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The Five Best Movies of 2010

Posted by Buddy Acker on January 7, 2011 at 10:36 PM

The Five Best Movies of 2010

By Buddy Acker


This list will probably change in time because I have not seen every movie in 2010 (I am not rich). But out of the ones that I have seen, these are undoubtedly the five best:


5. The Ghost Writer


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The Ghost Writer is a phenomenal political thriller that is not so much about politics as it is about moral decency. The main character, referred to as simply “The Ghost” throughout the film, attempts to uncover the truth about a former Prime Minister. He comes to discover that this man did some truly horrible things during his time in office and begins to question whether or not he should be involved in the mess he’s found himself in. The answer is a simple “no”. Roman Polanski does a terrific job as director, aiming not only to please thrill-seekers but also those of us, such as myself, who enjoy a little something called “conversation” in their movies. The dialogue is top-notch. The only issue I had with The Ghost Writer was Polanski’s tendency to rush certain scenes. Aside from that, it’s great.



4. True Grit


 

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True Grit doesn’t try to be an exact remake of the 1969 film of the same name. It separates itself and, in my opinion, actually surpasses the original. Why do I say that? It’s because The Coens took the best the first film had to offer and made it better. That’s the only reason I can come up with. Not only that, but the remake is exciting, charming, and funny. Hailee Steinfeld steals the show as Mattie Ross and Jeff Bridges is wonderfully endearing as Rooster Cogburn. This is by far the best Western I have seen in years. The only contradiction to that is that it’s not really a Western at all, at least not in the traditional sense of the word. Well, it is, but not really. I can’t quite explain it. But I guess that’s the truly great thing about True Grit: it defies not only explanation but also expectations.



3. Black Swan


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The creepiest movie I saw in 2010 was Black Swan. It was also the most daring, provocative, and unexpected movie-going experience of not only the year but my life. I mean, my jaw hit the floor on certain parts of this movie. I could not believe my eyes. I also felt a cold chill creep up my spine several times while watching it. The dream that Nina (AMAZINGLY played by Natalie Portman) has about turning into a swan still makes me shudder thinking about it. It’s one of those movies that I think everyone over the age of 16 should see despite its disturbing content. And that’s because the movie is a perfect example of the lengths that human beings will go to achieve their goals. Sometimes, the best approach is to just let it be because, as this movie shows, stress can literally drive a person crazy.



2. The Social Network


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Perhaps the most true-to-life movie of 2010 was David Fincher’s The Social Network. It may have not been an actual account of what happened when Facebook was founded but who wants to see that movie anyway? Talk about BORING. Anyhow, The Social Network features the absolute best spoken dialogue of the year. The scenes where two or more people are interacting are just as exciting and intense as any explosion in any action movie. The film is also a social commentary on how technical and selfish the world has become. It is just plain fantastic and would have been a shoo-in for my favorite movie of 2010 if not for…



1. Inception


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How do I explain my love for Inception? A large majority of all big-name critics loved it. Audiences obviously loved it as evidenced by its combined $292,576,195 in the box office. My best friend loves it. Caleb loves it. But here’s the thing: nobody can quite explain it. Not even I can. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is where the true genius of Inception lies. It makes me want to watch it again, and again, and again until I understand it. I want to watch it once more even now. I want to take in every scene line-by-line until I have all two hours and twenty-eight minutes of it memorized. Inception shows us that the dreams we have are beautiful things indeed but that’s not all that the movie is getting at. I think the whole idea to take away from it is to enjoy life because there will come a day when things won’t go the way we expect them to go. We will have hardships. We will fail miserably at a lot of things. The beautiful part is, we will always have our dreams no matter what. We can always leave the past behind and look forward to something better. We can even have a dream within a dream…or a dream within a dream within a dream. The possibilities of this crazy little thing called “existence” are endless so don’t take one day for granted. That’s the message I took away from Inception. Other people may have taken it at face value or gotten a different vibe. That’s okay too. The splendor of any great movie, song, or work of art is that it can be interpreted different ways. Inception is a great movie.



These five movies were, in my opinion, the five best movies of 2010.

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