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Here are my favorite movies of 2010, in no particular order:

– My favorites –

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

As the credits rolled, my wife asked me what I thought of the movie.  I told her that if anyone still needed to get me a Christmas present and had no idea what to get me, it was Scott Pilgrim (the Blu-ray, not the man).  I’m pretty sure that it was my favorite movie of the entire year.  When you open with the A Link to the Past title screen music, I have high expecations of you, movie.  You did not disappoint.  Well done!  I want my own announcer now, proclaiming, “Steve earned the power of <insert power here>!”

My only qualm with the movie was how expensive the Blu-ray was, compared to all the deals I got around Black Friday.  I finally broke down and bought it just a few days ago from Amazon for $23.99 – $4 coupon, and wouldn’t you know it, it goes on sale next week for $19.99.  Such is the pain of my movie-buying.

Toy Story 3

This was my other favorite movie of the year, and one of the four that I saw in the theater, thanks to the free tickets included with the Toy Story and Toy Story 2 Blu-rays.  I love Pixar.  I don’t know how they did it, but they managed to make the third entry in a series the best one.

How to Train Your Dragon

This and Kung Fu Panda are Dreamworks Animation’s best, with Shrek and Shrek 2 also somewhere up there, but paling beside HtTYD and KFP. I love a movie that my kids can watch over and over and over and over without me not only not hating it, but still liking it a lot.

Tangled

This year’s daddy-daughter date movie was Tangled.  We were late for the 2D show so I got to pay the exorbitant 3D price (and complain about it to everyone who would listen over and over again).  (Seriously, it bothers me that I paid $18.75 for two matinee tickets, one of which was for a child, when come March I will be able to buy the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack for less than that.  Ugh.)  Anyway, we both liked it, plus it has Chuck.  Does anyone else think it’s funny that Scott Pilgrim and Chuck both bested Superman?  Both funny ha-ha and funny interesting.

As a side note, I’m pretty sure I saw a trailer for Tangled at some point before seeing the actual movie, but I don’t recall its contents.  Some of the reviews I read mentioned how for a princess movie, it was heavily marketed to boys.  The other day I was at the Disney store with my daughter buying her a birthday present when a trailer came on.  Sure enough, it looked like a boy movie.  I don’t know what my point was.

– Other movies I enjoyed –

Inception

Everyone I know who has seen Inception loved it.  A girl I work with saw it five (?) times theatrically, and seemed disappointed when I didn’t share her glowing enthusiasm.  I thought it was really good, but it didn’t blow my mind like I think it was supposed to.  I certainly don’t regret the $7.99 it cost me.  The story was very interesting, and I did think the zero-gravity sequence was really, really cool.  The cast was good too–I particularly like Ellen Page in anything I’ve seen her in.  And Michael Caine!  How do you not love Michael Caine?  It seemeth me impossible.  I especially love him in The Muppet Christmas Carol.

I do like Christopher Nolan’s films generally.  Batman Begins and The Dark Knight go without saying, since I love me some Batman (except for you, Batman and Robin; you are a crime against humanity), and I also remember enjoying The Prestige. A few months ago I watched Memento and that was pretty good, too.

Iron Man 2

This is this year’s saw-it-twice-theatrically.  The first time was for free, and the second time was when I took my wife.  It wasn’t as good as the first Iron Man, but it was enjoyable enough that it was my choice of New Year’s Eve entertainment.

Easy A

This is one for which I’d read a good review, and so got it from Netflix.  I’d never seen a trailer, but heard it looked awful based on reports of said trailer.  I really liked the movie, and afterward watched the trailer.  It was pretty misleading, sadly.  I recommend this one (the movie, not the trailer).  From Eric D. Snider’s review: “I would pay $100 to watch a movie JUST about Tucci and Clarkson’s characters…”  I agree, but I’m cheap so I’d probably only pay $50.

Salt

I saw this movie solely because it had Angelina Jolie in it.  I do not agree with the quote on the back of the case–“More charm than Bond and more strength than Bourne”–but it was fun overall.  (Actually, it depends on which Bond.  Stone me if you will, but Sean Connery is actually my second-least-favorite Bond, even after George Lazenby.  My favorite is a toss-up between Daniel Craig and Timothy Dalton.  Don’t really stone me.)  The Bourne trilogy is on my list of movies I watch at least annually, and Salt is probably not going to be added to that list, but I will watch it again.

I am ashamed to say that my wife saw the bad guy coming and I did not.

Knight and Day

Off the top of my head, I can’t think of a Tom Cruise film that I have liked more, except for Mission: Impossible III, and maybe Minority Report.  I was pleasantly surprised by how much I actually enjoyed this movie.  One of the things i really liked is how a lot of the “action” happened offscreen.

Batman: Under the Red Hood

One of the two 2010 DC animated direct-to-DVD films, and my favorite of the two.  I just love Batman.  One of my Black Friday deals was getting most of this line of movies on Blu-ray and selling my DVDs for an average upgrade cost of $1 each.  I am looking forward to watching them all again this coming year.  Between episodes of Lois & Clark over the past week or so, I have rewatched Superman: Doomsday, Batman: Gotham Knight, and Justice League: The New Frontier.  This one is in line soon.

