Happy Birthday, Helena Bonham Carter!

Today, we're celebrating the 46th birthday of Academy Award-nominated actress Helena Bonham Carter. A London native, Carter nabbed her first feature film appearance in 1985's A Room with a View, which would go on to win three Oscars earn a nomination for Best Picture. The film's success didn't necessarily push her into the limelight, but it definitely opened the door for her career. In 1990, she starred alongside Mel Gibson and Glenn Close in Hamlet, and she spent the rest of the early 1990s appearing in films such as 1992's Howards End, 1994's Frankenstein and 1995's Mighty Aprhodite. She earned her first Oscar nomination for her performance in 1997's The Wings of the Dove, and two years later, she burst into the collective public consciousness with her inclusion in the cult classic, Fight Club. In 2001, Carter began a relationship with eccentric director Tim Burton, and she has appeared in a number his films since then, including 2003's Big Fish and 2007's Sweeney Todd. She also landed the part of Bellatrix Lestrange in a number of the Harry Potter films. Most recently, audiences have seen Carter in the 2012 film Dark Shadows, and they'll next see her later this year in Great Expectations and Les Misérables. And so, to celebrate her birthday, I've listed my five favorite of her characters. I hope you enjoy the list! Once again, happy birthday, Helena Bonham Carter!

5. Queen Elizabeth

The King's Speech (2010)

*****

4. Jenny

Big Fish (2003)

***** 

3. The Red Queen

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

*****

2. Mrs. Lovett

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

***** 

1. Marla Singer

Fight Club (1999)

Top 10 Films of 2010

The year is 2010, and a lot has happened in the movie world. To help take you back in time, here's a look back at some of the film-related events that took place:

Toy Story 3 becomes the year's highest-grossing film, earning over $1.06 billion at the worldwide box office.
The King's Speech wins the Academy Award for Best Picture as well as three other awards, including Best Director (Tom Hooper), Best Actor (Colin Firth) and Best Original Screenplay.

The world loses the likes of Zelda Rubinstein, Peter Graves, John Forsythe, Gary Coleman, Dennis Hopper, Rue McClanahan and Leslie Nielsen.

I've been able to see 132 films released in 2010, and from those, I've compiled my own top ten list. As one can imagine, some great films had to be left off the final list. Here's a look at some of the movies (listed alphabetically) that just missed the cut:

Easy A
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Nowhere Boy
The Town
Toy Story 3

But enough about the runners-up; here's the list you've been waiting to see! Counting down from number ten to number one, I've listed each film and have given the principal cast list as well as if and how fared at the Academy Awards. Also, I've listed the film's rank on my "Best Films of All-Time" list, if applicable. So without any further delay, here's my top ten movies of 2010!

*****

10. Blue Valentine
Rated: R
Directed by: Derek Cianfrance
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, Faith Wladyka, John Doman
Academy Awards: 1 nomination
All-Time Ranking: 132
***
Originally rated NC-17, Blue Valentine gained some much-desired publicity after a very public effort to reduce the rating down to a more reasonable R. As a result, I was able to see the film in theaters, and I was thoroughly surprised by just how good it was. It's a strange film that leaves you feeling a little bit strange and a lotta bit dirty, but the performances by Gosling and Williams, who received an Academy Award nomination for her work, as so darn good that it's hard not to like this movie to some degree. You're not going to like the story, and you're probably not going to like the characters, but you can easily appreciate the talent level of the actors bringing those characters to life. Just be ready for a very awkward film that proves to be brilliantly beautiful at the same time.

*****

9. Tangled
Rated: PG
Directed by: Byron Howard, Nathan Greno
Starring: Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy, Ron Perlman, Jeffrey Tambor, Brad Garrett
Academy Awards: 1 nomination
All-Time Ranking: 130
***
I'm going to get a lot of grief about placing Tangled ahead of Toy Story 3, but I had to go with the original fare over another sequel, no matter how good it might have been (I scored the films in the same way). Disney's first foray into the concept of a three-dimensional princess tale proved to be much better than anyone probably expected, and although it may take a little time for it to turn into a Disney classic, it's still offered quite a few memorable moments, like the song "I See the Light." It's a magical tale and deserves recognition alongside the former Disney princess tales.

*****

8. The King's Speech
Rated: R
Directed by: Tom Hooper
Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce
Academy Awards: 12 nominations, 4 wins
All-Time Ranking: 129
***
The eventual Best Picture winner, there truly was a lot to like about The King's Speech. From the moment I saw the film's first trailer the summer before its release, I was calling it the front-runner in the Best Picture race, and it offered everything necessary to win the award. It has a great screenplay, and it's cemented by stellar acting performances from Firth and Rush, and even Bonham Carter manages to make a few memorable moments. Although I don't agree that it was the best film of 2010, I still highly recommend this film and think it should be seen by any cinephile.

