The Ten Best Movies of 2010!

I can understand why some people may think 2010 has been an underwhelming year at the movies. To be sure, the first half of the year was ROUGH. The early part of the summer, filled with movies that were either underwhelming (IRON MAN 2, ROBIN HOOD, PRINCE OF PERSIA) or just plain awful (LAST AIRBENDER, A-TEAM, etc.) led many to think the whole year would be a write-off. Luckily, a few great films came out in the latter half of the summer, and the year was rescued to a degree.

For me, 2010 was actually a pretty damn good year of movie going, but I’ve been ridiculously fortunate in that I was able to attend the Sundance, Fantasia, and Toronto film festivals, so I was able to see a lot of great films that either flew under the radar (THE KILLER INSIDE ME, ANIMAL KINGDOM, THE LOVED ONES, MESRINE), or haven’t opened yet (SUBMARINE being a big stand-out).

The following is a list of my top 10, including a few honorable mentions.

#10

Here’s a film that completely flew under my radar. It played Sundance, but I missed it, only to catch up with it when it got an arthouse release earlier this year. This is a brilliant film, although I hesitate to call it a documentary as I’m not sure it’s completely true. Banksy, the street artist is indeed a real (anonymous) guy, but Mr. Brainwash? To anyone who’s seen the film, doesn’t he seem like the perfect comedic creation? From his exaggerated, Clouseau-esque accent, to his mutton-chop sideburns and rockin’ handlebar mustache, this guy was, for lack of a better word, the shit. His climatic piece of art-world flim-flam is perhaps the most damning critique of pseudo-intellectualism I’ve ever seen. Interestingly, I wasn’t sure this would end up on my Top 10 until having a good chat about it on the JoBlo Podcast with the great Johnny Moreno. Hearing him talk about this made me revisit it, and damn if this isn’t a brilliant piece of work.

#9

Now here is a film of our time. Naturally, one wouldn’t think the subject of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism would be a subject rife for satire, but FOUR LIONS pulls it off in a film that’s comparable to DR. STRANGELOVE OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB. A film astounding in its rarity as it manages to be both thought provoking and bloody hilarious.

READ MY ORIGINAL REVIEW HERE!

#8

A film I raved about at TIFF, and one that’s likely to clean up at the Oscars in February. I stand by my statement that Colin Firth is a lock for Best Actor as the stuttering King George VI. It’s a tremendous performance in a charming, life-affirming film. If you enjoy films like DEAD POETS SOCIETY, CHARIOTS OF FIRE or anything else that’s more about lifting your spirits than impressing you with razzle-dazzle, THE KING’S SPEECH is the film for you.

READ MY ORIGINAL REVIEW HERE!

#7

I love this film and it features four of my favorite performances of the year. As Dickie Eklund, Christian Bale seems a lock for Best Supporting Actor, which seems more than fair. Mark Wahlberg and Amy Adams have been been horribly underrated (and perhaps overshadowed by Bale) for brilliant performances as well. And for my money, Melissa Leo makes for the most frightening villain of the year as Micky and Dickie’s manipulative (but loving) mother. (Also they use Whitesnake on the soundtrack man!)

READ MY ORIGINAL REVIEW HERE!

#6

Like REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, BLACK SWAN is a nightmare come to life. Natalie Portman gives what might be the performance of the year as a ballerina succumbing to madness and I was riveted by her presence on screen. Just as important as Portman’s turn is the superb work from Darren Aronofsky behind the camera, who proves once again why he’s one of the most important voices in contemporary cinema.

READ MY ORIGINAL REVIEW HERE!

#5

Probably my favorite film out of Sundance, this is a rich Australian crime saga that’s absolutely brilliant. One of my proudest moments of working at JoBlo.com was to hear that the site ran a screening for this film at Comic-Con. If you missed this in theatres, you need to pick this up on DVD/Blu-ray. It’s more evidence of the incredible new-wave of Australian Cinema, featuring other gems like RED HILL, THE SQUARE, THE LOVED ONES, and THE PROPOSITION, that, for my money, is one of the most exciting trends to come along in awhile. It’s no coincidence that Joel Edgerton, on the basis of this, and THE SQUARE was tapped for the lead of the big Universal prequel of THE THING.

