Top Ten Movies of 2010

By Sarah Sluis

This year has been an odd one at the box office. Last year it was all about Avatar, the big, Hollywood crowd-pleaser that everyone could get behind. It was the kind of film all blockbusters should aspire to. In 2010, commercial fare has been much more disappointing. Even films angling for Oscars often didn't meet my expectations. Unlike others, I wasn't wowed by The Fighter and The Social Network didn't live up to my (perhaps unfairly high) expectations. What follows, in no particular order, are the films that got me excited this year. These are the films that didn't just do something well, they did it differently, and often with an uncommon eye for realism.

1. How to Train Your Dragon. Pixar may be the king of CG animation, but this DreamWorks Animation movie had the entire package: striking cinematography, a lovable male hero, and a unique world for audiences to explore. The dark, shadowy look of the film was very adult, but the movie's appeal was universal.

2. Tabloid. I saw this movie at the Doc NYC Fest, and it's yet to find a distributor. I may be jumping the gun, but I predict this documentary will be showing up on "Best Of" lists in 2011. Errol Morris' comedic turn tops even his early work on Gates of Heaven. The story of a beauty queen and her kidnapping of her Mormon ex-lover is so crazy, it could only be true. The third act twist that will leave your mouth agape.

3. The King's Speech. This feel-good awards movie is one I really can get behind. Directed by Tom Hooper ("John Adams"), this fact-based tale actually breathes, with quiet moments that delicately lead us through the lightly comedic story. At the end, I was rooting for King George's speech like it was a sports match (I hope I don't denigrate the film by comparing it to the stirring end of The Mighty Ducks). This may be a "traditional" Oscar film, but it's done so impeccably, it's hard not to like. Added bonus: It's gentle and inoffensive enough to bring the whole family to without embarrassment.

4. Tiny Furniture. Actress/director/writer Lena Dunham is one to watch. I may be biased: She's a just-out-of-college Oberlin grad, I'm a few-years-out-of-college Wesleyan grad, making us of the same ilk. In this semi-autobiographical film, the whole post-graduate experience becomes an opportunity to make fun of her character in an extremely naturalistic, painfully funny way. She has no fear, and not only makes herself look unflattering in front of the camera, she stages some truly cringe-worthy scenes--and did I mention she cast her mother and sister as her mother and sister?

5. Winter's Bone. In television, there's that "sitcom" living room and kitchen, which never seem to change no matter who the family is supposed to be. Film has the same problem, with the same glossed-over settings used again and again, and production designers that just can't help themselves from designing adorable spaces for supposedly average families. Winter's Bone changes all of that, filming in the Ozarks and using local actors to show outsiders what it's like to live in a rural, meth-infested world. I saw a part of America I'd never seen before.

6. Cyrus. Most romantic comedies are terrible, which is too bad, because I really like hearing funny stories about relationships. Cyrus was filled with moments that registered as funny because they were so close to real life, and didn't overplay its hand when it came to the battle between a woman's boyfriend and her son. Last year's (500) Days of Summer had the "rom-com" spot on my list, and this year it goes to Cyrus.

7. Somewhere. Sofia Coppola has the ability to slip you into this moody state of mind, and it's a pleasure to spend an hour and a half following a movie star with a mildly tragic case of ennui. His daughter (Elle Fanning) is charming, and even an "is-this-it?" ending didn't scratch this one off my top ten list.

8. Restrepo. This was a tough one, as Alex Gibney's Casino Jack and the United States of Money was also one of my favorites. But keeping to my theme, originality and reality won out. Like Winter's Bone, Restrepo presents a world that I never knew existed. The stakes of war feel so different here than on the evening news or in a war drama. I sensed that the filmmakers, Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington, really cared for the soldiers I sensed that the movie's creators, Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington, really cared for the soldiers they filmed in Afghanistan, but they aren't afraid to show moments that raise questions about their actions. The film offers a nuanced look at the impact of these Americans who are both making things worse and making things better. One thing's clear: it's time to bring our troops home.

9. Mother and Child. Weeks after leaving this movie, what I most wanted was to see more of Kerry Washington (she's currently in Night Catches Us), who plays a super-eager type-A wife who desperately wants to adopt a child. But she's just one part of the whole picture, with the cruelly cold Naomi Watts and sad Annette Bening offering three perspectives on mother-child relationships. A kind of modern melodrama, director Rodrigo Garca's sadly overlooked tale left a deep impression.

10. Blue Valentine. This Ryan Gosling/Michelle Williams tale of an imploding romance made it to the list because of its intense realism. Screenwriters Derek Cianfrance, Joey Curtis and Kami Delavigne have this incredible ear for toxic conversations, and it's awe-inducing to hear this couple break each other down without even raising their voices (though there are plenty of screaming matches), through seemingly innocent requests and comments. The sad story has a scientific level of precision, able to capture in detail the seismic activity that precedes a volcanic eruption. For that, it's one of my favorite films this year, and one that I hope will be rewarded at the Oscars.

'Unstoppable' up against 'Morning Glory,' 'Skyline'

By Sarah Sluis

Director Tony Scott switches tracks with Unstoppable (3,207 theatres), a runaway train action film that follows up his train-hostage movie, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, which also starred Denzel Washington. According to critic Ethan Alter, it's more of the same--"solid but unexceptional." He pegs Scott as a genre director, who has achieved various degrees of success with his "slick, violent, male-dominated action movies." It may be a formula film, but it's one that's expected to compete for first place this weekend against the animated family film Megamind, which should earn at least $20 million in its second weekend.

