2010: The Best Movies of the Year: Personal Oscar Ballot

Best Picture
1. The Social Network
2. Blue Valentine
3. Black Swan
4. Carlos
5. Shutter Island
6. Toy Story 3
7. Inception
8. True Grit
9. Animal Kingdom
10. Another Year

Why? I have already explained why, so I won’t go into many more details here. What I will say is that while I think this is as strong of a list as I have had in recent years, I do wish there was a little more variety to the films – no real comedies made it this year, and only three films were made outside of America. I do think there is a nice mixture of genres here though.

Director
1. David Fincher, The Social Network
2. Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
3. Olivier Assayas, Carlos
4. Martin Scorsese, Shutter Island
5. Derek Cianfrance, Blue Valentine

Why? I am usually quite boring when it comes to my director nominees – picking the filmmakers behind the 5 best films of the year, and this year is no exception. David Fincher deserves to win the Oscar for several reason – his career for one thing – but mainly because he did make the best film of the year, and found the perfect visual strategy for the film. It may not be his most impressive visual accomplishment, but I think good director is about finding the perfect style that suits the material – and Fincher does that here. In case you’re wondering why I moved Derek Cianfrance to the number 5 spot, when his film is at number 2, it’s simple – I feel like Black Swan, Carlos and Shutter Island are more “director” accomplishments, whereas Blue Valentine is a triumph of writing and acting – although Cianfrance deserves a lot of credit for directing as well.

Best Actor
1. Jessie Eisenberg, The Social Network
2. Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine
3. Leonardo DiCaprio, Shutter Island
4. Edgar Ramriez, Carlos
5. Jeff Bridges, True Grit

Best Actress
1. Natalie Portman, Black Swan
2. Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine
3. Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
4. Kim Hye-ja, Mother
5. Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone

Best Supporting Actor
1. Matt Damon in True Grit
2. Ben Mendohlson, Animal Kingdom
3. Christian Bale, The Fighter
4. Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
5. Justin Timberlake, The Social Network

Best Supporting Actress
1. Lesley Manville, Another Year
2. Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom
3. Michelle Williams, Shutter Island
4. Mila Kunis, Black Swan
5. Amy Adams, The Fighter

Why? I commented individually on the performances already, so I won’t say much here. 9 of the 20 performances that I listed got nominated for Oscars with a high of three for supporting actress (that’s including Hailee Steinfeld who they nominated in the wrong category) and a low of 1 for supporting actor. I do wish the Academy had noticed the great work by Manville, Damon and Gosling in particular, because they were from films that were nominated elsewhere, but for whatever reason they didn’t. Oh well.

Best Original Screenplay
1. Blue Valentine - Derek Cianfrance & Joey Curtis & Cami Delavigne
2. Inception - Christopher Nolan
3. Black Swan - Mark Heyman & Andres Heinz & John McLaughlin.
4. Animal Kingdom - David Michod
5. Another Year - Mike Leigh

Why? Blue Valentine gets my vote for the best of the year, because really it all began at the writing stage for this emotionally devastating film – yes Gosling and Williams bring it to life, but Cianfrance and company delivered a great, detailed script. Inception is my number 2, even though the dialogue is a little rote in places, because of the sheer ambition and complexity to it. Black Swan is number three – the screenwriters do a great job at detailing Sayers breakdown, but the film is more of a triumph for Portman and Aronofsky – this screenplay easily could have flown off the rails. The work for Animal Kingdom and Another Year does an excellent job at keeping large casts filtering through wonderfully well.

Best Adapted Screenplay
1. The Social Network - Aaron Sorkin
2. Toy Story 3 - Michael Arndt
3. Shutter Island - Laeta Kalogridis
4. True Grit - Joel & Ethan Coen
5. Incendies - Denis Villeneuve

Why? Was there a more quotable movie than The Social Network this year? A more complex one or one that defined its area and its character so well? I don’t think so. The work on Toy Story 3 expanded the characters in ways I didn’t think possible for a movie about talking toys. The work on Shutter Island is act on deception. True Grit may use a lot of the dialogue for Portis’ novel, but finds the perfect tone for it. And finally, Incendies should be the model for all future play adaptations - making the story so cinematic that if you didn’t know it was a play before, you’d never have a clue.

Best Documentary
1. Inside Job
2. Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer
3. Exit Through the Giftshop
4. Public Speaking
5. The Tillman Story

Why? Again, I’ve detailed why already for each of these five films – but if you insist I remove Public Speaking because it’s a TV film, then add in Last Train Home. And if you only want films that made the Oscar shortlist of 15 films, put in Restrepo.

Best Animated Film
1. Toy Story 3
2. The Illusionist
3. How to Train Your Dragon

Why? Once again, Pixar shows the rest of the world how to make a truly great animated film - it isn’t just the care they show with the visuals, which are the most remarkable of the year, but the time they put into writing the movie as well. Toy Story 3 is a masterpiece of storytelling. Sylvain Chomet’s The Illusionist is a pure joy - a visual experience in the style of the great Jacques Tati - it is a joy to see a traditionally animated film in a world where that has all but been abandoned. Finally, How to Train Your Dragon maybe the best of the Dreamworks animated film - a thrilling, funny, visually rich film that works on all levels. All in all, this was an excellent year for animated film.

Best Foreign Language Film
1. Incendies - Canada
2. Mother - Korea
3. I Am Love - Italy
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Sweden
5. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives – Thailand

Why? Call be biased if you want, but the best films not in English I saw this year was from Canada - Incendies is simply brilliant. Korea continues to be one of the best film industries in the world right now with the wonderful Mother. Italy’s I Am Love is a film that ties together its cinematic and political past, with its future. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was the best of the Millennium trilogy, which stands as one of the best thrillers of the year. And finally, you cannot argue with the great Thai film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, with its great, art film quality.

