Awards Daily has not yet provided a top ten list. We weren’t planning on it but at the urging of some of the readers (and Ryan), we decided to take a stab at it. I can’t promise to name only ten. You are invited to add your own. I also have to admit to not having seen some of the films this year, particularly the foreign films. But if I wait until I see everything I won’t get to a list until Summer.
These are the films I connected to most at this moment in time. I have found, though, that over the years the films I love from any given Oscar season can change. For instance, Sideways, which I never really cared for during its Oscar run, is now one of my all-time favorites.
Here are the films that really made an impact on me this year.
1. The Hurt Locker
Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal set out to tell a story that hasn’t yet been told about the toll the Iraq war has taken on soldiers on the ground.¬† It wasn’t easy. They had every possible obstacle in their way – from raising funds, to a bungled release date, to the decision to cast it with actors who weren’t stars, to its being released into an atmosphere where no one was going to see “Iraq movies.” No one was going to see what they considered “more depressing news about the unwinnable war.” At some point, the news started to trickle out that The Hurt Locker wasn’t just your run-of-the-mill “depressing Iraq movie.” It was a cinematic masterpiece, exactly the right film for our time.
How it came to pass that no one went to see it is going to be the stuff of legends. Film professors will talk about how great the film was, how well it did despite how little money it made. Film executives will bring it up in meetings about whether or not to approve a project about the Iraq war, whether or not to “cast with unknowns” or whether or not to hire women directors. And little girls will see that women can direct war movies too.
The Hurt Locker brings us into the lives and stories of three bomb techs in Iraq. Their operation is to find Improvisational Explosive Devices wherever they might be hiding. Jeremy Renner is so enamored with the scrappy intelligence behind these things he collects the pieces of things that almost killed him. To him, it is almost a sexual thrill to uncover the snare of wires, tricks and traps to uncover the thing that is set in place to do nothing but kill Americans. We have been told we must hate the enemy but here, we are shown that the enemy is, in many cases, a lot smarter than we are and the only thing standing between more dead soldiers and a clever explosive trap is someone with an addiction to heroism. That addiction keeps him coming back for more. There is nothing more important to him than playing the deadly game of “find the IED.”
We also see the Renner character through the eyes of the other two leads, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty. Each is dealing with fear every second of every day they are out in the field. The film’s intricate exploration of their experiences is what keeps us holding on to the film, even though there are long minutes with no dialogue at all, just the empty hiss of the desert and the occasional pop of ammunition, which then explodes into a display of rounds. Bigelow’s cameras lend an immediacy to the day’s events and every once in a while there is a breathtaking moment of artistry — Bigelow’s signature slow capture.
There isn’t another film about this ongoing, strangling war that brings you on the ground like this one does, and does it without the aid of melodrama, sappy music and a final license to kick ass. How easy it would be to call forth the gods of the planet to destroy the enemy. The trick here is figuring out who the enemy is. They don’t know anymore.
Not knowing who the enemy is is best illustrated in Jeremy Renner’s relationship with a young merchant who sells DVDs to soldiers. He develops an unlikely bond with the kid, knowing he has a son of his own waiting for him back home. When he thinks he finds the boy, transformed into a bloody body bomb, he finds that he has become way too invested emotionally. He loses it, roaming the very dangerous streets to avenge the boy’s death. When he then sees the boy alive and well and selling DVDs, something inside of him clicks. He won’t make that mistake again. Remember, the enemy is faceless.
The Hurt Locker rises above the rest because, though Americans would like to pretend otherwise, we are still very much in the thick of it. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan still inform many things, including Avatar, including The Messenger, even In the Loop. We are caught in a web of confusion still. We are fighting in a void, we are fighting a faceless enemy. It still rages on. Bigelow and Boal have made a film that will not only stand the test of time, but will be the one we look to when we reflect back on this ongoing, war-torn era. The artist is alive and well in Bigelow.
