My Own Subjective Top 10 Movies of 2010

All you faithful readers out there know that I normally don't share personal information or stories on this blog, but this week I would like to share something with you that is near and dear to my heart: movies.

Last year I made a list of my favorite films that I saw during 2009. I'd like to do the same thing once again for 2010 because, well, I like countdown lists and I like looking back at the year gone by. So, once again, here are my favorite movies (in a very particular order) that I saw for the first time this year.

10. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)
Pure creativity - that's how I describe this movie. It tells an original story in a very original manner. I will admit that the movie won me over almost immediately with the 8-bit Universal Studios logo and music at the very beginning. Classic! It's not for everyone, but if you're a fan of video games (which I am) then this film will probably appeal to you.

9. Trekkies (1997)
I will state, up front, that I am not a Star Trek fan. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a full episode of the series, but I was thoroughly entertained by this documentary. This movie shows respect for fans of Star Trek, but it also shows that Trekkies (or Trekkers) are able to laugh at themselves.

8. Up in the Air (2009)
George Clooney gives yet another spectacular performance as a man with commitment issues (he plays that character a lot, doesn't he?). In fact, practically every person in this film delivers a realistic and engaging performance. It's kind of stressful, though, so be prepared for that. This film also made me want to travel more, but that desire will quickly go away once I get to the security checkpoint line at the airport.





 





7. Moon (2009)
I'm not a huge sci-fi fan, but Moon definitely made an impression on me. Sam Rockwell carries the weight of this film on both of his shoulders and he carries it well. It's definitely a slower movie, but the conclusion is well worth the wait.





 




6. District 9 (2009)
Maybe I am a sci-fi fan. . .this is the third one on this list. Some of you are resisting watching this movie, but I will state again, this film features some of the best character development I've seen on the screen. This was director Neill Blomkamp's first feature film and it featured relatively unknown actors in the cast, yet it still managed to be successful at the box office and with critics. Let's hear it for South Africa!

5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
Yes, I am a Harry Potter fan, but even I got frustrated with J.K. Rowling as she kept our protagonists spinning their wheels in the forest for a HUGE chunk of the 7th book. However, this movie was very entertaining considering the material they had to deal with (spoiler alert: nothing happens). Plus, it got me really excited for Part 2 and the finale of the Harry Potter film series.

4. Toy Story 3 (2010)
My kids are in love with this film. It isn't as funny as the first movie (which, can you believe, came out over 15 years ago?) and not as quirky as the second movie, but Toy Story 3 packs the most powerful emotional punch of the three. If Pixar is smart (and I think they are) they'll put the series to rest after this film. It was an exceptionally good ending to the trilogy.

3. Inception (2010)
Inception was exercise for my brain. Christopher Nolan proves, once again, that he is one of the best directors of our time. He also wrote this movie, which makes it even more impressive. Nolan has directed seven feature films, out of which I've seen six and I've been seriously impressed by each one. Inception allows you to come to your own conclusions, yet it is thoroughly satisfying.

2. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
This movie was so much fun - I crack up each time I watch it. The humor is quick and witty and there are new funny things each time I see it. In addition, it is full of fun visuals, bright colors and clever animation. I wish I could have seen it in 3D. Plus, it's a movie where delicious free food falls from the sky - who doesn't love that?










And my #1 movie of 2010 is. . .









1. Zombieland (2009)

Is this really a surprise? I love zombies, I love comedy and I really appreciate clever stories. Zombieland has it all. I got to watch this one for the first time on my birthday and it's also one of the few movies on this list that I now own - my wife even likes it. This is my favorite movie that I saw this past year and, if you haven't been, I highly recommend taking a trip to Zombieland yourself - edited, of course. :)


This year was filled with a lot of mediocre movies, so I'd also like to give an honorable mention to Sherlock Holmes, Resident Evil, Troll 2, Inglourious Basterds, My Date with Drew, The Blind Side and Fantastic Mr. Fox who all came very close to making my top ten.

I'm excited to see what movies 2011 brings!

Oscar (and) the Grouch

So the Academy Awards are done with for the year, and I'm actually not as disappointed as I was last year, or the year before that. There were some well-deserved awards given and some well-deserved snubs given. I'd like to take a moment and nitpick about some of the categories. I'll probably only talk about the "more important" ones (don't hate me for saying that, Jeff), because I just wanted to hit on the ones I actually had an opinion on - and I don't want this post to get too long.

Oh, and yes, this post WILL discuss winners, so if you don't know them yet and don't want to have things spoiled for you DON'T READ BELOW!!!

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)/Writing (Original)

Can something be considered "original" if it was based on articles of a journalist? I say this because The Hurt Locker is based on the accounts of a freelance writer who hung out with a bomb squad in Iraq for a while. Isn't that what the adapted category is for? I'm thinking this one should have gone to Up because it was, truly, an original story. And while I still haven't seen Precious, I think I'm still gonna say that District 9 should have gotten Best Adapted.

