes down the road, but as is – this list is strong, filled with excellent films and I will gladly talk about what I consider the greatness that made its way out of what I would consider an otherwise weak year of 2010. Please comment on my choices whether negative or positive, and please take my recommendation to see these films if you haven't, especially what I consider the year’s finest film.

STILL NEED TO SEE: 127 Hours; 45365; Alamar; Another Year; Applause; Boxing Gym; Blue Valentine; Buried; Carlos; Certified Copy; Cropsey; The Fighter; Four Lions; Frankie and Alice; Hereafter; The Illusionist; Inside Man; Jack Goes Boating; Last Train Home; Let Me In; Looking for Eric; Lourdes; Micmacs; October Country; Piranha 3D; Samson and Delilah; Secret Sunshine; Stone; True Grit; White Material; Wild Grass

I LOVED THEM, BUT…: The American; Chloe; Easy A; Enter the Void; Exit Through the Gift Shop; Fish Tank; The Ghost Writer; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1; How to Train Your Dragon; Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work; The Kids Are All Right; Leaves of Grass; Madeo; A Prophet; The Social Network; Tangled

THE TEN BEST FILMS OF YEAR
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10. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. There are many creaming over The Social Network’s importance in showing how our society has become reliant on technology. This seems to be where most of the praise for the film stems from and it makes me furious to announce that, while David Fincher’s film really is great, that Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World managed to show our pop culture hysteria in a more colorful and cartoonish way. Mixing multiple media from film, video games, music, and graphic novels, the bubble gum insanity that stretches throughout the film is a testament to the American popcorn movie in which brains exist in a live-action cartoon.

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09. Somewhere. A fellow friend brought notice to me how Sofia Coppola basically lifted the racetrack scene from Vincent Gallo’s The Brown Bunny for her latest work called Somewhere. In all honesty, it can’t be denied that it feels as if Coppola has borrowed (or maybe even stolen) Gallo’s examined theme in his 2004 film (which is, in my opinion, very good itself). But the surprising aspect of it all is that Coppola somehow takes the same theme and makes it breathe into its own personal space. The films almost work as companion pieces, only Somewhere’s brilliance comes from its sly stabs at Hollywood (which refreshingly avoids the typical) and the way Coppola once again owns her directorial stamp (there are moments and feelings completely lifted from her previous films as well). Feel like life is going nowhere? Well, depending on who you are, Somewhere (and/or The Brown Bunny) may or may not be for you.

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08. Our Beloved Month of August. There is a certain charm to the way Our Beloved Month of August somehow falls together. There are some who are arguing that the film is a documentary, and then there are others who feel it’s a work of fiction which just so happens to feature some reality flair. Either way, the film works and it’s a marvelous creation from director Miguel Gomes that mixes the arts of music and film (and life) in the most fascinating way not done since Jonathan Demme’s wonderful Rachel Getting Married. It may take a while for Our Beloved Month of August to really find its footing, but when it does… it becomes something to celebrate.

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07. Frozen. Don’t let the over-the-top trailer or the incredibly lame DVD artwork fool you. Adam Green’s Frozen takes that all too familiar formula of the “this could happen to you” and “all-in-one-spot” horror films (think Open Water) and turns it into a poignant thriller that also passes off as a devastating drama about facing the painful realism of death in a moment of complete surprise. Unlike most horror films of recent years, Frozen (like Rob Zombie’s Halloween II last year) takes death seriously; showing how most genre films don’t seem to take the life of a human being realistically or as something to really care about. Surprisingly depressing and very thought-provoking, Frozen is one of the year’s most overlooked gems.

Image
06. I Killed My Mother. There is a stark poignancy that oozes from director Xavier Dolan’s stubborn pessimism when he decides to focus on a character not too much unlike himself in his stunning debut I Killed My Mother. Consisting mostly of conversations ranging from argument to smugness, Dolan doesn’t shy down from thrusting every inch of his inner-demons to create a character so strikingly audacious that you literally feel goosebumps when the film’s climax comes around the corner. Dolan decorates his lead subject’s room with posters of James Dean and River Phoenix, as somewhat daring touch that would have caused cringing finger-wagging had it not been so rightfully placed.

