And so 2010 comes to an end, not the best year for movies, and clearly these last few months have not had me champing at the bit to get to a cinema…lets take stock shall we?
Everyone else is doing it…
2010 didn’t have any outright stinkers like last years Where The Wild Things Are (I. HATE. THIS. FILM) or Astroboy (So many childhood dreams shattered), though it did have some disappointments’; Sex & The City 2 and Scott Pilgrim VS The World I’m looking at you…the less said about Clash of the Titans the better…
On the plus side 2010 saw a resurgence of Australian films, or certainly Australian films I would pay money to see in cinemas. From the bright and colourful (and flawed) Bran Nue Dae, Peter Helliar’s uneven attempt at the Rom-Com with I Love You Too, and finally the all ages action adventure of Tomorrow When The War Began. Stay out of the dreary suburbs Aussie film makers and I’ll continue to support you!
There was no big break out comedy hit like last year’s The Hangover, with Date Movie and Hot Tub Time Machine being funny but somewhat lacking. Likewise action films were in short supply, though Salt put up a valiant effort, The A-Team entertained while The Expendables wasted its action movie all star cast.
3D continued its assault on the big screen, even if the 3D only added to the ticket price and not the experience. When you are witness to a piranha fight over a CGI penis (Piranha 3D) you know 3D has reached its limits…
It was a year of farewells as Shrek and Toy Story took their final bows – and Harry Potter began its extended swan song. The super hero movie took a year off, only Iron Man 2 and Kick Ass daring to leap from tall buildings – although 2011 looks set to be the year of the super hero with Thor, Captain America and Green Lantern all fighting for dominance.
Instead the thinking person’s film returned with the mind bending logic, and special effects of Inception, and the talky, but riveting The Social Network putting intelligently written and engrossing scripts back onto the big screen. More please!
But the best film of 2010?
For me it isn’t a tough call at all, while I enjoyed The Social Network and Inception, no film left me completely satisfied like Toy Story 3. As far as I am concerned it’s a masterpiece from beginning to end; it has it all – action, adventure, laughs, and moments that can turn a grown man into a blubbering mess. And when you pay your cash and sit in that big dark room of strangers that’s what you want from a movie?
Isn’t it?
Happy New Year…see you at the movies in 2011!
