Movies of 2010

I have seen 46 movies released in 2010. These are the 10 best...

1. The Social Network

It's really not even close. From the opening scene of Mark Zuckerberg getting dumped by his girlfriend, to the haunting last shot, The Social Network is as perfect as any movie was in 2010. Jesse Eisenberg, who had two movies on my top 10 of 2009, delivers the best performance of his career as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Everything about his performance, from hand gestures, to eye movements, is absolutely brilliant. Of course, it always helps an actor when he is working with an absolutely impeccable script. The script was written by Aaron Sorkin, and it delivers quick as a whip dialogue and a wonderful story telling scheme. David Fincher directs his best movie since Fight Club, and supporting performances by Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake just add to the movie's brilliance. It defines a generation and feels like a modern day Citizen Kane; if Shakespeare were still alive, this is the kind of thing he would be writing. Betrayal, revenge, greed...this movie has everything.

2. Toy Story 3

If a bunch of animated toys can make people cry, then the movie that they're in must be good. I'll admit it, I choked up at the end, just like everyone else who saw Toy Story 3. It's really a grand achievement in storytelling, as it is hilarious and heartbreaking, and there are no real people in the movie. Kids will love it, adults will probably love it more, if you can't appreciate the genius of this movie, then you simply don't get movies. Quentin Tarantino said this was the best movie of 2010; I think if it wasn't for The Social Network it would be.

3. Exit Through the Gift Shop

All the controversy surrounding the legitimacy of this fascinating documentary, just makes the movie more fascinating. Whether it's all a hoax or actually true, there's no denying that its an amazing look at the world of street art and and brings forth a fascinating debate about what is actually art. The mysterious street artist Banksy is credited with directing the movie and he does a hell of job taking the movie places you never see it going. Oh, it's also super entertaining and very funny. It's the best documentary of a year filled with great documentaries, and everyone should seek this movie out and watch it.

4. The Kids are All Right

This is an outstanding look at a modern family living in California and the issues they face. The family also happens to have two moms. When the kids track down their sperm donor biological father (Mark Ruffalo) hilarity and heartbreak ensue. Annette Bening has received much critical acclaim for her role as one of the mothers and will rightfully be nominated at the Oscars, but Julianne Moore is equally as awesome, looking just as hot as she did over a decade ago in Boogie Nights. Directed by Lisa Cholodenko, who happens to be gay, the film doesn't harp on the fact that the family has two moms but instead focuses on the problems that every family faces, no matter who the parents are.

5. Black Swan

Genious director Darren Aranofsky delivers again, and while this is not as good as Requiem for a Dream or The Wrestler, Black Swan is pretty damn amazing. It might be the most polarizing film of the year, with some people absolutely loving it, while others hate it, but there's no denying the perfection of Natalie Portman's performance. Unfortunately Portman met her fiance while making this film, which means she's off the market, but besides that everything about her in this movie is stunning. The audience sees her transformation throughout the movie as the pressure her character is under starts to overtake her mind; her art starts to invade her life. Rounding out the excellent ensemble cast is Mila Kunis (really sexy), Vincent Cassel (really eerie), Barbara Hershey (really scary), and Winona Ryder (really whoa!). It's essentially an art house horror flick, with some of the coolest cinematography I've ever seen. If you can handle it, see this movie.

6. The Fighter

One of the best sports movies of all time, but it's really not about sports. The Fighter is really more about family and relationships than it is about boxing, and it's all centered around a very good, subtle performance by Mark Wahlberg. Overshadowing Marky Mark though, is Christian Bale who is utterly dumfounding as the crack addicted brother of Mark Wahlberg's Mickey Ward. Bale will almost certainly win his first Oscar for this role, and he definitely deserves to. The strong female characters though, are really what sets this film apart as Amy Adams and Melissa Leo do a superb job as Mickey's girlfriend and mother respectively. I was especially impressed with Adams who gives the best performance of her career. It's a crowd pleaser, it's inspirational, and it's really funny at times as well. I loved The Fighter.