2. Avatar – Avatar is everything that the Hurt Locker isn’t. One film will have made the money of the year, perhaps of all time and the other the least. One film is a revenge-fantasy that makes us feel like we are kicking our own American asses off of Pandora because what we do to ourselves, to our planet, to other countries is to render them inhabitable, soulless, and dead. Avatar is thrilling to watch. Just like Jake Sully slips into his bed and leaves his earthly body behind, so do we transform when we slip on those dorky 3-D glasses and let Cameron’s vivid imagination take hold. It is a cinematic experience like no other. It is something that transcends even the definition of “film.” It isn’t really a film; it is a transformative experience.¬† This film is bigger, even, than it started out being. It is similar to the Lord of the Rings series but is even more universal and accessible. With Avatar, Cameron has united a global audience under one message – we aren’t connected by many things, but we are connected by this crazy, balls-out fantasy epic.
Avatar takes on Iraq in a much more direct way than Bigelow’s film. It has the luxury of doing so, however, because money matters (especially to Fox) a hell of a lot more than politics. So while we have a few righties bemoaning things about Avatar, everyone cannot help but be dazzled by the cash. It is Capitalism as its finest and people are making a fortune, and will continue to make a fortune off of Avatar for decades to come. It is a revolution. Therefore, no one is going to balk at Cameron saying right up front that, when it comes to Iraq, when people are sitting on “shit we want” we make them the enemy. And if there is any theme in Avatar, that is it. We make them the enemy and we invade their land and we try to take what they have. Of course, in Avatar, fantasy comes full circle and the money-grubbers are booted out and spirituality reigns. Moreover, Jake gets to stay in the pretty world of Pandora as a a ten foot high Na’vi. And we as audience members have to walk outside and face our dying world. That means all we want to do is turn right back around and spend more money to spend more time on Pandora.
Cameron didn’t make Titanic for the money, and he didn’t make Avatar for the money. You don’t get projects like this off the ground if all you’re thinking about is profit. He set out to tell a story that was clearly close to his heart and had some deeper meaning beyond the razzle dazzle.¬† For that reason, Avatar is anything but an empty experience. One can tell if a filmmaker is out for profit and when they’re out to fulfill a lifelong dream. Is it the most original story ever? No, but it feels authentic nonetheless. The performance capture feels real. The Na’vi becomes worthy of protection. Cameron’s films will always have dumb one-liners. That’s as much his trademark as anything else. But when he hits it out of the park like he has done with Avatar one can only regard him with awe.
3. Inglourious Basterds – this was an easy call. Quentin Tarantino has made the best film of his career. It’s better than Pulp Fiction, better than Kill Bill, better than Reservoir Dogs. It combines Tarantino’s knowledge of film history, as well as his refusal to obey the rules. He has always been a rule-breaker and somehow he does this without trivializing his subjects. Tarantino takes his time telling this story, which is one of the best things about it. The film is especially enjoyable the second time you see it. Once you give yourself over to the idea of this being revenge fantasy at its finest, one can experience a level of perverse pleasure throughout. There is tragedy here, too. The beauty dies. The love dies. The old world dies. What’s left are the scars. And the Basterds. The truth about this film is that no one else could have directed it but Quentin Tarantino, just like The Hurt Locker and Avatar. These three directors are at the top of their game.
4. The Road — This was another film no one saw.¬† They didn’t see it because word got out that it was “too bleak” for the fantasy-loving, escapist, depression-soaked audiences. When looking at the best films of the year it shouldn’t necessarily be about the films that did well at the box office or in the awards race.¬† The Road features, what I consider to be, the best male performance of the year in Viggo Mortensen. Mortensen reveals fear like no actor I’ve ever seen. But it isn’t just his gaunt, frightened face – it’s the love in his eyes, the tragedy that lays before them, the impossibility of his situation. He must be tough for his kid, ready to pull the trigger and kill them both. He must also make sure everything is okay, that they don’t let their humanity slip away.
