The 10 Best Movies That Came Out 10 Years Ago
By: Brian Rowe
Tags: Lists, Film, Horror, Disney, Movies

One of my favorite years for movies so far in the twenty-first century was 2010, which saw a wonderful mix of genre films that continue to delight me to this day. If you haven’t seen any of these films, you should take a look, especially while you’re stuck at home and looking for great movies to watch!

10. Kick Ass

It’s as good or not better than any of the numerous comic book movies that have come out in the last twenty years, but somehow the irreverent, appropriately titled entertainment powerhouse Kick-Ass didn’t make a huge dent at the box office.

Buzzed about for months and months, it was a rare action blockbuster that actually lived up to all the hype. Unexpectedly hilarious, with wildly hardcore violence, the film features a colorful array of characters, the most memorable being Hit Girl, played by Chloe Grace Moretz.

9. Rabbit Hole

It’s difficult to recommend a movie about a couple dealing with the loss of their four-year-old son. As great and award-worthy a movie like this can be, many might plunk their hard-earned cash on a dumb comedy just so that they can semi enjoy themselves.

But if you look past the main premise, there’s a joyous, life-affirming aspect to this drama that is unexpected and welcome. If nothing else, though, check this one out for the performances by Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart, who paint a remarkable portrait of a couple trying to cope and doing their best to move on.

8. 127 Hours

Danny Boyle’s ingenious follow-up to Slumdog Millionaire was another 360 for the director, a true story that takes us into the mind of a guy who loves adventure and finds himself face to face with a boulder that would change his life forever.

Movies that revolve around mostly one character can be a slog, so directors like Boyle (and Robert Zemeckis, who made Cast Away) seem to look at the limitations as an artistic freedom to push the boundaries of human drama.

7. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

The most blazingly original mainstream release of 2010 was Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, an exhausting, flashy, and gloriously exciting piece of work that is more an experience than a movie. Starting with the opening logo, the film races forward at 500 MPH with a huge ensemble cast, a joke a minute, and magnificent, colorful special effects.

It doesn’t happen a lot with movies, especially ones released wide in the summer by a major studio, but this can be said about Scott Pilgrim vs. the World — there has never been a movie made quite like it. And that’s the biggest compliment one can give to this or any film.

6. The Kids Are All Right

Any movie with Annette Bening and Julianne Moore, two of our finest living actresses, would be a must-see, and The Kids Are All Right is a sharp study of a modern family that continues to resonate with me to this day. The family scenes are full of great drama, and then the tension only rises when the sperm donor (a perfectly cast Mark Ruffalo) of the couple’s two kids shows up in their lives.

Moore is at her best as the confused, adulterous Jules, but it’s Bening’s performance, as the fiery-tempered Nic, who leaves the biggest impression, particularly in that devastating dinner scene where Nic discovers Jules’ infidelity.

5. Let Me In

The best horror movie of 2010, and easily the most underappreciated, inexplicably ignored genre film of the last decade, Let Me In is a visually awe-inspiring masterpiece that chills you to the spine. The only major actor to appear in this top ten list is none other than Chloe Grace Moretz, who is the most memorable aspect of Kick-ass, and she’s the most memorable aspect of this great film, which tells the story of a young boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who befriends a young girl in his apartment complex, who may or may not be a vampire.

Matt Reeves (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) directs Smit-McPhee and Grace-Moretz to fine performances, and he captures a snowy 1980’s New Mexico remarkably well. Horror buffs everywhere, watch this movie!

4. Blue Valentine

A lot of movies play out on-screen without affecting its viewers in any substantial way, but Blue Valentine is one of those rare films that ceases to be a movie after a while and becomes an emotionally devastating experience for the audience that can’t be shaken for days.

Part of the reason this film, which jets back and forth six years throughout, detailing the beginning and the ending of a couple’s relationship, works so well is that the two main characters are so perfectly cast — Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are incredibly raw together. Director Derek Cianfrance spent twelve long years trying to get this film made, and his patience and hard work paid off, probably more than even he could have ever expected.

3. The Social Network

When it was announced in 2009 that Zodiac director David Fincher and The West Wing writer Aaron Sorkin were collaborating together on a new movie about the creation of Facebook, film buffs everywhere rose their eyebrows with cynicism. Despite the great writer, director, and cast working on the film, it seemed doubtful that anything other than a forgettable effort would be released in 2010.

The Social Network not only succeeds on every level imaginable, but it’s also this generation’s Network, a fascinating, expertly made and acted parable of our disconnected times. Among its distinguished cast, Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield leave the biggest impressions as friends who start pulling away from each other after the success of the web site.