READ MY ORIGINAL REVIEW HERE!

#4


A two-part French crime saga, featuring Vincent Cassel playing real-life gangster Jacques Mesrine, who’s like the French Dillinger. The first part, KILLER INSTINCT, is easily the more action heavy of the two, with PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1 being more darkly comic. Taken together, it’s one of the best gangster epics I’ve ever seen, and a new classic. This film is everything PUBLIC ENEMIES should have been. If you want a rockin’ action flick, reminiscent of gangster classics like SCARFACE, these are the films for you boy-o.

READ MY ORIGINAL REVIEW HERE!

#3

Duh, it’s awesome. What else can be said about the Popcorn Movie of the Year at this point. One of the few films to come out this year I went to see twice, the spectacle makes it a blast but the brains of the flick make it essential. Proof positive that summer action films can be smart and don’t have to pander to their audience. If Christopher Nolan doesn’t land an Oscar nomination for best director, it’ll be an oversight of guargantuan proportions. What I love about Nolan is the epic scope he brings to his films, with INCEPTION pushing the envelope even more than the similarly brilliant THE DARK KNIGHT. Upon leaving the snaek preview, I overheard someone say, “I feel like Christopher Nolan’s just had sex with my brain”. Indeed.

READ MY ORIGINAL REVIEW HERE!

#2

Another no-brainer and David Fincher’s finest work since FIGHT CLUB. Similar to that, this follows another group of dissatisfied men, these being the college boys behind Facebook, although that’s not really what the movie is about. It’s probably as much about Facebook as CITIZEN KANE was about newspapers. It’s about greed and ego and it’s essential viewing. If this doesn’t pick up a few Oscars, it’ll be a tragedy. I also hope that star Jesse Eisenberg isn’t ignored for his layered turn as Mark Zuckerberg, which maybe be one of the most skilled, and disciplined performances of the year.

READ MY ORIGINAL REVIEW HERE!

#1

OK, so technically this is three movies (THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1974, 1980, 1983) but so what? This is my list and I make the rules! Sadly, I was not able to see these films on the big screen but I caught up with them on DVD and thank God I did. Of the three, 1974 has to be my favorite due to the incredible performance from star Andrew Garfield. It’s no coincidence that the top two films both feature Garfield in leading roles as this guy’s riding a wave similar to the one Edward Norton did in the late nineties. All three parts are a fascinating, if depressing, story about evil. This is the type of evil that’s very real; where good men stand by and do nothing in the interest of self-preservation, while the most heroic tend to be those on the fringe. It’s no wonder that the real heroes of this film series turn out to be an egocentric, muckraking young journalist, an alcoholic barrister, a crooked cop, and a male prostitute. THE RED RIDING TRILOGY is a brilliant series of films, and the crowning cinematic achievement of 2010.

Runners Up: TRUE GRIT, THE KILLER INSIDE ME, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, TOY STORY 3, THE TOWN, RED, WHITE & BLUE, THE LOVED ONES, BLUE VALENTINE, CARLOS, 127 HOURS, CATFISH, WINTER’S BONE and CYRUS. I should also make note of SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD. While I gave it a decidedly mixed review, it holds up amazingly well through repeat viewings. I still have some issues with it, but I don’t think anyone can deny that it’s one of the best directed films of the year. Edgar Wright’s the real deal. I imagine that somewhere in the VERY near future, he’s going to make something legend- “wait for it”- ary.

Source: JoBlo.com

About the Author

Chris Bumbray began his career with JoBlo as the resident film critic (and James Bond expert) way back in 2007, and he has stuck around ever since, being named editor-in-chief in 2021. A voting member of the CCA and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, you can also catch Chris discussing pop culture regularly on CTV News Channel.