Back for more, eh? Even after that last part? Well, let's get under way...

July

The Last Airbender: Yeah. Not much to say. Whether a fan of the original animated series or not, everyone has shit all over this thing... and it deserves it. I'm only a casual fan of the original show, but even I could sense that M. Night Shyama-lama-bo-bana-fie-fye-mo-lana-lan screwed this up royally. The acting is (to put it lightly) wooden, the martial arts choreography is distractingly ridiculous and the cinematography is so dark at times that I couldn't tell what was going on, which isn't helped by the convoluted plot and rushed narration. The only thing I actually liked was James Newton Howard's score, which was way too good to be in this. 0.5/5

Predators: While not up to snuff to the 1987 original, this sequel serves as a fine tribute and revamp of the series. Adrien Brody makes for a surprisingly fitting hunky male lead, the Predator fight scenes are well done and the action/gore scenes are damn fun. The film does have faults though, especially with its clunky dialogue, poorly developed side characters and Laurence Fishburne, who kills the movie for a good ten minute period with his hammy and poorly written character. 3.5/5

The Girl Who Played With Fire: A satisfying, though lesser, sequel to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Noomi Rapace is still fantastic and the new mystery plot does add alot to the first film. However, that latter point does signify part of the problem with this sequel; unlike its predicessor, it doesn't hold up that much on its own, making it a necessity to watch the original. There's nothing that wrong with it, but the original did end in a way that was final yet left possbilities open for a sequel. Also, this was missing that great chemisty between Rapace and Michael Nyqvist that helped make that first film so memorable. Still excited for how it all concludes in The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. 4/5

The Kids Are All Right: In a year filled with explosive action and science fiction, its nice to calm down with a damn good dramedy. All of the performances here are steller (though Annette Benning and Julianne Moore are the highlights) and the screenplay feels very grounded, especially in how it portrays the realistic humor found in a tight nit family unit. This cast feels like a real family (to the point of discomfort during certain ackword scenes), which is the best kind of authenticity you could have in a movie like this. 4.5/5

Batman: Under the Red Hood: For a straight to DVD animated movie, this was pretty damn good. I'm not that big of a comic book reader, so I was glad that these filmmakers took this "Under the Red Hood" storyline and morphed it enough to the point where a non-reader like myself could get into it. The action is well animated, the writing has a surprisingly well accomplished dark tone and the voice cast is top notch, especially Bruce Greenwood as Batman, Jensen Ackles as The Red Hood and John DiMaggio as The Joker. 4.5/5

Inception: This is another one that's not worth going into detail about because all the possible praise that can be heaped upon it has been heaped. The cast is impressive, the complexity of all the dream world layers is astounding and the fact that Warner Bros. actually gave Christopher Nolan a shitload of money to produce something this uncoventional is an achievement in of itself. The film does skimp on character development for its supporting cast, but it didn't feel like they were completely untouched. If you didn't like it, I'm not one of those fanboys who'll get on your ass about "Well you just don't get it"; it's not for everyone, but I loved it and that's all that really matters to me. 4.5/5

August

The Other Guys: I'm not that big a fan or hater of Will Ferrell starring vehicles. I prefer it when he has smaller roles or takes a more dramatic turn in films like Stranger Than Fiction, but I never loathed or loved any of his headlining roles (until Step Brothers, which I really disliked). The Other Guys, while never dipping into Brothers territory, still feels like Ferrell trying to beat a dead horse... only not as hard. He and Mark Wahlberg had some nice chemistry, supporting performances from Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson & Eva Mendes were hilarious and certain gags had me rolling (ie Ferrell's back story). However, some stuff either failed miserably (Michael Keaton, Damon Wayans Jr. and Rob Riggle) or was just so random that it took me out of the movie (Ice-T's narration, the slow-mo bar scene and the ant-ponzi scheme slideshow). 2.5/5

The Disappearence of Alice Creed: Bottle films are a tough sell. It's hard to make a film focused around a few people in one small space cinematic and its even harder to keep an audience's interest in such a limited scope for more than an hour (the length of a television drama where bottle plots are more common). However, writer/director J. Blakeson does an impeccable job here; he has an eye for creative visuals in cramped spaces and the ability to make twists and turns in the script so unexpected that one of them literally made me jump from my seat in surprise (if you've seen it, you know which surprise that is). The acting is pretty great for the most part; Gemma Arterton bares herself for this role in terms of how much of her dignity she's willing to sacrifice and Eddie Marsan has knack for playing intensity yet injecting a fragile side to his performance. The third star Martin Compston is less believable though and his character does seem to make unbelievably stupid decisions. That being said, Blakeson is surely someone to watch. 4/5

