Spartan Phoenix’s 10 Best And Worst Movies of 2010

Spartan Phoenix’s 10 Best And Worst Movies of 2010

This comes a little late. But better late than never right? As many of you know I did my Spartan Phoenix Movie Marathon Man experiment last year. I saw 200 movies in one calendar year. This means I saw my fair share of good movies and crappy movies. I wanted to share my 2010 best and worst movie picks. Now, since I have already given my review on each of these chosen flicks in my past blogs I’m not going to give them again. I’m just going to list the movies with maybe a short note about them. The movies listed below are not in any particular order, but I will single out my best and worst film of 2010.

Spartan Phoenix’s Top 10 Best Movies of 2010

To single out my best film of the year it would have to be:

 True Grit

 

True Grit is by far the best movie I saw all of last year. I grew up watching westerns and war movies with my dad. This is why westerns are one of my favorite movie genres. Since the 90’s, westerns have made a comeback and True Grit stands on top with some of the best westerns I have seen in the past 20 years.

Here are my other 9 best films of the year:

 She’s Out of My League

She’s Out of My League was one of the funniest films with a great collection of back to back funny scenes. The movie had heart too.

The Joneses

The Joneses is a very interesting film about a fake family used to push products within their community.

City Island

City Island was well acted. It a very funny story about a disfunctional family living on a small New York Island. 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Trilogy)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was the first of the trilogy. I have to count all three into one for my best of 2010 picks. This was a great dramatic and thriller packed trilogy.

Red

Red is a funny action comedy with a great cast.

 Secretariat

Secretariat is a great family film about the true story of this famous horse.

Unstoppable

Unstoppable is a great thrill ride. Its one of those edge of your seat action thrillers. There was good drama too.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World has a great script with a bunch of very funny characters. This movie was a pleasent surprise and well acted too.

Kick-Ass

 

Kick-Ass is one of my favorite graphic novel movies. The movie does a great job showing the viloent, grity and funny storyline that the graphic novel conveyed.

Spartan Phoenix’s 10 Worst Movies of 2010

My worst film of the year was no contest. It was:

Black Swan

 Before I saw this movie with my wife (then girlfriend) we heard about all of the critical acclaim it got. I just don’t get this movie. I thought it was a pile of confusing mess with your mind crap. I’m glad Natalie Portman got her Oscar for this picture cause she is a good actress, but her portrayal as a ballerina was the only redeeming thing about this movie. The only people that seem to like this film are professional kiss your ass critics.

 Here is a list of my other 9 craptastic films of 2010.

The Ghost Writer

The Ghost Writer was a boring Roman Polanski story that had a shitty ending.

After.Life

After.Life was a poor attempt of at a 6th Sense rip off with a twist.

Splice

Splice is about an animal / alien type of hybrid. A sucktastic film with one of the most uncomfotable sex scenes Ive ever watched.

Cyrus

Cyrus was suppose to be a dark comedy. It wasnt funny at all. It was depressing as shit.

The American

The American was probably Clooney’s worst film I had ever seen. The first five minutes of the film was great, then it went into the crapper fast.

Buried

Buried takes place inside a pine coffin box where the lead and only star of the film is trapped, the whole movie. Buried = fail.

Hereafter

Hereafter is Clint Eastwoods worst and maybe only bad film that I can think of.

 The Warrior’s Way

The Warrior’s Way was a misirable attempt of a Kung Fu Western.

 The Tourist

 The Tourist was two good actors stuck in a bad film. Half the movie was watching Jolie walk around in snappy clothes. Depp’s character was hard to watch. A waste of big name talent. 

So there you have it. Those are my best and worst movies of 2010. I had a tougher time picking my top 10 best films than I did my worst. The next thing I want to do is compile a new updated top 100 movies of all time. I havent done this in over five years so I think its time. Stay tuned. Oh, below is a reminder of how many movies I saw last year month by month. Its funny to note that in my first month I saw only 12 movies compared to 24 on the last month. Twice as much, geeze.

Stay tuned, – Spartan Phoenix

• February            2010: Movies Seen: 12
• March              2010: Movies Seen: 14
• April                 2010: Movies Seen: 16
• May                  2010: Movies Seen: 18
• June                 2010: Movies Seen: 19
• July                  2010: Movies Seen: 14
• August             2010: Movies Seen: 21
• September            2010: Movies Seen: 17
• October            2010: Movies Seen: 14
• November            2010: Movies Seen: 13
• December            2010: Movies Seen: 18
• January            2011: Movies Seen: 24

The Green Hornet / The Dilemma / The Heart Specialist / The Way Back

The Green Hornet / The Dilemma / The Heart Specialist / The Way Back

Wed July 19^th, 2011

I’ve been looking forward to seeing this movie for a while now. The movie I speak of is The Green Hornet (2011) starring Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz and Christoph Waltz. Following the death of his father, Britt Reid, heir to his father’s large newspaper company, teams up with his late dad’s assistant Kato to become a masked crime fighting team. I saw this movie in IMAX 3D. I would recommend this movie in 3D but not necessarily in IMAX, although the sound was great in IMAX. This was a good fun popcorn movie with a good mixture of comedy and action. This is Seth Rogen’s superhero baby and you can tell cause he penned the script. Christoph Waltz was entertaining as the bad guy going through a midlife crisis. Jay Chou played Kato with great charisma, he was very funny too. Fun movie, go check it out!

