Top Ten List: Best Film 2010

For the record: Pirahna 3D was on this list until about two weeks ago!

10. Easy A - Easy A is the kind of adorable and charming gem that some may right off as a cliched teen comedy, but it is anything but. A modern retelling of The Scarlett Letter, Emma Stone stars as Olive, a nobody who perpetrates a rumor about herself being kind of a slut. Things get out of control, of course. This movie is a teen comedy that is actually FUNNY, with winning performances by the entire cast. It's fast paced and smart and will leave you completely satisfied.

09. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Based on the unbelievably popular book (do you know anyone who hasn't read it??), this film is intense and smart with a great mystery and seemingly real characters. Of course, Noomi Rapace's amazing performance as Lisbeth Salander is a major draw as well, but the movie is also damn good. It's definitely worth all those subtitles you have to read.

08. Exit Through the Gift Shop - So Banksy is notorious and arguably the most famous of the street artists that have emerged in the past few years. How do you make a documentary about the most mysterious and enigmatic figure the art world has ever seen? Just like this! Although, of course, Banksy hijacks and the movie and turns it into something different all together. It's a must-see documentary about art, influences and the state of celebrity in the current times.

07. The Fighter - You know I can't stop talking about the acting powerhouse performance that is Christian Bale in this movie. But this whole movie is an amazing character study about the internal and external struggles to never give up. Sure, it's a boxing film (and the boxing sequences are intense and powerful) but it's also a slow burning character drama that gets inside the heads of these working class guys who want to make a name for themselves.

06. The Town - Ben Affleck's crime noir picture is a revelation. Sure, Gone Baby Gone was good, but The Town is great. At times this is an intense film about bank robbers and thieves but it's also terribly romantic in nature. There's so much action, so many car chases, and they are all filmed so perfectly. The performances are top notch and all of this makes The Town a movie you can't miss.

05. Shutter Island - Martin Scorsese's latest masterpiece, Shutter Island is based on the book by Dennis Lehane about a pair of U.S. Marshall's who are sent to an isolated island to find an insane murderer who escaped an asylum. But why the hell are they really there? Filmed superbly, with a great cast headed by DiCaprio, Shutter Island is a mind bending paranoia trip that will leave you wanting more and more.

04. The Greatest - The Greatest was probably the best find of 2010 for me. This is such a genuinely beautiful and impressive film that I feel bad that more people don't know about it. I want to walk up to every single person and tell them about this little, tiny, gorgeously filmed movie. The acting is amazing (headed by Carey Mulligan and Susan Sarandon) and the way it's filmed is so breath taking. While the movie is depressing as hell, it's also too good to pass up.

03. Inception - The most radically original movie since Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Inception is a wonderful mindf**k from Christopher Nolan, the man who brought us the brilliant mindf**k that was Memento a few years back. The cast, the story, the effects - everything about this movie is just plain incredible. Also, KUDOS for that epic hallway scene with Joseph Gordon-Levitt which is a blissfully long way from 3rd Rock From the Sun.

02. Black Swan - A beautiful and disturbing thriller set in the world of ballet, Black Swan is Darren Aronofsky's latest with Natalie Portman giving her best performance ever. Aronofksy is fearless, and that's an understatement. This movie is delightfully crazy and beautiful. It's intense and powerful, and will leave you thinking about it long after the credits roll. I, for one, can't wait to watch it again and again.

01. The Social Network - All the best picture of the year talk surrounding The Social Network is NO JOKE. It's not just "that Facebook" movie. It's fresh, relevant, fast-paced, witty, clever, funny and a damn good movie, featuring the best acting ensemble of the year (all under 30!!!). David Fincher directs the hell out of the script by Aaron Sorkin, which, really, is a shoo-in for Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars. There are so many memorable lines from that epic script. I will leave you with my favorite monologue of the year, delivered perfectly by Jesse Eisenberg...
"I think if your clients want to sit on my shoulders and call themselves tall, they have the right to give it a try - but there's no requirement that I enjoy sitting here listening to people lie. You have part of my attention - you have the minimum amount. The rest of my attention is back at the offices of Facebook, where my colleagues and I are doing things that no one in this room, including and especially your clients, are intellectually or creatively capable of doing. [pause] Did I adequately answer your condescending question?