UPDATED: TOP 10 OF 2010

The American
Inception
Valhalla Rising
Cyrus
Green Zone
Shutter Island
Robin Hood
The Square
The Kids are All Right
Repo Men

ALONE IN ITALY

Many people are going to dislike The American for all of the reasons why I think it's the best film of the year so far. It's slow. It's quiet. Very quiet. Not a lot "happens." Characters aren't incredibly likable at times. The ending is a a bit of a "downer." This is a film for film buffs --producer/star George Clooney (he of impeccable taste) managed to cajole about $20 million from Focus Features/Universal and set out to make a 60's/70's-esque, European flavored existential drama with a Dutch artiste at the helm (Anton Corbijn, Control). Rowan Joffe's spare and carefully parsed screenplay is an adaptation of Martin Booth's novel A Very Private Gentleman; I can't remember a recent movie that has been as precise with its words as The American was. This is the sort of movie that pisses people off because of the pains it takes to be different, to play by it's own set of rules and not by the ones set in place by countless other, lesser movies of this ilk. At this point in his career, it's clear that Clooney can basically get any movie he wants made made. I'm glad he's deciding to tackle rich, exciting stuff like The American.

We meet Clooney (to some he's Jack, to others he's Edward) as he's under-fire from a mysterious shooter at his lodge in the forests of Sweden. After a shocking moment of violence, Clooney is off to Italy to hide-out. What he does we're not too sure...unless we've seen the totally misleading coming attractions that make The American look like the next chapter in the Bourne series. Yes, Clooney is a hit man, and yes, he's brought out for "one last job," but that last job isn't what you might expect it to be, and how he goes about doing it will surprise many people. While in hiding, Clooney lets his guard down long enough to fall in love (or is it just lust?) with a local prostitute named Clara, played by the alarmingly gorgeous Violante Placido, who, it must be noted, spends much of her screen-time either semi or fully naked. The town's priest takes a liking to Clooney and the two of them share a few conversations about sin and man's ability to be reconciled for the mistakes they've made. Yes, there are some chases and shootouts, but they're treated almost as after-thoughts; this is a thinking person's drama that subverts your genre-based expectations at almost every turn.

For me, The American is a masterpiece. It's the sort of film that only a class-act like Clooney could get made in this day and age of cookie-cutter sequels and sanitized blockbusters. There's an elegant cool that radiates from Corbijn's film that is distinctly European -- along with director Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson, Valhalla Rising), the Dutch are a breeding ground for promising filmmaking talent. Along with the brilliant compositions of cameraman Martin Ruhe, the classical score courtesy of Herbert Gronemeyer blends beautifully with the terse dialogue exchanges. Obvious influences from Michaelangelo Antoinioni's heady The Passenger, Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samourai, and even John Frankenheimer's Ronin can be felt all throughout The American; at it's core, The American really is a re-telling of a classical samurai story, with Clooney's lone-killer character stoically taking orders from his potentially double-crossing master, all in an effort to ponder everything that's lead him up to that point. The American is a phenomenal piece of filmmaking, a work that I will be re-visiting numerous times once it's available on Blu Ray. A film like this can only get better and better with repeated viewings.

(My one minor complaint -- the title. While The American is suitable and definitely ties into the story, the title of the original souce material, A Very Private Gentleman, would have been much, much better).

BLU REVIEW: THE SQUARE

Without question, The Square is the best thriller I've seen in 2010. Tautly directed by newcomer Nash Edgerton (his brother Joel is one of the main characters and co-wrote the brilliantly layered screenplay), this Australian neo-noir sits atop of the genre pack with titles such as Red Rock West, The Last Seduction, Blood Simple, and Bound -- it's a damn near flawless piece of screw-tightening and filmmaking. There is a confidence to this film that I found highly engrossing; right from the start I knew I was in the hands of a filmmaker who knew exactly what he wanted. With twists coming left and right and all the way up until the end, The Square requires your attention, for which you'll be handsomely rewarded.

