Sunday, January 2, 2011

Top Eleven Films of 2010

I’m no film critic but each year I like to combine my love for movies and lists for anyone that might be interested. I’ve made a point to keep my thoughts brief for those that have already stopped reading this sentence.

I saw “The King’s Speech” today and didn’t have the heart to bump “Fair Game” out of the top ten so it will have to be my eleven favorite films of the year.

11. Fair Game

This movie is super entertaining for those that may have known the Plame story but didn’t follow it when it was a headline (me).

10. Waiting for Superman

Controversial. As it should be. Very well made.

9. The Ghost Writer

A modern day Hitchcock film.

8. The King’s Speech

Surprisingly funny. Great story.

7. The Fighter

I was disappointed with the fight scenes (they didn’t look real to me) but Christian Bale’s acting and the story of these brothers was enough to bump this one to number seven for me.

6. True Grit

True Great. My favorite Coen Bros. movie to date? Probably.

5. Restrepo/The Tillman Story

Both are important war documentaries. The Tillman Story may be the best argument for Wikileaks. Restrepo makes no argument at all and that’s what’s great about it.

4. 127 Hours

I imagine the pitch for this film went something like this:

Danny: I wanna make a movie about a trapped hiker that cuts his own arm off. Oh, and the camera will be in a tight canyon space for most of the hour and half movie.

Studio: No.

Danny: But people will cry and probably pass out or have seizures in the theatre.

Studio: Okay. Here’s a lot of money. Give most of it to James Franco.

However it happened, I’m glad this movie was made. No seizures for me. Mostly heavy sweating (and maybe a little bit of water in my eyeballs).

3. The Town

Not many entertaining action movies have the quality of acting, writing, and suspense this did.

2. Black Swan

“What the *%#@?!?!” This is how I felt for most of this movie. Still not sure what to say except that I’m still thinking about it.

1. Inception

It stopped spinning. Right?


I still need to see: Somewhere, Inside Job, Toy Story 3, Winter’s Bone, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Carlos, I Am Love

*Side Note: I can’t wait to see who wins best director this year. Danny Boyle, Christopher Nolan, and Darren Aronofsky all deserve it. I love David Fincher but I hope he doesn’t steal it.


Top Ten T.V. Shows of 2010

10. Louie

9. U.S. of Tara

8. Boardwalk Empire

7. Modern Family

6. 60 Minutes

5. Parks and Rec

4. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

3. Parenthood

2. Sherlock (BBC)

1. Mad Men


Almost Made The List: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, 30 for 30

On the Queue: Breaking Bad, Party Down, Friday Night Lights, Men of a Certain Age, Terriers


Please email me or comment here with your thoughts. I’d love to hear why you agree or disagree with this list.

4 comments:

Kyle said...

Watching Restrepo last night. Terrific.

I think I liked The Fighter more than you. The fight scenes seemed secondary to me. Bale, Leo and Adams were all great.

No Social Network? Contrarian.

Sad that Terriers got cancelled. Great first and last season. The Walking Dead was actually pretty solid too.

Kyle said...

I need to work on my tenses. WATCHED* Restrepo.

Unknown said...

Is contrarian the best description we can give him for leaving out social network??

I saw exit through the gift shop yesterday and you need to get on it. I've never seen anything quite like it.

Justin Tosco said...

I do love Fincher and Sorkin, but I just wasn't blown away by SN. I actually thought Andrew Garfield was the best part.

I begrudgingly watched Walking Dead. I only liked the first and last episodes. Zombieland is as much as I've ever like the Zombie genre. Other than that...not a big fan.

I can't wait to see "Exit...".