Laura: Best Films of 2010

Bear with me as I don't know how to do cuts, so this is going to be a rather long post.
I've seen a LOT of movies throughout 2010, and wanted to make a list of some of my very favorites here for you. These aren't just ones that came out last year, but ones that were new to me.

In no particular order...

You Can't Take it With You
(starring Jimmy Stewart, Jean Arthur)
A lovely film that you want to live in. Jimmy Stewart falls in love with a girl from a very eccentric, poor family, that his parents certainly won't approve of. A hilarious scene that had my mom and I in stitches was when Jimmy gets the date of the girl's dinner party wrong, and he and his stuck-up parents end up at the house admist a painting session, dance lesson, and general confusion. Watch it!




It Happened One Night
(starring Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable)

Watch this for the travel, watch this for the darling little striped suit that Claudette wears, watch this for the chemistry between runaway heiress Claudette and undercover reporter, Clark.



Shutter Island
(starring: Mark Ruffalo, Leonardo DiCapri, Michelle Williams)

Leo plays, as imdb says, a "U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane." The longer he is on the island, however, the more mysteries he unearths. Nothing is as it seems. If you like thrillers, mysteries, and trying to work out the ending before you get there, you'll enjoy this.



Mermaids
(starring: Cher, Winona Ryder, a young Christina Ricci)
A coming of age story set in the 60's. Completely charming with a witty script, as evidenced by Winona's character's quotes: "Please God don't let me fall in love and want to do disgusting things... Dear God, I love the way he throws."


Keeping Mum
(starring: Rowan Atkinson, Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas)
A british comedy with murder & mayhem.


How to Marry a Millionaire
(starring: Lauren Becall, Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe)
This is my favorite Marilyn film, the character she plays is completely sweet, and so self-concious about having to wear glasses, she doesn't wear them in front of people no matter that she's blind as a bat without them. This has been called the sex and the city of the 50's...three single girls, looking for men, living together, dirt poor. I thoroughly enjoyed this and hope you do too!



The Virgin Suicides
(starring: Kirsten Dunst)
Basically I think seeing this movie has turned into some kind of prerequsite for being a fashion blogger :P If by some strange chance you HAVEN'T seen it...I'm telling you, you have to :P It's very sad...but utterly perfect at the same time.



Rebecca
(starring: Joan Fontaine, Laurence Oliver)
This 1940 Hitchcock adaption of the book of the same name opens with some of the most beautifully poignent lines ever written...
"Last night, I dreamt I went to Manderley again. It seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive, and for a while I could not enter for the way was barred to me..."



The Lady Vanishes
An early Hitchcock film, this is utterly charming while still managing to be mysterious and Hitchcocky. Although, it's more charming them mysterious like his later works. I feel like this is an unusual film especially for the period that it was made in...the heroine is not helpless, the hero is not necessarily dashing, but is rather quirky and funny. The romance isn't big and bold but is understated and sweet.
The Mystery: The heroine sits across from an old lady on a train. When she wakes up, the old lady is gone and nobody on the train has seen her, or remembers seeing her...dun dun dun!



Casino Royale
(starring: Judi Dench, Daniel Craig, Eva Green)
High stakes poker + hot women + bad guys + cool weapons = James Bond. End of story. :P



An Education
(starring: Carey Mulligan, Rosamund Pike)
Another one of those...if you're a style blogger, chances are you have seen this. If not, then rush out and do so immediatly! It's a coming of age story in early 60's England. Young girls falls in love with older, wiser, fellow...



Inglorious Bastards
(starring: Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Melanie Laurent, among others)
Sort of a "what if" during WWII. Kind of quirky, not your typical war movie. Stunning sets, and music!



Never Let Me Go
(Starring: Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan)
Another one of those utterly beautiful, too perfect for words films/books. I really can't put into words how much I loved this movie. So there you have it. :P You're going to have to check it out simply because it is the BEST movie ever, and I'm getting sick of writing reviews here XD



Marie Antoinette
(starring: Kirsten Dunst)
I'm pretty sure I was the last person on earth to see this :P I saw it in June of last year which sparked a still on-going fascination with Marie Antoinette. Now that I've read a few books on her, I feel like I'm in a pretty good position to say that the movie is accurate besides just being beautiful, and it covered all the important bits of her life, although I felt like it was very "snap-shot-y".


Glorious 39
(Starring: Romola Garai, Juno Temple, Bill Nighy, among others...)
In some ways, I'm not sure this movie deserves to be on my top 2010 list, because it didn't "speak to me" or invoke something deep inside me. It didn't have great characterisation, and I didn't feel it really had any HUGE earth-shattering end twists. However it really is a goregous movie to watch. The colors and costumes and sets are very well chosen. The acting is decent, but I didn't feel the characters were especially special. The whole thing has a VERY Hitchcocky vibe to it which along with the beautiful sets made it watchable. I would reccomend this movie all the same.


Cracks
(starring: Eva Green, Juno Temple, among others)
Now, THIS movie was a good movie. However I read the book first, and was highly disapointed in how they changed the ending. To me, the ending of the book, however brutally hard to read, was much more pyschologically interesting and made a much stronger point. The ending of the movie completely went in a different, less interesting direction, possibly to keep the rating of the movie down, which I can understand. I loved the movie, in every way it's completely like it should be, and it's veryveryvery beautiful...but I wish they hadn't done that to the end of it.


Pirate Radio (other title: The Boat That Rocked)
(starring: Tom Sturridge, Bill Nighy, Phillup Seymour Hoffman, Talluah Riley, Gemma Arterton, January Jones, Nick Frost, and more...)
Possibly one of the most upbeat, happy, and simply BRIGHT movies I've seen. Watching it makes me instantly feel better. It's stuffed chock full of amazing 60's music, since of course it is about a "pirate" rock and roll radio station that is broadcasted from a boat in the middle of the ocean. Totally British, totally 60's, and totally quirky. :)



The Constant Gardener
(starring: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz)
This is a slightly sad, slightly melancholy, possibly thriller-ish movie. Which seems a bit contrary, but there you have it. As the movie ends it's possible you'll be crying, but most of the film is pretty fast-paced.


Defiance

(starring: Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell)
A holocaust story. A story of three brothers who end up saving the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of jews, by hiding in the forest, creating a village for themselves. Wonderfully done, superb acting, and a true story to boot.



And there you have it! I'll be making a post about my favorite and most memorable books read in 2010 as well. Hope you enjoyed this. What are your opinions on some of the films I mentioned? What was your favorite movie you saw last year? Let me know!