2010 Top Films/Movies/Scores

Top 10 Movies 2010:
1. Kick Ass
2. The Social Network
3. Inception
4. Scott Pilgrim vs The World
5. Toy Story 3
6. Tron Legacy
7. Despicable Me
8. Shutter Island
9. The A-Team
10. Iron Man 2

2010 was the year of the ‘it was alright I suppose’ movie. So many movies came and went and I’ve struggled to remember what I’ve seen this year. Not many movies had stand out moments that pushed it into my top 10 list.

Kick Ass tops my list because it came completely from left field (I believe that’s a baseball term, hah sports!). The movie had everything I want. Fantastic action scenes, a well paced story, some brilliant comedy moments and great performances from its cast. Not only did Kick Ass prove Nic Cage can act, it also introduced us to a young actress who I will be keeping my eye on, Chloe Grace Moretz. As the foul mouthed 11 year old assassin, Moretz steals the show.

There are a rather large amount of movies I still need to see from 2010. The Hurt Locker, How to Train Your Dragon, Let Me In, Up in the Air and many more.

Top 10 Games 2010:
1. Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360)
2. Mass Effect 2 (PC)
3. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (PC)
4. Rock Band 3 (Xbox 360)
5. Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii)
6. Heavy Rain (PS3)
7. Starcraft 2 (PC)
8. Civilization V (PC)
9. Fallout: New Vegas (PC)
10. Halo: Reach (Xbox 360)

I’m not going to lie, I very nearly put World of Warcraft: Cataclysm at the top of this list. Cataclysm has completely reinvented the game, a WoW 2.0 if you will. After 2 lacklustre expansions, Blizzard finally got it right. I pushed my fanboyism aside though and it ended up in third, behind Red Dead Redemption and Mass Effect 2.

Red Dead Redemption tops my list for 2010 because of the sheer scope and scale of the game. It is a phenomenal technical achievement. The story line is compelling, the characters likeable, the gameplay (almost) perfect and the horse riding...oh the horse riding. Nothing like dragging a capture criminal behind you as you ride off into the sunset. What pushed this game into the number 1 spot was ultimately the DLC. Undead Nightmare is easily one of the best DLC/Expansions out there. Turning the west into a zombie filled invasion was just fantastic and Rockstar did a fantastic job at pulling it off.

Top 5 Scores 2010:
1. The Social Network – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
In The Hall of the Mountain King
2. Inception – Hans Zimmer
Time
3. Tron Legacy – Daft Punk
C.L.U
4. Alice in Wonderland – Danny Elfman
5. Heavy Rain - Normand Corbeil (Yes, I know it’s a game, but it’s brilliant)

I was tossing up between the top 3. They all deserve the number 1 spot. Tron because of the sheer scale of the score, Inception purely for the track “Time” and The Social Network ends up taking the top place as it did what every film score should do. Watching the movie I didn’t really notice it. Yet, take the score and listen to it by itself and I can place every track with the scene it was playing in.

Best TV Show of 2010:
The Walking Dead

Having not read past the first few issues of the comic I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one. With some Twitter friends constantly going on about the awesome it contains I checked out the show with high hopes. Needless to say I wasn’t disappointed. The story was compelling and each episode ended with me wanting more. I can’t wait to see what they do with the second season.

Biggest Let Downs of 2010:
Film – Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Looking at the trailers I thought “yes! They got it right!” The trailers captured all the fun of playing The Sands of Time. In the movie however, the film was mostly devoid of fun and plagued down by exposition and some general bad acting. Some of the action scenes were rather impressive in their scope but they failed to overcome the flaws in the movie as Tron: Legacy did.

Game –Fable III
This one was very easy for me. As a massive fan of Fable and Fable II, Fable III comes across as a little too simple and there was just something missing. To this day I cannot put my finger on it. Was it the cartoon visuals? The one button combat? The storyline? I just can’t figure it out.

Most Anticipated of 2011:
Film – Cowboys and Aliens
This was a tough one to call. There are some great looking films coming out in 2011 but Cowboys and Aliens shoots to the top for me after viewing the teaser trailer. Jon Favreau has created what looks to be just an all out fun ride.

Game - Mass Effect 3
Again, another tough one. Bioware have created the Star Wars of my generation with the Mass Effect series. The sheer scale of this space epic is amazing. After the massive finale of Mass Effect 2 I’m very keen to get my Sheppard back.