As we near the end of the decade it is time to reflect on the past ten years of the film industry. There have been many developments: Disney have created a superhero juggernaut that is simply too big to fail, Warner Brothers have enlisted auteurs like Christopher Nolan and Ben Affleck in an attempt to keep well-made films in the lime-light, and much more.
In the first of a ten part series, we’ll be looking at the ten best films of each calendar year this decade, which will cumulate in a post with the hundred best films of the decade. Without further adieu, let’s get down to business.
There are some shout-out’s before we dive into the top ten. Luca Guadagino’s ‘I Am Love’ was oh-so-close to making it to the top ten, whilst Martin Scorsese’s ‘Shutter Island’ wasn’t too far off either.
10: 127 Hours
Director: Danny Boyle
Cast: James Franco, Kate Mara, Clemence Poésy
Composer: A.R. Rahman
Budget: $18M
Box Office: $60.7M
SYNOPSIS:
While exploring a remote canyon in Utah, mountaineer and adventurer Aron Ralston (James Franco) becomes trapped when a boulder falls on his arm. Over the next five days, Ralston examines his life and considers his options, leading him to an agonising choice: to amputate his arm so that he can extricate himself and try to make his way back to civilisation or remain pinned to the canyon wall and likely die.
After films such as ’28 Days Later’ and ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, Boyle was on a high after taking an Academy Award, and consolidated his status as one of the greats in filmmaking with this short but brutal true tale, which is only as good as it is due to James Franco’s simply stunning acting skills.
9: Winter’s Bone
Director: Debra Granik
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes
Composer: Dickon Hinchcliffe
Budget: $2M
Box Office: $16.1M
SYNOPSIS:
Faced with an unresponsive mother and a criminal father, Ozark teenager Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) does what she can to manage the household and take care of her two younger siblings. Informed by the sheriff (Garret Dillahunt) that their father put their home up for bond and then disappeared, Ree sets out on a dangerous quest to find him. Her entire family’s fate now in her hands, Ree challenges her outlaw kin’s code of silence and risks her life to learn her father’s fate.
The film that started off Jennifer Lawrence’s career off. And whilst Lawrence of course steals the show in this $2M indie flick, the epic cinematography by Michael McDonough and the chilling score by Dickon Hinchcilffe adds to what has to be one of the best American indie films of the decade.
8: The Fighter
Director: David O. Russell
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo
Composer: Michael Brook
Budget: $25M
Box Office: $129.2M
SYNOPSIS:
For Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), boxing is a family affair. His tough-as-nails mother is his manager. His half-brother, Dicky (Christian Bale), once a promising boxer himself, is his very unreliable trainer. Despite Micky’s hard work, he is losing and, when the latest fight nearly kills him, he follows his girlfriend’s advice and splits from the family. Then Micky becomes a contender for the world title and he — and his family — earns a shot at redemption.
It’s hard not to do a paint-by-numbers boxing biopic, and this is part of the reason why ‘The Fighter’ manages to make the top ten. Mark Wahlberg continues to showcase he can act after his work in Scorsese’s ‘The Departed’, however it is Christian Bale who steals the show in his calm-down after ‘The Dark Knight’, with the Brit winning an Oscar for his role.
7: Certified Copy
Director: Abbas Kiarostami
Cast: Juliette Binoche, William Shimell
Composer: ?
Budget: $3.5M
Box Office: $5.5M
SYNOPSIS:
While touring Tuscany, Italy, promoting his new book, English author James (William Shimell) meets French store owner Elle (Juliette Binoche), and the two hit it off, deciding to spend a free day together. They travel to a nearby town, get coffee, visit a museum and pretend to be recently married in what turns out to be a popular wedding destination. As these two strangers get to know each other, however, it becomes clear there’s more to their new relationship than meets the eye.
It’s hard not to fall in love with the concept of ‘Certified Copy’. It’s simple enough, but the stunning scenery and superb acting from Binoche and Shimell is enough to keep this one in our hearts for years to come.
6: The Town
Director: Ben Affleck
Cast: Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm
Composer: Harry Gregson-Williams
Budget: $37M
Box Office: $154M
SYNOPSIS:
Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) leads a band of ruthless bank robbers and has no real attachments except for James (Jeremy Renner), who — despite his dangerous temper — is like a brother. Everything changes for Doug when James briefly takes a hostage, bank employee Claire Keesey. Learning that she lives in the gang’s neighbourhood, Doug seeks her out to discover what she knows, and he falls in love. As the romance deepens, he wants out of his criminal life, but that could threaten Claire.
Who would have thought Ben Affleck of all people could make a film about bank-robbing so tense and interesting? Affleck is front and centre in front and behind the camera, whilst Jeremy Renner and Jon Hamm showcase their acting ability in what was the start of the era when Affleck began making a name for himself in the directing business.
