Top 10 Best Movies of 2010

168 movies. Not all good. Some are pretty horrible. But for the most part, I feel that 2010 was another good year in the world of cinema. I'm not one of those folks who thinks there's ever a really bad year for movies. There are almost always a few dozen really good movies worth talking about. This year was no different, and I think that's reflected in the varied nature of my choices. Everything from exploitation flicks to teen comedies to animated features and documentaries are all represented. Some of you may have heard me reveal this list yesterday on Tim Gordon's Keeping It Reel broadcast, but for those that didn't please enjoy my picks for the best movies of 2010!

10. Machete
Silly, over-the-top, Mexploitation fun. Machete certainly will come as a surprise to some being on this list. The grindhouse genre has been run into the ground over the last few years, but Robert Rodriguez knows how to keep it fresh by throwing literally every insane friggin' idea that ever popped up into his psycho head and throwing it against the wall. Robert De Niro as a gun totin' racist politician? Check. Steven Seagal of all people as an extremely bloated drug lord with a mad on for illegal immigrants? Check. More decapitations in more unique ways than you can shake a burrito at? Check. Sure, Machete is mostly mindless violence, and the political subtext is forgettable, but some flicks deserve credit for knowing exactly what they are and being it to the fullest.
9. The Social Network
The best movie about a non-porn website you're likely to ever see. Not only is the origin of Facebook presented as a compelling legal duel between best friends turned hardened enemies, but it also features a whip smart, rapid fire script by the great Aaron Sorkin. Can we just get him to write everything?
8. Exit Through the Gift Shop
Banksy just recently came out and said that everything in this blazingly funny, scalpel sharp documentary is 100% true. That might be true, but the highest praise I can give it is that it doesn't really matter when you haven't stopped laughing for over an hour as the hard earned reputations of the street art elite get skewered for our viewing pleasure.
7. Easy A
Another surprise to some, but the best way I can describe my love for Easy A and Emma Stone's hilarious, Molly Ringwaldesque performance is that I would totally ride up on a tractor and sweep her off her feet. I would totally rock my boombox at her doorstep and serenade her. Easy A is quite simply the best teen comedy we've seen in over a decade.
6. The Fighter
Boxing movies are pretty predictable. They can only end one way or another, but the best thing about them is that they're never really about who gets knocked out in the ring. They're about whether you can avoid getting knocked out by the many blows life is about to deal you. A wealth of amazing performances by Mark Wahlberg, Melissa Leo, Amy Adams, and Christian Bale doing the best work of his career push this inspirational true story.
5. Shutter Island
Sad that Shutter Island came out so early in the year because it's been all but forgotten in favor of Dicaprio's other mind bending flick, Inception. Both movies stand on their own, though, and Shutter Island is a creepy, unhinged homage to the film noirs and thrillers of yesterday. Unlike any film by Martin Scorsese that you've ever seen, and I hope not the last.
4. North Face
Actually came out in 2008 but didn't release here in the States until this year. Ever since I saw I've been struggling to articulate quite why it's stuck with me the way it has. The best way I can put is that by the time this ridiculously harrowing, man vs. nature flick ended I realized I had been gripping the arms of my chair like a vice. Gorgeously shot in a way that puts you right there on the face of the mountain where a fraction of an inch can be the difference between life and death, you'll feel like you're fighting back frostbite and hypothermia too.
3. Winter's Bone
It would've been so easy for director Debra Granik and her marvelous cast to portray the poor, hard livin' people of the Ozarks as white trailer trash, but that never happens. Instead, with the help of two eye catching performances by Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes, they're given a depth of personality we don't typically see. Set in a place that is so foreign to the rest of us it might as well be on another planet, Winter's Bone is a dark, brooding mystery set in a secretive world most of us will never know.
2. Toy Story 3
Hard to believe that after all these years Pixar can still not only top themselves but pull a few surprises out of their hat. They've managed to prove for the umpteenth time that animated films truly can be made for everybody by combining humor, spine tingling adventure, and real emotion into one gorgeous package. A welcome send off to Buzz, Woody, and the rest of the gang.
1. Inception
Is there anything left to say about Inception that hasn't already been said? Wildly inventive, unique, breathtakingly gorgeous, massive in scope, thrilling, brilliant...all the things you want presented in a way that defies labels. Christopher Nolan has raised the bar impossibly high, crafting one of the most intelligent thrillers you'll ever see.