I hate when people ask me what my favorite movie of the year was. Movies are an incredible medium that can be interpreted in an unlimited amount of unique ways. With some films, it’s easy to say that one was better than another…but how can you compare a hilarious comedy to a thrilling drama? Movies touch people on so many different levels that it’s almost impossible to agree on a list of top films. Almost every critic will have a different set, but in the end you start noticing the same movies finding their way to the top. Anyway, without further ado and in no particular order, here are my favorite movies of 2010:
Black Swan. This is an obvious. Darren Aronofsky gave us another glimpse into his creative mind. Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, and Vincent Cassel gave us amazing performances that took us on a roller coaster of emotions. This is probably the best “film” of the year…and when I say film, I mean pure quality and a true example of what the medium can do.
The Fighter. This movie offered a powerful punch in the form of a compelling true life story about family and determination. The movie sneaks up on you and is quite gripping by the end. It’s not just another rise to the top sports film, it’s more about the trials and tribulations that this fighter’s family had to endure and overcome…or get through.
The Social Network. I think everyone can agree that this was a fantastic movie. Based on the story of Mark Zuckerberg and his eventual rise to Time’s Person of the Year via Facebook. Everyone is already on the site so everybody wanted to see how the story unravelled. Surprisingly though, David Fincher signed on to the Aaron Sorkin script and magic was made. It starred Jesse Eisenberg who we won’t hear the last of. He might be the most underrated actor this year and had a slew of great films including Solitary Man and Holy Rollers.
Kick-Ass. Comic book movies are not done and they’re not all for kids…even if they star a kid. This was a great movie showing the shift in times with our generation. Are we desensitized from violence? Does it matter? THIS MOVIE KICKED ASS.
Exit Through The Gift Shop. My jaw was on the floor throughout this whole film…it was amazing. This is the Banksy film which exposed us to the underground culture of street art and Banksy himself. Told in a documentary style, it was hilarious and entertaining. I’m a fan of Banksy, but even if you aren’t, you should definitely check this one out.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. This is the most fun I had in a movie theater all year long. Out of all the movies on this list and of this year, I think this is the one that will have the most influence on film making. It’s a breathe of fresh air that was spot on for the next generation of filmmakers. I think in a decade or two we’re going to see a lot of movies that use this as inspiration.
Splice. You might be surprised to see this on the list as it had a huge divide in acceptance. I enjoyed it tremendously and thought it was a beautiful interpretation of old monster movies told for the current audience. It had a formula and stuck to it while expanding on different undertones like family and the supernatural.
Inception. Now you know this has to be on the list. Just like The Social Network, almost everyone can agree that this was one of the most amazing movies of the year. It had people talking for days, weeks, and months after. With the DVD just coming out, people are still trying to figure out every bit of the story. I thank Christopher Nolan for creating a story and vision that broke from the common Hollywood stereotypes and tell an intelligent story that people could still enjoy. Again, ask yourself…who was the villain?
Pelada. You might have never heard of this film…but now you have and now you need to go find it. It’s the story of two American soccer players who never made it passed college games. They travel the world playing pick up games with different cultures learning the stories of how important the game is to people while answering the one question that has a million answers: “Why do you play?”.
The movie lives up to the hype! I missed countless screenings and heard many peoples’ reactions to the film throughout the past few weeks so my expectations fluctuated with every person I talked to. Still, I was surprised with what I saw and smiled from beginning to end…it was exceptional and well delivered. Kick-Ass is the story about a regular kid living at home with his dad. He goes through the regular routine day to day: going to school, hanging with friends, and generally being unimportant. He’s not into sports, isn’t popular, and doesn’t have any special skills at all. He constantly thinks to himself why nobody has ever tried to become a superhero. He thinks the comic books have it wrong – you don’t need to have special powers, you just need to have a mix of optimism and naivety.
If you haven’t guessed yet, Dave decides to become a superhero. He buys a scuba suit from the internet and transforms himself into Kick-Ass. The movie takes a real look into what could happen to someone who actually tries to do this and throws a lot of unexpected twists at you. They are great! You expect one thing going into a comic book movie like this and are shown something completely different, fresh, and original.
