11) The Fighter

In no uncertain terms, David O. Russell‘s inspirational boxing movie has everything you would want it to have. It checks every box, hits every emotional beat, and achieves more than many of its predecessors due to deliberate focus placed on pacing and gritty realism. The camera work is spot on, and the boxing sequences utilize a nice blend of broadcast style coverage and in-the-ring slow motion to keep the tension high. Christian Bale has gotten the lion share of the buzz with this one, and his performance is truly brilliant, highlighting the fact that underneath his on-set temper tantrums, he’s still an incredibly gifted performer. He plays the broken and out brother to Micky Ward, and despite the dangerous territory of drug dependency which could’ve fallen into cliche, his work here rises above the material and brings the family dynamic to life. Whalberg also acquits himself well here, and successfully holds the weight of the narrative on his shoulders. Amy Adams gets to be something other than perky and happy with her deeply flawed yet stable Charlene, and keeps both Micky and the audience on track when the pressure threatens to derail the comeback. A beautifully crafted film, and a surefire awards contender.

10) How to Train Your Dragon

It doesn’t take long for you to realize that you’re witnessing something special. I’m not sure if it’s the sarcastic opening voice-over, the epically staged dragon rampage, the wonderful character introductions, or the look on young Hiccup’s face when he realizes he may have finally succeeded in his dream of becoming a true warrior Viking by taking down the mystical Night Fury with a homemade slingshot. There’s a life and a vitality to the filmmaking here that goes far and beyond the energy contained within past Dreamworks Animation efforts, momentum principally generated in the past through licensed music and A-list voice casts. What Dreamworks has always seemed to lack in their films are truly great stories, narratives which are strong enough to stand on their own without the trappings of pointless pop culture references.

9) 127 Hours

If you’re wary of how far the film is willing to push, I’ll tell you. All. The. Way. It leaves nothing behind in that cave except the boulder and some of his supplies. You will experience pain, you will experience fear, and you will experience the kind of dehydrated exhaustion that we can only ever dream about. If you’re not emotionally spent by the time the credits roll, you haven’t been paying attention. Those concerned about an overabundance of flashbacks and cutaways to pad the length will be relieved. At a blistering 84 minutes, the film feels as agonizing as it’s supposed to, and we only manage to leave the location in the forms of dreams and hallucinations the character himself has. We even get a series of incredibly honest monologues throughout the movie, as one of the only things he has in his pack of use is a DV camcorder. A lot of the script is reportedly lifted word for word from the real life footage, and I’m not at all surprised. This is a broken man, a destroyed soul, and a performance people will be talking about come awards season. He’ll get an Oscar nomination, though I’m hesitant to give him the crown as there’s still so many films yet to see release. One thing’s for sure, he’s proved himself more than capable of handling some impressively serious subject matter, and we should all take his recent Soap Opera stint as exactly what it is, a college kid playing around. I look forward to seeing him develop as an actor, and this is going to be the part that really opens up doors for him. It’s certainly not for everyone, but as one of the great performances of the year, this one is a must-see.

8 ) Black Swan

The highest praise I can deliver to a psychological thriller like Black Swan is that it truly freaked me out. Horror movies aren’t really my thing, and I find bloody splatter flicks to be closer to comedy than actual terror. This is a deeply disturbing exercise, literally emptying the back of classical twisted tropes, but delivering wholeheartedly on all of them. The direction of the darker moments is so confident and sure of itself that you know you’ll never be thrown out of the movie, but you’ll still be pushed to covering your eyes from time to time. The inside of Portman’s head is a place where nightmares slide in and out of the waking terror and pressure of embodying someone she’s kept locked away inside of her, smothered under layers of warped childhood experiences. The moment it all starts falling apart is as cathartic for her as it is for the audience, and though I know both this film and The Wrestler were originally developed as a single screenplay, I fully support the split which turned each into visually distinct yet thematically connected narratives. If this is truly the conclusion of Aronofsky’s series of occupational character studies, it is a rousing end indeed. Definitely don’t wait for a rental on this one, see it in a dark theater with a live audience while you still can.

7) King’s Speech

Tom Hooper‘s historical drama is equal parts history lesson and great character drama, something of a rarity in Hollywood these days. Despite the setting and the stakes at hand, this really is the story of a friendship between a commoner and royalty, and what they’re able to accomplish together. It’s in the scenes between Firth and Rush that we see the full potential of the narrative, and wonder why the film so halfheartedly attempts to expand the world and give us a real sense of context. There are opportunities for telling a broader story and setting the stage for a much more emotional finale, but they simply aren’t followed through, and it’s clear that the center of the film should have always been the two men. That’s not to say that the film isn’t incredibly well executed regardless, and the performances across the board are quite phenomenal. Does Firth deserve the Oscar this year? I’d say it’s his to lose, and given the career he’s had, it’s surprising he doesn’t already have a little golden statue sitting on a shelf at home.

