TOP 10 OF 2010 (#10 - #6)

10) GREENBERG
Ben Stiller shows he’s more than just a funny guy in the comedy-drama GREENBERG. Stiller sacrifices his lovable nature and slips into the skin of Roger Greenberg, a complete jerk. Although Stiller’s humor still shines through, the talented actor delivers several layers to a flawed and tormented individual. Greta Gerwig is also terrific as Greenberg’s love interest, creating an apprehensive, masochistic and yet likable presence as Florence.


9) MARWENCOL

A traumatic experience provides the basis for the melancholy, oddly funny and moving documentary MARWENCOL. Mark Hogancamp was beat into a coma when five men jumped him outside of a bar one night. After therapy doesn’t work, Mark finds solace by creating a post-World War Two town where dolls inhabit his imaginative world. Through the interaction with the characters and situations he creates, Mark provides his own therapeutic experience, revealing a lot about his feelings, inhibitions and desires. MARWENCOL is an emotional wallop.


8) HEREAFTER

HEREAFTER is a moving and contemplative exploration of what lies ahead when our souls move on. Director Clint Eastwood taps into the synchronicity of Peter Morgan’s script and provides a haunting and emotional trek into the psyche of three fractured individuals. A terrific cast headlined by Matt Damon conveys various levels of grief in reflective and humanistic ways.

　
7) THE SOCIAL NETWORK

THE SOCIAL NETWORK examines our current state of societal affairs and an intriguing rise-to-the-top story of Facebook creator Mark Zuckerburg. Director David Fincher works a clever script by screenwriter Aaron Sorkin into an excellent morality tale, and benefits from a familiar, but no less effective performance from Jesse Eisenberg. The bookends to this drama are as wonderful and biting as any film last year.

　　
6) THE GHOST WRITER

As suspenseful as it is thrilling, THE GHOST WRITER is an original, edge-of-your-seat, overseas thriller. Following the death of the original writer, Ewan McGregor is called in as a ghost writer to pen the memoirs of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang, played by Pierce Brosnan. The mystery that ensues is a throwback to yesteryear, building thrills and intensity from a myriad of characters and a plot that weaves its way in and out of hot-button political terrain.　

Photos courtesy of Focus Features, Open Face, Warner Bros. Pictures, Columbia Pictures and Summit Entertainment