Kick-Ass and Red Mist hanging out in the Mistmobile
If you have seen any of the trailers or marketing materials, you’ve met Hit-Girl and her dad, Big Daddy. Chloe Moretz and Nicolas Cage play amazing roles which could have been made into a movie in itself. They really add an element to the film which puts it over the top for me. There’s going to be plenty of backlash and opposition for the story line, but I think it was scripted and depicted really well. The relationship between them is very strong and realistic and sure to bring some tears to some audience members’ eyes. You didn’t expect that from this movie, did ya?
Hit-Girl from Kick-Ass
Be forewarned, this movie is gruesome, vulgar, and out there. If you’re not into violence, this isn’t the movie for you. There are scenes where you would expect for the camera to turn away but instead you have to turn away yourself. But that’s not all the movie has to offer – it’s really funny and the action scenes are amazing. On top of all that, the music contributes so much to every single scene…the score is wonderful. You’ll have your head bopping and wondering where you can get the soundtrack afterwards…or buy all the songs off of iTunes if they’re not already in your collection.
The sound effects and music add to the cinematography of the film which go through a range of different views. There is a comic book style drawing sequence with 3D (not 3D glasses 3D), there is strobe light-esque scene, fantasy scene, night vision, multiple camera views, etc, etc. Pretty much you’re on a wild ride and it’s fun as hell. There are some sequences which reminded me a lot of a movie called Equilibrium and if you remember the action scenes with Gun Kata where they combined guns and martial arts, that gives you an idea of the awesomeness that you can expect from this film.
Big Daddy and Hit Girl talking to Kick-Ass
So far, Kick-Ass is the best movie of the year. My friend commented that he couldn’t remember a movie where he had so much fun in the theater. Not only were people clapping when the credits rolled, they were clapping during the movie. Kick-Ass is in your face and never stops delivering – the only bad thing with this film is that it leaves you wanting more! GO SEE IT!
Kick-Ass has been getting a lot of marketing and promotion or maybe I’m just in their target market. I missed the screening and panel for Kick-Ass at South By Southwest but luckily Lionsgate presented another one at WonderCon. All of the stars, Nicolas Cage (Big Daddy), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Red Mist), Clark Duke (Marty), Aaron Johnson (Kick-Ass), Chloe Moretz (Hit-Girl) were in attendance to talk about the movie and answer some questions from the audience. Kick-Ass is about a regular kid with no real problems or challenges in his life who one day decides to become a superhero even though he has no super powers or training at all. It looks hilarious and violent…what more can you ask for?
So why Kick-Ass? When there are so many comic books and graphic novels out there, why did they choose a relatively new story to make a movie? Screenwriter, Jane Goldman, said that it takes the whole idea of the superhero genre from a different angle. Most of the other comics are old so all of the characters have been around for ages. All of the characters from Kick-Ass are brand new and quite groundbreaking. The idea of being a regular kid and wanting to become a costumed super hero resonates in a lot of people. Co-producer, John Romita Jr., said that Mark Miller claims that Kick-Ass is exactly what he wanted to do. He worked out, took martial arts, and planned to buy a costume.
When asked why he chose this movie, Nicolas Cage said that he tries to find scripts that give him a challenge, something he can’t really do in real life. When he saw that he would be shooting a twelve year-old girl in the chest, it made him uncomfortable…so he had to do it. He also likes to stay relevant to the current generation so seeing this script and knowing it would be casted by mostly younger people and target the younger market, he wanted to get in on it.
The most controversial part of this movie will inevitably be Hit-Girl played by Chloe Moretz. In the movie, she’s a bad ass twelve year-old girl who’s violent and vulgar. Jane Goldman said that she really saw Hit-Girl as a strong female character. It’s not very often when you can get a strong female character that isn’t a sex symbol or looked at in a sexist way. Chloe, on the other hand seems like your typical innocent girl. She almost spit out the water she was drinking when a scene of hers played on the big screen where she mentioned a certain male body part. An audience member asked her what her parents thought of the role and she answered that her mother read the script before she did and told her to read it and let her know what she thought. She thought it was an awesome role and the rest was herstory.
