I SAW MOVIES THIS YEAR! I HAVE OPINIONS ABOUT THEM! BEHOLD AS I ARRANGE THEM NUMERICALLY!
Look, I’m not going to start by apologizing for the movies on the list. We all know the idea of assigning movies numerical value is ridiculous, but that doesn’t stop us from reading lists, comparing lists, and arguing about lists. It’s human nature, like love, or pooping. At some point, you just have to sack up and commit to the format. That said, it’s a truth critics rarely acknowledge: no one saw every movie that came out this year. I saw fewer foreign movies than I usually do, and in retrospect, I should’ve spent more time watching those and less time on The Last god-d*mned Airbender. Oh my God that was terrible. People are entitled to their opinions, but anyone who liked that movie should be locked a cage and buried in the forest.
Anyway, enough foreplay, it’s time to drop your panties. Here are my favorites of this year. KNIVES OUT! GRRR, MIXED METAPHOR!
10. The Social Network
I went back and forth many times in choosing this over some other films that will be mentioned later. But as terrible as the first scene was (“You don’t have to study because you go to B.U.!”), and as wildly different from reality as I’m almost positive the story was, it was still a hell of an entertaining movie. This was the snapshot-of-an-era movie Oliver Stone tried to make in Wall Street 2 (and failed wildly). How much you liked it sort of depends on how much you’re put off by pure, slick, Hollywood gloss. All things being equal, I’d prefer not slick Hollywood gloss to slick Hollywood gloss, but at least The Social Network did it well. It was the cliché that showed why there are clichés. Aaron Sorkin’s script even basically wrote in an explanation for why everything seemed so slick and Hollywood. That’s clever filmmaking, right there. I’m still waiting for my explanation from The Blind Side. He scored in the 98th percentile in “protective instincts?” Go f*ck yourself.
9. Hesher
I’m sure 99% of you haven’t seen this movie and it’s up in the air whether it’s technically a 2010 movie or a 2011 movie (played Sundance and Philadelphia in 2010, current IMDB rumor lists a theatrical release next month), so consider this is my hipster pick of 2010. Oh, Hesher? I liked that before it got all corporate and actually distributed. (*adjusts keffiyah, steams soy milk*)
That said, even with Joseph Gordon-Levitt AND Natalie Portman in it, it’s not really a hipster movie. JGL just f*cks way too much sh*t up for that. At every turn, writer/director Spencer Susser resists the urge to make him the least bit cuddly. I was never even a JGL believer before Hesher. I mean, he was okay. Now I am a believer. Gordon-Levitt in Hesher is one for the time capsule. The foul-mouthed, boundary-free psychopath is always a fun character, but it’s never been quite as awesome as Hesher, THE ULTIMATE WILD CARD. By the way, how awesome is this poster?
The movie… it’s like that. Just imagine JGL telling Natalie Portman about the time he finger banged four chicks while driving around in his crappy van. I don’t care that the non-Joseph Gordon-Levitt parts were at times slow and/or uncomfortable, or that I only gave it a B+ in my original review. It’s been almost a year and I’m still thinking about how much I want to see it again. I give Hesher four metal fingers up. \ m / \ m /
8. Inception
(*BRAAAAAAHM*)
You can’t deny a film that contributed this many memes.
I concede almost every criticism of this movie — that the characters are wooden, that Chris Nolan is always substituting trickery for heart (“a born con artist” who satiated “the digital audience’s delectation for relentless subterfuge” with his “two and a half hour hackery” as Armond White wrote). I still loved it. I don’t know how you could watch it and not at least be impressed. I accept some of the limitations of “heart” or interpersonal relationships or whatever you want to call it, because Chris Nolan clearly thinks more like an engineer. But damn it, he’s a really g*ddamned good engineer. He made an ultra-ambitious, psychological, two-and-a-half-hour movie with a $160 million budget, and turned it into a popcorn summer blockbuster. It was a huge risk, but it got done because Nolan had some clout, and maybe somebody at the studio even thought it had the chance to be something great. That’s what A-movies used to be (Transformers, Fast/Furious, and most of today’s big budget movies are glorified B-movies, and not the fun, Tarantino kind). Chris Nolan’s just about the only director who’s pulled it off since the 70s.
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Nice list. Nice typo in Inception:
“two-and-a two-and-a-half-hour movie with a $160 budget, and turned it into a popcorn summer blockbuster.”
