16. Toy Story 3 Was THE BEST FILM OF 2010. PERIOD.
The Kings Speech is an excellent film. Colin Firth received a well deserved Oscar, but in no way did his performance elevate King's Speech to match the remarkable gravity of Toy Story 3. The third installment of Pixars flagship franchise is nothing short of a cinematic triumph. Pixar films have earned their reputations as elevators of animation beyond the ambitions of a twelve-year-old (excluding Cars of course), but even within their successes the underlying themes have rarely ventured far from the nursery rhyme lessons of old. Toy Story 3 matched every expectation its predecessors placed before it and then went a step further. It takes on adult themes. Nostalgia and aging (specifically coping with the feeling that the world is passing you by) are faced head on with a clarity and effectiveness rarely seen in any film let alone one targeted primarily at children. Most third films do their best to cling to the past, hoping the old feelings will keep you satisfied. Toy Story 3 instead looks in on itself and finds truth and heart in a story fully aware of the follies of other third installments. The themes coalesce around the films place in time and the series itself flawlessly; the result is deeply affecting. Most adults in the theater when I saw Toy Story 3 cried honestly (Not those cheap Titanic tears) while their children smiled and laughed. Thats a special film.
15. Hating James Bond
No amount of dedicating the ceremony to the British spy character will gloss over the fact that major awards ceremonies hate James Bond - and that includes the BAFTAs, where he should be heralded as a British institution. For 50 years, Bond has brought millions of dollars to the box office, attracting critical acclaim along the way - though not all the time - and consistently putting audiences in seats, even if the franchise appears to be sneered upon by the snobs, who prefer to look at the mechanics of franchises, rather than the quality of this one specifically. Skyfall's snub for Best Film - a nomination that should have come without question - was just the latest in a long line of unjustified snubs. Over fifty years, Bond has received just 15 nominations, mostly for songs, and two wins, and you really have to judge any awards body that can't see beyond the nature of the property (see also: animations, mo-cap and trilogies) to recognise the quality of single films.
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