General Discussion : 2010s top twenty (two years in)

[djross]

A couple of years into the second decade of the 21st century and some good movies have emerged. Although I've only seen 89 films (all from 2010 or 2011), enough of them are good enough to make a list of the top 20 potentially worthwhile. Of course, the list will change dramatically as the rest of the decade unfolds. Nevertheless, here's the twenty best I've seen from this decade so far (score in brackets; in alphabetical order when scores are identical):

1. All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace (91)
Adam Curtis is the great documentary storyteller, conveyor of ideas by audiovisual means, and moralist of our times. This series ranges widely but always purposefully through material including Ayn Rand, Buckminster Fuller, Norbert Wiener, John Von Neumann, William Hamilton and many others, tied together by an investigation of mechanistic conceptions of life and cognitivist conceptions of human thinking and behaviour. Immensely pleasurable viewing.

2. Black Swan (91)
Aronofsky's first masterpiece poses the question of ballet itself, as a form of psychic and physical torture, as a symbolic and melodramatic medium, and as an artform demanding dangerous obsession and infinite control. These questions are posed by rethinking the kinematic relation of cinema and dance itself, taking the viewer inside the dancer's experience rather than "showing" choreography. Aronofsky is a risk-taker unafraid of pushing limits, and in this case he succeeds spectacularly.

3. Nostalgia for the Light (90)
An excellent movie and the best kind of cinematic essay.

4. Cave of Forgotten Dreams (85)
Very evocative presentation of the timescale of the human individuation process, and of the very long aesthetico-technical circuit unfurling from the cave paintings of the Paleolithic era to the 3D camera of Werner Herzog. The offhand reflections of the interviewees are often as interesting as their accounts of their scientific work and findings. Saw this in 2D. Also: http://www.screeningthepast.com/2011/08 ... -stiegler/

5. Certified Copy (85)
Beautiful and captivating. It is fascinating to see what Kiarostami does with his first European feature. There are some almost Rohmeresque elements, but movie still shows Kiarostami's singular style. Nobody can marry intellectual and emotional concerns in the way Kiarostami seems to achieve so effortlessly. Binoche is superb.

6. Pina (85)
Extremely well-done dance film and obituary. The very impressive and imaginative use of 3D really does enhance the viewer's sense of how corporeal dance is, and how visceral Bausch's choreography is, and in general makes it seem not only that this movie establishes new ground for the nexus of cinema and dance, but also suggests how much more can still be done in this field. Some remarkable choreography.

7. Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (80)
Remarkably successful attempt at portraying the extreme complexities of the situation while at the same time maintaining a meaningful story. Attempting social critique in the guise of a genre film has been done before, but very rarely this well. Even serves as an Iraq War metaphor...and all in the form of a sequel, too. The all-time ticket sales and box office record-holder in Brazil is an intellectual and sociological essay! Both his features and documentaries make Padilha a great director.

8. Greenberg (80)
Low-key, downbeat, indeed frequently uncomfortably awkward, but very honest, realistic and thoughtful character study that never stoops to convention and seems to be striving to interpret certain unfortunate directions the world appears to be heading in. Interesting to compare with the superficially similar "Two Lovers," which, while itself not without interest, is not in the same class as this effort. Only my second Baumbach, but he seems a very talented filmmaker. Excellent soundtrack.

9. Hugo (80)
Some clunkiness and schmaltz is more than made up for by a celebration of the magic of cinema that is also (in muted fashion, perhaps, that is, subtly) an investigation of the fabrication of dreams and its relation to the Unheimliche and to Spalanzani's (that is, Hoffmann's) Olimpia, and the relation of all this to the world's becoming a machine, such that behind the adoration of the cinematic fantastic can be detected hints of a coming global infernal. 3D at times impressive but distracting.

10. Inception (80)
Long, serious, bananas. That said, films about dreams are always also about that third area (of which cinema is an especially significant example, given the cinematic structure of consciousness itself), neither the internal world of the psyche nor the external "real" world. In fact, these first two areas are really composed by way of the third, and in the case of this movie, both thematizing and exemplifying these questions, this occurs via Welles, Kubrick, Tarkovsky, James Bond, Memento et al.

11. Secrets of the Tribe (80)
Extremely interesting documentary about a crisis in anthropology, a field that has been in more or less perpetual crisis from the beginning, for reasons that animate the specific problems emerging here. The willingness of the protagonists to continue their war means that the filmmaker can hold back and simply allow viewers to enjoy the spectacle of each of the players stabbing one another and hanging themselves. Padilha is a director who deserves to be better known.

12. The Social Network (80)
Very well done and mostly very enjoyable exploration of the way in which so-called social networks may in fact be functioning anti-socially. Although in the guise of a Shakespearean (or Charles Foster Kanean) tragedy for the digital age, this is as much a history and a genealogy of an important aspect of this age itself. Easily this director's best work to date.

