Spring Movie Preview

With the Oscars now firmly behind us, it's time to look ahead to the new movies coming out over the next few months. If you haven't been catching up on Oscar movies, there hasn't been a whole lot to see since the new year. But that changes this very weekend with a number of March and April movies that seem potentially worth watching. Will one of these break out the way Memento and Eternal Sunshine did in the past? Or at least entertain us until the Summer of Superheroes Begins?

Happythankyoumoreplease (March 4th)

Yes, it was a hit at Sundance last year, but the real reason I'm excited is that it's directed by and stars Ted Mosby (aka Josh Radnor), meaning this is the closest thing to a How I Met Your Mother movie we have.

Red State (March 5th)

Kevin Smith doing a horror movie? Kevin Smith doing a political horror movie? Definitely has the potential for disaster. But that makes me all the more curious. And I've seen every other Kevin Smith movie (even Cop Out), so why stop now?

Paul (March 18th)

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost do for nerds what they've already done for zombies and cops. Since the previous two were hilarious, I expect the same for this one.

Win Win (March 18th)

I'm not really sure what it's about, but actor-turned-director Thomas McCarthy's previous two movies were The Station Agent and The Visitor. With a cast featuring Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, and Jeffrey Tambor, seems like he's up for a third critical hit in a row.

Sucker Punch (March 25th)

I can't say I'm too big of a Zack Snyder fan (though liked Watchmen better than some), but something about his newest looks cool. Maybe it's the largely unknown cast. Maybe it's the promise of crazy-ass visuals. Whatever it is, I figure this will either be the coolest movie of the spring or the lamest.

Your Highness (April 8th)

The trailer didn't wow me the way I hoped it would, but the Eastbound and Down team plus James Franco and Natalie Portman taking on The Princess Bride = something I need to see.

Hanna (April 8th)

Regardless of what you think of a movie about a teen hit girl, you have to admit the trailer is pretty badass.

Rio (April 15th)

With Pixar using its 2011 slot on a sequel to one of its least liked movies, there's room for another studio to take its buzz. As one of the few bright spots among movie trailers during the Super Bowl, Rio seems a good place to start.

Scream 4 (April 15th)

I probably shouldn't admit this, but I thoroughly enjoyed the first 3 Scream movies back in my teen years and am secretly excited about the prospect of a fourth. Will it be terrible? Probably. Will I still see it? Absolutely.

Water for Elephants (April 22nd)

One of the few movies on this list I'm legitimately excited about. I LOVED the book, and the trailers give every indication this movie will do it justice. Plus, who doesn't want to see Christoph Waltz outside a Nazi setting?

And possibly:

Friends with Kids (April TBD) - Skeptical this will actually make it out this spring, but I'm definitely excited for a movie that pairs Don Draper with Adam "Are we having fun yet?" Scott.

An Oscarcast That Will Live in Infamy

It seems every year I write a variation on the same post about how the Oscars sucked in any given year. The banter's lame, the show's too long, the 20 minute interpretive dance number made absolutely no sense - there's always something to complain about. Which is why this year I had to stop for a moment and check the general consensus to make sure I'm not just repeating myself. Because in fact no, this year was not just the same old crap. This year really was particularly bad.

If you've read this blog at all in the past few months then you already know I think their choices for picture and director were awful. But what may have been less predictable is just how bad everything else was. I was skeptical of James Franco and Anne Hathaway as hosts, but figured they could somehow pull it off. Not so much. Rather than using the charm of his talk show bit in 127 Hours, James Franco came off as stiff and monotone the whole time, like he didn't want to be there. And while I think Anne Hathaway has the right energy for the job and could make a good host someday, she just wasn't given any good material. Plus somehow everyone I've talked to who watched the show thought they were high.

Nobody else did any better in trying to come up with something memorable. Kirk Douglas hijacked the show for about ten minutes. Then Melissa Leo hijacked it for another 15. How was she allowed to talk about nothing forever yet Aaron Sorkin got cut off after 30 seconds? Would a bad speech give the Academy the right to revoke her Oscar and give it to the far more deserving (and adorable) Hailee Steinfeld?

