Rob's Top ten of 2010

1. "BLACK SWAN" Aronofsky wins my top prizes in his last two films. High praise.

2. "INCENDIES" An international superfilm shouldve gotten even higher praise.

3. "BLUE VALENTINE" Great and modivational filmmaking and ACTING.

4. "LES AMOURS IMAGINAIRES" Dolan's second film is as strong as his first.

5. "127 HOURS" Modivation, inspiration and Boyle and Franco.

6. " INCEPTION" Nolan knows how to make blockbuster films into great films.

7. "THE SOCIAL NETWORK" A perfect film about this generation. No flaws.

8. "ANOTHER YEAR" Mike Leigh is a god of filmmaking. What an original film.

9. "THE FIGHTER" Great work by everyone involved. Solid and strong performances.

10. "TRUE GRIT" When will the Coen's make something below great? Never!

Rob's Nominees 2010 films

Best Picture

127 Hours
Black Swan
Blue Valentine
Incendies
Inception
Les Amours Imaginaires
Winner: BLACK SWAN

Best Director

Darren Aronofsky, "Black Swan"
Danny Boyle, "127 Hours"
Xavier Dolan, "Les Amours Imaginaires"
David Fincher, "The Social Network"
Christopher Nolan, "Inception"
Denis Villeneuve, "Inendies"
Winner: DARREN ARONOFSKY

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges, "True Grit"
Jesse Eisenberg, "The Social Network"
Colin Firth, "The King's Speech"
James Franco, "127 Hours"
Ryan Gosling, "Blue Valentine"
Winner: JESSE EISENBERG

Best Actress

Lubna Azabal, "Incendies"
Annette Bening, "The Kids Are All Right"
Monia Chokri, "Les Amours Imaginaires"
Natalie Portman, "Black Swan"
Michelle Williams, "Blue Valentine"
Winner: NATALIE PORTMAN

Best Suuporting Actor

Christian Bale. "The Fighter"
Vincent Cassell, "Black Swan"
John Hawkes, "Winter's Bone"
Andrew Garfield, "The Social Network"
Jeremy Renner. "The Town"
Winner: CHRISTIAN BALE

Best Supporting Actress

Mila Kunis, "Black Swan"
Melissa Leo, "The Fighter"
Lesley Manville, "Another Year"
Ruth Sheen, "Another Year"
Hailee Steinfeld, "True Grit"
Winner: LESLEY MANVILLE


Best Screenplay

Black Swan
Blue Valentine
Incendies
Les Amours Imaginaires
The Social Network
Winner: BLACK SWAN

Blue Valentine

This is a great film here by Derek Cianfrance, done with an intense purity and honesty few films explore. The film is about a regular couple, living their lives with imperfections, love and eventually: heartbreak. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are flawless in this film and they show their unique love of the craft of acting. This is one of those rare films that transcend film and documentary and just tells a real and tragic story in a beautiful way. Great filmmaking and it only took 12 years to make. Even though Gosling performs at an elite level, Michelle Williams is perfect and she sends the audiences some great cinematic moments once again. Perfectly original film here.

Grade: A-

Black Swan

This is one of the best films i have ever seen and sits atop of my list for the best of 2010. Darren Aronosky once again proves to be a revolutional and awe-inspiring filmmaker. I believe this is his best work yet and i have extreme high praise for The Wrestler. He really knows how to mirror a culture and all of its ins and outs(in this film: ballerina dance). The film mirrors the plot of a classic ballet "Swan Lake" in which its plot has a man, who is in love with a white swan, then gets mesmerized by a black swan and that black swan overpowers the white swan to suicide. The same juxtaposition is seen in Natalie Portman's perfect and mesmerizing role as Nina. Nina is a workhouse, moral, daughter to proud mother, who wants nothing but success(White Swan) but finds out that the only way for her to get that success is to turn into this immoral, jealous, fame-hungry competitive diva(Black Swan) and her inner battles between good and evil is the same battle as the popular ballet. She is coerced into a black swan mentality by her understudy and her ballet producer, both played wonderfully by Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel.

This is truly a masterpiece in intelligent filmmaking and i have a feeling that their wont be any better that Aronofsky, who painfully structures the audience to see what he wants and makes them completely uncomfortable with what they are seeing(this swan's demise). Although the film has great supporting roles, Natalie Portman shines and haunts us as Nina. She is perfect and this may be one of the best leading actress performances of all time. She easily plays the white and black swan perfectly in this role, just as her director(Cassel and Aronosky) would dream of.

Perfect, intense and magical film here. One of the best in a while. I was mesmerized.

Grade: A+/A

The Fighter

Great film here by David O. Russell who gets the most out of actors Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Melissa Leo. All perform at very high levels. The film is about a family and its boxing lifestyle and its Boston lifestyle. It is about community and who one decides to involve in that community. The film has little to do with boxing and all to do with relationships in one's life. Great acting, especially by Bale, Adams and Leo highlights a film dedicated to character and the limitless abilities of their personalities. A truly inspiring film but has some resonances to classic boxing films.

