Screen shot from the trailer of Inception
10. Black Swan
Using the ballet "Swan Lake" as a backdrop, this film intensely brings to life the reality that performers can often lose their selves when performing. Directed by Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler), Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) is a dancer who earns the role of the White Swan and Black Swan. This is Sayers' first lead role.
She is often tense and on edge. Her director (Vincent Cassel) pushes her and seems to be playing her against another girl who could steal the part from Sayers at any moment. What unfolds is a taut psychological thriller, one big metaphorical fantasy that gets up under your skin.
9. The Ghost Writer
Roman Polanski directed this political thriller, which tells the story of a Ghost Writer (Ewan McGregor) who is hired to redact the memoirs of British politician Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan). He becomes embroiled in a scandal over how far he was willing to go to develop a special relationship between the UK and the U.S. The Ghost Writer is in a fortress that is heavily protected and the memoirs are kept under lock-and-key.
As the Ghost becomes more and more aware of the sensitive information in the memoirs he is redacting, the Ghost finds himself in more and more danger (one could ask if The Ghost would have been compelled to send the text of the memoirs to WikiLeaks).
This is one smart thriller that really doesn't rely on violence to tell the story. It's a classic controlled plot that moves forward with good pace and delivers.
8. The Kids Are All Right
This may very well be the first comedy drama to involve the scenario of artificial insemination in the plot and address it with mature wit and charm. Jules (Julianne Moore) and Nic (Annette Bening) are married and had two children, Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and Laser (Josh Hutcherson) who are now teenagers. Laser wants to meet the man who donated sperm and made him possible. Joni helps Laser get in contact with the donor, Paul (Mark Ruffalo), and from that point an array of scenarios unfold that deal with the reality of bringing a sperm donor into contact with the family his sperm helped make possible.
The dialogue is pitch-perfect. The characters are flawed but honest. They are dealing with uncharted territory in much the same way that viewers are dealing with uncharted territory. The concept of same-sex couples is fairly new to American culture. And, this film goes a long way toward showing that there isn't much difference between a family with heterosexual parents and a family with homosexual parents. In each case, parents have the same responsibilities and challenges that come with raising children (or in this snapshot in time, teenagers).
7. Inside Job
This documentary narrated by Matt Damon and directed by Charles Ferguson told the story of the economic collapse of 2008 and how it could have been prevented and how it was, as the title suggests, an inside job. It directly singles out activities on Wall Street of delusion and recklessness, which fueled casino capitalism. The people who claim to be experts on Wall Street or finance and what happened are sat down before the camera. They are asked questions in interviews by Ferguson and one of the best parts of the film is seeing these individuals squirm when asked to answer questions on camera.
