My Top 5 Favourite Screenplays of 2010

Last year, I wrote a post titled “Top 5 Screenplays of the Summer”.

I was planning on doing the same this year, but the summer’s movies were kinda disappointing overall, so I decided to wait …

So here we are in the year 2011 and I give you a new list: My Top 5 Favourite Screenplays … not of the summer, but of the whole year.

What’s the point? Basically, if you haven’t seen any of these movies, you’d probably enjoy them. Also, it gives me occasion to talk about screenplays … and I’m a nerd so I like doing that.

So here, in no particular order, is my list:

–

Inception

The ideas, the plot, the whole world of Inception was imaginative in a way that is truly intimidating to me. So not only can we enter somebody’s dream … We can steal information from their self-conscience? Who came up with that? And as if that wasn’t enough for a movie to be about, now we’re going to try the opposite: Let’s plant a new idea in somebody’s mind. If there’s any weakness with the screenplay for Inception, it’s that there was so much explanation and exposition happening on screen that there wasn’t much room for character development besides that of the lead character, Cobb. But really … I was so engrossed in the world of Inception that I didn’t mind one bit.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

I was hesitant to include Scott Pilgrim in my list since it’s more of an “adaptation” (The movie was based on a series of graphic novels). But considering that the writers squeezed 7 novels worth of story into one screenplay … and got it right …  I couldn’t leave it out. A hipster bassist must defeat his new girl’s 7 evil ex’s in order to keep dating her? Yeah, sign me up. If that wasn’t enough, the explosive style, hilarious characters and video game references had me asking “Where have you been all my life, Scott Pilgrim?”  In my opinion, the movie tells the story better than the books but the style is pretty intense so if you’re not into that kind of thing, the movie might be a bit annoying to you.

Kick Ass

Kick-Ass came out in April and was largely ignored by a lot of my friends, even though it was easily the best movie of pre-summer 2010, in my opinion. A high-school kid decides that, in a world where superheroes don’t exist, he’s going to become one and fight crime! Little does he know that he’s about to be pulled into a world of real crime and find himself way in over his head. The premise isn’t earth-shatteringly original, but the execution sure was. The “bazooka moment” is currently my favourite “pay-off” in any movie ever. But beware: The violence, sex and language is off the charts, so only see this movie if you have a stomach for that kind of thing.

Easy A

The guy who wrote Easy A had never had a movie made when this got picked up and his little underdog script took off and became a legitimate hit this summer. You can thank the timing, the insanely cute star Emma Stone or the strong supporting cast but the script is the real hero. Easy A is about a girl who basically gives herself the reputation of a slut, even though it’s not true, just to see what would happen. Obviously, things get out of hand and she learns a lesson or two but the reason I loved the script so much is because even though it’s a movie about sex, it’s not vulgar or dirty at all. I loved it because it was a teen comedy that was actually smart, something I haven’t seen since Clueless.

How to Train Your Dragon

I saw a lot of great animated movies this year but even though Toy Story 3 was a stronger motion picture overall and Despicable Me was adorable, How to Train Your Dragon stole my heart in a way that I can’t really explain. The story is simple: A scrawny son of Vikings finds a dragon, develops an unlikely friendship with him and the two of them wind up saving everybody in the end. It’s a kid’s movie but they were ballsy enough to address some pretty big themes and the big reveal at the end took me by such surprise that I almost teared up. ALMOST!

Seriously, if you haven’t seen these movies: Rent them!

–

I had three runner-ups:

The Social Network

This script was, technically speaking, incredible. Snappy, funny and hyper-tight. Except that, at the end of it all, it didn’t affect me beyond making me wish that I’d invented Facebook. Though, the ending with him pressing “refresh” again and again was pretty great.

Buried

When I finally saw this movie, I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. It’s a movie about a guy buried alive … And the whole thing takes place in the coffin. This movie affected me more deeply than anything else all year, but the writer’s choices at the end were so cruel that I didn’t put it on the list pretty much just out of spite.

The Fighter

I saw this movie recently and loved it so much that I saw it again last night with my dad. This is one I really, really wish could be in my list, but it just doesn’t topple any of the previously listed 5. But seriously … Christian Bale’s speech at the end is such an epic combination of writing and acting. It brings the whole movie together into one big clenched fist and then let’s the ending punch you in the face. It’s awesome. Go see it.

–

Two movies I haven’t seen that that probably would have made the list had I seen them are 127 Hours and Monsters. Have you seen either?

–

What do you think? Agree with my list? Did you hate any of these movies?

What was your favourite script of the year? Is anything not on my list that you think should be?

–

francy