2010--The Year in Review

Back in 2010, when this blog was a little less than two years old, my favorite movie of the year was Noah Baumbach's incisive character study Greenberg, about a failed NYC musician who, while temporarily transplanted to Los Angeles, continues with his exhausted aim to simply do nothing in life. It deeply struck me with its sterling dialogue and especially with its achingly revealing performances from Ben Stiller, Rhys Ifans, and the stunning Greta Gerwig, an ultra-indie star who really broke through this year with her sweetly smart, dejected party girl who falls for the troubled title character against her questioning judgment (I still see Gerwig as one of the most exciting actors working--to me, her inclusion in any film's cast continually makes that movie a must-see). Mainly, I loved Greenberg because it seemed to be peering directly into my own brain in expressing Roger Greenberg's immense dissatisfaction with the way the drab world has turned out for him and for everyone else hailing from the utterly abandoned Generation X. But, nowadays, I feel like giving a movie Best Picture for this penetrating achievement is a little egotistical, and probably simply not justifiable (though I reward Greenberg in the two categories it absolutely deserved to be victorious in). Maybe this is just another chink in the self-destructive armor of my aimless generation. Sorry. Ultimately, I had to side for the movie that captured the zeitgeist to a tee.

David Fincher's The Social Network, with its dazzlingly fast-paced Aaron Sorkin script, is the complete package: immaculately photographed, acted, written, scored, and edited. This quasi-biopic of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg got lightly raked over the coals for straying from the facts (Zuckerberg himself just saw it as a good movie, and didn't really put up a fight), but the film is still a perfect example of how screenwriterly inventions can enhance the retelling of an ostensibly "true" story rather than hamstring it. In the face of such a gripping movie, the facts don't matter: The Social Network is radically successful in illustrating how this lonely genius and nascent billionaire codified life on the net in order to win friends and lovers, and yet ended up driving those closest to him far, far away--and let's remember: much of the movie is quite accurate. Fincher's film deserves comparisons to Orson Welles' Citizen Kane--that's how good it is (and this is by knowing design). Even so, I didn't get too upset when Tom Hooper's more traditional biopic The King's Speech ended up winning Best Picture at the Oscars; it, too, was a beautifully crafted piece, with some of the finest acting of the year, led by Colin Firth's superb take on the stuttering King George VI, and banked by Hooper's gorgeous direction and David Seidler's supreme scripting. It wasn't the best movie of the year, but at least it was a true contender.

2010 was another exceptional year for world cinema (led by Apichatpong Weerasethakul's otherworldly Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives and by one more wonderful Mike Leigh film, Another Year, commanded by Leigh's longtime collaborator Leslie Manville, gutting us with her rich performance as a drunken, romantically desperate friend testing the patience of a happy London professional couple). There's also another impressive slate of documentaries this year, with Charles Ferguson's outstanding dissection of the 2008 economic meltdown Inside Job easily trumping its impressive competitors (documentaries are clearly getting more knowing in this era). But 2010 was also a year that made it increasingly clear that Hollywood studios were abandoning adult audiences in their over-catering to childish tastes, all in service of the big buck. The Social Network, Inception, Toy Story 3, and The Fighter, with Christian Bale's transformative supporting performance, would stand among the smartest studio product of the year, but the rest of 2010's most notable output largely hailed from indie and foreign outlets. And so the period's prime movies would become harder and harder for the masses to locate at theaters. This vexing issue's only gotten more seriously gnawing since, as it effectively lowers the tastes of a worldwide moviegoing public who'd already rather mindlessly be happy chomping popcorn on a rollercoaster instead of being eternally affected emotionally or intellectually by a work of art. NOTE: These are MY choices for each category, and are only occasionally reflective of the selections made by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (aka The Oscars). When available, the nominee that actually won the Oscar will be highlighted in bold.