*****

7. The Social Network
Rated: PG-13
Directed by: David Fincher
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Rooney Mara, Armie Hammer
Academy Awards: 8 nominations, 3 wins
All-Time Ranking: 128
***
The Social Network was the film that gave The King's Speech the biggest run for its money, and I personally thought it was a better film, if only slightly better. I thought Eisenberg did a great job as the lead, and I was blown away by Armie Hammer's dual portrayal of the antagonistic twins, but it really came down to Fincher's direction that made this film so great. He was able to establish a specific tone and feel from the outset, and it carries through the entire film. It's this tone that truly makes the film something special; the acting and all that is ancillary in comparison.

*****

6. Get Low
Rated: PG-13
Directed by: Aaron Schneider
Starring: Robert Duvall, Bill Murray, Sissy Spacek, Lucas Black
All-Time Ranking: 126
***
Get Low was a little film released over the summer that I'm sure not many people had the opportunity to see. It featured a stellar performance by Robert Duvall as an old hermit who was well-feared around the nearby communities. As he finds himself approaching his death, the hermit enlists an undertaker to set up a living funeral for him so that he can hear the stories that people tell as well as give his own life story in the hopes that those who have feared him for years will finally be able to understand him. It's a quiet and beautifully-crafted tale, and Duvall's character's final story of his life is heart-wrenching, to say the least. This one's going to pull at the heartstrings.

*****

5. The Kids Are All Right
Rated: R
Directed by: Lisa Cholodenko
Starring: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, Josh Hutcherson, Mark Ruffalo
Academy Awards: 4 nominations
All-Time Ranking: 113
***
A quirky, offbeat dramatic comedy centered around a lesbian couple and their children, The Kids Are All Right offers quite the character study of a number of characters throughout the course of the film. The central two arcs lie with Bening and Moore's characters, but we're also getting some interesting arcs from the supporting actors in Wasikowska and Hutcherson, who simply want to have some sort of relationship with their biological father. It's a strange tale fueled by a strange familial situation, but for whatever reason, the film works and proves to be both funny and heart-warming.

*****

4. Waking Sleeping Beauty
Rated: PG
Directed by: Don Hahn
All-Time Ranking: 70
***
This one is probably more of a personal pleasure than anything else, but I found it to be a well-crafted documentary that was able to stir my emotions. It tells the story of Disney Animation from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, showing how the studio was able to break out of a slump and enter into their "Renaissance" period with films like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. It's an impassioned story about the men and women who worked day and night to bring Disney animation back to its former glory, and you get a real sense of accomplishment as you watch them work. This is an absolute must-see for any Disney fan.


*****

3. 127 Hours
Rated: R
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Starring: James Franco, Clémence Poésy
Academy Awards: 6 nominations
All-Time Ranking: 51
***
I actually saw this film at an advance screening a few months before it was released to the public, and I was absolutely blown away by the power that the film held. Franco gives a tour-de-force performance as Aron Ralston, the man who's arm became trapped underneath a rock as he hiked in Utah. Anyone familiar with Ralston's story will know how the film will end, and yet, there's still no way to prepare yourself for this climactic moments. However, it's the time Ralston spends stuck in the canyon that really makes this film, as we see Franco slowly drift into delirium and madness. A truly remarkable spectacle.

*****

2. Inception
Rated: PG-13
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Dileep Rao, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Marion Cotillard, Pete Postlethwaite, Michael Caine
Academy Awards: 8 nominations, 4 wins
All-Time Ranking: 42
***
I had been waiting for Inception since I first heard bits and pieces of the cast list over a year prior, and when I finally sat down and watched it on opening day, I thought it was the greatest film I had ever seen. I loved it so much that I went to see it again the following day, and I was further impressed by the screenplay and storyline. A few months later, I purchased the DVD and watched the film a third time, and I started to see a few holes here and there, but Inception still has enough bravado and originality to keep it as one of the better films released in the past few years. Nolan cements himself as a creative genius with this one.

*****

1. Black Swan
Rated: R
Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder
Academy Awards: 5 nominations, 1 win
All-Time Ranking: 23
***
In my movie-watching lifetime, I have only been rendered speechless by three films. The first was the iconic 1972 film, The Godfather, the second was 2007's No Country for Old Men and the third was Black Swan. Everything about the film was firing on all cylinders, from the pitch-perfect acting to the perfectly-crafted screenplay that parallels the storyline of Swan Lake with the story that Portman's character is living. It's this parallel that makes the film all the more powerful, and when the film's final credits began to roll, I simply couldn't find the words to express how I felt. This is Aronofsky's masterpiece.

