No diatribe this year because I have been so busy in my work and personal life that I struggled just getting this list out before the Oscar ceremony began. But, here it is. It has been a really great year for film. I have very few complaints and, despite the big budget fluff of sequels and remakes still going strong, this year saw some very original work, while independent film in general seems to be making a comeback in 2011. Here is my best stab at categorizing the films of 2010:
Excellent (2010) These were my favorite films of the year.
Alamar . Black Swan . Exit Through the Gift Shop . Four Lions . Inception . Marwencol . The Social Network . Sweetgrass
Very Good (2010) These films were also extremely enjoyable.
12th and Delaware . 127 Hours . A Film Unfinished . The American . Blue Valentine . Buried . Cyrus . The Elephant In the Living Room . Gasland . Google Baby . The King's Speech . Last Train Home . Never Let Me Go . The Oath . Shutter Island . Smile 'Till It Hurts . Somewhere . Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo . The Tillman Story . Toy Story 3 . The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia . Winter's Bone
Above Average (2010) These were solid movies and better than most of the crap out there.
American Radical . Animal Kingdom . Art of the Steal . Cemetary Junction . Cool It . Czech Peace . Green Zone . Greenberg . How to Train Your Dragon . Howl . Jack Goes Boating . Last Play at Shea . Let Me In . Life with Murder . Monsters . Morning Glory . Mother . Mystery Team . Reel Injun . Restrepo . Robin Hood . Schmatta . The Town . True Grit . Unstoppable . Waking Sleeping Beauty . Youth In Revolt
Guilty Pleasures (2010) I'm embarrassed by how much I liked these movies.
Get Him to the Greek . Jackass 3D . Kick Ass. Machete . Piranha 3D . Predators
Disappointments (2010) I wanted to like these movies but didn't.
Alice In Wonderland . Date Night . I'm Still Here . The Last Airbender . Scott Pilgrim vs. the World . The Wolf Man
Overrated (2010) I didn't like these as much as you did.
Catfish . Cropsey . Enter the Void. Frozen . Tangled . The Kids Are Alright . Salt . Tron Legacy
Didn't See It (2010) But I Wanted To.
Amer. Armadilo . Boxing Gym . Client 9 . La Danse . Dogtooth . The Expendables . The Fighter . Genius Within . Happy People: A Year In the Tiga . I Am Love . Inside Job . The Kids Grow Up . Precious Life . Presumed Guilty . The Thorn in the Heart . Waste Land
Most Anticipated (2011) Looking forward to next year.
The Arbor . Black Power Mixtape . Bear Nation . Beats, Rhymes, and Life . Beauty Day . Cleanflix . Cold Weather . Dragonslayer . The Green Hornet . Hell and Back Again . The Interrupters . If a Tree Falls . Kati with an I . Knights of Badassdomn . Knuckle . Looper . My Idiot Brother . Nostalgia For the Light . Paul . Peep World . The Pipe . Project Nim . Red State . The Redemption of General Buttnaked . Resurrect Dead . Scream 4 . Shut Up Little Man . Sons of Perdition . Tabloid . The Thing . Your Highness
