The movies of 2010
Of the myriad movies that came out in 2010, I saw 24 of them. What follows is the list, ordered from favorite to least favorite.
[Just to be clear this is my opinion on these movies, and if I talk as if my opinion is The Way It Is, I don't actually mean it. I'd love to hear your opinion.]
[Also, just a heads up, but this year on February 27th, I will be live blogging the Oscars again. Make sure to stop by!]
- Black Swan: Wow. This movie was amazing on a number of levels. The story just drew you in and slowly by the end of the film, you're on the edge of your seat, hands cleanched, sweating and anxious about what is going to happen next. The acting was superb and in particular, Natalie Portman did an amazing job. Then on top of all of that, it was just visually stunning. The whole thing was just an experience. I highly recommend this movie. I've always sort of hated Natalie Portman and thought she couldn't act her way out of a super market, but this movie changed my mind completely.
- 127 Hours: With this movie, it isn't clear to me if it was a great movie about an amazing story, or an okay movie about an amazing story. But the story is just so amazing that it really doesn't matter. Plus, it has my current favorite actor, James Franco, and he does a really great job. I'm rooting for him for best actor.
- Kick-Ass: I have never gotten into a super hero movie more than this one. The main character is just perfect and draws you in so well. It has one giant flaw, and that is Hit-Girl's language, which was there for shock value, but the movie didn't need it.
- Easy A: It has been a very long time since I have enjoyed a Teen Movie as much as this one. It was funny, had a likable cast, had emotional highs and lows—basically everything you would want from this genre. I'm not going to say it was on the same level as Can't Hardly Wait (because, really, what is?) but I'd put it in the same league.
- Shutter Island: This one was a hard one to order because I saw it last February. And then made the mistake of watching it again once it came out on video. It might be one of those movies that is just best watched once (since it is a mystery). But I remember leaving the movie theare just completely blown away.
- Harry Potter 7, part 1: Second best Harry Potter film yet (the first being the 3rd one). It felt like it was half a movie, because it was. I can't wait for part 2.
- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: I love movies that match their feel and style to their subject matter (The Black Swan did a great job of this, the whole thing felt like a ballet), and I don't think I have ever felt like a movie did a better job of this. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was based on a comic book and the movie felt like a comic book. A lot of people say it felt like a video game, which is true, it had a lot of elements from video games, but in terms of framing and pace, this had comic book written all over it. I didn't know something like that was possible. But the last 10 minutes of the movie made absolutely no logical sense.
- Inception: This movie was engaging and interesting, but I think ultimately it was just a fun action movie. I think it likes to think that it was really deep and profound, but I think it just comes across that way. And upon a second viewing, leaves too many questions and details unaswered. Also, the very last scene was a cop-out and sort of ruins the whole thing.
- When in Rome: Your run of the mill romantic comedy. It was funny and entertaining, had likable characters and didn't completely offend both genders (like so many in this genre do).
- Dear John: Based on a book by the author of The Notebook, so if you go into it expecting something like that, it is quite fun. Plus, it has Amanda Seyfried, one of my favorite actresses these days.
- The Town: Cabin boy Farluffo tried to convince me this was going to be the movie of the year, and while was good, it wasn't spectacular. I think at this point, he agrees with me.
- Eclipse: More from the Twilight Saga. I actually really enjoyed this one in the theatres. This one is probably the second best of the 3 so far.
- How to Train Your Dragon: Cute, but not great. And I really felt like the voices didn't match the characters at all. It was really distracting.
- Date Night: That Tina Fey is a fun one isn't she?
- Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time: Your run of the mill action movie. But boy, isn't that Jake Gyllenhaal turning into quite the hunk?
- The Social Network: I had an absolutely miserable time watching this movie. It just hit a little too close to home. I think it was hard to watch this individual, who was a bit of an ass hole, have so much success in an area where I would like success and then see him abuse the power that succes gave him. That said, it was definitely an interesting and engrossing movie.
- She's Out of My League: Below average romantic comedy. Still fun, though.
- Letters to Juliet: Same thing as the previous movie, but slightly less fun.
- Youth in Revolt: This one looked like it had potential, and it was fun to see Michael Cera play something other than himself, but it was just too weird and creepy to really be any fun.
- Green Zone: An Iraq war movie starring Matt Damon. It was entertaining, and I was rooting for Matt the whole way, but did we really need another Iraq war movie?
- The Runaways: This is one of those movies where you are just watching a trainwreck (in terms of the actual story, not the craft that went into making the movie). And it was depressing.