Absolutely agree with you on Scott Pilgrim. Not a gamer, but loved it. Kick-Ass, also loved. Don’t know if it is because I’m an engineer, but I loved Inception, too. Good list, Vince. I guess I have some more movies I need to see.
Two comments deep and no one insulting my intelligence yet? Internet, I am disappoint.
More like an MFA from the HERP School of DERP.
I kept thinking that Winter’s Bone was gonna’ win everything at the Oscars, but now I’m afraid it’s gonna’ get upstaged by something flashier and more successful, like The Social Network.
Although the voters did make the right choice last year, so maybe not?
And Jennifer Lawrence better win, dammit.
I created an account just to leave this: This is by far the best year end list I’ve read (and I’ve read… most of them). The only one that doesn’t belong is Youth in Revolt, and I say that as someone who loved the movie. However, I too am a literary-minded white guy who agonizes over whether to buy a fixie or a ten speed. Sometimes, you have to recognize when something is a legitimate film-of-the-year and when a movie strokes your nerd boner juuuustt right. Youth in Revolt may have been one of our ten *favorite*, but that doesn’t mean it belongs on a list of the ten *best*. One of the left-off films could easily have occupied that fifth spot, in my humble.
p.s. Love the site.
A fair criticism. I guess I should’ve started off by saying this was my ten *favorite* and not 10 best. Youth in Revolt was one I loved, but not necessarily one I’d recommend, depending on who I’m talking to.
PS, I eventually got the mountain bike with the road tires. Hills are my bitch.
you get a big gay hug for liking kick ass. every person i demand see this movie ends up loving it. for some reason people just stayed away from it. why? i will never know. the scene where nick cage puts on the mustache to beard connections with tape is so god damn human and heartbreaking and tongue-in-cheek that it defines the movie.
no town on here? I’m putting this whole list in my rearview!
Also this site is awesome.
True story: Thanks to Netflix, The Mighty Feklahr is one Iowa Hawkeye bowl game away from watching Winter’s Bone.
This is my favorite week of the year, because of all of the lists and articles like this.
Of all the best of 2010 lists I’ve read, this one seems the most… honest.
This is easily in my 2010 top ten list of 2010 top ten lists.
I honestly don’t remember any gratifying climactic shot in Winter’s Bone … maybe the meth leeched right off the screen and into my heart.
No Marmaduke… FUCK YOU VINCE YOU, YOU STUPID FUCKING WOP!
Vince hates purppies, kittens, and True Grit. It’s true.
I just think this list is bullshit because Vince won’t have me on the Frotcast. Also, I love the site.
What the fuck did I miss about Winter’s Bone? Maybe I shouldn’t have been multitasking and looking at mobile porn, but what was so mind-blowing about the ending? The baby chickens? Those were pretty cute I guess…
I haven’t watched True Grit yet, and I suspect maybe you haven’t, either. Also, Black Swan, maybe? Two on my list.
Was there anything with Helen Mirren’s tits in it? Because an old lady with a body that give me a raging boner has to make a top ten list. All due respect.
Vince, instead of a Top 10, I’d prefer an intelligent debate on the best lesbian scenes of the year. Chloe vs. Black Swan – whoyagot???
AH YOU FACKIN SEHRIOUS? THE FIGHTAH IS NUMBAH 7, AND THE TOWN ISN’T EVEN RANKED? I’LL SHOW YOU INTAHNET QUEEAHS A REAL 2010 TAWP TEN MOVIE LIST:
1. THE TOWN
2. THE FIGHTAH
3. BOOTLEG OF THE TOWN ON VHS FROM MY FRIEND FITZY
4. PATS BEATING THE NY FAGGOT JETS ON MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
5. GOODWILL HUNTING ON VHS
6-10. THE TOWN.
I’m still amazed True Grit isn’t on here. I also thought Let Me In was deserving of a nod simply because out of the crap that was horror this year, that was excellent even with no competition.
In reference to Winter’s Bone, I mean the chainsaw scene. Perhaps I’m overselling it. I still thought it was pretty righteous though.
True Grit was close. I don’t know. On another day, maybe I would’ve put it above some others. Maybe I just assume Coen Brothers movies are going to be good, and then when they are, it makes less of an impression because it wasn’t a surprise. Now that I think about it, most of the list is movies that surprised me by being as good as they were.
