John's Top 10 Movies of 2010

Yes, I’m a slacker, but I promise that’s not the reason I’ve waited until now to share my Top 10 Movies of 2010 with you.

I don’t live in New York or L.A., so some of the year’s best movies — which the studios typically hold back until December — don’t come out in my area until January or even February. And that’s if they come out in the Tampa Bay area at all! (I’m still annoyed that “127 Hours” seemed to only play at my local theatre for roughly 127 hours.)

So I usually wait until just before Oscar night to release this list as I frantically try to watch as many Oscar contenders as I can (just caught “The Kids Are All Right” last night) because when I complain about someone being robbed at the Oscars, I want to actually know what I’m talking about.

I’m not a movie critic, so I don’t see everything. Still, I managed to see 42 movies that were released theatrically in the U.S. in 2010.

Before we get to the top 10, let’s hand out some preliminary awards:

BEST MOVIE THAT YOU WOULDN’T EXPECT TO BE AS GOOD AS IT WAS
The Crazies: This is a delightfully nasty piece of work about a small Iowa town whose citizens turn into homicidal maniacs. It has terrific action, Timothy Olyphant in the lead role (rarely a bad thing) and it doesn’t try to do too much.

WORST MOVIE THAT’S EXACTLY AS BAD AS YOU’D EXPECT IT TO BE
The Human Centipede (First Sequence): I’ll let the trailer explain, even though you can probably guess what it’s about. I sat down expecting plenty of “so bad, it’s good” laughs, but — other than a gleefully bananas performance by lead actor Dieter Laser (yes, that’s his real name) — the movie simply turned out to be a truly disgusting piece of work.

BEST REASON THAT MY GIRLFRIEND ERICA AND I WILL CONSIDER WATCHING ANY AMANDA SEYFRIED MOVIE FROM HERE ON OUT
Chloe

BEST CONFIRMATION AS TO WHY ERICA AND I WILL CONSIDER WATCHING ANY ANNE HATHAWAY MOVIE
Love and Other Drugs

WORST MOVIE OF THE YEAR
The Last Airbender: Once again, I’m grading on a curve here. I’m sure there’s a decent chance that something like “Vampires Suck” is worse than “The Last Airbender.” But I still think M. Night Shyamalan is WAY too talented to be making movies this bad. (IS he though?)

WORST MOVIE OF THE YEAR (NON-M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN DIVISION)
The Human Centipede (First Sequence): Let’s congratulate our first multiple winner this year!

BEST MOVIE NO ONE SAW
It’s Kind of a Funny Story: Yes, it can be dismissively summarized as “teenage One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, and it’s got some indie movie quirks, but I also think it’s a really effective character study with a really strong cast led by Zach Galifianakis in an Oscar-worthy turn. (Seriously.)

We’re almost at the top 10, but let’s recognize the movies that just missed the cut.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Shutter Island: Yes, the “twist” is pretty much given away in the trailer, but this still turns out to be an involving, stylish, affecting drama. Also, THIS was Leonardo DiCaprio’s best work last year.

The Town: Very tight and entertaining crime movie from director Ben Affleck that isn’t quite as effective as a love story. Still, Affleck leads a great cast and is quickly establishing himself as one of the most promising directors working today.

True Grit: Really good performances from its three leads (Jeff Bridgets, Hailee Steinfeld and Matt Damon), and the movie LOOKS fantastic. (Credit should go to Oscar-nominated cinematographer Roger Deakins.) Even though I didn’t want the movie to be a quirk-fest, I still feel like the Coen Bros. played it a little safe. It didn’t seem like a movie that was DEFINITELY directed by them.

The Kids Are All Right: The ensemble worked fantastically-well together (Oscar nominee Mark Ruffalo, especially is at his scruffy, most-appealing best) in this really good, refreshingly traditional movie about a non-traditional family. The only problem is that the movie pretty much lost me in the second half. (Without giving anything away, I REALLY don’t think I was rooting for who the movie wanted me to be rooting for.)