5: The Ghost Writer
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Tom Wilkinson
Composer: Alexandre Desplat
Budget: $45M
Box Office: $60.2M
SYNOPSIS:
When a successful ghostwriter, the Ghost (Ewan McGregor), agrees to finish the memoirs of Adam Long (Pierce Brosnan), England’s former prime minister, his publisher assures him it’s the chance of a lifetime. Instead, he begins to uncover evidence that suggests his late predecessor knew a dark secret about Lang and may have been murdered to prevent it from coming to light.
If you like political thrillers, this is the creme de la creme. With Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan, Polanski is able to make a political charade into something which is the opposite of dated, that feels even more at home in today’s society rather than ten years ago. Truly encapsulating.
4: True Grit
Director: Joel & Ethan Coen
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld
Composer: Carter Burwell
Budget: $38M
Box Office: $252.3M
SYNOPSIS:
After an outlaw named Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin) murders her father, feisty 14-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) hires Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), a boozy, trigger-happy lawman, to help her find Chaney and avenge her father. The bickering duo are not alone in their quest, for a Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) is also tracking Chaney for reasons of his own. Together the unlikely trio ventures into hostile territory to dispense some Old West justice.
Remaking arguably the greatest Western of all time is a tough enough job, but adding your own distinct style onto it without damaging the source material is something of an impossible job. But The Coen Brothers did it of course. Jeff Bridges is just perfect in the role once played by John Wayne, whilst Damon and Brolin also show off their skills.
3: The King’s Speech
Director: Tom Hooper
Cast: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce
Composer: Alexandre Desplat
Budget: $15M
Box Office: $414.2M
SYNOPSIS:
England’s Prince Albert (Colin Firth) must ascend the throne as King George VI, but he has a speech impediment. Knowing that the country needs her husband to be able to communicate effectively, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) hires Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), an Australian actor and speech therapist, to help him overcome his stammer. An extraordinary friendship develops between the two men, as Logue uses unconventional means to teach the monarch how to speak with confidence.
A masterclass. That’s how I would sum up ‘The King’s Speech’. The filmmaking isn’t bold and visionary, however Hooper’s ability to give everything possible to Firth and Rush manages to somehow make an audience quiet for a whole two hours. That should not be underestimated.
2: Inception
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Caine, Ken Wantanabe
Composer: Hans Zimmer
Budget: $160M
Box Office: $828.3M
SNYOPSIS:
Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a thief with the rare ability to enter people’s dreams and steal their secrets from their subconscious. His skill has made him a hot commodity in the world of corporate espionage but has also cost him everything he loves. Cobb gets a chance at redemption when he is offered a seemingly impossible task: Plant an idea in someone’s mind. If he succeeds, it will be the perfect crime, but a dangerous enemy anticipates Cobb’s every move.
After ‘The Dark Knight’, how would Christopher Nolan top it? Simple, make a movie about stealing dreams. ‘Inception’ is the first time we saw the Nolan that makes an art-house film with millions of dollars, utilising the ability of his actors front and centre, with DiCaprio and Hardy stealing the show, but the concept is just mind-boggling that is simply timeless – excuse the pun – that is still unbelievable as a concept, a film, or just a philosophical idea. Bravo Christopher Nolan.
1: The Social Network
Director: David Fincher
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Armie Hammer, Andrew Garfield
Composer: Trent Renzor & Atticus Ross
Budget: $40M
Box Office: $224.9M
SYNOPSIS:
In 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer genius Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) begins work on a new concept that eventually turns into the global social network known as Facebook. Six years later, he is one of the youngest billionaires ever, but Zuckerberg finds that his unprecedented success leads to both personal and legal complications when he ends up on the receiving end of two lawsuits, one involving his former friend (Andrew Garfield).
Having recently re-watched ‘The Social Network’, it is still as encapsulating as ever. The ensemble performance is amazing, with Eisenberg, Hammer and Timberlake giving their career-best performances still to this day, however all the credit must go the guys behind the camera. This is Fincher at his best, and is almost an anomaly when it comes to his filmography, and the score by Ross and Renzer is still one of the best scores of the decade. In a time where things were relatively calm, ‘The Social Network’ was arguably barbaric, but looking back on it, the slick filmmaking by Fincher, the superb dialogue by Sorkin and the cinematography by Cronenweth is just out of this world.
*** *** ***
I hope you enjoyed this ranking of the best films of 2010. The next instalment will be the top ten films of 2011, released in the coming days. It should be mentioned that the films placed tenth to seventh received four star reviews, whilst from ‘The Town’ in sixth place all the way up to No.1, they all received five star reviews.
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