2010 / Tom Hooper > Founded on a screenplay by David Seidler filled with clever quips, The King’s Speech is an enjoyable if sometimes too conventional re-creation of British history. It does play on the softer side of things (leaving out much of Edward VIII’s pro-Nazi sentiments) while too often accentuating the melodrama. But what really makes the film stand out are its two central actors: Colin Firth (who will probably win the Oscar even if his isn’t the singular best performance of the year) and Geoffrey Rush play off each other so delightfully that all fundamental shortcomings of the film are easy to ignore.
Black Swan
2010 / Darren Aronofsky > The original script for Black Swan played out like a detective story, but Aronofsky is better than that. He didn’t want to approach paranoia driven by perfection in conventional plot techniques, especially after having made his directorial breakthrough on the topic in Pi. What he does here is more contained than his previous efforts, showing a kind of maturation: The first hour of the film works as a set-up (with incidental horror cues that create just the right amount of tension), and then he lets the game loose. The last third of the film builds in an incredible crescendo that culminates in Natalie Portman’s finest performance since Closer. Like Giulietta Masina’s face told a thousand stories at the end of Nights in Cabiria, Portman is able to evoke the motions of a transformation simply by looking into the camera. Overall, it’s a solid, controlled effort hampered by some shallow characterizations (such as Mila Kunis’s character as a cliched foil) that puts an unfair burden of the film’s success on its finale.
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
1983 / Nagisa Oshima > Oshima’s take on love and sexuality in In the Realm of the Senses is equally as unforgettable as what he does with war in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. The nuances of conflict have been touched upon in multiple ways, but there is something truly intimate here that doesn’t really strike you until the very last second. It’s easy to show the superficial nature of friendship for those on opposing sides, but Oshima manages to capture the whole gamut—from jealousy and hatred to love and respect—through rich cultural subtext and pointed camerawork. His exploration of the differences in mentality between the British prisoners and their Japanese captors is superlative to more heralded attempts such as The Bridge on the River Kwai.
Ryuichi Sakamoto’s soundtrack is haunting, though its electronic sensibilities can feel a bit dated at times. Still, the title track remains one of my favorite instrumentals ever. Trickiest, no doubt, is Sakamoto’s overacting which may have been caused by his mediocre grasp of English. (Sakamoto himself found his performance cringe-worthy.) On the other end, David Bowie picks up quite a bit of the slack opposite an incredible performance by Takeshi Kitano. In a film filled with memorable scenes, his last one takes the cake. It makes everything click at the end and confirms that you’ve seen something special.
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
2010 / Oliver Stone > The subject matter of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is inherently filled with political biases. So, imagine my surprise when Stone’s exploration of the financial crisis was considerably more restrained than expected from a man who’s chums with Hugo Chavez.
The film is unapologetically glossy: Everything from the cab drivers to how the markets work are polarized caricatures, but thankfully, the “bad guys” are kept specific. It ends up being more of a discussion of how society is at fault for the mess than specific Wall Street gurus. But as respectable this approach may be from Stone, it’s simply not a good film. Too much sentimentality, too many easy character reversals. Motivations are missing, and we eventually stop caring because of the many plotlines. Worst of all, Carey Mulligan is wasted on a two-dimensional supporting role where she’s basically told to switch on a smile, and then switch off to a tear.
Easy A
2010 / Will Gluck > Easy A is effectively a star vehicle for Emma Stone. She presents herself with just the right aura of the girl next door fantasy without crossing over to blatant Pussycat Girls territory to keep the film in the realm of possibility for the average teenager. But as enjoyable as her performance is, the script constantly tries—and fails—to break cliches, then relents to being generic. Still, Stone is the only reason you watch this. Her charisma will carry her far, far away from Superbad.
The Man from Nowhere
2010 / Lee Jeong-beom > Though the title hints at classic film noir, The Man from Nowhere is a clear-cut actioner with brutal and often exciting fight sequences mixed with overflowing emotional padding. Aside from a seemingly complex plot that has no real consequence, there are simply too many long shots with sorrow-filled melodies to take the film seriously. In retrospect, I’m convinced that the 6.2+ million tickets sold in its domestic market have been due to star Won Bin’s abs. But his glowing stomach aside, the film effectively works as a melodramatic version of Taken. There’s no doubt that if you could trim some of that sentimentality, the outcome would be far superior.
Boy
2010 / Taika Waititi > Though fatherly relations have been explored many times over the years in film, there’s a curse of over-sentimentality that’s consistently followed the topic. And sometimes it goes to the other extreme (as seen via Heath Ledger’s fantastic showing in Monster’s Ball). But in his follow-up to the uneven Eagle vs Shark, Waititi finds a quiet balance between tenderness and anger. Set in 1984 New Zealand, the post-Thriller Michael Jackson era is key in creating an atmosphere of naive hope that gives the film its foundation. In the titular role, James Rolleston shines as the Boy who finally gets to meet his father, revels in his initial presence before appreciating the consequences of his previous absence. This coming-of-age process is the movie’s central charm and also what makes it one of the year’s best under-the-radar experiences.
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Nowhere Boy
2009 / Sam Taylor-Wood > What’s most impressive about conceptual artist Taylor-Wood’s directorial debut is her ability to take the celebrity out of a teenage John Lennon. By the end of the film, his relationship with his family is of greater interest than his impending tales of success (though the hints are all over the place). Aaron Johnson, notable in the U.S. for his lead role in Kick-Ass, actually gets to show off his acting chops with a highly emotive portrayal of Lennon that’s hopefully indicative of better things to come. Also of note is the rich yet low-key performance by Kristin Scott Thomas who, having been neglected by the Academy for I’ve Loved You So Long, may actually get a much deserved nod.
Triple Tap
2010 / Derek Yee > Silliness abound, Triple Tap tries to be profound in ways that come off completely insulting. Whether we’re talking about its corporate fraud angle, which is overwrought with short-hand money siphoning techniques that would make even moderately experienced financial investors cringe, or looking at its overarching game of cops and robbers that spends more time explaining banal theories than actually building proper tension, Yee’s latest effort is mediocre at best. At worst, it’s easy to consider it one of the worst films of the year save the presence of the beautiful Li Bingbing and the increasingly charismatic Louis Koo. Was One Nite in Mongkok a fluke? Though I would hope not, there’s not much confidence in Yee’s future projects at this moment.
The Joneses
2010 / Derrick Borte > Conceptually, The Joneses is a brilliant satire with considerable contemporary relevance. However, its execution is surprisingly mundane and predictable to the point where it turns into a formulaic romantic dramedy. Worse yet may be its inherent hypocrisy of pitching products in the guise of being anti-consumerist, though that’s a sin that could have been excused if the lessons of excess the film was trying to impart were doled out efficiently. But instead, the manner is so hackneyed that it ends up being a somewhat uninspiring mess.