Best and Worst movies of 2010

There’s not a moment in this excruciatingly painful, cliché-filled ridiculously tedious excuse for a film that is not horrible. A star-filled orgy that does not work for either the romance or comedy. Just…terrible.

Lewis Caroll’s Alice in Wonderland and Tim Burton seem like a match made in heaven so such a great combination seemed, at first, like a brilliant idea. But the execution? A total borefest that might look pretty but turned into what’s probably Burton’s worst film, even worse than the mediocre Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

And Burton’s direction wasn’t the only disappointing thing. The performances? Uninspired, the music? Derivative, the script (the third act in particular)? Terrible. In the end the only amazing thing about this movie is just how Tim Burton managed to screw it up so royally.

Remember Me is not a good movie because of its lead actors, who are terrible and lack any real chemistry. But everything surrounding them is actually pretty great. The story is surprisingly captivating and shocking and the performances by Chris Cooper and Pierce Brosnan are absolutely sublime. It’s not a great movie, it could’ve been so much better with better leads, but for what I was expecting, it turned out pretty good.

With competition such as Natalie Portman in Black Swan, Jeremy Renner in The Town and Stephen Dorff in Somewhere, it wasn’t easy to pick a “best” performance of the year. But my favorite and the most surprisingly amazing of them all is Jesse Eisenberg who has come a lot way since being “Michael Cera 2.0”. His Mark Zucerkberg is cold, manipulative, calculating and mesmerizing. He has proven to be one of the finest young actors and I hope we see more of this in the future.

Cliché as the choice might be, Inception is still the best movie of the year. There’s not a dull moment through the movie, and the whole film is a constant climax. Few directors are as good in combining exciting and well made action pieces with a well-crafted and interesting story as Christopher Nolan is. Not only that but every performance is incredible and the soundtrack is among the best of all time. Inception is proof that originality in blockbuster movies isn’t dead yet.

Runner-ups:

Black Swan started as one thing and ended as something completely different. It’s so well made that it works as a psychological drama, a thriller and even a horror movie and it’s all thanks to Darren Aronofsky’s bold direction and Natalie Portman’s incredible performance. Masterfully shot, visually compelling and superbly acted.

More than a movie, Enter the Void is an experience. It doesn’t bother with trivial things such as a plot, or dialogue, or even music. It’s all about showing death from another perspective. It’s an interesting way to see the afterlife and it won’t leave the viewer’s mind even after they finish watching it.

The ghost Writer is such a tight and well-crafted movie that is hard to leave it out the list. Roman Polanski (who I’ve always considered overrated) does a great job at setting up tension and gets the performance of a lifetime out of Pierce Brosnan.

The Kids Are Allright is a heartwarming story that takes us deep into the psyche of what to many might seem like an uncommon family. It’s beautifully told thanks to the great direction, fantastic script and emotionally charged performances by Annette Benning, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo.

Funny, action-packed, wonderfully edited and infinitely quotable. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is perfect in almost every imaginable way, from the casting to the music to the translation of the comics. It’s definitely the best video game movie, and it’s not even based on a videogame!

The Social Network is a lot like its main character: smart, funny, dark, sometimes cold, exciting and always unpredictable. A very well directed work with surprisingly fantastic performances by its three leads . Definitely one of the most memorable of the year.

The first 30 or so minutes of Somewhere are all about setting a mood, showing us the lonely, sometimes boring life of a big Hollywood star (played amazingly by Stephen Dorff). If this had been done by any other director it would’ve been just plain boring, but under the hands of Sofia Coppola it’s just great. She is a master at creating great characters who the viewer can relate to, and the story itself is a roller coaster of emotions. It’s not quite as awe-inspiring as Lost in Translation was, but this is an absolute masterpiece.

Going back some 4 years ago when I first watched Armageddon, one thing I couldn’t get off my mind besides “man, this movie sucks” was “Ben Affleck is a pretty terrible actor” and I confirmed this after watching Daredevil and Surviving Christmas. Who would’ve thought that only a few years later he would not only deliver an amazing performance, but also co-write and direct one of my favorite movies of the year? The Town owes a lot to Heat and though it’s not as great as that movie it feels more human. My only real criticism: Jon Hamm.

Probably the darkest, most complex and haunting movie of 2010 and Jennifer Lawrence’s star making performance is something that proves to be hard to forget, even month’s after watching it for the first time.

_

Special thanks to Adriana Gómez for the designs.