I've listed the films I've seen during 2010 here, where the earliest seen one is at the top, as they drizzle down.
On the other hand, the following is a list of the films I've seen ranked with the best on top, then falling down like Michael Douglas. Beneath every poster you'll find pop-ups displaying trailers and/or Wikipedia hits.
The recommendables
One of the more prominent films was "DiG!", a documentary by Ondi Timoner. It moved entirely around the relationship between Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols, from the time where they both were virtually unknown until the latter blew up, ultracommercially speaking. On the other hand, the frontman of BJM went deeper into mental troubles, drug abuse and paranoia, accusing TDW for stealing his thunder. All in all, many a wonderous scene was caught in this documentary, which I'm guessing gathers hundreds of hours of footage. A labour of love.
Otherwise, Wim Wenders' "Paris, Texas", was this year's version of "L'Avventura" for me. Not at all alike on many levels, Wenders has churned out a story unlike most others. Imagine Terrence Malick's "Badlands" crossed with Gus van Sant's "My Own Private Idaho". By the way, it's suggested to be both Kurt Cobain's and Elliott Smith's favourite film.
And of course, ubiquitous, eviscerating, omniscient, scintillating...it's "Jersey Shore", the biggest TV-show on MTV to date. X and I got snagged by this series and haven't stopped watching it since. It's about a bunch of youths who are all from New Jersey, New York. They drink, they party and they hook up. And they fail, at times miserably, and fall out with each-other. And form what seems to be life-long friendships. But foremost, you like the likeables: Vinny, Snooki, Pauly, Jwoww. You hate the hateables: Sammi, Angelina. And the funny stuff is intolerably good, e.g. when The Situation got his car towed and together with Vinny tried to find the place where it was, and Vinny says "This is the like the guido version of The Amazing Race." First and foremost, you have to watch it to understand it. Other (warning: loads of) great quotes:
The Situation: Don't come over somebody's house at fuckin' 5am and expect to play checkers. Non-DTF Girl: I never said anything about checkers, OLD MAN!
Pauly: I need somebody that knows how to take one for the team or entertain a grenade or even decipher the bomb if one comes.
Snooki: [her list of criteria for a man] Tanned; guido; juicehead gorilla; big sense of humor; likes to party; fist-pumps; frolics; isn't a jerkoff; a dork at heart; pays for meals; smells good; nympho; likes pickles; takes interest in my hobbies; very protective; not so serious; likes to sleep in.
The Situation: Shut your mouth you dirty little hamster. Angelina: You look like Popeye on crack. The Situation: You look like a ho. Angelina: You're a dirtbag and your penis should fall off.
Ronnie: I'm definitely not a saint. If I walked into a church, I'd probably burst into flames to be honest with you. [But] I think I can probably talk my way out of the hole I dug. I mean, how deep is a grave?
Pauly: Ronnie's new nickname is IFF. The I'm F*%ked Foundation. He's a client and the president!
Pauly: [on Snooki] Someone needs to teach her how to fight or duck.
As a little footnote, "Jersey Shore" is the series that sparked a Swedish equivalent called "Kungarna av Tylösand" ((Translates as "The Kings of Tylösand".)). This series is the true death of thought and has very little to do with "Jersey Shore", so just a quick word to Kanal 5 who dredged this piece of shit from nowhere: die.
Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas have pieced together the documentary of 2010, in my mind. "American: The Bill Hicks Story" is a a biography on my favourite comedian-cum-philosopher, Bill Hicks. Using simple photographs, Harlock and Thomas have put together an interesting, enlightening film that reaches beyond Bill's "regular" reach. Great as something to accompany Cynthia True's in-depth, yet still different biographic book "American Scream".
I haven't heard anything about the comic series by Brian Lee O'Malley until after this film, "Scott Pilgrim vs The World" which actually made me like Michael Cera! That's a feat in itself. Otherwise, it really transcends the world of comics, using violence in a comic sense of the word; Scott's a young lad whose woman of his dreams indirectly presents him with a problem: in order to "win" her, he has to defeat her seven evil exes. Touché! It's got many a laugh in stock, is wonderfully and lovingly made and has a soundtrack built to win, composed by Nigel Godrich, Beck, Metric, Broken Social Scene, Cornelius, Dan the Automator, Kid Koala, and David Campbell. Whoa.
Rediscovering the films of Franà§ois Ozon was pretty massive as well. I hadn't seen "Criminal Lovers" or "Time To Leave" before, but they definitely left me tasting for more, having experienced "Water Drops On Burning Rocks" prior to these. He's a visionary with a clear mind of his own.
