The Best Movies of 2010

2010 was a pretty awesome year for film, and before we start geeking out about 2011 we’re taking a look back at our favorites. This year there were a lot of sequels, remakes, and adaptions, but there were a few original films that made our lists and that’s a big accomplishment these days.

Below you’ll find our picks and any accompanying explanation. We’re dying to know how our lists compare to all of yours, so make sure to sound off in the comments and let us know.

Scott’s Picks

1. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
2. Inception
3. The Karate Kid
4. Despicable Me
5. The Expendables

Honorable Mentions: True Grit, Kick-Ass, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, The Kids Are All Right, Iron Man 2, Alice in Wonderland

Tommy’s Picks

1. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
2. The King’s Speech
3. Inception
4. How to Train Your Dragon
5. True Grit

Honorable Mentions: Tron Legacy, Toy Story 3, Tangled, It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Despicable Me

I just saw The King’s Speech a few days ago, and I struggled with putting my list together after that. I loved, loved, loved Toy Story 3, but I think How to Train Your Dragon deserved to be on my top five more so, mainly because it’s a lot rarer to see a great film come out of Dreamworks.

I really wanted to see 127 Hours, but that just didn’t happen, so I’ll have to be late to that party.

John’s Picks

1. Summer Wars
2. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
3. Toy Story 3
4. How to Train Your Dragon
5. The Social Network

Summer Wars is quite possibly the closest thing to a cyber punk Miyazaki Film we will ever see. This film starts off with the mundane life of a young math wiz named Kenji who stumbles upon an unsolvable math problem sent to his cell phone that ends up releasing a virus that hijacks the entire world’s accounts including government, traffic control and even nuclear launch codes. Whew. The film really does gain a crazy amount of momentum as the stakes mount up and the insane complexity that makes up the entire world’s information and communications is present on screen in some of the best visual representations of the internet ever seen on film. Check out the trailer, find out if it’s playing in your area, or pre-order it on Amazon.

Justin’s Picks

1. Tron: Legacy
2. The Social Network
3. Kick-Ass
4. Inception
5. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Wow, 2010 was apparently the year to embrace your inner-geek. While my Top 20 certainly shows a bit more range in content and style, my Top 5 comes down to the movies I identify with 2010 and the movies I could watch over and over again. Tron: Legacy was flat out the most fun I had at theater’s this year, and is the one movie worth selling out the extra bucks for IMAX 3D. The movie should have been terrible, but the right amount of Jeff Bridges, Daft Punk cameos, and a mesmerizing update to the Tron style that got me interested in graphics technology in the first place, made for the most memorable movie of the year. The Social Network was my surprise of the year since I was heavily in the “dimiss the Facebook movie” crowd until Trent Reznor attached himself to the project. In the end, the movie hits home with me and encapsulates a fascinating era of technology, all with a level of smugness that I found quite entertaining. Kick-Ass is simply the best superhero movie outside of Batman, ’nuff said. Inception was actually a little too easy to understand for my tastes, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t fully engrossed in every detail of every dream level it through at me. Easily my favorite ensemble cast of the year as well. Lastly, my buddy Scott Pilgrim and I had a fun year getting to know each other. I will forever be baffled by the lack of wider appeal of this movie, but to me, it was amazing to see one of my hopeless romantic gamer fever dreams come to life.

Movies I Still Need to See
Toy Story 3, Black Swan, True Grit, Machete, Tangled, The King’s Speech, Let Me In, 127 Hours

Movie That Made Me Smirk
Salt, Shutter Island, Book of Eli, Splice, Easy A, The Town, How To Train Your Dragon, Hot Tub Time Machine

Movies That Angered Me
Robin Hood, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Shrek Forever After, Faster, The Expendables, MacGruber

Rob’s Picks

1. Inception
2. The Social Network
3. Toy Story 3
4. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
5. Splice

My Top 5 Movies of 2010 are in no particular order (not even alphabetical), so don’t even try to make some kind of order out of these, buddy! By the way, I don’t get to see movies in the theater all that often, so I haven’t seen Black Swan, True Grit, Marmaduke, or any of the other films that are getting Oscar talk over the last few weeks. I’ll get to them, but not before the end of the year.

My Break Down:

Inception
C’mon. How could this not be on the list? If you’re one of the haters who feels like there’s too much exposition, or it doesn’t make sense if you really think about it, or it’s too this, or too that (other than “too awesome”), stop whining and answer me one question: When was the last time you saw a city get folded in half? In the words of Marvel Comics, “Nuff said.”

The Social Network
When I walked out of Fincher’s latest, all I wanted to do was go home and create something innovative. Sadly, I don’t have time/skills/gumption to make all that happen. But I guarantee some nerdy 15 year old kid out there felt the same way and he does have the time/skills/gumption. So there’s a very good possibility this film could change the world someday. Which, in my mind, makes it pretty fantastic.

Toy Story 3
I was an adult when I saw the first Toy Story in theaters (unlike the rest of you THS whippersnappers), but Pixar’s film made me feel like a kid again. Then TS2 came out, which made me go home, dig out all my old Star Wars guys, give each of them a big hug (even the Ugnaught), and tell them how sorry I was for neglecting them like that girl did to poor Jessie. Now you’re going to throw my friends into the raging fires of hell, then Andy’s going to leave them all – including Woody – behind!? Screw you, Pixar. Screw you for making a grown man cry over animated toys!

Scott Pilgrim
While it got a little long in the final reel (We could have done without the Asian twins, yeah?), I still enjoyed the hell out of this film. Over the top, chock-full of retro video game goodness, and just a ball full of fun.

Splice
I wanted to throw a sleeper in here, simply because so far I’m guessing the other guys’ lists won’t be too far off mine. Splice is a messed up little film that hasn’t gotten a lot of love…well, anywhere, and I feel like it has something going for it. Before you watch it, swing by Wikipedia and look up “Electra Complex”, then allow some of the schlockier aspects of the film to exist as necessary evils to get a film like this made. I think you’ll find the underlying themes are pretty fascinating and more than a little messed up. If you’ve been hesitant to give it a try, hit your local Red Box and give it a whirl for a buck. And if you don’t have Red Boxes in your area, what’s it like to still live in Olden Times?

Survey Says

It’s clear that Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, The Social Network, and Inception were our favorites, with Toy Story 3 and How To Train Your Dragon not far behind.

What about you? Give us your list, tell us why we’re crazy, or shower us with praise. What movies did you love this year?