by Susan Szakonyi

Due to my firm resistance to paying more than ten dollars to see a movie in the theater, my top ten list includes mainly movies that have been released on DVD in 2010 and a few television shows which I think are stronger than many movies that were released this year.

It’s become difficult to sift through the crap that finds its way to movie theaters and television screens. There’s just too much of it. I wish we lived in a time where only good movies with good plots and writing were made. But instead 90% of movies are crap. The budgets are too high and the expectations are almost never met.

So I turn to television–more specifically, television that I can obtain from my Netflix queue. I can’t put my finger on exactly why there are so many bad movies and television shows… but they continue to be made because people are watching them.

Take Dexter, Californication, Nurse Jackie, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and of course Mad Men. Cable shows have more room to use profanity and to explore plots that would never been shown on the five major television networks (CBS, NBC, etc.). It’s Always Sunny would never be allowed on ABC–being on FX lets the show be rude and insensitive. But the real gems are on the premium channels, HBO and Showtime. True Blood and Dexter go places that most people find horrifying but the extreme sex and blood are also included with the fine acting and writing. Yes, it’s expensive to pay for premium channels, but given a choice I’d rather have HBO and Showtime rather than the other hundreds of channels. I don’t need another house flipping show or another lame game show or another Special Guest Star Betty White show. Give me something real.

Here’s my list. The following movies and television shows are in not ranked in any particular order.

The Other Guys

It’s not often that I laugh out loud during an entire movie, but the tongue-in-cheek comedy kills and the banter between Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell is the best of the year.

A Single Man

It can be hard to find a movie that cuts as deeply as this one, and makes you want to stop watching for fear that tears will flow. A true story of love and loss.

How To Train Your Dragon

I’m a sucker for animated movies and this one delivers plenty of laughs without overloading on the sappiness that so many children’s movies have these days. How To Train Your Dragon reminded me that Hollywood really doesn’t need to keep making Shrek sequels.

The Messenger

Too many war movies either focus on the violence or have too much of a political slant. I was completely taken back by the character development and my heart ached but I couldn’t stop watching.

Easy A

I refuse to watch teen comedies. The jokes are always the same, and the characters are too often cliché. But then comes Emma Stone, who shows she’s not above self-deprecating humor and can monologue like no other young actress.

Hot Tub Time Machine

Those who know me know that I will watch any movie that has John Cusack. Add Craig Robinson and some 80s jokes and I’m in heaven.

The Kids Are All Right

I was skeptical because of the all accolades. I figured The Kids Are All Right was getting press only because it has two lesbian main characters played by movie stars. But once I got into the movie, I realized it was the quality of the story that must have attracted Annette Bening and Julianne Moore to the script. It’s a film of quality and depth… about looking for the missing piece in your life and learning that everything doesn’t always add together perfectly.

Nurse Jackie (television)

Finally–a show about doctors that doesn’t feel like a soap opera. Addicts are a popular addition to movies and television shows–but here is an addict, an adulteress, and a woman who cares only when she deems necessary. Edie Falco brings on her usual grit, making us cheer for her ecstatic lack of moral boundaries.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (television)

This irreverent comedy has no shame and as long as you put your political correctness aside, this is the best comedy on television. The song and dance numbers are classic.

Bored to Death (television)

This detective show is breezy and silly… and isn’t that what we all need sometimes?

I don’t go to the movies, and haven’t seen any of this year’s Oscar front-runners, other than Winter’s Bone. I can’t even remember ten new films that I’ve seen this year—it’s been busy, and new TV tends to be better than new film lately.  I’ve been occupied.

Therefore, I’m skipping the “Ten Best of The Year” list and giving you the ten best movie-watching experiences I’ve had in 2010.  They are, in many cases, not masterpiece-level films—but at the end of the day, you’re the one that decides what a masterpiece is, and a critic’s job is just to tell you what he/she likes.  Or doesn’t.

Here’s what I liked:

1. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Edgar Wright’s geek chic wet dream is a valentine to everything that I am.

It is a valentine to rock.  Nigel Godrich scored and produced the musical-esque soundtrack, which contains phenomenal contributions from Beck, Metric,and Broken Social Scene.

It is a valentine to video games.  The ninja variation on Dance Dance Revolution is the kind of movie video game you wish was real.  Street Fighter and Super Mario references abound.

It is a valentine to love–and a particularly well-handled one at that.  The screenplay is rich, rewarding, and hilarious.

The film also produced my favorite song of the year:

2 – Winter’s Bone

Much critical  love has been lathered on this backwoods Missouri, neo-noir masterpiece… and for good reason.  Just about everything is perfect in this beautiful, haunting, and deeply human detective story.  If John Hawkes doesn’t get the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, then there’s no justice in this world.

3 – Up

I’m a sap, and this is the best sappy movie since To Kill A Mockingbird. It is also Pixar’s masterpiece to date.  With an outlandish  plot that invokes the hallucinogenic early Disney shorts, Up is a film that never fails to delight.  And it’s got the funniest variation on the ‘talking dog’ cliché that I’ve ever seen.

4 – A Man for All Seasons

This film had been in my Netflix streaming queue for two years.  I clicked on it by accident one night, then spent the next two days fighting a crappy Internet connection just to finish it.

A Man for All Seasons instantly took its place among my top ten best screenplays ever written,  among eloquent masterpieces like Network, Wit, and Patton.  Paul Scofield’s Sir Thomas More is one of the most complete characters ever fit into a two hour film.  It is a must-see.

5 – Vengeance

Johnnie To’s films symbolize everything that is right about Asian film.  They are without restraint. They are visceral.   They are  beautiful.  They are extremely offbeat.

This quirky, extremely uneven,  maniacally creative Chinese gangster action revenge bonanza is about… some guy who wants revenge, and shoots a lot of people for it.  There’s nothing original about the plot.  But To’s technical virtuosity (the cinematography is as stunning as Blade Runner at times) and completely whack sense of humor make him a highly distinct voice in world cinema.  He is today’s Sergio Leone.

6 – Star Trek

You’ve seen it.  I told you I’m a geek, so you know why I like it.  Done.

7 – Barry Lyndon

I finally got around to rewatching Kubrick’s underrated masterwork early this year.  It is a film that is, initially, quite off-putting.  It’s the epoch of long, British costume dramas.  Asking you to see the film twice may, at first, seem like a curse—especially given the film’s three hour length.  But it’s worth it.  This is Kubrick’s greatest film.

8 – The Hurt Locker

Like A Man for All Seasons, The Hurt Locker lays out one of the most complete characters in all of film: Sergeant First Class William James, a fearless bomb technician who can’t get his head out of his job.  Easily the most well-written action film ever made, and a film that delivers on all fronts.

9 – The Thin Blue Line

Imagine my surprise that Errol Morris’s decades-old documentary is just as fresh, full of technique, and thought-inspiring as it was when it was released in 1988.  Morris’s hypnotic film  investigates a late 70s roadside Texas murder.  Even when the mystery is finally solved, we’re full of questions, wondering if the American justice system works the way that it should.

10 – The Thin Red Line

Yeah, I know.  It’s a coincidence.

Terrence Malick’s 1998 WW2 drama is the odd-film-out when it comes to war movies.  It is an introspective, engrossing, and downright weird take on war.  It’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but even its many flaws (especially its distracting cameos) serve only to make the film more fascinating.