It’s that time of the year when online critics and bloggers make their Best Of 2010 lists, and Rabbit Hole is featured in a number of them. Below are some I’ve come across today:
For the past 13 years, CTV film critic Jim Gordon has appeared every Friday on CTV News at Five, reviewing each week’s movies. At the end of each December, Gordon reveals his picks for the year’s best. As seen on CTV News at Six for Jan. 1, here are his “Top Ten Movies for 2010.”
RABBIT HOLE
Nicole Kidman (who also produced) and Aaron Eckhart are a young couple trying to stay afloat after the accidental death of their only child, a son of four. A difficult movie at times to watch, it superbly captures the feelings and the behaviour of people suffering through this horrible situation. Arguably the best film on such subject matter since the Oscar-winning “Ordinary People” 30 years ago.
The Best Films of 2010
I’m the founder and CEO of IMDb and here are my choices for the best films of the past year.“ My #8 pick: Rabbit Hole
I was fortunate enough to catch this movie “cold” without knowing any of the plot details and it works best that way, so do try to avoid any trailers. The story very carefully unfolds as pieces of the backstory are revealed and we go on a difficult yet rewarding journey with the main characters, played with great skill by Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart. Quality filmmaking throughout and efficiently shot in just 28 days. Seen at the Toronto International Film Festival. ”
- imdb.com
Brian Orndorf’s Best Films of 2010
Ariel’s rebirth, Affleck’s revenge, stuttering blues, attack of the clones, superpoke supremacy, Rooster’s rage, a toothless friendship, apartment hell, unspeakable loss, and zombie flowers. These are the best films of 2010.
Rabbit Hole
While saddled with a distressing story of child loss, “Rabbit Hole” created something dramatically fulfilling from that reservoir of pain. Led by career-best work from Nicole Kidman, the film treated death with a tender hand, putting forth questions of intimacy and science to attack the core of grief, tracking the various paths of mourning. Director John Cameron Mitchell sustained a captivating pitch of determination throughout the film, finding beautiful notes of vulnerability to study along the way. It’s a heartbreaking picture, yet constructed with a rewarding sense of discovery and catharsis, eliminating melodrama to expose the raw truth of the moment. As dire as it may sound, this was a feature of immense beauty.
Our favorite films of 2010
Almost since a newspaper scribe first decided to print his thoughts about “moving pictures” — “Mr. Edison shows great clarity in his depiction of “…” — there have been top 10 lists at the end of each year. Film writers make their arguments for what they thought were the year’s best movies, producing lists that readers could then debate among themselves.
This year, we’ve decided to do something a little different. We have asked the three writers and editors responsible for the Bay Area News Group’s coverage of film to name their five favorite movies of 2010 — favorite does not always coincide with best, as you can admire a film without it being a personal fave — as well as the one that was their guiltiest pleasure. They could pick any film they wanted, whether they had reviewed it or not.
Here are their choices:
Randy Myers’ Five Faves
5. “Rabbit Hole”
I even surprised myself by moving this poignant emotional drama up ahead of the perverse “Black Swan” and the crowd-pleasing “The Fighter.” Yet here we suitably are with Nicole Kidman — never better — as a grieving mom whose marriage (Aaron Eckhart is tremendous as her husband) is unraveling. On the surface, “Hole” (which has a delayed opening in the South Bay on Jan. 14) looks like easy Oscar bait for Kidman. But this John Cameron Mitchell-directed winner, a stirring adaptation of a Pulitzer Prize-winning play, is much richer and accomplished than that. It’s beautifully wrought, performed and written — a lyrical piece that feels as if it were composed rather than produced. Cripes. Just thinking about it right now tears me up.
Best Lead Performances of 2010
We already gave you our top ten supporting performances of the year. Now, it’s time to talk about the big dogs. These are the roles that bring you out to the theaters. The ones that get an actor’s face posted all over town and turn unknowns into stars. What I’m talking about, of course, are the leads. We looked back on our favorites from the past year and compiled this list. Enjoy.
Nicole Kidman (Becca in Rabbit Hole) – It would have been really easy for Kidman to slip into the stereotypical melodrama that comes along with a part like this, but she’s too good for that. She comes at the you with a sense of pride, trying to prove to you just as much as herself that she’s ready to move on from her child’s death. And it leads to some of the most powerful scenes in film this year.