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse

The other DC animated direct-to-DVD movie from 2010, and it was easy to enjoy.  Like 2009’s Superman/Batman movie, Kevin Conroy is Batman.  That is Good.  Also, Summer Glau is Supergirl.  To paraphrase my father-in-law, I would watch Summer Glau paint walls.  And this was just her voice.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles Forever

As I understand it, this serves as a finale to the 2003 (?) TMNT TV series, which I have never seen.  I was an avid watched of the ’80s series as a kid, though.  This movie blended the two shows most awesomely, plus adding in the Turtles from the original comic book.  I cracked up several times, notably at:

• ’80s Raphael making jokes to the camera a few times, ending in a bad guy grabbing him to exclaim, “Who are you talking to?!  There’s no one there!”
• Comic Book Leonardo’s narration-while-fighting.

I need to find this cheap and pick it up for my 2-year-old boy, who has recently taken quite a liking to the Turtles.  His ninja rolls are awesome.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

I bought this because with the coupons Disney puts out for new releases of their Blu-ray/DVD combo packs, it was practically free when I bought it with Fantasia/Fantasia 2000.  It ended up being not as bad I thought it would be, and seemed to me a perfect fit for Nicolas Cage.  My wife has watched it at least three or four times, so it was free well spent.

Date Night

I love Tina Fey.  I recently started watching 30 Rock solely to watch Tina Fey.  Steve Carell is also fun(ny), but it’s all about Tina for me.

The Karate Kid

Another movie that wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, and that I actually didn’t mind watching at all.  I really liked Jackie Chan in this one.  I haven’t seen the original Karate Kid in a long time, and I need to watch it again soon.

– Movies that made me say “meh” –

Jonah Hex

Surprisingly, I hold no ill will toward this movie, but I have no desire to ever see it again.  (Then again, I had no desire to see it in the first place.  Hm….)

Alice in Wonderland

I like Johnny Depp, usually Tim Burton, and I don’t regret having watched this movie, but meh.

– 2010 movies I haven’t seen yet that I hope are good, because I already bought at least one of them, and I want to like the others –

Shrek Forever After

The A-Team

Harry Potter and the Deathy Hallows Part 1

Megamind

The Other Guys

– Movies that made me say “Why on earth did I watch this?” –

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

While not overtly bad like Transformers 2 (shudder), I liked this movie well enough up until the last 15 minutes or so.   Movie, I HATE YOU FOR ERASING YOURSELF.

The Invention of Lying

The premise sounded interesting, but ultimately I did not enjoy it at all.

2012

I think this actually came out in 2009, but according to my Netflix history I watched it in March 2010.  My mom highly recommended the movie.  I had to span viewing it over two nights because I just couldn’t take it.  After about the 32nd time that John Cusack narrowly escaped death I looked at my watch and realized that only 18 minutes of the movie had passed, and I still had 9 hours to go.  Sorry, Mom.

Wait, I have a watch?

– (Other) Leftovers from 2009 –

Sherlock Holmes

My wife and I saw this in the theater around her birthday in March.  It was good.

Whip It

I saw this for Ellen Page.  I was thusly able to watch, and enjoy, a movie about Roller Derby, which is more than Adam Sandler could do for me with football and The Longest Yard (but not The Waterboy).  (See also: Happy Gilmore and golf.  Man, what happened to Adam Sandler?)

That is what we were doing, right?  Well, I did mention him a month and a half ago, talking about Star Trek and Heroes.

I recently re-watched Heroes Season 1 on DVD, having bought the set two years ago, lent it to my mother for her viewing pleasure, but never actually watched it myself.  It’s the only season I own, and I’ve only watched the show as it aired, so it had been a while since I’d seen anything but season 4 that wrapped up two (?) months ago.

It was really enjoyable.  It almost made me want to buy seasons 2 and 3 on DVD and watch them again, but I’ll have to wait till the good sales come around again, what with being spoiled by my cheap DVD spending lately.  That is another story, however.

So actually I wanted to jot down something about Hugh Laurie, and am using Zachary Quinto as my segue.  I’ve watched House for the last few years, and have mostly enjoyed it, due particularly to Hugh Laurie (though Robert Sean Leonard deserves more-than-honorable mention.  Did he play the Nazi in Swing Kids?  I can’t remember if it was him or Christian Bale.  Anyway).  Last year I watched A Bit of Fry and Laurie, and my eyes were opened to a whole new Hugh Laurie.  It was great.  Seeing Stephen Fry’s guest appearances on Bones has been awesome.

Anyway, so last week I started watching Jeeves & Wooster.  I’ve watched seven or eight episodes now, and they’re hysterical.  Watching those episodes and then watching the newest episode of House is quite the contrast.  Unable to make an eloquent connection or point at this… point… I will simply say that Hugh Laurie is fantastic.  Also, he was one of the voices in Monsters vs. Aliens, which I apparently said had a stellar voice cast.

