LIST: The Films of 2010

Joshua Ligairi » 2.27.11 »

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

LIST: Top 10 Docs of 2010

Joshua Ligairi » 12.31.10 »

Those of you who read my annual best of lists know that I don't typically rate films numerically, but when Documentary Blog editor, Jay Cheel (who I host a podcast with), asked if I would be interested in submitting a Top 10 for his site, I could hardly resist. Of course, being out of practice, I ended up blowing it right away by forgetting to list one of my favorite films of the year, Sweetgrass. I hate to knock any other films out because I enjoyed them all, but suffice it to say that Sweetgrass would have ranked very high on the list.

Read the full write-up and see lists from Jay and the rest of the Documentary Blog staff here. Check out my section of the article and the closest I could come to a Top 10 below:

Release dates for independent make end-of-year lists tricky, so rules always play a big part in how I form my lists. For this one, I’m discounting festivals altogether and sticking to films that either played theatrically, on television, or went straight to DVD in 2010. That is especially good this year because I had a film of my own that premiered at the end of 2009 and played the festival circuit in 2010, but since we aren’t getting our theatrical release until 2011, I can hold off a while longer on the awkward and unethical recommendation of my own film. I should also mention that I have not seen all of the year’s supposed best documentaries. Among the notable omissions are Armadillo, Client 9, Happy People, Nostalgia for the Light, Genius Within, Inside Job, The Kids Grow Up, La Danse, Precious Life, Presumed Guilty, The Thorn in the Heart, and Waste Land. Disclaimers out of the way, here are my top ten documentaries of 2010:

1. Alamar

2. Marwencol

3. Exit Through the Gift Shop

4. A Film Unfinished

5. Best Worst Movie

6. Last Train Home

7. The Oath

8. 45365

9. Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo

10. 12th & Delaware

Honorable Mentions: American Radical, Czech Peace, The Elephant In the Living Room, Gasland, Google Baby, Restrepo, Smile ‘Til It Hurts, The Tillman Story, The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia, and Winnebago Man.

For the very best in non-fiction news, reviews, lists, and commentary visit TheDocumentaryBlog.com. Read the original post and find 2010 lists from Jay, Charlotte, and Sean here. Listen to Jay and I interviewing some of the best documentary filmmakers of our day on the site's new podcast.