The Town VS Gone Baby Gone

I get that nowadays most of the bigger award shows such as the Oscars and even more so the Golden Globes have become less about great films and more about popularity. Yet, waning significance aside, I still find myself getting way into the award process every year, and each year I find myself disappointed in one way or another. One movie or performance that should be a lock doesn't win, or wasn't nominated in the first place and vice versa.

This year though, even with the expectation that these award shows will never reflect exactly how I felt about the year in film, I find myself particularly surprised by the overly strong reception to Ben Affleck's The Town.

Don't get me wrong, I really like The Town. The performances are top notch, especially Jeremy Renner as Affleck's lifelong friend and fellow bank robber, and I have to admit I was extremely surprised with Blake Lively, who proved here that she has what it takes to be taken seriously.

Also, the action is intense and well executed. Affleck wisely decides to show the action rather than relying on excessive editing to do the trick.

More than anything though, The Town proved that Affleck was no fluke as a director, after his debut effort with the exceptional Gone Baby Gone.

There is, however, one fatal flaw that I believe really keeps this movie from best picture qualification. The ending, more specifically the final shot. It feels as though it belongs in a 90s romantic drama, and not a hard R action picture. Now I understand and agree that you could argue that there is more to The Town other than action, but that final shot really takes me out of the moment and ruins what could have at least been a satisfying ending, albeit far from a perfect one.

Again, I really like this movie, I own it even, but best picture? Really? At best, this is a great, mainstream heist flick. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I just can't imagine that anyone would think that this is up there with Inception, Black Swan or even The Fighter.

I wonder though, could award associations be making up for the lack of love for Gone Baby Gone? Granted, 'Gone' star Amy Ryan got an Oscar nomination and Casey Affleck got a few critic's awards, but for the most part 'Gone' went by mostly unnoticed in the awards season that year, something that really upset me.

For me, Gone Baby Gone is leaps and bounds better than the The Town, in almost every way. The atmosphere that Affleck creates is a tense and harrowing one that lasts up to the very last frame of film, with realistic characters and dialogue in each and every scene, all while dealing with a subject matter that would bring a strong reaction in even the most indifferent of people.

I think though, it's the follow-through of Gone Baby Gone that makes me prefer it over The Town. The ending of 'Gone' is at once angering and relieving. It doesn't candy-coat anything for the viewer, you have to decide for yourself if Casey Affleck did the right thing or not, whereas with The Town, it feels as though Ben is forcing it on us, like at the last minute he wanted this instead of that.

I don't know, I really don't mean to sounds like a negative Nancy/BITCH towards The Town. It really makes me excited for what Ben will do next as either actor or director, and hopefully if anything, it will cause more people to go out and watch Gone Baby Gone, a movie I feel deserves the widest audience possible.

The Fighter

Again, I'm a little late in the game with this one, but I trust you don't care anyway.

The Fighter is a gem of a film. Every single person involved in this brought their A game, starting with my personal man-crush Christian Bale. Bale again transforms his body and becomes the crack-addicted brother to Wahlbergs boxing hopeful. It's the most charismatic Bale has been in a long time, even at his most cracked out you can't help but laugh at his jokes or forgive him for breaking every promise he throws at you.

In addition to Bale, you have Amy Adams and Melissa Leo giving equally amazing performances as Marky Mark's girlfriend and Mother. Adams in particular stands out for me. She goes from cute to adorable to kinda trashy yet proud and strong all in one scene.

I'm not trying to be mean, but it's actually Wahlberg who has the least to do here. That's not to say that he is in any way bad or unconvincing, because he absolutely does a great job. It's just that the other character's have a little more to show, a little more to overcome. Actually, now that I think about it, I think that may have been part of the point. He was simply surrounded by these over the top characters and could do nothing but react accordingly.

In short, The Fighter is not only a great sports film, but simply a great film period, one that shouldn't have trouble finding a spot on my favorite films of 2010.

How to Train Your Dragon

Even with somewhat elevated expectations, I was genuinely surprised at how good How to Train Your Dragon was. I had heard nothing but good things about it, but I wasn't really convinced that it could be considered in the same league as Toy Story 3.

Thankfully, I took off my "I know everything" hat and finally gave Dragon a shot, and I can honestly say that if TS3 hadn't come out this year, How to Train Your Dragon would have easily been my favorite animated movie of the year, not to mention the best movie Dreamworks Animation has done thus far.

One of the best things about Dragons is that it doesn't talk down to its audience. The movie deals with death, friendship and forgiveness all in a way that lets any children watching to be able get sucked in and actually feel the danger when a character is in trouble, something which most animated movies nowadays tend to shy away from. It's refreshing, honestly.

As with most animated films today, there is plenty of humor for both adults and children, but Dragon in particular has some of the very best jokes I've heard all year. One in particular was so sharp and so fast that it almost went right over my head and I didn't get it for quite a few seconds. Not even the best R-rated comedies this year have done that to me.

Finally, Dreamworks not only stepped it up in terms of story but also the quality of the animation itself. Dragons is on par with even the best of Pixar, offering stunning looks at mountain views, oceans and especially sequences of the main character flying with his dragon. Truly epic stuff.

If Dreamworks keeps up with this quality, they will have no problem becoming Pixar's main competition.