The Top Ten of 2010…

…as mandated by me.

Over 2010, I saw a lot of movies.  Some were great, some were good, and some were terrible.  Aw, hell; who am I fooling?  A lot of them were terrible.  Of course, I can’t let the year stay gone without trying to do a top ten list for the year before.  When the time comes for the next list, maybe I’ll do it in a timely fashion, but I ran out of time.  Better late than never.

That being said, let’s get this list out of the way, shall we?

10. The Book of Eli

What I said then: This movie is full of action, but it’s also full of hope…it would be worth at least a rental when it’s released to Blu-ray.

What I say now: I can’t dispute that a whole lot, but I haven’t picked it up on Blu-ray, so I’m not 100% certain if it holds firm.  I’ll have to take my own advice and see how I feel afterwards.

9. The A-Team

What I said then: …I was really entertained.  I laughed at the funny parts, and I didn’t gag at the horrible ones.  It was a real treat to just check my brain in at the door and watch four goofballs try to fly a tank.

What I say now: The ridiculousness of it still lingers even if the movie itself doesn’t.  I don’t know if I’ll ever watch it again, but stranger things have happened.  Maybe I’ll try to catch it again on Netflix.

8. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

What I said then: Personally, I enjoyed the movie, and I’m looking forward to its eventual Blu-ray release.

What I say now: I’ve watched this movie several times since it’s release to Blu-ray, and I’m still entertained by it.  I get the disdain that most people have from it, especially those that read the book series and say that the movies don’t compare.  I still liked it.

7. Iron Man 2

What I said then: It has just enough action to keep you on the edge of your seats, and the plot moves along quite nicely.  It definitely succeeds as being better than the original…it’s witty, it’s action packed, and it’s just suspenseful enough to not be too overdrawn and melodramatic.

What I say now: Realizing what Marvel is trying to do, I understand why it isn’t as gritty as Jon Favreau would’ve hoped for.  Unfortunately, his butting heads with Marvel execs cost him a job at directing Iron Man 3.  The fact that they basically used this movie as a prop for The Avengers knocks it down a peg for me.

6. Kick-Ass

What I said then: I’ll say that (the actors) all brought a sort of maniacal energy to the movie.

What I say now: I haven’t watched this movie since it was in the theaters, but I do plan on it.  I want to see if it still holds up, or if it’s a dead duck.

5. The Expendables

What I said then: …You don’t go to a movie like this to see Shakespeare; you see a movie like this because you want to see stuff get blown up.  This film is a cacophony of death, destruction, and mayhem, and any child of the 80s…will love it.

What I say now: I still have fond memories of this movie, even though I haven’t seen it since.  However, I still loved the time I spent watching it.

4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1

What I said then: (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1) started sad and really didn’t lighten up.  There was one moment of frivolity, but even that was short-lived, as more despair came into play…it even ENDED sad.

What I say now: This movie is still fresh in my mind, but my review of it hasn’t changed.  Even though they threw in characters that hadn’t been seen on the film – at all, it still made us feel like we had been watching them since day one.

3. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

What I said then: …it was like a love sonnet to the video game era.  If you grew up playing video games, this movie is for you.  If you grew up reading comic books…this movie is for you.  If you grew up with both, then you’ll be in heaven.

What I say now: No change.  This movie is an epic of epic epicness, and I can watch it any time without it feeling stale.

2. Black Swan

What I said then: (Black Swan) was beautiful, haunting, and damning all at once.  It made me feel uncomfortable, but it wasn’t so uncomfortable that I wanted to turn away.  At the end of the movie, you realize that you’ve gone on that descent with Nina, and it’s an exquisitely painful fall at that.

What I say now: One of my close friends said it best: “I need a therapist after seeing it!”  Personally, my feelings haven’t changed at all; in fact, they’re still just as potent as they were when I first saw it.

1. Inception

What I said then: I couldn’t find a whole lot of faults in (this movie), and it really sucked me in from beginning to end.

What I say now: This is a mindbender of a movie, and if you’re not really paying attention, you’ll be lost.  I think the three kicks scene was the most entertaining scene I’ve seen in cinema.

So, there you have it…my top ten of 2010.  Agree or disagree?  Let me know!