Best Cinematography
1. True Grit - Roger Deakins
2. Black Swan - Matthew Libatique
3. Shutter Island - Robert Richardson
4. Inception - Wally Pfister
5. The Social Network – Jeff Cronenweth

Why? Any of my top three would be a fine choice for a victor this year. I am going with Deakins, because his work on True Grit was breathtaking and gorgeous, and yet still managed to capture the gritty, dark, bloody, violence of the film – give this legendary DP an Oscar already! Matthew Libatique’s work on Black Swan is pretty much Deakins equal – dark and sensual, the camera moves along effortlessly. I love Robert Richardson’s work on Shutter Island as well, capturing the unreality of the island, the mental hospital and the grounds with ease, and helping to establish the dark tone of the film. As for the other two, Wally Pfister does amazing work for Christopher Nolan – always has – and in Inception his work is more complex than ever before, if perhaps a little less striking than it was in The Dark Knight, Batman Begins or The Prestige. And while Jeff Cronenweth’s work on The Social Network is far from flashy, he accomplishes an amazing feat – moving his camera effortlessly, and making The Social Network a visually complex film, even though it takes place almost entirely in small, cramped rooms.

Editing
1. Shutter Island – Thelma Schoonmaker
2. The Social Network – Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall
3. Black Swan – Andrew Weisblum
4. Carlos – Luc Barnier & Marion Monnier
5. Blue Valentine – Jim Helton & Ron Pantane

Why? To me, Thelma Schoonmaker, who already has three Oscars at home for her work with Martin Scorsese, did the best editing job of the year with Shutter Island – creating that ominous atmosphere, and that sense of unease through the entire film. It’s great work. The Social Network also had a near perfect editing job, matching the tone and at times the speed of Sorkin’s screenplay. Black Swan’s work is quite extraordinary as well. The work on Carlos is all important, because it helps to keep the film, even at five and half hours, moving. And finally, cutting back and forth between the two storylines in Blue Valentine needed excellent work – and the editors delivered. Cannot believe I had no room for Inception or True Grit – it just shows how great the work was this year.

Score
1. The Social Network - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
2. Never Let Me Go - Rachel Portman
3. Inception - Hans Zimmer
4. The Ghost Writer - Alexandre Desplat
5. I Am Love - John Adams

Why? The work done by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for The Social Network truly is the most original, brilliant and memorable of any film music this year. The mournful score to Never Let Me Go, is the best work of Rachel Portman’s career and it somewhat saddens me that her tremendous work is mainly being ignored this season. Hans Zimmer does big action scores as well as anyone right now, and his work on Inception rivals his best work. Alexandre Desplat was nominated for The King’s Speech, but it is his work on The Ghost Writer, which helps to up the paranoid feel to the film, that I really admired. And finally, I think John Adams, soaring, sweeping, romantic score for the epic love story I Am Love is brilliant, and deserves more attention.

Song
1. Country Strong - Coming Home
2. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - Threshold
3. Life During Wartime – Life During Wartime
4. Despicable Me – Despicable Me
5. Toy Story 3 - We Belong Together

Why? This is a fairly useless category – always really has been. This year, I went through the list of potential nominees, and nothing jumped out at me like last year’s The Weary Kind from Crazy Heart or The Wrestler from The Wrestler the year before that. The song Coming Home is I think the best of the bunch from Country Strong – a subpar Crazy Heart lite if you will, and is perhaps the most memorable song of the year. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World had many good songs, but Threshold, written by Beck was the best of the bunch. Todd Solondz wrote the title song from his movie himself, and while it is not quite as catchy as his song for Happiness, it still better than most of the other songs this year. The final three come from a trio of animated films – with the catchy, funky Despicable Me being the best of the lot. We Belong Together from Toy Story 3 sounds much like all of Randy Newman’s songs, but it is effective. Overall, I can’t say I really care that much about this category ever – and even less this year.

Art Direction
1. Inception
2. Shutter Island
3. Black Swan
4. I Am Love
5. True Grit

Why? The work on Inception truly is phenomenal, and what’s more extremely varied, since they have to create separate environments for each dream level they go to, so it easily gets my vote here. The work on Shutter Island, creating that dark and dreary mental hospital is great as well. Black Swan has very specific work – both as sets for the ballet itself, as well as “the real world”. I Am Love has the most elaborate, and brilliant, old school art direction of the year. And finally, the Coen brothers once again helped to create masterful visual environments for all their films.

Costume Design
1. Black Swan
2. I Am Love
3. The Tempest
4. Shutter Island
5. True Grit

Why? The costume design for Black Swan truly is the best of the year – and not just because of the great ballet costume that become prevalent in the last act – but because of smart costume choices for the entire movie. The work on I Am Love is sumptuous and beautiful throughout. The very smart work on Julie Taymor’s underrated The Tempest is also great – and truly reflects the characters, and is not just work for its own sake. The period detail on display in Shutter Island is superb. And finally, the work on True Grit is wonderful as well – from Steinfeld’s modest teenage garb, to Damon’s impeccably dressed man to Bridges pile of dirty laundry look.

Make-Up
1. Barney’s Version
2. Black Swan
3. Shutter Island

Why? I tend to shy away from the movies that will be nominated in this category, which typically reward MOST make-up work, rather than work that is more subtle, yet suitable to the movie at hand. In this case, I think that the work done on Barney’s Version truly does deserve this Oscar - I have seen so many bad aging make-up effects that when I see it done right, it is cause to celebrate. After that I think the work on Black Swan is truly exceptional and inspired, and that the work on Shutter Island, making everyone dirty, grimy and in some cases downright insane works wonders.

