2010 Movies
My Top Picks
Kick Ass: Completely unexpected. I hated watchmen, so I was really not expecting this to be any good. It was brilliant!
Insidious: Wow... This movie probably isn't to everyone's taste but I loved it - even those slightly corny moments at the end. The SFX were cheap but amazingly effective. Quite scary actually.
How to Train Your Dragon: Wow. I wasn't expecting this. It was really good especially for a kid's film.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1: This was awesome and the only reason it isn't my number one top pick is because of all that camping. The camping bits were dull in the book too so it's not really the movie's fault.
Toy Story 3: It was good but then anything by Pixar is good.
Inception: I'm not going to rave over inception because it wasn't unique but it was still fairly well done.
Shutter Island: Apart from a weak ending, it's another powerhouse performance from Leonardo DiCaprio.
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief: Much better than it had any right to be.
Let Me In: It was a remake and not as good as the original but it was still better than most films released this year.
King's Speech, The: Quite a good period drama.
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole: Despite the long title, this was actually quite good.
Date Night: A very funny rom-com.
You Again: A rom-com which rises well above the rest.
Notable Mentions ("Surprise" Films)
Hævnen (aka In a Better World): I watched this in 2014 and was stunned that I missed it. Wow. Such a powerful film.
Tomorrow, When the War Began: Ok, I was expecting some sort of low budget kiddie flick. Even worse, I figured that since it was Australian, low budget meant no budget. I was surprised to find a flick which was impressive to watch, relatively unpredictable and balanced moments of action with genuine pensive thought. There's a great shot of a girl looking up at a poster showing our colonial treatment of Aborigines which points to general realization that we too are being usurped - but it's not in your face. It's just a moment and it's left to repeat viewers of the film to catch by themselves.
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid: A lot better than it had any right to be.
Repo Men: Pretty action packed.
Piranha 3D: At last a horror remake which actually gets the mix right.
Tooth Fairy: This was surprisingly funnier than I was expecting. Maybe there's hope for the Rock as an Arnie replacement yet.
Predators: Considering the footsteps it had to follow in... fairly good.
Micmacs: Very funny. Feels a lot like Delicatessen.
Four Lions: Probably the closest we'll get to Monty Python these days. British, Funny and about Terrorism
Dogtooth: Yes, it's totally weird but it's actually quite an interesting art film
Tron: Legacy: Much better than I was expecting. Had I known it would be as good as it was, I'd have wanted to see it in 3D at the movies.
Alpha and Omega: Probably the most overlooked "good" kids film of the year.
Hot Tub Time Machine: This sounds like a recipe for disaster but somehow it works.
Legion: I wasn't expecting much from this film and figured it would be like Constantine. It's not. It's very different.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: Surprisingly unusual.
Alice in Wonderland: I'm a massive fan of the 1951 Alice in Wonderland cartoon and I've watched (and mostly enjoyed) several other versions, including notably Jan Svankmajer's scary 1988 version. I wasn't too keen on yet another retelling of the story, especially from Tim Burton who remade Willy Wonka with such detachment. This one at least has a vastly different story. In that sense, it was a surprise.
The Biggest Disappointments
Nightmare on Elm Street, A (Remake): The original Elm Street film is a classic. You'd think that there was no way to muck it up but this remake gets it wrong on nearly all counts. The make-up is terrible, Freddy's voice is awful, the acting is bad and every change they made to the original story has made it worse. Gone is the awesome sequence when Nancy snags Freddy's hat. Gone are the furnace room scenes. Even the walking corpse scenes are massively lacking in impact.
Lottery Ticket: Practically unintelligible. My kids asked me if those people were speaking a different language.
The Expendables: A passable movie with way too many extreme close up shots. An amazing cast with very little to do.
Sorcerer's Apprentice, The: This was terrible.
The Edge of Darkness: It wasn't terrible, it was good - but it just lacked.... something.
The Last Exorcism: It kept me watching... barely (and the ending was dull and predictable - except for the corny bits). The poster had me expecting a lot but I am so sick of hand-held camera movies now.
Bounty Hunter, The: I think that in romantic comedies, you're supposed to care about the characters.
All the films I've seen at the Cinemas in 2010
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel
The Edge of Darkness
The Expendables
Iron Man 2
Karate Kid, The
The Last Exorcism
Little Fockers
Films from 2010 I've seen on the Small Screen
127 Hours
A Team
After.Life
Alice in Wonderland
Alpha and Omega
Avatar: Special Edition
Bitch Slap
Black Swan
Book of Eli, The
Bounty Hunter, The
Buried
Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore
Case 39
Charlie St. Cloud
Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The
Clash of the Titans
Cop Out
Crazies, The
Cyrus
Date Night
Daybreakers
Despicable Me
Devil
Disappearance of Alice Creed, The
Dogtooth
Due Date
Faster
Four Lions
From Paris With Love
Furry Vengeance
Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, The
Green Zone
Harry Brown
Hot Tub Time Machine
Human Centipede (First Sequence), The
Illusionist, The
Insidious
Jackass 3D
Jonah Hex
Kick-Ass
King's Speech, The
Knight and Day
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
Legion
Let Me In
Lottery Ticket
Machete
Megamind
Monsters
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
Nightmare on Elm Street, A (Remake)
Paranormal Activity 2
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Piranha 3D
Predators
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Red
Repo Man
Resident Evil: Afterlife
Salt
Saw 3D
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Shrek Forever After
Shutter Island
Skyline
Social Network, The
Sorcerer's Apprentice, The
Splice
Survival of the Dead
Switch, The
Tangled
Trash Humpers
Tron: Legacy
Twilight Saga: Eclipse, The
Unstoppable
Vampires Suck
Winter's Bone
Wolfman, The
Yogi Bear
What's Left to see from 2010
The boldface titles are the ones I'm most interested in.
