Another year, another list of great films.
11. The Road. A tough watch, this post-apocalyptic film is refreshing in many ways. It is a remarkably assured work, from the audacity of the adaptation to the expertise evident in every department. On top of this, the film is, at times, a deeply disturbing experience with the terrifying sequences succeeding in being genuinely terrifying. However, despite the doom and gloom, the key feature that makes The Road a classic (both novel and film) is the deeply moving relationship between father and son. A subtle and oddly joyous examination of family love and fatherhood.
10. The Disappearance of Alice Creed. A twisty British thriller that actually manages to surprise as well as being a brilliantly directed and a riveting three-hander. Eddie Marsan particularly shines in this exciting and rather brave film.
9. Eclipse. The third in the successful “Twilight Saga” and also the best of the three. What particularly distinguishes this series is its perfect ratio between rollicking entertainment and intriguing themes. Aside from being exciting and romantic, these films take an almost allegorical look at the choices that beset young adults. Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner all turn in very good performances.
8. Lebanon. A daring autobiographical debut that was deeply terrifying on a simple human level. Staying with four men inside a tank (except for only three exterior shots), the war outside, viewed entirely through the tank’s crosshairs, takes on a hellish and surreal unreality while the harrowing effects of the war on these people inside the tank is the real focus on the film. The performances are uniformly excellent and perfectly convey people losing their minds and their individuality in the face of the dehumanising horror of modern warfare.
7. Four Lions. This year’s In The Loop, a funny comedy with a profoundly serious political message, here the intolerance and blindness behind both terrorist attacks and the responses to them. Like Christopher Morris’ earlier Brass Eye, the film mixes absurd humour with barbed social comment. However, it is predominantly a tragedy with some surprisingly moving scenes.
6. Made in Dagenham. An important issue-equal rights for women-is joined with a fluffy approach, making this film entertaining and enlightening in equal measure. This populist approach does not in any way trivialise the film’s central theme, instead making it an accessible story and one that everyone should see. The film does have its fair share of drama, but the emphasis is on the world being made into a better place and on some genuinely lovable performances.
5. We Are What We Are. A Mexican cannibal film that provides some thought-provoking political commentary, a intriguing subversion of a patriarchal family and an entertaining and funny look at the conventions of both art and mainstream cinema. A truly multi-faceted film, We Are What We Are can be enjoyed as exploitation nonsense aided by fantastic direction and a brilliant score, or provocative satire. All this and it’s a debut too.
4. Peacefire. A thrilling drama shot in Craigavon about a teenage boy searching for his own voice in a troubled area, rife with dangerous gangsters, unfeeling policemen and broken homes. It’s a moving drama first and foremost, as well as being a fantastic thriller and a great example of low budget filmmaking at its least restrained.
3. The Social Network. A witty and riveting account of two young adults getting in over their heads when they create a global phenomenon and of the soulless and intolerant world in which they have grown up. Social advancement may as well be a university course, brutal business tactics a close second and individuality is at the least essential. A tragedy of the dissolution of a friendship in the corporate world of backbiting and institutional misogyny. On top of this, Aaron Sorkin makes sure the whole thing is very funny and the young cast shine.
2. Another Year. A remarkable drama of a year in the life of some old friends, some happy and some very much not. Around aging but still loving couple Tom and Gerry float a variety of friends, colleagues and relatives all with their own troubles. Their gatherings are presented with brutal honesty and the characters are played with understanding and sympathy. The performances are typical of a Mike Leigh film, being both excellent and entirely believable. Many scenes in this equally sad and happy, though never sentimental, film may strike too close to your own home.
1. Winter’s Bone. A masterpiece of mood, this is a film with an almost constant sense of foreboding, presented as much from the desolate landscape than from the excellent performances. The best film of 2010 is harrowing without being gratuitous, bleak without being depressing and exciting without being frenetically over-edited. A film about the bonds of blood in a world without compassion, this is a thrilling example of neo-noir at its best.
Other notables include the surprisingly dark superhero homage Kick-Ass; the funny and pleasant Please Give; the flawed though dependably engrossing Woody Allen film You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, the intriguing though flawed adaptation The Killer Inside Me and the pretentious but daft Inception. Also, its not quite Loach and its not quite Leigh, but Cemetery Junction is a very likable drama all the same.
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