Sound Mixing
1. Black Swan
2. Shutter Island
3. Inception
4. Carlos
5. The Social Network

Why? The overall sound design work on Black Swan is truly wonderful – and Shutter Island’s as well – both with the same purpose – increasing the intense creepiness of the entire movie. Inception is more of a typical nominee in this category – loud – but it really is quite a technical feat. The work on could not have been harder, as there are a lot of distinct elements at play in each scene. And finally The Social Network’s work is subtlety brilliant – bringing to mind something I heard once about this category – the best work are the ones you don’t notice. But listen to The Social Network, and you’ll understand why it’s here.

Sound Effects Editing
1. Inception
2. Shutter Island
3. Black Swan
4. Toy Story 3
5. True Grit

Why? The work on Inception truly is extraordinary – coming up with interesting, complex sounds all throughout its running time. Again, Shutter Island and Black Swan do similar things to help up the suspense and creepiness. The geniuses behind the sound at Pixar pretty much always deserve a nomination. And finally, True Grit’s work is inspured.

Visual Effects
1. Inception
2. Tron: Legacy
3. Monsters
4. Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows Part I
5. Enter the Void

Why? I picked Inception here, because its mixture of practical visual effects and CGI made for the most seamless blend of unreality there was this year. TRON: Legacy’s work is more in your face in every scene, but it is the only live action movie this year where the 3-D actually worked, so it gets major props for that. The work on Monsters was done by one man on his computer for under $25,000 – and they could not be more appropriate for the film itself. Harry Potter’s visual are always top notch. And finally, let’s give some props to Gaspar Noe for his strange, visual effects work on Enter the Void – a film I’m still not sure if I loved or hated, but had to admit the visual are trippy in the best sense of the word.

2010: The Best Movies of the Year: Documentary

I love documentaries. This year, I decided to include them separately from the “feature” films – because they really are different from them in pretty much every way – if one had of been good enough to be in my top 10, I would have included, but the best documentary of the year wasn’t quite that great (it along with the next three were close though). I make no real distinctions when it comes to documentaries – made for theaters, TV or video, they all count, as there are some that blur that line so much it becomes impossible to tell (for instance, almost everyone who saw 12th and Delaware saw it on HBO, but it was eligible for the Oscars this year, whereas Public Speaking, which just aired on HBO was not). Documentaries can be hard to track down – but aside from Marwencol I think I saw everything I wanted to. The following docs, in addition to my top 10, deserve a little attention as well: Boxing Gym, Casino Jack and the United States of Money, Catfish, A Film Unfinished, Freakonomics, Gasland, Henri Georges Clouzot’s Inferno, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, The Lottery, The Most Dangerous Man in America, October Country, Smash His Camera, South of the Border, Sweetgrass, Waiting for Superman, Waste Land, William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe, You Don’t Like the Truth: 4 Days Inside Guanatnamo.

10. 12th and Delaware (Rachel Grady & Heidi Ewing)
Abortion is such a loaded issue – one where seemingly everyone has a very strong opinion, and seems unwilling to listen to the other side. People are entrenched in their views on abortion like almost no other issue. 12th and Delaware is a fascinating documentary about one corner in a Florida that has an abortion clinic on one side of the street, and Pregnancy Care Center on the other. The people who run the Pregnancy Care Center are, of course, anti-abortion, and they set up shop where they did hoping that some women seeking an abortion would come to them by mistake, and then they could talk them out of it. Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, who last time out pissed off Conservative Christians with Jesus Camp, pissed off the Pregnancy Care Center workers this time (and there are thousands of these clinics across America). Yet, I don’t know why they are complaining. Grady and Ewing allow them to air their views – film what they say to the patients – and lets you make up your own mind. True, they are clearly pro-choice, and the abortion clinic is shown in a softer light, yet 12th and Delaware remains a fascinating doc about one little corner where the battle over abortion is fought day in and day out.

9. A Letter to Elia (Martin Scorsese & Kent Jones)
Martin Scorsese is one of the best film historians in the world. A Letter to Elia is his third documentary about film history - following A Personal Journey Through American Movies and My Voyage to Italy. The difference here is that Scorsese, along with co-director, film critic Kent Jones, focuses on one filmmaker - Elia Kazan. Kazan’s duel legacies - for his films and for talking to HUAC - are both explored here, but mainly it is his films, and what they meant to Scorsese growing up - and how it shaped him as a filmmaker and a person. The film, only an hour long, A Letter to Elia is a moving documentary, and one that explores not only why Kazan was a great filmmaker, but why we all love films. It is another reason to love Scorsese.

8. The Oath (Laura Poitras)
The Oath is a documentary about two men. One was the driver for Osama Bin Laden, who appears to have known nothing about the inner workings of Al Qaeda. The other was Bin Laden’s bodyguard, who seemed to know everything. So guess which one spent little time in prison before being “rehabilitated” and set free where he continues to talk to young Muslim men about Jihad, and which one spent years in Guantanamo Bay? The Oath is a fascinating movie – we never see or hear from the man in Guantanamo, while his brother in law becomes a little bit of a media star in the Muslim world – who also seems to be rife with contradictions, often times disputing what he says in one interview in the next. The Oath is an intriguing, fascinating, difficult film. On one hand, it very clearly criticizes the Bush Administration for the way they conducted the War on Terror – on the other it serves as a reminder that yes, there are really are people out there who want to destroy America.

7. Restrepo (Sebastain Junger & Tim Hetherington)
Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington put themselves in harm’s way to spend time with a group of soldiers on a 15 month deployment to the most dangerous area in Afghanistan. And yet, this film is not about the directors (like so many docs seem to be these days) – but about the soldiers, who are over there in a nearly impossible position, being shot at every day by a faceless enemy and trying to win the “hearts and minds” of the civilians. This film is not about politics – the bigger issues of the war are never mentioned – but about the on the ground immediacy of what is happening. No matter what you think of the war, you cannot possibly watch this film and not be in awe of the soldiers and what they have sacrificed to fight for their country.