Image
05. Winter’s Bone. Dripping with a sincerely morbid and all-too-quiet atmosphere filled with both despair and conviction, Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone so painfully captures realism in such an unbelievably haunting way that it’s fairy tale mood slowly brings the film into the rightful label as a landmark horror film. Every tree in every frame and every sound of wind on the soundtrack isolates us away from our own reality and into the film’s terrifying world as we follow Jennifer Lawrence’s strong-willed young woman into a world of figurative witches and goblins as she gains clarity over her own f-cked up life. So menacing that it verges on whimsical, Winter’s Bone captures a world of its own without seeming to break a single drop of (cold.. tehe) sweat.

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04. The Killer Inside Me. Michael Winterbottom so bravely dives into the perverse mind of a repressed serial killer to the point that (and the walkouts at Sundance prove this) it achieves some kind of demented importance. Very faithfully adapted from the Jim Thompson novel of the same name (my personal favorite novel, might I add), The Killer Inside Me takes so much from the mind of its lead character’s murderous sheriff that it slowly progresses from psychological narration to actual cinematic imagery as the film reaches its over-the-top final scene. A film as disgusting and without remorse as it very much should be, The Killer Inside Me is easily the year’s most daring black comedy and arguably one of the best film representations of a serial killer brought to the screen.

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03. Dogtooth. What would it be like for a person to have been raised in an entirely secluded, and slightly (if not almost completely) fictionalized environment. Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos decides to examine this very thought in Dogtooth, one of the year’s very best films and, in its own quirky and plucky way, a sort-of crazy modern classic. While most films seem to verge from many different filmic qualities in spurts (not that is a bad thing, as my year’s #2 will prove), Dogtooth balances immaculately in the middle of a genre triangle that blends familial drama, pitch-black comedy, and disturbing social allegory with a quirkiness that I once thought could only be achieved through John Waters. But Lanthimos makes it his own, an original concoction of brilliant pathos that separates him from being compared to another director; even one as wonderful as Waters.

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02. Black Swan. To be honest, I’m quite surprised that there is so much love coming in for Black Swan. It seems to be appearing in the awards circuit, critics are loving it and most of the online movie-loving community does as well. What surprises me is that the film is so far into “cine-metaphysical” territory that it seems like it would be an obvious work for the consensus film buffs to despise. Not unlike most of the things Brian De Palma has brought forth (especially his recent efforts, such as The Black Dahlia), Darren Aronofsky’s self-conscience and compellingly over-the-top re-working of horror conventions is, at once, a campy piece of entertainment and, at other times, a very devastating character piece examining the hunger for perfection that lurks in almost every artist (maybe even Darren himself). The very definition of a companion piece to Aronofsky’s own The Wrestler (showcasing the artistic expression of a person in realism rather than surrealism), it’s impossible to not to get at least slightly swept away in Black Swan’s seductively beautiful spell.

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01. Everyone Else. If there was another character piece this year with the amount of devastation packed in its feature length, I have yet to witness it. Maren Ade’s Everyone Else is a meticulous drama buried so deep in the realism of its characters that it’s literally amazing to take note on how the film manages to be so astonishingly specific and yet still claim a universal relevance. We follow two people who honestly think they are in love, but begin to slowly realize that they may or may not be wrong. Director Ade fuels the film with the little things, making her characters defined by the stark honesty of their random lived-in events; from reading a book to yelling at a child, from speaking foreign languages to the passing of gas. Everyone Else is so powerfully perfected by its hypnotic simplicity; a nearly plotless two hours that takes on a narrative structure where the resolution is only two more beginnings. It’s the very definition of a masterpiece.