12th & Delaware
20th Century Fox
3 Idiots
4.3.2.1
44 Inch Chest
8: The Mormon Proposition
Ajami
American, The
Animal Kingdom
Another Year
Army of Crime, The
Art of the Steal, The
Babies
Back-up Plan, The
Behind the Burly Q
Biutiful
Black Waters of Echo's Pond, The
Blue Valentine
Boogie Woogie
Break Ke Baad
Breath Made Visible: Anna Halprin
Brooklyn's Finest
Brotherhood
Burlesque
Cairo Time
Carlos
Casino Jack
Casino Jack and the United States of Money
Catfish
Celine: Through the Eyes of the World
Centurion
Children of Invention
Chloe*
Cinema Guild
City Island
City of Your Final Destination, The
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky
Conviction
Countdown to Zero
Crayon
Crazy on the Outside
Creation
Daddy Longlegs
Dear John
Death at a Funeral
Defendor
Dinner for Schmucks*
District 13: Ultimatum
Don McKay
Double Negative
Dry Land, The
Easier with Practice
Easy A
Eat Pray Love*
Elite Squad 2, The
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Extra Man, The
Extraordinary Measures
Eyes Wide Open
Fair Game
Farewell
Father of My Children, The
Fighter, The*
Film Unfinished, A
Finding Bliss
Fish Tank
Flipped
For Colored Girls
Formosa Betrayed
Frankie and Alice
Frozen*
Garbage Dreams
Get Him to the Greek
Get Low
Ghost Writer, The
Girl on the Train, The
Going the Distance
Gone with the Pope
Good Guy, The
Good Heart, The
Great Directors
Greatest, The
Greenberg
Grown Ups
Gulliver's Travels
Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench
Guzaarish
Happy Tears
Harlan: In the Shadow of Jew Suess
Here and There
Holy Rollers
House of Numbers
How Do You Know
I Am Love
I Love You Phillip Morris
I Spit on Your Grave
I Was Born, But...
IFC Films
Infidel, The
Inside Job
It's a Wonderful Afterlife
It's Kind of a Funny Story
Jack Goes Boating
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
John Rabe
Joneses, The
Just Wright
Killer Inside Me, The
Killers
Killing Jar, The
Kimjongilia
Kino International
Kisses
Kites: The Remix
La Mission
La Soga
Last Airbender, The*
Last Day of Summer
Last Shot, The
Last Song, The
Le Amiche
Leap Year
Leaves of Grass
Lebanon
Letters to God
Letters to Juliet
Life as We Know It
Life During Wartime
Lightkeepers, The
Like Dandelion Dust
Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders
Looking for Eric
Losers, The
Lourdes
Love and Other Drugs
Love Ranch
MacGruber
Magnet Releasing
Make-out with Violence
Mao's Last Dancer
Marmaduke*
Marwencol
Mesrine
Metropia
Middle Men
Milk of Sorrow, The
Morning Glory
Mother and Child
Mugabe and the White African
Multiple Sarcasms
Music Box Films
My Name Is Khan
My Soul to Take*
Neshoba
Never Let Me Go*
Next Three Days, The*
Night Catches Us
North Face
Nowhere Boy
Nutcracker in 3D, The
Oath, The
Oceans
Ondine
Only When I Dance
OSS 117: Lost in Rio
Other Guys, The*
Our Family Wedding
Paper Man
Patrik, Age 1.5
Peepli Live
People I've Slept With, The
Perfect Game, The
Perrier's Bounty
Please Give
Preacher's Kid
Princess Kaiulani
Prophet, A
Pyaar Impossible!
Raajneeti
Raavan
Rabbit Hole*
Racing Dreams
Ramona and Beezus
Red Baron, The
Remember Me
Restrepo
Robin Hood*
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead
Runaways, The
Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage
Saint John of Las Vegas
Salt of this Sea
Secretariat
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
Sex and the City 2
She's Out of My League
Shinjuku Incident, The
Smash His Camera
Solitary Man
Somewhere
Soul Kitchen
Soundtrack for a Revolution
South of the Border
Spoken Word
Spring Fever
Spy Next Door, The
Standing Ovation
Step Up 3D
Stolen
Stone*
Stonewall Uprising
Sweetgrass
Takers
Tamara Drewe
Tempest, The*
Terribly Happy
Tillman Story, The
To Age or Not To Age
To Save a Life
Touching Home
Tourist, The
Town, The*
Trotsky, The
True Grit*
Twelve
Valentine's Day*
Videocracy
Virginity Hit, The*
Waiting for Armageddon
Waking Sleeping Beauty
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Warrior's Way, The
What If...
What's the Matter with Kansas?
When in Rome
When You're Strange
Why Did I Get Married Too?
Wild Grass
Wildest Dream, The
Wonderful World
Yellow Handkerchief, The
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
Youth in Revolt