2010 Movie Releases I Saw at the Theater

I thought it would be fun to list all of the movies I saw at the theater in 2010. In a perfect world, I'd see two theatrical releases a week, or 100+ movies per year, because that's the way movies are supposed to be soon. Here in the real world though, these are all of the ones I saw. They're ordered according to when they were released, not necessarily when I saw them. And I haven't included movies that I watched at home, which were many.

I'll update this as I see more movies, and launch a new hub like this in 2011.

1. Daybreakers - Not bad. I liked Willem Dafoe, and I thought the concept was clever enough. Sam Neill was good too. It wasn't scary at all, but it was fun.
   
2. The Ghost Writer - Also not bad, but overrated. Good performances, but slow and sorta pointless. I liked the ending.
   
3. The Crazies - Better than the original, but that's not saying much. I like Timothy Olyphant a lot, and that helped me enjoy the movie more than I otherwise might have.
   
4. Alice in Wonderland - I'm so tired of watching Tim Burton reach into the same bag of tricks over and over again. That being said, this was better than some of his other recent films, like that awful Willy Wonka movie he made a while back.
   
5. Hot Tub Time Machine - One of the highlights of the year. I'm an 80s nostalgia nut anyway, and I loved the cast. It was also genuinely funny.
   
6. Date Night - Much better than expected. I watched the trailer and though, boy, what a lazy way to capitalize on NBC's sitcom stars. But the movie was actually funny and well-written.
   
7. Iron Man 2 - I didn't like this as well as the first one, but I enjoyed it. The character of the Black Widow was tacked on for no real reason other than to set up the upcoming Avengers movie, but she's pleasant enough to look at.
   
8. Shrek Forever After - Can you tell I have kids, and I take them to the movies once in a while. This was no better nor worse than expected, but the series has gotten a little bit tired.
   
9. Piranha 3D - I got my money's worth out of this one--a return to exploitation cinema in a big way. Lots of boobs, lots of blood, and lots of laughs. One of my favorite movies of the year so far. (It's not meant to be taken too seriously.)
   
10. The Social Network - Overrated, but good. It's based on a Ben Mezrich book, and I don't know that he's a "reliable journalist." The performances were good, but the movie was dark, which made it way too gloomy and depressing. Justin Timberlake's performance was notably good. And the screenplay and dialogue were as well-written as you'd expect from Aaron Sorkin.
11. Paranormal Activity 2 - I didn't have great expectations for this movie, so I wasn't disappointed. Love Sprague Grayden, and was excited to see Katie Featherston in a bikini, but the movie wasn't scary or creepy. The characters weren't as interesting and didn't seem as real either. Bummer.
12. Red - A real delight. The cast was terrific, even if they are all getting older, and the movie was fast-paced and exciting. Good action movies are hard to find these days, but this one definitely qualifies. I hope there's a sequel--it would be easy to do. Just find another old action movie star or two to add to the cast in each sequel. Maybe Nick Nolte?
13. Stone - A disappointment. The trailer made it look like this was going to be a really tight psychological thriller, but it turned out to be a bit of a mess. I don't need everything wrapped up in a big package with a bow on it, but I do need something to hang my hook on. And Stone asks so many questions and delivers so few answers that a viewer can't help but leave confused and unsatisifed. Great performances from Robert Deniro, Edward Norton, and Milla Jovovich didn't save this one.
14. Megamind - Absolutely wonderful in just about every way I could imagine. I hope that the producers of the next Superman movie see this before they go into production, so they can see what potential some of these ideas still have.
15. Tangled - Top notch animation. One of my favorite films of the year, and one of the best family movies ever.
    

It's pretty pitiful that a self-described film geek like me has only seen on average a single movie each montht this year. I've slowed down a lot. On the other hand, I've seen a lot of stuff on my home theater. I'm going to try to get to more movies for the rest of the year after seeing this list, for sure.