I didn’t get to go to the WonderCon screening of the film either, but I will be attending a screening tonight and can’t wait. We’ll have a full review for you guys tomorrow!
Kick-Ass starts kicking some ass on April 16, 2010.
WonderCon is one of the country’s best comics conventions featuring guests and events for comics, movies, video games, and other popular media. This year, WonderCon had presentations by such Hollywood studios as Disney, Warner Bros., Sony, and Lionsgate. Visit WonderCon’s Official Website
Right now I’m on my flight from San Francisco to Austin, TX. It was delayed an hour which gave me even more time to finally read through the films that will be screened at South By Southwest and try to plot a plan of which films I’ll be watching. I love film festivals, you can jump from film to film and see a month’s worth of movies in a week (sometimes even 2 months!). I love figuring out the logistics of which movies are must see, which ones are only being shown once or twice, and which films I should skip to catch up with old friends or catch some of the music shows at this festival. Needless to say, it’ll be intense!
Day 1
Totally missed. I flew into Austin on the first day of the festival so I’ll be missing the opening film which was my most anticipated film…Kick-Ass. I’ll just have to catch it with everyone else or hopefully catch an advance screening in San Francisco (wink wink Lionsgate Films).
Day 2
If I wake up early enough, I’ll try and catch The Freebie, a film about a young couple who gives each other a free night with someone else.
Mars – an animated romantic comedy about astronauts and robots travelling towards the red planet. I want to know if the astronauts and robots fall in love with each other or stick to their own.
Cyrus The Duplass brothers comedy starring John C. Reily, Marisa Tomei, and Jonah Hill. John C. Reily’s character hooks up with the ridiculously hot Molly (Marisa Tomei) who has an adult son (Johnah Hill). Kind of sounds like a sequel to Stepbrothers..we’ll see.
There’s also a Super Secret screening…we’ll see if it’s worth going to.
Day 3
I think I’ll take the beginning of the day to attend panels and hang out with my interactive festival friends (I am a developer at heart). Also, Facebook is having a developer’s garage so I’ll attend that and hopefully code some great stuff for the facebook users of advancescreenings.com.
The movies of the day will either be Mr. Nice, a true story about Britain’s most wanted man, or Pelada, the other side of soccer and either Futurestates, which seems to be a collection of short stories about different economic scenarios, or The Parking Lot Movie – the title is exactly what it sounds like. So many options!
Day 4
If I didn’t get to catch Pelada (the soccer movie) I could catch it this morning. Followed by Tiny Furniture and Canal Street Madam or American: Bill Hicks. Tiny Furniture is a tragicomedy about a 22-year-old who comes home from college just as she went in – with no skills, no love life, and a lot of free time. Canal Street Madam is about Jeanette Maier trying to re-invent herself after her infamous family-run brothel is raided by the FBI. American: Bill Hicks is an animated film about the true life story of the outlaw comic who tried to save the world. The highlight of this night is MacGruber, yes a full length movie of the SNL sketch staring Will Forte.
Day 5
One of the movies that I missed on the first day is showing again today. It’s called Erasing David and sounds very interesting and very fitting for this interactive/film festival. Filmmaker David Bond disappears for a month and hires two of the world’s top private investigators to track him down using only publicly available data. Sad to say, it conflicts with a film called Like a Pascha about the largest brothel in Europe…Canal Street Madam is playing again and then the highlight is Harry Brown starring Michael Caine.
Day 6
I’ll start off this film with another one I missed on the first day, World’s Largest. It’s about all those weird roadside attractions you see in tiny towns while driving cross country. If I can squeeze it in, I’ll see Cherry, a film about a virgin who drops out of college and encounters an older woman and her underage daughter, before the film of the night, Get Low starring Robert Duvall and Bill Murray.
Day 7
To be honest, I’m excited to check out Austin Carniville which is March 18, 19, and 20 (Day 7, 8, and 9). Luckily, the films during the day don’t intrigue me too much. The movie of the night is The Runaways starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning, I’ll either catch that or Mars and Like a Pascha.
Day 8
I can catch a bunch of films today in case I missed them earlier in the week including Canal Street Madam, The Parking Lot Movie, Pelada, and Mars…or go to the Carniville again .