PICTURE: THE SOCIAL NETWORK (US, David Fincher) (2nd: Greenberg (US, Noah Baumbach), followed by: Another Year (UK, Mike Leigh); Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul); Inside Job (US, Charles Ferguson); The King’s Speech (US/UK, Tom Hooper); Inception (US, Christopher Nolan); Tiny Furniture (US, Lena Dunham); Mysteries of Lisbon (Portugal/France, Raoul Ruiz); Tuesday, After Christmas (Romania, Radu Muntean); Marwencol (US, Jeff Malmberg); Of Gods and Men (France, Xavier Beauvois); The Fighter (US, David O. Russell); Never Let Me Go (UK, Mark Romanek); Carlos (France, Olivier Assayas); The Illusionist (France, Sylvain Chomet); Let Me In (US, Matt Reeves); Exit Through the Gift Shop (US, Banksy); Boxing Gym (US, Frederick Wiseman); The Ghost Writer (US/France, Roman Polanski); Easy A (US, Will Gluck); The Trip (UK, Michael Winterbottom); Poetry (South Korea, Lee Chang-dong); Please Give (US, Nicole Holofcener); Heartbeats (Canada, Xavier Dolan); Aurora (Romania, Cristi Puiu); Silent Souls (Russia, Aleksey Fedorchenko); The Kids Are All Right (US, Lisa Cholodenko); Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (US/UK, Edgar Wright); Certified Copy (France, Abbas Kiarostami); Black Swan (US, Darren Aronofsky); Blue Valentine (US, Derek Cianfrance); Frozen (US, Adam Green); Meek’s Cutoff (US, Kelly Reichardt); The Tillman Story (US, Amir Bar-Lev); Biutiful (Mexico, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu); A Letter to Elia (US, Martin Scorsese and Kent Jones); The Town (US, Ben Affleck); You Don’t Know Jack (US, Barry Levinson); Winter’s Bone (US, Debra Granik); A Little Help (US, Michael J. Weithorn); Toy Story 3 (US, Lee Unkrich); Catfish (US, Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman); Film Socialisme (France, Jean-Luc Godard); Smash His Camera (US, Leon Gast); Rabbit Hole (US, John Cameron Mitchell); Restropo (US, Sebastian Junger and Tim Heatherington); The Oath (US, Laura Poitras); Louis C.K.: Hilarious (US, Louis C.K.); Solitary Man (US,  Brian Koppelman and David Levien); Four Lions (UK, Chris Morris); Animal Kingdom (Australia, David Michod); True Grit (US, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen); Barney’s Version (Canada, Richard J. Lewis); Senna (UK, Asif Kapadia); I’m Still Here (US, Casey Affleck); Cold Weather (US, Aaron Katz); Red (US, Robert Schwentke); Submarine (US, Richard Ayoade); Temple Grandin (US, Mick Jackson); A Cat in Paris (France/Belgium, Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol); Monsters (UK, Gareth Edwards); Buried (Spain/US, Rodrigo Cortés); Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Germany, Werner Herzog); Tangled (US, Nathan Greno and Byron Howard); Splice (Canada/France/US, Vincenzo Natali); Salt (US, Philip Noyce); Insidious (US, James Wan); 127 Hours (UK/US, Danny Boyle); Leaves of Grass (US, Tim Blake Nelson); Iron Man 2 (US, Jon Favreau); Multiple Sarcasms (US, Brooks Branch); Tabloid (US, Errol Morris); Somewhere (US, Sofia Coppola); Stone (US, John Curran); Shutter Island (US, Martin Scorsese); The Strange Case of Angelica (Portugal, Manoel de Oliveira); Tamara Drewe (UK, Stephen Frears); How to Train Your Dragon (US, Dean de Blois and Chris Sanders); Kick-Ass (US/UK, Matthew Vaughn); The Killer Inside Me (US, Michael Winterbottom))



ACTOR: Colin Firth, THE KING'S SPEECH (2nd: Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network, followed by: Edgar Ramirez, Carlos; Ben Stiller, Greenberg; Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine; Javier Bardem, Biutiful; Steve Coogan, The Trip; Al Pacino, You Don't Know Jack)



ACTRESS: Leslie Manville, ANOTHER YEAR (2nd: Emma Stone, Easy A, followed by: Yun Jeong-he, Poetry; Natalie Portman, Black Swan; Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine; Juliette Binoche, Certified Copy; Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone; Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right)



SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christian Bale, THE FIGHTER (2nd: Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech, followed by: Andrew Garfield, The Social Network; Peter Wight, Another Year; Rob Brydon, The Trip; David Bradley, Another Year; Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right; Jeremy Renner, The Town)



SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Greta Gerwig, GREENBERG (2nd: Amy Adams, The Fighter, followed by: Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom; Haylee Steinfeld, True Grit; Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right; Dianne Wiest, Rabbit Hole; Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech)



