Top Five Movies of 2010

Finally it is the end of the year and at this point we look back in an optimistic fashion by looking at the highlights. However when compiling this list I realised how many great films I missed; either through then only showing at a film festival or unless they are due to be released next year in the UK. The films I missed and would like to have seen are: Winters Bone, Black Swan, Animal Kingdom, The Kings Speech, The Arbor, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Mother and so on.

However from the films I did see this is the final list.

5. Dogtooth (Yorgos Lanthimos, Greece)
This Greek beautiful yet disturbing movie tells the story of a family whose mother and father characters lie to their twenty year old children about the horrors which lay outside their enclosed garden. The twisted black humour and graphic incestuous scenes may turn some views off but the over all central theme reminds some people of a Michael Haneke movie.

My Rating- * * * *


4. The Disappearance of Alice Creed (J. Blakeson, UK)
With it’s Hickcockian style and pace, J. Blakeson’s first feature length flick was truly and eye opener. With it’s seemingly simplistic plot it soon becomes a tale of twists and turns and the three member cast each add another interesting dimension to the story. Shown on only a limited amount of screens the movie unfortunately didn’t see the recognition it deserved. 

My Rating- * * * *

3. The Social Network (David Fincher, USA)

This was another easy contender as The Facebook Movie (now one of two; the second Facebook movie being Catfish) dominated both American and European audiences as it depicts the somewhat sad live of multi-billionaire Mark Zuckerberg played fantastically by Jessie Eisenberg. Aaron Sorkin’s quick paced, fast dialogue story of success and betrayal captivated audiences as transcended the expectations of the general audience.

My Rating- * * * *


2. Biutiful (Alejandro González Iñárritu, Spain/Mexico)

One of the most original and powerful movies of the year (which is due for general release sometime next year), Biutiful definitely had to be put somewhere in the list. The movie won Javier Bardem the Prix d'Interprétation Masculine or Best Actor award at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival.
My Rating- * * * * *

1. Inception (Christopher Nolan, UK/USA)

Riding off the success of The Dark Knight, Nolan is an unstoppable force and Inception was no exception. Surprisingly only one person voted for it to be in the top ten movies in Sight & Sound magazine. Even so Nolan showed studios that with a big budget doesn’t mean the target audiences are as mindless as they believe.
My Rating- * * * * *

Unfortunately not every film can make it into the list. Here was the best of the rest; Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Of Gods and Men, The Kids Are All Right, Monsters, Four Lions, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.

What where your favourite films of the year and why? If you disagree with my list please comment. Below I have left the top film lists from Sight & Sound magazine, Little White Lies magazine and IMDB.

Sight & Sound’s Top Ten Movies

Little White Lies #32 Digital Issue

Internet Movie Dater Base, Year in Review 2010

What to watch this Christmas (TODAY)

You know it’s Christmas when you see the Coca Cola advert on TV and you read the TV listings and see the movies they’re showing. As Christmas draws near here is a list of some of the movies which will help you dissolve back into the kid you use to be whilst also including some movies you wouldn’t think to be Christmas flicks but are technically either about of set during the Christmas holidays.

The First Movie I am going to mention has been a great movie to watch annually, and includes Macaulay Culkin when he wasn’t a drug addicted brat. Obviously I’m talking about Home Alone (1990), which is the story of a big family who all go on Christmas holiday together but unfortunately forget to bring their eight year old boy Kevin (Macaulay Culkin). Whilst the parents are away Kevin runs amuck watching violent movies harassing old snow shovelers and invading his older brothers privacy. Everything appears to be perfect until two thieves Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) attempt to steal Kevin’s fun which sends him on a mission to defend his home by any means possible. Filled with laughs which never get old this is a film everyone should see this year.

Now Christmas films can’t always be filled with fun and laughs sometimes you have to watch something with a lot of heart and joy and in this case; Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life (1941). For those who haven’t seen it the movie is about George Bailey (James Stewart) a frustrated businessman who is helped by an angel by showing what life would look like if he had never been born. Even though it isn’t filled with laughs this is a definite classic which has stood the test of time. Even if you think you haven’t seen it you have seen the story in one carnation or another because of the great story elements.

For those who are Tim Burton fans the next choice will come at no surprise, produced by the gothic master himself and directed by Henry Selick The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) is a brilliant movie especially in a time where CGI is seen as perfection and stop motion is dead. The story is about Jack Skeleton (Chris Sarandom & Danny Elfman), the King of Halloween who becomes bored with his monotonous life and goes in search of something new and stumbles across Christmas Town. With a mix of songs written by Elfman himself an great visuals this movie will always be played to both young and old and will be in an Tim Burton completesists collection.