Grade: A-

127 Hours

Revolutionary filmmaking by Danny Boyle here. He makes a simple struggle into a story about life and death and the tragedy in-between. The film is about a man who gets stuck in the middle of nowhere. The film is about much more than this...its about a struggle to survive with only yourself and your own means. Its a story of triumph and the will of a person. Great work by James Franco who makes this "regular" guy into someone spectacular, and believable and understandable. One of the top ten of the year, i believe.

Grade: A/A-

Incendies

Terrific film here by brilliant french-canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve. Quebec film is alive with such great talents like Villeneuve, Denys Arcard, Xavier Dolan and Jean-Marc Vallee. This film here is about a family's discovery of a past, which has created them. The past makes us all, and a newly discovered past, can change who we are in an instant. Villeneuve shines through by exploring two children's exploration into their mothers life in Palestine and they find out that who they are is dependent on the life of their mother and the brutality and hardships of her early life. The audience is extremely intrigued by this family life. Great performances by everyone involved.

Grade: A

The Town

This is another strong film here by Ben Affleck who seems to know how to make films. The film is about a couple of Charlestown, Mass robbers who are extremely efficient and intelligent. Jeremy Renner plays a no-nonsense robber who is very workman-like and eliminates personal from business. Affleck plays an ethical robber, who shows more of his human characteristics and falls in love with an underrated Rebecca Hall. Jon Hamm plays an FBI agent and shows solid work and Blake Lively is also solid as a street woman. The film is true to its characters, as some robbers are ethical and some less. Good work....nothing stands out too much here, even if Renner is very solid.

Grade: B/B+

Inception

Great, mesmerizing, revolutionary, and effortless work here by Christopher Nolan, who is a huge star in filmmaking. This film is about an imaginary world, where our subcontious could be manipulated and influenced, for either personal, or monetary gain. What would you do if you were able to control someone's mind by gaining entry into their dreams? This might be the best script of the year and Nolan should get consideration for a best director prize. A really great film here. The cast consists of Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Caine, etc....No one really stands out but its a great ensemble work. Nolan must and better get nominations for screenplay and direction.

Grade: A/A-

Les Amours Imaginaires(Heartbeats)

Another intensely brilliant film here by Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan. He is taking over Quebec cinema and this film proves his power. The film is(like its title) about "imaginary love" that people cling to as its almighty non-reality. Two characters(Dolan and a GREAT performance by Monia Chokri) are both in love, passion, dissoluttion with the young Niels Schneider and their "imaginary love" is only witnessed by them. This is a great film and it takes a topic and makes it real, yet situational.......epic and timeless about the perception and feeling of love and how it never really gets their. If more people would watch Dolan's work, he would get more recognition. Powerful work again.

Grade: A/A-

The Kids are All Right

Really strong film here about family and family relations(whether straight or gay). This film is about a lesbian couple and their family. They live a normal, somewhat-ordinary life as they live a post-modern family life....until the sperm doaner comes back into the picture and tests these people's post-modern family life, without ultimate succession. Great work here by Bening, Moore and Ruffalo, who are all solid.

Grade: B

Awards for Decade (2000-2009)

Best Picture: MILLION DOLLAR BABY RU:Mystic River

Best Director: Clint Eastwood, "Million Dollar Baby" RU Clint Eastwood, "Mystic River"

Best Actor: PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN, "Capote". RU: Sean Penn, "Mystic River"

Best Actress: HILARY SWANK, "Million Dollar Baby". RU: Halle Berry, "Monster's Ball"

Best Supp. Actor: MORGAN FREEMAN, "Million Dollar Baby". RU: Christoph Waltz, "Inglorious Basterds"

Best Supp. Actress: CATE BLANCHETT, "The Aviator" RU: Marisa Tomei, "In The Bedroom"

Best Screenplay: PAUL HAGGIS, "Million Dollar Baby". RU: Brian Helgeland, "Mystic River"

Top Ten Films of the Decade (2000-2009)

1. MILLION DOLLAR BABY

2. MYSTIC RIVER

3. SIDEWAYS

4. LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

5. THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES

6. ELEPHANT

7. REQUIEM FOR A DREAM

8. CAPOTE

9. THE WRESTLER

10. LOST IN TRANSLATION

Close to making the cut: Pan's Labyrinth, Before Sunset, Atonement, Rachel Getting Married, Mulholland Drive, The Visitor, Inglorious Basterds, Garden State, Doubt, Far From Heaven, The Hours, Traffic, In The Bedroom, The Barbarian Invasions

Official Top Ten of 2009

1. "Inglorious Basterds": Tarranatino has a new masterpiece.

2. "The Hurt Locker": This film is flawless and effective. Great filmmaking.

3. "I Killed My Mother". Great film here by 18yr old Montreal filmmaker.

4. "Avatar". This fantasy film is pure gold even if its not my fav. genre.

5. "(500) Days of Summer": One of thos great innovations

6. "Precious" Great little movie here that the performances stand out.

7. "The Maid": Wow, what a great little movie here. Very underrated.

8. "Brothers": Really strong film here and Maguire is brilliant here.

9. "The Messenger": Very underrated movie here. Morton is astounding.

10. "Julie and Julia": Not a great film but it did make top ten in weak year.