50 Best Movies of 2010

Much has been debated about the quality of the top movies released this year, but that we were able to pull together a list of the 50 best movies of 2010 means it couldn't have been so bad after all.

After the jump, we count down our favorite movies of the year, from the mind-bending 'Inception' to the movie that may have defined our generation, 'The Social Network.'

Think you can figure out which movie topped our list? There's only one way to find out.
50. 'Alice in Wonderland'
What's with the hate, critics? Granted, Tim Burton's refashioning of Lewis Carroll's tale lacked some narrative focus, and it probably didn't need to be in 3-D. But the film is visually striking, Helena Bonham Carter's Red Queen and her gigantic head (not to mention those frog servants) had us in stitches, and Mia Wasikowska is lovely as an Alice who only wants to live her own life. Just please don't make us watch Johnny Depp break-dance again. -- Patricia J. Chui
49. 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'
We know what you're thinking: 'Twilight'? Really?! But before you judge, hear us out: While it didn't exactly reinvent 'Citizen Kane,' at the end of the day, 'Eclipse' was a pretty fun time at the movies. Sure, it had its fair share of 'Twilight' trappings, and we still think Bella would have been better off with Jacob, not Edward. But as an action-thriller, 'Eclipse' totally worked. (The scene in which Bryce Dallas Howard gets her head smashed? Awesome.) If ever there was a time to embrace 'The Twilight Saga,' it would be 2010. -- Andy Scott
46. 'TRON: Legacy'
Disney took a major gamble by throwing an estimated $170 million at a sequel to a cult 1982 movie that few people have ever seen. Whether it earns back that massive investment remains to be seen, but the overall result is a genuinely exciting, eye-popping, 3-D action flick about a human (Garrett Hedlund) who gets sucked into a sentient computer program while searching for his long-lost father (Jeff Bridges). You can bet that if it does turn a profit, the next installment in the 'TRON' franchise won't take 28 years to come to the screen. --John Sellers
42. 'Casino Jack and the United States of Money'
Kevin Spacey made a game try of embodying disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff (in a fiction feature simply called 'Casino Jack,') but in Alex Gibney's documentary, the real thing is even funnier and more outrageous. Gibney untangles the double-dealing schemes that made Abramoff Washington's most powerful influence peddler, the scandals that took him down (and some national politicians with him), and the system of Congressional payola he perfected, which continues humming smoothly and fleecing taxpayers in his absence. -- GS
35. 'Easy A'
In a year that lacked strong comedies, 'Easy A' was a breath of fresh air and a return to the beloved high school laffers that seemed to die with 'Mean Girls.' The film -- a loose take on 'The Scarlet Letter,' in which a high school student's (Emma Stone) reputation goes sour when she pretends to hook up with boys at her school -- made audiences laugh and smile, and solidified its place as one of the best feel-good comedies of the year. Even better: It finally gave Stone the chance to shine as a charming and -- more importantly -- funny leading lady. (Just watch her sing 'Pocketful of Sunshine' if you don't believe us.) -- Gaby Dunn
13. 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World'
Old fogeys who couldn't wrap their heads around the 8-bit aesthetic will point to 'SP''s box office as proof that it didn't work. But 'Scott Pilgrim' represents the greatest generational divide on the list; this is the first movie to use the narrative language of video games (and comic books and indie rock, too!) to tell a simple story about young love. No movie took a bigger risk at re-writing the movie narrative, or packed each scene with as much color, sound, clever writing and great acting. It's funny, exciting, engrossing and hypnotic -- and not just for "short-attention-spans." It's the future of movies, and that's a good thing. -- EL
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xoxo
Carrie