By any measure, 2010 was a great year for movies. The best of the lot gave a great indication as to just how inventive and diverse the movie industry can be, defined by a generation-defining masterpiece (‘The Social Network’), a mind-bending cultural phenomenon (‘Inception’), the medium’s first prank-umentary (‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’), a formerly NC-17-rated critical darling (‘Blue Valentine’) and a timeless classic with an appeal that defies demographic discrepancies (‘Toy Story 3’). That’s just a sliver, though, and when it comes to compiling a year-long list —some of the greatest films of the year don’t measure up when compared to the very best.

Though these films are ranked in descending order, they will not wilt when compared to any other cinematic work in the list. Each bears its own endearing charm, even if that charm draws from the financial crisis or a brutal breakdown of a marriage. The best films of the year:

10. ‘Inception’

The characters might speak like instruction manuals and the drama is occasionally contrived, but there’s no dismissing the sheer brilliance of Christopher Nolan’s film. Rare in a work of science fiction, the acting is the film’s saving grace; when the plot threatens to become overwrought with time-consuming explanations, Leonardo DiCaprio grounds it with his intensity and convincing desire.

9. ‘Solitary Man’

Michael Douglas gives arguably the most textured performance of his career as a disgraced car salesman who reflexively rejects anyone that threatens to love him. As a character whose health eerily mirrors his own real life condition, Douglas reminds us of the importance of constant introspection, imbuing a beautifully told story with an indelible bite.

8. ‘Inside Job’

Charles Ferguson’s eloquent analysis of the recent global financial crisis is clear but never oversimplified; interrogative but never angry; and always fascinating. Ferguson spares no one, President Barack Obama included, in painting a vivid, damning and jaw-dropping portrait of the economic collapse.

7. ‘Animal Kingdom’

A gritty crime saga populated with criminals who would eat mobster Henry Hill as an appetizer, ‘Animal Kingdom’is one of the best films imported from Australia since the early ‘80s. While Jacki Weaver has been showered with praise for her performance as the Cody family’s terrifying matriarch, longtime character actor Ben Mendelsohn is the jewel of David Michod’s triumph.

6. ‘True Grit’

Joel and Ethan Coen were not chastised for adapting Charles Portis’ 1968 novel, which had already been made into a film starring John Wayne in 1969. Rather, fans of the Coen brothers work were merely perplexed. The source material for their first Western perfectly suits their greatest strengths with weird and engaging characters, dashes of hilarity, colloquial speech and odd biblical allusions. It’s not the masterwork that’s come to be expected from the Coens on a yearly basis, but the Coens don’t set out to make masterworks. The movie is beautiful, funny and exciting —everything that should be expected of the genius filmmakers.

5. ‘Black Swan’

Natalie Portman gives a performance for the ages in Darren Aronofsky’s wonderfully excessive thriller. A generational talent, Portman deftly embodies the overwhelming physicality and sexuality of the year’s most chilling, if not unavoidably thought-provoking, viewing experience.

4. ‘Blue Valentine’

 Often, when onscreen couples fall in love, the audience falls in love with them. When the couple disagree or even separate, the audience shares their pain, but looks away, understanding that what it is witnessing is just a movie. In ‘Blue Valentine,’the most devastating film released this past year, there is no looking away. As constantly embattled lovers Dean and Cindy, Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are not just great; they’re downright haunting.

3. ‘The Social Network’

The success of most masterpieces is most often attributed to the director, but in the case of the year’s most acclaimed film, the brunt of the recognition should be delegated to the screenwriter. Forget the film’s ‘now’ factor and the enticing thematic comparisons to ‘Citizen Kane’and ‘The Great Gatsby.’ Instead ponder the enormity of screenwriter Aaron Sorkin’s accomplishment. Of all the great achievements in movie making this past year, Sorkin is the only artist who legitimately set a new standard in his craft.

2. ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’

Here is a true game-changer; an entirely new breed of documentary born of director Banksy’s insatiable desire to enlighten and astonish. Did Banksy create Mr. Brainwash by staging the first half of the film? It begs the question: Is modern art really so uninspired? Reminiscent of Orson Welles”F For Fake’in its deviousness, it’s best to just let the film have its way with you.

 1. ‘The King’s Speech’

In Tom Hooper’s stately, impeccably crafted drama, King George VI (Colin Firth) battles a debilitating stammer not so he can claim the throne, but so he can live his life more normally. The king aspect is just a bonus. With the help of eccentric speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), George finally has a fighting chance. Genuinely inspiring and not in the least bit manipulative, Hooper’s drama is not as riveting as ‘Black Swan,’or as incisive as ‘The Social Network,’or as inventive as ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop.’It’s merely the best story and the best acting in any film this year. The film has some particularly fascinating notions of what it means to lead as well as examples of how even the most privileged are not impervious to torture. ‘The King’s Speech’ is proof that a film doesn’t need to rewrite the rules to be called a soaring triumph. Every once in a while it’s refreshing to be able to confidently say, in the corniest way imaginable —that you’ve been reminded of the power of movies.

smlittma@syr.edu

Published on January 5, 2011 at 12:00 pm