Showing posts with label Best of 2010. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Best of 2010. Show all posts

Saturday, January 01, 2011

FILM: The Best Films of 2010

Here are my favorite films of the year and why I'll be re-watching them 
all year long (spoilers):

PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLERS
Shutter Island
One of man's worst enemies is his himself. To lose faith in one's worth, to second-guess one's self, to question one's sanity can lead to ruin. In this film, Leonardo DiCaprio's character was faced with this burden, hellbent on finding a missing mental patient and feeling driven to insanity in the process. Martin Scorsese did a predictably well-detailed job of making you doubt everything you saw and everything you were told. It was a tragedy wrapped in a mystery. And the end result, the final twist, poses a question you'll find difficulty answering: Would it be worse to live as a monster or to die a good man?

Inception
This film is a bit of a mindfuck. It'll have you wondering if the life you're living is real or just a fabrication of your subconscious. I know, I know. If you were really dreaming, you'd be filthy rich. But somehow, some way, you'll finish watching it and become truly uncertain. You'll also realize that Christopher Nolan is an artist. James Cameron may have brought back 3D, but Nolan actually created a place that appeared 3D. Landscapes were folded inward, folded out, turned vertically, and sent into a spiral. It was like an origami planet. The set, the cinematography, and the intricacy of how the inception process works will have you marveling for days. 

ACTION DRAMAS



The Karate Kid
I liked this movie so much I saw it twice. Jaden Smith has his father's work ethic. It shows in his performance and in the fight scenes that he worked extremely hard to add authenticity to this film. I really can't believe he trained for so long. I was also impressed with Jackie Chan's dramatic acting skills. He's usually the clown of all of his action movies and in this one you get to see a more muted performance, sort of a sad clown. 

The Town
I might actually like Ben Affleck more as a director and a screenwriter than I do as an actor. The trailer for this film presents it as your average heist flick: blue collar bank robbers pull off one last big job. But the final job is so unique and Boston-specific that my jaw actually dropped when they revealed the place they were going to rob. It makes perfect sense. It's the perfect target. I have no clue why no one has thought of robbing Shea stadium before. The planned getaway was also inspired. The character played to his strengths and to his ability to blend in, driving out of the city as a bus driver. It was one of the best getaways since Ocean's Eleven. Affleck also did a great job in choosing his costars. Jeremy Renner was far too convincing as a lowlife murderer and Jon Hamm toned down his sexiness from a 10 to a 2 to play an easy-to-fool and easy-to-piss-off FBI agent. As for Affleck's character, he was so good at planning heists that I'd definitely watch another caper with him at the helm.

Salt
It was really interesting watching Angelina Jolie play a seemingly defenseless woman who was desperate and afraid. But it was even cooler when she came to her senses and realized what she had to do. While I did enjoy her revenge montage, my favorite part was actually when she MacGuyvered the murder of her so-called compatriot—jumped off a balcony and choked him out with her handcuffs. It's rare to see a woman commit such a vicious act without playing a crazy person. It just made Angie seem even cooler, especially since she got away with it.

ACTION COMEDIES
Kick-Ass
Hit-Girl really steals the movie. I mean, it's not often that you see a 12-year-old be so badass. The action scenes, the snarky, snippy, foul-mouthed dialogue, and the choreographed fight scenes were just awesome!

Knight and Day
This movie was a lot of fun. Cameron Diaz did a great job of playing the damsel in distress and Tom Cruise's constant attempts to calm her were extremely comical. Every action scene, from the car chase to the kitchen train fight to the warehouse shoot-out was both suspenseful and funny. The love story didn't have a lot of time to play out, but I like that it came full circle. First he saved her, then she saved him.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
This was an incredibly creative film. I loved the pop-ups and just the entire comic book aesthetic. It was like reading a comic book on an iPad, everything in 3D. The villains were kind of annoying and kitschy, but Michael Cera pulled off playing a superhero and Kieran Culkin provided just the right amount of snark and cynicism to tone down the dork factor.

The A-Team
Of the two ensemble action films that premiered this Spring, I thought I'd prefer The Losers, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover myself thoroughly amused by Sharlto Copley's Murdock and in awe of Liam Neeson's Hannibal. Not to mention, the aerodynamically impossible helicopter scene in the beginning was one of the coolest aerial stunts since the upside down flip-off in Top Gun.




