NYC Film Critic

Summing up 2010’s best and worst and everything in between.

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Looking back on 2007, it’s been quite a year for me both personally and professionally. First came a new apartment, followed by a new job and, most signficantly, a new baby. And even with all these changes, I still found the time to see 186 films over the past 12 months, down slightly from last year, but still a respectable number. And of those 186 features, I’m happy to say that I’d classify about 60-70% of those as good, great, or excellent. As a lot of people have already pointed out, 2007 was arguably the best year for movies since the glory days of 1999. This fall in particular was overflowing with Top Ten contenders, some of which connected with audiences while others, which were equally deserving, fell by the wayside. When it came time to assemble my Top Ten list, I found myself having to choose from almost 50 candidates and had at least another dozen competing for a place in another category. But enough of my jabbering–let’s get to the lists!

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As promised, here are my picks for the best movies made between January 1, 2000 and the present day. Not surprisingly, most of these titles have appeared on my year-end Top Ten lists, but you might notice a few surprises mixed into the bunch…

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The Top Ten Movies of 2006
1) Pan’s Labyrinth
2) Children of Men
Thanks to blockbuster franchises like The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia as well as popular TV-shows like Battlestar Galactica and Heroes, science fiction and fantasy are steadily climbing out of their niche markets and becoming part of mainstream culture. At the same time, a solid block of the general public, not to mention the critical community, still views genre films as kids’ stuff—movies that offer escapism but little more. So it’s only appropriate that the two most politically relevant and socially conscious movies of the year happen to be genre pictures. Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth is a potent and deeply emotional argument against blind obedience that’s framed as a gothic fairy tale. It also features one of the most fully realized fantasy universes I’ve ever encountered in a film and one of the few that feels as if it could exist right alongside the real world. Meanwhile, Alfonso Cuaron’s haunting sci-fi drama Children of Men offers the most convincing depiction of a dystopian future since Blade Runner. The film has won well-deserved raves for its technical brilliance–mark my words, those dazzling tracking shots will be studied in film schools for decades to come–but its message of hope in the face of absolute despair is as stirring as the visuals. Together, Pan’s Labyrinth and Children of Men represent a new standard for genre movies and filmmaking in general. (more…)

The Top Ten Movies of 2005
1) The New World
I love The New World. I don’t know how else to say it. Terrence Malick’s gorgeous, moving and occasionally frustrating depiction of the first contact between the Native Americans and European explorers is unlike any movie released last year. Many directors have tried to mimic Malick’s unique style, but none have been able to effectively recreate his ability to build an epic scene out of simple moments, even if he sometimes goes too far with the voiceover narration. As Pocahontas, Q’orianka Kilcher is nothing short of a revelation. What’s astonishing about her performance is that she’s not acting as much as she’s simply being. To the great frustration of many actors he’s worked with, Malick doesn’t create an environment that allows for traditional performances. Dialogue is thrown out right before the cameras roll and scenes are only half-completed all in an effort to get beyond artifice to a kind of unforced naturalism. Kilcher is perhaps the first actor that Malick has worked with that understands his style implicitly. She is the heart and soul of The New World and to feel the movie’s quiet power, you only need to look in her eyes.

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The Top Ten
1) Before Sunset
An 80-minute slice of cinematic perfection. I’ve seen the film twice now and I’m still dazzled by the lovely script, Richard Linklater’s sure-handed direction and the terrific performances from Ethan Hawke and, especially, Julie Delpy. There’s not a single false moment in the entire picture?every conversation, every awkward pause, every sideways glance feels completely natural. If Before Sunrise captured the adrenaline rush that comes with being young and in love, Before Sunset delves into the uncertainty and self-doubt that can accompany adulthood. Jesse and Celine have aged, but in a way they haven’t really grown up since that one night in Vienna almost a decade ago. I can understand why some critics have found these two characters insufferable (I’m not entirely certain that I would want to be around them in real life), but their fears, hopes and dreams resonated with me very deeply. It’s a very simple, quiet film, yet it speaks volumes about life, the universe and everything.
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The Top Ten
1) Capturing the Friedmans
My favorite move of the year tends to be one that challenges my notions of what a particular genre, form–or the medium itself–can accomplish. Last year, for example, my number one film was Spirited Away, which used animation to tell a story of startling power and depth. The year before that, I picked Mulholland Drive, a brilliant masterwork that injected dazzling dream imagery into a traditional film noir tale. And way back in 2000 I fell in love with Yi Yi: A One and a Two, a simple story about a Taiwanese family that remains the most profound film I’ve seen in the past three years. In 2003, no film has wowed me more than Andrew Jarecki’s extraordinary documentary, Capturing the Friedmans. Building on Errol Morris’ groundbreaking style, Jarecki crafts a movie that’s filled with more thrills and heartbreak than any fiction film released last year. The heart of the movie lies in the home movie footage shot by the Friedman family themselves. Jarecki’s use of this incendiary material is masterful, sometimes employing it to reinforce our perceptions and other times to make us question what we thought we knew. The filmmaker clearly has his own opinions as to the Friedmans? guilt or innocence, but he wisely keeps them buried in the film, allowing viewers to make up their own minds. Capturing the Friedmans is a wholly unique experience that takes the documentary form to new heights.
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The Top Ten

1) Spirited Away
If for no other reason than that glorious train ride across an endless expanse of ocean. Of course, there’s so much more to love about this remarkable movie, the beautiful character design, the richly colored backgrounds, the remarkably subtle voiceover work in the dubbed version, the encounter with the polluted river spirit, and above all the boundless imagination of master animator Hayao Miyazaki. But I always keep returning to that one sequence with the train gliding silently above the water. It’s an image that never fails to stir my heart and remind me why I willingly spend so much of my life inside a movie theater. (more…)