Kam’s Annual Assessment of the Cream of the Cinematic Crop
I always feel a little silly ranking the year’s best movies, since so many are excellent and the different genres simply don’t lend themselves to comparison with one another. Nonetheless, since this task is part of my job description, far be it from this critic to shrink from this annual responsibility. However, in prefatory remarks, let me remind you that I am taking into consideration all the films released over the course of 2010, not simply those released since Thanksgiving which are being hyped as Oscar-worthy by the studios.
Also, rather than limit my list to just the 10 Best offerings, I’ve expanded it, as usual, to 100, and included documentaries, independents and foreign flicks, along with the obligatory Hollywood blockbusters. After all, while everybody is well aware of the films which benefited from a big advertising budget, part of my purpose here is to encourage everyone to check out some of those lesser-known, cinematic delights which might not have made a blip on your radar.
10 Best Big Budget Films of 2010
1. The Social Network
2. Kick-Ass
3. Piranha 3-D
4. The Kids Are All Right
5. The Town
6. Black Swan
7. Easy A
8. The Fighter
9. Date Night
10. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Big Budgets Honorable Mention
11. The Next Three Days
12. Just Wright
13. The Other Guys
14. Knight and Day
15. Get Him to the Greek
16. Karate Kid
17. Why Did I Get Married Too
18. The Expendables
19. Toy Story 3
20. Rabbit Hole
21. Lottery Ticket
22. Mother and Child
23. Cyrus
24. For Colored Girls
25. Iron Man 2
Best Foreign Films
1. Sophie’s Revenge (China)
2. A Film Unfinished (Poland)
3. Heartbreaker (France)
4. Africa United (Rwanda)
5. Jaffa (Israel)
6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Sweden)
7. Alamar (Mexico)
8. Soul Kitchen (Germany)
9. Hot Summer Days (Hong Kong)
10. Soul Boy (Kenya)
Foreign Films Honorable Mention
11. White Wedding (South Africa)
12. When We Leave (Turkey)
13. Everyone Else (Italy)
14. Amer (Belgium)
15. Bouncing Cats (Uganda)
16. Mademoiselle Chambon (France)
17. The Anchorage (Sweden)
18. Aftershock (China)
19. Leaving (France)
20. Cow (China)
21. Inspector Bellamy (France)
22. Mother (Korea)
23. For My Father (Israel)
24. Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 (France)
25. Girl on the Train (France)
10 Best Independent Films
1. Tiny Furniture
2. Fish Tank
3. Prince of Broadway
4. Modern Love Is Automatic
5. The People I’ve Slept With
6. Greenberg
7. Toe to Toe
8. Cairo Time
9. Kisses
10. Monsters
Independent Films Honorable Mention
11. Double Take
12. Nothing Personal
13. Hiding Divya
14. Life During Wartime
15. Lbs.
16. Women’s Prison
17. Like Dandelion Dust
18. Get Low
19. The Eclipse
20. Life’s Passing Me By
21. Wah Do Dem
22. Mercy
23. Paper Man
24. Trash Humpers
25. Friction
10 Best Documentaries
1. Gasland
2. Off and Running
3. Race to Nowhere
4. We Need to Talk
5. Dirty Hands
6. Biracial, Not Black, Dammit!
7. Restrepo
8. Neshoba
9. Videocracy
10. Wasteland
Documentaries Honorable Mention
11. I’m Still Here
12. The Other City
13. Fresh
14. Two in the Wave
15. Exit Through the Gift Shop
16. The Cartel
17. American Radical
18. Waiting for Superman
19. Behind the Burly Q
20. Hugh Hefner
21. The Art of the Steal
22. Tales from the Script
23. Saint Misbehavin’
24. Jean-Michel Basquait
25. Joan Rivers