Date Night
This is most likely the only instance in which you'll ever see Steve Carell and Tina Fey as both action stars and romantic leads. With Mark Wahlberg, James Franco, Mila Kunis, and rapper Common filling out the supporting cast, there are plenty of laughs in every scene. The plot may be preposterous, but it's fun to see Carell and Fey put into certain situations, from muggings to forced strip teases.

ROMANTIC COMEDIES

Letters to Juliet
I'm a sucker for a film where the leads don't like each other initially. The hopeless romantic that Amanda Seyfried plays and the pompous, over-protective grandson that Christopher Egan plays butt heads at first, but once they start to get to know each other their chemistry is undeniable.

Leap Year
Here's another relationship that starts off as love-hate. The prim and proper Amy Adams clashes with the gruff Irishman Matthew Goode as she pays him to escort her to Dublin. You get to see the beautiful country and watch two polar opposites realize that they have more in common than they care to admit.



The Tourist
I loved the romantic story that was at the core of this film. I thought that Angelina Jolie's character was a fool for doing everything her paramour asked of her, but then when I realized it was all a test so she could prove her love for him, I was exponentially impressed.

Going the Distance
I liked this movie for spanning the time of a real relationship. So many rom-coms have love stories that happen over too short of a time. This one deals with a realistic problem that faces many couples today, and it doesn't pussyfoot around the consequences of a long distance relationship. It refreshingly spares us of the pristine and perfect leading lady and shows us a girl who swears and makes dirty jokes and doesn't always look put together. It also addresses our currently influx generation of 20somethings who are stuck in romantic and professional limbo, afraid of taking a chance on anything and fearful of repeating their parents' mistakes.

Burlesque
I think the next phase of Christina Aguilera's career should be on Broadway. She was such a natural on that burlesque stage. Her voice was made for those smoky, sultry, seductive performances. And she was surprisingly not a bad actress, considering it was her first time. Granted, it's not the best dialogue or the best coming-to-Hollywood tale, but it avoided all the cliche climaxes, told a practical love story, and showed some of the best performances in musical history. It makes Chicago look and sound like a high school play.

Valentine's Day
I love ensemble films, because there's always one couple/storyline that interests you. For this one, my favorite was the surprise gay couple in the end. They had you thinking that Bradley Cooper was trying to romance Julia Roberts, and then you discover he's in love with Eric Dane.


ANIMATED/FAMILY FILMS
How to Train Your Dragon
I love dragons, but I didn't like the way they designed this one. It kind of looked like a lizard. But I soon forgot all about that minor detail once I got into the story of how a young scrawny Viking befriends his clan's sworn enemy. The mythology behind the dragons, the bond formed between boy and dragon, and the battles were cool enough even for an adult to enjoy.

Alice in Wonderland
I just think Tim Burton did an amazing job of re-imagining this world, and the set designers and wardrobe should be awarded for the attention to detail.

Friday, December 31, 2010

FILM: The Breakout Stars of 2010

NOOMI RAPACE
Breakout Film: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Impact: Every year, Hollywood betters foreign relations by praising a foreign actor and inducting them into the American market. In 2007, it was the French actress Marion Cotillard, who shocked viewers with her spot-on impersonation in La Vie en Rose. In 2008, it was the British Indian Dev Patel, who repeatedly fought to be with the girl of his dreams in Slumdog Millionaire. In 2009, it was the Austrian Christoph Waltz, who managed to make a Nazi seem funny without mocking Hitler in Inglorious Basterds. And this year, it was the Swede Noomi Rapace, who successfully recreated one of the most infamous characters in popular contemporary literature. She's not only set the standard for the American actress Rooney Mara, who's been tapped to play the role in the American adaption of the series, but for future Swedes and foreign actors who hail from places most Hollywood actors don't.
Upcoming Films: She has a super secret role in the upcoming Sherlock Holmes sequel; the vampire horror film The Last Voyage of Demeter with Ben Kingsley; and the Alien prequel.