6. Last Train Home (Lixin Fan)
Last Train Home is a film about a China in transition - a country that has become an economic powerhouse, but whose population is becoming increasingly detached from their own families. The film focuses on one family where both parents have to leave home in order to make a living, and leave their two kids at home with grandparents. They really only see their kids once a year at Chinese New Year - although they try and impress upon them the importance of school, and not follow their path - but their teenage daughter doesn’t listen - to her money equals freedom and power. The Chinese culture values family highly, so watching the movie you wonder about the cost of China’s emerging economy has on their families.

5. The Tillman Story (Amir Bar-Lev)
The Tillman Story is a sad, angry film about Pat Tillman, the most famous enlisted man in the Army. He gave up a career in the NFL, and along with it millions of dollars, to enlist in the army in the months after 9/11. When he was killed, serving in Afghanistan, the Bush administration did their best to make him into a symbol of American selflessness and heroism - but as more and more questions about his death surfaced; it became clear that things were not what they seemed. This is a film that sees Tillman as a person - by telling his story not through the lens that either pro or anti-war people want to present him, but as his family saw him. It has been nearly 7 years since Pat Tillman was killed - and the family still wants to know exactly what happened to him. Don’t they deserve that?

4. Public Speaking (Martin Scorsese)
On its surface, Martin Scorsese’s Public Speaking is just an enjoyable movie about the life of Fran Lebowitz – a writer who is more famous for not writing than she is for anything she has actually written. She casts her gaze on the work of other writers, and can be devastating in her critiques – but is also hilarious with her dry wit. And better still, she can tell a story better than almost anyone else out there – much of the movie is simply her talking – to Scorsese, to the various student groups which is how she makes her living, and all of it is supremely entertaining. But underneath the surface, this is really a portrait of a woman who is too scared to bare her soul in her writing – which is why she suffers from writer’s block. She isn’t able to examine herself, to turn that merciless gaze inwards, so she directs it all outwards. Like Exit Through the Gift Shop, Public Speaking is really about the meaning of art – and what it takes to be a great artist. As talented as she is, Fran Lebowitz is not a great artist.

3. Exit Through the Gift Shop (Banksy)
Documentaries are often issue oriented – even many of the best ones look at a problem facing the country or the world, and examine it. Which is why a film like Exit Through the Gift Shop is so invigorating. How much of the film is “real” is beside the point – the director’s, the elusive street artist Banksy, point remains the same. The film is about a man who obsessively documents his life on his video camera – who starts to document street artists around the world, supposedly to make a documentary. But when Banksy tells him it’s time to finish the doc, and he sees what this artist came up with – he is horrified. Banksy tells him to give him all his footage and he’ll see what he can do – and encourages the “artist” to become a street artist himself, just to keep him out of his hair. Little does he know that he will become a sensation in the art world? Like I said, I don’t really care if Banksy and the artist were in on this together – and the whole thing is an elaborate hoax or not. The fact remains that Exit Through the Gift Shop is a fascinating film about the nature or art, and what it means to be an artist – and how so few people out there can tell the genuine article from a fake.

2. Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer (Alex Gibney)
Eliot Spitzer is one of the most infamous politicians of the last decade. He was a man who had it all – he made a name for himself for being uncompromising as the New York Attorney General – going after people that no one else would. He parlayed that into a successful run for Governor – and was one of the rising stars of the Democratic party – a possible Presidential Candidate one day. And he blew it, because he liked to have sex with high priced hookers. Alex Gibney’s documentary is fascinating, because it shows us not only the world Spitzer inhabited, but also the seedy world of prostitution. What’s more, it asks tough questions about the nature of democracy, and how bad Spitzer’s crimes really were – and if America is better off having him out of office, for something that was really no worse than many other politicians have been caught doing. Spitzer caused his own downfall – he and documentary make no excuses for that. Yet it also asks what role his enemies may have played in his downfall. Client 9 is undoubtedly the most fascinating, thought provoking documentary of the year.

1. Inside Job (Charles Ferguson)
Charles Ferguson’s first documentary, No End in Sight, remains the best one ever made about the Iraq war. It didn’t just sit back and criticize the decision to go to war, but looked at how the entire operation was a failure. Inside Job uses the same approach to the financial meltdown of 2008, which we are still feeling the effect of two years later. Ferguson gets interviews with pretty much everyone who would talk to him – and paints a devastating picture of a financial system that was built on greed and lies, and which has not been fixed at all in the intervening years – meaning we are on pace for another disaster to strike. Ferguson takes what seems like a complex issue, and boils it down to its essentials. I think the ending of the film goes a little too far – is a little too on the nose – but overall Inside Job is a great film – and what’s more perhaps the most important film to be released this year.

2010: The Best Performances of the Year: Ensemble Cast

I have always thought that the concept of an award for ensemble cast is a valid one. The only major group that awards one is the Screen Actors Guild, and it is often thought of as a de facto Best Picture Prize, since they do not give one out. But I still like the concept. Every movie needs a great ensemble cast – off notes by even small characters can take you out of a film – it’s all about tone. Aside from my top 10 list, I admired the ensemble this year in Carlos who did a magnificent job of supporting Edgar Ramirez who is the heart of every scene, Easy A where everyone was on the same page for the comedy, the cast of Inception all get into the strangeness of material and makes it all believable, The Kids Are All Right which created a realistic little family unit, Life During Wartime where the cast had to step into roles previously established by others, and did a great job, the cast of Never Let Me Go nailed the films tragic, morose tone wonderfully, the huge ensemble who made up the three films in The Red Riding Trilogy deserve notice, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World where everyone was on the same loopy page, The Town filled the screen with a group of wonderful actors who nail the Blue Collar atmosphere perfectly and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps which captured the air of entitlement on the title street wonderfully. But the following 10 were my favorites.