So are you going to post new content today or are you waiting for a few more people to create new accounts and kiss the tip of your dick first?
Michael Cera’s jewy hair, awkward movements and oversize hands… wa-ait wha-at…
anyways, were better put to use in Paper Heart. Also, list needs more Birdemic.
Am I the only one who liked Never Let Me Go? Or just the only one who saw it period?
Yeah, I know it looks like a romance movie, but it’s actually sci-fi and dystopian and it made me cry like a bitch.
I generally don’t watch movies, but I still like to make fun of Vince. Fuck you Vince.
I never saw Never Let Me Go. I feel like I have to look it up every time, because I hear it and the first thing I think of is that Third Eye Blind song, and then I get confused and think it’s a Heigl rom-com or something.
Romance is part of the movie, to be fair.
But the day I recommend a Heigl rom-com is the day I die.
*The Mighty Feklahr’s liver comes limping in*
QAPLAH! Hawkeyes won their bowl game! *stumbles* Guy’cha, must be some blood in his alcohol system…
I tested in the top 98 percentile in protective instincts and now I’m a security guard
at Walmart
True Grit isn’t on here because Coen Brothers™ movies generally qualify as “things white people like”, and as an Italian, Vince doesn’t really qualify as a “white person”. Never forget the Emirate of Sicily! Fight on Christian warriors!
Jesus Christ. Here we go again. Michael Cera can only play one role. That role being the secret crush of a ruggedly handsome Jew-talian with horrible fashion sense.
I thought we’d covered this before?
Vince feels like there weren’t enough movies about IROCs this year.
In all seriousness I actually did love the Town, and not just because my apartment door, my car, the bar without a name that I’m afraid to go into, and my dry cleaner all make appearances in the movie.
I’m curious as to whether it would have made your top 20.
Inception not number one? you obviously haven’t been getting enough suckle time at Nolan’s nipples. jealous pussy?
also, this formspring thing confuses me, does that mean you have one or are you just responding to dead social networking?
I don’t know what that formspring shit does, I don’t know when that button got added.
The Town definitely would be top 20. It’s probably 11 or 12. I liked it a lot. The only thing that bugged me was the minor character basically committing suicide so the main character could get away. That’s the laziest cliche ever.
What? This list is horseshit! Where’s “Phatty’s Rhymes & Dimes 14″?
Or was that 2009?
minor character basically committing suicide so the main character could get away. That’s the laziest cliche ever.
The new Harry Potter movie mercilessly rams this cliche up your ass with that little Smeagol lookin’ dude, Dobby. It was Rommie as hell, and almost made Him puke gah popcorn all over His lap.
And yes, He had to take His mom and wife to see the new Harry Potter movie. Small price to pay for the two of them overlooking His alcoholism.
Every family oriented comedy must have at least one nut-shot. That, my friend, is the laziest of lazy cliches.
Gloansy sacrificed his poorly conceived and retroactively retard life to be the 11th best movie of the year? 11th?! Get the fuck out of my town and my rehview as I plow into that armored police vehicle.
I just re-watched the Town and I don’t know that said minor character intended to commit suicide. He briefly mentions that he doesn’t have a lengthy criminal record and that he wouldn’t do hard time if he was caught (and that he wouldn’t roll, either). You could make the argument that he should have known that he would be killed, but those Southies aren’t known for their intelligence…
I just watched the Town again and Blake Lively’s tits are amazing.
I feel really gay saying this, but The King’s Speech topped my list this year. My girlfriend (see, not gay!) really wanted to see it, and I thought it would be arty-farty Oscar-bait (which no doubt it was), but goddamn that was a quality movie. Really amazing flick. Two of the best performances I’ve seen this year (Firth and Rush). Really well shot, executed, etc. That’s all the analysis I am capable of in an anonymous online comment, but I highly recommend seeing it if you haven’t already.
Also, NAWT YOU. NAWT YOU. NAWT YOU. NAWT YOU.
My Weiner Kids’ top 10 list:
1) How to Train Your Dragon
2) Diary of a Wimpy Kid
3) Toy Story 3
4) Despicable Me
5) Wait a frickin’ minute, are you seriously taking notes right now? Are you some kind of child molester that is casing my weiner kids?