The Fighter: Probably the year’s best ensemble cast, and the toughest cut from the top 10. The reason “The Fighter” is here and not grouped together with the movies coming up is because I thought it was basically a good (not great) family/sports drama that is elevated by amazing acting.

THE TOP 10

10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part I): Forget all the expectations director David Yates and Co. have on their shoulders to finish this gargantuan movie franchise in a satisfying, entertaining way (plus do justice to J.K. Rowling’s books). Despite the fact that it’s designed to leave us hanging, this movie delivered action, drama, humor and heart thanks in no small part by great performances from its three young leads, who have grown up before our eyes and become impressive actors.

9. Easy A: The year’s most quotable comedy has a chance to become this generation’s female-driven, teenage flick. (Following in the steps of “Clueless” and “Mean Girls.”) Emma Stone gave the star-making performance we all figured she had in her.

8. Kick-Ass: Pulling off a clever, funny critique of superhero movies is tricky enough, but “Kick-Ass” also managed to be a, well, kick-ass superhero movie in its own right when it examined what would happen if an average kid put on a costume and decided to fight crime.

7. The King’s Speech: This soon-to-be Best Picture winner transcends its Oscar-bait surface to be one of the year’s most moving dramas. Colin Firth and (especially) Geoffrey Rush are excellent in a story about friendship and courage disguised as a stuffy historical drama.

6. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The year’s most energetic action comedy hit plenty of sweet sports for young people (indie rock, videogames), but it still managed to be a sneakily sweet love story. Michael Cera subtly and effectively recalibrated his “Michael Cera” persona to give his best performance to date.

5. Black Swan: Yes, if you pay really close attention, there’s a decent chance the storyline doesn’t add up. Still, Darren Aronofsky’s psycho-sexual ballet thriller is impressive in its audacity and its exploration of obsession and artistic perfection. Oh, and there’s also the part where Natalie Portman gives the best performance out of any actor last year.

4. Inception: Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending adventure came out SO long ago (at least it feels that way), that detractors have had more than enough time to pick apart its imperfections. Still, I’m here to celebrate the immaculate skill with which Nolan assembled his thriller, and the fact that he thinks enough of his audience to give them an ambitious, structurally complicated blockbuster.

3. The Social Network: Yeah, it’s “the Facebook movie”, but what makes David Fincher’s excellent drama so impressive is that its themes (friendship, betrayal, wanting to belong) are completely universal. Still, since it IS “the Facebook movie” Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay also found a way to dramatize and capture the moment where the way that people relate to each other changed. (For the worse?)

2. Toy Story 3: The original “Toy Story” is one of my favorite movies. It felt like we’d dodged a bullet when “Toy Story 2” not only turned out to be not-horrible, but it was actually pretty great! With “Toy Story 3” it felt like they were REALLY pushing their luck. We should’ve known better. Sure, the beats are familiar (toys feel unwanted, get separated from each other), this “Story” was told with such impressive heart, skill, humor and intelligence that it’s hard not be in awe. I haven’t even mentioned the part where it brought this beloved movie franchise to a wonderful end.

1. Let Me In: The most criminally under-seen movie of the year. I think more people saw “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” on a Tuesday afternoon than “Let Me In” in its entire run. The remake — and yes, it IS a remake…don’t give me any of this “it’s just an English-language adaptation of the original novel” stuff…there were shots and moments lifted directly from the original Swedish movie — streamlined and improved upon everything that was good about “Let the Right One In.” (Sorry, but even though I like LTROI, it crawls at times.) Director Matt Reeves tightened up the plot and made a more exciting movie without losing any of the story’s heart. A lot of the credit for that should go to his two leads, Chloe Grace Moretz and Kodi Smit-McPhee, who were truly excellent.

So what’d you think? What was your favorite movie of the past year? Who are you rooting for at the Oscars?