7. The King's Speech

Incredibly powerful and moving, The King's Speech is a period piece that puts all other period movies to shame. Yes, it's historical and about the royal family of England just before WWII, but make no mistake this movie is much more than just a fancy historical biopic. Essentially it's the story of a friendship as Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush play the King and his speech therapist, respectively. Both actors do an amazing job, and both will be nominated for Oscars, with Firth a good bet to win best actor. It's very inspirational and touching, but not without dashes of brilliant comedy. The movie is at its best when Firth and Rush are given the chance to go one on one with each other, as the two powerhouse actors show how it's done.

8. 127 Hours

James Franco is a force of nature, as he plays Aaron Ralston, in the true story of a mountain climber who was stuck under a boulder for 127 hours and forced to cut off his arm to survive. Director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) puts his signature touches on a story that essentially stays in one place for basically the whole movie, making it enthralling for a feature length film. The finale scene is gut wrenching and people passed out in theaters when it debuted, as it is incredibly intense and captivating. I mean, the guy cuts off his arm. The movie simply would not work without the best performance of James Franco's career, but he gives it and will be awarded with an Oscar nomination for it.

9. Inception

Despite have some glaring flaws and some minor plot holes, Christopher Nolan's epic piece of Hollywood filmmaking is an awesome, spectacular movie. While it steals here and there from films like The Matrix and 20o1: A Space Odyssey, it is mostly completely original. It is absolutely entertaining, demands multiple viewings, resisted the temptation of 3D, and has the sickest special effects of 2010. The floating fight scene in the hotel hallway is worth seeing the movie alone. Leonardo DiCaprio is great as always and the rest of the cast does a worthy job, but the strength of Inception lies in its story and structure. People will be talking about this movie for years to come, and it has already become a major piece of American popular culture.

10. Please Give

For some reason this small gem of a movie has been completely ignored by end of the year awards, but it won't be by me. This film hits you hard, with brutally funny comedy and deeply personal drama. Amazing performances all around , especially by Catherine Keener and Rebecca Hall, and a great screenplay by Nicole Holofcener make this one of the best movies about people living in New York City since Woody Allen was in his prime. It's a tough film to swallow and it really makes you think about the society we live in, I wish this movie was getting more award attention because it really deserves it.

The next 10 best movies from 2010:

How To Train Your Dragon

The Town

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Leaves of Grass

Holy Rollers

Kick-Ass

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work

Shutter Island

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Lebanon

Just some thoughts to start 2011

• Sadly, the HBO mini-series 24/7 Penguins-Capitals has ended. If watching the four incredible episodes of thrilling TV, each one delivering a slice of the NHL into your living room, did not make you a hockey fan, nothing will. The series brought the NHL to life, highlighting the personalities of players and the passion they share for the game that they love. From Capital coach Bruce Boudreau's incessant use of the 'F' word to the close up shots of various players' scarred, often grisly faces, the show was perfect from puck drop to the final buzzer.
• The Knicks, even without injured Danilo Gallinari, beat the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday night, who have the NBA's best record. If you still don't think the Knicks are for real, its time you start thinking they are. Obviously the playoffs are a long way off, but at this point it's certain that the Knicks are going to be a very scary team to face come April.
• Best part of the Spurs game at Madison Square Garden: Every time Tony Parker had the ball, the crowd chanting, "EVA! EVA!" Oh, so cruel. Oh, so beautiful.
• After Mark Wahlberg was nominated for an Oscar in The Departed, he made four awful movies in a row: Shooter, We Own the Night, The Happening, and Max Payne. It was nice to see him get back on track in 2010 with funny roles in Date Night and The Other Guys, and an excellent role in the exceptional boxing movie, The Fighter.
• It's about time Michigan fired coach Rich Rodriguez! Rich Rod and Michigan fit together like a polar bear fits in a desert.
• Jersey Shore season three starts Thursday with a new cast member, who's even weirder looking than Snookie. It makes sense that she's Snookie's best friend, I guess. I really don't get these people. Where do they come from?
• So, in college football TCU goes 11-0 beating Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl, yet they don't get a chance to play for the national championship. In the NFL, The Seattle Seahawks go 7-9 and get a home playoff game, while the New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers both go 10-6 and miss the playoffs all together. Isn't football set up so fairly in this country?

