In my profession, there are two very important things you must do: watch movies and keep notes. I did an alright job with the first one, but admittedly fell short on the latter. While last year I was able to confidently provide what I thought were the best kills and quotes, this year I didn’t do a good job with record keeping and so I’ve omitted those categories. Next year I’ll be more meticulous and make it a point to see movie where people get destroyed while saying witty things.
However, I did see enough movies to confidently make a list of the folks I thought were the best actors, directors, and other miscellaneous greats. Hit the jump to check out my picks.
BEST ACTOR
Colin Firth as “King George VI” in The King’s Speech
Runners-Up:
George Clooney as “Jack / Edward” in The American
Jesse Eisenberg as “Mark Zuckerberg” in The Social Network
James Franco as “Aron Ralston” in 127 Hours
Tahar Rahim as “Malik El Djebena” in A Prophet
BEST ACTRESS
Natalie Portman as “Nina Sayers / The Swan Queen” in Black Swan
Runners-Up:
Annette Bening as “Nic” in The Kids Are All Right
Julianne Moore as “Jules” in The Kids Are All Right
Emma Stone as “Olive Penderghast” in Easy A
Michelle Williams as “Cindy” in Blue Valentine
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale as “Dicky Ecklund” in The Fighter
Runners-Up:
Armie Hammer as “Cameron Winklevoss / Tyler Winklevoss” in The Social Network
Ben Mendelsohn as “Andrew ‘Pope’ Cody” in Animal Kingdom
Mark Ruffalo as “Paul” in The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush as “Lionel Logue” in The King’s Speech
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Hailee Steinfeld as “Mattie Ross” in True Grit
Runners-Up:
Amy Adams as “Charlene Fleming” in The Fighter
Barbara Hershey as “Erica Sayers” in Black Swan
Melissa Leo as “Alice Ward” in The Fighter
Jackie Weaver as “Janine Cody” in Animal Kingdom
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Jennifer Lawrence as “Ree Dolly” in Winter’s Bone
Runners-Up:
Hailee Steinfeld as “Mattie Ross” in True Grit
Chloe Moretz as “Mindy Macready / Hit-Girl” in Kick-Ass
BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan
Runners-Up:
Joel and Ethan Coen – True Grit
David Fincher – The Social Network
Christopher Nolan – Inception
Edgar Wright – Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Runner-Up: Inside Job
BEST ANIMATED FILM
How to Train Your Dragon
Runner-Up: Toy Story 3
BEST SCORE
Daft Punk –TRON: Legacy
Runner-Up: Clint Mansell – Black Swan
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Matthew Libatique – Black Swan
Runner-Up: Robert Richardson – Shutter Island
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Aaron Sorkin – The Social Network
Runner-Up: Joel and Ethan Coen – True Grit
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
David Siedler – The King’s Speech
Runner-Up: Christopher Nolan – Inception
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Monday: Top 10 Posters of 2010
Tuesday: Top 10 Trailers of 2010
Wednesday: Best Performances, Directors, and Other Miscellany of 2010
Thursday: Worst 5 Films of 2010
Friday: Top 10 Films of 2010