Now for something completely different, even though at first you wouldn’t think it is considered a Christmas movie but he holiday isn’t complete without at least one viewing of Bruce Willis as John McClane as he saves LA from terrorists in the brilliant Die Hard (1988). Now this is a film filled with gags and gore as the hard boiled cop, John McClane infiltrates the Nakatomi Plaza building to save his estranged wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) as terrorists led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) threaten the safety of all the hostages including Holly. Even though some of the sequels where terrible the original still stands for being a kick-ass all out battle between one cop and building full of terrorists.

The second to last movie I have picked to get people in the Christmas spirit is a movie so frightening no one wanted to feed their beloved pets after midnight. Before I sound as if I have lost the plot, I am talking about Joe Dante’s Gremlins (1984). A lot of people might mistake a film such as Gremlins for a horror with humour however this is all cast over the Christmas backdrop. Whilst looking for a present to give to his son Billy (Zach Galligan), inventor Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) stumbles across an old antique show in China Town and attempts to buy a small fury creature called a ‘Mogwai’ from a strange old Chinese man named the Grandfather (Keye Luke). After being refused it is only his grandson (John Louie) who manages to sneakily sell Randall the Mogwai. Once bought, Randy is given a set of rules about how to treat the cute animal, 1) never expose it to bright light, 2) never get the Mogwai wet and 3) never feed it after midnight. Obviously these rules fall on deaf ears and its up to Billy to finish what he started. Even though it has dark tones the movie is still classic and enjoyable for everyone this Christmas.

I saved the best for last with possibly one of if not the greatest Christmas movies which everyone will agree with. This movie would be Muppet’s Christmas Carol (1992) which once again mixes funny songs with great characters as the Muppets do their take on the classic story by Charles Dickens whilst bringing in great action talent such as Michael Cain to play the selfish Ebenezer Scrooge as he is haunted by three ghosts in order to change his soul in the after life. I imagine it will be broadcasted on television at one point or another this Christmas but if not people should dig out their copies on VHS and remember one of the most enjoyable movies which everyone loves.

Review for 'Monsters'

First time director Gareth Edward’s has described his high-concept but low budget movie Monsters as “if movies such as Cloverfield or Godzilla is 9/11 then Monsters is Afghanistan and Iraq”, it is this line alone which caught the attention of the general public and made people turn on this indie monster movie in a good way. Shot for only a shoe string budget of £15,000 and film across Mexico, Guatemala and Belize really sets it’s self apart form the big Hollywood mainstream.

Samantha (Whitney Able) is stuck in Mexico, and so is Andrew (Scoot McNairy). Two different people in the same city for two different reasons only brought together by the fact that Samantha’s father is Andrew’s boss. After a brief meeting Andrew is tasked to bring Samantha back safely to America, the only problem is that after buying a ferry ticket which turns out to be a dead end the two must travel through the ‘Infected Zone’ It is established at the beginning of the movie that a NASA space probe collecting samples crashed landed in Mexico releasing spores over the vast woodland, and it is from these spores that the extra terrestrials seeped out from. Whilst they are apparent and somewhat scary these giant hundred foot creatures are roaming around they are not the central theme of the movie and only lay in the background. What Gareth Edward’s focused on was the relationship between Samantha and Andrew as they discuss trivial things such as dolphin’s belly buttons.

The brilliance of the movie is this key theme of the film not focusing on the aliens but rather on the relationship of the two characters who try to get home. This movie could have easily been set in Iraq and Afghanistan and had little cut form the script, and it would still have been a fantastic movie. But the movie also has a political subtext as it intertwines social class as well as immigration to further blur the lines.

What Gareth Edward’s has created on only his bedroom laptop is spellbinding. There is no big reveal of the monster at the end ala Cloverfield and whilst Cloverfield is still a fantastic achievement, Monster’s goes leaps and bounds with the enjoyment of the narrative.

Scoot McNairy and real life girlfriend Whitney Able do a terrific performance as two people who have different lives which are pulling each other away form the other. Both characters had to improvise the whole script whilst acting opposite unaccredited actors. Whilst this use of improvisation might seem lazy on Edward’s behalf the end result feels natural and believable.

In Matt Bochenski’s review for Little White Lies magazine (#32) he commented on the apparent connection the movie has to Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 (2009) however Bochenski said that it has more connections to Duncan Jones’ Moon (2009) in terms of it being a British sci-fi movie with an American cast. Bochenski is definitely on to something. If you enjoyed those two movies you will enjoy Monsters, however don’t go in expecting the new Cloverfield, go in expecting a movie which crosses into many genres whilst staying true to it’s central theme.

Trailer

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