What else was there? I would applaud the return of the best song performances this year, except this had to be the worst year for best original song in my memory. The winner has to be the least memorable song Randy Newman has ever written. I admit that I did enjoy the auto-tuned Harry Potter, so I'll give them that. And the elimination of the long, pointless montages was a welcome decision. But that hardly makes up for what otherwise was an awkward, uncomfortable, and rather dull show.

The weak production puts even more focus on the awards themselves, which bucked the past four years' trend of actually rewarding good movies by taking us back to the '90s when any middling movie from Harvey Weinstein could win Best Picture. I had some hope Social Network might surprise when it went into the final four awards leading The King Sleeps 3-1. Clearly it wasn't a total lovefest if Speech wasn't getting the clean sweep.

But then something even the more pragmatic of Oscar predictors didn't expect happened: Tom Hooper won best director. A relative newbie whose direction was far from the best thing about the movie beat the vastly greater respected and more accomplished David Fincher, whose mark was on every frame of Social Network. It just doesn't really make sense. How did other directors make that decision? Who would pick him over ANY of the four other nominees? To be clear, I'm not saying Speech was poorly directed. It was perfectly adequately directed. But you could have handed that script to many a fellow Brit and gotten a similar result. The movie was a feat of writing and acting; not directing. And yet he's now an Oscar winner.

As for best picture, I had pretty much resigned myself to the inevitable, but it still sucks. I've already written enough about how strongly I feel The King's Speech is unworthy of the win, so I'll save you reading the same rant over again, but I still think it cheapens the meaning of the Oscars. Sure, we mock the Academy's choices every year and never take their decisions too seriously, but they had picked well for four years. Yet this year, joke institutions like the Golden Globes and the National Board of Review made better choices. What does that say of the validity of the Oscars as the highest award in the business?

Anyway, enough complaining. Goodbye 2010, hello 2011. Let's hope next year the Academy returns to awarding quality films instead of just sticking to their favorite subjects (British royals, Holocaust). And let's also hope The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is good, since David Fincher will probably win for it regardless. After all, he's now overdue. And that's how the Oscars work.

Final(ish) Oscar Predictions

After a whole lot of build-up, the Oscars finally air this Sunday, and to be honest, I've kind of stopped caring. Once it became clear The King's Speech was the heavy favorite to win I realized there's no point in paying attention to an awards ceremony willing to bestow its highest honor on such an irrelevant pick. Nevertheless, here are my current picks and predictions for what will happen on Sunday.

Best Picture

Will Win: The Social Network

Should Win: The Social Network

Will Actually Win: The King's Speech

This is the category I've struggled with the most, and I'll probably change my mind five times before I finish this post. Because in truth, The King's Speech will almost certainly win. It won all 3 major guilds and is the more "traditional" pick. But at the end of the day, I still don't believe it. The King's Speech has been sitting in the frontrunner seat for about a month now, and that feels like enough time for the backlash to kick in. And The Social Network's win at the editing guild means there's reason to hold out hope, as silly as that may sound. I'm almost certainly wrong on this, but I think it's closer than people think, and I'd rather bet on what I'm rooting for than on a horrible mistake.

Best Director

Will Win: David Fincher, The Social Network

Should Win: David Fincher, The Social Network

Biggest Competition: Tom Hooper, The King's Speech

Despite the win at the Directors Guild, it would take a clean sweep for Tom Hooper to repeat at the Oscars. The Oscars like to reward auteurs, not newbies. So this feels like a far safer bet for Social Network than Best Picture does.

Best Actor

Will Win: Colin Firth, The King's Speech

Should Win: James Franco, 127 Hours

Biggest Competition: James Franco, 127 Hours

There's not really any scenario in which Colin Firth doesn't win. Many think he's overdue from A Single Man last year and his movie has the most nominations total. But how cool would it be if the Oscar host won an award?

Best Actress

Will Win: Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Should Win: Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Biggest Competition: Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

Annette Bening's lost a lot of hype since the summer, and Black Swan just crossed the $100 million mark. Since Natalie Portman worked crazy hard for the part, expect her to be equally rewarded here.

Best Supporting Actor

Will Win: Christian Bale, The Fighter

Should Win: Christian Bale, The Fighter

Biggest Competition: Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

If Geoffrey Rush wins this award, you KNOW The King's Speech is taking Best Picture. Cause otherwise this is clear cut win for Bale.