- Going the Distance: Having been in a long distance relationship myself a few times, This movie did hit some things right on the mark. In particular, meeting up again after having been apart for a while. But it just felt a little off. I wonder if this movie (expected to come out later this year) will be a better long distance romance movie.
- Hot Tub Time Machine: I was really looking forward to this one, but it ended up being quite a bit more crude that I had anticipated. Big disappointment.
- Valentine's Day: This movie was trying to be another He's Just Not that into You, and while that movie reinforced ridiculous gender stereotypes, it was still at least fun to fun to watch and you cared about the characters. This one was honestly just sort of boring.
- Leap Year: This movie was so bad that I couldn't even finish it. Which says a lot because it has Amy Adams.
Of the movies that came out in 2010 that I didn't see, these are the ones I wish I had. 3 of the 4 of them are nominated for best picture and I plan on watching them before the oscars.
- The King's Speech: Mr. Darcy in a feel good historical drama? Yes, please!
- True Grit: I haven't seen nearly enough westerns. They all look so good!
- Love and Other Drugs: I've heard lots of good things about this one. Mostly from Keri though, who hasn't seen it herself. Hmmm... let's hope her sources are good ones!
- Toy Story 3: How can you go wrong with a Pixar movie?
25 January 2011 07:40pm UTC • 304 views • 20 comments
Tagged with movies, yearinreview
★
Add a comment!
You must be a member to do that! Become a member or login!
Subscribe to the feeds:
20 comments
Erik the Redish-orange
25 January 2011 08:31pm UTC
Great list Benjamin! Of the one's I saw, all I disagree with are The Town, Scott Pilgrim, and Easy A. I liked The Town more than Inception and liked Scott Pilgrim more than Easy A. And, while Easy A was fun, I did not like it as much as Shutter Island or Harry Potter.
Black Swan was the best movie I saw. Even though I haven't seen The King's Speech, The Fighter, or Social Network, I have a hard time thinking any of them could be anywhere near as good as Black Swan. In my opinion, it is an insult to Black Swan to be nominated in the same category as Inception, even if that category is Best Picture. I agree with you that Inception thought it was a lot cooler, more clever, and smarter than it is.
And Black Swan is incredible. I'm going to see it again in the very near future.
Erik the Redish-orange
25 January 2011 08:53pm UTC
As per Benjamin's request, here are my 5 favorite movies of 2010.
1) Black Swan. Incredible. So intense that it's sort of masochistic to want to see it again in theaters. But it is such an experience that I have to see it again on the big screen, with the big music surrounding me. It will be an incredible movie no matter what. But I am convinced it will never be as incredible an experience as it is in the theater.
2) Scott Pilgrim Versus the World. It probably doesn't belong this high, but I will always love it for the experience of seeing it for the first time. I saw it with a bunch of my favorite people, had a lot of fun (the most fun I had had in a long time), and came away from it riding high. The thing I really love about it is it knows what it is and doesn't try to be anything else (unlike Inception). And it was unlike any movie I had ever seen before.
3) Shutter Island. While watching it for the first time I remember thinking, "Well, this is pretty good, but not great." But, the final line blew me away and made the movie. I may have a weird thing about singular, unexpected, interesting aspects to art (that one note in Popular from the musical Wicked takes the entire show from very good and fun to spectacular), but that one line was enough to make this movie for me.
4) Harry Potter. I don't really feel like I need to say a lot. But I will say this: it is nice to go to a movie you are totally pumped for, about a book you love and have read 5 or 6 times, with characters you adore and not walk away feeling disappointed.
5) I liked Kick Ass, The Town, and True Grit all a lot.
I think I would have liked Kick Ass more if I hadn't watched it with Benjamin just because he liked it so much that I felt sort of bad for not liking it as much as he did. I guess my emotions from it ended up being disappointment--not disappointment in the movie but disappointment that I didn't enjoy it as much as Benjamin.
I thought The Town was fun and had a good message. Maybe I made more out of it than was really there, or maybe it just resonated with where I was at the time. But I really liked that it posed the question "Who are we?" Are we the sum of our past experiences? Can we change who we are going forward? And can we ever really escape our past, even if we change who we are on the inside?
True Grit was just a solid, enjoyable movie. It did all the little things well, did a great job developing characters (which I think is much harder than developing plot), and hooked you with the details. I did not walk away feeling nearly as impacted as I was by Black Swan, Scott Pilgrim, Shutter Island, or even The Town. But it is a very well made and thoroughly enjoyable movie.
Dread Pirate Benjamin
25 January 2011 09:05pm UTC
Sorry I ruined Kick-Ass for you!
