2010 Movies Guide

1. Inception
Starring: Leonardo Dicaprio, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe
Director: Christopher Nolan
Release Date: 16th July 2010

Nothing else could have been number one, not after 2008, not after The Dark Knight. It. Was. Awesome. Due in no small part to the genius of Christopher Nolan, a director with an enviable track record, who now turns his attentions to the sci-fi genre with Inception, a movie shrouded in Cloverfield-levels of mystery.

We know Ken Watanabe is blackmailing Leonardo DiCaprio, who’s married to Marion Cotillard and works with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page, but that’s it. Oh, and, it’s set within ‘the architecture of the mind’, which could mean anything at this point. Inception makes number one sheerly on the basis of the talent involved, the mega cast, the phenomenal director, and, again, because of 2008, which as our top two shows, was quite a good year for movies.

In the absence of promo images, we’ve amateurishly put together a poster ourselves for you viewing pleasure, it’s quite possibly 100% accurate, so beware SPOILERS BELOW!

2. Iron Man 2
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson
Director: Jon Favreau
Release Date: 7th May 2010


‘I am Iron Man.’ How could you not be desperate to see a sequel after Robert Downey Jr delivered that line at a press conference in the final scene of Iron Man? Like Tony Stark, director Jon Favreau has tinkered with his machine, upgraded it, and is ready to show the world Iron Man Mark II. In the superhero sequel tradition, it promises to be bigger and better, with the new friends, new foes and heightened fanboy expectations. Scarlett Johansson is Natasha Romanov – Tony Stark’s replacement red-head assistant now that Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts has been promoted – she’s also secretly Russian superspy Black Widow. Mickey Rourke plays fellow Russian Whiplash, Iron Man’s nemesis along with Sam Rockwell’s Justin hammer. It appears as though The Iron Man armour has kick-started a new Cold War…
Terrence Howard is probably (like the rest of us) still in shock after getting Cheadled, and Olga Kurylenko can’t believe she didn’t get Johansson’s part. She refuses to take the costume off, it’s kind of embarrassing…


3. Toy Story 3
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen
Director: Lee Unkrich
Release Date: 18th June 2010

Pixar: the most dependable movie studio around. Coming off of Wall-E and Up, they’re returning to their roots, the movie that made their name, Toy Story. Ordinarily, threequels are something to dread, and unnecessary sequels to animated movies often feel every bit as superfluous as they actually are (yes, you, Shrek). But Pixar can (virtually) do no wrong at this point, and the first two Toy Story movies are such bona fide modern classics that you can’t help but be excited about the further misadventures of Woody and Buzz.

4. Tron Legacy
Starring: Garrett Hedlund, Jeff Bridges, Olivia Wilde
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Release Date: 17th December 2010

Tron was ahead of its time. Now is that time. While the first film amazed with its vision and FX, it still managed to bore with its pace, but on the basis of this concept trailer, the sequel has managed to get the balance just right. The plot sees Flynn’s son enter Tron to find out what happened to his father (Jeff Bridges) all those years ago. Looks spectacular.

5. A Nightmare On Elm Street
Starring: Jackie Earle Haley
Director: Samuel Bayer
Release Date: 16th April 2010
Freddy Krueger, the dream-world dwelling killer first brought to cinema screens in 1984, is back. But this time Robert Englund is going to be watching it in the cinema with the rest of us. Exec-producer Michael Bay is hitting the Batman Begins/Casino Royale/Star Trek reboot button in an effort to kick start the franchise ala Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There’s only one reason this has ranked so highly on our list – the casting of Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy.