Spoiling any of The Square's surprises would be criminal. The gist is this: unhappily married Raymond (the gruff David Roberts) is carrying on with beautiful young mistress Carla (Claire van der Boom) who is stealing from her mullet-sporting, low-life boy-friend Billy (Edgerton). When a plan to rob Billy goes haywire and unexpected deaths ensue, all hell breaks loose. Plus, Raymond is dealing with shady contractors at his construction site who may or may not know what Raymond's been up too with Carla. Mysterious notes are sent, people are followed, chased, and killed, and more than one person gets shot. Nobody is safe in The Square. Not even the family pet. All of this is done with expert style and with a minimum of logic lapses and inconsistencies. And across the board, the acting is excellent, with Roberts and Boom registering strongly as two people who never should have met, let alone fall in love.

Mixing a De Palma-esque voyeuristic shooting style (be on the lookout for some amazing stedicam work) with gritty, hand-held realism, Edgerton ramps up the suspense in one scene after another. This is a genuinely unpredictable film that only the smartest genre enthusiasts will be able to guess before the end credits start rolling. Because there is so much plot in The Square the film could have easily felt bogged down in exposition, so it's a testament to Edgerton's writing and directing skills that the narrative never grinds to a halt. The film's brisk pace compliments the ruthlessness of the action scenes. The Square felt like an early Coen brothers film to me -- a movie totally in command of its story and style, made by people who love the genre they're working in and who want to wow people with a good old fashioned crime thriller. I love films like this.

BLU REVIEW: THE JONESES

You can't really blame writer/director Derek Borte for going a bit soft on his characters in his debut The Joneses. Look at them -- they're soooo pretty. A film of glistening surfaces and that sharply satirizes the dark underbelly of suburban-dwelling consumerism, The Joneses is an entertaining black comedy for most of it's run-time; it's only towards the last 20 minutes when Borte injects the film with a bit too much melodrama, draining the narrative of some its bite. The cast was perfectly selected given the scenario: The Joneses aren't a real family, but rather, a family of actors who are being paid by a company who is paid by multiple companies to have their products subliminally marketed to the upper middle class. Think a sci-fi-less version of The Stepford Wives. The "parents" are David Duchovny (acting like he's fresh off the set of Californication) and Demi Moore (does she age?); their "kids" are Amber Heard (gets points for going topless and playing a nymphomaniac) and Ben Hollingsworth (what's his secret...?). The Joneses is always entertaining, and at times, it's viciously smart about the way people in this country piss away their money on shit they don't need. In a world where advertising is literally everywhere we look, a filmmaker like Borte (an ex-commercials director) was the perfect choice for this film; he has a keen eye for these people and they way they blend in with their surroundings. He's a filmmaker to look out for in the future.

GROWING CURIOUSITY

I loved the original (called Let The Right One In). For me, it's the only vampire movie worth discussing. From early reports, this Matt Reeves-directed remake is NOT a shot-for-shot re-creation. That makes me happy; one can adapt another film and make it their own but still pay tribute to the original's strengths. This is one horror movie that I'll be seeing on the big screen.

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

Amazingly, the critically acclaimed indie drama Animal Kingdom has opened up in my area...I'd love to see it this weekend at some point...

From Netflix is another critically acclaimed indie -- The Square.

I'll have a review posted soon for The American, which is probably my favorite movie of the year (at the very least it's in my top two). A fantastic piece of work.

Pumped for The Town next weekend.

MASSIVE DISAPPOINTMENT

It's official -- Terrence Malick's probable masterwork The Tree of Life has been delayed a full year. Excuse me while I vomit. The good news is that it's been picked up by Fox Searchlight, so one would presume that the film will get a major awards push/wide release next fall. But to have to wait another full year to get a glimpse at what Malick has been up to for the last 5 years is just fucking excruciating.