Having visited the wonderous, amazing and constantly, beautifully distracting music festival and general happening that is All Tomorrow's Parties, this documentary actually captures some of it, keeping it in a bottle for me until I grow old, point my walking-stick at the hologram of this and go "You kids! This was the shit when I was your age!", et.c. Seriously, it's beautiful. Just check some trailers for it.
I'm guessing that Armando Iannucci's "In The Loop" is the film that Ricky Gervais wishes he'd made, along with a bunch of other cultural saturist, most of which would be British. It's actually based on a TV-series called "In The Thick Of It". It follows the wrongdoings and missteps of a new guy who is supposed to help the English Prime Minister, but is often trapped by his own cowardice not to mention by the person who steals the show, the wonderfully camp ultra-Scottish Malcolm Tucker, played in excellence by Peter Capaldi.
"Whip It" was, despite at times feeling like a too-long sketch from Saturday Night Live, sweet and funny. Twisted around a plot where a girl wants to escape mundane existence, she enters the world of Austin rollerderbies, joining the team Hurl Scouts. I've gotta say, I love the player's names. Anybody naming their self Smashley Simpson deserves a trophy. And the film even shows off Waterloo Records. My bleeding heart.
Speaking of which, Edward Norton plays two brothers in "Leaves Of Grass", directed and written by "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" star Tim Blake Nelson. It takes place in Oklahoma, and I saw it before going to the US of A. It's a really sweet little film, and Norton (as usual) shows what a good actor he is.
"The Ghost Writer" is very much underrated in my mind, blowing away films like "Inception" and "Shutter Island". While this film may be a bit flawed as far as where I think timing is concerned, it succeeds at coming across as a world of metal which the main character tires to draw water from. It's cold, harsh and a speck of dust in a clutter-free world where a lot is hidden under the surface. Quite an exciting film.
Notables
"Catfish" was a pretty interesting film, despite my suspicion that it's fake. Won't say more about it, rather than it starts out pretty simple: a guy takes pictures, has an 8-year-old girl e-mail saying she's painted a picture of his photo. They converse, and her family gets conversing with him too, taking it all into Facebook. After that, things get shady.
Speaking of which, I did like the reality-based "Yes Men Fix the World" where Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum, collectively known as The Yes Men, make chickenhawks squawk. Not at all as powerful as their first documentary, but still vital.
"Let Me In" is both the remake of the year and the comeback of the year for director Mat Reeves, previously known for having directed "Cloverfield", the shaken-camera-syndrome #1 film, ever. The remake is better than the Swedish original, I say, mostly thanks to the girl. If only they'd be able to make a film with the girl from the American version and the boy from the Swedish one... Vampires and snow. And it's not overblown and tasteless (pun intended!!1) like most vampire-related films that have that scintillating disposable feel to them: film, sell, see, forget.
Horrid pap
First of all, Nelson McCormick's "The Stepfather" is about the worst film I've seen in years, paired with Colin Nutley's "Angel".
Starring the-guy-who-plays-Sean-in-Nip/Tuck, this remake of the classic and well-made original starring Terry O'Quinn who did an excellent job as the cuckoo who (spoiler!) makes his way into families, kills them and moves on (don't worry, that's revealed in the first minute of the film).
I can't begin to tell you how much I hated this film. I've covered it in full before, right here.
Speaking of Sean...one of my fave TV-series, "Nip/Tuck", ended disasterously in 2010. The last season featured the two lead men becoming completely plastic (pun intended) and intolerable. The plot went to hell, all the characters turned upside-down and left the entire season feeling like a very jaded, bad joke that went on for far too long. Who to sue?
Speaking of which, "Sex and the City 2" was a clownboat far beyond repair. Quite a horrid basket of prejudice, anti-feminism, xenophobia and bad timing, unfunniness, a demented soundtrack and confusion. Nothing is completed, everything looks like a bad commercial and all that was good with the TV-series has been washed away. Avoid at all costs.
It seems that everybody likes the Swedish filmed versions of Stieg Larsson's so-called "millennium trilogy". I definitely don't. They're horribly acted, the dialogue couldn't be more synthetic even if IKEA made it by the billions, the cinematography and directing is flawed on so many levels that I couldn't even start telling you how much I hate it. I'm just so happy that David Fincher's remaking them. By the way, the company I work for was called in to supply bugs for the first of Fincher's remakes; the people involved told one of "our" bug experts that they were most pleased with the results - the bugs had once been alive, so I'm not entirely sure what said invertebrates could done to displease the film crew. Stink?
Yes, bad films have a price, too.
"Repo Men". Completely worthless remake, especially noteworthy as they completely dodged what made the original film good. And yes, throwing in RZA is not a good thing unless you're Jim Jarmusch and directed him in "Ghost Dog".
bonus: a list of somebody's fave movie posters of 2010, Some really nice ones here.