6. Clash Of The Titans
Starring: Sam Worthington, Gemma Arterton, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes
Director: Louis Letterier
Release Date: 2nd April 2010

The highest remake on the list, Clash of the Titans takes the most fondly remembered sword and sandal classic to showcase Ray Harryhausen’s stop-motion creatures and re-imagines it for the CGI generation. Director Louis Letterier should be somewhat familiar with intense action and CG smackdowns thanks to his prior work on The Incredible Hulk and The Transporter franchises. Up and coming actors Sam Worthington (Terminator: Salvation, Avatar) and Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace, Prince of Persia) take on the roles of Perseus and Io, whilst veterans Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes take on the roles of Zeus and Hades. It will be interesting to see how the Olympian elements of the story are handled, as the gods have been notably absent from most recent sword and sandal flicks like Troy.

7. Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood
Starring: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett
Director: Ridley Scott
Release Date: 14th May 2010

Ridley Scott is a living legend. The mastermind behind Alien, Blade Runner and Gladiator returns to roughly the period of time in which his criminally underrated Crusades movie Kingdom of Heaven took place and reunites with frequent collaborator Russell Crowe. So he should be in his comfort zone and ready to deliver a memorable take on the oft filmed Robin Hood legend, presumably without incongruous accents, talking foxes or men in tights. We really could do with seeing a new promo image now though…

8. The Expendables
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke, Arnold Schwarzenegger
Director: Sylvester Stallone
Release Date: 23rd April 2010

Sly Stallone wants to go out in a blaze of gory. Sorry, typo, blaze of glory. Actually, they’re both right. The Expendables could well be the throwback action movie that dreams are made of. With a cast list that reads like someone just reading names off of their action movie DVD collection, fans of the genre are getting spoilt rotten.

9. Piranha 3D
Starring: Elisabeth Shue, Jerry O’Connell, Richard Dreyfuss, Ving Rhames
Director: Alexandre Aja
Release Date: 27th August 2010

Richard Dreyfuss thinks it’s safe to go back in the water – you think he’d know better. You know the deal: Remake. 3D. Sex, violence, comedy. Prehistoric piranhas tear to shreds every living thing in their path, mostly hot, young dumb actors, a couple of porn stars, and a couple of old intelligent actors for good measure. This isn’t high-brow, this is pure popcorn entertainment (although judging by the set pics, most of that popcorn will be regurgitated before you leave the theatre). Carnage!

10. The A-Team
Starring: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper
Director: Joe Carnahan
Release Date: 11th June 2010

Smoking Aces was insane. In. Sane. And while it wasn’t spectacular successful, it is proof positive that Joe Carnahan may be able to breathe some life into The A-Team. As evidenced by this years Star Trek, well-known television characters in a high-octane cinematic adaptation can be a very, very good thing.

Carnahan has lined up a couple of cast members already, namely Liam Neeson and Bradley Cooper. Neeson will be taking on the role of Hannibal, and although it’s been argued that his on screen persona differs considerably from that of previous Hannibal, George Peppard, Taken proved he can do action, and how many other actors have trained Obi-Wan Kenobi and Batman? Man of the moment Bradley Cooper will play Face, a role originated by Dirk Benedict (the lesser of two Starbucks). If you’re looking at the picture above and wondering why Quinton Jackson is there as B A Baracus when nobody has been cast as B A Baracus, it’s because the other candidates are so ridiculous that we’ll continue to pretend Quinton Jackson has been cast until our dreams of perfect casting are crushed by an official announcement.

11. Alice In Wonderland
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway
Director: Tim Burton
Release Date: 5th March 2010

As per usual, the visuals of the latest Tim Burton project, Alice In Wonderland, look stunning. Newcomer Mia Wasikowskia plays Alice in the loose adaptation of Carroll’s treasured novel, alongside Burton mainstays Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen. The only troubling aspect of this is the ‘loose’ part of the loose adaptation; unlike the previous adaptations Burton has made (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Big Fish, etc.) this film will take more liberties with the source material. It features a considerably older Alice returning to Wonderland. That sounds a bit like Hook. But we’re confident it won’t be met with the same lukewarm reception, and that Burton thrills us with a wild and wacky world as he has in the past.