Best Supporting Actress

Will Win: Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

Should Win: Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

Biggest Competition: The ladies of The Fighter

Melissa Leo was considered the favorite here, but the tides have turned away from her as of late. Since she's also got to fight against Amy Adams (who I personally think gave a stronger performance), I give the edge to the newbie, who showed what a true breakout debut can be.

Best Original Screenplay

Will Win: The King's Speech

Should Win: The Kids Are All Right

Biggest Competition: Inception

With Social Network comfortably in adapted, and the writer getting lots of publicity for his decades-long quest to get this movie made, this is a no-brainer.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Will Win: The Social Network

Should Win: The Social Network

Biggest Competition: True Grit

Since the screenplay is probably the best thing about it, and with The King's Speech comfortably in original, this is a no-brainer.

I'll keep it to straight predictions for the rest:

Best Documentary Feature

Inside Job

Best Animated Feature

Toy Story 3

Best Foreign Language Film

In a Better World

Best Film Editing

The Social Network

Best Cinematography

True Grit

Best Original Score

The Social Network

Best Original Song

"If I Rise" - 127 Hours

Best Art Direction

Alice in Wonderland

Best Visual Effects

Inception

Best Sound Mixing

Inception

Best Sound Editing

Inception

Best Costume Design

Alice in Wonderland

Best Makeup

The Wolfman

Best Animated Short

Day & Night

Best Live Action Short

Na Wewe

Best Documentary Short

Strangers No More

Oscar Morning

After watching the 8:30 AM announcement of the major Oscar nominees, it appears there were no MAJOR surprises. I can say that since I only missed 4 nominations total from my predictions a few days ago, and went 10 for 10 on best picture. But what do we know so far?

Biggest surprise for me was John Hawkes getting into the best supporting actor category, and totally deserved. I think most of us thought his performance would be a touch too subtle to compete with some of the showier parts this year. But since I'd vote him right behind Christian Bale, I was happy to see him get recognized. Still, sad to see it come at the cost of Andrew Garfield. As much as I love Jeremy Renner, I would have gone with Garfield over him. I hope it doesn't show flagging support for The Social Network.

The second biggest surprise for me was the Coens taking Christopher Nolan's slot in best director. And again, always happy to see the Coens be recognized, but maybe they could have taken David O. Russell's slot instead? It just seems weird that Inception is being recognized for its writing and not its directing.

I imagine the foreign film category was surprising to many, given that it included challenging critics' fave Dogtooth, which from my understanding includes incest and cat killing. But this year has been so devoid of popular foreign film options that I truly don't care. Even with all of the marginally known options nominated (Biutiful, Incendies, In a Better World), I haven't seen any of them and probably won't. What happened to the days when movies like Life is Beautiful, All About My Mother, and Pan's Labyrinth were in this category?

As far as overall trends, it sounds like The King's Speech has the most overall nominations, and True Grit and Winter's Bone did better than expected. Social Network lost one in Andrew Garfield and Black Swan lost one in not being nominated for screenplay. But that's not ultimately what will decide the race. As I already wrote a few days ago (in depth), it's Social Network vs. The King's Speech, and the winner depends on the Academy's mood this year.

(For those curious, the other two nominations I missed was Javier Bardem for best actor instead of Ryan Gosling and Another Year for best screenplay instead of Black Swan.)

UPDATE: Just saw the list of nominees not announced on TV. For the most part, the movies in the big 10 continued to dominate in the smaller categories too. So just a few observations:

Many would say this was a better year for nonfiction films than fiction, so I was curious how documentary would go. As expected, presumed frontrunners Exit Through the Gift Shop and Inside Job were nominated, though other popular choice Waiting for Superman was not. Of the serious summer war docs, Restepo made it in but The Tillman Story did not. And haven't heard of the other two. Still rooting for Exit Through the Gift Shop. At least until I see Inside Job.

Also, Hereafter for visual effects? Really? I mean, I haven't seen it, but over Tron?

Pretty happy with all of the nominees in best score, and hoping Trent Reznor will soon be able to call himself Oscar winner.

