GOOD FILMS - 2010

RECOMMENDED FILMS (2010)

Excellent - Very Good - and/or Interesting

AMERICAN – Anton Corbijn, USA {Spy art film with internal tension} (George Clooney)

AMIGO - John Sayles, USA/Philippines

ANOTHER YEAR - Mike Leigh, UK

ARMADILLO - Janus Metz, Denmark/Afghanistan

ATTENBERG - Athina Rachel Tsangiri, Greece {Women’s POV}

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF NICOLAE CEAUSESCU - Andrei Ujica, Romania {Avant-garde}

BARNEY’S VERSION - Richard J. Lewis, Canada/Italy (Paul Giamatti, Dustin Hoffman)

BEGINNERS - Mike Mills, USA {Gay, Aging} (Christopher Plummer, Ewan McGregor)

BEHIND BLUE SKIES - Hannes Holm, Sweden {Coming-of-age}

BIUTIFUL - Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mexico/Spain {“Babel” director} (Javier Bardem)

BLACK OCEAN - Marion Hänsel, Belgium/France/Germany {Coming-of-age, War}

BLACK SWAN - Darren Aronofsky, USA {Natalie Portman, Winona Ryder)

BLUE VALENTINE - Derek Cianfrance, USA (Ryan Gosling)

BOXING GYM - Frederick Wiseman, USA {Documentary}

BRIGHTON ROCK - Rowan Joffe, United Kingdom (Helen Mirren, John Hurt)

BURIED - Rodrigo Cortés, Spain {Horror}

CASINO JACK - George Hickenlooper, Canada (Kevin Spacey)

CATFISH - USA {Horror}

CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS - Werner Herzog, Germany/USA {Documentary-Art}

CLIENT 9: RISE & FALL OF ELIOT SPITZER - Alex Gibney, USA {Documentary-Politics}

COLD FISH - Sion Sono, Japan {Dark humor, murder}

DEEP IN THE WOODS - Benoit Jacquot, France/Germany {Sexual desire}

DESPICABLE ME – Chris Renaud & Pierre Coffin, USA {Animation} (Voice: Steve Carell)

DETECTIVE DEE & THE MYSTERY OF PHANTOM FLAME - Tsui Hark, Hong Kong/China

DHOBI GHAT - Kiran Rao, India {Gay}

DITCH - Wang Bing, France/Belgium/China {Mao’s re-education prison}

EDGE - Alexey Uchitel, Russia {War}

ESSENTIAL KILLING - Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland/Norway/Ireland/Hungary

ETIENNE - Jeff Mizushima, France

FILM SOCIALISM - Jean-Luc Godard, France {Avant-Garde}

FIRST GRADER - Justin Chadwick, Kenya/UK

HEARTBEATS - Xavier Dolan, Canada {Gay/Straight Love Triangle}

HENRY’S CRIME - Malcolm Venville, USA (Keanu Reeves, James Caan)

HEREAFTER – Clint Eastwood, USA {Spiritual Drama} (Matt Damon)

HOUSEMAID - Im Sang-soo, Korea

I SAW THE DEVIL - Kim Jee-woon, S. Korea {Serial killer}

I WISH I KNEW - Jia Zhang-ke, China/The Netherlands {Drama-Shanghai history}

ILLUSIONIST - Sylvain Chomet, UK {Animation-director of “Triplets of Belleville”}

INCENDIES - Denis Villeneuve, Canada/Middle East

INSIDE JOB - Charles Ferguson, USA {Documentary-people who made economic crisis}

INSIDIOUS - James Wan, USA {Horror-director: “Saw”, producer: “Paranormal Activity”}

JACK GOES BOATING - Philip Seymour Hoffman, USA (first film directed by Hoffman)

JULIA’S EYES - Guillem Morales, Spain

KABOOM - Gregg Araki, USA/France {Avant-garde sci-fi, gay sexual awakening}

KING’S SPEECH - Tom Hooper, UK/Australia (Helena Bonham Carter, Colin Firth,

Michael Gambon, Guy Pearce, Geoffrey Rush, Derek Jacobi)

LAST TRAIN HOME - Lixin Fan, China {Documentary: transient workers, banned}

LATE AUTUMN - Kim Tae-Yong, S. Korea

LE QUATTRO VOLTE - Michelangelo Frammartino, Italy/Germany/Swiss {Cycles of life}

