The Movie Porti Hall of Fame - Class of 2010

Another MLB Hall of Fame induction ceremony is taking place today in Cooperstown, New York, and for the 3rd year now, I am doing my very own Hall of Fame induction ceremony. I use the same eligibility rules that Major League Baseball uses to determine its Hall-of-Famers: a 5 year waiting period after a player retires, which would make the movies of 2010 1st year eligibles after a waiting period from 2011 to 2015, and a minimum of 75% of votes received from all ballots cast(in my case imaginary ballots). This year, there is a clear cut, Home Run Inductee for both the MLB Hall of Fame, and the Movie Porti Hall of Fame. Both of these entries were a core part of my childhood in the 90s, and in 2010 they both gave their heartfelt, tearful goodbyes(one of them is coming back, but whatever). Ken Griffey Jr. enters Cooperstown today with the highest percentage of votes ever received for an inductee at 99%, and Toy Story 3 enters the Movie Porti Hall of Fame with the highest percentage of my imaginary votes received since I started this blog.

The second inductee today in Cooperstown is Mike Piazza, entering the MLB Hall of Fame in his 4th year of eligibility with 83% of the vote. Now, last year I wrote that I don't get how a player goes from non-Hall-of-Famer to Hall of Famer without playing a single game, but in Piazza's case(who just happens to be the greatest hitting catcher of all time), I believe he should've been rightfully enshrined in his 1st year of eligibility, and his induction today corrects that mistake. Speaking of correcting Hall of Fame mistakes, the first year I did my Hall of Fame was for the movie class of 2008. There was one movie in particular from that year that I hadn't gotten to see when I wrote that blog in 2014. I finally got to see that movie last year during the fall(too late for last year's Hall of Fame blog) and it became an instant classic for me. Since then, I've watched it 2 more times and it has only solidified its position as a Home Run Inductee to the Movie Porti Hall of Fame. So with that being said, Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York (from 2008) is the 2nd inductee today to the Movie Porti Hall of Fame. But don't get used to this type of correction, since every year that goes by I only watch more and more movies so that I can be amazed by the ones that will become "Hall of Famers" in the year they were released.

I know that there are different tastes for every movie lover out there, and that many of those movie lovers would disagree with my choice of Toy Story 3 as the best movie of 2010 and as a "Hall of Fame" movie, so I've prepared a quick Recap of the Movie Class of 2010 to refresh your memory on a movie year that was particularly strong at the top, which made for some very difficult omissions from the inductee list, with beloved movies like The Social Network, and incredible performances from Christian Bale in The Fighter and Natalie Portman in Black Swan (both Oscar winners) not receiving enough of my imaginary votes. So let's get on with the recap, shall we?

Recap

My Top 5 Movies of 2010

1. Toy Story 3 (dir. Lee Unkrich)
2. The Fighter (dir. David O. Russell)
3. The Social Network (dir. David Fincher)
4. Inception (dir. Christopher Nolan)
5. Black Swan (dir. Darren Aronofsky)
*Note: I'm on board with the consensus of The Social Network as a near-perfect movie, but my top 2 movies just had a greater emotional impact on me than that one did. Also, Christopher Nolan was totally snubbed of a Best Director nomination in my opinion. Aronofsky and O. Russell each got their 1st career directing nomination for their work, and Fincher got his 2nd. Nolan is still waiting for his 1st career directing nomination, although at least he received 2 nominations for his work on Inception for Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture. In fact, all 5 of these movies were nominated for Best Picture, but none of them won(more on that later).

My Top 5 Performances of 2010
1. Christian Bale as "Dicky Ecklund" in The Fighter
2. Natalie Portman as "Nina Sayers" in Black Swan
3. Tilda Swinton as "Emma Recchi" in I Am Love
4. Jennifer Lawrence as "Ree" in Winter's Bone
5. Jesse Eisenberg as "Mark Zuckerberg" in The Social Network
*Note: Tilda Swinton was the only one from this list who wasn't nominated for an Oscar. Somehow her magnificent work keeps getting under-appreciated year after year. Her one and only Oscar nomination, and win, came about 15 Oscar worthy roles ago for her work in 2007's Michael Clayton.