Day 9
THE FINAL DAY!, World’s Largest plays again as well as Hood to Coast, Tiny Furniture, and American Bill Hicks.
That’s the plan…let’s see what actually happens!
This post is part of our SXSW Film Festival coverage The South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conferences & Festivals offer the unique convergence of original music, independent films, and emerging technologies. Fostering creative and professional growth alike, SXSW® is the premier destination for discovery. The internationally acclaimed, nine-day Film Festival celebrates raw innovation and emerging talent, with a truly diverse program ranging from provocative documentaries to subversive Hollywood comedies.Visit South by Southwest’s Official Website
Black Swan. This is an obvious. Darren Aronofsky gave us another glimpse into his creative mind. Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, and Vincent Cassel gave us amazing performances that took us on a roller coaster of emotions. This is probably the best “film” of the year…and when I say film, I mean pure quality and a true example of what the medium can do.
The Fighter. This movie offered a powerful punch in the form of a compelling true life story about family and determination. The movie sneaks up on you and is quite gripping by the end. It’s not just another rise to the top sports film, it’s more about the trials and tribulations that this fighter’s family had to endure and overcome…or get through.
The Social Network. I think everyone can agree that this was a fantastic movie. Based on the story of Mark Zuckerberg and his eventual rise to Time’s Person of the Year via Facebook. Everyone is already on the site so everybody wanted to see how the story unravelled. Surprisingly though, David Fincher signed on to the Aaron Sorkin script and magic was made. It starred Jesse Eisenberg who we won’t hear the last of. He might be the most underrated actor this year and had a slew of great films including Solitary Man and Holy Rollers.
Kick-Ass. Comic book movies are not done and they’re not all for kids…even if they star a kid. This was a great movie showing the shift in times with our generation. Are we desensitized from violence? Does it matter? THIS MOVIE KICKED ASS.
Exit Through The Gift Shop. My jaw was on the floor throughout this whole film…it was amazing. This is the Banksy film which exposed us to the underground culture of street art and Banksy himself. Told in a documentary style, it was hilarious and entertaining. I’m a fan of Banksy, but even if you aren’t, you should definitely check this one out.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. This is the most fun I had in a movie theater all year long. Out of all the movies on this list and of this year, I think this is the one that will have the most influence on film making. It’s a breathe of fresh air that was spot on for the next generation of filmmakers. I think in a decade or two we’re going to see a lot of movies that use this as inspiration.
Splice. You might be surprised to see this on the list as it had a huge divide in acceptance. I enjoyed it tremendously and thought it was a beautiful interpretation of old monster movies told for the current audience. It had a formula and stuck to it while expanding on different undertones like family and the supernatural.
Inception. Now you know this has to be on the list. Just like The Social Network, almost everyone can agree that this was one of the most amazing movies of the year. It had people talking for days, weeks, and months after. With the DVD just coming out, people are still trying to figure out every bit of the story. I thank Christopher Nolan for creating a story and vision that broke from the common Hollywood stereotypes and tell an intelligent story that people could still enjoy. Again, ask yourself…who was the villain?
Pelada. You might have never heard of this film…but now you have and now you need to go find it. It’s the story of two American soccer players who never made it passed college games. They travel the world playing pick up games with different cultures learning the stories of how important the game is to people while answering the one question that has a million answers: “Why do you play?”.
…I think there was more crap than good.
WonderCon is one of the country’s best comics conventions featuring guests and events for comics, movies, video games, and other popular media. This year, WonderCon had presentations by such Hollywood studios as Disney, Warner Bros., Sony, and Lionsgate.
Right now I’m on my flight from San Francisco to Austin, TX. It was delayed an hour which gave me even more time to finally read through the films that will be screened at South By Southwest and try to plot a plan of which films I’ll be watching. I love film festivals, you can jump from film to film and see a month’s worth of movies in a week (sometimes even 2 months!). I love figuring out the logistics of which movies are must see, which ones are only being shown once or twice, and which films I should skip to catch up with old friends or catch some of the music shows at this festival. Needless to say, it’ll be intense!
This post is part of our SXSW Film Festival coverage