DIRECTOR: David Fincher, THE SOCIAL NETWORK (2nd: Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, followed by: Mike Leigh, Another Year; Noah Baumbach, Greenberg; Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech; Lena Dunham, Tiny Furniture; Christopher Nolan, Inception; Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan)

NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM: UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES (Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul) (2nd: Of Gods and Men (France, Xavier Beauvois), followed by: Mysteries of Lisbon (Portugal/France, Raoul Ruiz); Tuesday, After Christmas (Romania, Radu Muntean); Carlos (France, Olivier Assayas); The Illusionist (France, Sylvain Chomet); Poetry (South Korea, Lee Chang-dong); Heartbeats (Canada, Xavier Dolan); Aurora (Romania, Cristi Puiu); Silent Souls (Russia, Aleksey Fedorchenko); Certified Copy (France, Abbas Kiarostami); Biutiful (Mexico, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu); Film Socialisme (France, Jean-Luc Godard))



DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: INSIDE JOB (US, Charles Ferguson) (2nd: Marwencol (US, Jeff Malmberg), followed by: Exit Through the Gift Shop (US, Banksy); Boxing Gym (US, Frederick Wiseman); A Letter to Elia (US, Martin Scorsese and Kent Jones); Catfish (US, Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman); Smash His Camera (US, Leon Gast); The Tillman Story (US, Amir Bar-Lev); Restropo (US, Sebastian Junger and Tim Heatherington); Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Germany, Werner Herzog); The Oath (US, Laura Poitras); Louis C.K.: Hilarious (US, Louis C.K.); Senna (UK, Asif Kapadia))



ANIMATED FEATURE: THE ILLUSIONIST (France, Sylvain Chomet) (2nd: Toy Story 3 (US, Lee Unkrich), followed by: Tangled (US, Nathan Greno and Byron Howard); A Cat in Paris (France/Belgium, Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol); How to Train Your Dragon (US, Dean de Blois and Chris Sanders))



ANIMATED SHORT: MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON (US, Dean Fleischer-Camp and Jenny Slate) (2nd: Day and Night (US, Teddy Newton), followed by: Dock Ellis and the LSD No-No (US, James Blagden))



LIVE ACTION SHORT: GOD OF LOVE (US, Luke Matheny) (2nd: Successful Alcoholics (US, Jordan Vogt-Roberts), followed by: I’m Here (US, Spike Jonze)



ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Noah Baumbach and Jennifer Jason Leigh, GREENBERG (2nd: Mike Leigh, Another Year, followed by: David Seidler, The King's Speech; Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, The Kids Are All Right; Lena Dunham, Tiny Furniture)



ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Aaron Sorkin, THE SOCIAL NETWORK (2nd: Robert Harris and Roman Polanski, The Ghost Writer, followed by: Alex Garland, Never Let Me Go; Debra Granik and Anne Rossellini, Winter's Bone; Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World)

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES, followed by: Mikhail Krichman, Silent Souls; Jeff Cronenweth, The Social Network; Wally Pfister, Inception; Matthew Libatique, Black Swan)

ART DIRECTION: INCEPTION, Alice in Wonderland, The King’s Speech, Shutter Island, True Grit

COSTUME DESIGN: ALICE IN WONDERLAND, Mysteries of Lisbon, Heartbeats, The King's Speech, True Grit  

FILM EDITING: THE SOCIAL NETWORK, The King’s Speech, Inception, The Town, Greenberg



SOUND: INCEPTION, The Social Network, Black Swan, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, The King’s Speech

SOUND EFFECTS: INCEPTION, Salt, Toy Story 3



ORIGINAL SCORE: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, THE SOCIAL NETWORK (2nd: Hans Zimmer, Inception, followed by: Alexandre Desplat, The King’s Speech; James Murphy, Greenberg; Rachel Portman, Never Let Me Go)



ORIGINAL SONG: “Chason Illusionist” from THE ILLUSIONIST (Music and lyrics by Sylvain Chomet) (2nd: “Never Let Me Go“ from Never Let Me Go (Music and lyrics by Luther Dixon), followed by: “We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3 (Music and lyrics by Randy Newman); “We Are Sex Bob-Omb“ from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Music and lyrics by Beck Hansen); “Country Strong” from Country Strong (Music and lyrics by Jennifer Hanson, Tony Martin and Mark Nesler))

SPECIAL EFFECTS: INCEPTION, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, The Social Network

MAKEUP: THE WOLFMAN, Alice in Wonderland, Black Swan