Morning Glory (2,518 theatres) opened on Wednesday to $1 million, behind two already-playing films, Megamind and Due Date. That puts the workplace romantic comedy at a disadvantage for the weekend. Critic Rex Roberts lamented the "poorly imagined or undeveloped" characters, "although watching them run through their set-pieces provokes enough chuckles to keep us in our seats until the final telegraphed plot twist sends us off into the sunrise." With its age-diverse cast and friendly subject matter, Morning Glory will live or die by word-of-mouth, so audiences will have to love this movie more than critics have (it's tracking at 55% on Rotten Tomatoes).

The trailer for Skyline (2,880 theatres) is reminiscent of Independence Day, with huge spaceships hovering above America's biggest cities. Though the special effects are impressive, which makes sense given the special effects background of the directors, the story itself appears to never rise above made-for-TV standards. "Don't waste your time trying to work out what's going on. It's clear by the end that the filmmakers had no idea either," THR critic Megan Lehmann advises.

Tiny Furniture, from promising indie filmmaker Lena Dunham, will open in one theatre in New York City. I praised the film back when it played at BAM Cinema Fest. Though not as enthusiastic about the slice-of-life, introspective movie, critic Maria Garcia pointed out the similarities between Dunham and Woody Allen, but also mused that the movie could be considered "a cinematic blog chronicling the nihilism of twenty-something-year-olds."

The anti-global warming documentary Cool It will hit 41 theatres. "Cool It is at its most effective when it stops dwelling on what that film�and the scientific community at large�gets wrong about global warming and instead focuses on what practical suggestions they have to offer," critic Ethan Alter concludes. The documentary's antagonist stance to blockbuster An Inconvenient Truth could either help or hurt the movie.

On Monday, we'll see if Unstoppable was able to unseat its superhero competitor, Megamind, if audiences were lured to Skyline and if Morning Glory was able to get itself back on track. Fair Game will also expand from 46 to 175 theatres, giving the movie a chance to try to repeat its $14,000 per-screen average in more theatres.

A preview of BAM CinemaFest: 'Tiny Furniture'

By Sarah Sluis

With a program perfectly attuned to its neighborhood, BAM CinemaFest should attract Brooklyners and Manhattanites alike. Running from June 9th-June 20th, the festival at BAM Rose Cinemas in Brooklyn, New York, will feature twenty films that have played in SXSW, Sundance, and other festivals, but before they hit

theatres (if at all). I'm a big fan of BAM Rose Cinemas, which has a wonderful vibe and an amazing space. They play a mix of mainstream (Sex and the City 2) and arthouse (Please Give) movies, as well as special events like BAM CinemaFest, so it can be a go-to place whatever your mood. I had the chance to preview one of the movies that will play in the festival, Tiny Furniture. A SWSW premiere, the movie has been picked up by IFC Films.

The movie stars Lena Dunhan, who also wrote the script (in one week) and directed. Her real sister and mother play her sister and mother in the movie, something I didn't realize until after seeing the movie, and it takes place in her actual apartment. Perhaps because the script is so close to Dunham's actual life, the movie is able to capture the type of real-life insights that feel forced in more polished, Hollywood movies. This is the kind of movie that makes you think, 'Aha! That is exactly how that is!' It's also the kind of indie movie that's so good, it makes you wish you watched more indie movies.

Dunham plays a girl who just graduated from college. She lounges around her mother's fabulous Tribeca apartment/art studio, a bit of an outsider to her mother (Laurie Simmons) and sister's (Grace Dunham) established routine. She reconnects with an old friend and bad influence (Jemima Kirke), acquires and loses a dead-end job, and flirts with both a co-worker (David Call) with a girlfriend and a struggling artist she lets stay at her apartment (Alex Karpovsky). It's more of a slice-of-life, mood-driven film than something plot-driven. Quick lines like "I think you sound like you're in the epilogue to 'Felicity'" are mixed with tangential conversations with friends and a spot-on representation of post-college wallowing and anxiety. Anyone five years out of a liberal arts college (Dunham herself graduated from Oberlin) will appreciate the movie's accuracy and subtle skewering of the resultant lifestyle. Given how many such people live within a five-mile radius of BAM Rose Cinemas, it's an excellent choice for the festival.

One of the most interesting, unique parts of the movie is how Dunham's looks mediate the audience's

understanding of the narrative, particularly her romances (if you watch the trailer, you can get a sense on how she brings her looks and weight into the narrative). Dunham looks beautiful in some shots, but more often she appears with unwashed hair, casual clothing and little makeup. When she's trying to figure out if a guy likes her, the audience doesn't think it's a given, the way they would if they saw Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher together in Killers. They're actually wondering if the guy will find her attractive enough to pursue her, and what about their personalities is driving their connection. She's also treated poorly by the men she's involved with, and one wonders if they are treating her badly because she just looks like she is someone that they can get away with treating badly. I personally haven't felt this way about an actress since I saw Muriel's Wedding (starring Toni Collette). In the movie, Collette plays a Plain Jane that also vacillates between looking pretty and looking plain. She so desperately wants to get married, she ties the knot with someone who marries her for immigration purposes. As an audience member, you're also wondering whether he will eventually fall in love with her--a way you wouldn't feel if the man had married Marilyn Monroe for immigration purposes. I admire that Dunham didn't try to look done-up and polished but gave the audience an ambiguous view of her looks that made the movie more interesting and firmly indie.

Tiny Furniture is Dunham's second movie (Creative Nonfiction was the first) and will probably open within the next year through IFC. The movie is playing at BAM CinemaFest this Friday, June 11th, at 6:50pm.