10.50/50 (2011): All too often cancer is reduced to a manipulative melodramatic plot device that kills off one member of a couple in lazy, tearjerker romance stories. Hollywood's strange fetishization of such a dreaded disease is part of what made 50/50 so special. Screenwriter Will Reiser is a cancer survivor himself and his experiences provide 50/50 with a realistic, well-rounded perspective that makes it unlike any other film on the topic. While it vividly captures the brutal struggles that both the individual and their loved ones go through during this agonizing process, it also organically injects comedy into the proceedings-which prevents the film from ever slipping into full-on gloominess or repeating the forced melodramatic sins of the aforementioned disingenuous cancer movies. It also serves as a reminder of why Joseph Gordon-Levitt is an elite, endlessly versatile actor who deserves more respect in the industry.
9.Black Swan (2010): Getting under the viewer's skin by any means necessary is the primary goal of a psychological thriller. Black Swan didn't just get under my skin, it waged a visceral war on my general perception of reality vs. fiction until my brain more or less turned to goop. The way Darren Aronofsky slowly builds tension throughout until it builds to a thoroughly uncomfortable level in the final act along with a thoroughly unnerving performance from Natalie Portman as a ballerina who becomes enamored with achieving perfection at all costs after she's cast in the lead role in her company's production of Swan Lake made this is a disturbing yet completely enthralling watch.
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