Here are my personal movie awards for 2010. I still need to see films like Nostalgia for the Light, The Housemaid, Outside the Law, I Saw the Devil, Kill List, Howl, The Arbor, Inside Job, Neds, For Colored Girls, Lourdes, City Island, I Love You Phillip Morris, 13 Assassins, Boxing Gym, The Portuguese Nun, Tiny Furniture, The Book of Eli, and The Good, the Bad, the Weird.
Note: You can click on the images to enlarge them.
Updated: 4/17/15
Our line-ups are very different this year and again I've only seen one of your list, lots to catch up on. At least the one I've seen this year, Black Swan, I really liked.
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The Ghost Writer
Inception
Made in Dagenham
Shutter Island-Winner
Winter's Bone
A varied group this year though fractured time plays a part in two of my picks. The spare Winter's Bone is depressing as hell but well made and Dagenham a high quality rendering of a turning point in history. It's the other three films, all mysteries to varying degrees, that I found the most engaging. The cooly intriguing Ghost Writer sneaks up on the viewer involving them slyly in its story and the world within world within world of Inception, though divisive, is a visual delight, I saw you gave it several well deserved noms in the tech categories, but it's the edgy, discordant Shutter Island, an unsettling view, that I found the most powerful.
Though it's a technical aspect I wanted to mention the use of Dinah Washington's recording of This Bitter Earth over Shutter Island's closing credits. It's a perfect choice to begin with but the broken, inconsistent version that is used is an ideal capstone to the picture.
Director:
Darren Aronofsky-Black Swan
Debra Granik-Made in Dagenham
Christopher Nolan-Inception-Winner
Roman Polanski-The Ghost Writer
Martin Scorsese-Shutter Island
Ghost Writer is probably Polanski's strongest film since the Pianist and Scorese's ability to keep the jangly, scattered Shutter Island on track is a refreshing change of pace from his usual fare but Nolan's guiding of the trippy Inception and its many layers within layers is the most impressive.
Actor:
Leonardo DiCaprio-Shutter Island-Winner
Colin Firth-The King's Speech
Paul Giamatti-Barney's Version
Ryan Gosling-Blue Valentine
Ewan McGregor-The Ghost Writer
I'm glad Firth won the award even if it was a make up for his previous year's performance where he lost to that year's make up winner Jeff Bridges (how rare it is for people to win for the proper work!!) though his work is customarily strong. Giamatti, Gosling and McGregor were all terrific but DiCaprio's somewhat jittery performance fit into the fractured mosaic of his film becoming another component of it rather than a stand alone element.
Actress:
Jennifer Lawrence-Winter's Bone-Winner
Natalie Portman-Black Swan
Hailee Steinfeld-True Grit
Emma Stone-Easy A
Rachel Weisz-The Whistleblower
I LOVE Stone's comic gem of a performance as the engaging Olive in Easy A and on the other end of the spectrum Steinfeld's quiet, meditative Mattie Ross in True Grit. Portman's Nina is a very complex piece of work but she's my third choice behind the consistently stong Rachel Weisz in the brutal Whistleblower and my winner Lawrence as the incredibly resilient Ree in the bleak Winter's Bone.
Great stuff, as usual. I need to see The Whistleblower and Made in Dagenham, which I have a copy of. Thrilled to see Shutter Island on here. It's such an underrated piece of work.
DeleteSupporting Actor:
ReplyDeleteChristian Bale-The Fighter
Chris Evans-The Losers
Tom Hardy-Inception
John Hawkes-Winter's Bone-Winner
Bob Hoskins-Made in Dagenham
It's always great to find superior work in unexpected places and that's what Evans delivers in the otherwise forgettable The Losers. His loosey goosey, scene stealing performance is so far above the material it belongs in another, better film. Hardy likewise stands out in his film only against stronger performers and with better material. Bale and the late, lamented Hoskins are standouts in their films as well but Hawkes as the ragged Uncle Teardrop almost matches Lawrence's performance in Winter's Bone.
Supporting Actress:
Ann Morgan Guilbert-Please Give
Barbara Hershey-Black Swan-Winner
Illaria Occhini-Loose Cannons
Miranda Richardson-Made in Dagenham
Jackie Weaver-Animal Kingdom
Five excellent performances, I especially like Occhini's worldy wise grandmother in Loose Cannons, but Hershey's overwound Erica whose madness seeps out in sudden bursts is the best of the bunch.
Love that Tom Hardy nod, and Bale and Hawkes, of course. Hershey and Weaver are, indeed, wonderful. I really need to see Please Give.
DeleteSo I've just added a few films to the top of my queue thanks to this...
ReplyDeleteI love the diversity of your list, even if our BP lineup is 0/5
I mean, this may be the year where we differ the most, actually. That being said, I put Exit Through the Gift Shop at #1 on my queue, so maybe it'll sneak in.
Yeah, I love both of our ballots, even if we don't have much in common this year. :)
DeleteHope you like Exit Through the Gift Shop. I half-rewatched it while I was making images, and it's still fascinating.
If you added Life During Wartime to your queue, it's a loose sequel to Happiness, with some returning characters played by new actors. I prefer it to Happiness, actually.
REALLY?!?! I'll add that now!
DeleteYay! And Solondz co-wrote the song, so he's now a CinSpec nominee!
DeleteI love this! I like how Black Swan, Animal Kingdom, and Fish Tank have a strong showing. Portman is also my personal pick for Best Actress and while I would also nominate Bale for Best Supporting Actor, my personal pick would be either Fassbender or Mendelsohn. I have a hard time choosing between the two. I also liked how you nominated The Social Network for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Score.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Glad to hear you're also a fan of those films and performances. Bale wins rather easily for me, especially since I give Mendelsohn and Fassbender wins for their even better work in Starred Up and Shame. I've always had a problem with The Social Network's second half, but I do think it's a great film, albeit not the best film of the year.
DeleteUnderstandable. At least The King's Speech is nowhere to be found on your ballot. That was also pleasing. Not a horrible film, but adequate at best.
DeleteHaha, I do like The King's Speech, but it certainly isn't one of the year's best. Still, the Academy has rewarded far worse.
DeleteI don't get your cinematography choce again for this one lol. Somewhere just looked so... boring, compared to everything else you chose, sorry if I'm being negative or something hahahaha
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