2010: The Year in Film

How does 2010 compare to other years in film? I'd say it has earned a B with potential to move up when I get a chance to see some of the smaller year-end films (like Blue Valentine, Another Year, I Love You Phillip Morris, Rabbit Hole, The Way Back, Somewhere, Biutiful, White Material, and 127 Hours--which inexplicably hasn't come my way yet).

I think there have been some real high-quality efforts, and I've already given out more 3 1/2- and 4-star designations this year than with all the films I saw from 2009. That being said, I don't think the quality of the top films of the year is as strong as 2009. Excepting my number 1, the rest of my list wouldn't have placed any higher than 5 on last year's list. Not sure what to make of that, but there it is.

The other thing that stands out is the lack of truly awful movies I've seen. Sure, I handed out my first ever 0-star rating, but there haven't been nearly as many stinkers as there normally are, though I credit that more to my own evolving tastes and my desire to seek out more challenging, small-scale material than to anything else. In fact, most would agree, myself included, that the big studio stuff this year has been weaker than any year in recent memory.

Tomorrow morning, I'll bring you the list of my 10 favorite films of the year. For now, enjoy a rundown of some of my other favorites from the year--the best performances, technical achievements, etc. Feel free to tell my how genius or crazy I am in the comments section. And don't forget to check out my top-10 tomorrow!

Best Lead Actor: Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Runner-up: Robert Duvall, Get Low

Best Lead Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Runner-up: Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Runner-up: Sean Penn, Fair Game

Best Supporting Actress: Marion Cotillard, Inception
Runner-up: Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

Best Director: Christopher Nolan, Inception
Runner-up: Martin Scorsese, Shutter Island

Best Original Screenplay: David Seidler, The King's Speech
Runner-up: Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg, The Kids Are All Right

Best Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Runner-up: Michael Arndt, Toy Story 3

Best Cinematography: Matthew Libatique, Black Swan
Runner-up: Martin Ruhe, The American

Best Original Score: Hans Zimmer, Inception
Runner-up: Carter Burwell, True Grit

Best Trailer (for films released in 2010): The Social Network (click here to view)
Runner-up: Somewhere (click here to view)

Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3
Runner-up: How to Train Your Dragon

Best Documentary: Exit Through the Gift Shop
Runner-up: Waiting for"Superman"

Best Foreign Film: Micmacs
Runner-up: Farewell

Biggest Surprise: Salt
Runner-up: Morning Glory

Biggest Disappointment: Hereafter
Runner-up: I Am Love

Worst Performance: Joaquin Phoenix, I'm Still Here
Runner-up: Michael Sheen, TRON: Legacy

Worst Films of the Year:
5.) Please Give
4.) I Am Love
3.) Get Him to the Greek
2.) The A-Team
1.) I'm Still Here

Best Films of the Year:
Come back tomorrow!