27158292
There are only two things I like less than having root canal: Doing my taxes and coming up with the 10-best movies of the year. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the process, but I hate narrowing down my favorites. I always feel something is left out. I only see one movie for theatrical reviews and offer one rental suggestion a week, which means there are plenty that don’t hit my professional radar.
Either way, my list includes a mix of the reviewed, many still in theaters, while others are already on DVD. Some are Oscar-contenders, while others were lambasted by my fellow critics and rejected by audiences, yet they found a place in my heart this year.
To see the original reviews, visit www.southphillyreview.com.
Milk
Starring Sean Penn, Josh Brolin and Emile Hirsch. Directed by Gus Van Sant.
Reviewed Dec. 4.
Penn, everybody’s favorite politically active chameleon, gives what may be the best performance of his career. His Harvey Milk is one of the most human creations on his long, distinguished resume. Yet, this is hardly a one-man show. Van Sant and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black have crafted one of the best biopics in many years that celebrates the man without lionizing him. Passionate and beautifully made.
Young@Heart
Starring the Young@Heart chorus and its director Bob Cilman. Directed by Stephen Walker.
Reviewed April 17.
This documentary about seniors who sing rock classics could have been played for cheap laughs. Fortunately, Walker had something else in mind. Not to say there aren’t funny moments (their wacky version of "I Wanna Be Sedated" has to be seen to be believed), but Walker combines live performances and videos with behind-the-scenes interviews to create something that is inspiring and heartbreaking.
The Secret Life of Bees
Starring Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Sophie Okonedo and Jennifer Hudson. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood.
Reviewed Oct. 23.
With a modest $12 million budget, this adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd’s bestseller did relatively OK at the box office, but was passed over at Golden Globes time. It shouldn’t have been.
Prince-Bythewood deftly steers an all-star cast in a movie that is magical, heartwrenching and ultimately satisfying. Okonedo’s performance as sister May is unforgettable.
The Dark Knight
Starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Gary Oldman. Directed by Christopher Nolan.
Reviewed July 17.
As expected, the late Ledger’s profoundly disturbing, revelatory take on The Joker netted him a Golden Globe nod and will probably get him a posthumous Oscar. But the movie has much more than just one great performance. Nolan has crafted an operatic-scale movie that defies genre without denying thrills. Oldman, as Batman ally James Gordon, is wonderful.
Stop-Loss
Starring Ryan Phillippe and Channing Tatum. Directed by Kimberly Peirce.
Reviewed April 3.
Phillippe plays a vet returning from a tour of duty in Iraq when he is stop-lossed by the military, meaning his discharge has been rescinded and he must serve another tour. Peirce’s thoughtful, quietly powerful film is less a diatribe than an examination of how humans find untapped resources in the most trying of times.
Phillippe, who grew up in Delaware, is amazing.
Australia
Starring Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman and Brandon Walters. Directed by Baz Luhrmann.
Reviewed Nov. 27.
Luhrmann’s audacious romantic epic hops like a kangaroo over several genres and occasionally looks like it might derail, but when it works it does so in a grand, old-school Hollywood fashion. So much so that I forgave its weaknesses. Unfortunately, audiences (and many critics) were far less forgiving and "Australia" may turn out to be one of the biggest flops in years. Walters, though, is unforgettable in his debut.
Frost/Nixon
Starring Frank Langella, Michael Sheen and Kevin Bacon. Directed by Ron Howard.
Reviewed Dec. 11.
Based on a Broadway play, "Frost/Nixon" features Oscar-caliber work by Langella, who is reprising his Tony-winning performance as Richard M. Nixon. Sheen holds his own as Frost, a lightweight talk-show host who rose to the occasion during interviews with the disgraced former president in 1977. Howard does well by staying out of his stars’ way.
Ballast
Starring JimMyron Ross, Tarra Riggs and Micheal J. Smith Sr. Directed by Lance Hammer.
Reviewed Nov. 13.
I praised "Ballast" for reminding me of when the words "independent film" actually meant something. It plays like a documentary, except in documentaries there is the luxury of distance.
"Ballast" takes you right into these people’s lives, which is an unforgettable place to be. With a cast of non-professionals, this film was recently nominated for six Independent Spirit awards, including film, director, screenplay, a supporting nod for Ross and female lead for Riggs.
In Bruges
Starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, and Ralph Fiennes. Directed by Martin McDonagh.
Reviewed Feb. 14.
McDonagh’s loopy serio-comedy plays like Mamet and the Coen brothers penned a screenplay for "Local Hero’s" Bill Forsyth.
"In Bruges" received three Golden Globe nominations for best picture-comedy or musical and acting nods for Gleeson and Farrell. Both are wonderful as hit men laying low in a historical Belgian city just before Christmas.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Taraji P. Henson. Directed by David Fincher.
Not officially reviewed.
Despite the fact Pitt has an Oscar nomination for "Twelve Monkeys" and has gotten raves for other movies, some still can’t believe he can act. Doubters will become believers after seeing "Button," which is Pitt at his best. Loosely adapted from an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, "Button" makes the case we should live life to the fullest.
