My Top 12 Films of 2010

It could have been worse. Cinematically speaking.

It felt bloated with sequels and remakes, sure, but sift through the (usually 3D) soil and there's gold to be found. I live in LA, so I get spoiled with access. "Coming to a theater near you" is no empty promise to me; when I wanted to see Winter's Bone (which just barely missed this list, by the way), I had a choice of screens. So I know I'm spoiled. I get to see everything and gold is easier to come by.

But great cinema wasn't offered up only by the indie world. Occasionally, a big studio would offer us something surprising and challenging, whether it be a foray into layered dreamscapes or a Sorkin-penned talkie. And after the success of those films, maybe Hollywood will stop pandering a little less. I said maybe.

In the meantime, I'll appreciate what I can from this year:

12 - HEREAFTER
The pitch is "Crossing Over with John Edwards as done in the style of Babel." Peter Morgan's briefly overlapping storylines about death are stark and reflective, but they pop with something rare on the big screen: sincerity. Clint Eastwood's direction is, as always, cool and efficient, and while the visions of the afterlife leave something to be desired, the characters are fully realized and he pulls us into their plights. This is filmmaking done with equal parts head and heart.

11 - WAITING FOR SUPERMAN
Waiting for Superman is a call-to-action style documentary that hinges on the balance of its presentation. Careful to dole out its (oft-depressing) statistics with clear pictoral representations and wise enough to show the problem at macro- and micro- levels, Waiting for Superman articulately--but never pendantically or begrudgingly--explains how the public education system is failing us. I'm still hoping this doc catches on with audiences somehow; it's just as critical as anything about penguins' marches.
(My mom--who stood outside polling places with my brother and I when we were little, holding signs asking voters to pass the levy for our schools--would like me to note that this is her favorite film of the year.)

10 - GOING THE DISTANCE
People would be complaining less if they saw Going the Distance. Romantic comedies aren't funny anymore? Check out this R-rated gem, in which every supporting player brings his or her A-game and fills the edges with a dense layer of smart, requotable jokes. (Another bonus: none of that look-at-how-good-we're-improvising stuff that absolutely kills comedic rhythm.) Romantic comedies aren't romantic anymore? The central relationship between Erin (Drew Barrymore, as spunky and charming as she's ever been) and Garrett (Justin Long, playing a character and not an ironic "type" for this first time in his career) is full of realistic passion, camaraderie, and, yes, romance. These are intensely likable characters who live in the real world and confront everyday obstacles. It's so lovably low concept, it makes Katherine Heigl's head spin.

9 - THE FIGHTER
With an ensemble that's simply untoppable (future rap lyric there?), The Fighter definitely deserves to take home that SAG Award at the end of the month. But great performances have their roots in great material and The Fighter is a traditional boxing story with all the elements of a great family drama thrown in. Scenes pulsate, as characters confront each other about broken dreams and wasted potential, and the energy level never really drops after the opening scene. Hmm... maybe there's an award somewhere in there for the editor, as well?

8 - RABBIT HOLE
How do you make a film about grief without making it about cold people occasionally breaking into sobs while they experience something you just possibly can't? You make it about how grief is a series of changes and how characters reshape their ideas of each other--and themselves--while grieving. Which is what Rabbit Hole does. The scenes are beautiful slow burns and, more than any film I've seen in a while, the actors fill the silences with startling emotional beats. You can practically hear their thoughts when they're not burying them in the subtext of the dialogue. The cast is first-rate, but I want to quickly single out the underappreciated Tammy Blanchard, who hides the screw-up sister's vulnerability behind a mask of boldness.

7 -UN PROPHÉTE
It opens on the first day of Malik's prison sentence and it ends on the last day. The two hours and forty minutes between those shots is a fascinating, violent crime saga. As a Franco-Arab, Malik straddles loyalty between ruthless prison gangs and, when the time is right, becomes an errand boy for the Corsicans. But the power plays have only just begun, and Malik transitions from bystander to ringleader, moving business both inside and outside of the prison walls. He's not anxious to reflect on the scars his actions have left on his soul, but Malik's soul, luckily, will not be ignored.