ANDREW GARFIELD
Breakout Film: The Social Network
Impact: He's been a well-kept secret for a while now ever since the jarring British indie Boy A. It wasn't long before critics were applauding him for his work with Robert Redford in Lions for Lambs, Terry Gilliam in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and the indie adaptation Never Let Me Go. And it wasn't clear how much he was being watched and groomed until after David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin's Social Network was released—until it was announced that he would be playing the webbed crusader in the Spider-Man reboot. That's not exactly where anyone thought his career was going. Indie after indie after indie and now a blockbuster franchise. Not to mention, he's British and not American. To purists, it was like hiring an American to play James Bond or a black guy to play Superman. But they're unaware of what Mr. Garfield is capable of. If you see only one film of his, watch Social Network. Watch as he goes from a supportive and protective best friend to a greedy, power-hungry, girl-crazy entrepreneur to an insulted and betrayed victim. While everyone else had dollar signs in their eyes and girls on the brain, he made it clear that his character had one message: I thought we were friends. And no matter the circumstance, that message was ever-present. Who better to play a superhero with burgeoning inner conflicts than a man who can illustrate them with just one look?
Upcoming Films: He's currently filming the new Spider-Man with Emma Stone.

JADEN SMITH
Breakout Film: The Karate Kid
Impact: There is only one non-white actor in Hollywood who can successfully sell a film in all markets and garner huge returns at the box office. You'd imagine that that would be a hard legacy for his children to live up to. You'd imagine that there's no way his kids could be as talented or blockbuster-worthy. You might even imagine that like the Spellings and the Kardashians, they'd just ride on the coattails of their dad's street cred and forgo having any actual talent. That is not the case—not even a little bit. If you rewatch the Karate Kid trilogy, you'll notice that even though Ralph Macchio was 20 at the time, his karate skills suck. And if you watch the remake, you'll notice that the karate skills and stunts done by 12-year-old Jaden DON'T. In fact, you actually believe that Jackie Chan trained him—because he did. That child spent an enormous amount of time building his muscles, stretching his body to the limits, and training with professional martial artists. He has put more effort into filming his first starring role than most actors do in their entire career. Hell, he even put Taylor Lautner to shame. Now studios know what kids are capable of. He's raised the bar tremendously. He's not just Will Smith's son anymore. He's Jaden.
Upcoming Films: He has nothing schedule as of yet, but there are rumblings that there will be a sequel to Karate Kid and he's still training.

CHLOE MORETZ
Breakout Films: Kick-Ass and Let Me In
Impact: Women are rarely given meaty roles. Young girls are even worse off. They're usually relegated to playing daughters—daughters who are kidnapped, daughters who have died, daughters who are bratty, daughters who are adorably annoying, daughters who are homicidal, etc. They're treated like templates that are inserted into a movie to drive the plot or to create a catalyst. It's rare that a role like a vengeance-seeking, gun-toting badass is given to anyone that isn't Angelina Jolie a 13-year-old—let alone a 13-year-old girl. And even more rare for that girl to be convincing. Watching a child spit out expletives, like "cunt sucker" and "motherfucker," and shoot a gun should be cringe-inducing. Yet you find yourself rooting her on and mentally planning your Halloween costume. Where does a 13-year-old go from here? Disney movies? Playing the daughter of a single-but-reluctantly-searching dad? Signing up for one of the hopelessly romantic teen adaptations? No, playing a lonely preteen vampire in an American remake, and viciously murdering defenseless neighbors. She may not have broke the mold when it comes to casting these young actresses, since that honor goes to Dakota Fanning, but she certainly reinvigorated it.
Upcoming Films: A comedy vignette in the vein of Love Actually called Movie 43 with several well-known actors, including Emma Stone, Kieran Culkin, and Kate Winslet; the crime thriller The Fields with Sam Worthington and Jeffrey Dean Morgan; the Martin Scorsese family mystery Hugo Cabret with Jude Law and Sacha Baron Cohen; the indie drama The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea with Jessica Biel and Zach Braff; the indie drama Hick with Kirsten Dunst; the ballet comedy Dance of the Mirlitons with Kirsten Bell and Jackie Earle Haley; and, of course, Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall.




HAILEE STEINFELD
Breakout Film: True Grit
Impact: She's apart of a wave of young ladies who are finally getting meaty roles. Having impressed not only the Coens, but Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, and Matt Damon at only the age of 14 is an impressive feat in and of itself, but to also forgo the Disney-intro into Hollywood for a shoot-'em-up Western just makes her seem fearless. Watch out Chloe Moretz. You've got yourself some competition.
Upcoming Films: Nothing yet, but I'm sure she's fielding offers like a grade-A juggler.


JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE 
Breakout Film: The Social Network
Impact: If you told a Hollywood exec ten years ago that a Mickey Mouse club alum would one day costar in one of the most pop culture-approved movies in biographical film history, he would've laughed in your face. The key to success in Hollywood is constant reinvention—most importantly to evolve and not devolve, to move into a better project or profession, not lower yourself. Timberlake has found that path and isn't treading it lightly. It's rare for singers-turned-actors to act well, and even more rare for such actors to be male. He went from bringing sexy back to playing the dude who once facilitated the robbery of his music. Now that's called progress.
Upcoming Films: The comedy Bad Teacher with Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel; the romantic comedy Friends with Benefits with Mila Kunis; and the sci-fi thriller Now with Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, and Olivia Wilde.

MIA WASIKOWSKA
Breakout Films: The Kids Are All Right and Alice in Wonderland
Impact: It's been obvious over the last decade or so that the Aussies are the new Brits, and Masikowska is currently benefiting from the new wave of imports. She has a delicate way about her, like a Brit, an exotic look, like a Russian, and an air of curiosity that projects the innocence of a teenage girl despite the fact that she's already 20. This year, she proved that she could pull off fantasy, period pieces, and contemporary indies, adapting effortlessly. She's more of a chameleon than any actress her age, which is a feat that only male actors and older actresses have mastered to date.
Upcoming Films: The adaptation Jane Eyre with Michael Fassbender, Judi Dench, and Jamie Bell; the dark romantic drama Restless with the late Dennis Hopper's son Henry; and the Glenn Close-written drama Albert Nobbs with Aaron Johnson and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.


JENNIFER LAWRENCE
Breakout Film: Winter's Bone
Impact: I did not watch this film, BUT I can assure you that last year when Lawrence was playing Bill Engvall's mischievous teenage daughter on his self-titled TBS's family comedy, she did not expect to one day be singled out for her starring role in a dramatic indie. She was an unexpected addition to the new young Hollywood. While everyone was gushing over Emma Stone, she snuck in through the back door.
Upcoming Films: The romantic drama Like Crazy with Anton Yelchin; Jodie Foster's indie dramedy The Beaver with Mel Gibson; the prequel X-Men: First Class playing the young Mystique; the horror flick House at the End of the Street with Max Thieriot; and the dramatic indie Truckstop with Jackson Rathbone and Melissa Leo.


JONAH HILL
Breakout Films: Get Him to the Greek and Cyrus
Impact: You know that fat guy who makes self-deprecating jokes and/or acts as the comic relief in a rom-com or plays a sidekick who wishes to live vicariously through the leading man? What was his name again? Seth Rogen? Danny McBride? Dan Fogler? Josh Gad? Oh yeah!! Jonah Hill!!! They're easily interchangeable. The trick, in Hollywood, is to make yourself indispensable—to introduce a game-changer. Having graduated from the school of Apatow, acing the course "How to turn your weed addiction into a profitable Hollywood career," he's not only managed to prove he can bring a different kind of funny with Cyrus, but that he has larger ambitions, by taking on the task of writing and producing the adaptation of 21 Jump Street.
Upcoming Films: The baseball drama Moneyball with Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman; the family comedy The Sitter with Sam Rockwell and Ari Graynor; and the adaptation 21 Jump Street with Channing Tatum and Juno Temple.


JAY BARUCHEL
Breakout Films: She's Out of My League, How to Train Your Dragon, and The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Impact: Of all the actors who appeared in Judd Apatow's 2007 comedy Knocked Up, one of the least likely to become a leading man was Jay Baruchel. Fortunately, he popped up onto the scene at the same time that audiences were beginning to warm to the idea of a clutzy, scraggily anti-hero due to Shia Labeouf's success with Transformers. So while Labeouf teams up with Gordon Gecko to conquer Wall Street and Jesse Eisenberg invents a communication platform for a generation of narcissists, the roles of the meek, jilted TSA agent who manages to bag the hottest traveler he's ever seen, the scrawny Viking who does the unthinkable and befriends a "vicious" dragon, and the science geek who unleashes an evil sorcerer and must learn magic to defeat him are left up for grabs. Sure, the rom-com bombed and the fantasy flick was critically mocked (mainly because of Nicholas Cage's hair), but he now has an animated franchise to fall back on after every indie dud.
Upcoming Films: The hockey comedy Goon with Liev Schreiber and Sean William Scott.