Directing

It was refreshing to see how nervous and flattered Kathryn Bigelow was to win. It shows there's still some innocence in her and she hasn't turned to the egotistical side yet *cough*QuentinTarantinoandJamesCameron*cough*. I thought it was very fitting that she gave tribute to the armed forces and the everyday heroes like firemen and Hazmat teams. Although, I will admit I was rooting for Jason Reitman.

Animated Feature Film

Where's Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs? I think it should have at LEAST been nominated. Coraline had some fun visuals, but it was pretty slow. I've only seen half of The Princess and the Frog because my children got bored with it and made it so we had to leave the movie theater. And no one even knows what The Secret of Kells is! I'm glad Up won, though. It's not every day that they make you cry at the BEGINNING of a movie and then make you laugh the rest of the time.

Best Supporting Actress

I didn't really care about this category - mostly because I hadn't seen any of the movies in this category. But I was rooting for Anna Kendrick. Darn. And I still stand by my opinion that people with apostrophes in their names shouldn't be winning Academy Awards.

Best Actress

Wow. They've now dangled the Oscar in front of Meryl Streep's eyes 16 times now (13 for Best Actress, three for Best Supporting Actress - she holds the record) and they've only given it to her twice. Ouch. What does she need to do to prove herself to the Academy? She hasn't won since 1982! They're probably just holding out so they can give her a Lifetime Achievement Award next year. But I was very happy to see Sandra Bullock win this one. She was so surprised that she actually went into shock for a moment and didn't move, and then she accidentally snubbed Meryl Streep on a hug and left Ms. Streep hanging. Plus, she is the FIRST actress to EVER win an Academy Award for Best Actress AND a Razzie for Worst Actress in the same year! Way to go, Sandra!

Best Supporting Actor

Poor Matt Damon. He learned the hard lesson that fake accents just don't cut it with the Academy - no matter how convincing you are. He should have played that role as Jason Bourne and he would have had a better shot at winning the award (and the rugby game in the movie). I would have liked to see this one go to Stanley Tucci (he wins the creepy award, definitely), but I'll allow Christoph Waltz his moment in the spotlight without too much complaint - don't expect too much more from this guy - at least not here in the States. Based on his IMDb list, he seems to specialize in German-related fare.

Best Actor

I was wrong on this one. I was convinced that the Academy was going to award Morgan Freeman for his portrayal of Nelson Mandela. But I am very happy to see Jeff Bridges win this one. He's a favorite actor of mine (Tron forever! Wooooooooo!) and, based on what I've seen, he plays a complex and vulnerable character. I'm betting he cries at one point in the film, too, which is a MUST for ANY Academy Award nominee. And while we're speaking of musts, I noticed the list this year did have it's token druggie/alcoholic nomination and gay nomination, but it was lacking the obligatory mentally-handicapped nomination and the Sean Penn nomination.

Best Picture

I will admit that, on average, I will have seen only two (2) out of the five (5) Best Picture nominees going in to the Academy Awards, so imagine how proud I felt when I had seen four (4) of the Best Picture candidates this year! Too bad they upped the number (#) of nominees to ten. Believe it or not, 2 (two) out of five (5) and 4 (four) out of ten (10) are the exact same percentage (%) of films! Well-played, Mr. Academy. . .well played.

But I digress. The winner was The Hurt Locker (called it!). I have actually seen this one and I was impressed. It has a very realistic look and feel, but the film felt like it dragged on a bit too long and it was fairly slow and repetitive. I'm happy that it won, even if I liked some other movies more. District 9, for example, had more of an emotional impact on me, as did Up. But I understand why this movie won - it's well done.

And I was elated that the Academy wasn't blinded by the fancy, colorful, 3-D special effects of that overpriced, overbudgeted movie Precious! I'm kidding, of course. Avatar was eye-candy, yes, but I think we all know, deep down inside, that it isn't best picture material - even if the special effects were fun.

This is also one of the few years where I actually WANTED to see most of the nominees. I still have yet to see The Blind Side, Inglourious Basterds, A Serious Man and Up in the Air, which are all queued up and ready to go.

Final Thoughts:

District 9 should have gotten something - anything from the Academy! It was a well-made movie!

I still don't know what the difference between Sound Editing and Sound Mixing is. Neither does the Academy, apparently, and that's why they gave both to The Hurt Locker.

Avatar got the awards it deserved: Art Direction, Cinematography, and Visual Effects.

Congratulations, The Young Victoria, for winning the award for Costume Design and for being the obscure "mainstream" film of the night. Who are you, again?

I dislike Barbara Streisand for a number of reasons, but did anyone notice else how after Sandra Bullock gave a heartfelt speech about how race, religion or sex didn't matter, Barbara walked out right after her and made a point of saying that the Best Director award could, potentially, be given, for the first time, to a woman (hold for applause) or an African-American (hold for applause)? I guess it still matters to Barb, Sandra.


Overall, I was pleased with this year's outcome. They seemed to not avoid movies that were popular to the mainstream public this time. Maybe, just maybe, the Academy isn't completely out of touch with society quite yet.