The next movie I saw was TRON: Legacy, again. I saw it in 3D again even though the whole movie is not shot in 3D. 3D or not I really enjoyed seeing this movie again.

The next movie I saw was the comedy The Dilemma (2011) starring Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Jennifer Connelly, Winona Ryder and Channing Tatum. A man discovers that his best friend’s wife is having an affair. I had a couple of problems with this movie. First off it wasn’t a comedy. I didn’t laugh once and the movie was kind of depressing. The movie had a great cast but I didn’t enjoy it what so ever. The other main problem I had was with Vince Vaughn. Now don’t get me wrong I like Vince Vaughn, but his movies lately have fallen flat for my taste and have been disappointing. Unless Vince Vaughn does a good comedy soon he wont get in my good graces again until he does a sequel to Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Old School or another cameo to a sequel to Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

Wed Jan 26^th, 2011

A week later I wanted to get in another movie marathon. I had to get to work if I was gonna get to 200 movies seen in a theater in a year. My deadline was this current month of January 2011. The Academy Award nominations were announced and I wanted to see True Grit (2010) again as it got many nods. So it was the first movie I saw in today’s movie marathon. True Grit was just as good the second time around. This movie has it all, check it if you haven’t already.

The second movie I saw was the comedy The Heart Specialist (2006) starring Zoe Saldana, Wood Harris and Brian J. White. This is a comedy about two doctor friends that work in a Florida hospital. One of the doctors is also a stand-up comedian. This movie had a great cast. The main reason I went to see this movie was because of Zoe Saldana. If you have read my blog you will know that she is on my “Top 5 List” For more info on that list check the link out here: https://spartanphoenix.wordpress.com/2010/11/08/celebrity-top-5-freebee-sex-pass-list/

What I thought was weird about this movie was that it was completed in 2006 and it finally got it’s theatrical release in 2011. Maybe it’s because of Zoe Saldana’s recent movie success. As for this movie it wasn’t great, it had a few funny moments but it fell short of a good comedy.

The next film I saw today was The Way Back (2010) starring Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess, Saoirse Ronan and Colin Farrell. It’s a true story about several Siberian prison gulag escapees that walk 4000 miles overland to freedom in India in 1940. This was a very good and inspiring story. The movie was beautifully shot too. The cast was awesome. It’s amazing what these people had to go through while hiking on foot through treacherous settings. Colin Farrell had a supporting role as one of the escapees on the run. He played a Russian thug that tags along. Ed Harris is one of the leaders of the group as he plays an American that got imprisoned in the Siberian gulag. Saoirse Ronan plays a young orphan girl who meets up with the escaped prisoners to join them on their freedom quest. This was a very good film with great drama and emotion. Check it out!

Before I ended my movie marathon today I went to see Unstoppable (2010) and The Green Hornet (2011) again. Unstoppable was just as emotionally charged for me the second time around. As for The Green Hornet I enjoyed seeing it again in 3D. I also saw these two movie again cause I’m trying to reach my 200 movies in a year goal. Do I do it? Stay tuned again!

– Spartan Phoenix

Total movies seen in the theater to date since February 1^st 2010:  191

• February            2010: Movies Seen: 12
• March              2010: Movies Seen: 14
• April                 2010: Movies Seen: 16
• May                  2010: Movies Seen: 18
• June                 2010: Movies Seen: 19
• July                  2010: Movies Seen: 14
• August             2010: Movies Seen: 21
• September            2010: Movies Seen: 17
• October            2010: Movies Seen: 14
• November            2010: Movies Seen: 13
• December            2010: Movies Seen: 18
• January            2011: Movies Seen: 15

True Grit / Yogi Bear 3D / Chronicles of Narnia 3D / The Fighter / Little Fockers / How Do You Know

True Grit / Yogi Bear 3D / Chronicles of Narnia 3D  / The Fighter / Little Fockers / How Do You Know.

Wednesday December 22^nd, 2010, Atlanta, GA

True Grit (2010) starring Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon, Barry Pepper and Josh Brolin. It’s about a tough U.S. Marshal helps a stubborn young woman track down her father’s murderer. This is a remake of the True Grit (1969) original that starred John Wayne. This was a very good movie through and through. The acting, costumes, sets, makeup, everything seemed authentic and real. Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon were great in their roles, but the stand out character was Hailee Steinfeld who played the young Mattie Ross who hires the U.S. Marshal played by Jeff Bridges. Her performance was Oscar worthy. This version of the film is told through the eyes of the young girl instead of the U.S. Marshal that John Wayne played in the original True Grit. Check this film out, its worth it and a treat.

