Movies of 2010

	Tangled 01 Jan, 2011 Actually, this movie is widely funny and fun. I really didn't expect it to be nearly as good as it was, but it belongs with the great Disney revival movies from the 90's. What I loved it the princess is always a princess, it is actually about an orphan who grows up and becomes a prince.
	Tron Legacy 23 Dec, 2010 I so wanted to like this and there are things to like. Unfortunately, this movie was a chop job where you can clearly see where 5 different films were blended together in a mad-movies mash up. The big lebowski's dude finds a kid and a cyber vixen and magic mirror the to save a world that has nothing to do with the first 30 minutes of the movie.If you think that description makes no sense, wait to you see the movie. It is gorgeous, but I would have rather watched 5th Element for mindless, but good looking Sci-Fi.
	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I 10 Dec, 2010 This movies wasn't the raging disappointment of the previous ones...what can I say, I am invested in the story, but not enough to wade through many books of mediocre writing. Broken into two parts, this was like a dreary travelogue of exotic and cold places that Harry and Hermine are in the lamb in. In a uncomfortable scene, nudie H&H tempt Ron to despair, pointing to how the franchise and characters are maturing. Over all, it sets up a good momentum for a hopefully satisfying final episode.
	RED 13 Nov, 2010 This movie was so-so material elevated to awesome by great acting. It was funny, sexy, action packed, etc...HELLEN MIRREN WITH A MACHINE GUN AND FULL LENGTH FUR COAT! This movie was not your typical formula, and the acting was great, it is definably one of my should sees.
	Easy A 03 Oct, 2010 This was awesome end of summer pop corn. Emma Stone is such a snarky cupcake. Like all great teen dramas, it hits close to home by being so unreal. Emma is written as smart and cool as we all wish we could be...not to mention rocks a corset and steve maddens with a literary abandon. The movie if chock full of bad acting, stereotypes, and odd choices. Emma is better than here material, and and even flatter scenes rise to giggly fun.
	Never Let Me Go 02 Oct, 2010 GO! This movie was so good, I temporarily forgot that I just seen Enter the Void. It is a lush and period style of sci-fi movie that seems more merchant ivory. Each frame is gorgeous image. The acting is amazing. The entire film is understated. It lures you in with real people, cozy images, faded colors. Everything has the untouchable realness of a faded memory that you would swear by. The story is just as amazing. It takes the giant point and lets it rise up against you like the tide and then sneaks away, leaving you with just a deep breath and an emotion.
	Enter the Void 02 Oct, 2010 DON'T! That is the first thing I can say about this movie. The open credits are spectacular, and it is just a long trip down after that. Scenes from the movie still stick out as visually amazing, and the director attempts a conceit that really would have been amazing if he could have even gotten half way there. I am sure that film buffs can talk about it's video game "rail shooter" aesthetic, it's gritty Tokyo vision, etc. But the movies was boring and banal. It's visual symbolism was so obvious and sophomoric there were more like sight gags. To say the acting was bad was to pretend that they even attempted to act. The whole story is explained in the first 10 minutes in a clumsy 1 minute plot exposition. After that, it is 2 hours and 20 minutes of a third rate rip off of the stargate sequence from 2010. The most strobbing effects I saw were from people checking their phones to see how much loner. I am sure people will want to act like it was controversial..look sex and drugs. I have the Internet, I can watch people have sex...attractive people...with better plots!
	Tales of Earthsea 21 Aug, 2010 Beautiful to look at, but otherwise...huh?!? I never read the children's books, so was probably more lost that the rest of the fans. Father like son, the movie was up to the high visual and emotional standards of studio Ghibli; however, most of those stories were original tales creates by Miyazaki. This adaption left me lost.