10. The Fighter - Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo, Mickey O’Keefe, Jack McGee, Melissa McMeekin, Bianca Hunter, Erica McDermott, Jill Quigg, Dendrie Taylor, Kate B. O'Brien, Jenna Lamia, Frank Renzulli, Paul Campbell.
Mark Wahlberg is the calm at the center of the storm that is The Fighter’s ensemble cast. Everyone else goes somewhat over the top, but if the film is ever at risk of going too far, Wahlberg reels it back to sanity. The other main characters - Christian Bale’s crack addicted brother and trainer, Melissa Leo as the white trash mother with big hair, and cigarette dangling from her mouth and Amy Adams as the foul mouthed girlfriend, are truly brilliant. But what makes the ensemble one of the best of the year is that the smallest roles are perfectly filled - from the Wahlberg’s many loud sisters, to his father and everyone else, helps to make this working class neighborhood a character in the film. A truly great ensemble cast where every role is filled to perfection.

9. Stone - Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Milla Jovovich, Frances Conroy.
The performances is Stone are really what make the movie as good as it is – the direction is straight forward, and I think the screenplay tries a little too hard to pull the rug out from under the audience. And yet, when the movie settles down and just lets the actors work, it is great. DeNiro brilliantly implodes as a man with barely suppressed rage simmering below the surface, who cannot take being screwed with. Frances Conroy is great as his wife – jittery and nervous, and waiting for the other shoe to drop. Milla Jovovich has never been better as the sex object being exploited – there is a naiveté about her in this role I didn’t know she was capable of. And finally Edward Norton is great as the puppet master pulling everyone’s strings. Yes, this is a small ensemble – but it is a great one – with four actors at the top of their game playing off each other wonderfully.

8. Another Year - Jim Broadbent, Ruth Sheen, Lesley Manville, Oliver Maltman, Peter Wight, David Bradley, Martin Savage, Karina Fernandez, Michele Austin, Phil Davis, Imelda Staunton
There is probably not another director who places such high demands on his cast other than Mike Leigh. He starts with a basic plot outline, and then casts the actors he wants to play the characters that fit in – spending months shaping the plot and their individual characters with them – the actors essentially becoming co-writers of the film. But Leigh seems to have a sixth sense for casting, and knows precisely who to bring in. Here, he fills the cast with some of his stock company – Jim Broadbent, as the aging geologist still happy with his wife, Ruth Sheen and their various friends. The obvious standout is Lesley Manville, who delivers a knock out performance, but the entire cast fits together just about perfectly. There is not an off note in the film, not a moment when things do seem real, not a dropped line. These actors know their characters inside and out, and Leigh allows them to inhabit them. A terrific ensemble cast.

7. Black Swan – Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder.
I have already highlighted the performances by Portman, Kunis and Cassel in their individual acting categories, so I’m not sure more needs to be said about them, so let’s concentrate on the other two. Barbara Hershey is one of the great actresses out there, and in her brief performance here, she once again proves why – playing a fierce, domineering mother, you realize that Portman’s character has been balancing on the brink for years now. And Winona Ryder, as the brittle “dying queen” gives her best performance in years, even in an even briefer role. They fulfill their roles, much like Kunis and Cassel do, as being catalysts for Portman’s downfall into insanity. Of course without Portman, none of them would have a role to play, but they all add to her performance in different ways – and make up one of the best ensembles of the year.

6. Winter’s Bone - Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Kevin Breznahan, Dale Dickey, Garret Dillahunt, Shelley Waggener, Lauren Sweetser, Ashlee Thompson, William White, Casey MacLaren, Isaiah Stone, Valerie Richards, Beth Domann, Tate Taylor, Cody Brown, Ronnie Hall.
The key to the casting of Winter’s Bone is that none of the actors stand out among the rest. Even the actors I knew going into the movies – Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes and Garret Dillahunt – fit in naturally with this cast of actors who have the type of grizzled, beaten down faces that we rarely see in a movie. The heavy lifting in the cast is done by the brilliant Lawrence, with a assists from Hawkes, and Dale Dickey. But the key here is that even the smallest role is filled with a memorable face – a memorable screen presence. More than anything else, it is this ensemble cast that helps to immerse ourselves into this world.

5. Animal Kingdom - James Frecheville, Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, Guy Pearce, Luke Ford, Jacki Weaver, Sullivan Stapleton, Laura Wheelwright, Dan Wyllie.
Director David Michod assembled a great cast here – some are his longtime friends and collaborators on his short films, and some are more experienced actors. And yet what strikes me about this cast is how naturally they fit together – the actors playing brothers really do seem to have that history that only brothers do, Jacki Weaver as their mother is fiercely loyal and motherly, Guy Pearce as the lone cop with a conscience is sympathetic to an extent, yet still hard. At the center of the movie is James Frecheville, playing a teenager who has to deal with far more than he should have to – and completely internalizing it. He is out conduit into this strange world, one he doesn’t fully understand, until it takes over. This cast works effortlessly off each other, and creates one of the most dysfunctional family dynamics in years.

4. Toy Story 3 - Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty, Don Rickles, Michael Keaton, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, John Morris, Jodi Benson, Emily Hahn, Laurie Metcalf, Blake Clark, Javier Fernandez Pena, Timothy Dalton, Jeff Garlin, Bonnie Hunt, Jeff Pidgeon, Whoopi Goldberg, Richard Kind.
Voice acting is a lot harder than I think a lot of people realize – and as such, the performances delivered in animated films are often not praised enough. Toy Story 3 brings back most of our favorites from the first two films, and they all do a good job. We know Tom Hanks’ Woody is one of the actors best creations, that Tim Allen is perfect as Buzz, and that the roles filled by Joan Cusack, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Don Rickles and Estelle Harris fit the actors like an old shoe. What I loved is that these actors are just phoning it in – the actually go for broke here. And then there are the new additions – Michael Keaton’s clueless, metro sexual Ken, Timothy Dalton’s uptight British Mr. Pricklepants and especially Ned Beatty who may just be the year’s most terrifying villain as Hugs O’Lot. Yes, Toy Story 3 has a great ensemble cast – one of the best of the year, and they all help to make it one of the year’s biggest achievements.

