As movie awards season begins and the 2010 year winds down, I’ve compiled a list of some of 2010’s “best” films, most all easily found in your Netflix catalog or Amazon’s store.
1. Valhalla Rising – “Valhalla Rising” excels in mood and image with very little dialogue.
2. Winter’s Bone – it’s a lovely, slower picture concerned with the bonds of southern family and what threatens to break them.
3. Red Riding Trilogy – all three films depict evil and its scary fingers reaching throughout time.
4. Never Let Me Go – Romanek’s picture doesn’t just look heavenly, but it directly addresses our fear of death.
5. The American – Clooney in a European espionage movie. ‘Nuff said.
6. The Social Network – Fincher’s film feels best when we’re watching Fincher’s handiwork, not screenwriter Sorkin’s.
7. I Am Love – Tilda Swinton is wonderful in a film recalling the work of Michelangelo Antonioni.
8. Baader Meinhof Complex– like Assayas’ brilliant Carlos, BMC is a long, extensive look at terrorism that should accompany viewing of Spielberg’s “Munich.”
9. Sita Sings the Blues – watch it on YouTube, a lovely animated film, crossing cultural boundaries by mixing them.
10. Secret of Kells – an Oscar-nominated animated film from last year. Worth every penny.
