Never Mind Pop Film

2010 saw many things; the rise of more original scripts, the box-office flops of properties that were thought to be assured, and surprisingly films with adult audiences did well in a year that could have killed them. Mind-fucks seemed to be the theme of the year as Shutter Island, Black Swan and Inception stirred up audiences considerably. I myself needed two viewings of both Shutter Island and Inception to fully grasp what happened.
The Town took Affleck's sophomore effort into the realms of some of the best crime drama offered and the two weeks of December had Jeff Bridges go from neon-cloaked Zen Master to drunken Marshall with a penchant for killing.
Animated and foreign films did not make the cut for me personally, especially after Up and Fantastic Mr. Fox debuted strongly last year, but Toy Story 3 did make up for much of the slack. I did not get a chance to catch How to Train Your Dragon so that probably colored my opinion of the genre this year. However, documentaries wer…

The score for The Town was surprisingly good: "Charlestown" was a moody piece that started the film off on a right beat and "Nuns With Guns" & "Fenway" were everything that heist scenes should be scored to. I wasn't really aware of Harry Gregson Williams, but more attention will be paid to his name in credits from now on.

In a country that prides itself on freedom from need, some can only grapple with mere survival.
Some men protect themselves with lawyers, with others, money. Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) defends himself with a gun. Doug and his crew are planning their next job, the one that will be the job that puts Charlestown out of his sights for good.
Before he can leave he has to figure out a way around his involvement with a bank manager Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall), who was part of their previous heist and an enthusiastic Special Agent (Jon Hamm), could put Doug away for life.
Stephen (featuring a stellar Chris Cooper), Doug's father, provides a powerful foil for MacRay as a man who didn't leave when the getting was good and ended up in prison for life. Stephen is what Doug hopes to escape becoming: trapped in Charlestown forever. James (Jeremy Renner) views Doug's hopes of leaving Charlestown as a personal betrayal and refuses to accept that proposition.
Boston could often be seen as…

This year's lineup looks to be a lot better than the previous winter season. With few trips to the theatre over the past three months I should have more than enough funds to see my top five of the rest of the year.
The Town Could be the next Heat as far as I'm concerned. Ben Affleck was excellent in his direction of Gone Baby Gone and based on the trailer that premiered with Inception I have no reason to doubt him. An excellent ensemble cast featuring Affleck, Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall and Chris Cooper
Black Swan Darren Aronofsky has always chosen peculiar materials for his films and Black Swan, on the surface at least, seemed like one of those projects. Until the trailer debuted last week. If Portman's performance and Clint Mansell's score are anything like in the small sample we have seen then we have a winner on our hands.
The Social Network Facebook. There was a time when that word wasn't even a blip on the radar of the American lexicon. Now, it's a way of life…

It's nice to see that The Town won't be all about gunplay and shoot-em-up robberies. What was special about Michael Mann's Heat is that it showed Neil McCauley (DeNiro) on downtime and what he was like without the mask. Affleck knows what he is going for in The Town and, while it may not be an awards contender, this will top my must-see list.
(Courtesy: The Playlist)

I like this poster a lot more than the previous one released that smacked of Photoshop. At least this gives the audience some idea of what they're going to be seeing September 17th.

The highly anticipated thriller from Darren Aronofsky starring Natalie Portman will be seen at Toronto's International Film Festival. Along with that is crime-caper The Town starring Ben Affleck and Jon Hamm and the Ryan Reynolds led indie hit that premiered at Sundance Buried.
Other noteables to hit the Festival are Robert Redford's The Conspirator, Casino Jack, Alejandro Gonzalez Innarittu’s Biutiful anda sure-fire contender for Best Animated film The Illusionist.

Warner Bros. has provided sneak peek pics of their upcoming 2010 releases. This one in particular is of Ben Affleck's fourth effort in the director's chair The Town starring himself, Jon Hamm, and Rebecca Hall. The Town hits theatres September 10, 2010.

(Courtesy: Collider)

Mad Men star, Jon Hamm and Rebecca Hall of The Prestige will star alongside Ben Affleck in The Town.

The Town is almost entirely an Affleck production having wrote it, and directing, and starring in the adaptation of Chuck Hogan's Prince of Thieves. With how great Gone Baby Gone was and the collective talent of Affleck, Hamm and Hall this is sure to be something to see.

Town focuses on the blossoming romance between a bank manager (Hall) and a career criminal (Affleck) who robbed her, as an FBI agent (Hamm) tries to bring the thief and his gang to justice.