	Step Up 3D 15 Aug, 2010 What a train wreck...and well beyond the expected train wreck. The first two, were surprisingly better than they had any right to be. Sweet and human moments flitted through what were essentially 90 minute long dance music videos. The robo-dancer was the most human actor they managed to find. The music was pushed to the background to make room for annoying robo-pistons, sneaker squeeks, and kung-fu sound effects. The "plot" (yes, those are finger quotes) was so bad, the movie couldn't even bother to pay attention it. There wasn't enough disbelief left to suspend by the time you get to the Gene Kelly "we are in love" scene. At least SitC2 had outfits you may have wanted.
	Orlando 04 Aug, 2010 I hadn't seen this movie since it first came out, at a small art house in Indiana. I remember loving it, and thinking it was more of a shared "trip" than a movie. It was gorgeous and well worth the second viewing. It solidifies Tilda as something amazing.
	The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 25 Jul, 2010 Billed as a cyber-thriller mystery, it turned out to be 2+ hours of living in a misogynistic hell were violence and abuse flair out of everywhere against the titular character. It was hard to watch. The clock work pacing and dark story tick away against the cold and isolated setting. It never develops the paranoia of Ghost Writer, but the menace and sickness of the mystery goes much deeper.
	Inception 10 Jul, 2010 Whoa! Wow! What?!? This movie was a great summer movie that haunts you long after. The acting, cinematography, story...everything was great. Go see it!
	Sixteen Candles 10 Jul, 2010 Believe it or not, I had never seen this movie before. It was a retro treat at the Aero. It was so weird to see actors playing teenagers, who really were teenagers. Like all great teen angst movies, it was painful, nostalgic, true, and a complete fantasy.
	2012 04 Jul, 2010 After the pain of The Last Airbender, this movie was a real TREAT. It was mind-numbingly simple. Obvious flaws of total implausibility and dubiously intelligent main characters move you from one global monument's destruction to the next. Woodie is enjoyable as a nut case and the effects are...well...effective.
	The Last Airbender 01 Jul, 2010 I was once part of a layoff, where they rounded 500 people into a giant room and told everyone that they were either laid off, or staying on but with a pay and hiring freeze. So you either had no job or were going to do the job of two people for the same pay. As I watched people leave this midnight open showing for this movie...the movie mob looked angrier and more dissapointed. People threw their 3D glasses at the attendants and boo'd on their way out. And they were being nice.
	Toy Story 3 26 Jun, 2010 After missing it at the department meeting...yes, we see previewing showings at Disney ;-) I finally really saw it and gave back some of my paycheck. It was may favorite of the trilogy, probably because it also was the creepiest.
	Valentino: The Last Emperor 05 Jun, 2010 The movie was not as exciting as The September Issue, but it seemed much more candid and less polished. You get to gawk as Valinto simultaneously preens for all of the attention and pouts because of it. He is a genius and a work-a-holic and completely oblivious to the empire he has built and the work he demands of others. He comes off as selfish, childish, and lacking intention. Then again, just to see 75 year old Valintino sky down some alp is worth it.
	Iron Man 2 30 May, 2010 Two days, two movies, two sequels...and they wonder why this is the worst memorial day weekend for movies in 15 years. Yeah dude, must be the pirates. Iron Man 2 was everything you expected: louder, flashier, and duller. Robert, Scarlet, and Gweneth were once again above the ability required by the script; which raised what would have been another explosion fueled action flick into somewhat entertaining. Robert reaffirmed that he is the surprise sex-symbol action hero that no one expected. Gweneth was alternating between been fun and slap-upside-the-head annoying. Scarlet was just a stone cold other Boylen girl.
	Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time 29 May, 2010 Jake does a much more convincing Indiana Jones in this movie than Shia did in the Indiana Jones movie. In the ancient middle east, everyone had British accents, drank, gambled, and hung around with beautiful women in insanely over the top cities. It made sex in the city's Abu Dabi look like something dug out from a Walmart bin.
	Sex in the City 2 28 May, 2010 They're back, and then they are off again. Last time the ladies needed a wedding to work as the vehicle to move us between shopping orgies and fatty comments, this time it was an all expenses paid tip to Abu Dabi, which turned down filming so all those location shots of "the new middle east" were from Morocco. I hated the first one, and this one was enjoyable. It was a light and fluffy girl movie that hits superficial shout outs to motherhood, relationships, menopause and feminism...all in 10 million dollars to fashion.