I think your comments about The Town are particularly interesting, seeing as how it really didn't move me at all. I guess while I felt it did touch on the things you mentioned, it felt like a movie I had already seen before. Though, now that I think about it, I can't name another movie. Maybe I'll have to give it another try!
Erik the Redish-orange
25 January 2011 09:08pm UTC
You didn't ruin Kick Ass. I still liked it. I was just disappointed I didn't like it as much as you did!
Erik the Redish-orange
25 January 2011 11:53pm UTC
Alright, I know I'm posting a lot here. But I think Toy Story 3 would have to be above Harry Potter on my list. I saw it with my assistant coach and was really, really moved. It may not have affected me long term like the movies I ranked above it, but I remember trying really hard not to let Jaime know I was tearing up during the movie! And, like all the Disney and Pixar movies, it was very well dont.
So, that moves Harry Potter down to 5th on my list, and the others are honorable mention. It's a tidier list that way anyway!
Sailing Master Keri
26 January 2011 12:27am UTC
1) 127 Hours
Because it was an amazing story, had James Franco in it and it was a fun night when we saw it.
2) Eclipse
Bella, Edward and Jacob! Need I say more?
3) Shutter Island
I was totally on the edge of my seat the whole time and I agree with Erik about the last line being awesome. Plus, it had Leo!
4) Black Swan
This movie was creepy but good.
5) When in Rome or Easy A
Both fun romantic comedies.
Farluffo the Great
26 January 2011 07:25pm UTC
I saw 59 of the movies that came out in 2010.
(Youth In Revolt, Daybreakers, Leap Year, The Book of Eli, The Lovely Bones, When in Rome, Dear John, From Paris With Love, Valentine's Day, Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief, Shutter Island, The Crazies, Alice in Wonderland, Green Zone, She's Out of My League, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Greenberg, Hot Tub Time Machine, How To Train Your Dragon, Date Night, Kick-Ass, The Losers, Iron Man 2, Letters to Juliet, Robin Hood, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Get Him to the Greek, Ondine, The A-Team, Cyrus, Toy Story 3, Knight and Day, Eclipse, Predators, Despicable Me, Inception, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Salt, Dinner For Schmucks, Flipped, The Other Guys, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, The Switch, Going the Distance, Easy A, The Town, Wall Street 2, The Social Network, Red, 127 Hours, H.P. 7 Part 1, Tangled, The King's Speech, Black Swan, Tron: Legacy, True Grit, Winter's Bone, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Heartbreaker)
FAVORITES (most liked at top)
----------
TRUE GRIT (Jeff Bridges is amazing in this! He needs another Oscar. Plus, the scenery, story, old time way of speaking, characters, and humor all make this one of the best films I've seen in a LONG time.)
BLACK SWAN (I was blown away by the last line of this movie and the music.)
EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP (great documentary that asks some great questions. For instance, what is Art? Is making art for art's sake the only true way to make art? And, does making it for monetary gain lessen it's artist value? Anyway, I loved it.)
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (Surprised the hell out of me. With better storytelling than a Pixar film, which is a rarity.)
SHUTTER ISLAND (Leo's acting and the constant suspense made this excellent. It deserves to be nominated for many Academy Awards! I hate that it seems to have been forgotten about by the people who make those nominations.)
Here are some that were not the best reviewed, but still so much fun to watch!
Get Him to the Greek
Salt
Flipped
The Switch
Tron: Legacy
Here are the ones I expected great things from, and then found out they were crap!
The Lovely Bones
Greenberg
Robin Hood
Inception
Tangled
And, here are the Absolutely Horrible, God Awful Ones:
The Losers
Valentine's Day
Letters to Juliet
The Other Guys
Leap Year
OK, I'm done. Sorry this is so long.
Dread Pirate Benjamin
26 January 2011 11:09pm UTC
59 movies! Holy cow! And I thought my 24 was pretty good! Maybe I've been spending too much time watching TV shows
It is interesting that you mention Salt as a fun movie to watch, because Keri and I were at the grocery store this one time and renting a movie from the RedBox when these random people highly recommended Salt. We didn't rent it, but we sure were tempted to. You just can't necessarily trust the random people at the redbox kiosks!
And I'm shocked that How to Train your Dragon was so high on your list! It was cute, though.
Anyway, I'm going to top your 59 movies in 2011, Cabin boy! now that you have a girlfriend you aren't going to have as much free time! Mwa hahah! and all I have is a wife, and I don't have to pay any attention to her! (or I guess she could watch, too, since she lives here and all)!
Erik the Redish-orange
27 January 2011 12:38am UTC
That really is a LOT of movies!