13. Take Shelter (80)
Very well-done and interesting film, that both creates great tension and handles its themes with subtlety and nuance. It is more than either a psychological and sociological account of mental illness, or a generic apocalyptic tale. Rather, it is an investigation of contemporary collective feelings of anxiety and foreboding, and it takes these feelings as genuine questions, rather than as either evidence of insanity or signs of prophetic truth. The first work I have seen by a promising director.

14. The Tree of Life (80)
Ambitious, complex, and with numerous remarkable elements, but it seems less surefooted than the director's previous work. Where the earlier films energetically blended visual and aural mastery with intellectual concerns that utterly recontextualize the narrative foundations, here the story and characters are rather amorphous and the atmosphere persistently trancelike. The religiosity is at times too overt, and the symbolism too transparent, for this viewer's tastes. Another viewing is needed.

15. Animal Kingdom (75)
Very tense, with an air of menace throughout, excellent performances, photography, and soundtrack. A very impressive directorial debut.

16. David Attenborough's First Life (75)
Very interesting and well-done series that does not quite do what it says in the title, since it is not in fact concerned with the first origins of life, but instead begins with more complex lifeforms. Even so, there is much to interest non-specialist viewers, and it probably contains greater scientific content than some of Attenborough's more celebrated series that have a greater emphasis on photographing the living.

17. Enter the Void (75)
Cinema as dream. Nobody tries harder than Noé to ask, not what cinema is, but what it could become. His most ambitious venture to date, and one of the most daring and inventive movies of all time, but it is not without problems (including, for example, some questionable casting). Still, there are numerous remarkable aspects and sequences. It is, therefore, very difficult to attach a numerical value to the film. First viewing should be nowhere other than at a well-equipped large-screen cinema.

18. Inside Job (75)
Admirably clear summary account of the criminal greed of the financial sector. This kind of historical narrative should be supplemented by a more systematic theoretical approach that penetrates beyond the relation between politics, economics and individual, corporate AND ACADEMIC greed and corruption, to interpret these through the spectrum of an analysis and critique conducted at the level of the psycho-socially destructive tendencies afflicting the current global technico-industrial model.

19. Project Nim (75)
Very interesting documentary that raises complex questions on a number of levels. The film itself appears heavily influenced by the style of Errol Morris, the various characters are all interesting, and the tale of Nim is moving and sad. The scientific significance remains ambiguous.

20. The Skin I Live In (75)
Superb production values and a complex presentation of interesting themes make this melodrama about transformation and reinvention yet further confirmation that Almodóvar is the contemporary director who has most transformed and reinvented himself, from a talented but rather sensationalist perpetrator of farces in the 20th century to the masterful cinematic craftsman he has become in the 21st (well the change may have taken place in 1999 with "All About My Mother," but you get my point).

[FitFortDanga]

1. The Turin Horse (2011) 97
2. The Tree of Life (2011) 96
3. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010) 93
4. Louis C.K.: Hilarious (2010) 92
5. Meek's Cutoff (2010) 91
6. And Everything Is Going Fine (2010) 91
7. The Skin I Live In (2011) 90
8. The Tillman Story (2010) 89
9. True Grit (2010) 87
10. Super 8 (2011) 87
11. The Arbor (2010) 86
12. The Social Network (2010) 86
13. Enter the Void (2010) 85
13. Another Year (2010) 85
14. Dogtooth (2010) 85
15. The Illusionist (2010) 85
16. Never Let Me Go (2010) 85
17. Nostalgia for the Light (2010) 85
18. The King's Speech (2010) 85
19. Marwencol (2010) 84
20. The Trip (2010) 84

Just missed the cut (score of 83): Blue Valentine, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Four Lions, The Kid With a Bike, Take Shelter

[mwgerb]

I haven't seen nearly enough movies in the decade yet, so I imagine this will change fairly significantly.

T10:
1. Black Swan
2. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

T9:
3. Tree of Life
4. Toy Story 3
5. Inception
6. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
7. Shutter Island

T8:
8. Hugo
9. 50/50
10. Kick Ass
11. The Artist
12. Let Me In
13. Into The Abyss
14. The American
15. The Social Network
16. The King's Speeech
17. Contagion

T7:
18. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
19. Four Lions
20. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt 2

Movies in my Netflix Instant Queue that have good odds of making this list: Senna, Enter the Void, Life in a Day, The Fighter, 13 Assassins, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Restrepo

[SirStuckey]

95 - Scott Pilgrim vs. The World - Edgar Wright is the man and successfully manages to fit a hell of a lot in a relatively short period of time.
95 - Beginners - I related with Ewan McGregor's character more than I have with any other character in a movie ever (not because my dad came out late in his life, more of his overall attitude and relationships with people)
95 - Toy Story 3 - Beautiful and emotional ending to arguably the greatest trilogy ever.
95 - Midnight in Paris - Woody's funnest movie in years.

