I’ve complained that after 2008, it has seemed like each year of movies has been weaker than the year before. This is largely because I believed that The Dark Knight, Milk, and Slumdog Millionaire are stronger than most of the movies I’ve seen since. But as time has passed, and I look back at the roster of 2009 and 2010 films, I see a lot of really good titles and become less convinced that Milk is better than, say, Inglouious Basterds or The King’s Speech. So while I’m tempted to say this has been a weaker year, I realize that’s just not true. I think it’s just that there’s not a movie this year I’d consider “one of the best of all-time,” but, to be fair, that’s just a really tricky title to attach to anything that has just come out. Even if it ultimately proves to be true, it just feels tacky to say it.
However you feel, this was an interesting year. One trend I noticed is that an unusual number of high profile films were stories where you know what’s going to happen from the beginning. Bin Laden will be found, Lincoln will be assassinated after successfully passing the 13th amendment, neither Loki nor Bane will win, Django will kill lots of people, Pi will survive (he’s telling the whole thing in flashback), and even if Les Mis isn’t predictable, it was written 150 years ago.
When coming up with my top ten, I had a tough time balancing between which were the “better” movies versus which were my “favorites.” Ultimately, I think I blended the two.
First, I’ll throw out some honorable mentions in no particular order, or how ‘bout alphabetical.
I don’t like scary movies, but I happily followed Joss Whedon’s writing credit to The Cabin in the Woods and wasn’t disappointed. End of Watch might have been a bit manipulativ, but great performances elevated it and make it well worth watching. Les Miserables is worth watching for Anne Hathaway’s “Oscar” scene alone; it made me respect the original novel that much more. Life of Pi may be the first movie I regret not seeing in 3D. Looper is just pretty darn clever and a lot of fun. The trailer for Perks of Being a Wallflower had me nervous that it would fail to translate to the big screen, but the movie more than held its own. Safety Not Guaranteed hooked me with its trailer and did not disappoint; don’t over look it. Finally, I just watched The Sessions – its trailer didn’t really interest me, but it was a fascinating true story and John Hawkes got screwed by not receiving an acting nomination.
Obviously, I wasn’t able to see everything, but I’ve made it about as far as I’m going to be able to before the Oscars on Sunday. My biggest regret is Wreck It Ralph, which doesn’t come out on DVD for another couple weeks. I can’t help but wonder if it would crack my top ten. Oh well, without further ado, here they are:
10. Django Unchained – I am a huge Tarantino fan and for the first three-fourths of this movie, it was going to be comfortably in my top three for the year, with a shot at number one. I had no idea where it was going to go at the end, but as we got there, I was just very, very disappointed. It still cracks the top ten because it was so good up until that point, complete with the usual mesmerizing Tarantino dialogue and his unique balance of humor and seat-gripping tension.
9. Moonrise Kingdom – I am NOT the biggest Wes Anderson fan. I appreciate that he has a very unique voice and style, but sometimes that can be just tired and uninteresting. While far from perfect, Moonrise Kingdom combines Anderson’s flare for wonderfully quirky characters with something his films often lack – a compelling plot.
8. The Dark Knight Rises – I decided this is the Return of the Jedi of the Dark Knight trilogy. Fans and critics debate its merits and flaws, and most agree it just isn’t as good as the trilogy’s magnificent second act. I have yet to rewatch it, but it did have several plot points I question. However, it still works very well and is a huge part in Christopher Nolan’s complete reinvention of the superhero genre. And while Thomas Hardy’s performance isn’t on par with Heath Ledger’s in the previous installment, Nolan did manage to craft a villain who is just as memorable – using the same character that was completely forgettable in the debacle that was Batman and Robin in 1997.
7. Silver Linings Playbook – Basically, it’s just a romantic comedy, but it’s a really good one. It remembers to focus on the characters first and their relationship second which is where most of them get it wrong. It was also great to see DeNiro back in an awards-caliber movie and I hope that’s the start of a new trend for him.
6. The Impossible – This is this year’s Hotel Rwanda. The only possible reason it’s not getting more awards attention is that it’s just too darn real and heart-wrenching. The violence caught me completely off guard and brought to mind 127 Hours. I would agree with a criticism I heard that the writer and director could have done much more with the source material, but this was hands down the most emotionally impactful movie I saw this year.
5. The Hobbit – I know, I know. I’m one of the few you’ll see talking about this as one of the best films of the year. I am a complete Lord of the Rings fanatic – I’ve watched the six DVDs of just the bonus features three times all the way through. The Hobbit doesn’t have near the gravity of the original trilogy, but hey, I had a smile on my face the entire time and got to spend that much more time in Middle Earth. Definitely not for everyone, but it is for me.
4. Zero Dark Thirty – On the surface, this could have seemed like a cheap Hollywood attempt to make a buck off of current headlines, but fortunately for all it fell in the hands of the writer-director team that brought us The Hurt Locker in 2009. The first three-fourths are solid and more than earn Jessica Chastain’s nomation (and possible win) for Best Actress. But the climactic assault on Bin Laden’s compound, shown almost in real time, is one of the most spectacular things I’ve seen on screen.
3. Lincoln – This ranking is more for Daniel Day-Lewis’s performance than for anything else. He is this movie. If you take away his performance, this film falls to something used only by history teachers to kill time in class. With it, we get the closest we possibly could to witnessing the man considered almost unanimously to be the greatest President we’ve ever had. I’m not a huge Spielberg fan (nothing against him), but huge props to screenwriter Tony Kushner and, of course, DDL.
2. Argo – I had placed Argo here long before it became the favorite in the Oscar race, but I do feel it is the strongest of the nine contenders for Best Picture this year. It has a balance of drama and humor that only one movie (to follow) beats this year. It’s fun, intense, and all too relevant. While no one thing in particular jumps out at you (except maybe the final scene in the Tehran airport), it’s just solid from top to bottom with very little to complain about.
1. The Avengers – I keep a running list throughout the year of the best movies I see and do a sort of loose ranking on the fly. When I first placed Avengers at the top in May I was a little embarrassed and looked forward to all the real contenders that would come along and move it down (or off) the list where it belonged. That never happened. So, part of this ranking is the fatal flaw that everything else seemed to have (even Argo failed to properly characterize the six hostages, the rescue attempt of whom was the point of the entire movie!). I was apprehensive about this project from the moment it was announced. The first Iron Man movie was the only precursor I had seen and Joss Whedon’s involvement was the only thing that really had me interested, but even then I just figured was him finally getting a well-earned payday and that the studios would manage to water it down. Then the second trailer for The Avengers came out and I caught a glimmer of hope. I could see Whedon’s signature in it and had fantasies of these cool Marvel characters romping in a Whedon-controlled world. I broke down and watched the other Marvel movies leading into this one and went to see The Avengers with cautious optimism. It was everything I hoped it would be. It’s not the Dark Knight (in that it doesn’t take a different approach to comic book material) but it’s not trying to be. It’s pretty standard as far as structure and tone go, but he just nails it – the drama, the action, the witty interplay between diverse, well-defined characters, everything. A bit of a guilty pleasure, maybe, but it’s my favorite movie of the year.