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!

TOY STORY 3 is utterly heartwarming

Michael Keaton is approaching hero status. Let's do the list: Beetlejuice. Mr. Mom. Batman. Jack Frost. His FBI agent from JACKIE BROWN and OUT OF SIGHT. That guy from Multiplicity. And now, Ken.

Of course, most of the joy of TOY STORY 3 is in spending time with our returning characters. I had a smile on my face from the first time I heard Tom Hanks' voice as Woody through to the final words from Tim Allen's Buzz. Everything you've loved from the previous TOY STORYs is here: you like the wildly imaginative world of Andy's playtimes? The one that opens the film puts the other two to shame. The toys also have another amazing MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE type breakout, and also has some of the finest character work in the history of computer animation.

The thing I was most worried about going into TOY STORY 3 was the potential for thematic stagnancy (yes, thematic stagnancy). Based on the logline of this film, it seems like a very similar story to TOY STORY 2 - the toys have to learn to move on from Andy and accept a new life. But the Pixar guys take a brilliant angle on this potentially-repetitive theme and make this one about mortality. There's a couple of very surprising moments in the film that touch on death in a very direct way, and it's clear that Pixar is making this film for an audience that's grown up with these films. It trades in on the bonds we've made with the characters in a way that reminded me of something more akin to BEFORE SUNSET than say, ALLADIN: PRINCE OF THIEVES. Seeing Buzz, Woody and the gang accept death is has a haunting quality based in your seven year-old recollections of these toys.

But the new toys are pitch-perfect too, from Ned Beatty's strawberry-sweet villain Lotso to the informant telephone toy to the improv theatre troupe that Woody runs into. But Ken steals the show, in a truly amazing collaboration between the Pixar artists and Mr. Keaton. Whenever the film feels like it might be getting a little too dark, Ken shows up to remind you of the pure entertainment value of these films.

TOY STORY 3 is a stunning achievement, probably the best of the films in what will have to be considered as the greatest children's series of all time.