OCULARSTORM CENTRAL: 2010

1) THE FIGHTER

My top 12 films of the year. Why 12? Because there are 12 months in a year. One great film for each month.

I really vacillated between the number 1 and 2 spots but in the end the story with more heart wins... and THE FIGHTER is nothing but heart and soul. The Fighter is part Raging Bull, part Rocky but in reality it's all Raging Family. This is arguably Mark Whalberg's finest acting moment on screen and it's a shame that his low key performance will go virtually unnoticed because of one man: Christian Bale. The Dark Knight lifts this film to an entirely new level. I never thought I'd find a crackhead lovable but Bale managed to make me care so much for such an utterly lost and selfish character. The Best Supporting Actor statue is his. Everyone else need not apply.

The Fighter is a film about family. It's about how a family can be both a place of comfort and an entity which holds you back from self-actualizing and becoming the person you always dreamed of being. Micky Ward (Marky-Mark) desperately wants to be the champion of the world but his crackhead brother, his selfish over-bearing mother (the great Melissa Leo) and his crazy brood of sisters all stand in his way, until he meets Amy Adams. She opens his eyes and pushes him in the direction of independence. The Fighter is also about second chances. Because of Micky the entire family is redeemed. They all get a second chance to do things right and it's all on Micky's very generous shoulders. It's such a great film. Watched it twice and it still moved me.

Funny, last year the Joker won the Best Supporting Actor award and this year Batman will take home the big prize. This film will make you cheer, it will make you cry and the final moment with Bale and Whalberg on the sofa had my throat lumping in a way that I hadn't felt in a movie in the longest time. Give this film all your love because it deserves it and it will, in my humble opinion, pull a CRASH and upset all the Oscar pundits by winning the best film of the year.

2) INCEPTION

One of the Best Living Directors of our time getting to make his own very personal film on the most epic scale possible... and the masses went nuts for it. I'm a huge Nolan fan, as I'm sure you know. He can do no wrong. Everyone in the film is great. The film has a cold sheen to it but beneath the coldness lies the story of a man who just wants to get home to his kids. The final moments when Dominic Cobb (Leo's character) is walking through the airport in anticipation of seeing his kids for the first time in years is both thrilling and heartbreaking. With Zimmer's score making the hair on the back of my neck stand, you just want Dom to hug his kids forever. As a new father, this scene resonated on a deep level. I hope the top stopped spinning and Dom is playing with his kids in his backyard with a big goofy grin on his face.

3) ANIMAL KINGDOM

What can I say about this tiny Australian film that I saw with no advance word, no trailer, I just sat down in a dark room and the film instantly put a gun to my brow and blew the back of my head onto the wall. I grew up with the mafia all around me and this film felt real. You could smell the authenticity wafting off the screen. Grandma Smurf (the great Jackie Weaver deserves a Best Supporting Actress nom) is vicious, cruel and vain. She destroys in this film. Guy Pierce is the voice of sanity as the one good cop. What an awesome Australian mob story. There's a scene where a main character cruelly kills an innocent girl, that scene and the scene when the boyfriend of said girl realizes what happens and how she died, shook me. When someone you care deeply for passes, you look at the remnants of the little things that made up their lives, like a t-shirt or a small makeup kit and just looking at these innocuous objects can shake you to your core, ultimately breaking you. When that breaking point occurs, the main character goes from boy to man. It's really quite an incredible transformation to witness. A great debut film by David Michod. Definitely looking forward to his next film. Animal Kingdom is a must see. Powerful stuff.

4) 127 HOURS

I saw an advert on Santa Monica Blvd that said that 127 Hours is a disarming film. Made me laugh but it shortchanges what is a magical and brilliant film. It takes a special kind of genius to make a film about a man stuck in a crevice and make it exciting, visceral and spiritually uplifting. That man is Danny Boyle. James Franco gives the performance of a lifetime. The scene which is making people faint is powerful but the scene right after is redemptive, it will put tears in your eyes. Great film.