LEAP YEAR - Michael Rowe, Mexico {Sexual experimentation}

LET ME IN - Matt Reeves, UK/USA {Director of “Cloverfield”, thriller}

LIFE, ABOVE ALL - Oliver Schmitz, South Africa/Germany

MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED! - Mark Hartley, Philippines {Doc-bad Filipino “D”-films}

MEEK’S CUTOFF - Kelly Reichardt, USA

MICROPHONE - Ahmad Abdalla, Egypt {Underground music in North Africa}

MONSTERS - Gareth Edwards, UK {Science fiction}

MOTHERS - Milcho Manchevski, Macedonia/Bulgaria/France {Sex, documentary/fiction}

MY DOG TULIP – Paul Fierlinger, England {Animation: 60,000 hand drawings}

(Voices: Christopher Plummer, Lynn Redgrave, Isabella Rossellini)

MY JOY - Sergei Loznitsa, Ukraine/Germany/Netherlands {Avant-garde horror/crime}

MYSTERIES OF LISBON - Raul Ruiz, Portugal/France

NEDS - Peter Mullan, United Kingdom/France/Italy

NEVER LET ME GO - Mark Romanek, UK

NORWEGIAN WOOD - Tran Anh Hung, Japan/Vietnam

NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT - Patricio Guzmán, Chile/France/Germany

OF GODS AND MEN - Xavier Beauvois, France/Middle East {Drama: Christianity vs. Islam}

OKI’S MOVIE - Hong Sangsoo, S. Korea {Gay/Straight Love Triangle}

127 HOURS – Danny Boyle, USA {Suspense Documentary}

OUR BELOVED MONTH OF AUGUST – Miguel Gomes, Portugal {Film within a film}

OVER YOUR CITIES GRASS WILL GROW - Sophie Fiennes, UK/France/Holland {Doc-Artist}

PASSION - John Turturro, Italy/USA {Documentary-Italian Music}

PIANO IN A FACTORY - Zhang Meng, China

POETRY - Lee Chang-dong, S. Korea

POTICHE - François Ozon, France {Drama: theater} (Gérard Depardieu, Catherine Deneuve)

PRINCE OF BROADWAY – Sean Baker, USA {Fantasy: street hustler takes care of baby}

PROMISE: Darkness, Edge of Town - Thom Zimny, USA {Documentary on Springsteen}

RABBIT HOLE - John Cameron Mitchell, USA (Nicole Kidman)

SCREAMING MAN - Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Chad/France/Belgium {Africa}

SILENT SOULS - Aleksei Fedorchenko, Russia

SOLITUDE OF PRIME NUMBERS - Saverio Constanzo, Italy (Isabella Rossellini)

STONE - John Curran, USA {Robert DeNiro, Edward Norton}

STRANGE CASE OF ANGELICA - Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal/Spain/Brazil

SUBMARINE - Richard Ayoade, UK {Comedy}

TABLOID - Errol Morris, USA {Documentary}

TAMARA DREWE - Stephen Frears, UK

THIRTEEN ASSASSINS - Takashi Miike, Japan

THREE - Tom Tykwer, Germany {Gay-from director of “Run Lola Run”}

TRIGGER - Bruce McDonald, Canada {Documentary-Music}

TRIP - Michael Winterbottom, UK {Comedy}

TOWN - Ben Affleck, USA {Bank robbery} (Ben Affleck, Jon Hamm)

UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES – Apichatpong Weerasethakul,

Thailand/UK/France/Germany/Spain {Won Cannes Film Festival}

WAY - Emilio Estevez, USA (Martin Sheen)

WHISTLEBLOWER - Larysa Kondracki, Bosnia/Canada/Germany [Corruption during war}

WOMAN, A GUN, AND A NOODLE SHOP (Sanqiang Pai'an Jingqi) –

Zhang Yimou, China {Remake tribute to Tarantino’s “Blood Simple”}

YOU ARE HERE - Daniel Cockburn, Canada {Avant-garde}

YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER - Woody Allen, UK/USA/Spain

(Naomi Watts, Anthony Hopkins, Antonio Banderas)