To be honest,
1. He is one of the greater directors throughout film history and probably the best director to emerge from the 90s. Which is why the beginning half of my first sentence works.
He was definitely influenced by Tarantino's no hold's barred, violent dramedys. Tarantino is a household name, however Boyle has heart to spare, which is why his sh*t nearly always works every time. The man works with so much depth, it's almost absurd... because he is the one who will be remembered beyond the Tarantinos, Aronofoskys, and Paul Thomas Andersons.
2. On topic, Winter's Bone was my favorite film of the year. It was radically different from everything else but it outshone it all. Black Swan was good for what it was, which is not much and Inception was just a good, thrilling mess. Toy Story 3 is fine, but because it thrusts itself into a dark conundrum, that does not make it a shining gem in film. It's a maturely stark children's film. Not ultimately deep, but mostly odd.
I haven't watched The Fighter nor The Kids Are All Right. I can't argue.
The Social Network and The King's Speech are both very good. They're Oscar bait. Not their intention but that was the outcome. They're very safe, well articulated, and well pieced. I'd place The King's Speech over The Social Network with ease, but both are still very good.
For me, I've always been drawn to "edge". Something different. 127 Hours came in 2nd for me after Winter's Bone. Mayhap I am a Danny Boyle fanboy, or maybe it really was Top 2 or 5 or whatever.
It definitely tops the merely good, Slumdog Millionaire, though.
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