Written By: Emanuel Caros

As a budding film buff, I take pride in seeing a larger quantity of films than most people.  In fact, what little free time I had over the past 12 months was spent at movie theaters all over South Florida.  But in preparing to list my thoughts on the best  films released this year, I was surprised to found out how few I actually saw.  Because of that I am sadly unqualified to make an assertion regarding 2010's best releases while omitting certain films that potentially warrant a spot on such a list.

In place of a top-10 list, I figured a listing of the most noteworthy movies of 2010 would work similarly:
10. 
Animal Kingdom - the foreign import was scarcely shown in the US, but highly regarded as akin to The Godfather.
9. 
Winter's Bone - the tale of a teenage girl in the mid-west bearing the obligations of her deadbeat father as she searches to keep her family afloat is unrelentingly dark and suspenseful, though borderline boring at times.
8. 
True Grit - The Coen Brothers' follow-up to last year's great A Serious Man is a re-make of an old John Wayne classic that possibly one-ups the original.
7. 
Shutter Island - criminally underrated, Scorsese 's suspenseful epic was extremely polarizing upon its release but should become a classic with time.
6. 
The King's Speech - The trailer made this Colin Firth vehicle look like the usual British Oscar bait, but in fact is a surprisingly humorous account of a war-time struggle.
5. 
Inception - Christopher Nolan hasn't made a bad film, and his summer mega-hit was no exception.  Despite a brain-wracking (don't you dare say "mind-blowing") plot involving three stories-within the main story, audiences still came in droves to see this blockbuster.
4. 
Kick-Ass/Scott Pilgrim vs. The World- the tie goes to the two comic book adaptations which elevated the genre to new heights.  Unfortunately at this point the taste of a third Spiderman (and second Fantastic Four) continues to linger in theater-goer's mouths, possibly keeping them from seeing these two films.  Either way, both were flawed, yet AWESOME, in their own right.  
3. 
Exit Through the Gift Shop - The documentary is evolving beyond straight-up talking heads re-telling a story.  The Banksy-directed (er, edited) film about street art involves a twist that outshines Catfish and I'm Still Here by miles.
2.
The Social Network - In the same exclusive group as Nolan, David Fincher has done no wrong.  With "The Facebook Movie" he deviated from his genre-driven themes and made a blockbuster; turning a rapid-firing Aaron Sorkin script into a full-blown wonder.
1. 
Black Swan - Add Darren Aronofsky to the list of the best directors if you haven't already.  2010 seemed to be the year of the director, and Aronofsky's major stepping-out was with this powerful drama set in the world of ballet.  Despite showing his cards too early, Aronofsky's film is gorgeous, and the best film of the year.

Runner's Up:
Enter the Void
Toy Story 3
Mesrine
Buried
The Crazies
Never Let Me Go
Restrepo
I Love You Phillip Morris
Catfish

Any disagreements?  Did we exclude a movie that should've been on this list?  Comment and let us know what you thought was the best of 2010.

Reviewed By: Emanuel Caros

It's not too often such a perfect combination of a mega-talented director, mega-talented leading actress, and mega-talented supporting cast is put together for an independent film.  But, in typical fashion for the director, Darren Aronofsky puts the pieces together to form a story-within-a-story that hits hard with such dramatic force from the start and does not relent.  But while the jumbled plot could've seemingly become convoluted, Aronofsky smooths the ride for audiences, making the dark themes and intense scenes palatable.  
As in all of the director's previous films (Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler) the film hinges on a strong performance from the main protagonist.  Natalie Portman delivers that and more as the naive and virginal Nina Sayers, a professional ballerina strenuously trying to steal the attention of the ballet director, played by Vincent Cassel.  Every actor plays to perfection, but their performances are dimmed by the wonderfully morose lead.
Still, until the end of the film brought it all together, the sci-fi elements had a cheesy feel; and what was built up to be an extremely dramatic final act didn't feel as epic as audiences are led to believe it will be.
Regardless, Darren Aronofsky puppeteers Natalie Portman into a near-perfect performance in a near perfect film that mashes together various genres and does so well.  With Black Swan, Aronofsky continues to show that he is the go-to director for storytelling that evokes drama and passion in the best of ways. 
10/10

The Fighter is an example of when the pieces don't fit together as well as they should.  Director David O. Russell makes the film look amazing, offering a fresh take on the once-stale boxing drama through an unexpected soundtrack, and a contemporary visual style that found him remaking telecasts of classic fights.  Mark Wahlberg FINALLY learns to play the common man after unfortunate attempts in The Happening and The Other Guys; and both Christian Bale and Amy Adams completely transform into the boxer's broken older brother/trainer and girlfriend.
Where The Fighter fails is in the way the plot rolls out.  The first act is short, the second brutally long-winded, and the final act seals up just as quickly as the first.  While the film notifies the audience that drama and suspense exist, they aren't parlayed on-screen, as the first hour and a half seem like the same couple scenes looped over and over again.  When the conflict finally reaches its apex, the difficulties that had been brewing into this huge complication are effortlessly alleviated by Wahlberg's character.  The film wraps up too cute and clean in comparison to the constant pounding of the "this is gonna be bad..." feeling that was rammed down the throats of the audience throughout the whole movie.  What results is a lackluster ending that puts to waste primo acting performances by a handful of Hollywood's best actors.      
6.5/10

Because this film lacks substance, so too would a full-length review.  Hence, the return of the "mini-review:"

Reviewed By: Emanuel Caros

As made apparent in other films, an all-star ensemble of filmmakers and actors working together leads to nothing less than good results.  But somehow with Due Date, director Todd Phillips (Old School, The Hangover) finds a way to make talent powerhouses Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis mediocre.  Both actors have such robust personalities and premier acting chops, that to box them into such shallow characters (a neurotic businessman and a doofus) is criminal.  Still, consistent with Phillips' past films comes a barrage of comedic quotables; and the back-and-forth between Galifianakis and Downey Jr. is enjoyable enough to overcome poor character development.  

But is it enough to make up for a hapless plot in which nothing substantial occurs?  While Seinfeld made the "show about nothing" cool, a movie about nothing doesn't work nearly as well.  Forced to drive cross-country together after an airplane incident that is wayyyy too familiar, what follows is a series of random events that become watered-down in the overall scheme of things.  The film strives for Apatow-esque heart, but doesn't delve deep enough into the sympathetic issues to work properly.  So while Zach and RDJ are charming as ever, Due Date fails to utilize them to their full potential, leaving but a shell of what could have been a hilarious film anchored by a big-time comedy duo.
6/10