6 - ANOTHER YEAR
Does Mike Leigh just do this in his sleep now? Another Year is yet another devastating look into middle-class Brits bouncing their fears and hopes off each other in modest kitchens and living rooms. The emotional center here is Lesley Manville's Mary, a wino secretary whose entire existence is a series of could-bes and could've-beens. Tom and Gerri, her stalwart friends who offer hospitality out of obligation, grow impatient as they accept their old age. Another Year is as intimate as film can be.

5 - THE GHOST WRITER
The best thriller made for adults since Michael Clayton, The Ghost Writer follows a "ghost" hired to write the memoirs of a Tony Blair-ian prime minister after the former ghost's body washes up on shore. The mystery behind his death--and perhaps behind the PM's whole reign--unfolds with brilliant hairpin turns that keeps the audience guessing while exponentially increasing the stakes and the suspense. The final shot will knock your socks off. Bonus: Brosnan more than absolves himself for Mamma Mia!

4 - TOY STORY 3
More like Sob Story 3, am I right? (High five.) Much like its predecessors, Toy Story 3 envelopes you, pulls you into its world, and reminds you what people mean when they use the phrase "the magic of movies." The story isn't anything new, but the joy and sentimentality used to tell it is, well, courageous. We are Andy and Andy is us, nostalgic for a time when our imagination meant something because it was all we had. But we are also Woody, aren't we, because sometimes we have to be pushed to the limits to be reminded that, ultimately, we're all in this together?

3 - THE SOCIAL NETWORK
I had a feeling when I walked out of The Social Network and I hadn't felt it since I saw There Will Be Blood. I was almost mad that the experience was over--and I immediately wanted to watch it again. Razor-sharp dialogue, of course, but a modern American tale of entrepreneurship. It's not nearly as Rashomon-like as Sorkin has claimed in interviews, but it zings between storylines and chronologies with crackling energy. The Facebook--ahem, facebook--becomes bigger, faster, stronger, and while it coldly and ironically redefines friendship for a generation, its creators battle each other through the legal system. The Social Network reminds us that, in a global, well-connected age, big is never big enough... and connections are just clicks.

2 - EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP
Exit left me feeling equal parts dumbfounded and intellectually inspired. Directed by subversive street artist Banksy, this loopy documentary explores the relationship between art and meaning and how everything changes when you add buzz. It's been labeled a hoax by many, but I think those are people simply too afraid to believe that society can too easily be a satire of itself. Banksy--who winks at his own hypocrisy when his openings are attended by the likes of Brangelina--takes pop art iconography to task and, when Mr. Brainwash enters the picture, the whole art world becomes the subject of hilarious scrutiny. Do yourself a favor: check this one out on Instant Netflix.

1 - 127 HOURS

Danny Boyle sometimes feels like the cocky kid in film class. Of course this Oscar-winning mofo will follow up his gritty slumdog fairy tale with a more-or-less one-location/one-actor survival drama. But Boyle knows substance and he knows style, and he blends them to perfection in 127 Hours, the true-story tale of Aron Ralston, who spent the titular time with his arm trapped by a boulder. Boyle gets to the heart of Ralston's character flaw--he believes that he has total ownership over his life, and lives selfishly, without connections--while filling the screen with bursts of Ralston's dreams, hallucinations, and imaginings. James Franco, as Ralston, is raw and moving, switching between the character's vulnerability, vanity, and self-amusement so that you quickly feel like you know Aron, even when he's attempted to make himself unknowable to the people in his life. The moment he finally finds the voice to shout for help--to shout that he needs help--is transformative, for Ralston and the viewer.

Years Past: Best Films of 2009, 2008, and 2007
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