The Expendables: I prefer the original title of Testosterone: The Movie. The idea of bringing all these older and newer action stars together is a fun one and the films lives up to that sense of fun about 60% of the time. Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham are probably the best of the bunch, considering that they've actually been in good action movies within the past ten years, unlike the majority of the cast. Seriously, Jet Li, Eric Roberts and even Arnold Schwarzenegger look desperately lost. Then again, the biggest has-been of the supporting cast Dolph Lungren managed to deliver a pretty good performance. The action does work... when it isn't hand to hand combat and shot way too damn close with shitty editing. But I'm not trying to dog on this movie completely; it's just a mediocre shadow of what could have been. 3/5

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: While this isn't my favorite film of this year, I can safely say that Scott Pilgrim holds the honor of "Most Re-Watchable Film of 2010". Edgar Wright packed so much detail into every frame of this film that you'd have to watch it at least five or six times to spot all of the easter eggs hidden within. Michael Cera continues his year of genuine growth as an actor here, Mary Elizabeth Winstead makes for a surprisingly layered love interest and all the supporting performances (most notably Ellen Wong, Chris Evans and Jason Schwartzmen) deliver at least one gut bustingly hilarious moment each. The film does have a slow start for the first 20 minutes or so, but its never boring and takes it up to 11 once that first fight starts and never really stops with its rapid fire pace. Wright once again deserves the title of "The Geek Comedy Filmmaker of the 21st Century". 4.5/5

September

The Town: I never disliked Ben Affleck; I just saw him as a decent actor who was plagued by paparazzi bullshit and some really bad job decisions. After his directorial debut with 2007's Gone Baby Gone, I was thoroughly impressed with his behind the camera abilities. After The Town, I've become an Affleck fan, both in front of and behind the camera. Everything here is exceptional; the cinematography, the performances (especially Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm & Blake Lively), the dialogue, the action, etc, all of which culminate into a highly entertaining film that revitalized a genre as cliche ridden and tired as the bank heist movie. 5/5

Devil: The idea of a collaboration between M. Night Shyamalan (who I decimated earlier for The Last Airbender) and The Dwodle Brothers (the two morons responsible for The Poughkeepsie Tapes, one of the worst films of the past decade) made me extremely speculative about this. However, upon watching it I was pleased to find that... the film was simply slightly below mediocre; the cast was slightly below mediocre, the dialogue was slightly below mediocre and it had decent cinematography. The few things that did make it rise from mediocrity were either unintentionally hilarious (Jacob Vargas' devil fearing security guard) or surprisingly well done (Chris Messina, the score & even the final twist). However, I can see that this shouldn't have been made as a feature film. If anything, it would have served as one of the better SyFy original movies or an episode of a horror anthology series. 2/5 

Easy A: Emma Stone has been on my radar for a while now and its nice to see a film that plays to her strengths. This was a suprisingly smart Mean Girls-esque teen comedy and Stone shows how charming and naturally attractive she truly is... which is also a weakness of the film. I know from personal experience that high school tends to be an exclusionary place, but the fact that not one person has at least asked her out (for shallow purposes or otherwise) is distractingly unrealistic. Besides Stone, a lot of credit needs to go to screenwriter Bert Royal who is one of the few filmmakers of recent memory to actually capture the charm of John Hughes' teen comedies here, though certain subplots simply go nowhere (ie the one centered around Lisa Kudrow). 4/5

Leaves of Grass: Tim Blake Nelson's film is an odd one. It constantly shifts genres, from stoner comedy to Shakespearean tragedy to mafia movie to countless others. This is something to praise about the film, as it can't be easily pinned down, but the transitions tend to be jarring. However, even when the film faulters (such as in contrived plot twists and dropping of potentially interesting characters), the aspects of it that never cease to amaze are its genre bending and the dual peformances of Edward Norton. Many actors have played multiple roles in other films, but Norton is one of the rare ones that plays both of his characters so well that they actually seem like they're played by different actors who happen to look strikingly similar. 3.5/5

