2010: The Year in Movies

As the year draws closer and closer to a close and we find ourselves on the precipice of 2011, it can be more than understood that time is continuing to go on.  With it we all continue to age and look at some of our youth with the same confused expressions that our elders once gave us.  As we try to make sense of some of their styles, trends and sometimes erratic decisions, I'm sure that they also question some of their older peers' choices in certain things.  Film being one of those things some of the younger demographic might not be able to always agree on.  They could find it difficult to attest to just how great many of the movies released years ago were. 

I personally feel that there has been a slight resurgence in the quality of movies recently.  2010 can prove that.  There have been several films to hit the big screen that have delighted audiences and the box office.  In almost every genre, there were a couple of films that might make next year’s Golden Globe and Academy Award categories tough to decide.  From Shutter Island to The Karate Kid, The Crazies to Inception, Toy Story 3 to Despicable Me and everything in between.  There are still some potentially great films that are yet to be released but they can easily be included in the stand out bunch.


Personally I'm looking forward to seeing the remake of True Grit, The Fighter and even Tron: Legacy.  It's expected to be one of the breakout films of this year.  Whether or not it will surpass Chris Nolan's near masterpiece is yet to be seen.  Of course we have to include the popular Facebook movie, The Social Network, as well as M. Knight's Devil among the great movies of this past year. 

Some surprise flicks to me were Scott Pilgrim and Dinner for Schmucks which I don't know why the latter was a surprise to me, it does have Steve Carrell among the main "Schmucks" or characters.  I laughed all of the way out of the theater.  I was disappointed by Skyline and The Tourist but enjoyed Harry Potter.  Then there was the Twilight craze that is to continue into the next two years.  Feeling that the initial two films were awful, I had to admit that Eclipse was not bad at all.  R. Patt's other movie this year, Remember Me, was also a well acted surprise drama for me.  It kind of gets you right...here (pointing to my heart).  Took a little while before I could admit that in public about a drama/romance.

Other films of the romance genre that didn't quite do it for me consisted of The Bounty Hunter and The Back-up Plan.  Other than seeing the two Jennifer's running around in form fitting clothing, they weren't worth the effort.  The action genre seemed to deliver; The Town, Salt, Knight & Day, A-Team, what seemed liked its clone, The Losers and the massively star studded Expendables were all enjoyable and good for the 10-plus dollars for entry into the cinema.  Although I want to put the second Iron Man up there, I felt it could have been a little better. 

My favorite genre, that being horror, saw the remake of a legend, Freddy Kruger, return to his ruthless roots in a story that got mixed reactions.  I for one liked it very much.  Daybreakers brought a pretty good spin to the vampire sub-genre while Wolfman lacked that frightening punch that I hoped it would have.  Clash of the Titans would have been awesome without 3-D, but then again a lot of movies would have.  Grown Ups was funny and Splice should have gone unproduced and unreleased.   

Prince of Persia was well done, especially with the gorgeous Gemma Arterton.  The Other Guys was sheer genius and easily out did its counterpart, Cop Out.  I took delight in what Robert Rodriguez did with Machete as well as Nimrod Antal and Predators.  Legion tried to get a point across while I subjected myself to the second Sex and the City which wasn't as good as the first one.  Unstoppable couldn't be stopped for a short time at the box office and Vampires Suck should have been stopped about 3 minutes into it. 

Kick-Ass was definitely not for children but there many of them in Robin Hood which also could have been better.  My stomach was hurting me from laughter throughout Get Him to the Greek but a lot of other things were hurting the many victims in George A. Romero's Survival of the Dead.  Killers and Mel Gibson's Edge of Darkness were a letdown but I liked the gore and action in Repo Men. 

Despite some opinions that vastly differ with mine, I felt that Hot Tub Time Machine was an instant classic.  Rob Corddry on excellent comedic display in that one.  Jackass and in grossly 3-D nonetheless was its usual prank filled randomness but still entertaining.  High-Five!  I have seen many more films than I have mentioned here this year but to speak on them all would defeat the purpose of my super above average well written reviews of them all.  You should definitely check them out. 

Now it's your turn.  Tell me and the rest of us what were your favorite and less than likable big screen entertainment pictures this year.  I'm sure 2011 will not disappoint either.  I mean we only have like 50 super hero films due out then.  Can you say market over-saturation?  Hopefully Michael Bay will return Transformers to what it should be...a movie about, well, the Transformers.