6) True Grit

This film is everything you’d hope a Coen Brothers western would be. Jeff Bridges is phenomenal. Matt Damon is actually quite impressive in his supporting role, and Hailee Steinfeld will certainly be one to watch as she gets older. The shots are extraordinary, the pacing is incredibly tight (I could’ve watched the film for another two hours at least) and the intense sequences were so incredible that the quieter in-between moments never felt self-indulgent. It would be a shame to not include this film on any Top 10 list this year, and should it fail to gain an Oscar nomination I will be very disappointed. It is said, however, that awards tend to reward performers and creative personalities who go beyond their comfort zone, and this is so clearly a bull’s-eye for the Coens that they may not get recognition simply due to how perfect of a fit the story is. Now wouldn’t that be ironic.

5) Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

From the moment the 8-bit rendered Universal Studios logo blasts onto the screen, you know you’ve come to the right place. No longer are you in the world of your movie theater. Whether you know it or not, you’ve just entered the head of one Edgar Wright, director of such instant classics as Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. The result is a vibrant and redefining experience, setting the bar for graphic novel adaptation visual fidelity at an all time high. Not since Sin City has a film come so close to replicating the feel and the imagery of a moving comic, and the addition of countless video game homages will tickle the fancy of even the least educated geek. This is really a film for everyone, and no matter what you think you’re in for when you enter that theater, this one is sure to surprise you.

4) Toy Story 3

Just when you think they can’t possibly do it again… they do. Pixar is on an historic run of brilliant stories told brilliantly, and much to the dismay of their competitors, their streak does not end with Toy Story 3. In fact, the nostalgia value alone makes this one of the most emotionally charged films of the year, and if you’re not touched in some way by the time the credits roll, I’ll assume you’re akin to Armond White (terrible movie critic) and have no heart whatsoever. As we’ve grown up, so too have the characters, and you can’t help but feel connected to the sense of loss that Andy feels upon going off to college. The simplicity is what makes these films so powerful, and with any luck, Pixar won’t let Cars 2 break the chain. In the meantime, enjoy 2 more wonderful hours with Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the gang as they deal with their newest and most potentially dangerous threat yet… daycare.

3) Inception

Is this Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece? I don’t think anyone can make that judgment until the man stops one-upping himself. Kubrick had plenty of early failures too, and his streak of classics has yet to be toppled by any modern filmmaker. Now, is Nolan the next Kubrick? Having seen all of his directorial projects to date, it would be hard to argue that there is another filmmaker closer to that distinction. As a consummate professional, a perfectionist, and one of the greatest chess-masters working in the industry, Nolan has the innate ability to give the audience exactly what they want, and in the process, completely eclipse even their wildest expectations. You always walk out of the theater with the knowledge that what you just saw was even better than you could have hoped for, and that is the rare gift which truly sets him apart.

2) Never Let Me Go

I can honestly say that I have never had the kind of emotional experience I had while watching Never Let Me Go in a theater before. It’s impossible to know exactly what it is about the film that makes it resonate the way it does, but everything about it seems flawless. The work pulls you from your seat and sends you spinning through time and space in such a meaningful way that it’s difficult to shake the feeling of loss when the credits roll. These are real people, people whose lives you have vicariously shared, and you feel like you’ve aged right along with them. Capturing that kind of experience on film, and delivering a story with such a massive chronology in less than two hours is something that deserves the highest praise and admiration.

1) The Social Network

A camera sees the world through light. It opens its shutter, and captures that light, preserving it forever, either on film stock or transferred into digital form. But every so often, a camera captures a whole lot more. It captures a place, a time, a moment. It captures reality. It captures the soul. In no uncertain terms, the power of the medium to this day is the way it not only records, but transfers the colors, textures, and emotions of its subjects. We can relive things that we’ve never experienced, speak to people we will never meet, and enjoy the types of stories we grew up listening to right in front of our eyes. I’m honestly surprised that there aren’t more biopics coming out each year, as documenting a person or an event from years prior is one of those things that movies were made to do. Usually the people involved are dead, or at least there’s some distance to the event in question. You’re probably wondering, why Facebook? Why now? Because this is a story that very few people have actually heard. The story of how one man went from being a nerdy Harvard student to 35^th on the Forbes 400 list and a net worth of over $6.9 billion. It’s a story of betrayal, heartbreak, and loss of innocence that indirectly involves the lives of millions of people, probably including you. Still think this isn’t for you?