The next film I saw was Yogi Bear (2010) starring the voice talents of Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake. A documentary filmmaker travels to Jellystone Park to shoot a project and soon crosses paths with Yogi Bear, his sidekick Boo-Boo, and Ranger Smith. This was a film that I thought that my girlfriend Jane’s daughter (Little C) might want to see. So in a way I was screening this film for her. I did want to see it too cause it was in 3D and I liked Yogi Bear when I was a kid. I liked this movie. It’s a good family film with heart. I was very impressed with the Yogi’s voice played by Dan Aykroyd, it was spot on. Even Justin Timberlake as Boo-Boo was entertaining.

Next on my movie marathon schedule was The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 3D (2010) starring Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes and Ben Barnes. Lucy and Edmund Pevensie return to Narnia with their cousin Eustace where they meet up with Prince Caspian for a trip across the sea aboard the royal ship The Dawn Treader. Along the way they encounter dragons, dwarves, merfolk, and a band of lost warriors before reaching the edge of the world. These Narnia movies have been fun to see and done very well and this third installment is no exception. Visually this movie is awesome. That cast, costumes and acting was good too. This movie was worth the 3D screening. I’ve never read the Narnia books and I know I’m missing out on a lot of things left our in the movies, but the movies are very enjoyable in every aspect if you ask me.

The next film I saw today was The Fighter (2010) starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale and Amy Adams. A look at the early years of boxer “Irish” Micky Ward and his brother who helped train him before going pro in the mid 1980s. Mark Wahlberg is getting a lot of attention for this lead role cause this movie has been a pet project of his for a long time. Mark Wahlberg is good in his role. But this film belongs to Christian Bale is you ask me. Christian Bale plays Mark Wahlberg’s brother who is addicted to drugs. Christian Bale lost a lot of weight for this role, but not as much as he did for The Machinist 2004. He also did the great Boston suburb accent to a tee. Amy Adams was great in her role too. It was nice to see her act in a grittier foul-mouthed role than I’m used to seeing her in the nicey nicey roles. I found out she has been tapped to play Janis Joplin in the upcoming film Janis Joplin: Get It While You Can (2012) At the end of the movie as the credits start to role you get to see a quick interview with the real life brothers that Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale portrayed.

The last film of my movie marathon today was Little Fockers (2010) starring Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo and Jessica Alba. Family-patriarch Jack Byrnes wants to appoint a successor. Does his son-in-law, the “male nurse”, Greg Focker have what it takes? I don’t know what it is exactly about the on-screen duo of Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller, but it seems to work. The supporting cast is a plus too. It was nice to see the return of Owen Wilson’s character from the first film. This movie was funny, but it wasn’t as good as the last two. I still recommend it though.

Saturday December 25, 2010

This Christmas has been a very special one. This month of December had been a tough one since the death of my mother. But I have had great support from my family, friends and co-workers. But the best support had come from my wonderful girlfriend Jane. She was instrumental in getting us to Santa Barbara to take care of my dad and the aftermath of my mom’s death. It was during this time Jane proved she would be there for me no matter what. She’s a keeper. On Christmas Eve I had dinner with her and her parents and daughter. Prior to meeting up with her and her family I bought a ring at a jewelry store she had her eye on a couple of week’s prior. However I wasn’t sure if the ring would be there, but it was and I made plans to pop the question sometime tonight. Originally I thought I might propose during the family dinner, but I thought a more intimate setting would be better. I figure I would ask for her parent’s permission to marry her afterwards. Jane and I decided to do our gift exchange after her daughter and parents went to bed. I took advantage of this situation and proposed marriage to Jane with the ring after we opened up the gifts we had wrapped for each other. You should have seen Jane’s face; she was floored and totally surprised. She was so excited she woke her parents up and called a few relatives. I asked her parents for permission and they both gave my their blessing. We waited till Christmas morning to tell her daughter Little C who was excited about the news. The icing on the cake came when snow started to fall on Christmas day. It was my first White Christmas and the first one in the Atlanta area in 100 years.

Just like Thanksgiving its tradition for me to see a movie on Christmas day. And Jane was up for joining me for one on this Christmas. It would be the first movie we would see together as an engaged couple

The movie we agreed to see was How Do You Know (2010) starring Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson and Jack Nicholson. After being cut from the USA softball team and feeling a bit past her prime, Lisa (Reese Witherspoon) finds herself evaluating her life and in the middle of a love triangle, as a corporate guy in crisis competes with her current, baseball-playing beau. This movie had a good cast and a cool story. Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd were very entertaining in the respective roles. But the movie moved along a little too slow for my taste. I also found the ending unsatisfying. Jane felt the same way I did too. I don’t recommend this movie for a theater visit, maybe a video release though.

Well as you can see my December has been an eventful and memorable one. This month is winding down but I still have a few to see before this month ends.

Stay tuned! – Spartan Phoenix

Total movies seen in the theater to date since February 1^st 2010:  174

• February           2010: Movies Seen: 12
• March              2010: Movies Seen: 14
• April                 2010: Movies Seen: 16
• May                  2010: Movies Seen: 18
• June                 2010: Movies Seen: 19
• July                  2010: Movies Seen: 14
• August             2010: Movies Seen: 21
• September       2010: Movies Seen: 17
• October           2010: Movies Seen: 14
• November       2010: Movies Seen: 13
• December       2010: Movies Seen: 16