Finally, the best song category is weak since there were no particularly good options this year, and they didn't even nominate the song from Waiting for Superman that I think was expected to win. But they did two things right: only nominate 4 songs since there clearly weren't five good ones (yet only three the year of The Wrestler, Wall-E, and Slumdog?), and keep Burlesque shut out.

Oscar Nod Predictions

The Oscar nominations will (finally) be announced first thing Tuesday morning, and this year I've decided to venture some predictions on the major categories because, you know, why not. But before I list the predictions, I wanted to write a little about how the big race has been shaping up so far this season, especially in light of The King's Speech's first major win at the Producers Guild Awards last night.

All season long, the Oscar bloggers have been calling this a two-horse race between The Social Network and The King's Speech, and, until the awards starting pouring in for Social Network, giving King the edge. And all season long, I've assumed this was some kind of strategy on the bloggers' part to ensure Social Network would be the eventual winner. After all, the frontrunner tends to stumble, so by talking up a lesser movie as the frontrunner over the obvious winner it would only help Social in the end.

But after last night, it's clear they weren't just being devious, and that all the reports of Academy members responding better to King weren't just too small sample size after all. Sure, common knowledge says that the Academy is old-fashioned and goes with the obvious, traditional movie that pulls the heartstrings over the hip, innovative, and better respected movie. But that hasn't been the case since, well, Crash infamously beat out Brokeback Mountain. The Departed, No Country for Old Men, The Departed, and even Slumdog Millionaire are unconventional Oscar movies for different reasons. Compared to them, Social Network actually makes a lot of sense for Oscar's mandate.

Because while conventional wisdom is that The King's Speech is the obvious Oscar movie while The Social Network is the challenging critic's choice, I'm not so sure I agree. First of all, the Oscars generally go for big movies. If Forrest Gump vs. Pulp Fiction is the prototypical "Oscars are traditional" example, then Forrest Gump is a whole lot more epic than King, which is just a nice little very British history lesson. Some have mocked the Oscars' recent push towards more challenging fare as turning them into the Indie Awards, but all of those recent winners are still bigger than King.

Second, the Academy wants its picks to seem "important." Even Crash pretended to have something relevant to say. The Social Network is no doubt the "important" movie of the year, attempting to define a generation and a technological movement. At the end of the day, what is King's Speech really about? One man overcoming a disability? A king who must inspire a nation to get through a war? Cause if it's that, I don't think the movie successfully proves the speech made much of a difference. I mean come on, how much power does a king in the 20th century really have? Sure it's nice to see him succeed, but beyond that, who really cares?

Finally, I think the whole emotional debate is not as cut and dry as many would believe. "The Social Network is heartless; The King's Speech is moving." I disagree. Maybe it's hard to sympathize with Mark Zuckerberg the character, a socially-challenged rich kid who turns against his friends to succeed. But Eduardo Saverin is an extremely sympathetic character, in a lot of ways the second protagonist, and I have trouble believing nobody felt for him at the end. And even Mark deserves a little pity as he pathetically refreshes his page, waiting to see if Erica accepted his friend request. While again, King's ending was nice, but I wasn't jumping out of my seat in applause. And if that one scene is what's supposed to make this the best movie of the year, I'm not buying it.

So I'm not saying The Social Network is a slam dunk for best picture, but I am saying The King's Speech would be the worst best picture pick in a long, long time, maybe even worse than Crash. Not because it's a bad movie. The fact that it is impossible to hate is the biggest reason it's considered so highly. But because it would be an entirely irrelevant choice. Best Picture is supposed to go to the movie to represent the year, that you come back to 20 years from now. 20 years from now, people will see The King's Speech and say "I have no idea what that is." The Queen and Frost/Nixon weren't considered frontrunners in their years, so I honestly can't understand why people think so highly of The King's Speech. Then again, everyone I know liked King a whole lot more than I did, so maybe I'm letting personal feelings get in the way of objective thinking. Either way, I don't get it.

Anyway, enough ranting, time for predictions. Each category is ranked in order of likelihood to be nominated.

