I posted this on my movie site, advancescreenings.com: http://advancescreenings.com/2010/12/2010-top-10-movies/ but I’ll add a little more here…
Comedies were lacking this year but I liked Dinner for Schmucks, Love and Other Drugs, The Virginity Hit, She’s out of my League, Going the Distance, and City Island but feel like I have to watch them again to see if I still liked them…they didn’t blow me away the first time.
Intellectually, other than Inception and Splice, I really liked Creation, The Kids Are Alright, and The Joneses. Creation stared one of my favorite actors, Paul Bettany with his real life wife as his on screen wife, and told the story of early Darwin. The Kids Are Alright should win some awards for its story and acting…it’s today’s crazy family comedic drama but ran too dull in the end. The Joneses was a nice social commentary on capitalism and social marketing…wish they would’ve done more with it though. Same with The Kids Are Alright, the ending didn’t do it justice.
On the animation side of things, How to Train Your Dragon, Toy Story 3, and Tangled were all wonderful…I couldn’t make up my mind on which was better than the others so I couldn’t figure out if that was just the norm of a great animation film or if they’re all stand out.
Action! was pretty on point in 2010…more of the same but still pleased. From Paris With Love was a nice surprise as well as Harry Brown…very gritty. Iron Man 2 was Iron Man 2.
The surprises for me this year were Step Up 3D and Flipped. Yeah, I know. Step Up 3D’s 3D was awesomesauce. I hear the UK 3D dance film is even better but I don’t live in the uk, so too bad. Flipped was a wonderful family movie I think every mother should watch with their daughter…it’s like precious film making man, shed a tear.
I still need to see:
- The Secret in Their Eyes
- Winter’s Bone
- I Am Love
- Waiting for Superman
- Enter the Void
- Inside Job
- Monsters
- 127 Hours
- The King’s Speech
- The Illusionist
- Mother
2010 was eh for films. Anything that will blow your mind? No, just cuts and edits of the same stories…maybe I just saw too many and they all ran together. Hoe well, here’s what I put on advance screenings:
Black Swan. This is an obvious. Darren Aronofsky gave us another glimpse into his creative mind. Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, and Vincent Cassel gave us amazing performances that took us on a roller coaster of emotions. This is probably the best “film” of the year…and when I say film, I mean pure quality and a true example of what the medium can do.
The Fighter. This movie offered a powerful punch in the form of a compelling true life story about family and determination. The movie sneaks up on you and is quite gripping by the end. It’s not just another rise to the top sports film, it’s more about the trials and tribulations that this fighter’s family had to endure and overcome…or get through.
The Social Network. I think everyone can agree that this was a fantastic movie. Based on the story of Mark Zuckerberg and his eventual rise to Time’s Person of the Year via Facebook. Everyone is already on the site so everybody wanted to see how the story unravelled. Surprisingly though, David Fincher signed on to the Aaron Sorkin script and magic was made. It starred Jesse Eisenberg who we won’t hear the last of. He might be the most underrated actor this year and had a slew of great films including Solitary Man and Holy Rollers.
Kick-Ass. Comic book movies are not done and they’re not all for kids…even if they star a kid. This was a great movie showing the shift in times with our generation. Are we desensitized from violence? Does it matter? THIS MOVIE KICKED ASS.
Exit Through The Gift Shop. My jaw was on the floor throughout this whole film…it was amazing. This is the Banksy film which exposed us to the underground culture of street art and Banksy himself. Told in a documentary style, it was hilarious and entertaining. I’m a fan of Banksy, but even if you aren’t, you should definitely check this one out.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. This is the most fun I had in a movie theater all year long. Out of all the movies on this list and of this year, I think this is the one that will have the most influence on film making. It’s a breathe of fresh air that was spot on for the next generation of filmmakers. I think in a decade or two we’re going to see a lot of movies that use this as inspiration.
Splice. You might be surprised to see this on the list as it had a huge divide in acceptance. I enjoyed it tremendously and thought it was a beautiful interpretation of old monster movies told for the current audience. It had a formula and stuck to it while expanding on different undertones like family and the supernatural.
Inception. Now you know this has to be on the list. Just like The Social Network, almost everyone can agree that this was one of the most amazing movies of the year. It had people talking for days, weeks, and months after. With the DVD just coming out, people are still trying to figure out every bit of the story. I thank Christopher Nolan for creating a story and vision that broke from the common Hollywood stereotypes and tell an intelligent story that people could still enjoy. Again, ask yourself…who was the villain?
Pelada. You might have never heard of this film…but now you have and now you need to go find it. It’s the story of two American soccer players who never made it passed college games. They travel the world playing pick up games with different cultures learning the stories of how important the game is to people while answering the one question that has a million answers: “Why do you play?”.
