Everybody does lists at the end of the year. Here's another one!
My 10 Favorite Movies Of The Year
10. The Beaver
Yeah, Mel Gibson is a woman hating racist, but the dude can still act his ass off. And that's what he does in The Beaver. Even with his strong performance, Anton Yelchin and Jennifer Lawrance steal the movie in the B storyline. It was one of the most interesting takes on depression I've seen in a few years. No disrespect to Jodie Foster, who was competent enough, but I would have loved to see this in the hands of a great director. Still thoroughly enjoyed it though.
9. Crazy Stupid Love
I generally don't like movies like this, but the cast is so great I had to give it a chance. Very glad I did. Steve Carell is a very likeable lead, and Ryan Gosling is Ryan Gosling. Emma Stone doesn't hurt either. The characters were great and actually had me interested and concerned about what happened to them. The son's storyline felt fairly out of place at times, but also broke it up enough to make the movie unique overall. It's biggest flaw is that it peaked during the backyard confrontation and still had some movie to go. The ending wasn't going to top that scene, but that scene being so strong made up for it.
8. Snowtown
This is one of the creepiest, most uncomfortable movies I've ever seen. The story takes it's time to get going, but is the perfect buildup. It's hard to take your eyes away as the story builds, and then once it starts happening it doesn't stop. Daniel Henshall absolutely deserves an Oscar nomination at the very least, but he won't get it. His performance was downright chilling and worth watching for alone.
7. Another Earth
This is one of those that I liked more and more the more I thought about it than I did immediately upon watching. The first time around I really enjoyed it, but by the second watch I was absolutely in love. Brit Darling wrote herself an amazing role and completely delivered. It's an unconventional love story, and not your typical science fiction. It's a unique premise told throughout a very unique set of circumstances that builds up to a fantastic ending.
6. Hesher
I've never loved a Joseph Gordon-Levitt movie until this one. He was at the top of his game as Hesher, and the story was so well crafted and beautifully told. It took a completely different approach to looking at depression, and lead to a very engaging story. Between this and Super, Rainn Wilson showed he's not just a great comic actor and should have his choice of roles from here on out. The dialogue and story were so well written and is a movie that you feel like you actually come away with something. This may be a weird word to describe a movie about a stoner medal head, but it was beautiful.
5. Drive
Ryan Gosling.
4. Martha Marcy May Marlene
Telling a story in a non-linear way is hit or miss, and this one hit big time. It was so beautifully written and directed and bounced between timelines flawlessly. It's an interesting story and a nice look at a situation you don't get to see in a lot of movies. Elizabeth Olsen is amazing in the lead, and hopefully will get an Oscar nomination to give her the recognition she deserves. John Hawkes shows again that he's one of the best actors alive, and should be getting a best supporting nomination for the second year in a row, and should also win, but likely won't.
3. The Guard
In Bruges was my favorite movie of 2008, and this was written and directed by the brother of the dude who made it. I don't think he was quite able to top In Bruges, but he came damn close. Brenden Gleeson is so compelling on screen, and this role really gave him a chance to shine. Much like Colin Farrell did in In Bruges, Gleeson made an extremely unlikeable character very loveable. Don Cheadle throws in a nice balance, and the story is very fun to watch unfold.
2. Source Code
All hyperbole aside, Duncan Jones is a movie making god. Moon is one of the better sci-fi films of the last 10 years, and was tough to follow up. But he followed it up strong. With Source Code, he proved that he can not only make a phenominal sci-fi movie, but that he can do so on a mainstream scale. He let Jake Gyllenhaal shine without banking solely on his star power, and perfectly utitlized the very talented cast. Without emotion, science fiction falls flat, and Jones showed that mixing emotion and science fiction is his specialty.
1. Attack The Block
Most fun movie of the year. Great cast, great story, great direction, just overall a very well made movie. Avoided being a typical monster movie by banking on great characters and a perfectly set up atmosphere. The creatures were very cool, and the action was well done. Every death mattered, the consequences were well established and the climax was well worth the buildup, which are alls things most American horror movies fail, especially at the mainstream level. It had a very Gremlins-type vibe, which is one of the greatest complements I can give a movie.
Just Outside The Top 10
50/50, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2, We Need To Talk About Kevin, Kill List, Warrior, X-Men: First Class
Most Confusing Opinion Of A Movie
Bellflower
I think I loved Bellflower, but I'm pretty sure I hated it. I love the story behind how it was made. I love that they basically invented a camera to give it its own unique look. I like the idea of the story enough, but I'm not sold on the execution. It tries to sell itself as anything but a breakup movie, but it's a breakup movie. The story is somewhat compelling, but just doesn't come across right. The climax is a little forced and doesn't really fit with the rest of the movie. I won't say it's an awful movie, but I'm not calling it great. All things considered, I'm definitely interested in what Evan Glodell.
Most Hated Movie
Melancholia
Man, I hated this movie, yet it's showing up on every year end best of list. I don't need 10 minutes of nonsense to open a movie, I don't care how pretty it is. It takes an awesome concept for a movie, and takes over half the movie before it even gets to it. If the entire movie were just the second half, I'd have probably liked it. Still wouldn't have loved it, but I wouldn't have hated it with such strong rage. I just don't get it. I feel like the only reason people say they love this movie is because they don't want to feel like their opinion is inferior because everybody else is saying they love it only because they don't want their opinion to be inferior.
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