Movie Nerd: My Favorite Films of 2010 (That I've Seen So Far...)

Hello my faithful readers! Welcome to my soon-to-been monthly installment of Movie Nerd! The plan: once I month, I, your Blogger Extraordinaire, will rant, wax poetic, blather, gush, drone, what-have-you about movies - for your benefit! Lucky you. My love of movies is well documented, both on this blog and in my general life. I love them. Old movies, new movies, good ones, bad ones (ok, well...not bad ones) - I can't help myself. If I won a bagillion dollars and never had to actually work a day in my life, I would probably just watch movies all day. After I traveled the world. And snuggled a bunch of puppies. And solved world hunger. And written something of consequence. And paid someone to follow Sarah Palin around all day and make this noise constantly.

...............Ok so I wouldn't JUST watch movies. But it'd take up a fair amount of time.

Alright - back to the issue at hand. So, I decided that for my first official edition of Movie Nerd, and in honor of the upcoming Oscars, that I'd quickly discuss my favorite films of the year. Keep in mind, there are several (read: many) movies that I didn't get a chance to see yet - The Fighter, True Grit, 127 Hours, Blue Valentine, Winter's Bone...not even Harry Potter! Needless to say, I need to pick up my game. Well, here they are - in no particular order, my favorite movies of 2010!

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Ok, I know that I said that these would be in no particular order, but I cannot help myself. This is my number one. I thought this movie was stunningly genius. Natalie Portman was incredible and visceral, and the writing and cinematography were both equally impressive. I thought that the film explored themes of the fragmentation of self (the mirrors were GD brilliant) and self-destruction and deftly handled the delicate nature of Nina's highly damaged and stunted (physically, emotionally, psychologically and, most importantly sexually) personality. Her relationship with her mother is sick, but fascinating at a critical level - and her (spoiler alert: ultimately fatal) rebellion against her and discovery of her burgeoning (if not past-due) sexuality are key to the film (guys, I wasn't kidding when I called this installment Movie Nerd). Black Swan was directed by Aronofsky, the same guy who did Requiem For a Dream, a movie that you most likely flinch at the mention of if you've seen it - and I think the same is true for those who've seen Black Swan. Aronofsky seems to have a penchant for movies that deal with psychophysiological festering and a shattering or fragmentation of the mind, and this is present in both films, but honestly (and no offense to Jared Leto or Ms. Jennifer Connelly), the acting in Black Swan was just mind-blowing. Ok. I'll reel it in. Basically, if you haven't seen it - you should. The end.

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Exit Through The Gift Shop is a really smart, very funny movie?documentary?mockumentary? about arguably the most controversial genre of modern art - street art. Banksy, the genius godfather of street art and director of the film has befuddled us all once more. Exit is (allegedly) about French-born, L.A. resident Thierry Guetta and how he (allegedly) became Mr. Brainwash, a "famous" "artist" overnight. The film also has a fair amount of speculation and controversy surrounding it - is it real? Is it fake? But what it deals with most is that nagging question: what is art? Is real art able to exist in the face of commodification?

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Ok, I honestly don't even think I have to justify myself here. If you didn't cry at this movie you are a heartless, soulless succubus from the bowels of Hell. If your heart didn't melt at the beauty and bittersweetness of true friendship, then you are a sad, strange little man. And you have my pity. And- fine. ok. Maybe I, a recently graduated human thrust into the world of grownups, found something really touching and on point about how Toy Story 3 dealt with setting childish things aside.

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Ok, I'm a little biased. I love Colin Firth. He can do no wrong in my mind. That face. That sweater-wearing ability. That inimitable talent. Now, add to the pot: Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham-Carter (or as my mom called her - Helen Baumgarter......swing and a miss, Mum), excellent writing and a truly inspiring and moving story, and you have one of the year's best movies. For those who haven't heard, The King's Speech chronicles the relationship that developed between King George VI and his speech therapist, Aussie "Dr." Lionel Logue. But more than the tale of an unlikely friendship, the movie explores the story of a kind and loving father and husband, a somewhat bullied brother, and a secretly strong man thrust into and ultimately overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds. Never mind the fact that it was actually quite funny at times, had an adorable bird-themed bedtime story, several impressive strings of glorious swears, and the fact that Colin Firth, whilst discussing the film, claimed that they worked hard to make it so that it didn't end up "Crocodile Dundee meets Lord Snooty". Like I said - I love him.

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Ah, fak yarh I'm such a suckah farh an awthentic Bahston moovie. Who would've known that Ben Affleck was such a legit directah? If you can decipher the first sentence, then chances are, you grew up in and/or around Boston, like me. I was very impressed with the acting*, with Renner (above) impressing more than the others. It was one of those movies that handled action with the enthusiasm of someone who uses said action to further the plot (does that make sense? no? Oh well...). Although, I must say - I did get reeal anxious during the North End chase sequence. There are way too many old Italian ladies shuffling around in real life and I kept expecting them to run one over. It's only a movie, it's only a movie, it's only a movie.

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What to say about The Social Network. For starters, the trailer was the bomb dot com. Jesse Eisenberg was killer. Andrew Garfield was soooo underrated (plus he is super adorable). I am putting BIG (proverbial) money on this movie cleaning up at the Oscars. Smartly written, controversial and relevant, this is definitely going to be one of those movies that people will keep talking about for a very long time.**

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Alright, guys - last one. INCEPTION. C'mon. This was a smart ass movie. Mind bending, stylish, very well-acted - this was one of those movies that managed to straddle the gap between artistic intention and box-office success. Ok, yes - I loves me my Leo, my JGL, my Tom Hardy and Marion - but far and away the star of this movie (the one you don't see) was Christopher Nolan. This guy has directed some of my favorite films of all time (Dark Knight, Memento) and let's face it - brother's got talent! I think one of my favorite aspects of his signature films is the fact that where he can, he opts to avoid CGI. It gives everything a much more gritty feel, and it allows you to stay in the film as opposed to stopping and going "Huh. That's not real..." (like I usually do).**


So, there you have it my friends! Let me know if you liked/disliked any of these - or if you know of any movies that I didn't list before that I should add to my list to see!

*Blake Lively was miserable.

** These two movies have both inspired AWESOME parodies by the same people, Atomic Productions: The Brocial Network and Inebriation