FILMS OF THE DECADE
The Grand Budapest Hotel
2014, dir. Wes Anderson
30 Anderson answered his critics in the best way with his eighth feature: by making the most Anderson-esque film imaginable. Meticulous tracking shots, deliciously mannered performances (Ralph Fiennes, especially), elegant score… The trademarks were present and exquisitely correct in his period caper, extravagantly art-staged in the titular resort. Best of all, its spry self-awareness came marinated in that crucial Anderson ingredient: a seductive ache of nostalgic melancholy for good times passing. KH Standout scene Anderson parodies Bond, with a skis/toboggan mountain chase.
The Social Network
2010, dir. Da vid Fincher
29 Even a long way from , David Fincher (with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin) teased the dark stuff of dysfunctional man-boyhood, existential anxiety and provocative cultural resonance from Facebook’s origin tale. As Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ score threw shadows, Fincher laid bare the irony of a “semi-asocial” man changing the way we communicate. Not content to merely lacerate Jesse Eisenberg’s Mark Zuckerberg, tapped into his flawed humanity to expose the Zuckerberg within The bravura opening scene, as newcomer Rooney Mara’s Erica dumps Zuckerberg.