Is this one of those things that you post on Twitter, only more shortly?  Something like “Zachary Quinto, referenced earlier, awesome on Star Trek and Heroes, which I watched recently, segues to Hugh Laurie in Jeeves & Wooster and House, both funny”?  I don’t have a Twitter account, so I don’t know about these things.  Maybe I should get one, just to say that.

And to finish up an already disjointed not-tweet, in November 2008, I bought Jeeves & Wooster: The Complete Series for my wife for $24.30.  She watched the set and then it sat on the shelf.  It spanned eight DVDs, each in its own standard size DVD case, which took up quite the amount of room.  About eight months later, I sold the set to FYE for $24.00.  Then two months ago, I bought the reissue version, with only four slim DVD cases housing two DVDs each–a 75% savings in shelf space–for $26.49.

Make all the fun you want, upgrading to the way better packaging for only $2.79 was awesome.

Getting The Princess and the Frog Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack for $1.99 + tax on release date was awesomer.  This week’s Toy Story and Toy Story 2 Blu-ray/DVD combo packs for $6.99 + tax each will likewise be awesome.  That is all.

Because everybody cares–if you state something as fact it is automatically true–here are my favorite movies of 2009, in no particular order:

– My favorites –

Star Trek

We planned to see this with friends, but on a whim I took the afternoon off work on opening day and caught a mantinee.  No, I don’t mind going to the movies by myself.  I’m there for the movie, not to talk to you.  Anyway, the opening was utterly fantastic, and the rest of the movie did not go downhill in any way.  My only real exposure to the original series being the theatrically-released movies, I know very little about the origins of the characters and what went on during the TV series in the ’60s.  Whatever happened then, I loved what happened now.

My previous exposure to Zachary Quinto was as Sylar on Heroes, a villain I adore even though many say he has more than worn out his welcome.  Watching him as Spock and then as Sylar is great.  I love when I feel like I am not watching the actor play a character, but rather I am watching the character.  It’s like Ian McKellen in X-Men vs. Lord of the Rings.  Also great was Simon Pegg as Scotty, though as a disclaimer I must say that anyone with a Scottish accent nearly automatically wins my full approval.

The movie was so great that I enjoyed it just as much, if not more, the second time I saw it, that time with aforesaid friends.  I did secretly hope that Nero would spontaneously turn into the Hulk, but that was really my only let-down.

(500) Days of Summer

I had read good reviews about this movie when it premiered at Sundance last year, but I never got around to actually seeing it until I got it from NetFlix, and really I did that primarily because it stars Zooey Deschanel.  What a fantastic, fantastic movie!  As soon as this one is under $20 on Blu-ray, I am all over it.  It also introduced me to a song that I cannot get out of my head, “Quelqu’un m’a dit” by Carla Bruni.

Up

What the world needs is yet another person proclaiming the brilliance of Pixar, so here I am.  I usually just skip the theater and buy Pixar movies on DVD since they have such an astounding track record, but I had a free ticket for Up so I went to a matinee one day.  The opening was wonderfully moving, and the rest of the movie was pretty great, too.  I’m still waiting for Pixar to top The Incredibles, but I suppose Up is a good try.

The Princess and the Frog

I took my daughter to see this movie around Christmas time, and we both had a great time.  Some of my all-time favorite movies are good old-fashioned 2D animation from Disney, and I’m glad that they are again putting out such movies.  One particular sequence when Tiana imagines her future restaurant featured animation that was simply a joy to watch.

– Other movies I enjoyed –

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

This was another one that I read good reviews about and watched via NetFlix.  It’s a non-Pixar CG film that is enjoyable!  (Okay, DreamWorks has some stuff that I liked, too.  But Pixar FTW.)  This one wasn’t hurt by the wonderful voice cast, either.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Yep, I’m the guy that liked it.

Wonder Woman

I’m not a huge Wonder Woman fan, but I have enjoyed the previous direct-to-DVD DC titles, including Superman: Doomsday and Justice League: The New Frontier, so I watched this one.  It was fun enough that I didn’t mind adding it to my DVD shelf with the other DC movies, something for which I can not the same of Green Lantern: First Flight (but I’ve never been a Green Lantern fan.  At all).

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

Another direct-to-DVD adventure, and it was easy to enjoy.  Almost anything starring Batman will go over well enough with me (except for you, Batman and Robin.  You are a crime against humanity).  When Batman is voiced by Kevin Conroy, the chances of success are astronomically higher.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

My family has a tradition of going to a movie on New Year’s Eve for my brother’s birthday, and this year was Alvin and the Chipmunks.  It was Not As Bad As I Thought It Would Be, though I think it’s really only on my list because Chuck is in it.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Another movie that was Not As Bad As I Thought It Would Be, and had an enjoyable chase sequence through Paris.

– Movies that made me say “meh” –

Watchmen

Meh.

Terminator Salvation

It didn’t really seem like a Terminator movie to me.

Land of the Lost

It had a few moments, but meh.

Avatar

Yes, the effects were pretty.  That is all.

– Movies that made me say “Why on earth did I watch this?” –

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Seriously.  Why on earth did I watch this?