GEMMA ARTERTON
Breakout Films: Clash of the Titans, Prince of Persia, and Tamara Drewe
Impact: Rarely are British actresses introduced as smoking hot. Proper? Yes. Refined? Yes. Scrawny? Almost always. But sultry and seductive? Rarely, if ever, and sometimes only after a few films. Arterton's first big role, however, was as a sex object—a Bond girl no less. And it would seem that every role that followed echoed the last's belief that she was a walking, talking, full-figured inferno.
Upcoming Films: She just got married, so I imagine she's a little busy.

FILM: The Actors with a Bad-Year Report Card for 2010

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FILM: The Top 10 Performances of 2010

Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network
Getting into the mind of such a well-known and openly-hated person like Mark Zuckerberg can be considered difficult...especially since it's not like he let Eisenberg shadow him. But through depositions, interviews, and the news, he managed to cobble together a likeness of the guy who entranced millions of people with the prospect of talking to their friends and getting to know strangers through a different medium. He put his bumbling, insecure dork routine aside for a second, and slipped into a role that called for a more calculated and obsessive persona, possessed by the desire to be respected, worshiped, and, ironically, forgiven. He had the difficult task of not just painting Zuckerberg as this backstabbing, friendless, sharp-tongued plagiarist, but also as a brokenhearted, misguided ingenue. He couldn't just be the villain with scathing put-downs and juvenile comebacks. He also had to be the victim. The only way the film would be fair is if everyone saw both sides of the argument, and hearing both sides of the deposition wasn't the key. The key was to also show that Zuckerberg was human, and that he admitted his mistakes, acknowledged his acts of betrayal, and regretted them wholeheartedly. Without Eisenberg's reflection of that during those tense and silent scenes, Zuckerberg's story would've been incomplete.

Emma Stone in Easy A
I'm going to be honest with you: Easy A was just an okay film. Funny enough for a teen comedy, but not exactly ground-breaking. What was impressive, though, was Emma Stone's ability to ooze such a strong personality, complete with impeccable comic timing and strong feminist ideals, a rarity at such a young age. Most comedic actresses don't come into their own until they're old enough to write their own scripts or to be taken seriously as more than a sex object, especially if they're fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to even be considered a sex object. But Stone has been consistently bringing the funny film-after-film, forgoing vanity to get a laugh, and Easy A was the climax of all of her hard work.

Logan Lerman in Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Banking on the success of Percy Jackson, Lerman was hoping to parlay his first major role into an audition for one of the biggest franchises in the industry: Spider-man. Unfortunately, he prematurely celebrated before they surprisingly crowned the Brit Andrew Garfield the heir to the web-adorned throne. But the whole year wasn't a wash. While Greek mythology isn't exactly what the kids are into these days, Lerman did prove that he had just the right amount of charisma to carry a film, perfect comic timing, despite the juvenile material, and athletic ability minus the action star body. Taylor Lautner may aspire to become the next Tom Cruise, but it's Lerman that projects the same mischievous grin and rebellious flare in his eyes that Cruise did back in his Top Gun days.

Michael Cera in Youth in Revolt
I know most people find Cera to be as repetitive as a cuckoo clock, but like Jesse Eisenberg, this was his year of reinvention. Had he scored such a buzzed-about film and topic as The Social Network and Facebook, then his life would have changed too. But he didn't because his settings for evolution were the critically-pandered Youth in Revolt and the cult-indie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Hear me out before you cite how immature YIR was and how similar his SPTW character was to his previous personas. Sure, in both films he plays a nerd/geek/dork/loser who falls for a girl who is totally out of his league and he somehow manages to get the girl anyway. But in YIR, he also plays a villain of sorts—an alter ego with a knack for mischief, ranging from arson to seduction. Did you ever think that Cera would one day seduce a woman convincingly? Then in SPTW he fulfilled every pale gawdy teen's dream fantasy and became a comic book action star, complete with stunts and K-Os. Again, did you ever picture Cera knocking someone out successfully without running away screaming like a girl afterwards? That's called progress.