Best Picture

The Social Network

The King's Speech

Inception

Black Swan

The Fighter

True Grit

Toy Story 3

The Kids Are All Right

127 Hours

Winter's Bone

Best Director

David Fincher, The Social Network

Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan

Tom Hooper, The King's Speech

Christopher Nolan, Inception

David O. Russell, The Fighter

Best Actor

Colin Firth, The King's Speech

James Franco, 127 Hours

Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network

Jeff Bridges, True Grit

Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine

Best Actress

Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone

Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole

Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale, The Fighter

Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right

Andrew Garfield, The Social Network

Jeremy Renner, The Town

Best Supporting Actress

Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

Melissa Leo, The Fighter

Amy Adams, The Fighter

Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech

Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Best Original Screenplay

The King's Speech

The Kids Are All Right

Inception

Black Swan

The Fighter

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Social Network

Toy Story 3

True Grit

Winter's Bone

127 Hours

Zandervision Movie Awards 2010

Following up on my top 10 list (posted yesterday), here are my picks for the best actors, directors, etc. of 2010. Rather than sticking to the standard winner/follow-up formula, this year in the major categories I'm going up to five choices, ranked in order, so this can double as what I would pick as the Oscar nominations (which are announced next week).

Best Actor

James Franco, 127 Hours

Runners-Up:

Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network

Jeff Bridges, True Grit

Colin Firth, The King's Speech

Leonardo DiCaprio, Shutter Island

Best Actress

Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Runners-Up:

Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone

Carey Mulligan, Never Let Me Go

Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

Emma Stone, Easy A

Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale, The Fighter

Runners-Up:

John Hawkes, Winter's Bone

Andrew Garfield, The Social Network & Never Let Me Go

Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right

Pierce Brosnan, The Ghost Writer

Best Supporting Actress

Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit (yes, it's a lead role, but this is where she's campaigning)

Runners-Up:

Amy Adams, The Fighter

Olivia Williams, The Ghost Writer

Barbara Hershey, Black Swan

Keira Knightley, Never Let Me Go

Best Director

Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan

Runners-Up:

David Fincher, The Social Network

Edgar Wright, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Danny Boyle, 127 Hours

Christopher Nolan, Inception

Best Original Screenplay

The Kids Are All Right

Runners-Up:

Inception

Black Swan

Easy A

The King's Speech

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Social Network

Runners-Up:

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Toy Story 3

True Grit

127 Hours

TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2010

2010 is widely considered a weak year for movies. There were full months where there was almost nothing to see, and this year's awards season seems to have settled on its choices even earlier than usual. But I would argue that while 2010 wasn't a great movie year quantitatively, it still succeeded qualitatively - the few movies worth seeing hold up. In that spirit, here are the ten movies I thought held up the most.

1. The Social Network

At this point, to say that The Social Network is the best movie of 2010 is less an opinion than an objective fact. I hate making the same picks as everyone else and seriously considered going with another movie just to be different. But I'd be kidding myself. Nothing else even comes close. How often do you find a movie that has it all? Writing, directing, acting, score. Thought-provoking, timely, entertaining, funny. Filled with memorable characters and epic struggles. What began as "the Facebook movie" now really is the film for this generation, and will be what people are still watching twenty years from now.

2. Black Swan

Brilliant or tawdry, classic or cheap melodrama. You can guess where I sided in one of 2010's biggest movie debates. You might begin Black Swan thinking you're getting Darren Aronofsky's previous film The Wrestler transposed into the world of ballet. But quickly it becomes clear there's a lot more going on. The film could succeed as a backstage ballet movie alone without all the craziness in the final act, but that just wouldn't be as much fun. And with scenes like the opening ballet dream and that final "perfect" line, I left the theater sufficiently wowed.

3. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Here's a movie that exemplified one of the biggest trends of 2010: great movies bombing at the box office. Sure, the demographic may have been somewhat narrow (guys and a few girls exactly my age who grew up on exactly these video games) and the stylization extreme, but I was in love before the studio banner had left the screen. While the video game allusions and unique visual style may have been what made the movie so original, it was the characters that caused Scott Pilgrim to level up. And the dialogue. And the music. Really just across the board awesome.

4. 127 Hours

When was the last time you were so physically affected by a movie you left the theater shaking? For me, it was 127 Hours. And I mean that in only the best possible way. Forget about "the scene" - they get you through that as quickly and painlessly as possible. No, what makes this so hard to watch is the claustrophobia - sitting there with him as he struggles to figure a way out. But if you let yourself get scared off due to a little discomfort, you're not only missing an amazing viewing experience, but also one of the slickest movies of the year. With the entire Slumdog team in place, the music, editing, and cinematography all create what has to be the best possible execution of an unlikely movie idea. Don't be a baby. You're just missing out.

