By Matt Brunson

COUNTRY STRONG

DIRECTED BY Shana Feste

STARS Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw

Jeff Bridges won an Academy Award this past year for playing a boozy country singer in Crazy Heart, but don't expect Gwyneth Paltrow to win even so much as a People's Choice Award for playing a similar part in Country Strong. It's not that Paltrow is anywhere near terrible — she does a valiant job trying to overcome the role's predictable arcs through sheer force of tears and slurred words — but it's unlikely many folks will remember a movie that for all I know might indeed be "country strong" but is most assuredly cinematically weak.

By Matt Brunson

CASINO JACK

DIRECTED BY George Hickenlooper

STARS Kevin Spacey, Barry Pepper

2010 saw the release of an informative and entertaining movie about Jack Abramoff, the powerful right-wing lobbyist who ended up behind bars for bribing public officials and swindling Native American tribes. Unfortunately for the makers of the feature film Casino Jack, that would be Alex Gibney's documentary Casino Jack and the United States of Money.

By Matt Brunson

THE KING'S SPEECH

DIRECTED BY Tom Hooper

STARS Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush

By Matt Brunson

LITTLE FOCKERS

DIRECTED BY Paul Weitz

STARS Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller

TRUE GRIT
***
DIRECTED BY Joel & Ethan Coen
STARS Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon

It's been well documented the the Coen Brothers' take on True Grit isn't a remake of the 1969 film that won John Wayne his only Academy Award but rather a more faithful adaptation of Charles Portis' novel. That's all well and good, but when it comes to making that Netflix rental selection, the choice will be between the two film versions. By that token, no one will lose out, as both pictures are of comparable value. Forced to choose, I'd actually go with the Duke's at-bat, although Jeff Bridges is certainly more than capable in taking on the iconic role of boozy marshall Rooster Cogburn, hired by young Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) to track down the desperado (Josh Brolin) who murdered her pappy. Sporting a sly sense of humor different than what was brandished in the '69 model, this True Grit mines its colorful characters for off-kilter comedy, from talkative Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) to scraggly outlaw leader Ned Pepper (Barry Pepper, superbly channeling the original's Robert Duvall). Bridges is likewise amusing and might have been even funnier if we could understand his frequently slurred dialogue. As it stands, whenever he's talking, the picture needs English-language subtitles as desperately as Bergman's Persona or Kurosawa's Seven Samurai.

(Matt Brunson releases his list of the 10 Best & 10 Worst Pictures of 2010. Go here to see the complete article, with write-ups and photos.)

By Matt Brunson

I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS

DIRECTED BY Glenn Ficara & John Requa

STARS Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor

By Matt Brunson

BLACK SWAN

DIRECTED BY Darren Aronofsky

STARS Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel

Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan is a messy masterpiece. Like Apocalypse Now, Eraserhead and Aronofsky's own Requiem for a Dream, it's one of those films that will force viewers to either reject it outright or allow it, however reluctantly, to burrow into the brain and remain there for days, weeks, months on end. It's a character study writ large, a juicy melodrama operating at a fever pitch. And at its center is Natalie Portman in an astonishing performance that surpasses even her work in such films as Closer and V for Vendetta. Portman's cast as Nina Sayers, a ballerina whose methods involve clockwork precision but leave little room for true passion. Nevertheless, her director (Vincent Cassel) decides to take a chance by casting her in the lead role of his production of Swan Lake. But in true All About Eve fashion, just as she replaced an aging star (a knockout bit by Winona Ryder), she fears being usurped by a sexy troupe newcomer (Mila Kunis). Meanwhile, the home situation is equally strained, given the fanatical devotion of her mother (an excellent Barbara Hershey, in a twist on Piper Laurie's mad mom from Carrie). Is Nina strong enough to withstand myriad challenges, or is she on the verge of cracking up? The answers are all there, but the film is complex enough to leave wiggle room for any theories. Examining the process of suffering for one's art in a strikingly unique manner, this psychosexual thriller is by turns frightening, sensual, humorous and tragic. It's a galvanizing picture that's simultaneously elegant and coarse — like its protagonist, it manages to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.

(Matt Brunson picks Black Swan as the best picture of 2010. Go here to see his complete Best & Worst lists.)

By Matt Brunson

TRON: LEGACY

DIRECTED BY Joseph Kosinski

STARS Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund

THE FIGHTER
***
DIRECTED BY David O. Russell
STARS Mark Wahlber, Christian Bale

True to form for controversial director David O. Russell (Three Kings), The Fighter takes a real-life story and turns it into a scrappy, hard-edged motion picture. Its focus is the relationship between Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), a boxer with real potential, and his brother-trainer Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale), a boxing has-been and crack addict holding his sibling back. Micky's manager-mom (Melissa Leo) isn't much better in looking out for her pugilist son's welfare, leaving it to his new girlfriend (Amy Adams) to properly guide him. The Fighter is initially so raw in its approach that it's a shame when it becomes less Raging Bull and more Rocky IV just in time for a conventional fadeout. And while the oversized theatrics of Bale and Leo have already generated Oscar buzz, I actually prefer the more subtle earnestness of Wahlberg and especially Adams (shucking her usual sunshine beaming for an unexpected toughness). Still, all four actors (plus Jack McGee as Micky's sympathetic father) work well in tandem, and Russell and his scripters make the shifting dynamics among the family members ring true. The Fighter doesn't quite go the distance, but it's good enough to last several rounds.

By Matt Brunson

HOW DO YOU KNOW

DIRECTED BY James L. Brooks

STARS Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson