2010...the best bits...movies

So what caught my attention movie wise?

The best...

One movie was far out in front for me this year, and no surprises that it was Inception. I have liked all of Nolan's movies, but this time he outdid himself. Backed by almost perfect casting, his high tech and complex tale of thieves who steal information from inside dreams was fantastically realized. No better movie this year, and probably one of my all time favorites.

The best of the rest? Scott Pilgrim vs the World was an awesome ride. I had feared that they would struggle to transfer that kind of a comic to the big screen, but they pulled it off with style.

True Grit sneaked in at the end of the year and saw the Coen brothers on their usual fine form.

Toy Story 3 might just have been the best of the Trilogy...and that says something.

The silly popcorn movie...

Tron Legacy was everything I look for in a popcorn movie. I can happily switch my brain off and enjoy the show. No, it is not going to garner any awards for anything other than it's visual effects, but it is a fun ride while it lasts and was perfectly in keeping with it's predecessor.

The 'I am still not sure about' movie...

Darren Aronofsky may be the critical darling, and there is a lot I liked about Black Swan, but it also strangely lacked a connection with the characters for me. This is something the director usually manages with ease, so for it to be absent here confounded me a little. The performance, while riveting in the 'is she going mad?' kind of way, also strangely came across as a little clichéd for me, and the peripheral characters were all just a little too thin for my liking.

The much better than I expected movies...

Have to be The Social network (although I should have known better than to doubt David Fincher!) and Buried. The latter in particular came from nowhere, and is much, much better than it's premise might suggest. If ninety minutes of Ryan Reynolds trapped in a coffin (seriously, that is literally all you will see in this movie) doesn't sound appealing then you'll just have to take a chance on it, it is worth a watch.