2010 was a good year, but the movies could have been better. Nothing really stood out to me that much. There were some really good films last year such as Moon, Worlds Greatest Dad, and A Serious Man which proved to be some of my new favorites. No new favorites for me this year, but some good ones none the less. Here is my top ten list.
1. Black Swan:
In my eyes, this was easily the best movie of the year. The first forty-five minutes or so is so beautiful, and even though much is not going on, it still captivates me as the viewer. I would have to say my favorite scene (spoiler alert) is when Natile Portman's character is masturbating in her bed in the morning, and then she notices her mom is in the room, sleeping on the chair right next to the bed. That was probably one of the best moments at the movies that I have had this year. Also, I thought Mila Kunis was good as the kind of wild party girl who has the skills already, and doesn't really even need to work too hard to be good at dancing, which obviously pisses off Natile Portman. But I would put this one on your list to see, it is a very good and frightening movie.
2. Greenberg:
Ben Stiller as a guy who doesn't want to do anything. Sounds boring right? Of course it does, but it's actually the funniest movie of the year in my opinion. The way Ben Stiller plays this character is so good, and the way some of the awkward moments are set up in the film are really well done. Roger Greenberg is my favorite character in any film this year, and in my opinion Ben Stiller should have gotten at least a nomination for best actor at the oscars, but I knew that would never happen. Still, this is a must see, it goes into some dark territory, maybe not quite as dark as The Squid and the Whale, but it will surely have you cringing in embarrassment for the character of Roger Greenberg.
3. I Love You, Phillip Morris:
This didn't get much attention for some reason. I thought this was a wonderful movie that had so much spark to it. The performance from Jim Carrey stood out for me, it combines the silliness that he is so good at, and adds in a touch of his wonderful dramatic acting. I'd say that this is one of his best performances yet. Jim Carrey and Ewan McGreggor make a damn fine couple if I do say so myself.
4. Catfish
Even if Catfish isn't 100% real, I still think that it is a very well made/important movie. If it is real, which I'm hoping that it was real, this is one of my favorite documentaries, and I think it makes a big statement about the current generation and how technology has taken over. I don't want to spoil anything else about it though.
5. Leaves of Grass:
Leaves of Grass didn't get much recognition also. I thought the movie was very entertaining, and very well mad. Norton's performance is very good, because he plays the two characters so well, that you can't even tell that it's the same actor on screen. I've never seen anything like that before. I mean, I've seen Nicolas Cage play Charlie and Donald Kaufman, which were some of the best performances I've ever seen, but he didn't have to change much about his appearance or voice at all. The way Norton did that shows that he has a tremendous amount of talent as an actor.
6. Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3 was the best way the Toy Story trilogy could have ended. I probably would have not liked this movie as much if I wasn't so attached to the characters from when I watched Toy Story and Toy Story 2 when I was a kid. Also, this is the only movie that made me cry this year, so good job for that.
7. The Social Network
The movie was as good as it possibly could be. I loved the dialouge, very fast and witty. And the performances were outstanding in this, no single person stood out in the mix, they all did an equally phenomenal job with their parts. The rowing scenes were some of my favorites.
8. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
The visuals and the humor combined very well in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. It was a very entertaining movie, I enjoyed watching it.
9. Inception
Dream?
10. The Town
Ben Affleck
