2010 isn't such a bad year for movies after all.

I haven't seen enough 2010 releases to make a decision either way, but you've gotta name more than five movies to convince me a year is good. Especially when two of them are Kick Ass and Toy Story 3 (good films, to be sure, but would be borderline top ten material even in an average year.)

Like any year, there are films of note, but one can't deny that the batting average this year has been frustratingly low. The films you mentioned are great, but that's only six films. If I were to make a top this year it'd require little editing, and a top 15 would really just be lucky if I could find 15 films I saw from this year and liked, let alone would stick on a "Best of" list.

Some gems in the art house circuit (Dragon Tattoo, Never Let Me Go, Harry Brown, Buried) but even those wouldn't be in contention for a top 10 list in any other year.

While there have been a lot of movies that I've really loved this year, there aren't enough to call it a great year. Only a handful of movies this year were great. Winter's Bone would be at the top of that list. I think that's one of the best movies to come around in a long time, but it's an outlier for this year.

You've got True Grit, 127 Hours, and Black Swan still to come out, which could tip the scales a bit.

I think the feeling is that it disappointed in terms of the big guns.

See Alice, Titans, Iron Man 2, Persia, Expendables, Robin Hood, Airbender, A-Team, Knight and Day. Good at best, nothing special. Only Inception. Tron Legacy doesn't look really good either.

Last year had Hangover, Star Trek, Avatar, Holmes, District 9, Taken and Watchmen. I'm not saying that Taken is special, but the average awesomeness was indeed higher. I bet that all of them will be longer known than the blockbuster group of 2010.

If those are the kind of movies you're looking at to define a good year, you're looking in the wrong place, and are going to be disappointed more often than not.

True, but even for mainstream summer fare, this year's selection was either horrid or extremely disappointing(with few exceptions, like Inception). Luckily the tail end of this year seems pretty good, but it's certainly been weak as hell overall.

I think 2007 spoilt us all.

Red Riding, Animal Kingdom, and Social Network all lead off a top ten for me this year that I think is built to compete. The best movies this year were the ones that you only had a real chance of seeing on the big screen if you lived in a major city, sadly. That being said, if you put a gun to my head, I'd say that I had a better time at revival houses this year than at the multiplex, where I saw Gone With The Wind, Psycho, Five Easy Pieces, Seven Samurai, The Red Shoes, Breathless, Hausu, and, of course, Point Break and Total Recall, all for the first time. I may get to Raging Bull before the week is out, and I'm ridiculously excited for The Leopard. It's been a great year.

Really looking forward to Blue Valentine, which apparently comes out on December 31st and is teetering on an NC-17 rating.

I think it all depends on where you're looking for your filmic quality personally.

Yeah as far as the big US Summer releases go, the year could be seen as a disappointment, but when I can sit here happily and rattle off films I've loved the likes of Kick-Ass, Animal Kingdom, Une Prophet, Centurion, Inception, Daybreakers, Scott Pilgrim, The Social Network and Exit Through The Gift Shop, along with films I'm yet to see but I know will be good and am excited by like Shutter Island, Toy Story 3, Winters Bone, The Town, Jackass 3D, Agora, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame and True Grit - I have to say I just can't get too down on 2010 as a filmic year.

...but then I've stopped looking to the major blockbusters for my movie fix as a rule. There's so much more interesting things going on in the US indies and docos or in foreign films that a hundred Prince of Persias, Clash Of The Titans or Alice In Wonderlands simply aren't the movie deal breaker they would have been for me ten or fifteen years ago.

2010 is an...Awesome year for movies. The Expendables, The A-Team, and Iron Man 2, alone make this so. Tron Legacy should be a belated yet...Awe-Inspiring sequel, that...Bridges, the gap to the original, Tron.

It's been a bad year for American independent film, specifically. Also animation, in that there's only been two good animated 2010 films, whereas 2009 had Up, Coraline, Ponyo, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and A Town Called Panic (I have not seen Mary & Max yet).
Summer blockbuster fare has also been a disappointment. But any year that has Exit Through the Gift Shop, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Winter's Bone, and Four Lions can't be all bad. It's just a down year, not a terrible one. Next year should be amazing.

Social Network us the only thing I've seen this year that I'd consider putting on a list of great movies (well, probably Toy Story as well, but I'm a softie for that). I suppose Black Swan and 127 and Trye Grit got potential, but no way is this a strong year.

Harry Potter anyone?

This has been a really great year.
Inception, Winter's Bone, Animal Kingdom, Social Network and Scott Pilgrim are great great movies.

And we still have Harry Potter, Black Swan, 127 hrs and True Grit to look forward to.

Harry Potter?

Don't forget about The Illusionist.

Out of curiosity, what makes a particular year a "great year for movies"? Is it the number of decent or better movies that are released, or the number of good-great movies, released in America, or worldwide? Or would it be the average of ALL movies, rated on the same scale?

For me, a large number of very good movies (as in at least a couple dozen or so) and quite a few flat-out brilliant movies. And if all genres are healthily represented, that's a nice bonus.

07 and 99 are obvious standout examples that meet this criteria... 07 has multiple movies in my top 20 or so that would be in the top 5-7 of many other years.

Most years are decently poised for a top 10 or so, and this year is no different. As has been mentioned, by year's end I'm looking at a list like this:

Winter's Bone
Animal Kingdom
Scott Pilgrim
Inception
Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Black Swan
The Illusionist
Somewhere
127 Hours
The Town
Greenberg
Kick-Ass
Splice
Catfish

Not too shabby.... and I don't even watch that many movies, I'm sure I've missed some gems here and there. So 2010 looks pretty good all told. Extend outside the top 20 or so and you might find a sharp drop off, that's mostly what separates the pretenders from the contenders.

2009 was pretty good too, we'll see how it stacks up after I can actually make the call about the fall/winter slate. Although I doubt I'll be all that disappointed, they all look like pretty sure things except maybe 127 Hours.

I always go from the time the movie is released to the public, anywhere. I think A Prophet didn't come to the USA until this year, but it was released at Cannes in 09 and released end of that summer in France. That would top my list this year.

I'm really apprehensive about SOMEWHERE. Coppola pushed it with MARIE ANTOINETTE, I think yet another exercise in navel-gazing may tip the scales.

Guys, here's a facetious tip: have kids. Suddenly you don't waste money on blockbuster fare and only shell out on films that you know will be worth the watch on the big screen. That disappointment at the big movies not living up the hype fades away real quick when every trip to the cinema throws up gold.

I don't think kids are necessary mate, just a bit of wisdom and realising a nice glass of red and fine french meal is more enjoyable than a can of coke and a Big Mac.

I've not seen as many films as quite a few here this year no doubt - but I've seen mostly brilliance.

Marie Antoinette is a very well made movie... the subject matter and theme have their own issues but it's marvelously directed. Easily in the top 15 or so the year it was released.

With you on that, I love Marie-Antoinette. Can't wait until it gets a proper Blu-Ray release.

I'm one of the people who defended this year initially and I still think it's been a pretty goddamn fantastic year. I'm genuinely perplexed by the idea of people judging the quality of a year due to stuff like CLASH OF THE TITANS or PRINCE OF PERSIA.