5) ENTER THE VOID

After watching Gaspar Noe's latest film I wasn't sure if I liked it. But it stayed with me. Three days later I was still dreaming about it. Lurid and graphic in its sexuality and sleaze, this is a film for film buffs. It's a powerful and colorful burst of energy and the closest we will come to dying in every day life. This film shows us death as conceived by Noe by way of the Tibetan Book of The Dead. I am dying for Gaspar to make a slightly more commercial or genre film just to see what his version of an action film or a horror film would be because there are segments of ENTER THE VOID that rival any of the best horror films ever made.

6) THE SOCIAL NETWORK

This is a film that will come to define a generation. Generation me-me-me-me-me, please look at me! I'm guilty of it too. Everyone wants to be looked at, adulated, worshiped in one way or another. It's just that Mark Zuckerburg found a way to monetize his, and our, me-obsession. The film is made by master filmmaker David Fincher who keeps perfecting the art of directing with each successive film. The word genius is thrown around a lot, but it definitely applies to Finch. The performances are great and I expect this film to receive multiple nominations but it is cold. Frosty and mean-spirited. It's about callous people who have no qualms about taking advantage of others. The only person who comes away unscathed is Andrew Garfield (aka the new Spiderman). He's the one we root for. A great film with an icy cold heart.

7) THE TOWN

Ben Affleck is the man. Handsome. Talented. You can't help but root for his soulful bank robber character in the film. You want him to get the girl, the loot and the life he's been dreaming of. His films are down-to-earth pot-boilers about real people in life and death situations. Expertly directed. I bought every moment of this film. Jeremy Renner is great as usual as the loose cannon. The best compliment I can give this film is that it made me want to rob a bank and I'm not a violent man.

8) KICK ASS

One of the best times I had in a movie theatre was watching kick ass unfold. I loved the comic book but this took the comic to a new dimension and much of the credit must go to little Chloe Moretz (who was also great in Let Me In). Hit Girl was sensational. She was a tiny stick of dynamite just waiting to go off at any moment. Matthew Vaungh is one of the cleanest action directors working right now. When Big Daddy (a great Nic Cage doing his best Adam West impersonation) breaks into the mobsters warehouse and proceeds to take everyone down in what seems like one take. That was a wowza moment in a movie with at least three other wowza moments. Whenever Hit Girl came on the screen, the crowd went wild. The Best action film of the year. Hands down. The fact that it deconstructed the hero myth was a bonus.

9) SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD

Speaking of deconstructing the superhero myth. Edgar Wright's unfairly maligned gem Scott Pilgrim deconstructed the entire video game generation aka me and my peers. This film will become a classic in years to come. From the music, to the sound effects, this film put a huge grin on my face for the entire run time. It is also unabashedly romantic. A great date movie with a strong coming of age theme. In fact, the film could've been called Scott Pilgrim grows up and leaves his selfishness behind. I can't say it's for everyone but if you give it a chance, Scott Pilgrim will win you over.

10) THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

Yes it has some sitcom-y moments (like when the mom walks in on the kid mistakenly watching gay porn and she assumes he's gay) but it also has Mark F-ing Ruffalo in one of the best supporting roles of the year (if Bale wasn't so good in THE FIGHTER, Ruffalo would've won the Award). This is an actor's piece through and through. Benning will most likely win for Best Actress based solely on her quiet shock-reaction to finding out about an ultimate betrayal. I love the way lesbianism in the film is handled like it's no big deal... because it isn't! Ruffalo plays the slacker father/donor to perfection and the kids in the film are great. Laughed a lot during this one. It has a good heart and an even greater message about family, loyalty and love.

11) GHOST WRITER

A film that nearly slipped through the cracks for me. Obi-1 and James Bond are basically given great roles and run away with them. A finely crafted thriller by the still great Roman Polanski. This film had me on the edge of my seat and the production design for Brosnan's compound was gorgeous and lush. Made me want to live in that big, grey art deco house. Best thriller of the year with an absolutely haunting ending.

