1.) "The Social Network"
David Fincher has taken the repressed masochism of his 1999 “Fight Club” and transposed it to the elite WASP jungle of Harvard University and beyond. From its opening reel, we bear witness to machine gun barrages of dialogue between scripter Aaron Sorkin’s cold, calculating characterization of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg, never better) and a quasi-fictional girlfriend Erica Albright (Rooney Mara) that lure us in with cinematic smartassdom, then pull back to reveal stark undercurrent s of isolation and ambiguity. This tale of the founding of our most influential social networking website and its almost eerie pervasion in the state 21st century communication compels on all levels; the cast – Andrew Garfield, Armie Hammer and Justin Timberlake, among others – is uniformly excellent, their performances all the more intensified by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ alternately propulsive and haunting ambient score.
* In the Blu-Ray package’s loaded making of featurette, Eisenberg muses on the frustrating but rewarding aspects of Fincher’s cryptic, “esoteric” mode of speak on set; it’s confirmed throughout the director’s feature commentary that this is no understatement. Still, the film’s bravado is undeniable, and makes the supplemental features satisfying and illuminating across the board. Widescreen format and 5.1 DTS-HD both pristine. ★★★★★ (5/5)
2.) "Black Swan"
Multi-layered, sharply self-referential tale of artistic obsession that never shied away from flourish. The most sumptuous of Aronofsky's work to date, with a bravura performance from Natalie Portman. Review here. ★★★★★ (5/5)
3.) "Toy Story 3"
Oddly existential and pure at heart. There's just something good about this one.
There are those moments (though not too often) when we sit in a theater and find ourselves in a collective harmony that's both refreshing, and, in a more reflective sense, lingering with a warm and fuzzy resonance that follows us out the door, even after the credits have rolled. I saw "Toy Story 3" with lifelong friends of mine. After we walked out, one of them began to discuss a younger brother's return to the careless summer months, and mentioned his lamenting the sudden shift from school lunches to sandwiches made at home. Before I could snap into that harder reflex of reality, the one that laughs off, dismisses and trivializes such concerns, something happened - we smiled. For those smiles, I hold "Toy Story 3"'s virtuous allusions to childhood wonder responsible. ★★★★★ (5/5)
4.) "True Grit"
"True Grit" precedes its first moments with the Biblical proverb, "The wicked flee when none pursueth," and those words are echoed nearly the whole way through. Through the whiplash narrative of 14 year old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) we are made known of the man who killed her father, Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). Mattie's pursuing Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), her ideal choice for hire as an accomplice to her vengeance. LaBoeuf is pursuing Chaney over a murder several months prior. "Lucky" Ned Pepper (Barry Pepper) and his gang are pursuing Mattie and Rooster in their own vendetta. Cat-and-mouse chase of a high order from the Coens by way of tight, gripping and poetic Western homage. ★★★★☆ (4/5)
5.) "Inception"
One of the boldest, ballsiest big budget blockbusters perhaps of all time, completely unafraid to stimulate the senses and challenge the intellect simultaneously. Review here. ★★★★★ (5/5)
6.) "Let Me In"
"Let Me In" could have well been the words uttered by its writer/director Matt Reeves, in an appeal to justify having made a film (based on Tomas Alfredson's 2008 "Let The Right One In") both light and dark, frigid and warm, painful and touching - and yet not cut from a cloth entirely its own. “Let me in contention with that first film,” Reeves’ adaptation begs us to consider, “or at least let me stand alongside it.” It's a request worth granting, though not only on the grounds of the film's visual style, which is also present in abundance. Reeves' impulse to photograph his winter-bound mise en scène to present a tale of true androgynous beauty is chilling and mysterious, while still averting any tactics of manipulation to appease the salivating masses of sappy Twi-hard vamp admirers. In its universe exists no “Team Abby” (Chloe Grace-Moretz) or “Team Owen" (Kodi Smit-McPhee), but an intimate snapshot transcending romantic pretension and superficiality. ★★★★☆ (4/5)
7.) "Enter the Void"
French provocateur Gaspar Noe (Irreversible)'s "Enter the Void" opens with an AD/HD ridden cinematic kick to the gut, flashing lights so bold, bright and primeval they'd make even Kanye West blush. This is the director’s first test. Presenting us with all his simulated acidic hallucinations (at about 3 title cards per second), we understand just what kind of a trip we’re strapped in for, and can choose whether to enter with gleeful abandon, or simply stay clean and sober.
8.) "Exit Through The Gift Shop"
Docudramatic true story about how a single act of fanaticism can create - or be mistaken for - art. Enigmatic street artist Banksy's marvelous first film effort is as hilarious as it is perceptive, as it observes the growth of a modern movement, its most prominent figures, its run-ins with the law....and Thierry Guetta. To some, the filmmaker-turned-spray "artist" Guetta may be a national treasure, to others (including the street legends he once compulsively filmed) he's a slap in the face. As many continue to speculate street art's role as either important contemporary work or flashy gimmick, the questions the film raises about Guetta's own artistic worth in this "barely legal" cultural crusade are as relevant to this one man as they are to the movement itself. ★★★★☆ (4/5)
9.) "Cyrus"
Any other director(s) than Mark and Jay Duplass might have made "Cyrus" a hackneyed screwball comedy. Any other actors than John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill and Marisa Tomei might have made it an indie dramedy too quirky for its own good. "Cyrus" doesn't sacrifice on either end, and the result is hilarious, weird and kind of remarkable. ★★★★☆ (4/5)
10.) "Scott Pilgrim VS. The World"
Scott Pilgrim is that fragment of our psyches that allows our ID to trump our ego every time out. Everyone around him seems certain he is in peril, yet Scott ignores this with reckless abandon, because he addresses the shortcomings in his life as a way of fueling his fires. Film critic Elvis Mitchell described it during his interview with Edgar Wright on his radio show "The Treatment" as "slacker narcissism".
Finally, someone has captured that slippery persona of Michael Cera and allowed it to truly shine. "Scott Pilgrim" is no prepackaged comedy "vehicle," it's the sensibilities of an apt director with the kind of infectious conviction that elevates material like this. Consider one scene in which he is approaching a battle with two of Ramona's evil exes, the Katayanagi Twins (Shota and Keita Saito), Kyle and Ken respectively. Scott stares off into space during his band's practice, as he plucks at his bass into the void that is his quietly reserved, laid back mania. He then assures his lead singer Stephen Stills (a grungy, exuberantly dopey Mark Webber), "I play better when I'm in a bad mood." Scott finds himself amidst one hell of a love triangle, and its participants teeter that fine line that boyfriends, girlfriends, exes, friends, lovers, often do. The movie looks at its subjects as people caught in the messy cross-woven webs of their courtships as a game, and is it ever. Edgar Wright's film is probably destined to stay contained in its cult following without much cross-over, but the performances (particularly Winstead's and Wong's) will catch anyone off guard, and its core is endearingly sweet. ★★★★☆ (4/5)
Underrated
"Frozen"
"The Last Exorcism"
A nasty, deceptive, superbly crafted little film. Well, actually, between the dogged promotion of producer Eli Roth and the sweeping implications of its final moments, it's not a little film at all. Yet it is ingenious in the way it manages to feel so small, so isolated when stripped down its bare essentials, which are completely obvious in retrospect, but concealed with a sinister platitude. ★★★★☆ (4/5)
Honorable Mention: "Dogtooth", "The Fighter", "Shutter Island"
