A few notes on my list first: no Pixar, no Spielberg, and no Clooney. All people or entities I usually rave about, but because of a sequel to a movie that nobody wanted, a film about a horse, and a barely passable directorial effort, my list remains devoid of these fellows/entities. You'll find a solid mix of film from action, reflexive, and even a couple rom-coms, a mix of intellectually challenging material and just some, plainly put, entertaining stuff. Just for kicks, I looked up the average of the box office grosses for the films and was thoroughly surprised that it was above 40 million collectively. Though some newer releases drag the average down, it's fairly telling of the aforementioned mix. So in the words of The Joker from The Dark Knight: "And here we go."
10. Friends with Benefits
A sense of irony girds the structure of this mid-Summer romcom, which is always a entertaining element to a film. Friends with Benefits understands its entry into the well entried lexicon of romantic comedies that choose to show how young, sexually attractive men and women can't be friends, but distracts the viewer long enough for the ride with the well-deserved digs at the films we all love. The result of which can either be infuriating or delightful depending on your sense of humor. A film so brazen in its derisiveness of the very films it resembles deserves a little credit for entertainment. Less interesting talent would make this film unbearable so thank the stars for Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis for their undeniable chemistry for making this film a cool little flick. By the end, it devolves into the kitschy yet sweet emotions it pokes fun at. I suppose the ending proves that we're all suckers for the Hollywood ending even though we will ridicule it anyway.
9. Crazy, Stupid, Love
Crazy, Stupid, Love, in some respects, is a perfec tbalance to Friend With Benefits: a movie so earnest and optimistic that it comes complete with the sage 13-year old's unwavering belief in the power of love and unrelenting allegiance to the idea of a soulmate. At the risk of oozing being saccharine and schmaultzy, CSL owns up to its willingness to believe in the idea of a soulmate, but argues the position with the real and vibrant characters needed to convince the audience. Take for instance Kevin Bacon's character as the mister of Julianne Moore's adulterous wife character. He's not a mustache-twirling idiot with no sense of remorse or heart; instead, he's a genuine guy looking for love like all the other characters in the film. A certain elegance with the characters is crucial to make a film like this play as realistically as it does which can only be attributed to the strength of the direction. One particular scene pushes the limits of suspension of belief, but that misstep aside, Crazy, Stupid, Love is considerably charming, filled with charming people with the naivete that love can do anything.
8. Moneyball
Moneyball is part biopic, part sports movie. The story of Billy Beane, a baseball general manager who concocted a revolutionary way of appraising talent in the old-minded early 2000 MLB league. Brad Pitt's performance is receiving quite a bit of love during the winter months for his confident, yet leery Billy Beane. As most film's tend to be, this performance may garner attention for the simple fact Pitt's on the bill, but his performance digs deep and delivers; his Beane reminds us of the sobering shortcomings that can eat away at you over time. Pitt brings the turmoil and heartache you'd expect, but hides it behind the charisma that made Billy Beane a man that could lead and make tough decisions. Jonah Hill is a delightful surprise, elevating material that could have easily been a one-note bit part. The dream team of Aaron Sorkin, Bennett Miller, and Brad Pitt do what's expected and a little bit more with this slightly depressing, but heartfelt biopic.
7. Young Adult
Reitman continues his obsession with characters who don't desire the change, but realizes the world kinda wants them to. In this film about a young adult writer who returns to her hometown, Theron gets a little trashy and a lot more c-wordy, if you catch my drift. I was lucky enough to see a Q&A with Reitman where he revealed his most common direction suggestions of differeing levels of c-wordiness. Jason Reitman's greatest talent is his ability to sell really dastardly characters as blood and life figures that you root for against your conscience. Theron brings the sense of entitlement often bequeathed to the popular kids and shows how much of a loser one can be for actually putting stock into it. The scenes are uneasy and discomforting, daring the audience to laugh, agree, or be genuinely offended by her actions. And the penultimate scene catapults this film into my countdown providing a steadfast reminder that deep down, no one wants to change.
6. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is one of those perfectly cinematic grand action flicks that glides along and doesn't get bogged down too much with certain things like backstory and exposition. While the truly great action films gives a nice mix of both, a film like Ghost Protocol pushes with such breakneck speed from set-piece to set-piece that you instantly just keep up. It's difficult to quantify entertainment value, but MP:GH has it. There's cool gadgets that defy logic, globetrotting from the Burj Khalifa to Mumbai, and villain's who are smart and ruthless enough to actually do what they plan to without grandstanding. Brad Bird was a perfect choice to continue the franchise, bringing the whimsy and the spy-like intrigue of The Incredibles with the live-action grandeur of a series like Mission Impossible. The world is cartoony and slick where anything is possible, but somehow he sells the blood and the sweat of the characters, showing them that the stakes are high enough. And let us all collectively thank Paula Patton for wearing the hell out of that dress.
