First off, before I hear any "Dude, it's almost March of 2011," I realize that. I waited to post my top 10 list for two main reasons. One, I wanted to post it just prior to the Oscars, which are this Sunday. The other reason being is, many of the Oscar films that are officially released in 2010, don't expand to theaters in the Cleveland area until mid-January, so it took a little time to catch up on everything. So, sue me.

The following, in my opinion of course, are the top 10 movies of the year. I wasn't blown away by many of them except a small few and certainly, many of the bottom half of this list could really be in any order.

10.) 127 Hours
    *Normally you wouldn’t find a guy on screen by himself for 90 minutes or so to be too exciting, but James Franco delivers his best performance in his young career depicting the true story of an adventure gone horribly wrong.

9.) Kick-Ass
    *I’m a sucker for first quarter movies that come out and are a bit off-kiltered and just plain different from everything else being released. This one about superheros who possess absolutely no superhero powers. It’s one of those movies where it’s both funny and has a very good storyline.

8.) Shutter Island
    *Honestly, it’s one of the most predictable movies I’ve ever seen (so much so, that I predicted the ending back when I saw the previews long before I saw the movie) but it’s you can't go wrong with a Martin Scorsese/Leonardo DiCaprio teamed movie and for what it's worth, it's still a good thriller.

7.) The King’s Speech
    *Probably the best all-around well-acted movie that was released in 2010 with a phenomenal lead performance from Colin Firth, who will run away with the Oscar this year, just as he should of last year with his performance in A Single Man.

6.) Black Swan
    *A very disturbing psychological thriller that leaves you questioning everything once you leave the theater. And for me, you can’t ask for anything more than that.

5.) The Fighter
    *Another all-around well-acted movie where Christian Bale will most likely run away with best supporting actor.

4.) The Social Network
    *One of the most critically acclaimed movies of the year was also one of the most entertaining films as well, which is a rarity (The King's Speech is great, but I wouldn't call it wildly entertaining.) Well-acted, well-directed, the dialogue is top notch and the content is extremely relevant considering how popular Facebook is.

3.) The Town
    *A suspenseful, action-packed film with a surprisingly good acting performance from Ben Affleck and another solid directed movie from him as well (he directed Gone Baby Gone as well). Jeremy Renner however steals the show.

2.) Blue Valentine
    *A very emotional, realistic portrayal of a married couple on the rocks (to put it nicely) with tremendous lead performances from Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. I wrestled with putting this in the No. 1 slot as I saw this twice in the theater and will surely be buying it the first day it comes out on DVD.

1.) Inception
    *Another film I saw twice in the theaters and again on dvd. I've been saying it for years, Christopher Nolan, at age 40, is the best director of his generation. Going off what I said about Black Swan, this movie sparked more discussions and debates than any other film released in 2010. What was real and what wasn’t? The greatest thing about it is, we’ll literally never know. But it won’t stop people from arguing their theories. Christopher Nolan is a master at creating these discussions.


By Nick Carrabine
NCarrabine@News-Herald.com