Happy Birthday, Guy Pearce!

Today, we're celebrating the 44th birthday of Guy Pearce. Pearce got his acting start in the mid- to late-1980s television series "Neighbours," using that as a springboard to nab parts in films like 1990's Heaven Tonight and 1994's The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. He started to gain fame in the United States after his semi-starring role in 1997's L.A. Confidential, and then again with Christopher Nolan's 2000 film, Memento. Since then, he's appeared in films relatively consistently but hasn't made quite the splash he made in the late-1990s and early 2000s. Still, I consider him to be one of the more-talented actors on the Hollywood scene right now, and for that, he should be commended. You might still be able to catch him in theaters in Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, but you will be able to see Pearce in 2011's The Wettest County in the World. So as I normally do, I'm counting down my five favorite performances for Pearce. I hope you enjoy the list! Once again, happy birthday, Guy Pearce!

5. Veteran
The Road (2009)

----------

4. Sgt. Nathan Leckie
Animal Kingdom (2010)


----------

3. King Edward VIII
The King's Speech (2010)

----------

2. Edmund J. Exley
L.A. Confidential (1997)


----------

1. Leonard Shelby
Memento (2000)


----------

Top Rated Film (According to Me): L.A. Confidential (1997)

Awards
2000: Nominee - Best Actor, Drama

Movie Review: THE KING'S SPEECH

THE KING'S SPEECH

2010
R

You can watch the trailer here

Whenever I go into a film that's considered to be one of the year's best and a front-runner for the Oscar race, I always go into the theater trying to push all the hype out of my mind and view the film objectively. Sometimes, when a movie is as good as advertised, it's easy to do because you can just lose yourself in the movie. On occasion, you'll get a movie that doesn't live up to its hype, but fortunately for me, The King's Speech did not fit that particular situation.

The film, which was directed by Tom Hooper, opens on the Duke of York (Colin Firth), more affectionately known by his family as Bertie, as he attempts to give his first speech via wireless radio in 1925, and we learn that he has a terrible problem with stammering and stuttering. This problem causes him a deal of emotional anguish, leading his wife (Helena Bonham Carter) to seek professional help for him. After a series of failures, she finds Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), a speech therapist with some unconventional methods. He begins to work with Bertie, and progress seems to be made. Meanwhile, the King of England (Michael Gambon) passes away, leaving the crown to Bertie's older brother (Guy Pearce), who eventually relinquishes the crown to Bertie in order to marry the woman he loves. Bertie takes the name King George VI and goes through the coronation process with the help of Lionel, who ultimately coaches him through his first wartime speech as England finds itself pulled into the start of World War II.

Although the screenplay is very good, I did have a few qualms that are probably more nitpicking than anything else. (By the way, you know a film is good when I have to nitpick to find problems with it). My first issue came early in the film where the time-frame seemingly jumped a number of years in a heartbeat, and I wasn't sure exactly when, or if, that had happened. It happens between Bertie's first and second visits to Logue, and I wasn't sure whether the time between visits had been a few hours, a few days, a few weeks or a few years. It bugged me for a few minutes, but I eventually picked up with the film. My biggest issue with The King's Speech, however, was the actual speech. Obviously, you can imagine where the film is headed the entire way through. Because a film like this is somewhat predictable, you need to deliver your finale as completely and convincingly as you can. However, I felt as though that final speech just came and went without really reflecting on the accomplishment of it all. It was supposed to be the summation of the entire movie, and at least for me, it just didn't have that final umph, if you know what I mean.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I have absolutely no qualms with the acting in The King's Speech. Many have been saying that Firth will win the Oscar for his performance as King George VI, and to be honest, he probably will win it. He's absolutely fantastic, and he deserves the award. That doesn't mean I don't think there's anyone who deserves it more (here's looking at you, James Franco), but with how the Academy tends to vote, I'd be surprised to see Firth miss out for the second year in a row. Helena Bonham Carter is also very good, but a lot should be said about Geoffrey Rush who never ceases to amaze. He should give The Fighter's Christian Bale a good run for his money in the supporting actor race.

Please don't think that I thought The King's Speech wasn't any good just because I had some issues with the screenplay. It'll probably win an Oscar. I mean, it's already garnered seven Golden Globe nominations, and that leads the field. The movie got a rousing round of applause from the audience I watched it with. It's definitely worth a watch.

Movie Review Summary:
Grade: A
Current All-Time Rank: Best - #113
Thumb... Mostly UpAwards
2010: 6 nominations, 1 win