[ tMF Film Review of 3:10 to Yuma ]

#10: 3:10 to Yuma

The western was alive and well this year, no doubt about it. 3:10 to Yuma is a film that has the quality of every western that preceded it, but finds its meat and bones not in the gun-fighting sequences or violent scenes, but rather in the moral choices the characters make. Russell Crowe is an outlaw who has to take the 3:10 to Yuma to stand trial and is escorted to that location by ranch hand Christian Bale and three other men. The unfolding of their journey is like no other western.

[ tMF Film Review of Across the Universe ]

#9: Across the Universe

Julie Taymor struck all the right notes in making this Beatles musical. She gathers up a handful of young men and women who each have problems relating to the 1960s, and places them in a New York City apartment building. We follow their ups and downs only to learn that 'all you need is love'. Every song is done with such vivid detail and eye-popping decoration that when they kick in, they only enrich the experience. Surprisingly, some of the songs sound better than The Beatles' original versions.

[ tMF Film Review of Into the Wild ]

#8: Into the Wild

This is the film that worked its magic over me long after I saw it. It must be that stage of life I’m in now that explains why I embraced this film so wholeheartedly. It was only a matter of time before rebellious angst found itself in a good-hearted well-to-do college graduate who seemed to have everything going for him. Emile Hirsch plays that graduate, scoring big as Christopher McCandless, on who's story the film is based. He has big ideas but those ideas aren’t ready to see the light of day. The journey he takes is magical, as are some of the lost souls he befriends along the way, but it is also dangerous. He wants to go to Alaska but starts his journey without a map, leaving all he has ever known behind him. Sean Penn captures the harsh and beautiful reality that the wild possesses.

[ Official Movie Site ]

#7: After the Wedding

Isn’t the time after the wedding supposed to be a fun and happy time of bonding for the families? Here, director Susanne Bier turns the tables completely as she delivers anguish and grievance in a second plot that we never see coming. What starts out as a simple story of Jacob (Mads Mikkelsen), an idealist running an orphanage in India, who is sent to Copenhagen, Denmark to meet big time business man Jorgen (Rolf Lassgard) who wants to donate money to the orphanage. What Jacob doesn’t know is that Jorgen has other strings attached to the deal.

[ tMF Film Review of Gone Baby Gone ]

#6: Gone Baby Gone

Casey Affleck might’ve had the best year as an actor (although a case can be made for Phillip Seymour Hoffman as well) this year. Following up his role as a coward in Jesse James, he’s far from that in this adaptation of a Dennis Lehane novel directed by none other than his brother Ben. Gone Baby Gone is the best movie adaption of one of his novels and that’s including Mystic River. Ben does a perfect job of concealing the deep secrets running through the entire film that when they do emerge, we’re completely floored by them, and feel the same way our main character Casey feels. He does all he can to rescue an abducted child as he plays a local child finder who has ties with all of Boston. Fumbling through the meanest and fakest of characters that Boston has to offer, he realizes he only has himself and his instincts to rely on.

[ tMF Film Review of Zodiac ]

#5: Zodiac

With what can now be called a classic opening sequence, Zodiac casts a spell from the beginning and doesn’t let us go, just the way the murderer hooked a cartoonist (Jake Gyllenhaal), a detective (Mark Ruffalo), and a journalist (Robert Downey Jr.), causing them to go crazy. The Zodiac killer, from the 1960s and 70s catches these men in his web and they remain obsessed with his unusual wit and sadistic games for over two decades. Fincher demonstrates great filmmaking and a pace that makes the movie fly by . Like everything we fear, we only feel right when we look our biggest demons right in the eye. For nearly 3 hours, Fincher acts as the Zodiac killer and we watch helplessly, engrossed in every detail, as a near great movie unfolds right in front of our eyes.

[ tMF Film Review of Eastern Promises ]

#4: Eastern Promises

In another successful collaboration with director David Cronenberg (A History of Violence), Viggo Mortenson is nothing less than visionary on screen. If there’s a group of people you don’t want to get in too deep with, it’s the Russian Mafia. They have no mercy for any of their victims and we explore their world in detail as Cronenberg invites us in. Filled with underlying trusts, morals, and family values, Promises more than delivers, it satisfies the hungry heart. Cronenberg likes to create movies that essentially stick with you long after the movie is over and this film is no different. This is the director's best work to date. A second viewing only enriches it more. Promises catches you off guard and then floors you.

[ tMF Film Review for No Country for Old Men ]

#3: No Country for Old Men

The quintessential good vs. evil story - i t might as well be called “the good, the bad, and the ugly.” The Coen brothers adaption of Cormac McCarthy’s brooding novel turns it into a masterpiece of an evil that is hard to contain. A by-the-book sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) and a charismatic Vietnam vet Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin) have never in their lives witnessed a man with such devilish traits as the one and only murderer Anton Chigurgh (Javier Bardem). The scary thing is that Chigurgh isn’t the only crazy man here. Watch Moss as he’ll do whatever it takes to get away with the sack of money that Chigurgh is after. He is truly the mad man, always one step ahead of Chigurgh with the sheriff always one step behind the both of them. Nightmares will follow after watching these three vying for justice, each in his own way. As for the ending, come on now, it works perfectly for this movie. The sheriff hasn’t seen a man like Chigurgh and we have never seen a movie like this one.

[tMF Film Review of Before The Devil Knows You're Dead]

#2: Before The Devil Knows You're Dead

Sidney Lumet, being the legendary director that he is, crafts such an emotional powerhouse that we feel sorry for each of the characters no matter what heinous crimes they may have committed. Two brothers (Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke) are already in over their heads before they decide to rob their mom (Rosemary Harris) and pop’s (Albert Finney) jewelry store with the intention that no one will get harmed. I’m not spoiling anything by telling you that everything goes wrong with this robbery because the movie goes places after the robbery that are intense and intricate. This is all the work of first time screenwriter Kelly Masterson. She never seems to create a scene that is far-fetched or wrong. Never. She creates a world so real that you can see your dad or brother being a part of this film. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead possesses such a natural force of heartache and sorrow that it’s nearly impossible to take your eyes off of the screen.

[ tMF Film Review of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street ]

#1: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

No other movie this year hooks you from the very beginning the way Sweeney Todd does. It's opening credits hypnotize the audience as blood flows through the cracks of houses, the streets, and eventually down into the sewer lines. A town that’s so remorseless that it’s only fitting to see the population eating human meat pies without even knowing it. Man devouring man. Burton does the best directing job this year in creating a world where even Anton Chigurgh would feel uneasy. Revenge, adultery, greed, and even a strange kind of love make up this town of London in the 19th century. These traits tend to be the town’s only tourist attractions, along with Mrs. Lovett’s (Helena Bonham Carter) meat pies. The songs sung by Johnny Depp, the demon barber, are music to the ears. He’ll do whatever it takes to get his family back - they were taken away from him by the town’s evil judge (Alan Rickman). The melodies and lyrics by great composer Stephen Sondheim never get old nor do the slashings of innocent bystander’s necks. Never have I seen a musical as evil and ruthless as Sweeney Todd.