David Denby of The New Yorker gives his Top 10. Read the rest of his summaries here.
“Hugo”—In Martin Scorsese’s wondrous 3-D masterpiece, you feel like you’re inside a giant box with the entire history of the cinema playing on the walls. The movie is intricate, touching, a reverent summing up of the past of movies, and a triumphant, heart-swelling surge into the future.
“The Tree of Life”—Yes, I know, Terrence Malick’s movie is unbearably high-minded and humorless. But still! There are sequences that rival the greatest things ever done in movies, especially the long family episodes with Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, and the little boys, in which the camera floats around the characters, and all of eternity is summoned in the minutest motions of love and rage. Brad Pitt gives an amazing performance; he’s a shoo-in for the Oscar.
“Margin Call”
“Certified Copy”
“A Separation”
“Contagion”
“The Descendants”
“J. Edgar”
“Source Code”
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes“