Honorable Mentions:

The Ghost Writer

Shutter Island

Kick-Ass

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

The Trotsky

11) Fantastic Mr. Fox

This is a match made in cinematic heaven. Not unlike the recent pairing of Spike Jonze and Maurice Sendak, to mixed results, Wes Anderson’s wonderfully quirky sensibility seems as though it came into being in order to adapt Roald Dahl’s deliberately twisted words. Fantastic Mr. Fox is both an amalgamation of everything that Anderson has been examining and perfecting through his years as a writer as well as all of the visual excellence and pitch-perfect timing that he is known for in his direction. If there’s any person who should have attributed their style to animation earlier, it is Anderson, as his live action films play on a level of absurdly cartoonish characterization just as realistically as an animal puppet in an underground lair. The jump couldn’t be more natural, and I look forward to seeing him continue down the road he has built for himself here with future projects.

10) Sherlock Holmes

I know what you’re thinking. What’s with all the fisticuffs involving the world’s most famous detective in Guy Ritchie’s new Sherlock Holmes movie? Is this even a Sherlock Holmes movie, thinking, I guess, that such a film has to be boring and brain teasing as opposed to brawny and energetic? Since when does Watson not look like an overweight simpleton, pawing at Holmes’s coat and waiting for the sleuth to expertly deduce the next stage in the case? The answer to all these questions involves a creative team that knows what it takes to make a wonderfully fun an inventive piece of cinema, and a lot of that happens to do with sprucing up and, dare I say it, improving on the shadows of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes which have appeared in adaptation after adaptation over the years. Make no mistake, this is a Sherlock Holmes movie, and the modern sensibility may just be the thing that pushes this one into the status of the “Best Sherlock Holmes Movie” Hollywood has ever produced.

9) The Hurt Locker

This movie is everything Jarhead could have been but wasn’t. A story that has a plot, albeit a loosely structured one, characters that are worth audience sympathy instead of entitled it, and intense, gut-wrenching cinematography that brings the Iraq war more in focus than any film before it. It’s not flawless by any means, but it’s certainly a hell of a lot more powerful than Stop-Loss or Home of the Brave. Credit goes out to the brilliant screenwriting and arresting sound design that augment the handheld visuals and pull you in far more than you would ever want to be. This is not a creation designed for the casual moviegoer. This is not disposable entertainment. This may be the closest you ever get to going to war, and my respect for members of the armed forces has been elevated accordingly.

8 ) District 9

Neil Blomkamp has done the seemingly impossible. He has created an original, visceral, and engrossing science fiction universe that isn’t an adaptation of anything that has come before it. He’s done it with style, he’s done it with heart, and he’s made a believer out of me. From the opening documentary style montage to the emotional closing action beats, every part of the film carries a level of honesty and fidelity that is brutally refreshing. The film doesn’t go down easy either. At this level of intensity, it is understandable why some people may have found portions of the film hard to take. The style itself is very kinetic, and the handheld camera integrates the special effects at a base level, keeping the whole exercise very grounded. Sharlto Copley’s performance should get an Oscar nomination if there’s any sense to the way the world works, but he’ll inevitably get overlooked because of the genre of the film he’s acting in. This is one of the biggest breakthrough performances in years, and it’s hard to believe that only a week prior to shooting, he was just a television producer in South Africa with a childhood connection to Blomkamp.

7) The Hangover

What a ride. I honestly don’t remember the last time I laughed that hard in a movie theater. For Superbad I was mostly too shocked to do anything. This time it was hearty, painful, eye tearing laughter and I enjoyed every raunchy, off-color, ridiculous minute of it. Todd Philips has been waiting for his due for a long time, and after the success of Old School, we assumed he had made it big as a comedy director. Then the sequel never materialized, and Starsky and Hutch left a lot to be desired. I’m happy to report that he is back in fighting form here, and he’s got just the group he needed to make this an instant comedy classic. Who knew that combining Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis would result in the highest grossing rated R comedy of all time? This trio play off of each other so well that they could spend an entire 2 hours sitting at a bar watching people play pool, and I’d be completely entertained. Not to mention poor Justin Bartha who’s reduced to a cameo part because his disappearance is so important to the plot. I want to see these guys take a road trip somewhere else, like now, and I can’t even begin to describe my excitement for Hangover 2.

6) The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

If you’ve ever seen a Terry Gilliam movie, you know that there’s something about his perspective on the world that sets him apart. His projects often suffer from thematic and visual excess, the kind of overzealous creativity that pushes far beyond the subject matter at hand and often overwhelms the story he’s trying to tell. Pretty much since his failed Don Quixote movie with Johnny Depp, Gilliam hasn’t been able to find his past success, in part because he hasn’t had the kind of story concept that can absorb his vision. Luckily for him, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is just the kind of story he was born to tell. It’s an epic yet subtle film, supportive of its subject matter while simultaneously relishing in the quiet character moments that had all but vanished from his recent work. The cast is uniformly wonderful, and the visuals, though occasionally cheesy, have an otherworldly brilliance to them that will make you forget that you’re watching a movie.

