The Best Films of 2010 (So Far)

Dare we even break the year in half to look at the best movies from the past six months? We dare. And we do so because we have as many Five Damn Dirty Ape movies from January to June (actually from April to June) as we did all of last year. And if you're new here, Five Damn Dirty Apes is our highest mark, and a good year may get three of them total. Usually, however, it's no more than two per year, and it's surprising that it would happen on this half of the calendar. Of course, one of those Five Apers is a foreign film released last year, picked up an Oscar, and then found general release in the US, so maybe that's cheating. But the overriding point is, despite how weak the summer has been so far, we have six very good films for you from the first six months of the year. Many times, it's tough to fill 12 months with ten great movies, so we're more than halfway home. 1 - Kick-Ass My initial reaction to this film was that it was the best comic book/superhero movie ever made, and I didn't put that in my review because it's a bit hyperbolic for me. But in the three months since, I've seen it two more times, and it really holds up. The way Matthew Vaughn presents his story has enough originality for a genre desperate for it, the hero grabs our sympathies, it's not overpopulated with villains - the curse of Marvel and DC films, almost all of them - it's incredibly fun, it has great supporting characters, three magnificent action scenes, and Hit-Girl, the best character of 2010 so far, Roger Ebert be damned. (Read our review) 2 - The Secret in Their Eyes For the second time in three years, here's a foreign language film that really should upset the previous year's ten best list. In February 2007, two days before it won the Oscar, I saw The Lives of Others, and it probably would have been second or third on my 2006 list, either splitting Zodiac and The Bourne Ultimatum or fitting right behind them. This year it's this Argentinean export, also an Oscar winner, and it would have been third last year, had I seen it in time, behind The Hurt Locker and Up. I don't see it finishing much worse this year. A fantastic study not of a crime but those investigating it and how the blowback affects them for decades. (Read our review) 3 - Toy Story 3 Pixar's latest film will probably be its biggest, and it's certainly right up there with most of the other films in terms of quality. Forgiving a more or less perfunctory opening 15 minutes, this movie's flawless. But I can't really forgive the slow start, no matter how good the rest of it is. That includes the ending, which probably won't be topped for a long, long time. A beautiful, impactful third act is hard to find, especially with computer-created characters. (Read our review) 4 - Shutter Island There were ten Best Picture nominees last year. Paramount got cold feet about releasing Shutter Island in the fall, instead rallying its resources behind Up in the Air, but as this film rolled into theaters a couple weeks before the ceremony, it became clear that it would have had a decent shot for a nomination. Would it have helped the box office? No. Probably would have hurt it, actually, because there was more quality competition. And then Paramount couldn't have put as much effort behind Up in the Air, which did need the help but didn't win, anyway. Still, Martin Scorsese's latest is unlike most of his previous films. It looks like a studio movie and it moves like a great thriller from the noir era, yet underneath, there's still a screwed up psychology that's been a trademark of Scorsese's work, certainly most of his great work. And this is as satisfying as most of the stuff he's done post-Goodfellas. (Read our review) 5 - How to Train Your Dragon DreamWorks Animation is not Pixar and probably never will be. The studio is far behind in animation, probably a more philosophical approach than a technical one, and the stories just aren't as full. But How to Train Your Dragon, while still not playing by Pixar's rules, is certainly more entertaining than a lot of DreamWorks' stuff. It took audiences a couple weeks to find it, but once they did, they enjoyed a a fun-for-all-ages affair that really was. (Read our review) 6 - Un Prophète The second Best Foreign Language Film nominee on our list, and it shouldn't be surprising that we see those pop up. After all, there's only one movie per country even submitted for that award and there's a big process to cull it to five films. Un Prophète is as dark and unsettling a prison and crime movie as we've seen in a few years, one that depends on its energy and punch to reinforce its gritty story of an unlikely rise to power. (Read our review)

Comments

[Bollyfan]

I would also add Four Lions to the list. Again...such lists are subjective and we can always have different opinions.

[LOSTY]

kick ass was good but not one of the best. i might have just overhyped myself though

[Chris]

Haven't seen the two foreign language films, but I did like the others. I agree with Lostly though, Kick Ass was good, but not that great. Not better than Shutter Island or Toy Story 3.

[D]

Certainly some quality films, but this just has not been a great year so far, and to be honest the only films I'm really stoked about seeing later in the year are Inception and TRON. I mean I'm sure there is something I'm forgetting, but still.

[chad]

kick ass ruled, sorry to people who didnt like it but its super fun, smart, kind of shocking, and everything really needed to be a great drama movie, people who dont like it must have a personal problem with it cause it rocks

[SEAN]

Yes this film season has been so farrrr pretty weak in my opinion....

THANK YOU FOR KICK ASS BEING NUMBER #!1.... I hyped it up way before & got my hopes really high & it exceeded my expectations completely....

Love also how you included the french masterpiece, in my opinion, Un Prophete.... That film was just remarkable & jolting... Highly recommend it to anyone looking in that type of genre

[Antoinew8]

YOU ARE ON CRACK!!!!!

Here are the best films of this year so far. (I know Inception wasn't out at the time of this article, but it has come out now and is the best movie so far BY FAR!!)

So. . .

1. Inception
2. The Book of Eli
3. Shutter Island
4. The Secret in their eyes
5. Splice
6. Kick Ass
7. The Crazies
8. Greenberg
9. The killer inside me
10 get him to the greek.

Non of these movies will disappoint if you see them, all are GREAT!!!

This is THE list, pay no attention to the above fool. (And yes, i know i'm a fool too. . . wink, wink.)

[Bill]

I thought Kick Ass was going to be all hype, but it actually turned out to be a great movie. I'm disappointed to see that The Book of Eli wasn't on the list. That was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Not that it's going to be a masterpiece, but I can't wait to see The Expendables as well.