Best of the Best of 2010

Instruction: kindly read the following excerpt with a British accent

I do believe that it is still not late for me to present a list of movies that made 2010 a memorable year .I finally got to watch The King's Speech last night and when I woke up this morning I found myself thinking and talking like King George VI. Very well then, let us move on to a more pressing matter. In the light of the upcoming Academy Awards to be held in February this year, I feel obligated to provide a comprehensive summary of possible nominees for the most coveted award of the night: Best Picture of 2010. Following that, using a considerable amount of wit, vigor and valor, I will try my very best to produce my own prediction as to which of the possible nominees will most likely be crowned the best of the best for the year of 2010. And the nominees are:

The Social Network

Directed by: David Fincher

Written by: Aaron Sorkin, Ben Mezrich

Actors: Jessie Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake

Achievements so far: 17 wins and 22 nominations, including 4 wins at the recent Golden Globe Awards for Best Picture (Drama), Best Director (David Fincher), Best Screenplay and Best Original Score.

What makes this movie great:

This is a movie about the founding of facebook. If this is a superhero movie, it would be called Facebook: The Origin. This movie centers on a Harvard undergrad, Mark Zuckerberg (Jessie Eisenberg), a computer programming genius, a nerd and a social outcast (who managed to piss off a whole load of people which explains why he spends most of the movie in a meeting room filled with lawyers and a throng of angry people). Director David Fincher did a wonderful job transcribing a book about the founders of facebook  to the big screen and instead of presenting this movie in the form of a documentary filled with interviews and commentaries or another John Grisham's courtroom drama, he chooses to focus on the human drama behind the creation of one the world's greatest invention of the 20th century. Who knew that the world's largest social network was created by a social outcast who until today is still without any real friends (he lost his GF at the start of the movie and his BFF at the end, i won't be surprised to find Mark on the next episode of The Bachelor or come up with his own My New BFF series). This movie has all the elements of an award-winner, superb direction, great acting by the casts: Jesee Eiesenberg is excellent as the caffeine-laden, fast-talking, borderline hyperactive Mark, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake provided commendable support as rivals vying for the coveted role of Mark's BFF and an entertaining score to liven up the mood of the whole movie. However, I do believe that there is an ulterior motive behind the many wins this movie has garnered so far. This movie is extremely popular in the United States for one simple reason: this is the all-American movie. This is a movie about an American kid who manage to conquer the world just  by sitting in front of the computer. He eventually became the world's youngest billionaire and proves that America can still do it despite the grave conditions of the world's economy. This movie carries the torch of the American economic reform, sending a message  to all Americans and the entire world that if a kid from Harvard can do it so can we, America will prevail. Last year, Katherine Bigelow's war drama, The Hurt Locker won an Oscar for Best Picture for depicting America as the victim (rather than the scoundrel) in 2003's invasion of Iraq and I strongly believe that this year, the Oscar belongs to The Social Network.

The King's Speech

Directed by: Tom Hooper 

Written by: David Siedler 

Actors: Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush

Achievements so far: 7 wins and 39 nominations, received 7 nominations in the recent Golden Globes but only won an acting nod for Colin Firth's excellent performance as King George VI. Nominated for a total of 14 awards in the upcoming BAFTA (the British equivalent of the Academy awards) including for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Colin Firth.

What makes this movie great:

I finally got my copy of this movie last night and proceeded without haste to finish the movie despite suffering from flu which resulted in a mild headache which i must admit is a nuisance but was not severe enough to impair my judgment. So before, dismissing this review as an incessant ramblings of a delirious man suffering from high grade fever, i must assure you that at the time this review is written, the fever has completely subsided and my brain function is completely restored to its former glory. This movie centers on a monarch with a speech defect who managed to overcome all adversities and emerged as the voice of the nation with the help of a speech therapist with unconventional methods who later became his best friend. At the heart of this movie is the story of a bond formed between two individuals from different social standings: a reigning monarch and a commoner, a therapist (without any degree) who believes that the problem with speech defects lie deeper than pure mechanics and the only way to cure stammer is to overcome fear. The Duke of York has many things to fear: his father, King George V is dying, his brother shows zero interest in state's affair and focuses his undivided attention to a married woman and his royal subjects think he's unfit to be the King because of his stammer. In fact the only person who genuinely believes in his greatness is his therapist whom despite his unconventional methods managed to cure his stammer and made him the King that he's meant to be. This movie is the favorite in the upcoming BAFTA awards for obvious reasons: superb direction, brilliant performances by the cast: Colin Firth deserves all the attention for his performance as the tortured King George VI,  Goeffry Rush is brilliant as the speech therapist and Helena shines in her few non-eccentric roles. The cinematography is perfect, depicting an otherwise dreary pre-war London in soft, pastel-colored tone accentuating the various human emotions emanating from every scene.

And the list of nominees continues...........................