- SIGHT AND SOUND '2010: THE YEAR IN REVIEW' here- http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/polls/films-of-2010-intro.php
Sight & Sound's top 12 films of the year were, as follows-
1. The Social Network
2. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
3. Another Year
4. Carlos
5. The Arbor
=6. Winter's Bone
=6. I Am Love
=8. The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu
=8. Film Socialisme
=8. Nostalgia for the Light
=8. Poetry
=8. A Prophet
An interesting list, which (being Sight & Sound and all) is slightly more alternative than Empire's (which I shall discuss in a minute) and features some intriguing selections. A Prophet, Winter's Bone and Another Year all seem like very strong shouts and will be equally strong contenders to make my top 5 list, while The Social Network is definitely a deserved victor, an underdog of a film (despite its impressive cast and crew) that shook off the doubters to prove itself a mesmerising representation of power and greed, the creation of Facebook told as Greek tragedy, anchored by a superb breakthrough performance by Jesse Eisenberg. Meanwhile it's fantastic to have watched Apichatpong Weerasethakul gain the credit he so deserves this year with his film Uncle Boonmee's success at Cannes (it won the Palme d'Or) and now a placing of second in this list. The Thai director is incredibly talented and if you ever get a chance to see Uncle Boonmee then take it, it's a weird and wonderful experience. Finally, since Jean Luc Godard's new release Film Socialisme is yet to be released I cannot really comment, though my university tutor saw it at the London Film Festival and said it was a bit mental but fantastic, so I eagerly await its release (if it is to get one in the UK). Check out the above link if you fancy reading Sight & Sound's reasons for picking each film.
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-EMPIRE'S TOP 20 FILMS OF 2010 The January 2011 issue of Empire features their Review of the Year which contains within it their top 20 films of 2010. The list goes as such-
1. Inception
2. The Social Network
3. Toy Story 3
4. Up In The Air
5. A Prophet
6. Scott Pilgrim vs The World
7. Bad Lieutenant
8. Shutter Island
9. Winter's Bone
10. Kick-Ass
11. Four Lions
12. How To Train Your Dragon
13. A Single Man
14. Monsters
15. The Kids Are All Right
16. The Secret In Their Eyes
17. Exit Through The Gift Shop
18. Valhalla Rising
19. Lebanon
20. Precious
Takes in more mainstream efforts than Sight & Sound's list, best showcased by Christopher Nolan's genius sci-fi Inception taking top spot (I anticipate this will quite easily find a way into my list too). At number 2 though is Sight & Sound's top pick The Social Network, the greatest example of similarity between the two lists. This bodes well for the awards chances of Fincher's film; I for one would be delighted to see it achieve success at both the BAFTAs and Oscars. The only other two films that can be found in both lists are A Prophet (Jacques Audiard's unflinching portrayal of prison life) and Winter's Bone (which I reviewed a few blog posts back and definitely consider one of my films of the year). I can find few faults with Empire's list, and it is nice to see recognition for the two geek guilty pleasure hits of the year (Kick-Ass and Scott Pilgrim, though I would've swapped round the placing of them) which played a huge hand in making the multiplex cinema an unusually exciting place to be in 2010. Best of lists have a tendency to forget fantastic films released near the beginning of the year, so I am glad Empire has chosen to include Up In The Air, A Single Man and Precious, all 3 beautifully made, beautifully acted awards-friendly movies. Documentary rarely finds these lists either, but Banksy's highly amusing and fascinating Exit Through The Gift Shop is well worth its place.
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- So as I say, I'll be back with my own best of 2010 soon. Moving on, I must broadcast my delight that Shane Meadows has been given the greenlight by Channel 4 to begin work on the follow up to his completely brilliant four-part series This Is England '86, which recently finished on our television screens and is new to DVD. The new series will be entitled This Is England '90 and will reportedly feature 'a continuation of the same characters four years on, looking at rave culture and the World Cup. Shane is brimming with ideas and we are really excited' (the words of head of C4 drama Camilla Campbell). I will watch anything that the talented Shane Meadows makes but the idea of returning to the worlds of Sean, Lol and Woody is one that is particularly exciting.
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- The teaser trailer for Kenneth Branagh's eagerly anticipated comic book adaptation Thor, due out in June next year, has just been released to the world wide web and can be looked at here - http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=29704
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- I reported in my last blog post that the Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams starring drama Blue Valentine was struggling to lift the NC-17 rating (which drastically limits the number of theatres that will show a film) that the MPAA had hastily bestowed upon it. Happily in the last few days the filmmakers have won their appeal and the MPAA have reversed their decision, instead stamping Blue Valentine with the much more box office friendly R rating. Great news for the film, which looks terrific. However Scott Mendelson of hollywoodnews.com says that despite this reversal, the original trouble over the film's rating has shown cracks within the MPAA system, especially with regards to the NC-17 rating and what is considered 'bad' enough to receive it- http://www.hollywoodnews.com/2010/12/09/blue-valentine-demonstrates-the-problems-with-how-the-mpaa-is-implemented
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