Javier Bardem in Eat Pray Love
I haven't seen many Javier Bardem films. Actually, I've only seen one, No Country for Old Men, where he played Chigurh, the relentless assassin. That means that I've never seen him be romantic or vulnerable. Perhaps he was in Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Love in the Time of Cholera, but I've never seen nor intend to see those films. When I signed on for Eat Pray Love, I thought I was going to witness the rebirth of Julia Roberts, but instead I was amazed by how much more emotion he showed. I honestly don't think Roberts is capable of emotion anymore—she's fallen flat many times since her return—like the paparazzi have annoyed her to the point of introversion and robotic acting, like she refuses to give anymore of herself to the Hollywood machine. Not even fake tears. Bardem, however, was a ball of emotion, torn apart by his divorce, the distance of his son, and the rapture that engulfed him when he first crashed into her. I can assure you, if you watch NCFOM and EPL back-to-back, it would be like night-and-day.

Keir Gilchrist in It's Kind of a Funny Story
I love Keir Gilchrist. His incredibly believable portrayal of a closeted preppy gay teen on Showtime's "United States of Tara" is my favorite part of the series. Even though I'm not a gay teenage boy, I could relate to his outsider persona and feelings of unrequited love. So I was eager to see him in his first major starring role and eager to see if he could suck me into the film with this character as he did with the other. The film itself tried a little too hard to be relevant. As a coming of age story, it was a little too tidy at the end for such a serious topic as attempted suicide. But Gilchrist did the best he could with the material that he had and showed signs of a Paul Rudd-like appeal, the lovably awkward boy-next-door who was cool in his own right.

Emily Blunt in Wild Target
A majority of Blunt's roles have been hostile Brits, dainty Brits, or misunderstood Americans. She has managed to skate past the entire rom-com career path that other starlets have adopted to succeed. And even once she did give into the genre with this British indie caper, she didn't go the traditional route of falling for the young bad boy/fixer-up, but instead for an older mama's boy. Blunt doesn't look like your average leading lady and, therefore, doesn't go for your average roles. It was great to see her be rebellious and seductive, and still be a Brit—sort of saying Brits can have fun too...this one in particular.

Russell Brand in Get Him to the Greek
Most people know Russell Brand as the sexaholic that was tamed by the voluptuous, pop-singing, bombshell Katy Perry. And, if you're familiar with his acting, you probably think he's a perpetually high/drunk, spirituality-spouting, seductive hippie rockstar. He's a walking, talking joke. Just looking at his frizzy, unkempt hair and hearing his thick British accent makes him seem like a gothic clown. And you would expect that he'd continue—as most comedians do—playing the same character over and over in every comedy. But Get Him to the Greek, despite his character's rockstar status, was a departure from his normal roles. Aldous Snow may have funny lyrics in his songs and a ridiculous lifestyle, but he spent a majority of the film seriously rethinking his life choices and making his first real friend. It was a taste of what he's capable of, and this role was a perfect mix of the two to do so.

James Marsden in Death at a Funeral
He's one of those guys who's always in a ton of movies but has never quite made it as a leading man. He's like Michael Angarano. Who? Exactly! If it were not for the popularity of Enchanted and his 90s career, no one would even know his name. But it's clear that some studio exec took notice of how well he does physical comedy and how willing he is to be the butt of everyone's jokes. I'll admit, when I first heard they were unnecessarily remaking the British dark comedy Death at a Funeral, I was a little skeptical. I was even more skeptical when I saw that Marsden was playing one of the two token white guys in the film, especially since the role was pretty hilarious the first time around. But there was no need to worry. He nailed it. He was the best part of the whole movie—the only part that outdid the original.  

Clark Duke in Kick-Ass
If you've seen "Greek," then you know Clark Duke has the uber dork persona down. But after three years of watching Duke in the role and then seeing him play the shit-talking smart ass in Sex Drive, Hot Tub Time Machine, and Kick-Ass, I think he nearly missed his calling. He's really good at sardonic humor. Chiding his friends and kicking them when they're down seems to almost come naturally. Kick-Ass is the best and most-viewed example of this. Even though he only had a handful of lines, he had the audience's arrested attention every time he spoke them.

FILM: Best Film Posters of 2010

Here are my favorite movie posters of the year. They say more than just the title. They almost tell the story.