I'm glad we're in agreement on Shutter Island and Inception. Although, as you said, it seems like the rest of the world disagrees with us. Maybe this is really Bizarro World and we're in the wrong universe.
Peon Peetie
27 January 2011 04:43am UTC
it's depressing to think about how many movies i missed while living under a communist dictatorship. however, i did see a few.
and while this list and analysis will be pathetically incomplete, it's the best i can do during my lunch break :)
~ best toward the top, but not necessarily in order ~
toy story 3 was freaking amazing. without a doubt, the only third movie of a trilogy that could possibly be better than the first two. when i went to see this, i expected it to be dragging out a story that had already concluded -- i mean, did they really need a third?! but by the end of the movie, while wiping the tears off my face, not only did i feel they needed the third movie, but i felt it wrapped everything together even better than i could have expected.
(which reminds me of your comment, farluffo. was this dragon movie really that good? i'm excited to see it, may even buy it, but to say a dreamworks movie has a better story than pixar?! wow that's a statement!)
black swan was also great. like any aronofsky movie, this was dark and horrifying but wonderfully beautiful. and like any aronofsky movie, i may not see it again for a while.
alice in wonderland was fun to watch, but i was somewhat disappointed. i figured a burton / depp rendition of such a creepy but fantastic story would be more interesting. still a lot of fun.
i saw inception without knowing anything about it (the way i like it). in fact, i didn't even know the movie existed until daisy said something about leo being in a new movie, as we were buying tickets. i liked it, but it was too actiony for me. i felt at many times that the script was written more for the trailers than the movie itself.
because of this post, i got the social network on iTunes yesterday and watched it last night. not only do i doubt that anyone actually talks the way nearly the whole cast did (really fast), but the movie didn't have as much of a point to it as i had hoped. it was mostly just going back and forth between is this guy an ass hole or is he in the right. i'm glad i watched it (and i had no idea the napster guy played such a big role in facebook), but it's not high on my list.
127 hours is a great story, really lousy movie. i think james franco is awesome, and was great in that movie. but i felt the director (danny boyle, as in trainspotting and slumdog millionaire) was trying to make it exciting. this bothered me in two ways: first, i hate when people try to make something different than it it, and second, and more importantly, the store itself is exciting! you don't need to have fast cuts and annoying bogus flashbacks (or visions) to make things move along!
i haven't seen shutter island, but i plan to when i move back to the states and have a netflix account.
and sophia coppola's somewhere is very high on my list of must-sees.
and in writing this, i realized the other movies i saw this year are all from past years. i think my movie of the year, not necessarily released but that i saw and enjoyed this year, would be either forgetting sarah marshall, 500 days of summer, dark knight (awesome!), or toy story 3. i can't believe so many of those are so old!
Peon Peetie
27 January 2011 04:46am UTC
oh, i also saw the new harry potter and left the theater angry. they didn't split up godfather into two movies, why did they need to split this one up? they left the movie hanging with absolutely no clean break. like turning off a movie halfway through because you need to go buy groceries. for a year!
and i saw an awesome IMAX in space movie. that was fun.
and i'm glad avatar was released in 2009 because i didn't want to make this post angry.
Peon Peetie
27 January 2011 05:25am UTC
after depressing myself in realizing that i've barely seen any good movies in 2010, i wrote up a quick blog about movies in 2009. that wasn't a stellar year for movies, but sure had a handful of good ones!
Swabie Scabbie
27 January 2011 02:17pm UTC
I recently watched the deleted scenes from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, which I think you should do Benji. I won't give too much away, but you can probably guess what the alternate ending is. And if you can forget the ending the director chose, it may bump the movie up a space or two on your list.
I didn't see a ton of new movies in 2010, but I saw most of the ones I was most excited about. Here's my short list:
1) Scott Pilgrim vs. The World - Unlike any movie I've seen before, and more fun than anything I've seen since Spider-Man 2. I thought this movie was the most precisely choreographed musical I've ever seen. Every scene had a rhythm to it, which is part of what makes re-watching it so much fun. And re-watch it I have; number of times I watched Scott Pilgrim in 2010 number of times I watched a movie that was not Scott Pilgrim in 2010.
2) Black Swan - My stomach was tied so tight during this movie that I thought I was going to barf through the whole second half, but it was (objectively) the best film I saw in 2010, and perhaps in the last few years. The only other film that has kept me this far on the edge of my seat was Apollo 13.
3) Inception - I agree that this movie was just a good action movie at heart, and it gets less fun with each viewing, but I also think that it lived up to the hype, and it truly was more than just a good action movie. That said, it was no Dark Knight (aka: best action movie of all time).
