It’s that time of year again.  The closing of January.  It’s when I put up my ‘best of’ list.  I give myself an additional month to play catch up, as a lot of the better movies are released at the tail end of the year.

 

I have seen 132 movies released in the year 2010, and I can honestly say that there weren’t a whole lot of surprises pulled this year.  Most of what I was excited for turned out to be my favorites of the year, and the rest fell where they may.  I usually also preface this by listing the acclaimed movies that I missed, but honestly, I think I hit them all.  I’ve seen all of the Academy’s best picture nominations (before they were nominated, actually), and the only one I have not seen that might be worthy of mentioning is Biutiful.

 

If it got on the festival circuit in 2009, I put so in parentheses, because that’s the year it technically was released in, but I included on this list here.  And as always, this list is completely subject to change.

 

30.    Kick-Ass

29.    The King’s Speech

28.    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

27.    Four Lions

26.    The Crazies

 

The King’s Speech is inarguably quality, but not one I can say that I am in love with.  Well worth checking out, though, if only for the great chemistry between Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush.  I’m looking forward to the conclusion of the Harry Potter franchise in 2011, because the only thing wrong with this year’s installment is that it is only half a movie.  The Crazies is one that has resonated very well for me.  I rewatched it again recently, and I’m still digging on it.  That and Shutter Island both succeed largely due to the atmosphere created, although I do wish The Crazies had about half the number of jump scares that it does. 

 

25.    Brooklyn’s Finest (2009)

24.    Shutter Island

23.    The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2009)

22.    The Fighter

21.    I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)

 

Brooklyn’s Finest was surprising, simply because there’s just nobody out there talking about it.  Sure, it may be a little by the numbers, but I was with it completely for the entire duration.  The Disappearance of Alice Creed is a really cool small movie that’s well worth seeking out.  It has what very well may be my favorite opening of the year, where in the first nine minutes, only one word of dialogue is spoken, but so much happens. I Love You Phillip Morris is one of the best quality comedies of the year, and I hope people don’t steer away from it because of the gay angle. 

 

20.    Splice (2009)

19.    Unstoppable

18.    Despicable Me

17.    Blue Valentine

16.    Going the Distance

 

Splice is a bit bizarre in how much it polarizes audiences.  I’ve talked to people who love it and I’ve talked to people who flat out hate it (I fall in the former), but nobody’s falling in the middle ground.  The people who hate it don’t watch movies for the same reasons I do, though.  Unstoppable is a great straightforward movie that you can tell if it was made for you by gauging your excitement to the phrase “Tony Scott on a train”.  Blue Valentine hit home for me in a number of places; a great movie that is a doozy to watch.  Going the Distance is my favorite movie of the year that nobody saw.  A luke warm reception by critics left it so everybody skipped it, but I thought it was laugh out loud hilarious.  Maybe lowered expectations had something to do with it, but it is my sleeper of the year.

 

15.    The Book of Eli

14.    The Kids Are All Right

13.    True Grit

12.    Micmacs (2009)

11.    The Ghost Writer

 

I love me some Book of Eli; it has everything you could want from a post-apocalyptic Western with Denzel Washinton.  Another Western here, True Grit, is a quality film, just like everybody’s saying it is, it just doesn’t feel all that Coen-y, which was something I was hoping for, and it would probably rank higher on my list if it was.  Micmacs is such a whimsical, inventive movie that I could help but love it.  It has the same light, happy feel that Amelie captured, and it’s a pleasure seeing Jean-Pierre Jeunet at work.  Some may find The Ghost Writer talky, but I find it enthralling.  I was completely with the conspiracy theory every step of the way, and it has one of the best conclusions of the year.

 

10.  Exit Through the Gift Shop

9.  Buried

8.  The Town

7.  How to Train Your Dragon

6.  Toy Story 3

 

Here’s where we get into films that you’ll find on a lot of ‘best of’ lists, and rightfully so, they’re damn high quality movies.  I cannot promote Exit Through the Gift Shop enough, it just gets better and better the more time I’ve given it to resonate, and it’s the movie that I am most eager to rewatch again and share with people.  Buried is a super cool movie that I can’t imagine anybody not being wowed by.  It’s impressive and has a strong one-man show from Ryan Reynolds, and most claustrophobic of all, it’s a bottle movie that doesn’t cheat.  The Town is the best gritty crime drama since The Departed.  Yeah, it’s that good.  If you like heist movies, this has some of the best robbery scenes I have ever seen, and has engaging characters to match.  How to Train Your Dragon is a movie that I am very glad I caught twice in the theater.  Sure, it’s a simple boy and his dog story, but it’s sweet, and the flying sequences are flat-out incredible; I guarantee that they will take your breath away.  And Toy Story 3 is a fitting conclusion to a great trilogy, ending it pitch-perfectly, and proving that Pixar isn’t just making the best animated movies out there, they are making some of the best films out there.

 

5.  Inception

4.  127 Hours

3.  Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

2.  The Social Network

1.  Black Swan

 

I could go on and on about how fantastic each one of these movies are, but chances are if you have seen me in person recently, you already have.  Inception has my favorite fight sequence of the year; that hallway fight will always come to mind when talking and debating about it.  You know how movies have jump scares?  Well, 127 Hours has my favorite jump laugh.  Far be from me to spoil it for you.  Scott Pilgrim vs. the World has some of the most impressive editing I have ever seen period.  It’s so snappy and rapid-fire, there isn’t a dull moment in its entirety and it has so much eye-candy to complement all of the hilarious jokes.  My top 2 are pretty neck and neck.  The Social Network is great, and I mean damn great.  Making a fascinating story about the origins of a web site has never been so utterly enthralling.  The acting, the direction and the writing all are working in harmony to make one very consistent movie, and it also has my favorite montage of the year.  Black Swan may be less consistent, but that is only because the first two thirds are great, and the last third is positively blow-you-away spellbinding.  It’s captivating to the extreme, and watching it a second time a couple of nights ago, I still found my pulse pounding and eyes widened as Portman dances Black Swan.  It’s my favorite movie of 2010, and has my favorite comedic relief moment at just the right spot of the last thirty minutes, which is the best half hour of film I have seen all year.

 

 

 

 

And here is the bottom of the barrel 10 worst movies of the year, although I do have to say that I have not yet seen Gulliver’s Travels or Little Fockers.

 

10. Titanic II

9.  Final Storm

8.  Cop Out

7.  Legion

6.  The Last Song

5.  Furry Vengeance

4.  The Bounty Hunter

3.  The Last Airbender

2.  Vampires Suck

1.  Sex and the City 2

 

In lieu of commenting on these crimes, I will just show you the closing credits of Furry Vengeance, something, as my main man Carlyle says, that is guaranteed to melt your brain.

 

Yeah.  And that’s number 5.

 

 

Till next time my friends.

 

- PC_Load_Letter