5. The Kids Are All Right

You don't have to look at the abysmal Golden Globes slate to see this wasn't a year filled with great comedy options. Yet into the dregs of summer fell the exact type of intelligent, emotional comedy we've been waiting for. The premise sounds like something out of a sitcom: "What happens when a lesbian couple meets their kids' sperm donor? Wackiness ensues!" Yet The Kids Are All Right avoids that trap by making you care for all of the characters. It would be so easy to view Mark Ruffalo's character as a loser out to steal the family of Annette Bening's, or to see Bening's as uptight and better pushed out of the way. But the writing and acting never give you either option. And when things get serious toward the end, there have been so many laughs beforehand that it feels totally earned.

6. Inception

No doubt about it: Inception was the movie event of the year. It was the only movie that kept me up for a midnight screening and the only movie that should have. Nearly single-handedly saving an infamously bad summer season, Inception was a blockbuster in the best sense of the word. No, I don't understand all (or, let's be honest, even half) of what actually happened. But who cares? Scenes like Joseph Gordon-Levitt's zero-gravity shoot-out and the building caving in on itself are movie magic, pure and simple. Besides, when was it a bad thing for pop entertainment to make people use their brains?

7. Toy Story 3

With possibly the most successful track record in Hollywood - creatively and financially - Pixar could have easily rested on its laurels, especially in making a sequel nearly a decade after the previous entry in the series. Instead, Toy Story 3 ups the ante of the first two, growing up with its audience to become a more mature and meaningful movie. While we may primarily remember the movie for its final scene, the rest deserves credit for being a thoroughly entertaining prison break, including some amazing visuals. But while the toys are great, this one is really Andy's movie.

8. Never Let Me Go

Another movie that failed to get the attention it deserved, Never Let Me Go is one of those rare adaptations that can stay faithful to its popular source material while still feeling like its own complete entity. There' s something about the dreary English countryside and the uncomfortable looks of the teachers that hits more immediately onscreen than on the page. Maybe it's the stunning cinematography and melancholy score. Maybe it's the extremely likable trio of Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, and Andrew Garfield. But if you aren't moved by the emotional climax, you must be some kind of clone.

9. Shutter Island

Shutter Island got somewhat forgotten this year. Whether it was the early release date or the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio played basically the same character in Inception a few months later is anyone's guess, but I'd rank this close behind in terms of the year's coolest thrillers. It may have started slow and talky, but the suspense built and built as Leo was led on a surreal journey through a crazy looking prison ward and various possibilities of what was real. You definitely guessed some of the ending, but probably not all of it. And Martin Scorsese showed he knows his stuff when it comes to genre filmmaking.

10. True Grit

The Coen Brothers' most accessible and commercially successful film at first glance doesn't feel like a Coen Brothers movie at all. The story of a 14 year old girl who perseveres by pluck alone to save the day? Sounds like a Disney movie. But look closer and it's all there - the twisty, verbose dialogue that requires subtitles to fully understand; the quirky, oddball characters (what was up with Josh Brolin?); and the sudden violence. Still, the movie really belongs to Hailee Steinfeld, who breaks out in the biggest of ways as the quick-tongued and fearless heroine. Toss in a delightfully grumpy Jeff Bridges and this was the most fun movie of the Christmas season.

Honorable Mentions:

The Ghost Writer - Say what you will about Roman Polanski as a person, but this smart, intelligent thriller shows he still knows how to make damn good movies.

Easy A - The smartest, funniest high school-set satire since Mean Girls.

Greenberg - As unlikable as its protagonist may be, the movie makes coming back home decades later painfully relatable.

How to Train Your Dragon - Who would have thought a movie about dragons would feel so fresh and fun?

The Town - An old-school heist movie with a tinge of Good Will Hunting makes for a solid piece of Boston-set entertainment.

Now that I've made my picks, it's your turn. What am I leaving out? (And no, the exclusion of The King's Speech and The Fighter was not a mistake.) What am I overrating? And would you say 2010 ranks among the best or worst movie years? Leave a comment at the beep.