The Thinklings

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- J.B. Lightfoot

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Best Movies I Saw in 2010

Posted by Jared @ 9:41 pm CST
Filed under: Movies

These are the best movies I saw last year, in ascending order:

7. Despicable Me

6. Mother and Child

5. Tangled

4. Toy Story 3

3. The Fighter

2. The Social Network

1. Inception

Movies I expect will be on the list, but I haven't seen them yet:

The Town
True Grit

(Book list coming tomorrow.)

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Comments on "Best Movies I Saw in 2010":

1. Quaid - 01/04/2011 11:56 pm CST

I predict that you will like both True Grit and The Town. Personally, I would insert both of them in the list before The Fighter, but you may differ.

I'm interested to see your amendments . . .

2. Dave - 01/04/2011 11:59 pm CST

The best movie I see every year is Lawrence of Arabia, because I watch it once a year. I'm with you on Toy Story 3. It was amazing in every way. Haven't seen Inception yet, but everyone, and I mean everyone, says it's great. We'll see.

3. Quaid - 01/04/2011 11:59 pm CST

Also: Go see The King's Speech, if you haven't already. REALLY GOOD. Colin Firth and Rush are quite good and it will be interesting to see how the Best Actor and Supporting Actor races pan out in a couple of months . . . (not to mention Best Picture - Does Inception have a chance?)

4. Quaid - 01/05/2011 12:03 am CST

I promise I'll stop doing this, but did you see Scott Pilgrim? I think you'd really like it - I think I would put it in the top 10. Super-original, funny and well-written/directed.

5. Bird - 01/05/2011 6:30 am CST

The only one on this list that I saw was Inception, and I only saw that a couple of days before 2010 ran out. :-)

Great movie, though. Looking forward to seeing it again. Brandi and I plan on sitting down sometime with my kid's TS3 DVD sometime soon. She says it's really good.

6. nhe - 01/05/2011 8:25 am CST

Hi Jared - great to see "Mother and Child" on the list - that was a film where I saw some absolutely miserable characters (Benning, Watts) go through very convincing transformations. It would be on my list too.

I agree with Quaid on The Kings Speech. It is "Oscar bait" for sure, but very good.

Two others that haven't been mentioned - "Easy A" and "Flipped".

"Easy A" - really worked for me as a homage to the 80's John Hughes movies, and Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson as the parents were the funniest characters I saw on screen this year.

"Flipped" - HIGHLY recommended for Christians who prefer a more "wholesome" movie experience. This is a Rob Reiner film that flew under the radar in limited release - has anyone here seen it? If not, it needs to be in your Netflix queue. Its just about as good as "The Princess Bride" and a "A Few Good Men" - 2 other Rob Reiner films.

7. Quaid - 01/05/2011 10:17 am CST

nhe-
I caught Easy A last week and was largely impressed by the acting (esp. by Tucci, although he's in the film for quite a short time, and the main character, Emma Stone - not as much Patricia Clarkson). However, I was flummoxed at the level of critical acclaim that this film received by virtue of what I found to be horrible writing, story-line and overly simplistic direction.

Put simply, without Emma Stone or Tucci, this film would have been horrible. With them, it was watchable. I felt that the homage to Hughes was excessively explicit (including a literal homage to Hughes within the film - we get it, you love Ferris) and did more injustice to his legacy by pandering to his films than mimicing his themes. I just don't understand why people liked this film, outside of the strong performance of Stone.

8. nhe - 01/05/2011 10:50 am CST

Hi Quaid - I see your point. Lesser acting chops probably would have doomed Easy A.

I am a huge Clarkson fan, I've loved her in anything she's been in - she's probably been in at least 6-8 of my 20 favorite movies - so I'm a little biased - she can do know wrong, even though it was a small roll.

As for the film, I was highly entertained. It's likely, as you said, that it was the performances and not the script. I didn't find the the 80's film refs to be pandering. I just thought they were really fun. I had a smile on my face throughout the film, which I guess is all I can ask.

Quaid - try Flipped - I think you'll like that one a lot.

9. Thirsty Bear - 01/05/2011 1:12 pm CST

Jared-

I highly recommend True Grit. I'm sure it will make your Top Ten.

10. Jared - 01/05/2011 2:33 pm CST

Okay, book list will wait another day or two.

11. Thirsty Bear - 01/05/2011 4:45 pm CST

Oh...I was looking forward to your Book list. I will have to wait.

12. Bobbi - 01/05/2011 5:49 pm CST

Flipped

Ramona and Beezus

Alice in Wonderland

13. Shrode - 01/05/2011 8:22 pm CST

What about RED?

How could you miss that one? :-)

14. Thirsty Bear - 01/05/2011 9:34 pm CST

RED! Yes...Retired Extremely Dangerous should be noted.

15. jen - 01/06/2011 10:56 am CST

True Grit was awesome and my new all time favorite movie.

There's a lot on your list, Jared, that I have yet to see. Sad.

16. nhe - 01/06/2011 1:26 pm CST

wow - that's a gigantic endorsement from Jen on True Grit. I've been skeptical because I've only ever liked one Cohen film - Fargo - but I might just have to give in and go see True Grit now since I'm a huge western fan.

17. Quaid - 01/06/2011 1:49 pm CST

nhe - True Grit isn't your typical quirky Cohen-bros. film - it really is a straight genre piece. If you like Westerns, I don't see how you wouldn't like TG.

If you need a final nudge, check out Ebert's review where he says as much (although in a much better way).

It certainly isn't my favorite all-time move (or even my fave of 2010), but it is really good and I really believe you'll like it.

18. Neal McHenry - 01/06/2011 2:17 pm CST

My literary skills pale to the great Thinklings.

10.Cloudy with a chance of meat balls 3d
9. Expendables
8. Tron 3d

Wow I only saw three movies this year.

19. Quaid - 01/06/2011 2:23 pm CST

Absolutely hilarious, Neal.

Uhhhh . . . You didn't see Inception?

20. Neal McHenry - 01/06/2011 2:27 pm CST

I stopped it half way I just was not drawn to the film. I was shocked I even liked strange films like magnolia. But i just cant follow it.

21. Bill - 01/06/2011 8:47 pm CST

Neal!

Glad you got to see me!!

:gsmile:

22. BiF - 01/10/2011 9:18 am CST

Another vote for RED! The family saw it Saturday at the $3 theater. Very entertaining!

23. Shrode - 01/11/2011 1:52 pm CST

$3 theater? Man what ever happened to the dollar theater? Sigh....

Jared, you really do need to see RED. Seriously. It's a fun, fun movie. Not serious at all, but a total blast.

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