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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 2011)
TOP MOVIES OF 2010 For the past fi ve years, roughly coinciding with the Oscars, Eugene Weekly has provided dual lists of the year’s most intriguing fi lms. Not by accident, we arrange them side-by-side in the printed version, without regard to overlap or differences of opinion. This year, something unexpected happened: Molly and I largely agreed. That our lists for 2010 so closely resemble one another is, I suspect, further evidence of the creeping conservatism in fi lm we’ve been witnessing these past several years. Simply put, when there’s this much agreement, I have to wonder if a narrowing of choices — and ultimately of quality — is at work. This is my fi fth and fi nal annual fi lm list for the Weekly. It’s been nothing short of a plea- sure appearing in these pages, distracting, provoking and in some cases even infuriating you. It was never very complicated: I tried to evaluate the emotional and intellectual qualities of a fi lm and, if space permitted, its technical aspects. The intention was always to start a debate. And yet I fear there is less to debate in fi lms today than there has been in many years. Although neither of us could know it at the time, something went slack in Hollywood when Molly and I assumed these roles in 2006. The industry had just suffered its worst box offi ce decline in twenty years; while it took a few years to suss out, I’m of the belief that during the fi ve years since, the shift to remakes, sequels and comic book adaptations are the result of the disaster that was 2005. Only time will tell, of course, but here’s hoping that movies rediscover their mojo — and that you, interested fi lmgoers, are there to see it happen. JASON evil matriarch of a middling boxing family. The Fighter is a sports fi lm about everything that matters — love, community and the family ties that shackle us — as well as the pain of coming in second when you’re good enough to be fi rst. The fi lm has more pulse in its fi rst ten minutes than the entire slate of most fi lm festivals. (1/6/11) 3. ANOTHER YEAR A tale of growing up and starting over well into maturity, Another Year is the story of Gerri (Ruth Sheen) and Tom (Jim Broadbent) and the misfi t friends they attract. While Tom and Gerri’s chemistry is undeniable, their stability evolves into something complex and extraordinary when pals Mary (Lesley Manville) and Ken (Peter Wight) seem headed for nervous breakdowns. A deceptively simple fi lm about the limits of sympathy and the importance of being ordinary, Another Year is a lasting gift from writer/director Mike Leigh (Happy-Go-Lucky) in which very little seems to change — primarily because Mary and Ken live in fear of what change might feel like. So whisper-light it takes a second viewing to fully appreciate. (2/3/11) 4. WINTER’S BONE 1. EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP The fi lm that risked more than any other in 2010 is Exit through the Gift Shop. It purports to tell the story of fi lmmaker Thierry Guetta, a Frenchman who, after gaining access to an underground network of street artists, has his fi lm hijacked by the most revered street artist in the world – Banksy, a grossly talented Englishman known for stenciling the West Bank wall. Dismissed by Banksy, who assembles the footage into what will eventually become Exit, Guetta surprises everyone by becoming a street artist himself, achieving both notoriety and great sums of money. Part art documentary, part guerilla fi lm experience — and pure hoax, according to some — Exit is an unforgettable fi lm about identity and integrity in an art form designed to be temporary. (7/15/10) 2. THE FIGHTER The best non-documentary offering this year, The Fighter has everything you ask for from a fi lm. The performances are already legendary, with each actor physically remaking him or herself — witness the emaciated, wild-eyed Christian Bale — to a level of near-disguise, all under the watchful eye and masterful direction of David O. Russell (Three Kings). But it’s the women who carry The Fighter, from Amy Adams in a career- defi ning role as sassy Charlene to Melissa Leo in a career-highlighting turn as Alice, the 10 FEBRUARY 24, 2011 EUGENE WEEKLY Winter’s Bone is the bleak but heroic story of Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence), a teenager raising her younger siblings in the Ozarks. Steady beyond her years, Ree has one week to track down her father, a fugitive whose disappearance puts the family homestead in jeopardy. The incredible story, a masterpiece of country noir fi lmmaking based on the novel by Daniel Woodrell, turns on Ree’s ability to convince her father’s brother Teardrop (John Hawkes) to take up a case he knows is hopeless. The further they push into Ree’s father’s criminal world, the more dangerous and violent their situation becomes. A fi lm about family, both distant and immediate, and the responsibilities that come with it. Both Lawrence and Hawkes are nominated for an Oscar, as is the fi lm and screenplay. (8/5/10) 5. ANIMAL KINGDOM Animal Kingdom is the story of the Cody Brothers, three handsome but ruthless Australian gangsters and their quietly malevolent mother, Smurf (Jacki Weaver). While the fi lm hints at their former prestige, the Codys are under siege by a squad of renegade cops. Into this maelstrom moves J, a Cody nephew recently orphaned by his mother’s drug overdose. But J, instead of being ingratiated into the gang, can only watch his uncles’ descent; even worse, once he is approached by a detective (Guy Pearce), J’s status goes from nuisance to liability to expendable. But is J cleverer than he looks? Like last year’s Gomorrah, this a gangster fi lm about the pettiness and desperation of a crime syndicate past its prime. Tense, elegant, paranoid and shocking, Kingdom begins at the end and never looks back. A caged animal of a fi lm. (9/9/10) WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
