January 25, 2011

Best Films of 2010



I'm not exactly sure when Kari and I started going to the movies. There was a time, early in our partnership, when we barely saw a few movies in the theater a year. Maybe it was because the movies we did drop the cash on were films like Just Married, Ashton Kutcher's epic masterpiece about opposites falling in love and honeymooning in Europe. But somewhere in Australia, in our loneliness and need to escape, going to the movies became a part of our lives. While we saw almost anything on our weekly Friday day off, it was in Sydney when we first started going to the arthouse theater for films that would eventually land on the Oscar list. I suppose this is when we really fell in love with film. And thus far, six years after boarding a plane and moving back home, we're still walking down the street to the movies. Thanks to the fact that we live with our friends and can monitor sit, we managed to see 27 movies in the theater in 2010, including most of the this morning's Oscar nominations. Here are my personal favorites (winners in bold).

BEST PICTURE:

The Kids Are All Right
Cyrus
The Social Network
The Kings Speech
Shutter Island
127 Hours
Winter's Bone

BEST ACTRESS:

Juliane Moore [The Kids Are All Right]
Natalie Portman [Black Swan]
Leslie Manville [Another Year]
Helena Bonham Carter [The Kings Speech]
Annette Bening [The Kids Are All Right]
Jennifer Lawrence [Winter's Bone

BEST ACTOR:

Leonardo Dicaprio [Shutter Island]
James Franco [127 Hours] [lead actor]
Christian Bale [The Fighter] [supporting actor]
Barry Pepper [True Grit]
Colin Firth [The Kings Speech]
John Hawkes [Winter's Bone]
Andrew Garfield [The Social Network]
Geoffrey Rush [The Kings Speech]
Jackie Earle Haley [Shutter Island]

BEST DIRECTOR:

Danny Boyle [127 Hours]
David Fincher [The Social Network]
Martin Scorcese [Shutter Island]
Tom Hooper [The Kings Speech]
Christopher Nolan [Inception]
Darren Aronofsky [Black Swan]

BEST SCREENPLAY:

The Social Network [Aaron Sorkin]
The Kings Speech [David Seidler]
127 Hours [Danny Boyle]
The Kids Are All Right [Stuart Blumberg]
Cyrus [Duplass Brothers]
Winter's Bone [Debra Granik]
Shutter Island [Laeta Kalogridis]

In the end, my favorite movie of the year was The King's Speech. Between the performances, directing, writing and cinematography, this film was the clear winner for me. The most fun I had at the movies was the Duplass Brothers', Cyrus, which made me laugh as much as any other movie this year (other favorite comedies included The Other Guys and Kick Ass). The biggest snub of the year - and I still can't believe it's not being mentioned - is Shutter Island. Maybe it was the early release, or the fact that Leo and Mr. Scorcese ALWAYS get nominated, but either way, I LOVED this film. The scene at the end still gives me goosebumps. "Which would be worse, to live as a monster or to die as a good man?"

5 comments:

Travis Dewys said...

Totally agree about Shutter Island. I bring up this film often in conversation, and most the people I talk to, havent even watch it. Great film indeed.

Natalie said...

I was surprised how much I loved Shutter Island. I watched it late one night at our family cabin in Northern Wisconsin, curled up on the couch with Brandon's cousin expecting something very different. It was a powerful and engaging film that is certainly worth watching!

Cece Hekman said...

completely agree with your favorite film. Kings Speech was epic.

thanks for sharing.

-Cece

Amanda Callen said...

Yes, yes! Brad and I liked Shutter Island better than Inception. The Oscars roll around and I always make my list of movies to see when they come out on DVD. :) There are some AMAZING ones this year. PS. congrats on the new little one on the way!!! Was so happy for you guys when Jamie & Clint shared your news with us.

Josh Jackson said...

I'm glad everyone agrees regarding Shutter Island! It's nice to know others think it was Oscar worthy!

Amanda - thanks! We are getting closer now to number 2. :) And lucky you, there are some amazing films to see this year!

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