The Drive's Top 10 Movies of the Year + UPDATE: This week's reviews

From The Drive "movie guy" Chris Bollini:

10) Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
9) Tropic Thunder
8) The Express
7) Definitely Maybe
6) Role Models
5) Seven Pounds
4) Iron Man
3 (tie)) Slumdog Millionaire
3 (tie)) Milk
2 (tie)) Frost/Nixon
2 (tie)) The Dark Night
1 (tie)) The Wrestler
1 (tie)) Gran Torino

Here are this weeks reviews of The Wrestler and Grand Torino:

The Wrestler

Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei star in Darren Aronofsky's new film, "The Wrestler".
Rourke plays Randy "The Ram" Robinson, one of the most popular professional wrestlers of his time. He's got his own action figure; he appears in a video game. The film starts twenty years after the pinnacle of his success. He's an older, broken down version of his former self, but he's still hungry for glory; in fact, he continues to wrestle in small, less than spectacular promotions. As the movie unfolds, circumstances face him with new challenges in life. He must reevaluate the decisions he has made and ultimately, identify what is most important to him. Aronofsky creates a very gritty world and pulls his audience right into it. Professional wrestling fan or not, anyone will connect with the story and the characters. The performances by Tomei and specifically, Rourke are fantastic. Rourke's acting is very worthy of all the current praise. The film is a great character driven story that lets you meet a man who's not in the best place in his life, and
then follow him as he makes amends, makes mistakes, and makes a us care.






Gran Torino

Clint Eastwood produces, directs and acts in the new film, Gran Torino.
Eastwood plays Walt Kowalski, a Korean War veteran who has no problem voicing his opinion. He tells it the way he sees it; he doesn't change that for anyone. As a widower, he lives alone. He isn't exactly the warmest person. One night, Thao, the boy next door, tries to steal Walt's prize possession, his 1972 Gran Torino. The story changes gears as the two forge an unique relationship that changes them both. Considering his past films, it's no surprise that Eastwood can make a good movie, and even more importantly, tell a good story. He does both here again. He takes his time introducing us to his characters; he lets us really connect with them. At that point, he mixes things up, and the story takes you places you might not expect. The film is touching and engaging. Eastwood turns in a great performance.