#3) Piranha 3D/Jackass 3D/Tron: Legacy (TIE)
Being the cynical bastard that I am, I'm more than ready to consider the current 3D movement as nothing more than a trend that'll fade away once the novelty wears off. Even though I wasn't a fan and didn't go see it, I can kinda understand the allure of seeing Avatar. But since then, 3D has gotten ri-goddamn-diculous. Really, did we need muddy 3D conversions of Alice In Wonderland (aka Johnny Depp Gays Up Your Childhood While Tim Burton's Wife Enables NBA Jam Big Head Mode), Clash of the Titans (Liam Neeson as Zeus wasn't enough to save it) or The Last Airbender (even if it did end up being a good movie, which it wasn't)? 3D should be used sparingly and for big events, not for fucking Cats and Dogs 2: The Revenge of Kitty Galore! What next, a documentary in 3D about the rise of a pre-teen kid who found fame on YouTube by having a "meh" singing voice and a girl's haircut? Oh... Anyways, with Avatar sequels and Star Wars re-re-re-re-re-re-re-releases lined up until 2017 (for reals), it looks like this trend isn't going to die anytime soon. So while the general populace continues to be suckered in by the gimmickry, I'll be just as judicious with the 3D movies that I do see, just like I am with non-3D.
To me, not only has Piranha 3D become the best modern incarnation of an old-school exploitation film but also the best usage of the 3D gimmick (and this is coming from someone who just saw Drive Angry last night). Piranha 3D is crass and proud of it, to the point where the upcoming sequel has been dubbed "Piranha 3DD". Yes, there are tons of naked boobs in glorious 3D, as well as some of the most gut-wrenching gore found in mainstream horror. Surprisingly enough, Piranha 3D was originally not filmed in 3D but you could have fooled me. As if he were the leading authority on 3D, James Cameron derided Piranha for "misusing the technology". If anything, movies like Piranha were the reason 3D movies were invented in the first place. It can be argued that Jackass 3D was "misusing the technology", I mean, what else would you call shooting a gigantic dildo at the camera? Oddly enough, the 3D in Jackass wasn't that big of deal. I only really noticed it during the on-screen titles of the bits. But as crass as Jackass is, damn if it didn't look crisp as hell. I'm not joking when I say Jackass 3D may be the reason for me to finally get a Blu-Ray Player. As for Tron: Legacy, once again I didn't think the 3D was all that noticeable, but more for atmospheric purposes, which I'm sure pleased James Cameron, the self-appointed Lord and Savior of the Third Dimension. But I was going to see Tron: Legacy regardless of if it was in 3D or not so that didn't really matter to me. I mean, it looked good but it wasn't mindblowing. I was mostly wondering how Jeff Daniels smuggled green beans and a suckling pig into the Internet...or how Olivia Wilde smuggled DAT ASS into a tight latex jumpsuit...or when David Bowie had an albino lovechild with Chris Tucker from The Fifth Element.
#2) Scott Pilgrim vs The World
I won't lie, I went into Scott Pilgrim expecting to hate it. I wanted to give it a chance but the cynic inside me was all like "It's filled with Michael Cera and hipsters. It's gonna suck." But it won me over. Michael Cera branched out and showed the most range since his Arrested Development days, while still playing generally the same typecast character he always has, and the movie was self-aware enough to poke fun at itself, particularly at the whole hipster subculture. Add in all the video game and pop-culture references, a great soundtrack, a solid supporting cast, stellar art direction and direction from Edgar Wright in general and it becomes magic. One of the big reasons I rarely go see movies in theaters is because, when I do, I want to make them an event. I want them to mean something and even if I see a movie I like, more often than not, I'll think "That was fun. What do I do tomorrow?" With Scott Pilgrim, I had a memorable experience that I haven't had in the theater in a long time, probably since The Dark Knight. It's such a disappointment that Scott Pilgrim bombed at the box office, even though I'm sure it's already considered a cult classic by some. When you take into account the fact that I, a cynical jaded ass who hates everything that everyone else likes, ended up LOVING this movie, more people should have given it a shot. I guarantee that if people were more open-minded and didn't go see the same old crap (*cough*TheExpendables*cough*), Scott Pilgrim vs The World could have become huge. But as great as Scott Pilgrim was, and as much as I internally debated with myself repeatedly, I still can't give it the #1 spot of my favorite movie of 2010.
#1) Kick-Ass
In some ways, putting Kick-Ass over Scott Pilgrim Vs The World seems like a mere technicality. I went and saw Kick-Ass twice in the theaters, something I rarely do. I didn't do that with Scott Pilgrim, though I wanted to. I bought Kick-Ass on DVD the week of release. I didn't do that with Scott Pilgrim...but since it was coming out so close to Christmas, I just asked someone to get it for me. But I think the main reason I liked Kick-Ass so much was because I was disappointed in Iron Man 2 so much. While Iron Man 2 wasn't a bad movie, Kick-Ass did a better job of encapsulating the feel of a comic book and reminding me that superhero movies can be fresh and original and not just cash-ins or franchise tie-ins or whatever. In a post-Dark Knight world where every film executive wants to do a "dark, gritty reboot" for every movie ever made, Kick-Ass showed that it could pull off vulgar and violent, while not only being bright and colorful like a comic book should be, but also having heart to the characters. Whether it's the love between Big Daddy and Hit-Girl, the realistic-feeling friendship between Kick-Ass and his friends, Red Mist wanting the approval of his Mafia boss dad or the fact that Kick-Ass doesn't ever have to worry about his secret identity but instead whether the girl he has a crush on thinks he's gay or not; there's a lot more going on here than just "good guys vs bad guys". But of course, most people had to focus instead on a 12 year old girl saying the word "cunt". Well, everything can't be perfect, but nevertheless Kick-Ass is one of the freshest takes on the superhero genre and one hell of a movie-watching experience.
Oh yeah, almost forgot. NICOLAS CAGE AS A GUN-TOTING BATMAN! ("I never said Batman!")
OK, so I'm finally done with going over what I liked in 2010. So get off my back now, will ya? Honestly, while 2010 was a good year for movies and a decent year for music for me, just about everything else in 2010 sucked. Hopefully there's plenty of stuff worth talking about in 2011. So far, I've only seen one movie in theaters (Drive Angry, like I previously mentioned), there's only two video games that I'm really looking forward to (Saints Row 3 and WWE All-Stars) and though there's plenty of bands I'd like to see release albums this year, I don't know anything that's supposed to come out (except for Blaqk Audio's new album, which should hopefully be coming soon). With 2010 being somewhat of a disappointment in my life, I've since kinda come down from the high of falsely believing that my blog would be this awesome springboard towards other things. But as long as there's stuff worth complaining about, I'll be around.
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