2010 IN REVIEW PART TWO: NUMBER 11

My four part year-end review of 2010 continues with this second installment. "Number 11" consists of five films to which I awarded four stars but unfortunately did not make the final Top Ten list. I hope you enjoy it, and remember, the full reviews for all of these films are housed on this very site. If you are interested and do not know where to look, just ask and I'll get it to you!

2010 IN REVIEW PART TWO: "NUMBER 11"

“HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART ONE” Directed by David Yates
The end of the saga of the teenaged wizard is halfway completed with this appropriately grim and poetic penultimate film that thrusts the trio of Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) front and center more than ever and they are beautifully up to the challenge at hand. Yates’ somber, sinister and always emotional direction has truly hit my sweet spot as far as this wonderful series is concerned. He has shown, so seemingly effortlessly, how big budget films designed for the masses need not be dumbed down, shrill, or numbingly bombastic. That at their best, big budget, special effects laden films can be supremely artful. Yates’ ode to friendship at the apparent end of the world not only adapts J.K. Rowling’s original novel beautifully and faithfully, it is an empathetically artful experience. I know how this story completes itself and I am still extremely anxious to see the final film this July.
To be released on DVD this April

“LENNONYC” Written and Directed by Michael Epstein
The life of John Lennon after The Beatles is explored in this stunning, eye-opening documentary which was a vibrantly emotional travelogue into the evolution of a man. The film also worked beautifully as one of the year’s top two love stories as we delve deeper into the romance of Lennon and Yoko Ono, and witness how their relationship weaved its way into the artfully timeless music of which we are now all familiar. With additional assistance through unprecedented access to archived and previously unreleased studio chatter and home movies provided by Ono, “LENNONYC” amazingly creates a new portrait of a nearly mythical figure by making him so recognizably human.
Available on DVD

“NEVER LET ME GO” Directed by Mark Romanek
Based upon the celebrated novel by Kazou Ishiguru, this deliberately paced, crystalline film tells the story of three friends (Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightly and Andrew Garfield) bound together by a tragic reality (of which I will not spoil here) and how that knowledge effects the trajectory of their young lives. This is a science-fiction film without special effects or graphic violence of any kind yet the cumulative effect is devastating. Not every film released need not be hyperbolic or operate as a bludgeon. Sometimes, the technique of the “slow burn” builds to a undeniable haunting power that burrows under your skin and refuses to leave once you exit the theater. Romanek has given us such a film that philosophically asks the some of our grandest questions concerning our overall humanity through a poetically lyrical style that elegantly engages us with the fragility of life.
Available on DVD

“PLEASE GIVE” Written and Directed by Nicole Holofcener
A highly entertaining, complex and passionate dark comedy featuring a collective of characters who anesthetize their own various states of spiritual decay with emotional band-aids like endless tanning, purchasing and re-selling furniture from the recently deceased, doling out money to the homeless and for one teenaged character, a deeply coveted $235 pair of jeans. Catherine Keener, Rebecca Hall and Oliver Platt give excellent, understated performances which are never condescending or judgmental. Holofcener has delivered her best film to date which includes her trademark unblinking razor sharp dialogue.
Available on DVD

“WAITING FOR ‘SUPERMAN’” Co-Written and Directed by Davis Guggenheim
This is the one film released in 2010 that truly hurt to leave off of the final Top Ten list as I feel that it is essential viewing. While some would describe this documentary, decrying the current status of our nation’ declining educational system, as dismissively “muckracking,” I found it to be appropriately incendiary. Guggenheim has completely designed his film to engage, incite and rally viewers to truly think about ALL of our nation’s children in regards to the level and quality of education they receive (or don't receive) and the ruthless unfairness that any child would have to be placed into an unforgiving lottery system that could arbitrarily determine their future. Our children deserve infinitely better, Guggenheim argues and I would challenge you to think otherwise after watching this film. But, you first have to go out and WATCH THIS FILM! It is disheartening, overwhelming and fueled with moral outrage. And yet, hope exists as witnessed through inspiring educators like the loquacious Geoffrey Canada, who has vowed to see every child within a 97-block Harlem neighborhood graduate from college. But, he cannot accomplish this feat alone. Our children are looking to all of us.
Available on DVD


Stay tuned for Part Three...The Disappointments and the Dishonorable!!!