I guess it’s no longer a tradition if you’re going to break it for three years but in the spirit of blogging, I’m going to restart my yearly post of presenting the top 10 movies of the previous year that I’ve seen, just like what I did for 2006, 2005, and 2004. (Also, it’s Oscar night tonight!) As with those earlier posts, I only considered movies that had their screening in Philippine cinemas in 2010 and which I was able to see that same year. 2010 was a pretty decent movie-going year for me and I was able to watch a respectable total of 45 films.

Here’s the list of my top 10 best movies of 2010 (in order and linked to their Wikipedia articles):

1. Inception

2. The Social Network

3. Buried

4. RPG Metanoia

5. How To Train Your Dragon

6. The Road

7. Megamind

8. The Ghost Writer

9. Kick-Ass

10. The American

I’ve already raved about both Inception and RPG Metanoia, so I’ll just make a quick run-down of the rest of the list. As expected, these are all a matter of taste and you are of course quite free to disagree. I will also link to the Plurks (if any) where I microblogged about the movie.

My sisters found The Social Network quite boring, but being the Internet junkie that I am, I find the early history of Facebook (even if fictionalized) very fascinating. The movie is well-made and Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (2010’s Time Person of the Year) is very compelling. It’s no wonder for me that the movie is an Oscar nominee for both Best Picture and Best Director, and Jesse is a nominee for Best Actor. I’m now waiting for the movie about Google to be made. (Plurk)

Buried has a unique concept. The whole movie showed nothing but actor Ryan Reynolds buried alive in a box for the whole duration of the film. That seems to make for a tedious watch, but believe me that Buried is a really worthy film to see if you want something different. (BTW, the movie’s trailer is a bit misleading.) (Plurk)

Sorry Toy Story fans, but the best foreign animated film for me would be How To Train Your Dragon. I was personally more touched by the relationship between a loser boy and a crippled dragon than I was with Andy and his toys. (Plurk)

The Viggo Mortensen-starring and post-apocalyptic film The Road is a difficult one to watch. But the bleak cinematography and the emotional grip of the plot makes the movie compelling.

Initially, I had a hard time deciding which of the two anti-hero villain animated movies, Despicable Me and Megamind, I liked better. Ultimately, I went for Megamind’s better plot and more redeeming character development over the cuteness of Despicable Me’s Agnes and Minions. (Plurk)

The Ghost Writer is a great political thriller starring Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan and directed by Roman Polanski, who is wanted in the US for sexual abuse charges. The plot is intriguing, the acting is superb, and the spectacular seaside views of Germany (as a stand-in for New England, since Polanski couldn’t film in the US) are breathtaking.

Kick-Ass kicked ass. ’Nuff said.

Among the ten films, I think the spy thriller The American would be the most boring for other people. The film is full of scenes where no one is talking, but the views of rural Italy, and George Clooney’s very restrained acting, more than make up for the huge lack of movement (though there are a few action scenes here and there). (Plurk)