The Top 10 of 2010

Do you believe in heliocentricity? Well then, Happy New Year, you crazy sun-worshippers!

In the spirit of universe-defining observation, allow me to (ever so) humbly present my best-of list for the year. Some of these choices might be attacked, but like the Platos of yesteryear, the haters'll eventually come around.

10. UNSTOPPABLE

Did you think this wasn't going to make the list? C'mon, son.

9. PIRANHA 3D

Oh good Lord, the ridiculousness.

8. TOY STORY 3D

Pixar proves they can make anything amazing, even a film about mortality.

7. SPLICE

Beautifully warped.

6. BLACK SWAN

Darren Aronofsky proves he knows how to have fun.

5. EXIT THROUGH THE GIFTSHOP

The most fun you'll have at a documentary all year.

4. NEVER LET ME GO

Quiet sci-fi with a hell of an emotional gut-punch.

3. MARWENCOL

The finest documentary of the year.

2. INCEPTION

The zero-G fight is pure cinema.

1. THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Perfect.

The truth is, I didn't see a lot of films this year. That will change. But here's a quick list of things I missed this year that I have a sneaking suspicion might have made the list:

A PROPHET

WINNEBAGO MAN

GET LOW

CATFISH

HOWL

THE RED RIDING TRILOGY

Feel free to passionately disagree/talk about how Dren should have pheromones/snicker about Jerry O'Connell etc. below. In the meantime, I'll see you at the movies!

EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP is a documentary, even if it isn't

I was afraid of EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP. Very, very afraid. It seemed like the concept was rife for a bunch of pretentious defensive justifications for street art, or angry my-dad-didn't-love-me-so-I-draw-on-walls interviews. And while there is some of that at work here, the film really becomes a character documentary, examining the original filmmaker who shot all the footage.

It's an interesting idea, and it helps that the man who shot the documentary is an absolute eccentric, a man who is as mysterious as he is fascinating. His entire backstory is strange, full of weird details (like his desire to document literally everything after losing his mother), to his source of income. You end up spending large sections of the film wondering how much of what you're seeing is "real", and just how much of this is an elaborate prank put on by the artists.

Regardless of how much of the film is real or not, it's pretty clear what the focus of the film is: the commercialization of art. And whether Thierry Guetta is truly as we see him in the film, the point remains the same. Much like Banksy's art, the message is almost instantaneous - in this case, the title says it all.

Oh, and it's funny. Really, really funny.