2010 was one of the finest years in history for cinema. These 10 films are definitely the best from that year.

2010 was one of the finest years in history for cinema. With the era of classic films long in the past, the film industry seems to have spent a long time trying to relive the heyday of exciting, tense, character-driven stories in every genre. In the 70s, horror wasn’t just about jump scares and comedy wasn’t just fart jokes. 2010 allowed as a brief moment to relive what used to make cinema great.

From the intensity of thrillers to laugh-out-loud comedy moments, experimental techniques and character-driven stories, movies like this show how the cinema of 2010 was so great.

10 The King’s Speech

Historical drama always struggles to make an impact on the masses because it typically places too much emphasis on realism, and not enough on plot and dialogue. Luckily, The King’s Speech is a brilliantly paced film that crafts an interesting relationship between King George VI (Colin Firth) and Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). In such an incredibly strong year, The King’s Speech managed to win the Best Picture Oscar.

9 127 Hours

The most impressive thing about 127 Hours is the fact that it is based on a truly harrowing real-life story. Danny Boyle managed to bring the story of Aron Ralston (who trapped his leg in a canyon by a boulder for 127 hours) to the screen without making it boring. In fact, it’s anything but, partially thanks to James Franco’s Oscar-nominated performance.

8 Despicable Me

It’s strange to think of Despicable Me being ten years old; it feels like just yesterday that every child in the universe was obsessed with Minions, but with the fifth entry into the franchise due for a 2020 release, it still holds up.

The most impressive thing about Illumination Entertainment’s first project is just how perfect the relationship and resultant humor between Gru (Steve Carell) and the three ‘gorls’ is.

7 How To Train Your Dragon

Speaking of impressive animation, How To Train Your Dragon was also released back in 2010 and managed to impress children and adults alike with a touching story, beautiful visuals and great humor. Hiccup goes against his tribe’s traditional path of becoming a dragon slayer, and he instead befriends Toothless, a dragon who ‘should’ be deadly.

6 Toy Story 3

There was never any doubt that Toy Story 3 would be a worldwide box-office hit. As such, the most impressive thing about Toy Story 3 was how genuinely brilliant it was. After two great films over ten years ago, audiences expected the franchise to have lost its charm, yet it never did. In fact, it got funnier, more emotional and showed off the exploits of even more of the ensemble of characters audiences have come to love. The ending, though, might be one of the most heart-breaking moments in cinematic history.

5 Black Swan

Natalie Portman managed to reaffirm her acting ability after her appearances in the Star Wars prequels in the 2000s. Black Swan is her masterpiece; a visual treat of horror creepiness and surrealist confusion directed by Darren Aronofsky. As long as viewers are aware that this film is going to be very strange and very artistic, it's almost impossible not to be sucked into the atmospheric world of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and the performers involved.

4 Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

After making a name for himself with the subtle uber-Britishness of Shaun Of The Dead, Edgar Wright nabbed the rights to the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels and combined their story into one masterful piece of over-the-top comedy.

Manic editing, crazed visual effects and a total aversion to realism, the film borders on being a superhero film at points, and a rom-com at others. And a musical coming-of-age film at others. And a live-action comic book at others. It was a box office bomb, but luckily it has been remembered for being a sublime piece of cinema.

3 Inception

Christopher Nolan’s Inception is an example of just what a big-budget can achieve when done right. The spanning story could never be made without many, many millions, and luckily, that’s exactly what Nolan has at his disposal. An all-star cast and some of the best practical effects of all time combine into a trippy, twist-filled sci-fi romp for the ages. It won various minor Academy Awards but narrowly lost out on Best Picture.

2 Shutter Island

Somehow, Leonardo DiCaprio managed to find the time to appear in another of the year’s biggest blockbusters: Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island. Leonardo DiCaprio was again thrust into the lead role, this time of detective Teddy Daniels, who was investigating a disappearance on an atmospheric island that housed a high-security psychiatric hospital. Full of luscious cinematography and one of the best twists of all time, this was the second-best film of the year.

1 The Social Network

Quentin Tarantino has publicly declared The Social Network to be his favorite film of the 2010s, and it’s not difficult to see why. David Fincher took a break from his usual fondness for twist-filled thrillers and delivered a biographical drama centered on the founding of Facebook. Rather than sucking up to billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, Fincher allowed Jesse Eisenberg to show off just how unpleasant the man behind it all is.

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