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole: Its surprising when you have a guy known for bloody R rated action flicks direct a PG fantasy film for kids... and its even more suprising when it ends up being one of his better films. While his "speed up slow mo" technique became tedious in 300 & Watchmen, its used in this film to great effect, most likely due to how beautiful the visuals were as they were momentarily slowed down. The scenery was so lush with detail and the owls looked surprisingly realistic, though this did hurt the film in terms of making the certain characters distinguishable from each other. The voice cast does somewhat make up for that, with each performer filling out their characters fairly well. The biggest problem though is story related; while I have no complaints about the majority of the plot (sure its derivative of the classic "Hero's Journey plot line, but so are classics like Star Wars), a major subplot involving the brother of the main character really felt poorly written and isn't helped by the fact that the brother's voice actor seemed so bored. Oh, and one more thing; fuck Owl City and their montage ruining "Into the Sky" song. 3.5/5

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps: I liked the original Wall Street. I mean, I was confused by some of the wall street jargon and thrown off a bit by some of the dated 1980s aspects, but I found the emotional dilemma that centered around Charlie Sheen choosing between his mentor Michael Douglas (who definetly earned his Oscar for his original performance as Gordon Gecko) and his father (oddly both in the film & reality) Martin Sheen to be quite investing. For the sequel, director Oliver Stone essentially delivered a diluted version of the original, only with less emotional impact and more confusing jargon. Stone never really gives the audience a chance to catch up on the financial babble that the actors are delivering and keeps on stuffing in symbolism ("BUBBLES! Get it?! The BUBBLES are like financial bubbles! Symbolic, ain't it?!") every chance he can get. The acting is mixed, with certain actors looking bored & misplaced (Shia LeBeouf, Josh Brolin, Susan Sarandon & Eli Wallach) and others actually succeeding in their roles (Douglas, Carey Mulligan & Frank Langella). The story itself works better when its focusing on Gecko's scenes, but really falters when it goes back to bashing the recent financial crisis. This isn't Stone's worst, but it shows that he's more focused on delivering a message than a good story. 2.5/5

October

The Social Network: I don't have a Facebook account. It's not like I hate the idea of Facebook, but I really just don't give a shit about it. So why do I love this movie about its creation so much? I think it's because of what it represents in terms of the times we live in, where people are creating jobs for themselves, yet it all can still be boiled down to classic themes of betrayal and inflated ego. Director David Fincher does an excellent job at making visually bland subject matter so interesting, the performances are all so well executed (especially Jessie Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield & Justin Timberlake) and Aaron Sorkin's script has some of the best dialogue of the year. 4.5/5

Red: The perfect example of a cool premise turning out... mediocre. The idea of Oscar caliber actors like John Malkovich and Helen Mirren being in an over the top action movie sounds awesome... but this ain't awesome. Director Robert Schwentke gave this a very goofy sitcom tone, which ultimately makes the film feel too jokey. The action is shot well and most of the actors do a decent job (except Morgan Freeman, who was completely wasted and unnessesary), but its ultimatley forgettable due to how flat the writing is, particularly in terms of its humor. 2.5/5

Monsters: I don't want to come down on this movie for what it's trying to do; for a $15,000 budget, it looks fantastic and is an excellent example of subtle world building with its use of its Central American surroundings. However, that doesn't save the film from a boring story and characters that don't even seem human. The film tries to convince you that these characters are real, but the dialogue and acting feels painfully unreal, especially since the story just amounts to the two leads being dragged from Cool Set Piece A to Cool Set Piece B and so on. I'd give director/screenwriter Gareth Edwards another shot... as long as he hires a better writer next time around. 2.5/5

November

Due Date: Plot contrivances are never that big a deal for me in terms of the comedy genre. I'm usually willing to accept a few skewed plot details as long as the movie is funny enough to distract me from them. This movie is a textbook example of how badly that can go. If Zach Galifianakis & Robert Downey Jr. had more chemistry and produced more laughs, the Grand Canyon sized plot holes centered around Downey's inability to find another means of transportation and ability to avoid incarceration over the entire trip wouldn't be as annoying. What makes it worse is that Galifianakis is a belligerent and awful human being that is supposed to be sympathetic when he pulls the most narcissistic dick move I've seen in ages by the film's end. Now, I didn't think it was awful; supporting performances from Danny McBride and Juliet Lewis were quite fun, director Todd Phillips does a surprisingly great job at photographing the national countryside and Galifianakis was admittingly somewhat funny and sympathetic at times... until that third act dick move. It's shit like that that makes socially awkward fat guys like myself look like selfish dicks. 2/5