Toy Story 3 doesn't make my top 3, but it was fantastic. Kick-Ass was ok, but I thought it was just an average comic book movie. It was disappointing. All my friends really liked it and I typically like Mark Millar's comics, but the movie just wasn't that much fun for me.
And I have to make mention of The American, which was the worst movie I've seen since 1998's Dirty Work.
I still need to watch three movies from 2010: Exit Through the Gift Shop, True Grit and The Social Network. Let me know if any of you want to join me!
Swordsman Satchel
27 January 2011 07:24pm UTC
1. Black Swan
Good acting, sexual drama, color themes, terrifying premise, wonderful cinematography all together.
2. True Grit
I never knew Jeff Bridges was such a great guy. The girl and Matt Damon had wonderful performances as well. Plus Westerns are pretty great anyway.
3. 127 Hours
Is it bad that I want to go exploring that desert alone now? In all honesty, I came out of that movie wanting to do a 3 day fast in the wilderness to find what I want to do with my life... Wonderful story.
4. The Fighter
Christian Bale made this movie for me although Mark Wahlberg and Amy Adams were good as well. Russell integrated humor very well and the story was incredibly uplifting.
5. Get Him to the Greek
This movie was hilarious. Especially P. Diddy.
Ariel Swordfish
27 January 2011 10:39pm UTC
I was actually so distracted by the blood and violence in Kick-Ass, something that doesn't normally bother me, that I couldn't enjoy it at all.
I am glad you liked Easy A! It was one of the rare movies that I was actually really excited to see, and I loved it!
I haven't seen a ton of movies this year, but I would say the ones that come to mind right now are (in no particular order):
1. Easy A
2. Harry Potter 7
3. Inception
4. It's Complicated (I think this came out in 2010)
Fun film, and I love Meryl Streep.
5. The Crazies -(Again, not sure about the year)
Horror film that treads on the well-covered topic of zombies, but felt fresh. I was on my seat the entire time.
6. Toy Story 3
I know we said 5, but seeing as I am not sure about the year of the two previous, I thought this was acceptable.
Ariel Swordfish
27 January 2011 10:40pm UTC
It's Complicated WAS 2009.
Sailing Master Keri
27 January 2011 11:24pm UTC
We watched Toy Story 3 last night, and you guys are right--it's awesome! I loved it! :)
The Anonymous Poppy
29 January 2011 10:28pm UTC
I wanted to comment here sooner, but I had to take a couple days for my rage to die down at people saying that Inception thinks it's more/better/smarter than it really is! Well, actually I was just busy, but I still think you're wrong about that. (In the interest of full disclosure, I should admit that Inception is my main fandom right now, so I'm more than a little biased.)
First of all, I think it's worth considering -- in the course of building your opinion -- that Inception is exactly the movie that it was meant to be. That it is exactly as smart/clever/deep as it's supposed to be, and that it is completely aware of this fact. I mean, Nolan did spend nine years working on it. While making other movies, of course. I don't know how much of that time was actively spent working on Inception. But we know that he deliberately took a lot of time to make sure that it was right.
Lots of really interesting articles have been written about this movie, but this one is my favorite. I don't agree with everything the author says, but I really like this bit:
Watching the film with this eye you can see the dream logic unfolding. As is said in the movie, dreams seem real in the moment and it's only when you've woken up that things seem strange. The film's 'reality' sequences are filled with moments that, on retrospect, seem strange or unlikely or unexplained. Even the basics of the dream sharing technology is unbelievably vague, and I don't think that's just because Nolan wants to keep things streamlined. It's because Cobb's unconscious mind is filling it in as he goes along.
Anyway, I don't believe I adopted any other new fandoms last year, so Inception could be considered my "favorite" movie of the year for that reason.
More than anything, this post (and also this one by londondrowning where she talks about meeting her 2010 goals of reading 100 books and seeing 100 movies in the year) really really make me determined to keep better track (read: actually keep track at all) of the books that I read and the movie that I see this year. I mean, I cannot even imagine reflecting on the movies that I've seen this year and picking my faves, because I have no idea what they have been! I am like a goldfish when it comes to things like this. (And yet I can still quote major chunks of The X-Files episodes that I memorized in 1998, what even is my life?)
But I've gotten a lot of recommendations for movies to watch from this post, so thanks, guys!
Erik the Redish-orange
5 February 2011 11:05pm UTC
Since I posted with my top 5 I have seen The King's Speech and The Fighter. They both were very good. They were no Black Swan, but they were very good!
Seamonster Mom
6 February 2011 08:57pm UTC
How was True Grit? And, are you keeping track of "How To Die in Oregon"? That is about Cody. (And sort of the topic of the day.)