Top 5 sports moments of 2010

1. The Decision: "I'm taking my talents to South Beach." These seven words uttered by LeBron James, with about 10 percent of the country watching, broke the hearts of an entire state (Ohio), while kinda making a touristy city that doesn't care about sports partially happy (Miami). LeBron went about the Decision incredibly wrong and he lost many fans in the process, including me, but if you didn't think the Decision was fascinating, then you don't know what fascinating is. This event was so big it broke the Mom test and created countless spoofs and angry videos from Clevelanders. The aftermath of the Decision is that the Cavaliers are terrible now, and the Heat are great. Does anyone in Miami really care though? Nope.
2. The Missed Call: When umpire Jim Joyce made an incorrect call to break up a perfect game for Detroit Tiger's pitcher Armando Gallaraga, it felt like the world was going to explode. This story transcended the world of sports and made the topic of instant replay in baseball come to the forefront of every sports discussion. In the end, a great show of sportsmanship and kindness by Gallaraga trumped everything bad that had happened, and although Gallaraga didn't technically pitch a perfect game, he got more recognition than anyone else who did this year.
3. The World Cup: And this is coming from someone who basically does not like soccer at all. The World Cup was riveting, from the opening concert to the championship match. USA made a spectacular run and the country of South Africa was put on display for all its greatness. With a German octopus predicting games, and a touch of vuvuzela controversy, there probably could not have been a more interesting world cup.
4. The Tiger Apology: There are championships won every year, great upsets, comebacks, and plays, but never has the most famous athlete in the world been caught cheating on his wife, go to a sex rehabilitation center, and then apologize for it. The Tiger Woods saga might just be the biggest sports story that crossed over into pop culture in the history of the world. I mean, damnnn, this guy was on the cover of Sports Illusrated and Us Weekly in the same week. ESPN became a station dedicated to relationship drama for months, and they spent more time on this than even the extremely annoying Brett Favre drama. Maybe not actually, Brett Favre is on ALL the time! And to make things more interesting, when Tiger returned to golf, he suddenly was not that good anymore. The entire Tiger story is one for the ages.
5. The Endless Match: When it finally did end the result was Isner def. Mahut 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68. This epic Wimbledon match lasted for 11 hours and five minutes shattering records and creating one of the most remarkable sporting contests of all time. Who cares who won Wimbledon, the Isner vs. Mahut match was remarkable with the players stopping to go to the bathroom to Mahut still diving after balls in the 10th hour of a match. It was perhaps the most memorable tennis match of all time, with a fifth set for the ages.

honorable mentions: The entire olympics, especially the gold medal hockey game. Saints win the Superbowl. Butler comes oh so close to winning the NCAA tournament.

My teams are terrible

Remember all that New York Knicks excitement from a week ago. Well, that's gone. The Knicks got obliterated by Miami (who have LeBron James), and then lost to lowly Cleveland (who don't have anyone). Thankfully, the Knicks don't play again until Wednesday, so they can get some much needed rest. On Wednesday though they play the 19-10 Kevin Durant Thunder. And then Chicago on Christmas day, followed by Miami again and Orlando. Come 2011, there is a very good chance the Knicks will be on a seven game losing streak. I know I'm Jewish and Hanukah's over, but if I could get a Christmas gift, Santa, please bring Carmelo Anthony.

The New York Giants suffered the most painful regular season loss I can remember in my nearly 17 years of life on Sunday. Apparently being up by 21 points with eight minutes to go is not a safe lead for the G-men, who all but handed the Philadelphia Eagles the NFC East title.

From missed tackles, to a misfielded onside kick, to the dumbest punt I have ever

seen, the Giants literally collapsed. The Giants can still clinch the wildcard with a win next week against Green Bay, but if they don't, Tom Coughlin should be fired immediately.

Also, I am so sick and tired of the Jets. Can people PLEASE stop talking about the Jets. Who cares besides some whack-job fireman and some other people who can spell a four letter word really loudly?