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John Cope
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#96 Post by John Cope » Sat Jan 08, 2011 6:01 am

10. The Ghost (Polanski)
9. Our Beloved Month of August (Gomes)
8. Valhalla Rising (Refn)
7. Bal (Kaplanoglu)
6. Boonmee (Apichatpong)
5. Chloe (Egoyan)
4. Heartless (Ridley)
3. Somewhere (Coppola)
2. Raging Sun, Raging Sky (Hernandez)
1. Darfur (Boll)

Underrated: Shutter Island, The American, Kick-Ass, Konchalovsky's Nutcracker, Robin Hood, Wall Street 2 and Nightmare on Elm Street

Overrated: Inception, Black Swan, Winter's Bone, Certified Copy, Enter the Void, Social Network

For me, this year was rather exceptional in that I was forced to confront and scrutinize more closely what it is about certain forms I respect and respond to. There were films this year (especially Black Swan and Winter's Bone) that, given their particular inclinations of form, I would have normally expected myself to respond to in a strongly positive way. That I did not prompted the aforementioned re-assessment. It's been very beneficial for me, actually; clarifying some things and enabling me to better isolate the elements I value. So for that, if nothing else, I am grateful for having had some otherwise uninspiring experiences.

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Alan Smithee
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#97 Post by Alan Smithee » Sat Jan 08, 2011 3:55 pm

I'm surprised how audience friendly my list is this year. I think I saw more old movies than new.

1 film socialism
2 scott pilgrim
3 exit through the gift shop
4 the social network
5 uncle boonmee
6 toy story 3
7 somewhere
8 greenberg
9 black swan
10 enter the void

best repertory theater experience:
Every Man for Himself

biggest films I want to see but haven't yet:
Meeks Cutoff, Promises Written on Water, The Time that Remains, Certified Copy

biggest disappointment:
Carlos (this could change. Right now I feel like its a great movie movie with not a lot to say, and a soundtrack that makes it all seem so glamorous when maybe it shouldn't.)

(edit: didn't change any films but significantly altered the order. Film Socialisme is the best work of the year and ranks right alongside godards beautiful post-millennial output.
Last edited by Alan Smithee on Sat Mar 05, 2011 11:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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James Mills
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#98 Post by James Mills » Mon Jan 10, 2011 9:20 am

I don't really wanna include The White Ribbon considering its USA release date was technically in 2009 (albeit the last days of 2009), but since it's on Finch's / Duncan Hopper's lists I want to make sure it gets its due love (thanks to both for making those lists!). Here's my most recent update:



1. The White Ribbon A+
2. Blue Valentine A
3. A Prophet: A-
4. Rabbit Hole B+
5. Social Network: B+
6. 127 Hours: B+
7. Exit Through the Gift Shop: B
8. Animal Kingdom B
9. The Ghost Writer: B
10. Toy Story 3: B
11. Greenberg B
12. The Fighter: B-
13. Shutter Island: B-
14. Another Year C+
15. Black Swan: C+
16. The Kids Are Alright C+
17. Mother: C+
18. The King’s Speech C+
19. REC 2: C+
20. Confessions: C+
21. Dogtooth: C
22. Inception: C
23. Scott Pilgrim v World C
24. The Tillman Story: C-
25. True Grit: D+
26. Winter’s Bone: D
Last edited by James Mills on Sun Mar 13, 2011 2:57 am, edited 2 times in total.

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knives
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#99 Post by knives » Tue Jan 11, 2011 9:38 am

2010
1 Mysteries of Lisbon
2 Essential Killing
3 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
4 Film Socialisme
5 Certified Copy
6 The Strange Case of Angelica
7 Le Quattro Volte
8 Tabloid
9 Poetry
10 Trigger


To make your job easier though I've split off the 2009 films that would have made my list down here.
1 The Informant!
2 Triangle
3 Summer Wars
4 Like You Know it All
5 The White Ribbon
6 Police, Adj.
7 Where the Wild Things Are
8 Life During Wartime
9 Around a Small Mountain
10 Wild Grass
Last edited by knives on Thu May 26, 2016 10:50 pm, edited 21 times in total.

