Inappropriately late, my top ten films of 2010

Instead, lurking at the bottom of this January 10th blog entry is my own personal list and it has arrived - as my personality generally dictates - late. But this wasn't just due to the time taken up by the shamelessly busy and indulgent period surrounding Christmas and New Year. No. It was that, but also that my mission to gain access to and view as many of 2010's films as possible - those I hadn't already seen, anyway - took on an element of obsession akin to professional madman Howard Hughes.

Like some flicker show-fixated lunatic with too much time on his hands, I trawled review sites in search of what were considered the 'best' of the year, vowing to view every single one of them. There were many, and a man has only so much time to watch them between waking and collapsing back into an involuntary coma. It took sweet time but by God it was worth it. For while there were some disappointing films this year (Greenberg, Due Date, Uncle Boonmee), there were also a lot of great ones, too.

They included: A Town Called Panic (hilarious), The Town (mature crime flick), Buried (claustrophobic), The Killer Inside Me (disturbing), Monsters (gripping), The Secret of Kells (pretty), Ponyo (even prettier), Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (insane), The Kids Are All Right (brilliantly-acted), Restrepo (haunting war doc), The Ghost (smart), Hot Tub Time Machine (heart-warming), I Love You Philip Morris (gross-out with a big heart), Kick-Ass (cool), The Way Back (gorgeously shot), Unstoppable (thrilling) and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (twisty-turny Scandinavian nonsense).

But none of those made my top ten list. Why? Well, after a comparatively paltry 2009, there was a sudden surge in real quality films last year. Choosing the right ten was difficult and, on a different day, the end list might be different. But here they are, in all their rudely delayed splendour: my top ten movies of 2010.

10. Dogtooth
Giorgios Lanthimos' Haneke-esque story of three children imprisoned and raised by their parents in a family home, never venturing outside its grounds their entire lives, was largely overlooked by audiences and critics in 2010, which is a shame considering the quality of this Greek drama. The compelling and voyeuristic telling of a 'what if?' scenario that is as darkly comic as it is hypnotic, I recommend you seek this one out.

9. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
This spot was reserved for 2010's other outstanding comic book movie, Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass, but Edgar Wright's video game-obsessed rom-com actioner beats Vaughn's excellent superhero tale by being the most energetic and original flick I've seen all year. Well, I've never seen another quite like it anyway.

8. Four Lions
Next to A Town Called Panic, this was the funniest film of the year. It's not politically correct, it's not at all perfect and some of the themes are unsettling to be seen present in what could often be considered a slapstick comedy, but this is still hilarious and intelligent stuff.

7. Winter's Bone
A social-realist noir set in a forgotten pocket of Deep South America, Winter's Bone tells of a 17 year-old girl forced to care for her two younger siblings while simultaneously uncovering the secret behind her drug-dealing father's disappearance. A bleak mystery drama leaving you as chilly as its setting, this will crawl under your skin and stay with you in a way that you couldn't imagine.

6. Cemetery Junction
The film may be too slight for some, but I found Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's '70s-set Cemetery Junction - a story about escape and the joy of youth - invested with an endearing warmth and affection for its era. It's also wickedly funny, well-acted by a trio of unknowns and has one killer soundtrack.

5. Shutter Island
Ignore the lengthy running time; this mystery-horror is the most interesting and experimental that director Martin Scorsese has been since Goodfellas. Leonardo DiCaprio also puts in his best ever performance as an unhinged detective exploring a gothic mental asylum, cementing himself as possibly the best star-actor of his generation.

4. Toy Story 3
Ending one of cinema's greatest trilogies on a high, Toy Story 3 is as inventive, witty and soulful as its predecessors, while Pixar continues to effortlessly walk the tight-rope between family and adult-orientated entertainment. Commendable work from all involved, especially newcomers Ned Beatty and Michael Keaton, voicing a homicidal teddy bear and a vainglorious Ken doll, respectively.

3. The Social Network
A film that shrugs off the dreary label of 'that Facebook movie' via top-flight acting (from Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake and particularly Jesse Eisenberg), a smart script by Aaron Sorkin and typically excellent direction from David Fincher. Remarkable, character-driven stuff.

2. A Prophet
Critically-adored, A Prophet is an epic crime thriller set in the confines of a decaying French prison, with a naïve young petty crook steadily rising to the level of head honcho over the course of a six-year stretch. Although one of the first releases of 2010, there was never any doubt this darkly satisfying tale was one of the best of the year, believably charting the rise to power of a slyly clever and opportunistic criminal.

1. Inception
This was Leonardo DiCaprio's year. As if starring in one reality-bending thriller in 2010 wasn't enough, he did it again with Christopher Nolan's Inception. Difference is, this one's even better, a mind-mangling titan of a movie, endlessly rewatchable, a blockbuster with a brain (and a heart) and simply the best movie of 2010. This movie doesn't make my first place just for being hugely entertaining and thought-provoking, but its immense box office success proves to the studios that cinema-goers aren't just a homogenised mass that will settle for less and might - might - herald in a new era of quality from Hollywood.