Top 10 of 2010

What, I needed time to think. And see True Grit, which took forever to come out on DVD. Sorry, but 6 months is forever in the high stakes world of sporadic movie blogging. At least it was worth it as the Coen Brothers' latest cracked the vaunted top ten. Imagine if I had been waiting for Little Fockers.

***Disclaimer: This is my list and not the official SMC rankings. That list is still being transcribed by albino monks.***

So, what kind of film gets into my top ten? There's no formula, of course, because what a waste of science that would be. It is more the feeling of enjoying the act of watching a particular film, be it the story itself, the acting, the cinematography, the music, or, as is the case with the best of the best, the beautiful confluence of all the above. (Note: if the script contains the word "confluence," it is more than likely a pretentious mess.) All kidding aside, you never quite know why a great piece of art moves you, but you definitely know when it does. The why only matters if you actually get paid to be a critic.

1. The Social Network (David Fincher, director)

2. Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky)

3. Never Let Me Go (Mark Romanek)

4. Inception (Christopher Nolan)

5. Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance)

6. Winter's Bone (Debra Granik)

7. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright)

8. Shutter Island (Martin Scorsese)

9. True Grit (Joel & Ethan Coen)

10. A Prophet (Jacques Audiard)

Hmm. There you go. I'm good with the top three. The rest could be mashed up without much of an argument from me. Black Swan was better the second time around, and honestly, it has a strong claim on number one. Overall, a solid year, although almost entirely thanks tot he final quarter.

So?

Distillery: David Fincher

Film	Year	Vin	Frank
Alien3	1992	-	-
Se7en	1995	+	+
The Game	1997	+	+
Fight Club	1999	+	-
Panic Room	2002	+	+
Zodiac	2007	+	+
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button	2008	+	-
The Social Network	2010	+	+
FINAL DISTILLATION		88%	63%

Key: + = Film Liked; - = Film Not Liked; x = Film Not Seen

Podcast Monday

Season 2 of the Single Malt Cinema Podcast is finally here. Same great taste, but now with half the calories. That's right, loyal and above average looking fans, after some soul searching (but mainly keys to the studio searching) your favorite drive time diversion is back in shorter, easier to swallow form (which was a complaint Vinny Guns has heard his whole life). Ideally, in a theoretically Utopian fantasy world of our dreams, this will enable us to turn these aural gems around quicker and into your ears on a consistent basis. Hopefully.

We're starting with a return to The Distillery (now illegal in 13 states!) and our offering of David Fincher. You may know Fincher from movies he has directed, one of which may or may not be (but definitely is) the box-office smash, The Social Network. Does he survive the career probing serrated tentacles of The Big D? Will he have enough fortitude and insurance to claw his way to the top of the leader board, displacing the grand grape stomper, FFC?

(You may notice a mathematical discrepancy in the tabulation of the final SMC Score. Two things: 1. You're a nerd. 2. It was in no way, shape, or monstrously intimidating form the fault of The Distillery. All blame has squarely been assigned to our former intern whose name shall be withheld while the investigation remains active.)