5) The Road

The Road is one of those films which you need to decide to watch when you’re already of a lighthearted disposition. The movie itself is so draining and so demoralizing that trying to watch it while depressed may lead to disastrous results. That isn’t a detriment to the film, but more an evaluation of its potency as a story and as an adaptation. Based on the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name, the movie stands above and beyond the scope of what the average post-apocalyptic drama can say about human behavior and the reconciliation of a world where society and culture is but a distant memory. It doesn’t re-invent the wheel, and borrows a little bit too heavily in its cinematography and color palette from the myriad of similar films that have emerged in recent years, but not unlike Children of Men, it invokes the kind of deeper thought and reflection which pushes the medium in a new direction.

4) Up

Pixar can do no wrong. Seriously, it’s getting out of hand. Their new film, Up, proves that these guys won’t settle for anything less than brilliant filmmaking, and I’m starting to believe that they never will. You’d think with a senior citizen for a main character, possibly the earliest animation cliché of talking dogs, a residence in flight due to large amounts of helium, and a roly-poly “Wilderness Explorer” who comments on almost anything, that they’d finally created a story that would be impossible to enjoy or resolve in a satisfactory manner. Wrong. Up is easily among Pixar’s best and follows a lot of the stylistic choices of its most recent predecessor, Wall-E, in its pacing and main story arc. Sure the characters talk more than they did in that film but there’s ample use of stillness and silence to calm even the most figgidy toddler. The movie takes its time, something of a lost art in Hollywood today, and it makes the experience feel even more inspired.

3) Star Trek

This film will make Star Trek cool, it’s true, but not through destroying anything that was great about it before, just by opening it up and telling a story that will emotionally affect a greater number of people. This is the movie that will validate all those years of fans saying, “No really, you should check it out, it’s really cool” and replace that with “Yeah, I’m a real fan, not one of you bandwagoners.” I think that alone is worth the price of admission. Hats off to Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman for doing the seemingly impossible and rebooting the greatest sci-fi franchise of all time in spectacular fashion. I figure they’ve got at least two more fantastic movies left in them, and then we’ll see what happens. Will these be the continuing voyages of a new generation of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy? Who knows? All we can say for sure is that as the U.S.S. Enterprise warps off on its next voyage into the unknown, the future of this franchise looks bright indeed.

2) Up In The Air

There are times in our lives when certain aspects of how we feel, who we are, and what we believe in, hinge implicitly on our emotional state. Days seem brighter when we feel alive and happy, and it always seems to rain when we’re particularly sad. In these moments, we are hyper sensitive to everything going on around us. A well-timed joke, a playful activity, an ingenious piece of storytelling can affect us in ways far and beyond what we’d expect from the medium in question. I’d like to think that the power that Up In The Air has stems from its impeccable filmmaking quality. But with a film this good, there is always a secondary reaction, a motivational lightning rod if you will, that will be defined within the mind of every person who makes the choice to view the film. When everything works together this well, from the screenplay, to the art direction, to the acting and the lighting, a certain intangible quality arises from the interaction, a product which rises far and beyond the scope of its individual parts. When a movie “feels” this right, for its entire runtime, you know you’re witnessing something truly special.

1) Avatar

I have never been the kind of person who is prone to use of hyperbole. Sure, something will be “awesome” or “fantastic” or “terrific” but I never think anything is so great as to be crowned “best ever”, “most innovative”, or “phenomenal.” Today I was proven wrong. Today I saw the future of cinema, and its name is Avatar. The kind of movie that defines not only the time period of its release, but an entire generation of moviegoers. An experience the likes of which I have never had before, with any movie, and I can only theoretically compare to what it must have been like to see the original Star Wars back in 1977. To walk out of a theater and know, as strongly as I do now, that there is an almost limitless possibility resting just beyond our grasp, is not something I can find words for. James Cameron has seized the curtain and thrown it wide, letting the light pour in upon the unsuspecting masses. My only regret is that it will be another 2-3 years before anyone else has the confidence to attempt to follow in his footsteps.

Honorable Mentions

Zombieland

The Messenger

The Boat That Rocked

Where the Wild Things Are

Inglourious Basterds

The Brothers Bloom

State of Play

]]> http://www.climbinghigherpictures.com/index.php/2010/01/07/uncategorized/that-was-one-for-the-record-books-a-look-back-at-2009-in-top-11-form/feed/ 0