5. A Single Man – I’m embarrassed that I’ve chosen three films from the Weinstein Co. for my top ten. It makes me look like a shill. But, as I said, awards season tends to round up a small group of films for Oscar consideration and it’s hard for any others to break through. It isn’t for me to see everything. But I know a great film when I see it and A Single Man is very easily one of the best the year had to offer. That is to say, it touched me deeply. Colin Firth plays a professor who has just lost someone more than just his “partner” or his “gay lover” — what they were to each other is so much more. And it is in those scenes between the two of them, told in flashback, that are the most moving. They are so lovely as to torture the viewer with their perfection. And such is the torment of mourning someone you loved so much.
Firth is much deserving of the praise that’s been heaped upon him for this performance – in fact, Firth is unrecognizable; he IS George Falconer. And what a great name, right? For someone who attracts wild things. “We are invisible,” is the phrase that threads through the film. When he finds out his lover has been killed he is told (by the voice of Jon Hamm) that the service is “only for family.” And thus begins his trek into the depths of despair, down into possible suicide and then back into the random joys of living.
Tom Ford is already a masterful film director – great visually, of course, but more than that he is good with actors, and that is probably one of the harder parts of directing. This film is a showcase for Firth, but all supporting players are wonderful. I particularly liked Matthew Goode as Jim.
6. In the Loop – a brilliant ensemble of actors with rapid-fire dialogue that is so layered it’s impossible to catch it all in one viewing. It takes a couple of them to get all of the jokes. There isn’t enough good comedy writing in American films because they are so dependent upon drawing the attention of 13 year-old boys – so you get a lot of “you’re gay” and fart jokes. How refreshing to see a film that is actually brilliant, along with being funny.
7. District 9 – What a great movie overall District 9 is, and what a wonderful surprise this year. District 9, like Avatar, deals with human/alien hybrids where our genes are blended allowing a human to transform and become superhuman.¬† Both leads ultimately and completely transform at the end. We are greatly accepting of these aliens, in fact, we prefer them to ourselves. Sci-Fi is holding up quite an unattractive mirror.
8. The Lovely Bones – Strange, all over the place, but to me – absolutely authentic to the time period and the perspective of a young girl. The film was not well liked by many, but that’s because we’ve become conditioned to “serial killer movies,” which follow a fairly standard formula. This film would be wholly original. Of course, audiences always say they want original films but the don’t, really. They want things they recognize with small changes made to the convention. People were expecting Mystic River but they got something else entirely. It is still one of my favorite films of the year.
9. Bright Star – The Jane Campion film is an odd look at the love between Keats and Fannie Brawne. Both Ben Wishaw and Abbie Cornish are so good in their roles. The film stops short of being a bodice-ripper and that might be where it had its problems with audiences. Those formulas are in place for a reason – fanboys like to see skin, women like romance. But Campion decided to tell this story a different way, more truthful to the obscurity in the record on these two.¬† The story is a heart-breaker, but it is all the more interesting because it’s really about the business of marriage and commerce. Both of them were stuck in a time that wasn’t ready for their kind.¬†
10. An Education – While some have taken the odd stance of judging this film for being about “sex with a 16 year-old,” there is a reality to the past we cannot judge, I don’t think. Unless we’re going to start getting angry that the Virgin Mary was pregnant at what, 13? 14? The past is the past. The present is the present. We must be able to see things the way they were back then. There isn’t an untrue or inauthentic moment in the film. Everyone is called out for their own part in the way it played out. But lucky for Carey Mulligan’s character, she gets out before any real damage is done. And it teaches her valuable life lessons and informs who she will later become.
11. Invictus – I had to make room for a number 11 because Clint Eastwood’s film is s good, whether it has “buzz” or “heat” or not. That isn’t the point, ultimately, in choosing which films are “best.” All that means is that they are still in the game. And a game it is. There is nothing particularly real about how Oscar films are chosen – they are a product of time and place. Invictus will be around a lot longer than most of the films on this list.
One thing I’m noticing about my list, is that all but one of these films takes place in a different time period or an alternate universe. Odd, that.
Worth mentioning are Up in the Air and Precious, A Serious Man, Where the Wild Things Are, Invictus, Up, Crazy Heart, Coraline, the Julia parts of Julie & Julia would round out on my top twenty. Or twenty-one.