5. Contagion
A film filled with so many heavy-weight stars tends to blind the audience, forteitting suspension of disbelief for the recognition of its talent. Contagion does an impressive job of shirking this commonality in a aberrant and defiant way. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, Contagion is a what-if thriller about a deadly virus that spreads across the globe. Soderbergh's careful interlaying of the stories makes this thriller so engrossing that the audience forgets the stars up there aren't really people. Soderbergh achieves this in a variety of ways, not the least of which through the careful "uglying" up of everyone on the screen. Also, in an early scene (the defiant and aberrant one I spoke of earlier). Somebody famous dies; and they don't just die; they really die. Such is the world that Soderbergh realizes with cold, distant hues and slender focus: anybody can get "got." He turns a lens to our most disturbing human habits, and reveals some ugly observations.
4. Shame
Sex. No drugs or rock and roll. Just sex, treated like a drug. Shame isn't erotic, sexy, or titillating. It's grim, disturbing and pitiable, all qualities that Fassbender and McQueen evoke from the material in a starkly realize and saddening way. This character study about a sex addict whose sister comes to visit and throws his own secrecies about his life utterly out of whack, focuses a majority of the time on the lonesomeness of addiction. No one coddles you for your problem because you don't let them know. And letting them know would be admitting that you have one. Fassbender's Brandon has the composure and even-handedness needed to fool everyone around him into believing his facade of sexual normalcy. And McQueen's direction divorces sex from emotion, but doesn't stop there. His camera never judges. It only emotes the intensity of his addiction and the weight that it casts on him. Combined, they create a film that you feel a little dirty going into, but a really depressed coming out of.
3. Hugo
Scorsese's first forray into the realm of children's pictures approaches carries a reflexive approach to the art of film. The film, adapted from Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabaret, follows , at least in part, George Melies who was a revered filmmaker. He and is credited with bringing the imagination and dreamlike qualities to cinema that, until his involvement, weren't thought of. So Scorsese's use of 3-D appropriately fleshes the material, experimenting with the possibilities of film. The true mark of a director lies in his ability to make the personal universal; In Hugo, Scorsese lenses the innocence of youth, the wonder, and the adventure and fits them into a clunky, regimented train station. As any film admirer would imagine, Scorsese's use of 3-D never devolves into kitsch, but engenders a feeling of youth within the audience. In a masterful use of the camera, one scene shows an imposing Sasha Baron Cohen's surly security cop inching closer and closer to your face forcing you to sink further and further in your seat as if chastised by his positioning alone. Hugo stands as a labor of love and a first application to the as yet barely tapped potential of 3-D.
2. Midnight in Paris
Woody Allen gets a bad reputation for making the same story over and over again. I respectfully disagree, preferring that he features similar people with circumstances that change. I believe his oeuvre features characters he knows, especially himself, and simply tries to tinker with them in his playbox of life. Midnight in Paris examines an untapped realm of nostalgia and romanticism in his history and provides the best entry into his filmography since Match Point. To say nothing of the location, the film is gorgeous: cinematographer Darius Khondji captures beautiful hues of amber, showing the warmth of summer and giving an elegaig atmosphere for the characters. The visual style combines with Allen's romantic protagonist to capture a literary paradise that any one would want to bask in. But it's not enough for a beautiful portrait, the painting has to show something not easily noticed by simply looking at it. Allen's work offers a rumination on the foolishness of nostalgia and the humanity in our pursuits of fool's errands.
1. The Tree of Life
Films can't offer answers, but they should offer questions. Meditations on the enormous questions of our existence can never be explained at 2 hours a time, nor should it. But what Tree of life provides is a thoughtful engagement of the questions it poses, simultaneously spanning across millions of years and curtailing it self into minute moments. Why does God take our loved ones? A grieving brother remembers his early life and seeks the answers to one of life's confounding predicaments. How do you make sense of a world where the good endure hardship and the bad are rewarded? Malick's film probes deeply into these matters and engages the medium in a truly arresting work. Glorious steadicam shots and natural light combine with an elliptical editing style to craft a challenging and provoking film that sticks with you long after the first viewing. This penetrating work creates an uncommon experience within the theater, and is a unique drama of epic proportions.
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