My Favourite Films of 2010

So, it's that time of year again folks. This year I had some serious trouble narrowing it down and there are some films that regrettably didn't make the cut. Great films such as Winter's Bone, Humpday, Life During Wartime, Dogtooth, Buried, Prodigal Sons, Enter the Void, The Last Station and a fair few more had to fall by the wayside. It was difficult because I really think this was a strong year for film. Here are my picks for the best films of 2010. Due to a large amount of superb horror films, I am going to have to do a separate top 10 of the genre's best which will follow very soon. Comments welcome as always!


10. The Road
A difficult adaptation, Cormac McCarthy's bleak novel does not lend itself easily to the silver screen. However, John Hillcoat's eye for the beauty in brutality teams up with Viggo Mortensen's intense fearlessness to bring us a perfect adaptation and an unforgettable journey of a man and his son through the barren wasteland of post-apocalyptic America. It's easy to call it a miserable story but don't ever forget that this is a film that triumph's the human spirit and love over adversity more heartily than the shiniest Disney fairytale.



9. Good Hair
Chris Rock brings us this years most unlikely likeable documentary. Amid doom and gloom and prophetic social collapse documentaries this one, about the relationship between black women and their hair, is certainly my favourite of the year. The less you know going in the better as I was horrified to see that the trailer gives away all the good stuff. Good Hair is hilarious, sometimes insightful, at times political, and always engaging and it achieved the greatest of cinematic accomplishments; it made me care about something I have never had the slightest interest in!



8.Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

It may have been too hip for the high-brow and too hip for the low-brow but for those of us who are somewhere in the middle, we revelled in the joy and wit of Scott Pilgrim. The colourful palette, the razor-sharp dialogue and it's bold, adventurous style ensured that it gave the audience something they had truly never seen before. I'm no gamer but the charming 8-bit Universal logo had me tittering from the get-go and the film definitely starts as it means to go on. Unashamedly nerdy, but genuine enough to avoid being too hipster-ish, Scott Pilgrim Vs the World is as fresh and colourful a film as one could hope for!


7. I Love You Philip Morris
A heartfelt, true-story, prison-set, gay romance, courtoom drama, Jim-Carrey movie co-starring heartthrob Ewan McGregor as his fragile, effeminate love interest. No wonder they had trouble distributing this! Throw in the fact that this film has such a ludicrous plot that nobody in their right mind could go along with how far-fetched it is...until you learn that all of these events are true. This is a very special film. Perhaps the first film to treat a gay relationship as a normal one, warts n all. It is high farce most of the time but at it's heart is a mentally ill man and his love for a fellow prisoner. It helps that it is hilarious and boasts Jim Carrey's best performance since The Truman Show.



6. Whip It!

Director Drew Barrymore throws every ounce of spunk she has (and that's a LOT) at this teen roller-derby movie starring Ellen Page. For those of us who, as teenagers, liked their music dirty, their clothes dark and their boys musically-inclines, this film is a delight! Maybe roller-derby isn't everybody's cup of tea and to be honest I didn't think it would be mine, but the racing sequences are energetic and brutal enough to ensure that you can understand the passion the sport evokes in these girls!



5. The Town

A gang of bank robbers are thrown into turmoil when one of it's members falls for a hostage. Not the most original premise but this is, in my opinion, the year's strongest thriller. From director Ben Affleck, this is as cinematic as thrillers get with a strong, working-class heart beating behind it. The fast-paced action sequences are riveting and the intimate scenes of love and friendship are intense and often profound.



4. Inception

I've never shared the love for Christopher Nolan that the rest of the world seems to have. He is undoubtedly a powerful filmmaker and has shown real skill behind the camera. But something about his films has always left me a little cold. Inception was the first time I really got on board the Nolan train. A perfect adventure in science fiction. Brain-melting but only in the most logical way, the script is so air-tight there is no doubt as to the character's journey, however intricate. Many people seem to get a bit flummoxed by the very open-ended final shot but for me it was an exercise in perfect script-writing.

