10 Great Movies of 2010 That Will Not Be Recognized by the Academy
5. White Material
Anytime celebrated French filmmaker Claire Denis makes a movie, you should pay attention. And if it stars the lovely, talented (though not at texting), Isabelle Huppert, you should pay double. Denis' tale of a woman's fight to save her plantation after the collapse of colonialism in Africa is both subtle and powerful, and easily stands up to her best work.
4. The Ghost Writer
Roman Polanski's latest was a great surprise -- a suspenseful, sophisticated and hilarious thriller that felt more mainstream than any of Polanski's work in years, and yet more personal, too. Maybe the ending felt predictable, but I maintain that no living director would have staged it with the same stylish, deadpan flair as Polanski. The same can be said about the rest of the film, which is what elevates it above its source's airport-novel trappings.
3. Daddy Longlegs
There were a few raised eyebrows when Ronald Bronstein beat out Winter's Bone favorite Jennifer Lawrence at the Gotham Awards. But while Lawrence was superb, Bronstein deserves any recognition he gets for his heartwarming and simultaneously cringe-inducing portrayal of a dad who only gets to see his children for two weeks out of each year. With Daddy Longlegs, Josh and Benny Safdie crafted the most heartfelt and affecting love letter of the year to the ne'er-do-wells, screw-ups, and all-around desperate folks trying to make their way.
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Comments
Great choices. Loved _The Ghost Writer_. _Enter the Void_ was a total trip. Most of all, much love for _Dogtooth_. I could not get that movie out of my head and wound up seeing it three times. My favorite movie of the year, probably.
And the Best Supporting Actress category will no doubt cruelly snub The Chick Who Played "the Middle" in The Human Centipede. Come on, hasn't she been through enough??
Thanks for this - I've seen six of them (and it's great to see Dogtooth getting praise) and, although I didn't love them all, there's enough here for me to hunt down Lourdes and Videocracy. FWIW I would have put Carancho on this list.
I still can't believe people ate Shutter Island seriously and respect it. It was probably the worst film I've seen in a couple years. I do agree about Ghost Writer though. Probably going to try and queue up as many movies from this list as I can on Netflix.
I thought Please Give was pretty great. Same with Greenberg. Easy A was a surprisingly good comedy.
GREAT list -- the shout out for Enter the Void is wonderful -- it's my #1 film of the year by a country mile. It's a piece of work that's truly interested in pushing visual storytelling to a new level.
The American is a masterpiece, and one of the most underseen-by-audiences movies of the year. Critics seemed to be down with it for the most part but I'm baffled as to why Clooney isn't being talked about for Best Actor. The cinematography, editing, and score were all fantastic, and the distince Antoinioni/70's-vibe was glorious. And who doesn't love sensously lit/shot sex scenes with beautiful people?
http://actionman-nickspix.blogspot.com/2010/09/alone-in-italy.html
I really can't wait to see Dogtooth -- it sounds brilliant.
Also, it's a shame that Carlos isn't eligible for Best Picture because other than Enter the Void, nothing else has been as good.
I'm all about Shutter Island as well...a terrific "movie-movie" with some great performances and truly outstanding art direction and cinematography.
Valhalla Rising was also criminally underrated, as well as The Square and Leaves of Grass.
Thanks! Sadly, Carancho is still on my to-watch list, but I'll bump it to the top.
Totally agree, and great additional picks. I was very close to including Valhalla Rising or Leaves of Grass. I need to see The Square!
First two were indeed quite good, and I'm surprised Please Give hasn't gotten more year-end attention. I liked Greenberg more in hindsight, especially the ending. Still, there's something about these wealthy-people-trying-to-find-themselves comedies that kind of leaves me feeling indifferent, even if I enjoyed the movie. Didn't see Easy A, but I will soon. I've heard good things from others too.
All I gotta say is...
Fuck George Clooney...and...
'Shutter Island' SUCKED! ...knocked me out 3 times and the ending was completely OBVIOUS.
Can we please stop regurgitating the SAME actors as well as the SAME directors just because they've done
better shit before, I mean...c'mon.....
Dogtooth was my second favorite movie of the year (The first being I am love)! So I was pleased to see it mentioned here.
I thought Shutter Island was pretty obvious and the only chance at awards should be the Teen Choice Awards or the Mtv Movie Awards. Ha!
Also agree with someone who mentioned Please Give in the comments above. That movie was funny, original, sensitive, and Catherine Keener's performance was top-notch!
The American??? A "great movie" of 2010?????????????????????? Mr. Clark, I am shocked that anyone could possibly find this pretentious piece of faux-auterish trash one of the best films of the year!!
The American is a grotesque view of possibly the dullest and most disappointing film of the year. George Clooney has never been more miscast - he makes a better Batman than he does a brooding assassin - and his performance in Stalker is more charismatic than it is in The American. I don't recall reading any positive reviews of the film and the critics I read universally dismissed the film as did audiences who stayed away despite fairly heavy promotion and the presence of George.
Even Clooney chose to do only ONE press conference to promote the film because he hated the final cut and didn't want to be put in the position of defending a film he would have preferred to disavow any knowledge of his actions relating to his appearance in The American.
Typo on my previous post: faux-auteurish
the american was the worst movie ive seen in the last 5 years..
Great list. I'm glad you included Dogtooth (though I didn't care for The American). Some films that I loved that will get completely ignored include Easy A, Buried, Summer Wars, Youth in Revolt and Life During Wartime.
Out of the 100+ movies I saw last year, the only movies I hated more than Enter the Void were Cop Out and Trash Humpers.