2010: Worst Film Year Ever

If I claimed that 2010 was the worst film year of all time, I'd be far from being the first. Most newspapers have had their film sections smeared with editorials on how hopelessly idiotic all the films of 2010 are. Truthfully, what we've seen thus far gives us nothing to be optimistic about. Maybe you wondered how it was possible that the American remake of Death at a Funeral came out so much worse than its British counterpart. Perhaps you saw Salt and rolled your eyes at the obvious set up for a sequel. Maybe you even stumbled into Clash of the Titans and decided that you would have paid the nine dollars you spent on your ticket to stay home and not be sitting through this inane film. Yes there have been very few films which give one a sense that 2010 will be anything more than the recycled nonsense that some big movie producer is convinced will be the next Avatar. Having optimism in such dark times can be very difficult. Yet, there is some hope. Sofia Coppola and Clint Eastwood both have projects slated to be released in 2010. Also, we haven't even hit the November-December season in which the Oscar Winning Films are usually released. There is some hope for 2010. The main problem now is that many of the critics who have been complaining about 2010 are using 2010 as ammunition against the whole first decade of our new century. Some critics have called our decade hopeless, plagued by films like Clash of the Titans. These critics forget that just a few years ago they were pouring buckets of praise on Crash and claiming that Brokeback Mountain is perhaps the greatest film ever made. They can't even think back to last year when films like Up in the Air, The Hurt Locker, and Inglourious Basterds graced the screen. True we haven't had any Godfathers or Citizen Kanes, but keep in mind that those films came far later in the century. How many classics were released from 1900-1910? I think there's a lot to look forward to in the century to come, even if the year 2010 is a bust.