Top 10 Lists

In case you missed it, you can find Part I of the Manifesto’s countdown of the 16 best movies of 2012 here. And now, the final octet.

8. Silver Linings Playbook. Until he made The Fighter, David O. Russell was pretty much the last director I could have imagined helming a pure crowd-pleaser. But while that boxing flick was a sturdy enough piece of genre execution elevated by a tremendous performance from Christian Bale, it nevertheless represented a step backward for Russell, sacrificing the angularity and unpredictability of his earlier work in favor of stock characters and easy sentiment. Silver Linings Playbook doesn’t shy away from uplift—it’s arguably the most thrillingly happy movie of 2012—but it derives its emotional impact through a delightfully haphazard mix of screwball comedy and disturbing family drama, as well as a provocative examination of mental illness. Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence make a pretty pair, but each suggests real sadness; Cooper’s constant gesticulation conveys the whirlwind of thoughts assaulting his fraying mind, while Lawrence’s flashing eyes and uptilted chin mask quiet vulnerability and heartache. This frenzy of feeling culminates in a landmark scene, which Russell stages with symphonic élan, in which Lawrence goes toe-to-toe with the legendary Robert De Niro (in his best form in years) and shifts her long-simmering passion into overdrive. On one level, it’s just a bunch of crazy Philadelphians rehashing the Eagles. On another, it’s a madcap marvel, a winning illustration of how movies can take pain and fury and desperation, mix them together, and turn them into joy.

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After the astonishing year at the movies that was 2011, it was perhaps inevitable that 2012 would regress to the mean somewhat. The result is that, whereas last year I felt compelled to extend my annual year-end list to include 25 different films, this year I’m limiting myself to 16. Whether this is because the quality of the cinematic output declined slightly or because the Manifesto has a bizarre preoccupation with perfect squares, it doesn’t matter. In the end, 2012 was a year like any other, one that featured plenty of good movies, just as many bad movies, and a handful of spectacular movies. In the Manifesto’s eyes, here are the 16 best:

Honorable mention: Cloud Atlas, Compliance, The Flowers of War, Michael, Miss Bala, The Secret World of Arrietty, Sleep Tight, Smashed, Take This Waltz, Your Sister’s Sister. Read More

And finally, the Manifesto completes its countdown of the Top 25 Movies of 2011. If you missed the earlier installments, here’s Part I, and here’s Part II.

5. The Adjustment Bureau. The skeleton of The Adjustment Bureau – an adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story about omnipotent beings with the power to shape the course of human history – hardly sounds like the blueprint for a stirring romance. Yet while George Nolfi’s movie engages on numerous levels – as crackerjack thriller, as soft-spoken political commentary, as metaphysical mind-bender – it works strongest as a pure love story. As a charismatic politician and his elusive soul mate, Matt Damon and Emily Blunt exhibit a rare chemistry that is both electric and soothing. Nolfi’s screenplay toys with a number of legitimately fascinating ideas, particularly the Promethean notion that humanity is destined to destroy itself absent divine intervention, but at its core, it’s about two people’s desperate efforts to be together, even as otherworldly forces conspire to keep them apart. To that end, the success of The Adjustment Bureau hinges entirely on its ability to illustrate that its two heroes were literally made for one another, and when we see Damon and Blunt on screen together – when we witness the ease of their laughs, the softness of their smiles, the longing in their eyes – there’s simply no doubt. Another entry in the canon of cinematic romance might suggest that their problems don’t amount to a hill of beans, but The Adjustment Bureau proffers a different theory: that in this dystopian universe of sinister angels and teleporting doors, love is the most powerful force in the world. Read More

The Manifesto is counting down its Top 25 Movies of 2011. If you missed Part I, check it out here.

15. Crazy, Stupid, Love. A happy mess of a movie, Crazy, Stupid, Love. skates nimbly across the surface of a number of genres, from coming-of-age story to midlife-crisis mania to the lothario with the heart of gold. But underlying all of these stories is a core of genuine sweetness, and it’s that sincerity that elevates the film from a disposable pleasure to a singular snapshot of contemporary romance. Dan Fogelman’s screenplay, which features its share of legitimate surprises, has a warm regard for its characters, and the inordinately talented cast (Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling co-headline as sap and stud, respectively, with Julianne Moore and Emma Stone providing superlative support as shrew and sex kitten) imbue their parts with undeniable humanity. Directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa put the players through their humiliating paces – most memorably in a hilarious slice of farce – but they also undergird the playfulness with real pathos that only rarely stumbles into sanctimony. In the end, the film is a winning reminder that, while love may indeed be crazy and stupid, movies about it can be smart and true. Read More

What a year.

Formerly an annual vehicle devoted exclusively to analyzing the Oscars, the Manifesto has now been running in blog format since 2008, meaning this marks the fourth time I’ve dedicated a specific post to the best films of a particular year. On each prior occasion, my tone in those would-be celebratory posts was vaguely alarmist; even as I trumpeted a handful of great movies and exhorted readers to see them, I lamented that the vast majority of that year’s films failed to excite me. Such involuntary pessimism annoyed me, because the last thing I want is to come off as one of those stodgy, the-cinematic-sky-is-falling critics who constantly grouses that movies aren’t what they used to be. Still, I couldn’t escape the gnawing sensation that, as much as I enjoyed going to the movies and always would, cinema as a whole was settling into a state of pleasant, disposable entertainment rather than reinforcing its stature as a vital medium for energizing the public.

Not in 2011. As of today’s date, I’ve seen 166 movies released during 2011 (77 in theatres, plus another 88 on Netflix and one original HBO production). If you include the honorable-mention selections, the forthcoming three posts will highlight a whopping 34 of these films, good for over 20%. Admittedly, not all of these movies are masterpieces – rather, they’ve ranged from “flawed but intriguing” to “pretty damn good” to “fucking great” – but they are all worth watching. And that’s worth celebrating.

On to the list. Here are the Manifesto’s Top 25 Movies of 2011: Read More