3. Shutter Island - Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, Jackie Earle Haley, Ted Levine, John Carroll Lynch, Elias Koteas.
I have already talked about the brilliant work of Leonardo DiCaprio and Michelle Williams in this film – and they truly are two of the best performances on mentally ill people you will ever see. But what elevates the ensemble cast is all those supporting players. Watch the way Ben Kingsley regards DiCaprio with a mixture of calm, doctorly resolve and pity, or Max von Sydow who confuses Teddy, Mark Ruffalo in those moments where he seems to be staring at him, Ted Levine and his seemingly uncalled hatred of him, Jackie Earle Haley and Elias Koteas as a patients much further gone, John Carroll Lynch talking to him like a stern father figure and the twin performances of Emily Mortimer and Patricia Clarkson, which just lead Teddy further away from reality. None of these performances were truly worthy to be recognized by themselves, but added together they help to create the most unsettling, creepy atmosphere of any film this year. When Scorsese calls, actors accept the role no matter how small – because they know they will be given good work to do.

2. True Grit - Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper, Dakin Matthews, Jarlath Conroy, Paul Rae, Domhnall Gleeson, Roy Lee Jones, Ed Corbin, Leon Russom, Bruce Green, Candyce Hinkle, Peter Leung, Don Pirl
The heart of the ensemble cast is the trip that we spend the most time with – Hailee Steinfeld’s determined, yet naïve, teenage girl getting in way over her head, and her two new “fathers” – Jeff Bridges harsh, cruel Rooster Cogburn and Matt Damon’s moral LeBeouf, who in some ways fight for Steinfeld’s soul. And all three are terrific. What elevates this cast for me though is all the supporting work – Barry Pepper, dirty and unrecognizable, channeling Robert Duvall brilliantly, Josh Brolin’s pathetic, weakling of a bad guy, Ed Corbin’s lumbering Bear Man, Dakin Matthews exasperated horse trader, Leon Russom’s no nonsense Sheriff, Jarlath Conroy’s undertaker and the sad duo of Paul Rae and Domhnall Gleeson, who don’t know what they’re in for before their brains are scattered on the floor. This is what the Coens do better than I think any one working right now – they find interesting actors to fill even the smallest roles, turning what are normally throw away roles into memorable ones. The old saying about there being no small roles, only small actors was never more true than it is in regards to True Grit.

1. The Social Network - Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Rooney Mara, Max Minghella, Joseph Mazzello, Rashida Jones, Brenda Song, Malese Jow.
As with all the films on this list, what makes The Social Network’s ensemble cast worthy of this award is not just the main actors, but all those supporting players who are pretty much perfect. Yes, Jessie Eisenberg delivers one of the best performances of the year, making the dialogue sing like no one else could, and Andrew Garfield is charming and likable – which is a rarity in this film – as his best friend turned adversary, and Justin Timberlake proves once and for all that he can act. But the rest of the cast is excellent as well – Armie Hamer as the hulking Winklevii, assholes to a certain extent sure, but charming ones, Rooney Mara as the woman who sets Zuckerberg off on his journey by calling him an asshole, Rashida Jones as the lawyer trying to figure Zuckerberg out and Brenda Song as Garfield’s crazed girlfriend. Each of these actors plays their role, no matter how small it seems, with feeling and skill – and that goes for the rest of the actors I didn’t name. With dialogue like Sorkin’s, one bad performance can throw the entire movie off – and there is not one bad performance from anyone in the cast.

2010: The Best Performances: Supporting Actress

If Best Actor and Best Actress were strong this year, and Best Supporting Actor was weak, then this category falls somewhere in between. In addition to the top 10, the following performances deserve attention: Helena Bonham Carter in The King’s Speech, Rose Bryne in Get Him to the Greek, Dale Dickey in Winter’s Bone, Greta Gerwig in Greenberg, Barbara Hershey in Black Swan, Milla Jovovich in Stone, Keita Knightley in Never Let Me Go, Rooney Mara in The Social Network, Chloe Grace Mortez in Kick Ass, Kristen Scott Thomas in Nowhere Boy.

10. Olivia Williams in The Ghost Writer
As the wife of the former British Prime Minister, Olivia Williams is easily the most memorable character in Roman Polanski’s brilliant political thriller. Bitter and angry at the way her husband is acting, his affairs, and what the press is putting him through, she is also a master manipulator. It is hard to get a good read on her at the beginning - we initially think she is just the standard issue politician’s wife, but gradually her character becomes far more interesting and complex. Williams, who has sometimes struggled to get roles worthy of her talent, shows here once again why she needs to cast in better movies more often.

9. Elle Fanning in Somewhere
In a year that saw more than one teenage girl give a great performance (Chloe Grace Mortez had two, and Hailee Steinfeld also had one), Elle Fanning was one of the best. It is hard for most actors to deliver a performance as unforced and natural as Fanning does in Somewhere - considering that so much of this performance is not dialogue based, but all in the looks exchanged between father and daughter. The fact that Fanning, barely in her teens, was able to pull it off is nothing short of miraculous. This is a performance that understands what it is like to be a tween girl - the insecurity, bumping up against the desire to be the center of attention. We expect Fanning to throw tantrums when her father disappoints her, but she doesn’t - it is all much more subtle than that. Fanning proves her that Dakota isn’t the only talented sister in the family.

