2010 was a relatively weak year for new films and I can't say that anything really walked away with the Oscar. There were certainly some unexpected gems like "Toy Story 3", "Tangled", "Despicable Me", and "127 Hours", but very few films had me rushing back to the theater for a second look. The number of truly awful films (as it is every single year) outnumbered great films by a wide margin in 2010; many of which were boring 3D box office flops.
So without further ado, my High Five Best Movies of 2010...
The Black Swan 
Darren Aronofsky hooked me years ago with his superb film "Requiem for a Dream", and pulled the line a tad tighter with "The Wrestler". Both films focused on broken human beings, obsessive behavior, and were downright depressing. Drug abuse? Sure. Wrestling? Love it. The exciting world of ballet? If for no other reason, Darren Aronofsky deserves a medal for making a film about ballet interesting (even if the film isn't about ballet at all). Natalie Portman has a nasty habit of making great films ("The Professional") and then venturing off to make utter crap like the "Star Wars" prequels (where she basically mailed in her wooden performances). Her upcoming film with Ashton Kutcher is going to suck royally, but none of that is going to matter because she was superb in "Black Swan". Not only did she earn her Oscar (and she deserves to win) by training for a year with the film's choreographer (her future husband), but she nailed "Nina" with both hands tied behind her back. Or with Mila Kunis holding her down. Sure, it is a tad voyeuristic...but that's Darren Aronofsky for you.
The Social Network
I must confess that my Facebook account was deactivated in 2010; I no longer care to receive "Wall" updates about the first bowel movement that someone's kid had. 50 photos from your vacation to Fiji (while I sit here and freeze my ass off in NJ)? Not interested. Pictures of your nephew's dead hamster? The kid is going to need serious therapy. Having rejected Mark Zuckerberg's vision of the future and social interaction, I walked into "The Social Network" with only a modicum of interest. Not only did Aaron Sorkin nail the entire story with some fantastic and witty dialog, but Jesse Eisenberg actually made me a tad envious of the Facebook CEO. I actually contemplated going back on Facebook after watching the film, I enjoyed it that much. Mark Zuckerberg has created a monster.
Kick-Ass
In a perfect world, this brilliant piece of pop culture and satire would walk away with every award for Best Picture. Unfortunately, a film has to be uber-cerebral or emotionally gut-wrenching to walk home with the gold statuette. Hollywood likes creativity/originality only when it leads to huge returns at the box office. "Kick-Ass" is insanely violent (but quite tame compared to some of John Woo's body-count action films, or the always pleasing "Ichi the Killer"), shocking, hysterical, and Nic Cage's best film since "The Rock". For every kid who ever wanted to be Frank Castle or Dirty Harry...this is our film. We just never counted on Hit Girl. I don't give a damn about my reputation...
Restrepo 
Very few people saw this fantastic film in 2010 and that's a genuine travesty. Sebastian Junger's adaptation of his book "War" - which follows a company of U.S. soldiers as they fight it out with the Taliban in one of the most volatile valleys in Afghanistan - is a devastating film to watch, even though Junger kept the visual carnage to a minimum. The film is named in honor of a dead soldier; a young man whom we get to meet in the film's opening scenes. The tour of duty in the valley is one harrowing firefight after another (almost on a daily basis) and when one of the most experienced men in the company gets killed by a Taliban fighter, the impact on the rest of the men is hard to watch. How they keep their sanity under such duress is really hard to understand, but also why the film succeeds. A modern war film that asks more questions than it answers. This one also makes you realize just how little has changed even with all of our smart bombs and drones; it's ultimately one man with a gun against another.
Carlos
Films that last more than five hours have to be really, really good. Nobody in his right mind would sit through crap for that long (unless you're talking about a Jack Black/Jennifer Aniston film festival). Call me a sadist, but I dig long epic films about international terrorists; especially ones that jump from the cobble-stone streets of Europe to the dusty back alleys of the Middle East. Carlos the Jackal was a really nasty, vicious, and ultimately brazen and cunning terrorist. While not as politically savvy as an Arafat, or as blood thirsty as Nidal or Bin Laden, Carlos was a major pain-in-the-ass. He shook up the '70s and was a folk hero to many around the third world who longed to see the rich, capitalists, zionists, etc...get what was coming to them. Despite all of the glamorization, he was a prick and someone who deserved a painful death. Too bad that never happened. He's currently rotting in a prison cell. This is his story.
Buy some of these great films for your movie library:
