The Top 25 Movies of 2010, Part 5

Kick-Ass
Directed by Matthew Vaughn

Controversial for its scenes of a foul-mouthed 11 year-old girl (Hit Girl, played by Chloe Grace Moretz) dealing out graphic deaths to nasty bad guys, "Kick-Ass" is 2010's "Watchmen", the year's razor-edged cinematic deconstruction of superhero myths.  And I like razor-edged cinematic deconstructions of superhero myths.  "Super" also came out in 2010, but I prefer the unbridled enthusiasm and rousing energy of "Kick-Ass".  Based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr., "Kick-Ass" is the story of a high school nobody (Aaron Johnson) who decides to become a superhero and fight injustice.  With the help of Hit Girl (Moretz), her father Big Daddy (Nicolas "yes, I can still make a good movie, now and then" Cage) and Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), he gets swept up in a whirlwind of fame, comedy, pain, and an evil New York crime lord who loves the color orange.  While "Watchmen" had more high-falutin' themes on its mind, "Kick-Ass" brings it down to "the personal", as a good-intentioned innocent gets pulled into a world of highly twisted, yet honest, morality and must rise to meet "real life".  Plus, it's intended to be a good old-fashioned crowd pleaser, and it succeeds.

Black Swan
Directed by Darren Aronofsky

This is my least favorite Aronofsky film ("Pi", "Requiem For a Dream", "The Fountain", "The Wrestler").  And yet, here it is.  "Black Swan" tells the story of an up-and-coming ballerina (Natalie Portman) and the struggles she endures after she wins the coveted lead role in a New York production of "Swan Lake".  Unfortunately, the pressures of the spotlight, the relationship with her mother played by Barbara Hershey (a history of sexual abuse, maybe?), and her slimy director's attempts to bring out her inner Black Swan all add up to one thing - she goes crazy.  It's a (mostly) psychological horror movie, plain and simple.  From the gleaming darkness of the cinematography, to the disorienting sound design, to the jittery camerawork, it's horror cinema at its most jarring.  And Natalie Portman rocks, giving what, so far, is the best performance of her career.  You like her and root for her even as she goes completely nutso.  So dive headfirst into the surprisingly brutal world of ballet (ye gods) and prepare to lose your mind. . .

Hot Tub Time Machine
Directed by Steve Pink

A loving tribute to sex comedies of the 1980s, "Hot Tub Time Machine" (or "HTTM", as nobody says) follows three old friends (John Cusack, Rob Corddry and Craig Robinson) as they gather at a beloved ski lodge to reconnect after Corddry apparently attempts suicide.  Sounds funny so far, no?  Cusack's nephew (Clark Duke) also tags along, and before you can say "Porky's" the four of them are whisked back to the 1980s via a malfunctioning hot tub time machine (sounds plausible to me).  Now they must make sure that all past events go exactly as they did before, or else their future lives will be destroyed.  I've always liked John Cusack onscreen, even when he's in crap like "2012".  Here he gets to riff on the movies he made in the '80s, and he's backed by a very funny cast, including Crispin Glover as a bellhop who's destined to lose an arm.  While it has a modern level of raunchy, gross-out humor, it manages to have the feel of a clunky '80s comedy, which I like.  It also has surprisingly touching moments, which are exactingly doled out to color these wacky bozos with empathy.  It's a fun movie.

Inception

Directed by Christopher Nolan

The biggest puzzle box of 2010.  On the surface it's a simple heist movie - as simple as possible when featuring a team of characters trying to plant an idea in someone's head through their dreams.  What does the ending mean?  Everyone has their theory and I have mine.  Christopher Nolan doesn't even know, he says.  Apparently it's a very personal movie for him - many of the sequences in the movie are based on actual dreams he's had.  And Leonardo DiCaprio looks an awful lot like Christopher Nolan in this movie.  Dreams versus reality, dreams versus memory, dreams as the seed of inspiration, equating the art of cinema with the dream state - all of these themes are present and accounted for, wrapped in a fluidly edited, propulsively scored narrative, accentuated with engaging performances and offered up within a pantheon of great sci-fi ideas and visual flair.  It's a movie that must be seen to be believed.

Toy Story 3

Directed by Lee Unkrich

The perfect ending to a trilogy, "Toy Story 3" brings to a close the story of Andy and his relationship with his childhood toys.  It manages to be both incredibly fun and surprisingly powerful, which those wizards at Pixar are masterful at doing.  The twist this time around is that the movie is mainly set in the "prison break" movie genre, as Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang must escape from a hellish day care center to get back to their owner.  Featuring great new characters like Ken and Barbie, and despicable villains like Lotso Huggin Bear and the nightmarish Big Baby, the movie is a cornucopia of awesome, from its rousing opening sequence (set in the imagination of a child) to its tear-jerking climax and ending, with heaps of voice talent to boot.  The funniest sequence for me, however, is the Mr. Tortilla Head sequence.  You'll know it when you see it.  These movies tap into those childhood memories when toys were our friends and companions, and imagination was king.