8. Dianne Wiest in Rabbit Hole
For whatever reason, Dianne Wiest does not often get great roles anymore. But her performance in Rabbit Hole, as Nicole Kidman’s wishy washy mother, trying desperately to help her daughter through the death of her young son. Wiest seems somewhat ditzy at the beginning of the movie, not quite understaning everything that is going on - but she is much more perceptive than we think she is - nothing gets by her, she just tries really hard to maintain a positive outlook, and forget the darkness in her own past. Wiest shows us once again why she won two Oscars, in one of the most underrated performances of the year.

7. Melissa Leo in The Fighter
Melissa Leo has been one of the best actresses working every since her brilliant work on Homicide: Life on the Streets in the 1990s - but it has only been in the last few years that filmmakers have given her roles worthy of her talents. Following up her Oscar nominated turn in Frozen River; Leo is brilliant as the white trash mother/manager of Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg). With a cigarette constantly dangling from her lip, and a seemingly never ending supply of guilt trips for her family, Leo is over the top brilliant. Yet underneath that huge hair, and all that makeup, Leo does a great job at making his woman seem believable. She does a great job as a certain type of woman - one who would rather her son fail with her, than succeed on his own. A brilliant performance.

6. Marion Cottillard in Inception
I said that DiCaprio had the only character with an arch in Inception, and that he has a nearly impossible role. Both of those are true, but even if Marion Cottilard isn’t playing a three dimensional character, she has perhaps an even harder role – precisely because her character SHOULD NOT be three dimensional. The entire movie, she plays a cipher – an echo of the person she used to be, who now only exists in the mind of DiCaprio. It is a hard role, one that I think most actresses would either try too hard to do, or be lazy with – but Cottillard walks that fine line to perfection in the film – and it makes her performance one of the best of the year.

5. Amy Adams in The Fighter
Amy Adams has made a name for herself playing sweet and innocent characters like she did in Junebug, Enchanted and Doubt. But in The Fighter, she does a brilliant job playing a working class woman, who swears like a sailor. From her introduction working in a bar, to her getting angry at Wahlberg for taking to a movie where “she had to read the whole thing”, to her final confrontation with Christian Bale, Adams nails every scene she is in - making what could have been yet another supportive girlfriend role into one of the most memorable roles of the year. A great performance by one of my favorite actresses.

4. Mila Kunis in Black Swan
Mila Kunis’ role in Black Swan is a difficult one, in that her role seems to change from scene to scene. At the beginning, she is the dance rival to Portman, effortlessly conveying that dark sexuality that Portman cannot bring to her dancing. She then becomes Portman’s object of sexual obsession, and goes drags Portman down deeper into her own sexuality. Then she’s back to being a rival – not just a dance rival, but a sexual one. Who her real character is is impossible to say, because she is constantly having to play whatever Portman wants her to be – but as Portman’s dark, mirror image, Kunis delivers a tremendous performance – once and for proving she is capable of playing more than just Jackie or Meg.

3. Michelle Williams in Shutter Island
Michelle Williams’ brief performance in Shutter Island is absolutely, emotionally shattering. For much of the movie, she exists only in DiCaprio’s delusions – an echo of his wife who he lost in a fire. But by the time her big scene finally comes late in the film, Williams absolutely kills the scene. It is a brilliant performance of an emotionally unstable woman, one who has completely lost it, and gone insane. And yet, Williams doesn’t go for over the top theatrics, but plays it much closer to the bone. The result is a performance that rips your guts out in just a few short minutes.

2. Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom
Jacki Weaver’s mother in Animal Kingdom is probably the most screwed up mother in any film this year – and considering the competition, that is saying something. She is fierecely devoted to her boys – trying so hard to protect them at every turn, and also perhaps regarding them a little too openly – a little to sexually. When the finale comes, and she has to decide between her son and her grandson, the casual, cruel way she discusses getting rid of her grandson is absolutely chilling, and based purely on selfish behavior. This is a brilliant performance, and I’m glad that she has received the attention she deserves for it.

1. Lesley Manville in Another Year
Lesley Manville’s performance in Another Year is one that is bursting with life. She is a woman at the end of middle age, still acting like a scatterbrained woman in her 20s, holding onto to her romantic ideals, even though love has long since passed her by. He does not realize that her friends view her with pity, and that finally she will push things too far with her behavior. For her, every day brings another crisis, another dead end, and she tries to put on a happy face and get through it – never allowing a silence to remain unfilled by one of her rambling stories. By the fourth part of the film, she has been thoroughly beaten down by life, but she finally seems to understand what she is going through – and that she is going to have to do it alone. This is a truly magnificent performance.

2010: The Best Performances of the Year: Supporting Actor

Normally one of the strongest categories, this year Best Supporting Actor was undeniably the weakest of the four acting categories. All you have to do to see that is that my number 1 performance here was no better than the other two main performances from that movie, and they both ranked lower on their respective lists. However, there was still strong work done here. In addition to the top 10, the following performances deserve recognition as well: Pierce Brosnan in The Ghost Writer, Andrew Garfield in Never Let Me Go, Ben Kingsley in Shutter Island, Armie Hamer in The Social Network, Djimon Hounsou in The Tempest, Bill Murray in Get Low, Edward Norton in Stone, Jeremy Renner in The Town, Mark Ruffalo in The Kids Are All Right, Ben Whishaw in The Tempest.

10. Vincent Cassel in Black Swan
Vincent Cassel oozes a smart sexuality in his performance in this film. He reminds me kind of Roy Scheider in All That Jazz – a dance director who uses his gaggle of beautiful young dancers as a kind of personal harum. And yet, his sexuality is also a driving force behind the movie – he pushes Portman’s Nina Sayers further and further in her exploration of her sexuality, not only because he wants to sleep with her (although he does), but to try and open up her dancing. Of course, he doesn’t realize that in doing so, he essentially sets off her implosion. Cassel disappears for much of Black Swan’s later stages, but in those opening scenes, he pushes the movie on course, and his presence hangs over the film. A great performance by one of my favorite actors.

