10.) The King's Speech - Colin Firth should have won an Oscar last year for "A Single Man." His perfectly understated performance was beautiful and heart-wrenching, and I didn't even think the movie was that good. So, please give Colin Firth his Oscar already :) Hell, give Geoffrey Rush another one while you're at it. These two are a joy to watch together in an all-around feel-good movie.
9.) Catfish - Surprise standout. Don't read anything about it, just watch it.
8.) Inception - This movie had the potentional to be the best movie of the year. Instead, it was a gorgeous-looking, intersting movie with no soul. And the ending? Maybe I would have cared if I felt any emotion for the Cobb character, positive or negative. Plus, I think ploys to get people talking around the water cooler are lame. I watched all 50 seasons of "Lost." Been there done that, thank you very much.
7.) Exit Through the Gift Shop - The more I think about this movie, the more I like it. Perhaps, it's because I fancy myself an artist of some sorts. But more than any movie I've seen this year, this one has a message. Actually, it has a few. But what's brilliant about the movie is that it doesn't have an agenda, it just gives you a lot to think about.
6.) Temple Grandin - This is an HBO movie that from the preview looked like an obnoxious portrayal of a brilliant woman suffering from autism. Not the case, at all. Claire Danes is not annoying; she is, in fact, very good. The movie is not about subject matter that I would normally be interested in (slaughterhouses, anyone?) but the movie sucked me in, and it was without a moment of sap or melodrama.
5.) Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - Highly entertaining movie. Very creative, inventive, and visually intersting. My only gripe is that Ramona should have been cooler. Scott was going through hell for her and I just wish she would have done something awesome at the beginning of the movie so that we were really rooting for him to get her. Why go through all the hassle? Just because she's hot and changes her hair color all the time? That was Clementine in "Eternal Sunshine," except she was complicated and interesting.
4.) Black Swan - I don't think I've particularly liked Natalie Portman in any movie since "The Professional." And with all the raving about her performance, I went in expecting to be completely underwhelmed. But she was fantastic! I want her to play delusional ballerinas for the rest of her career. Besides the performance of the year, the movie was also really good. I usually don't like movies when you're seeing everything through the eyes of the protagonist and you're not quite sure what's real and what's fantasy; you think you've been playing football the whole game and have everything figured out, then at the end, you find out you were playing basketball (ahem, Vanilla Sky). I felt like I knew truth from fantasy most of the time in "Black Swan." And the ride was beautiful, tense, sexy, and funny (funniest moment in film all year was in this movie--thank you, Mom, for never sleeping in my bedroom).
3.) The Social Network - Seems to be the Best Picture frontrunner at this point. Everything about this movie was solid: performances, script, direction, score. But like some of the other films on this list, I didn't think it had a soul.
2.) Winter's Bone - This is a great film. The story has all the elements: a great protaganist, villains that are human, and a ticking time bomb scenario. The movie is perfectly executed and Jennifer Lawrence's performance will deservedly get her an Oscar nomination and a slew of job offers.
1.) Toy Story 3 - I laughed. I cried. I left the theatre knowing I had seen a thoroughly entertaining and satisfying movie on all levels. Loved it.
Films That I Have Not Yet Seen (that have potential to be on the list had I seen them):
Edit: "Rabbit Hole" was very good. I would put it at #11. "127 Hours" was good too. Maybe #12.
The Best Movie I Saw This Year That Didn't Come Out This Year: Inglorious Basterds. When this movie came out to theatres, I didn't think the trailer looked too hot. I didn't read any of the reviews. I still hadn't forgiven Tarantino for the god-awful second half of "Death Proof." So when I saw this little gem on Blu-Ray, I was blown away. The first scene is amazing and the rest of the film delivers. The best movie I saw this year.
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