Totally agree with your take on Inception. Got a little bored with the Ellen Page-as-exposition-character, but aside from that, it was certainly impressive, and Nolan has certainly transcended the B movies of the last few years — Shutter Island immediately comes to mind. That said, Armond White would be a bit more respectable if he stopped writing his reviews from arbitrarily chosen cut-up word-of-the-day toilet paper sheets.
I’m glad you mentioned Armond White, because you’re gonna love the post I just put up.
swap out ‘youth in revolt’ with ‘catfish’ and you’ve got yourself a list. though, i still need to see ‘hesher’. dammit.
I only saw 4 out of the 10.
kick ass, scot pilgrim, inception and facebook. Social network to me was the best. Kick ass and pilgrim didn´t blew my mind, maybe because I´d read the comics. And inception that I enjoyed greatly, reminded me a lot of shutter island (wich was crap)
Just read through it. Awesome.
Winter’s Bone was alright, but it did not have a “metal” climax. As a matter of fact, it didn’t have a climax at all. The credits starting rolling and I was waiting still waiting for the movie to peak.
Major props on Exit Through the Gift Shop.
Banksys a genius.
Vince, help me love Winter’s Bone. I rented it from Netflix on your recommendation because (one knee down) I just love (second knee down) this website (dick in jaw.) But I couldn’t get over that the movie has essentially a videogame storyline yet passes itself off as this noir southern gothic. By that I mean Authority Character tells Main Character that they have to do something (A Quest is Given), Main Character tries to gather information to complete his or her Quest but is only given unhelpful pieces (The Quest requires more difficult Questing than initially thought), Main Character is deliberately mislead until Unattainable Omniscient Character contacts them (the admittedly scary as fuck grandpa guy) and then the information Main Character is searching for finally comes to light. The worst example of this kind of story telling is Neo’s “story arc” from Matrix Reloaded. I’m not trying to start shit but I got that kind of vibe from Winter’s Bone (“Oh talk to the Oracle…well the Oracle says I need to talk to the Merovingian…well the Meroviginian says I need the Keymaker but he won’t help me get there…oh Hey Keymaker, what’s that you say? I need to see the Architect? That’s basically Ree had to do, with no one person having any answers / or rather not willing to discuss anything with her so she just keeps being passed off higher and higher up the meth family tree.) I understand that the collective body known as videogames did not invent this type of storytelling but it is prevalent in the genre and I don’t know, I just don’t like it when movies remind me of God of War. Help me Vince, are these qualms ridiculous?
No Black Swan?
I think that it could easily replace Youth in Revolt (which I loved the hell out of the first half and found the rest to be plodding), The Social Network (I didn’t get the love for this at all – I found it to be an uninteresting story about an unlikeable person) or Kick Ass (which I found just okay – I thought Scott Pilgrim was the movie Kick Ass was trying to be).
But hey, that’s just me.
You’re the only person I know (besides me and my two marginally intelligent friends) who enjoyed YOUTH IN REVOLT. So underrated. And now I can’t wait to watch EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP – but when the hell can I finally see HESHER? Even though I hate Portman. Have you seen FISH TANK out of curiosity? This list is pretty spot-on for the year, though I might put BLACK SWAN and RABBIT HOLE in my top 10.
…thenstops, you don’t like movies where the main character has to do something because it reminds you of God of War? Uh, okay.
How do you feel about using paragraphs? My theory is that you don’t care for them.
Black Swan was on the cusp. I was conflicted. On a different day, I might’ve put it in the top 10. My reasoning was that as impressive as it was, I had to give it slightly negative marks for feeling like the main point of it was to prove how good a filmmaker he was. Notice how the Coen Brothers never seem to feel the need for that? Seemed like kind of a dick-measuring movie. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it was still really good… it just seemed to be a movie that was about making movies more than anything else.
@…thenstops Hmm. That sounds reasonably valid. I admit I don’t play a lot of videogames, which could have something to do with me not noticing that.
First off, ChristPuncher, I know block quotes are a major message board faux pas so I’ll avoid them in the future.
Just as egregious, however, is not actually bothering to read something someone wrote carefully but responding to it anyway.
What I said (or meant to say if it was actually unclear) was that I don’t like watching movies where the plotting reminds me of videogame storytelling. How hard was that to miss? I used God of War as an example of a game that pretty much typifies the plot technique I have issue with. (God of War is a great game. But this “Go see this person, hear what they have to say so you may continue in your quest knowing slightly more than you did before” is a trope prevalent in games and I just don’t think that kind of storytelling is gripping or interesting in a movie. What works in a book doesn’t always work in a play, what works in a movie doesn’t always work in a videogame, vice versa and etc. etc.)