Oh, the Devils. Now ranked 30th out of 30 teams, the New Jersey Devils have literally hit the bottom. After a 7-1 loss to Atlanta, the team that traded the Devils Ilya Kovalchuk, it is apparent that this season is over for the Devils, not that it wasn't before. The gradual decline of the Devils has been in motion for a few years now, with the departure of players like Scott Stevens, Ken Daneyko, Scott Niedermayer, Jay Pandolfo, and John Madden, to name a few, but the decline has reached its zenith this season. Martin Brodeur just can't seem to do it anymore. Ilya Kovalchuk is looking the

worst signing in the history of the NHL, and no one else can score goals either. First year head coach John Maclean should be fired shortly, and general manager Lou Lamoriello can start the rebuilding process. I can't believe I'm saying this, but the Devils are rebuilding.

The Garden is Rockin', and Spike is Talkin'

I remember growing up in the 90s and watching all the great Knick games back when Patrick Ewing roamed the Madison Square Garden floor and Spike Lee and Reggie Miller had some less than friendly conversations. The New York Knickerbockers changed as soon the 90s became the 00s and a decade of horrendous basketball followed. Finally, as the 00s turned into the 10s, it seems as if basketball is relevant in New York once again.

The signing of free agent Amar'e Stoudemire has completely reversed the losing feel of the Knicks and New York has surged to a 16-10 start a quarter of the way through the season. After an eight game winning streak where Stoudemire scored 30 or more points in each game, the Knicks finally lost to the Boston Celtics in a Garden classic Wednesday night. Boston's Paul Pierce said before the game that it wasn't a real rivalry because the Knicks have been so bad the last decade, but everything changed as the Knicks earned some much deserved respect losing on Pierce's last second game winner. After the game he said, "The Knicks have arrived."

Yes, the Knicks certainly have arrived. There is a buzz around the city and in the Garden that

hasn't been felt in a very long time. Amar'e is playing better than any player in the league and is an early candidate for league MVP. The Garden is the place to be once again as tickets are getting harder to get and celebrities once again inhabit celebrity row. Spike Lee was court side as always and even he was whooping it up like it was the 90s. After a decade of suffering, it feels good be to a Knick fan once again.

As much as I want to enjoy the winning, it's impossible to ignore a certain player that wears number 15 and plays in the state of Colorado. Brooklyn native and Syracuse alum, Carmelo Anthony, is who I speak of, of course. He has already stated that he wants to be traded from Denver to New York, but many Knick fans have been debating how much he is worth. There is no doubt that Carmelo is one of the top five players in the NBA and an elite perimeter scorer but is he worth giving up Wilson Chandler, Danillo Galinari, or rookie Landry fields. Most likely the Knicks will lose at least two of those players, plus more, if they want to trade for Carmelo. The Knicks could wait for the summer to sign Carmelo as a free agent but there would be even further complications if they wait. As much as I love the young talent the Knicks have, if they have the chance to get Carmelo, they should get him. Just like Miami and Boston have done, the Knicks need to add another superstar to their lineup to compliment Amar'e. With the inside play of Amar'e and the perimeter presence of Anthony, the Knicks would be an immediate title contender.

Also, it's important to point out how great point guard Raymond Felton has played this season. It took awhile to click, but Felton and Amar'e have been running the pick and roll just as well as Amar'e did it with Steve Nash in Phoenix. Just thinking about the leading threesome of Amar'e, Felton, and Carmelo is enough to make me salivate as a fan.

The Knicks play Miami on Friday night, and the Garden will be rocking as LeBron James comes to town for the first time since he jilted the Knicks on the Decision. No matter the outcome, there is no doubt that the buzz is back, the Knicks are fun once again. Hell, even my Mom was watching the Boston game on Wednesday, and when a game passes the Mom Test, you know it's good.

What $1.6 billion buys

On Sunday I went to my first game at the New Meadowlands stadium. My grandpa, who has had Giant's season tickets for over 50 years, and I took the short drive from my home in Demarest to the swamp in East Rutherford to watch the G-men take on the Titans. The game the Giants played was appalling and embarrassing but that's a whole other issue.

As for the new $1.6 billion stadium, I felt sad, frustrated, and flat out angry. Basically, the stadium sucks! There was no reason to build a new one in the first place, but the fact that they did and made it worse, is disgusting.

