Just like last year at this time, I consider the Top 10 list presented here as tentative. Again, there are over 30 more movies -- which qualify as 2010 releases -- that I still plan to see. However, I feel much better this year about my tentative ten. Although the list might get cracked by one or two of those titles I've yet to see, most of my choices will probably stay standing in the end, and, more importantly, as of right now, I feel this list is representative of my overall take on last year's movies.

1. The Social Network. Because this movie looks like it's turning out to be the most acclaimed film of the year, I'd hate to think I'm just adding to a groupthink consensus among critics. But even if I hadn't read any other review or laudatory quote for the movie, I would still pick The Social Network as movie of the year. It's fast, fierce, cutting, incisive, sharply written, and superbly directed and acted. Outwardly, its timing and concerns are relevant; inwardly, it's an old story about success and drive having less to do with noble intentions than with selfish and/or narrow concerns. And it's also an acknowlegment that vision is often inherent and not acquired. It's not a "nice" movie, and I like it all the more for that. 

2. Toy Story 3. I've already said a lot about how deep I think Toy Story 3 is, and I recognize it works every bit as well as simply funny, thrilling, emotional entertainment. But I had my copy of it on again the other night, and it made me want to emphasize how wonderful the movie  looks. The colors are so beautiful, and the character animation and details are nailed down to a science. My new favorite villain is Lotso, who won me over simply through his appearance as a large, huggable, magenta-colored beat-up plush. I just stare at his huge nose and purple fur and get giddy, and I love how his character irony comes across as so extreme -- such a lovable toy, such a corrupt bad guy. Anyway, he's not the only one -- stare at the movie some time, and look at all the characters' surfaces and expressions. They're perfect.

3. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. This is the first film to truly acknowledge the generation indelibly imprinted by video games -- and perhaps not just any generation, but the first generation, who were born in the '70s and grew up in the '80s and '90s, who had the television set on half the time to watch TV and the other half to play Nintendo. I'd imagine the language of the movie (visual and audio language, not necessarily spoken language) to feel alien to anyone else. The movie also ties in underground rock and comic books -- it's a very specific movie, dazzlingly realized. Director Edgar Wright, who's shown me before that he has a direct link to my funny bone, is now showing me  he might also be connected to the geek part of my brain. Scary.

4. Somewhere. The simplicity of Somewhere is disarming. So little said here, and there's really no plot, but you can understand it perfectly -- how the main character's life had become trapped in some surreal corner, how his perspective had become limited, and how it receives a jarring shift thanks to the sudden presence of his daughter. It's an attempt to show such perspective being injected into a body of disillusionment, and how the character gradually becomes affected by it. This is a movie to absorb -- you can feel the initial malaise, and then you can contrast the warmth that arrives later. The film, specifically a critique of L.A. and the emptiness of showbiz lifestyle, is an assured work by Sofia Coppola, balancing cynicism with a tangible hopefulness. It's my favorite of her movies so far.

5. Black Swan. This film dives right into its operatic ballet world of lavishly produced, technically perfect art and works as a metaphor for the kind of mad dedication such art requires. The stories in these productions are often simple stories, many of them melodramatic or tragic, often dressed up, and this movie is no different. Darren Aronofsky shows the kind of commitment to this vision that can sometimes come off as laughable or pretentious, but he sticks to it admirably, indulging in deluded visions and body horror, and I believe his work is a crackling success.

6. True Grit. The fourth, fifth, and sixth spots on my list feel almost interchangeable. I could say I enjoyed True Grit every bit as much as I did Somewhere and Black Swan and I wouldn't be lying. True Grit comes across to me as an impeccable production, a tough story lovingly adapted by the Coen Brothers, with their pet themes intact. And unlike No Country for Old Men, this one offers the understanding that when everyday people learn about the grander scheme, they make their way by weaving the strands of hope they've picked up along the way; that a semblance of control is preferable to relinquishing control all together.

7. Inception. This movie is a great entertainment as well as a progressive strike for directors using mainstream studio movies as a canvas to explore one's own original ideas. Christopher Nolan's film  earns big points for ambition and boldness of execution. While many others have been caught up in deconstructing and reconstructing its puzzle-box plot, I enjoyed it mostly for its charge-ahead audacity and the playfulness of its scenarios. The movie's demeanor may be quite serious, but I can't help seeing Nolan grinning as he was putting it together.

8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. I feel this year there were more movies than usual that you're either in on, or you're not -- that you're either wired for, or the film will totally fly by you. My list already has three movies I'd consider in this category (Scott Pilgrim, Somewhere, Black Swan), and I kind of see Inception falling in there as well. The latest Harry Potter definitely belongs in this group of movies -- I honestly don't see this offering working for anyone other than die-hard fans who have been following the story faithfully for years. For this fan, it was splendidly dark, isolating our three heroes and putting them through even tougher growing pains. As a buildup to the final installment, it works extremely well -- I can't wait for summer 2011 now.

9. How to Train Your Dragon. A number of this year's award season movies have proven to be formula movies that were put together very well. How to Train Your Dragon came out much earlier in the year, but has been positioning for awards prestige, and it's also very much a formula movie, but I'd say it's the one that worked the best for me. Considerable charm was put into its characterizations, its technical work is excellent, and it contains a good message about fighting prejudice. It also has a surprisingly brave ending that adds signficantly to its potential to linger in the mind.

10. Mother. This unusual film boasts one of the most bizarre and original scripts of the year plus a marvelous performance by Kim Hye-Ja, who would tie in my mind with Natalie Portman for best actress of 2010. It's a movie I saw many months ago and has only grown stronger in my mind -- an extraordinarily strange story, goofy and suspenseful, about the impulses of ordinary people, revealing a lot about the primal emotions and instincts that both move and command us.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading -- and happy new year!

(Article also posted at www.windowtothemovies.com.)