So if you disagree, totally cool but how do you feel about reading comprehension? My theory is you don’t care for it.
Vince, the plotting just hit me kind of weird but like you say, it probably has to do with your exposure to the genre. Not that there weren’t great and disturbing performances in the film but I kept waiting for the film to do something else (not sure what) and it never did. Eh.
I agree with what you said (can’t remember if it was in response to someone on the message board or in the post itself) that True Grit was good but…well, it’s the Coen brothers! They even make bartering scenes funny. You just expect it to be good. True Grit sort of checked off all the boxes you had going in (which is good!) but nothing you didn’t expect or couldn’t anticipate once the movie started. Could have used more effervescence.
so, …thenstops, to paraphrase again, I was right?
Anyway, I kinda know what you’re trying to say. I do think, however, that a) your wall of text stereotypical video game didn’t sound like any video game I’ve every played (and I’ve actually played God of War) and b) this movie doesn’t really conform to that type of structure at all anyway.
I’m not even sure why you feel the need to like this movie. You gave a valid reason why it didn’t really do it for you.
Hey man, thanks for trying to see things my way. I’ll admit it’s a little reductionist, and a weird comparison but Ree is told by a cop “go find your dad or else” and kratos is told by Athena “defeat ares or else.” both characters know what they have to do but do not yet possess the information to complete the task. I could go on with the little parallels but who wants to read that?
Anyway, Ree’s story arc reminded me of a linear videogame where checkpoints are marked, essentially, by unhelpful meth heads. I gave the matrix reloaded example and I think that’s a good analog for what I’m describing and I felt like winters bone did the same thing only not nearly as blatantly. the argument I’m making only functions in broad terms and you can do a lot of “yeah, but…” which opens it up to a lot of criticism. Points taken.
Why does it matter to me if I like it? Man…idk, I think it just had to do with it being the first Vince pick that was a bit of a let down for me. But hey, even the best fall down sometimes as howie day tells us.
…thenstops I didn’t notice the quest format you’re talking about in Winter’s Bone when I watched it, but I can see it now. I didn’t love the movie either, I was kind of disappointed after hearing such phenomenal praise for it, I just didn’t find it that exciting or as thrilling as most people had claimed. Like you said with the quest thing, I didn’t really think enough happened in the movie. I mean Jennifer Lawrence gives a fantastic performance, the whole cast is really strong, and the movie has an impeccable sense of place and atmosphere, but I just found it lacking in the story department.
However, the tale of a juvenile delinquent girl experiencing the loss of innocence in Fish Tank was one of my favorite films of the year. Fish Tank and Winter’s Bone have a lot in common, but to me Fish Tank was far superior. In Britain in 2009 it received the attention it deserved, but it was released stateside at the beginning of 2010 and it’s been almost completely overlooked.
Anywho, great list Vince. Much respect for choosing Exit Through the Gift Shop, that was probably the most entertaining documentary I’ve seen since who knows when. Youth in Revolt is in interesting pick, I also thoroughly enjoyed how witty and intellectually funny that movie was. I’m glad someone else appreciates such smart humor like that, it deserved more acclaim. Absolutely loved Scott Pilgrim though, just awesome in so many ways. And I liked Kick-Ass, it’s totally my kind of movie, but I was just expecting more. I dunno, maybe I just wanted the whole thing to be as ridiculous and funny as Hit Girl and Big Daddy. Oh, and I cannot wait for Hesher now.
Couple foreign films I’m wondering if you saw, A Prophet, Mesrine: Killer Instinct, Enter the Void and The Good, The Bad, The Weird? A Prophet was the best gangster movie in years, Mesrine is another exciting and original gangster flick, Enter the Void is an out of body experience unlike any other film and The Good, The Bad, The Weird is an extremely entertaining Korean western that I personally thought was better than True Grit.
thenstops is spot on with his description of Winter’s Bone plot. It just sets a goal for the lead character, then has her running around for minuscule clues that don’t move the story further in any interesting ways, until the final piece of the puzzle is sort of thrown unto you – except you really don’t give a shit about it, you just want the thing to end already.