12) TRON LEGACY

Another film that the geeks were hard on because Tron had 28 years of expectations riding on its light-cycle. For me, the film clicked early on when Sam Flynn was riding his motorcycle in the real world being chased by cops and the "Son of Flynn" song played on the giant Imax speakers. I was all in at that point. The reason: Jeff Bridges is not the star of this film, neither is Garrett Hedlund, not even the dazzling special effects are the stars of this film. The true stars of Tron Legacy are the french duo DAFT PUNK. Their propulsive score elevates this film to the next level of bleeding edge coolness. DAFT PUNK were genetically engineered to score TRON LEGACY. It's the best soundtrack of the year (just beating out Hans Zimmer's great Inception score). No matter what critics say this film delivers emotion, thrills and images that will burn your retinas... and Jeff Bridges is great in a low key performance that hits the right notes. Hedlund reminds me of a young Christian Slater and Olivia Wilde is impossibly hot in her sleek Tron outfit. Great effects and awesome score make this a must see on the biggest screen possible.

Special mentions for films that just barely missed out on being in the top 12:

CATFISH - The end result of the Social Network. Haunting and heartbreaking. Rumors are that it's a hoax. Who cares. The film got to me, regardless. Great cautionary tale.

MONSTERS - A film that did so much with so little. Great performances and great effects on a non-existent budget. Made me want to shoot a film in my backyard.

THE CRAZIES - F-ing scary and relentlessly directed by Breck Eisner. One of the scariest films of the year. Timothy Olyphant brings home another solid performance. Love him.

EASY A - Don't tell my Wife but I'm in love with Emma Stone. Heck, she might be as well (Wife adored the film). The best teen film of the past five years. It didn't need to be this smart but it is. An absolutely star-making performance from Emma. Can't wait to see her in Spiderman as Gwen Stacey.

CELDA 211 (Cell 211) - It would've been in my top 12 but it came out last year and I only saw it last month. The Best prison break film I've ever seen and I'd kill to do an english language remake. A great Spanish film that deserves to be sought out and studied for the precise way it's directed and written. Great script. Great set-ups and payoffs. I can't speak more highly of this film.

Best Documentary I saw this year was the enigmatic EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP. Is Banksy real or is it a team of street hustlers? Does Mr. Brainwash exist or is it all one giant hoax. As in in Catfish, I don't care. The doc was endlessly entertaining and had me thinking about it several days after I'd seen it. Hope Banksy shows up at the Oscars dressed in a MonkeyMask. That would be awesome!

Have a Happy Holiday and a great New Year.

Your Friend,

My Favorite photo of the evening. It was our attempt to recreate the famous Jim Lee Comic Book cover. Notice the Burton-esque creepy trees in the background.

My own personal Catwoman. Yes, my Wife is of the upmost awesome. I'm luckier than I have any right to be.

Cool, atmospheric pic. I call it shadow of the Bat.

The Hero shot.

Catwoman vists Pandora. It was a cool party.

Wife's costume was a combination of the comic book Catwoman and Tim Burton's Film Batman Returns. We were going for an homage to all the versions of Catwoman... screen and print. My Wife is a good sport.

The Bat and the Cat.

Every year we go to Santa Monica for the always awesome Halloween Parade. It's a garanteed wild time. This year did not disappoint.

His abs are real, mine are definitely not.

Catwoman and one of the Santa Monica revelers.

Batman, Catwoman, Joker and Nurse Harlequin, with Hit Girl.

Nurse Harley laying the smackdown on Catwoman. What can I say-- our ladies are the bomb. Total geek conversion on their part.

Batman and the walking dead. Amazing detail work on the zombie chicks who were a little on the handsy side (Wife was not pleased). But the Batman outfit has an aphrodisiac effect on the ladies. Chicks dig the suit... and my Wife will punch me when she reads the previous sentence.

Batman in Wonderland.

Indiana Jones vs Batman. Very authentic costume. Coolness.

Batman attempting to take down a couple of corrupt LA cops.

Justice League united!

Spidey, Flash, Bats and Cats... Oh My!

Don't feed him after midnight.

Once again, I did the makeup job on my brother-in-law. Yes, maybe I missed my true calling of being a makeup artist.

Flashes of Batmen!

Batman & Robin are joined by the ever so lovely Catwoman.

Victoria has a very special secret on Santa Monica Blvd.

Batman and the Master Chief.

Catwoman goes to Silent Hill. Genuinely creepy costumes.

Batmen and company.

You heard of the double rainbow. This is the double Batman. But seriously my costume kills the other dudes.

Catwoman meets the airbender!

I still say that Batman vs Joker is the atomic bomb of hero vs villain showdowns. People stop to watch and shoot pics when we fake fight in the street.