3. Toy Story 3

The film may be aimed at children and the protagonists may be a bunch of CGI toys having an adventure but the themes here are universal. The enduring power of friendships, the tragedy of growing up and the strength that lies in caring about others are things we can all relate to. And let's not forget that it's a brilliant comedy and a nail-biting adventure. A class-act the whole way through, there's a perfect balance of story, character and entertainment in Toy Story 3. Instant classic.


2. Shutter Island

Martin Scorsese's foray into psychological thriller doesn't sit well with everybody because of the muddy psycho-babble and the old-fashioned, naive science at it's core. To me, the ignorance, the pompousness and the over-stylisation were all part of Scorsese's nod to the institutional gothic thrillers of the 1940's and 50's. Shutter Island is thick with atmosphere, and soaked in conspiratorial high-camp thrills.


1. The Social Network

As much as I kinda wanted to give Shutter Island the top spot (cos I know no-one else will) I can't deny it to The Social Network. This film, written to perfection By Aaron Sorkin and directed with characteristic flair by David Fincher, is far more entertaining and profound than it has any business being. No amount of hype can destroy how well this film was received. With nary a bad performance nor a dull moment to be found, The Social Network is by far the best film of the year and one which will undoubtedly be studied for years to come by film students...an example of how to write a perfect screenplay and how to achieve the perfect balance of subtlety and style.

The Road

Written by: Joe Penhall

Directed by: John Hillcoat

Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smith-McPhee, Charlize Theron

Rating: 10/10

Having loved Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road for its contradiction of hopelessness and overwhelming sense of hope, I was awestruck to hear that Hollywood had chosen the perfect actor and perfect director to pull off the adaptation. The story follows The Man(Mortensen) and The Boy (McPhee) as they venture through America in the aftermath of some unnamed disaster which has wiped out all vegetation, all animals and most of humanity. They wander towards the coast and the film rambles with them keeping with the episodic structure of the book. This is not a film with a plot, but rather a film that tells the simplest of stories packed full of meaning and humanity.

One of the strongest points of The Road is the complexity of its central character The Man, played with ferocious grace by the outrageously talented Viggo Mortenson. His desperation is hidden under his resourcefulness and is only truly shown through his fear of other people and his harsh lack of mercy on whomever they meet along the way. However, our sympathy is won by his tenderness and genuine love for his son. He is so desperate to keep his son safe that there is nothing that he does not deem a threat. He is probably right, but at times it is difficult to stay on his side. Since the death of The Woman (Charlize Theron) which is briefly outlined through flashbacks, both Man and Boy truly feel her absence in every way. There is the sense from The Man’s gruff manner that there is something about a woman’s tenderness that cannot be replaced. Despite all attempts to keep his son safe, the maternal nurturing hands of The Woman is needed profoundly by both Man and Boy. The casting of Mortensen, an actor whose endless masculinity has long been exploited by David Cronenberg, and the glowingly beautiful Charlize Theron highlights the primal differences between the two genders and states quite beautifully the function of both in humanity.

The cinematography by Javier Aguirresrobe merges beauty with ugliness seamlessly. The palette of grey and beige never becomes anything less than riveting. He paints a world covered in a mix of ash and snow with black skies and manages to take our breath away. Aguirresrobe’s eye for desolate beauty is clearly well partnered with John Hillcoat, director of The Propostion, a masterclass in that very thing. Between them, this pair create a world so nightmarish that the determination of Man and Boy to survive seems all the more poignant. We can only ask ourselves if we would be so keen.

The character of The Boy is a fascinating one as he was born after the cataclysmic event so he has never lived in a world where anything existed but fear and suffering. His wide-eyed wonder at the slightest thing is touching to behold. A scene near the start where he innocently stamps through a pile of money and jewels on the ground, unaware that such things ever held any worth effectively bangs this idea home. He stares, amazed, at a mounted deer head, as he has probably never seen an animal in his life. In one scene his father asks: “You think I come from another world don’t ya?” And he really does.

Despite my ranting and raving and hysteric joy at what I deem to be the perfect adaptation of a perfect book, this film will not be for everyone. Perhaps some might feel it lays the sentimentality on a bit thick. Others may feel that it is aimless and slow. That is up to the audience themselves. What cannot be denied however, is the fragile blend of tenderness and stark horror that this film accomplishes. All I can say is, well done to all concerned for a job well done!