It is not for the fans! I'm sure the box seats are nice but the average person does not get to go to a box to watch a football game. Big business, corporations, greed, and corruption are taking over professional sports while the working class guy who wants to enjoy himself for a few hours on a sunday is getting screwed. My grandpa, who's been going to games since the Giants played at the Polo Grounds, had to pay more money for his seats this year and the seats are further away and higher up. How did this happen?

Problems with the stadium:

1. Parking was completely ignored. Getting to the stadium is a nightmare so even if the stadium was great, the experience would still be ruined.
2. No roof. How can $1.6 billion be spent, and they can't even get a retractable roof so fans don't need to sit in snowy 20 degree weather.
3. No urinal dividers. For all that money they could at least give people who are peeing a little privacy. I do not enjoy it when a 300 pound drunk guy is rubbing up against me while I'm trying to urinate. $1.6 billion! Give us urinal dividers!
4. My seats suck! So, this one doesn't concern people who can afford to pay $20,000 PSLs and sit in the front row or in a box but for the normal people...I sit in the upper level and I could barely see the game. We payed more, and got less.

The New Meadowlands stadium is a perfect symbol for America. It's big, expensive, and it doesn't care about the little people. Sports are supposed to be for everybody. I want to get back to the days when it was cheap and fun to go to games, not expensive and tiring. I always loved going to games but maybe sitting on my couch, with my own food, my own bathroom, and a remote to change the channel if its a blowout , is a better option.

When I was younger I loved professional sports. Now that I understand its a business, professional sports make me very sad sometimes. There are 35,490 homeless people in New York City, but there's a brand new $1.6 billion football stadium across the Hudson. and a crappy football stadium at that.

Right now, professional sports seems to be a world where spoiled millionaires complain about playing a game for living, and they can drink and drive and just have to sit out a quarter (Braylon Edwards). Going to the New Meadowlands stadium made me a little sick about how we spend our money in this great country.

Oh, and one more thing! A bottle of water in this stadium is $5.25. That should be a crime.

In Europe and Africa, Americans provide us incredible sporting accomplishments

When I witnessed the most exciting conclusion to a soccer match in USA soccer history, I thought for sure that it would be the number one story of the week in sports, if not the month in sports, if not the year in sports. After 90 minutes of frustration and agony, finally, in stoppage time, in the 91st minute, Landon Donovan, the greatest US soccer player of all time, was able to score a goal and give the Americans the 1-0 victory they needed to advance out of their group and into the round of 16, in the World Cup.

But as it turns out, the thrilling American soccer game wasn't even the best sports story of the day.

The best sports story of the day, week, month, year, also involved an American and it also took place on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. It was not in South Africa, but in England, at the Wimbledon tennis tournament.

Concluded today, after 11 hours and five minutes, which spanned over the course of three remarkable days, the American John Isner defeated the Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in the most amazing tennis match ever played. Shattering every record possible in one match, Isner and Mahut played an epic first round match that no words can correctly describe and no superlatives would be fitting.

Here's the final score line: Isner def. Mahut 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 6-7, 70-68.

The final set was 70-68!

Due to the Wimbledon rules that a fifth set must be won by two games, Isner and Mahut just kept on going, no one breaking serve for 69 games each, and showing fortitude unmatched by anyone in the history of sports. Marathon runners don't have anything on what Isner and Mahut just accomplished. In 100 years people will look back on this match as one of the greatest sporting events of all time.

While Isner finally won out, Mahut, obviously distraught, showed an amazing amount of class in a losing effort. Both players are now immediate household names and will be linked together forever in tennis lure no matter what they both go on to accomplish. Their embrace at the end of the match showed us exactly what sports are all about.

In the past couple of days, we have witnessed American sports victories the likes of which have never been done before, and both of them weren't even in America. The NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL could never produce the sort of raw emotion and victories of the human spirit that we just saw in Wimbledon and the World Cup.

So what did we learn from the greatest tennis match of all time, and the greatest US soccer victory ever? Sports are the greatest entertainment in the world because they can't be scripted and sports are better on an international stage.