THE UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN’S MAIN CAMPUS IS SITUATED ON TREATY 6 TERRITORY AND THE HOMELAND OF THE MÉTIS.
THE UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN’S MAIN CAMPUS IS SITUATED ON TREATY 6 TERRITORY AND THE HOMELAND OF THE MÉTIS.
At the end of every year you get the perfunctory articles by movie critics listing their Top 10 films of the year. This year, these lists hail movies like The Social Network and The King’s Speech as among the year’s best films, but this article isn’t a conventional list of Top 10 Films.
Every year there are excellent films that virtually nobody sees. Often they’re foreign films, as in the case of a few on this list. Even more so, they are usually excellent independent films that aren’t lauded with box office gold. And sometimes they are studio films that for one reason or another slipped under the popular radar. These are those films — the best films that you didn’t see in 2010.
This thriller starring Ryan Reynolds is a one-man show that plays like a Hitchcock film in the most confined setting imaginable — if you hadn’t heard, the entire film takes place within a coffin. As Reynolds’ Paul Conroy is dealt one bad deal after another, Cortes ups the tension until we feel buried along with Conroy.
Although a little stilted at times, Aaron Schneider’s directorial debut is an assured piece of filmmaking with wonderful performances from Robert Duvall, Bill Murray and Sissy Spacek. Its quaint atmosphere and deadpan humour along with the performances raise Get Low above its deficiencies and provide a poignant experience.
Sometimes all a film needs to succeed is atmosphere and The Ghost Writer has it in spades. That’s not to say it doesn’t have taut pacing, strong performances by Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan and Olivia Williams, and plenty of suspense, but it’s the atmosphere of the film set in a rain-drenched Martha’s Vineyard that makes this one of the most memorable political thrillers in years.
Hereafter is Clint Eastwood pulling a Steven Spielberg from a script by Peter Morgan (The Queen). From the visceral opening tsunami scene to the quiet ruminations on death and the meaning of life, Hereafter is an unconventional Eastwood picture and one of the year’s most thoughtful films.
Zack Snyder’s name is not synonymous with children’s films, but this classical adventure about a young owl stolen from his family and forced to become a fabled warrior in order to save his home is an assured exercise in classic storytelling. From the best use of 3D this side of Avatar to a refreshing lack of pop culture references and asinine humour, Legend of the Guardians is the best animated film of the year not produced by Pixar.
What could’ve been a disastrous remake of a solid Swedish film became one of the best American horror films of recent years. Let Me In features some great set pieces and great performances by Richard Jenkins, Chloe Moretz and Kodi Smit-McPhee, resulting in a film that is more effective and streamlined than the original.
Bong Joon-ho (The Host) has never been a director to hold fast to genre conventions so it is no surprise that Mother is simultaneously hilarious and disturbing, cutting-edge and old-fashioned. Mother is a compelling neo-noir and an intimate portrait of small-town Korean life, and has a towering performance by Kim Hye-ja as the titular mother.
Perhaps the most languid and contemplative sci-fi film of the year, Never Let Me Go is a beautifully shot film that is the existentialist’s answer to The Island. It’s not a film for people who demand action or exposition, but for those who appreciate quiet, subtle films dealing with important themes, look no further than this adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s acclaimed novel.
Even though it won the Palme d’Ore at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Uncle Boonmee is an under-seen oddity of a film. It is slow, has primarily static cinematography and features multiple stories that intersect seemingly arbitrarily at first glance. However, if you allow the film to work its magic, you’ll be treated to a singular cinematic experience that draws you in and holds you in its nightmarish, hypnotic gaze as it explores the many aspects of contemporary Thai life.
The most lauded independent film of the year, Winter’s Bone is a gritty, unsentimental noir set in the Missouri Ozarks. As the stalwart heroine, Dee, searching for her meth-cooking father to assure her family’s survival, Jennifer Lawrence gives one of the year’s best performances and Debra Granik’s uncompromising vision of the harsh realities of the poverty-stricken Ozarks will haunt you long after the credits roll.
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