The King’s Speech (2010)

Colin Firth’s King George VI and commoner speech therapist Geoffrey Rush form a contentious friendship across social boundaries, humanizing the king and uplifting Rush in a real crowd-pleaser. Ultimately, though, what do kings do besides speak?

d: Tom Hooper | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose
Enemy | Bertie | Exercise | Common man | It’s just a chair.

The Road (2009)

Director John Hillcoat paints the end of the world in brown and gray, a bleak terrain of cannibals and thieves, starvation and terror. But Viggo Mortensen and his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) carry the fire, their relationship a moving tribute to the last of humanity.

d: John Hillcoat | imdb.com | trailer | You never killed a man ...
Bad guys. | He’s a god. | We did good. | They are going to kill us.

The Hurt Locker (2009)

Director Kathryn Bigelow expertly builds tension with each wire cut by bomb specialist Jeremy Renner in an Iraq war picture refreshing void of ideology. Renner gives a superior performance, his character part reckless artist, part John Wayne.

d: Kathryn Bigelow | imdb.com | trailer | “Charlie Rose”
opening sequence | Die comfortable. | cell phone