2010 could live forever as the best year for movie releases in my lifetime. As I write this today (April 22, 2023), I, sadly but more confidently, feel like the years when we have two to three dozen quality movies are forever gone. With the advent of streaming television shows and series and an established vast array of cable programming, the cinematic single-viewing experience may be left to blockbuster-type movies. There have been no better examples than 2020, which I had discussed in previous reviews was the worst year of film in my lifetime, only for that argument to be surpassed by the 2021 cumulative list of below-average movies. 2021 is the first year when none of the Best Picture nominees will be in my end-of-year top ten list. Rewatching a film like The Social Network, despite receiving a 100% review, was just my fourth favorite movie of 2010. This would have been my favorite movie in many other years. Still, with The Town (my second favorite movie of all time) and the incredible Blue Valentine and Shutter Island, even a perfect film finished outside my top three.
Category Archives: 2010
The Town (2010)
Ben Affleck’s (Gone Baby Gone, Live By Night) The Town was my favorite movie a few years ago. The Revenant has since replaced it, while The Shawshank Redemption will constantly vie for a top spot, but it’ll be a long time before The Town falls out of my Top 10. I’ve watched it three times (once in the theater), and I’ve enjoyed it just a little less with each viewing while appreciating it a little more with those watches. The Town also contains one of my all-time favorite scenes, the finale in Fenway Park depths.
North Face (Nordwand) (2010)
If I could describe the Germany-released movie North Face in just a single word, it would be the word horrific. Based upon the true story about a competition to climb the most dangerous rock face of the Swiss Alps, the subtitled movie gets better and better with each passing frame. For those moviegoers who aren’t into subtitled movies, I can sympathize. I tend to groan when I know I’m about to embark on one of those too. Subtitled movies are ones that you need to prepare for, and, unfortunately, when a subtitled movie is bad, it almost becomes twice as dreadful to trudge through. But, at the same time, I have seen some fantastic foreign-language movies, and North Face ranks right up there with them. And, as with any good subtitled movie, when you are truly engaged, you don’t even notice you are reading the words anymore. I’m not sure how I came across this movie, other than the fact that I love a good adventure movie (I am one of those people that tends to separate the adventure genre from the action genre).
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Shutter Island (2010)
Without a doubt, Martin Scorsese’s (The Wolf of Wall Street, The Departed) was one of my life’s most incredible theater movie experiences. I had been super excited for the movie since seeing its first preview six months or more before it came out. There was so much hype associated with the film that I was certain it couldn’t live up to the expectations. However, it not only met expectations but also surpassed them. This movie is a complete masterpiece and has only been dampened by the fact that the second viewing (an essential viewing for all film fans) wasn’t as awesome as I thought it would be. I thought I would gain some insight into knowing things about the movie I didn’t realize during my first viewing. Rather than capitalizing on this new knowledge, I found the second viewing rather dull. The excitement of seeing this film for the first time was what made it so great. This movie is also a much better view in the theater than at home, regardless of how big your home television might be. It’s a movie that needed to be seen in a dark theater full of other people viewing the film for the first time.
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Life As We Know It (2010)
Life As We Know It is one of those movies that didn’t interest me when I saw the previews for the first time or encouraged me to overcome those reservations with a 28% positive rating on www.rottentomatoes.com. I would never have seen it had it not been on HBO one day. So I recorded it and gave it 15 minutes to interest me. I was so glad I did it. Not only did it grab my attention with a hilarious first scene between the two lead stars, but it also won me over with its tender story, direction, and actors who were determined to get it right. And, low and behold, the movie came out in 2010. Even though this movie doesn’t come close to cracking the top ten for that year, it further supports my argument that 2010 is the best year for movie releases in my lifetime.
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