The Top Films of 2010

It's that time of year again, the start of it, that calls for looking back on the best of cinema. So without further ado...

1. Black Swan. It says something about how compelling a film is when it takes a subject I'm entirely uninterested in -- even hostile to -- and draws me thoroughly into its subculture. The same was true for The Wrestler (fake wrestling being worthy of thrice as much derision as ballet), and this film is a sort of twin. Aronofsky seems riveted by the theme of individuals willing to die for sport or athletic art, but where The Wrestler was grounded in gritty social reality, The Black Swan revels in hallucinations and Jungian archetypes. Nina's metamorphosis into the White Swan's evil twin is patiently realized as her nightmare world gradually tugs her down, and she discovers the impulses of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" mirrored in her own life.

2. Blue Valentine. A depressing romance, one of the best ever depicted on celluloid, capturing the start and end points of a hopeless relationship begun in puppy love followed by stagnation. As with Black Swan's Nina, something was lost along the way for Cindy, but that something is elusive -- probably nothing more than a foreordained deterioration into pointless existence. The scene where Cindy tries to enjoy a night out and have sex with Dean, and is revolted by his touch, is the mirror opposite in every way to Nina's energetic lesbian fantasy over Lily: one grossly real, the other wildly arousing; the first an attempt to heal real-life wounds, the other a retreat from reality, each desperately futile. I could really put this tie at the #1 slot; it was the year of "Black and Blue".

3. Inception. The lack of character development stands out, but hardly counts against a story whose strengths lie entirely elsewhere. Nolan takes us down a tempus fugit which spirals into something more rewarding than mere Matrix imitation. The minimalist feel, the black-greys, and the rigid architectures of the dream world match perfectly with the concept of intentional design, completely unlike the wildly surreal and unpredictable nature of dreams as seen in The Science of Sleep and What Dreams May Come. The synchronized triple climax is flawlessly executed, and the film's premise -- that the "protagonists" are out to destroy a decent man (or at least his financial world) -- preserves the amorality of a heist drama as it should. It's over 2 ½ hours, but over before you know it.

4. Shutter Island. On first viewing it left me nonplussed, but grew on me once I got over being insulted by the narrative rug-jerking and worn out formula of a lead protagonist's delusional insanity. The fact is that Scorsese does such a good job with the material (from a vastly inferior novel written by Dennis Lehane) that its problematic aspects become more invisible with subsequent viewings, the non-revelations forgivable. It's a film defined by a haunting atmosphere, Teddy's intense relationship with the shade of his wife, the gothic mood of the island and its denizens. I've reached the point where I'm actually amused at how Scorsese went out of his way to not pay us off, sort of like the way De Palma didn't in Raising Cain.

5. Winter's Bone. The odyssey of a teen who is forced to care for a younger brother and sister, not to mention a mentally absent mother, while living in destitution. It's one of those films carried largely by the lead role, and rest assured that Jennifer Lawrence is a rarely gifted young talent -- a lot like Ellen Page and Jennifer Connelly were, and still are. (See The Poker House (2008) if you haven't; she's just as good in that one.) Ree must locate her father who skipped bail, or her family will become homeless, and her rough encounters on the road to a morbid endpoint find her clinging to selfless values in an entirely believable way. More films like this, please.

6. Unstoppable. My favorite popcorn director Tony Scott is back in top form: this is easily his best work since Crimson Tide. And it wouldn't be a Tony Scott film without Denzel Washington (playing Denzel Washington), and even though he's such a non-actor, I at least like the character he always plays. There's the usual fast-paced camerawork, raw energy, and frenetic cutting, on top of searing dramatic conflict despite the lack of villains. The runaway freight train carrying explosive cargo is more than enough villain, a missile barreling ahead at 70 miles/hour straight to Stanton PA, as two hostlers engage in a desperate plan to stop it. Based loosely on an actual event in Cleveland, believe it or not.

7. Super. Everything Kick Ass should have been, upending superhero conventions through brutal satire, making us laugh as our heroes take pipe wrenches to people who cut in line at the movies and key other peoples' cars. Their mission is to fight crime, but Ellen Page's character doesn't seem to care much about that, as long as she can beat the living be-Jesus out of someone. James Gunn is the flip side to Christopher Nolan, who also redeemed the superhero genre but it a serious way: by destroying our optimism and suggesting heroes as hopeless liberators who escalate terror as they try fighting it. Gunn destroys our seriousness by suggesting heroes as hopeless losers who likewise are barely better than those they go against.

8. Cracks. Not terribly strong on story, but it has great performances, and given that I'm a sucker for students under the tutelage of nefarious instructors, it makes the cut. An aristocratic Spanish girl comes to board at an Irish school off the coast of northern England in 1934, and without even trying incites jealousy and rage amongst her peers. They all crave the approval of a teacher who has eyes (and loins) for this newcomer. Things get unpleasant, naturally, and don't end well. Jordan Scott, directs, and yes, she's related to the great Tony (#6) and dreadful Ridley who hasn't done anything decent since Alien and Blade Runner.

9. The Last Exorcism. It takes courage to play the exorcist card after Friedkin's classic, but this mockumentary does a surprisingly good job, even by PG-13 standards. Here we have a disillusioned Baptist pastor who sets out to prove the fraudulent nature of his own exorcisms, but finds a girl whose possession state won't be put to rest so easily. It's never clear if she's really possessed or mentally ill, though the controversial ending strongly implies the supernatural is involved in some way. Though I usually despise the Blair Witch approach to camerawork, it works well here, and I was genuinely scared at points. Abalam may have nothing on Pazuzu, but compared to most demons, he comes across as one to take seriously, as indeed our good reverend does in the end.

10. Peacock. Ellen Page and Cilian Murphy are at it again (as in Inception, #3), this time playing damaged souls, especially Murphy who delivers a split-personality performance worthy of Hitchcock. He's a bank clerk with a grim past: horribly abused by his mother. Now he effectively assumes her role after work hours, acting and dressing as a woman, but also really believing himself to be, as he compensates for insecurity and low self-esteem with this hideous feminine side. A perfect role for Murphy, his deepest to date, and it's criminal that the film went straight to DVD without hitting any theaters in America.

(See also: The Top Films of 2005, The Top Films of 2006, The Top Films of 2007, The Top Films of 2008, The Top Films of 2009, The Top Films of 2012.)