Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, some republicans accusing the NBA of being anti-Christmas, Scarlett Johansson getting divorce papers for Christmas, or your holiday shopping nightmares, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
2010 was full of fantastic movies. Let’s talk about our personal favorites! I’ll kick it off by giving you my top three movies of 2010. None of them should surprise you…though the order might.
3) Iron Man 2 — My future wife, Scarlett Johansson, was so hot in this movie, but I enjoyed IM2 for way more than her. The action was fantastic, it was great that Iron Man and Tony Stark had separate villains, and I really enjoyed the setup for future Marvel movies (Captain America, Thor, The Avengers). I had some problems with movie, as seen in my lengthy not-a-review here, but I mostly loved it — especially Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark. That’s just perfect casting.
2) The Social Network — On paper, this movie had to be awesome; it’s hard to argue with the team-up of David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin. That said, I had a hard time envisioning how a Facebook movie could be entertaining and intriguing. The Social Network was all that and more. The movie absolutely obliterated my expectations. The snappy writing, deft delivery, and wonderful score added up to one of my favorite dramas ever. Sure, it doesn’t convey the sheer amount of work hours that went into making Facebook and a great deal of it was Sorkin fiction, but the creative liberties are a huge reason why The Social Network succeeds as a film.
1) Get Him to the Greek — Most of you know about my man-crush on Russell Brand. I’m convinced that he’s on the verge of immortal greatness. Get Him to the Greek wasn’t it, but it shows glimpses of why he might get there. The movie is a well-paced romp with some hilarious moments courtesy of Jonah Hill, Sean “P.Diddy” Combs, and Colm Meaney. The “Furry Walls” scene is one of the most hilariously ridiculous things I’ve ever seen in my life. All that aside, the way Brand delivered some of his lines totally killed me. He’ll take something that’s mildly amusing on paper and turn it into a laugh-out-loud moment in real life (LOL IRL?). I’ve watched this movie a ton and subjected several friends to viewings. All of them loved it. If you haven’t seen it, I truly hope you give it a chance.
Honorable Mentions — There were a bunch of comic-book movies I loved in 2010 too. Batman: Under the Red Hood impressed me so much that I wrote a Coffee Talk about it. While some of changes and omissions made it way different from the comic book, I enjoyed Scott Pilgrim vs. the World on its own. Kick-Ass was a more faithful adaptation, though Hit Girl was the real star of the movie. There was something sickly entertaining about watching a 10-year old girl viciously slaughter dozens of people.
Now it’s your turn! What were some of your favorite movies of 2010? Make a list, check it twice, and explain your choices (please)!
The Expendables was badass.
I enjoyed Inception. Not great but enjoyable.
Sleeper: The Other Guys. Gator was badass
Toy Story 3 Inception and Predators
3) scott pilgrim, although not a faithful adaptation it's survived multiple viewings and i still find entertaining.
2) the expendables, brought a monster cast of action heroes and placed them all in one movie. Although the plot seems like something right out of the A-team the non stop action made up for the minimal plot.
1) toy story 3. What can i say i love most pixar movies except cars. This was another well made movie by those folks at pixar. I just hope they dont try to make another sequel out toy story.
Honorable mention: kick ass, it was a good adaptation of the comic. Hit girl was the star of the show and nicholas cage did a good job of not sucking in this movie. I cant wait for millar has planned with kick ass 2.
You have me thinking about how I prefer movie Knives over comic-book Knives.
Yes i agree. Movie knives is better than comic book knives. The alternate ending video that you posted last week made more sense for the movie to end but i think edgar wright wouldve received a bunch of shit if he wouldve ended it like that.
I am going to try to watch Iron Man 2 and Toy Story 3 this weekend, so I will assume that those will make the list. The Expendables was good, despite a couple times where it was completely unrealistic it was pretty good. Grown Ups is probably the only Adam Sandler movie I have ever really laughed at, so I think that deserves something. I also really liked ZombieLand, but I don't remember for sure that this came out in 2010…I watched it this year though so I am counting it right now.
Surprised there is so much love for Expendables. I thought it was fun, but totally stupid. Seeing Sly and Mickey's plastic faces share the big screen was terrifying.
I think the expendables did so well because it gave you what you expected from a sly pic, non-stop action and little dialogue.
I didn't expect much more than what it gave, so it met my expectations quite well. I wanted a lot of explosions and action, could've used a bit better of a story- but it was still what I wanted/expected.
If you watch the Expendables for story then you will be disappointed. I think it could have used gratuitous nudity to be perfect lol.
I can't believe the Scott Pilgrim love. I couldn't make it through that movie. N8R diagnosed my disdain as hipster hate / underexposure.
I do not think it is hipsters in this case, since only one character qualifies. Perhaps you have a low tolerance for slackers.
@Ray
That might be it. For example when Pilgrim was going through his email at the beginning and the email is detailing something that was supposedly significant to him and he said "this is boring"…it just really made me not even like the main character. The whole thing turned me off. I'm a gamer, I'm supposed to like it…but I think there are much better video game movies out there.
Yeah, he is not supposed to be likeable in the traditional protagonist sense. I think the movie did a mediocre job with character depth. It is hard to cram six books into a movie. They made up for it in other ways. Loved the Beck music.
I don't think I saw a 2010 movie which is kind of sad because I love movies. I blame it on Netflix.
Alright, I admit it, I cried like a baby without a bottle while watching Toy Story 3, but I think I did a good job of hiding it from my wife. When I started to feel those stupid, girly emotions bubbling up, I just punched myself in the nose really hard.
Of the few movies I watched this year, I would rank them thusly:
1. How to Train Your Dragon (for originality and enjoyability)
2. Iron Man 2 (Although I liked the first one better, this one was still good, if not predictable.)
3. Batman: Under the Red Hood (It would be ranked higher if I could have watched it in a theater and if Nightwing was utilized in the second half of the movie.)
4. Toy Story 3 (I liked it, but I felt like I missed out on a few scenes because I didn't see Toy Story 2)
-M
I can't believe there is no mention of Tron yet, so I'm putting it out there as one of my favorites first. Scott Pilgrim was awesomely to my taste in style and humor.
@sandrock
I saw tron on imax 3D and its pretty amazing but the story kind of drags here and there. I love the soundtrack! Daft punk did a great job!
After recently seeing Iron Man 2 for the first time last week, my wife has informed me that she wants to be Black Widow next Halloween. Yes, I am a lucky man…..
Ha! Does that mean you're going to be dressed up as Happy Hogan?
-M