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bnowalk
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Re: Dynamic Top Tens of 2010

#100 Post by bnowalk » Mon Jan 24, 2011 1:51 pm

1. Certified Copy by Abbas Kiarostami - The latest successor to cinema's grand tradition of reality-warping love stories (i.e. Vertigo, Last Year at Marienbad, Mulholland Drive) is basically unspoilable because what's "really" happening is the subject of this sublime interrogation, but its pleasures are nevertheless best experienced cold. Suffice it to say Certified Copy reframes Kiarostami's favorite themes as questions of authenticity, and then it runs with them into an entirely new realm that's as unsettling as it is overwhelming.

2. Carlos by Olivier Assayas - Not to discount the obvious stories here--the rise and fall of a rock star, the corruption of idealism, the ineffectuality of terrorism--but people seem to be missing the other side of that coin. Carlos isn't the only actor violently asserting a political ideal or kidnapping people; the state as an ostensibly legitimate wielder of physical force hardly escapes Assayas' penetrating 5.5 hour history of western civilization, and that final pre-epilogue shot of the state rep looking down at us is a complicated closing statement. The plane motif chills.

3. True Grit by Joel & Ethan Coen - A mythic, melancholy rumination on violence masquerading as justice with the year's best finale (in a year of many great contenders). Hailee Steinfeld delivers one of the year's best performances.

4. The Strange Case of Angelica by Manoel de Oliveira - The interior side of Eccentricities of a Blonde Haired Girl, just as obsessed with observation, the observed invariably cast as a siren to Oliveira's hapless grandson, but more about his own internal voyage than any relationship.

5. White Material by Claire Denis - Another fierce, monomaniacal lead performance--and it just occurred to me how much Isabelle Huppert here shares with Binoche in Certified Copy and Steinfeld in True Grit--dominating the film, this time an impressionistic take on not just postcolonial Africa but postcolonial Earth, what with the power of the white west on quite the relative decline. As is Denis' wont, it's a rich, layered portrait that operates simultaneously as family fable, archetypal myth, and political essay, not to mention one hell of a character study.

6. The Ghost Writer by Roman Polanski - Nobody does alienation like Polanski, and here we have an almost perfectly crafted paranoid thriller. The politics are undercooked but on the right track: at some point, there must be moral accountability for all this blood.

7. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World by Edgar Wright - With Tashlin-esque panache, Wright gives us the defining portrait of millennials, or hipsters, or 21st century youth, or something, a demographic marked by "ironic" nostalgia and casual cruelty slowly but surely coming to terms with their own emotional truths.

8. Alamar by Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio - Talk about a grower: this simple, lyrical, idyllic semi-doc, in its refusal to reduce to lessons in manhood or Noble Savage-ism, expands as much as you'll let it, soaking up the tropical beauty and honest paternal love and, most of all, the deep bond quietly being forged through all the daily survival activities. This isn't the end of summer camp; it's goodbye to Dad.

9. The Social Network by David Fincher - The most handsome Hollywood entertainment in years, this millennial melodrama almost accidentally indicts the modern world as a pedocracy. But it does it pretty successfully nonetheless.

10. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives by Apichatpong Weerasethakul - What comes across most vividly in this experimental, hybridized tale is the elegy, the way it calmly makes peace with its life and its inevitable end. I thought the ghost-monkey would be enough, and then comes the princess vignette, and then the overwhelming photography interlude. Tarnished by what strikes me as a lazy parody once we get to the city, but only barely.

Honorable Mentions, because I loved 2010, in no particular order:

And Everything is Going Fine (Soderbergh), Film Socialisme (Godard), Four Lions (Morris), Shutter Island (Scorsese), Exit Through the Gift Shop (Banksy), Boxing Gym (Wiseman), Nostalgia for the Light (Guzman), Another Year (Leigh), Greenberg (Baumbach), Restrepo (Hetherington & Junger), Salt (Noyce), Sweetgrass (Barbasch &* Castaing-Taylor), and Somewhere (S. Coppola).

Still haven't seen: 45365, The Arbor, Essential Killing, Hahaha, I Wish I Knew, Mysteries of Lisbon
Last edited by bnowalk on Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:49 am, edited 3 times in total.

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