2. Black Swan

It is often said that film is a director’s medium, and that’s definitely true of a gorgeous, haunting masterpiece like Black Swan. In the hands of another filmmaker, Black Swan would probably play out as a tired, clunky psychological horror movie that’s more dumb than scary. But in the hands of the great Darren Aronofsky, who previously directed Ellen Burstyn to an Oscar nomination for Requiem for a Dream and Mickey Rourke to an Oscar nomination for The Wrestler, Black Swan works as a terrifying horror film, fascinating backstage drama, Mommie Dearest nightmare, gay sex romp, and a jaw-dropping showcase for its star Natalie Portman, who won the Academy Award.

Like Blue Valentine, Black Swan leaves you exhausted and breathless in the end, having experienced something far more impressive and immersive than just a movie. Black Swan is a masterpiece of the highest order, the kind that comes around once or twice a year, if we’re lucky, and it remained one of the greatest, most discussed movies of the decade.

1. Toy Story 3

In 1995 Disney had two major animated features set for release, and naturally, at the time, they put most of their focus on the film that knew would be a critical and box office success — Pocahontas. Their other animated feature, set to be released in November, was more of a question mark. Would audiences embrace a fully computer generated animated movie? At the time many scoffed at the idea of computer animation, fully believing that traditional hand-drawn animation would forever remain at the forefront.

Cut to today. Traditional animation is basically dead outside of indie animated films, and computer animation has taken over the world’s entertainment for kids and families, with everything from the newest animated feature to the latest direct-to-video kids’ math tutorial being rendered in this medium. But nobody understands the potential of the discipline than Pixar, which created ten masterworks following Toy Story 1, including Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Up, and Toy Story 2, one of the best sequels made since The Godfather: Part II. Originally conceived as a quick direct-to-video cash-in, Toy Story 2 was saved by John Lasseter from the potential bargain bin and developed into an even more emotionally involving experience than the first movie. While all of Pixar’s movies have found varying levels of success, their best films have always remained the Toy Story masterworks.

Toy Story 3, which finally got the green-light in 2006, was put into the hands of the right people, namely the wizards of Pixar, and particularly Lee Unkrich, who had previously co-directed Toy Story 2. The first trailer premiered in 2009, and the first test screenings started in November 2009, with early word promising that this new installment wasn’t going to be the disappointment almost every single third entry of a movie trilogy is. Even director Unkrich said before making the film that he sought out every third part of a movie series and couldn’t find a single one that equaled or bettered its successors. So Unkrich said out not to make a passable sequel, but the ultimate Toy Story, a fitting conclusion to the series that would give audiences one last thrill ride with these timeless lovable characters. Let’s just say he succeeded.

Toy Story 3 was by far the best film of 2010, and Pixar’s greatest achievement, a film that is full of humor, drama, and surprises every step of the way, never repeating a moment from the previous two movies, never feeling tired or dated in any way. The entire vocal cast is back, except for Jim Varney, who passed away from cancer in 2000. Visually the movie is simply gorgeous to look at, whether it’s in 3D or 2D or on your television or on your laptop. However you watch it, Toy Story 3 is a beauty. The first two acts of the film are tons of fun, a sort of Great Escape in animated form. Andy is seventeen now and ready to head for college, and the toys ultimately find themselves imprisoned at a kids’ daycare center. Although the film has the potential to ring tears out of the audience in its opening nostalgic few minutes, the filmmakers thankfully allow us to go on a ride that is both entertaining and hilarious, one that never slows down for one second as we follow the toys daringly escaping the daycare center to get back to Andy.

But if Toy Story 3 had ended more standard in that final twenty minutes, it might not have ended at the top of this list. What director Unkrich and all the storytellers do in that final act is something miraculous; they make us not only care for the well-being of the toys, but worry in desperation for their precious little lives. No scene in 2010 could match the intensity and despair of the now famous hand-holding incinerator scene, one of the most perfectly realized, downright terrifying moments in all of animation history. The toys we know and love are suddenly faced with a horrific predicament. So what do they do? They hold hands and brace for death. That a scene this moving and unexpected and jaw-droppingly terrifying is featured in a G-rated family movie is a testament to the genius of Pixar.

So then the movie could have ended with the toys making their way back to Andy’s attic, where they’ll await his return from college, and everyone would have been happy as can be. But the filmmakers go one step further by creating a final, heartbreaking scene that is as emotionally devastating as it is strangely uplifting. Any other studio would have rushed an ending like this, but Pixar takes its time by letting Andy introduce each last toy to its new owner and play with the toys one final time. All the small details and nuances of this final scene are perfect, particularly the way Andy holds onto Woody for a few seconds longer, and that final wave goodbye. And the line “Thanks, guys,” says so much by saying so little. This closing scene is as beautiful a final scene as one in any other movie, animated or not animated.

Toy Story 3 is one of my favorite films of the last decade, and it’s worth another look if you haven’t seen it in awhile. Toy Story 4 was solid entertainment, I enjoyed it… but it’s nothing like the previous installment. Toy Story 3 is Pixar’s ultimate masterpiece.