90 - Exit Through the Gift Shop - Probably my favorite documentary ever. Banksy manages to show both the importance and hypocrisy of art.
90 - The Social Network - Great performances with a sharp and engaging script. Really should have won best picture.
90 - Drive - Best opening scene in a movie so far in the 2010s and the movie I've reminisced on most in quite some time.
90 - Kick-Ass - Whenever a movie gives Nicolas Cage a good role that people appreciate it's a winner in my book.
90 - Warrior - Similar in a lot of ways to The Fighter and yet way better while not getting a fraction of the respect.
90 - The Muppets - Made me feel like a kid again. Great fun.
90 - Rise of the Planet of the Apes - This is what summer blockbusters should be: great looking, loads of fun, and smarter than most of the popcorn flicks that are released these days.

85 - Take Shelter - Not sure a mental health issue or marriage has been shown as well into a movie.
85 - Four Lions - Ballsy, unique, and hilarious. All the things comedies should strive to be.
85 - 13 Assassins - Insane third act action wise.
85 - How To Train Your Dragon - I like to animation companies not named Pixar put out an impressive film.
85 - 127 Hours - It's impressive when a movie is as gripping as this when I know exactly how it ends.
85 - Troll Hunter - Loved it. Probably the best "found footage genre" film that actually made sense when they continued to film regardless of how high the stakes got.
85 - Goon - Funny, sweet, and entertaining. Nailed the ever important locker room scenes that elevate sport movies to the next level.
85 - The Grey - Very intense survival movie with maybe the best plane crash ever represented on film. Liam Neeson's is killing it as the older action star.

[movieboy]

Only seen a total of 32 movies from 2010 & 2011

Tier 10 Films
Inception (2010) 87
Shutter Island (2010) 75

Tier 9 Films
Due Date (2010) 74
Valentine's Day (2010) 73
The Fighter (2010) 72
Kick-Ass (2010) 72
The Social Network (2010) 72

Tier 8 Films
Little Fockers (2010) 71
Source Code (2011) 71

Tier 7 Films
Going the Distance (2010) 70
Grown Ups (2010) 70
Devil (2010) 69

Tier 6 Films
How Do You Know (2010) 68
Larry Crowne (2011) 68
The Other Guys (2010) 68

Tier 5 Films
The Adjustment Bureau (2011) 67
Dinner for Schmucks (2010) 67
Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) 67
Just Go with It (2011) 67
No Strings Attached (2011) 67

[theficionado]

1. Dogtooth
2. Certified Copy
3. Drive
4. Black Swan
5. The Tree of Life
6. Into Eternity
7. Meek's Cutoff
8. The Arbor
9. Poetry
10. You Are All Captains
11. ¡Vivan las Antipodas!
12. I Saw the Devil
13. Marwencol
14. The Social Network
15. I'm Still Here
16. Uncle Boonmee
17. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
18. We Need to Talk about Kevin
19. And Everything Is Going Fine
20. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Damn fine list. So many good docs.

[cameron326]

In some kind of order:

The King's Speech
50/50
Black Swan
Never Let Me Go
Drive
Midnight in Paris
The Town
Blue Valentine
The Muppets
The Grey
The Kids Are All Right
127 Hours
The Social Network
Take Shelter
Thor
Toy Story 3
The Artist
Shutter Island
Horrible Bosses
Hugo

[TheDenizen]

Liam Neeson is killing it as the older action star.

Amen, brother.

[Kojiless]

Entertainment rules my 2010s! Yeah, Hobo with a Shotgun is my favorite movie of this decade. Sue me.
The surprise so far would have to be Dogtooth. That movie is seriously f'd up.

Hobo with a Shotgun (2011) 95
Drive (2011) 90
Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (2010) 88
True Grit (2010) 86
Meek's Cutoff (2010) 85
Inception (2010) 84
The Woman (2011) 84
Stake Land (2011) 82
Valhalla Rising (2010) 82
Warrior (2011) 82
50/50 (2011) 80
Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey (2011) 80
Dogtooth (2010) 80
Four Lions (2010) 80
The Ides of March (2011) 80
Machete (2010) 80
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace (2011) 79
Attack the Block (2011) 79
Centurion (2010) 79
Ironclad (2011) 79

[Luna6ix]

most of these are pretty mainstream, i haven't had much opportunity to watch many obscure movies made in recent years.


1. 50/50 91
2. the girl with the dragon tattoo 89
3. toy story 3 88
4. true grit 88
5. green zone 86
6. hesher 86
7. shutter island 86
8. the book of eli 85
9. inception 85
10. knight and day 85
11. tucker & dale vs. evil 85
12. arthur 84
13. easy a 84
14. hanna 83
15. how to train your dragon 83
16. the killer inside me 83
17. rango 83
18. the social network 83
19. the thing 83
20. tron: legacy 83