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What was film in 2010? Well...

As usual, crowds of people lined up for the "Twilight" sequel, while other groups showed how easily they were turned off by their favorite franchise ("Sex And The City 2," "Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage Of The Dawn Treader," etc.). There were some films that weren't as bad as we feared ("Iron Man 2"), others as lukewarm as they first promised ("Robin Hood") and some that fit the tragic bill of collapsing under unbelievable hype ("Kick-Ass"). As with any year, if the moviegoer could navigate past all the red carpet glam, Monday box office figures and bandwagon reactions on their Facebook feed, they might learn a thing or two. Some were even moved by what they saw.

I won't go into exhaustive detail about EVERYTHING I saw in 2010--and let me tell you, it's A LOT--but I'll list a group of films first (more to provide a listing of titles you may have missed) that were watchable, and sometimes quite good: "Morning Glory," "Edge of Darkness," "The Crazies," "Going The Distance," "Frozen," "No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson," "My Son, My Son What Have Ye Done," "Countdown To Zero," "Moving To Mars," "The Town," "Solitary Man," "I'm Still Here," "Plastic Bag (short film)," "Wild Grass," "Freakonomics," "I'm Here (short film)," "Monsters," "[REC] 2," "Somewhere," "Toy Story 3," "Hereafter," and "The American."

This is the point where I have to come out and say that current Oscar faves like "True Grit" and "The King's Speech" unfortunately didn't do it for me--and thus will be absent from this next batch of films which I like to call "Fuck, We Were So Close To The Top 10." There is some real strong work here and these flicks should be sought out before you watch "Inception" for the seventh time on your Blu-ray player: "Fish Tank," "The White Ribbon," "Mother," "El Baile De La Victoria," "Restrepo," "The Secret In Their Eyes," "Sweetgrass," "The Killer Inside Me," "The Kids Are All Right," "I Am Love," "Winter's Bone," "Greenberg," "Black Swan," "Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer," "127 Hours," "Mississippi Chicken" (which is pictured above) and "The Ghost Writer."

And now the individual awards:

Best Music Soundtrack: "Blue Valentine" (songs by Grizzly Bear)

Best Editing: "Problema"

Best Original Score: "Shutter Island" (this is not cheating, since Robbie Robertson's assemblage and orchestration of music samples and sounds adds up to an unforgettable experience)

Best Cinematography: "Enter The Void" (Benoit Debie, director of photography)

Best Documentary: "Exit Through The Gift Shop" (Directed by Banksy)

Best Director: Jacques Audiard ("A Prophet")

Best Supporting Actress: Jacki Weaver, "Animal Kingdom" :: Runner-up: Melissa Leo, "The Fighter"

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, "The Fighter" :: Runner-up: (tie) Andrew Garfield, "The Social Network" and Niels Arestrup, "A Prophet"

Best Actress: Aggeliki Papoulia, "Dogtooth" :: Runner-up: Michelle Williams, "Blue Valentine"

Best Actor: Tahar Rahim, "A Prophet" :: Runner-up: Leonardo DiCaprio, "Shutter Island"

The Top 10 Films of 2010 -- 

10. "Shutter Island" Directed by Martin Scorsese

Scorsese directs the hell out of this sometimes faulty, always exhilarating story about what reality means to the individual and then what the schematics of a "real" facade mean to an institution--and ultimately a society itself. A harrowing performance by DiCaprio anchors this beast of a film.

9. "Never Let Me Go" Directed by Mark Romanek

Romanek's film direction has grown exponentially since his debut with "One Hour Photo." This quiet movie is much more dramatic, romantic and scary then it appears to be the first time around. Working with today's best young British actors, "Never Let Me Go" will make your spirit soar if you're currently in love--or it will floor you if you've already let your love for that special someone slip away.

8. "Blue Valentine" Directed by Derek Cianfrance

In a strange way, a companion piece to "Never Let Me Go." Where the characters in Romanek's film yearned for the chance to actually love someone, Cianfrance's film splices open the relationship of a couple well on their way to falling out of love. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are unforgettable and they cement their work as two of the more indelible performances of the past decade.

7. "The Fighter" Directed by David O. Russell

Perhaps David O. Russell's most accessible film ever, "The Fighter" is a paint-by-numbers story (the underdog, a story about boxing, a flowering romance and on and on) that is layered with so much heart it practically pulsates on the auditorium screen. Easily the best ensemble cast of the year, the film turns to its peripheral players for more than just stolen moments; "The Fighter" reminds Hollywood movies that behind every Rocky, there's a fucked up family background. The analogy should stick more often.

6. "Enter The Void" Directed by Gaspar Noe

Don't die. It's pretty much the exhaustive, yet oddly stirring warning that Noe's latest film seems to insist. A landmark cinematic feat in both ideas and technical prowess, Noe dares (yet again!) to challenge our perception of the world. This time he uses the subconscious--or is it the spirit?--of his protagonist who aimlessly floats and is forced to watch his world unfurl in the streets and rooms beneath him. Unlike anything you've ever seen. (On a side note: Isn't the opening credit sequence to this film just awesome?!)

5. "Animal Kingdom" Directed by David Michod

The best crime film of the year, Michod's brooding Australian drama sticks close to a family of crooks who are more dangerous to each other than they are to the seedy policemen of their territory. Ben Mendelsohn's turn as Uncle Pope could send the shivers down the spine of the Uncle Teardrop character from "Winter's Bone."

4. "Dogtooth" Directed by Giorgos Lanthimos

Greek cinema is revived with Giorgos Lanthimos' "Dogtooth"! An insanely disturbing tale about a family so disconnected from the outside world that the act of incest is less frightening than a plane flying over the skies above. This film has to be seen by any filmmaker who aims to be "an auteur."

3. "The Social Network" Directed by David Fincher

Fincher will probably win his first Best Director Oscar for this lean and near perfect drama that works as both as a classic tale of betrayal and also as a survey warning to how the social media revolution has cost (most of) us all the imperfections and nuances that come with actually physically poking someone. Aaron Sorkin's cerebral screenplay is unmatched in 2010. This is the best American film of the year.

2. "A Prophet" Directed by Jacques Audiard

Funny how crime films tend to be lauded in cinema. From "Goodfellas" to "City of God," we just can't seem to find more potent content to extend our own fears, prejudices, desires and secret attractions toward. Here is a film that has the emotional scope of "The Godfather" and the oddities that come with obscure coming-of-age stories (an invisible friend/ghost that no one else can see, the crooked surrogate father-son dynamic). It was that rare film in 2010 that left viewers saying, "Wow, I really saw something." A masterpiece, through and through.

1. "Problema" Directed by Ralf Schmerberg

Part documentary. Party video art. Part experimental film. Yet completely original in its vision. Schmerberg somehow managed to put together a collage of moving imagery that serves as a timetable testament to the human experience in this still infant new millennium. There is simply nothing else like it.

And he distributed it online for free.

How's about that for new cinema?

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