	Ghost Writer 01 May, 2010 It was so nice to see real acting, and to be reminded that Kim and Pierce are both capable of being real actors. Roman Polanski provided a slick and claustrophobic chiller which sucked me in like naive Ewan McGregor, who is either dim, naive, or just moving the plot along. It was gorgeous to look at and worked as architectural porn as well as a movie. Speaking of naughty, Mr. McGregor must have a rider in his contract to flash something in each movie.
	Secret of Kells 10 Apr, 2010 This movie was gorgeous and light. It was on of those rare gems that you wish more people would hear about. The heavily stylized animations follow a young monk as he inherits the task of completing the Book of Kells. It is full of magic, adventure, and stays true to point of view of the child.
	Nuns on the Run 27 Mar, 2010 Unlike Clue, this childhood favorite didn't hold up as well. It was a treat to see Doctor Who's "Rose Tyler" as the love interest. Other than that, it was a pile of Benny Hill drag gags and long gaps between truly witty dialog. The movie comes off as horribly dated.
	Alice in Wonderland 27 Mar, 2010 Why did I even bother? The movie was beautiful and Tim Burton's over the top directing seemed a little toned down. Out of the four human actors, only the Hatter and the Red Queen were bearable. The whole thing was an over-wrought snore fest. Like Alice's passing dream, you just don't care. Oh, expect for the gratuitous Hatter dance scene...that made me care enough to want to gouge my eyes out.
	Clue 20 Mar, 2010 Years later, this movie still works. I saw it as a double feature revival where the director cam to explain how this was his first feature film. A strange group of fanatic fans thankfully restrained themselves from quoting along. We were treated to all 3 endings and the director explained that a planned and rumored 4th ending was never full produced and that he thought it was terrible.
	Titanic 06 Mar, 2010 Why not! I mean, J.C. is up for an Oscar tonight, so I checked out the 70MM print that on the big screen at the Aero. First time I had actually seen the movie. It was like Avatar, but on the ocean. Same cheesy lines, same borrowed story and cardboard characters that we already know, same amazing effects and visuals to put you fully in the world. Where his plots and characters are underwhelming, you still feel pulled in by the massive scale and realism. But if I had to put Kate and Leo vs. computer generated space kittens as far as acting...hmmm...I may go space kittens.
	Valentine's Day 20 Feb, 2010 To say it was a luke warm, cheesy mess is to be generous. It had the the confusing mechanics of a Robert Altman film with a huge cast of "intertwined" stories running near real time. But is MAS*H were a pretty lady, Valentine's Day would have been an inflatable doll, but considering the target date and audience, it was likewise better than nothing else to do that night. I went out with a couple of friends an some glasses of house wine and thought that the whole thing was still loads better than watching Fame.
	Sherlock Holmes 23 Jan, 2010 A big candy corn "why not?!?" This movie was built to entertain and not to be too bothered with Sherlock Holmes, Mr. Doyle, historic facts, setting, costumes, acting...it was just there for fun. Downy and Jude make the best boy on boy couple on screen for a long time, alternating between fighting and flirty...and then getting their women.
	Avatar 16 Jan, 2010 Blue Space Kittens dance with wolves then control the spice, er Unobtanium, to control the Universe. It was a pastiche of all the great stories of outsider cum messiah...so in that sense it was a great plot, because we had all seen it before. The movie, as a technical work, was amazing and well worth viewing on the big screen. The biggest thing was that the fake-actors didn't bump me out of the experience with a big "oh that's fake" ala Wolverine's claws in his movie.
	It Happened One Night 02 Jan, 2010 Planning to see Avatar, but finding all tickets sold out hours before hand, I thought something that had won 5 major oscars must be somewhat good. This 1934 classic was fresh, funny, and both modern and very dated all at once. Perhaps it set the now cliche formula for romantic comedy, but in being so new at the time, you enjoy watching it happen.

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