9. Richard Jenkins in Let Me In
Richard Jenkins is one of those character actors who does everything so well that he makes it look effortless. His performance in Let Me In has been completely ignored this awards season, but it is one of his best. A subtle, controller performance he plays the vampire’s “dad” in the film – a murderer in his own right. It is one of the creepiest performances of the year – not just the way he slouches and shuffles, but in the way he kills and most brilliantly, the slightly sexual way he looks at his “daughter”. He is the real evil guy in this film, but what makes the performance so memorable is how believably pathetic Jenkins makes him. One of the most underrated performances of the year.

8. Michael Fassbender in Fish Tank
Michael Fassbender has quickly become one of the more interesting actors around. His brilliant performances in Hunger, Eden Lake, Inglorious Basterds and this film show that he has more talent than most other actors around. Here, he takes on the difficult role of a man in his 30s, and his flirtation with the teenage daughter of his latest girlfriend. He seems like such a nice guy at first – but then we catch him looking at the teenager a little too long, a little too intently. What happens next is lowkey, prolonged seduction – and makes this seemingly nice guy turn into an asshole. But Fassbender’s work here is great because he refuses to make it into a cliché – even if we end up hating him, he remains a real performance for the entire movie. This is a performance that makes me want to see even more Fassbender in the future.

7. John Hawkes in Winter’s Bone
John Hawkes is one of those actors that you see pop up just about everywhere, but you hardly seem to notice. He is a character actor in the best sense of the word. Here, as Uncle Tear Drop, Hawkes delivers a performance of a man with barely suppressed violence in him – a gruff exterior covering up a man who really does care deeply about his niece. It is precisely the type of unshowy supporting work that Hawkes does best – precisely the kind that makes him fly under the radar – but also the type that makes him one of the most reliable character actors around.

6. Geoffrey Rush in The King’s Speech
As the Australian speech therapist, which helps the King in a tough time, Geoffrey Rush does what he does best – hams it up brilliantly. Yes, it is an over the top performance in some ways, but isn’t that why you cast Rush in the first place? Besides, his performance never goes so far as to make his character unbelievable – and there are some very nice, subtle moments that underline the class distinction present, yet mostly unspoken of, during the course of the movie. Rush is another in a long line of inspiring teachers – but this time, he only has one pupil. Watching Rush in this film is a reminder of just how good he can be – and is enough to make you wish we saw him more often.

5. Justin Timberlake in The Social Network
Justin Timberlake struts into The Social Network just like you would expect him to – like the personification of cool. As the founder of Napster, who became a celebrity, and can now walk into any restaurant or party he wants to, and has girls throwing themselves at him, he is everything that Zuckerberg wants to be. Timberlake handles the complex, rapid fire dialogue that is Aaron Sorkin’s forte effortlessly – which is hard to do (just ask the cast of his short lived TV show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, as half of them looked lost). But for me, the moment when Timberlake earned this spot on this list was late in the movie, when he’s arrested, and the cops go through his pockets and he has to explain that that is an epi pen, and that is his inhaler, and all that strut and cool drain away from him, and he is once again that nerd that was picked on in high school.

4. Andrew Garfield in The Social Network
Andrew Garfield’s character in The Social Network is the only one we can truly feel sympathy for from the first frame to the last. He is a nerd, but he embraces that, and is a charming nerd – a nerd that others like. When his friend Mark Zuckerberg comes to him for financial help, he gives it to him, and then works diligently to try and help Facebook grow – only to get royally screwed over. Garfield had a breakout year this year- with wonderful performances here and in Never Let Me Go and Red Riding: 1974, all of which were enough to get him cast as Spider-Man. And he deserves that recognition, because his performance here is subtle, self assured and likable. This kid has a real career in front of him – and this was a glorious first step.

3. Christian Bale in The Fighter
Christian Bale has always been a very dedicated actor - basically becoming a skeleton for his role in The Machinist, delivering one of the most disturbing performances I’ve ever seen in American Psycho and going slightly crazy in Werner Herzog’s Rescue Dawn. His performance in The Fighter is one of his best - as a crack addict who is also the main character trainer; he is a fast talking, larger than life character - a selfish man who finally realizes what his actions are doing to his family. He really does command the screen in his every scene - you cannot take your eyes off of him. For those who only know Bale from the Batman movies, The Fighter shows his great range, and how good he can actually be. A truly great performance.

2. Ben Mendohlson in Animal Kingdom
Jacki Weaver has been justly praised for her brilliant performance as the matriarch of this crime family, but for whatever reason, Ben Mendohlson who is equally good, and perhaps even more chilling, has been overlooked all awards season long. Mendohlson’s performance in Animal Kingdom is perhaps the most memorable villain role of the year. There is something not quite right about his eyes – they exude a violent coldness at times, and yet when his mother touches his face and suggest he go back on his medication, he looks like an embarrassed child. His scenes when he kills his nephew’s girlfriend, and then when he tries to sooth that same nephew are brilliant. Mendohlson’s work in Animal Kingdom deserved a whole lot more praise than it received.

1. Matt Damon in True Grit
There is no better performance this year that has all but been completely ignored during awards season than Matt Damon’s turn in True Grit – and unlike some of the other great performances being ignored, I have no idea why Damon isn’t getting the recognition he deserves, as he is just as good as Bridges and Steinfeld in this film. Damon turns LaBeouf from a comic foil in the earlier movie, into Cogburn’s equal in this one. He represents the other side of the same coin – he wants the same thing as Cogburn does, but unlike Cogburn he cares about the morality behind what he is doing – he wants to do the “right thing”. Ross is caught in between these two men, switching allegiances throughout the movie, never quite sure which one she should go with – and that’s a testament to Damon’s performance, because in the old movie, there was never any doubt – you stick with John Wayne. Damon’s performance is a wonder here – and it makes me wonder why I seem to be the only one who noticed.