We're back!
And whilst many of you might’ve been slurping down egg nog
and oogling your attractive second cousin, I’ve rededicated
myself to the viewing of films. I ended up with a
semi-impressive record 76 films in the theater last year and
let me tell you, the way I’m ramping up to attack the
cinematic world of 2011, 76 is going to look like child’s
play.
Yet before I can get to lavishing praise on the quality
works of 2011, I need to get my thoughts on the final few of
2010 down on paper. Thus, in a paragraph or less, my
thoughts on the final few pics of 2010.
Blue Valentine
(d.
Derek Cianfrance)
Handily the best film of the entire year. Much has been
written by this point about the MPAA’s dastardly attempts to
smear this film with an NC-17 rating. The Weinsteins truly
went to bat for the picture and now you, you lucky bastards,
have the opportunity to writhe in discomfort at this
brilliant portrayal of a relationship’s beginning ... and
end. Derek Cianfrance, fresh out of the gate on this one,
used a handful of true-to-life acting techniques to grant
two very talented actors (Ryan Gosling and Michelle
Williams) some of the most honest characters of their short
careers. From start to finish this film will wrap a meaty
paw around your heart and there will be no letting go for
its entire running time. If this doesn’t prove Ryan Gosling
to be the actor of his generation, I don’t know if we’re
looking at the same actor. Sad, stunning, intimate - get out
there right fucking now and see this. I’d say bring a loved
one, but double-devastation might just be too much.
True Grit
(d. The Coen
Brothers)
I was worried about this one. I’d read interviews stating
that this was the first true "family film" that the
Brother’s Coen had produced. That it was a Coen Brother’s
film you could bring your grandmother to. It featured a
child actor in a prominent role. So much was going against
it. But you always, always have to trust the Coen’s. True
Grit, the story of Mattie Ross (Hallie Steinfeld) and
her quest to avenge her father with the help of drunken U.S.
Marshall Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges in another iconic
performance), is an absolute joy to watch. A meandering tale
of the redemption we all seek in some form or another, this
film is pitch-perfect all the way across the board. Every
character seems pulled from some quirky reality that only
the Coen’s have access to, and the narrative arc of the
story lolls along in the off-kilter way the Coen’s films so
often do. Hallie Steinfeld is a revelation and Matt Damon’s
LaBeouf is one of great characters of any Western ever. Go
see Blue Valentine and then pull a double-feature
sneak and head on over to True Grit.
Rabbit Hole
(d. John
Cameron Mitchell)
John Cameron Mitchell is best known for his gender-bending
indie films (Hedwig and The Angry Inch, Shortbus)
and a quiet drama about the loss of a child seemed far
fetched. If anything Rabbit Hole is too quiet of a
film though. Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart star as two
parents seeking respite from the crushing grief of a dead
child in any way they can. The film, based on a play, is
almost entirely about the two leads performances, and both
are stunning. The way in which Eckhart is able to bounce
from sad and loving husband to the peaks of stunned rage
choked me up numerous times, and Kidman’s closed off mourner
is a pot-boiler of repressed emotion. Mitchell does an
excellent job of cutting back his baroque tendencies and
allowing the film to focus on the emotional output of his
two fantastic main actors.
- Noah Sanders
-
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