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1: I'm a sizable Potter fan. Seen all the movies in a theater, read all the books and still feel that the series is this generation's equivelent to the original Star Wars trilogy in terms of sucess, general quality and impact on the future filmmakers of the world (shove that up your ass, Lucas!). I say all this only to show my bias here, but then again the enjoyment of the film absolutley depends on whether or not you like this series. Seeing these characters near the end of their journey and stretch into adulthood means alot, especially when I've been invested in them since I was 9 years old. Were there a few boring stretches of them in the woods? Sure. Was the Horcroux thing a bit confusing? Even from someone who read the books, that is somewhat true. Yet, the excitment is still there, the cast is still great and the characters have never been as fleshed out as they are here. 4.5/5

December

Black Swan: This isn't a film; its an experience. I don't want to sound hyperbolic, but this feels like a lost Kubrick movie. The way director Darren Aronofsky arranges every element of the film is awe inspiring. The jump scares are actually scary, the visual mind fucks come at you without mercy, the sexuality feels deserved and is not cheap in the slightest and the performances are all authentic without a hint of pandering, especially from Natalie Portman who throws herself into the role completely... even if she didn't go topless during a sex scene. Seriously Aronofsky; you got Marisa Tomei to bare it all in The Wrestler; why couldn't we see some Portman boobage? That sexism aside, this is a must see; its the scariest film of the year, the most sexually raw film of the year and one of the best films of the year... for me. 5/5

The Fighter: It's weird that two of my favorite movies are Rocky and Raging Bull, yet I find actual boxing to be quite boring. This film (while not quite as good as the previously mentioned boxing films) is yet another example of how the best part of a boxing film isn't the actual sport, but the convoluted lives of those wearing the gloves. The cast is the film's main asset; Mark Wahlberg is a competent lead (even if he's still doing the basic shtick he always does), Amy Adams shows her range by dressing herself down a bit, Melissa Leo embodies her role in an almost terrifyingly authentic way and Christian Bale deserves all the praise he's been getting for his tragically realistic portrayal of a talented boxer ruined by an inflated ego and drugs. Director David O. Russell perfectly captures the environment they live in and has an ear for a well placed soundtrack. He does film the fight scene in HD (which does seem inappropriate given that most of these fights took place long before HD), but this is still a damn good sports drama. 4.5/5

True Grit: Let's get the obvious out of the way; the Coen Brothers do a great job at capturing the atmosphere and authenticity of an old fashioned western, the performances from Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and even Barry "Battlefield Earth" Pepper are all spectacular (even if Bridges' accent is hard to distinguish at times), the screenplay manages to play with the story of the original film by adding some well written character humor and more focus on the true main character of Mattie Ross, etc. All that stuff is expected given our expectations of the talent involved. What wasn't expected was how spectacular Hailee Steinfeld's portrayal of Ross would be. This child actor's performance is on the level of young Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver and young Natalie Portman in The Professional, with Seinfeld saying old western lines without a hint of contrived delivery yet still subtly showing that underneath her adult cadence is a scared little girl who wants to believe that the wicked will be punished for their misdeeds. I absolutely knew that her performance was powerful when (God's honest truth) I stepped out of the theater and noticed preteen girls rushing out, gushing to their parents about how cool it was to see a girl their age taking charge of her own situation. That is the sign of a great film 4.5/5

Final Thoughts:

Many have been calling 2010 a terrible year for movies. Were there terrible films this year? Oh most certainly, but I think people are over exaggerating (Wait, someone being hyperbolic on the internet? How can this be?!). Really, this year is simply a mixed bag. Sure, we saw cartoons poorly adapted into live action, lame remakes of treasured oldies and cliche stories being executed in boring fashions, but for everyone of those we received wonderful adaptations of existing media, surprisingly good remakes of classics and the occasional original idea that blew us away. 2010 wasn't nearly as strong as 2009 or 2008, but it served as a reminder that not every year is a complete gem yet there are plenty of diamonds to be found in the rough.

Thanks for the page views guys and have a happy 2011. Auld Lang Syne, bitches!