Acting MVPs of 2010

Male: Michael Keaton (Toy Story 3, The Other Guys)

Female: Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass, Let Me In)

*Note: I could've gone with the Shutter Island team of Leonardo DiCaprio(also in Inception) and Michelle Williams(also in Blue Valentine), but I went with these two who absolutely stole every scene as supporting characters in their movies. Keaton started his mainstream comeback with these two roles, qualifying him as a breakout performer in 2010, and setting him on a path to receive his 1st Oscar nomination for his work in 2014's Birdman, and Moretz has never looked back after breaking out in a big way as a 13 year old in 2010. Speaking of breakout stars ...

Breakout Stars of 2010

Male: Michael Keaton(Toy Story 3, The Other Guys) , Andrew Garfield(The Social Network, Never Let Me Go) , Armie Hammer(The Social Network) , Tom Hardy(Inception) , Miles Teller(Rabbit Hole) , John Hawkes(Winter's Bone), Ben Mendelsohn(Animal Kingdom) , Aaron Johnson(Kick-Ass) , Kodi Smit-McPhee(Let Me In)

Female: Chloe Grace Moretz(Kick-Ass, Let Me In) , Jennifer Lawrence(Winter's Bone) , Emma Stone(Easy A) , Brie Larson(Greenberg, Scott Pilgrim vs The World) , Greta Gerwig(Greenberg) , Hailee Steinfeld(True Grit) , Mia Wasikowska(The Kids Are All Right, Alice in Wonderland) , Elle Fanning(Somewhere) , Rooney Mara(The Social Network) , Dakota Johnson(The Social Network) , Jacki Weaver(Animal Kingdom)

*Note: What a year for breakout stars, right?! You've got everything from older actors like Jacki Weaver(2010 Oscar nominee) and Ben Mendelsohn from the underseen gem Animal Kingdom, to younger actors making their big screen debuts like Miles Teller and Hailee Steinfeld(2010 Oscar nominee), with the whole cast of The Social Network in between. And then there's pretty much every A-Lister you know and love today, such as future Oscar nominees Tom Hardy and Emma Stone, whose "Pocketful of Sunshine" scene in Easy A is one of the best moments of 2010, and future Oscar winners Jennifer Lawrence and Brie Larson.

Most Underrated Movies of 2010

(in no particular order)

The Other Guys , I Love You Phillip Morris , Rabbit Hole , Going the Distance , Cyrus

*Note: 5 movies with great on-screen duos, some humorous and some serious. First, there's Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as mismatched cops trying to solve a case in a movie that is non-stop laughs from beginning to end, then there's Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor as a scheming con artist and his lover, then there's Nicole Kidman, in an Oscar nominated role, and Aaron Eckhart as a married couple grieving the loss of their kid, then there's Justin Long and Drew Barrymore, who dated in real life, as an onscreen couple trying to maintain a long distance relationship, and finally, there's John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill as a man who's starting a relationship with a woman but has to deal with her weird son who wants to break them up.

Most Overrated Movie of 2010

A very easy choice: Best Picture winner The King's Speech, which isn't a terrible movie, but definitely didn't deserve any of the Oscars it won. To quote the late, great Joan Rivers, who's documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work coincidentally was released in 2010: 

"He's a king! So he f*cking stutters. I'd cut my tongue out for Rhode Island."

Speaking of the Academy's choices ...

How the Academy Voted / How I Would've Voted

Best Picture: Academy - The King's Speech / MP - Toy Story 3

Best Director: Academy - Tom Hooper(The King's Speech) / MP - David Fincher(The Social Network)

Best Actor: Academy - Colin Firth(The King's Speech) / MP - Jesse Eisenberg(The Social Network)

Best Actress: Academy - Natalie Portman(Black Swan) / MP - Same

Best Supporting Actor: Academy - Christian Bale(The Fighter) / MP - Same

Best Supporting Actress: Academy - Melissa Leo(The Fighter) / MP - Jacki Weaver(Animal Kingdom)

Best Original Screenplay: Academy - The King's Speech / MP - The Fighter

Best Adapted Screenplay: Academy - The Social Network / MP - Toy Story 3

Best Editing: Academy - The Social Network / MP - Same

Best Cinematography: Academy - Inception / MP - Same

Best Original Score: Academy - The Social Network / MP - Same

Best Animated Feature: Academy - Toy Story 3 / MP - Same

Best Foreign Language Film: Academy - In a Better World / MP - Dogtooth