My Five Favorite Movies of 2010

Since the Golden Globes are tonight, I figure I should get this in under the wire.

Note, I have thus far been utterly unsuccessful at seeing The Tempest; The Illusionist doesn't play in Boston until next week; and I haven't had the depth of concentration required for I Am Love yet (meaning I figure I can't watch that while working on these grant applications).

So here we are - my top five:

• The Black Swan - a case study in the Unheimliche. La Portman at her best so far. Aronofsky being his usual wacky self. Plus Wino Forever comes back with a bang.
  
• True Grit - I would root for Hailee Steinfeld over La Portman for best actress. It was a movie that hinged on the performance of a 14 year old, which is a risky proposition. And she did it without being cutsie, uncomfortably sexual or haunted (i.e. any movie with any of the Fannings).
  
• How to Train Your Dragon - It just made me happy. I loved the dragon. That six year old who reviews plays probably has more intelligent commentary on it, but there you go.
  
• The King's Speech - I had sort of been expecting another (to borrow a phrase from Eddie Izzard) "room with a view of a staircase and a pond" type of movie, but this was really quite lovely, in its own quiet, British way. I laughed out loud. I cried. I didn't expect such a captivating and nuanced movie on what seemed at first blush like a rather trivial aspect of that period in world history.
  
• Inception - the most thoughtful and interesting popcorn movie I have ever seen. Proof to me that action movies don't have to be dumb.

(note - just figured out that the Golden Globes are next week. I'll let you know if I see anything that changes my mind...)