Matt's Top Three and Half Movies List

So this is the place where Matt generally presents his top 10 movies of the year. Readers of this well-respected and tragically overlooked feature have come to treasure his off-beat, gritty selections.
Alas, then a kid was born. And he is not allowed (able?) to watch movies that don't have muppets in them.
So, for the first time in a long time, Matt will not have a Top Ten Movies list. Matt's not entirely sure he even saw 10 movies last year. Of the 10 Best Picture nominees, Matt saw just five (Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The Social Network, Toy Story 3 and The King's Speech) and just one of the documentaries, which is where Matt usually finds his favorites. Honestly, Matt didn't see many movies beyond that. So, it's not really fair to give a top 10 list with so many left unseen.
Instead, how about just a list of good movies and some comments.

UPDATE: Matt totally forgot about Easy A, which would have surely made even a full Top 10 list. The movie was clever, funny and had a superstar lead performance from Emma Stone.

Toy Story 3. Matt had an unfair bias against this movie for being a sequel's sequel. How could a Part 3 be any good? Even the Godfather III was ridiculous. But this was the best movie Matt saw this year. Funny, smart and moving.

Exit From The Gift Shop. No movie made Matt think more. This was a documentary about graffiti artists where the documentarian became an artist himself. Allegedly. There's plenty of speculation about how much, if any, of this movie was real. Exit challenged the ideas of what art is and what it should be. Plus, one of the few movies that mocked its own audience. Odd, wonderful film.

The Kids Are All Right. Was all right. Great acting by Mark Ruffalo and Julianne Moore. Not really a great movie. Couldn't figure out what Moore and Annette Benning's characters saw in each other.

The King's Speech. Beautiful acting from all the leads. Firth and Rush were amazing. An engaging story that Matt knew very little about. That being said...how many more movies do we really need about The Royals? It's very hard for Matt to buy that these unelected, uber-rich people have so many hardships. Still, worth seeing, for sure.

Inception. Brilliant. We have to reach a point where Christopher Nolan arrives at the end of our consciousness, right? How can someone think so much, and write so magnificently, about thinking? The fact that anyone could follow this movie at all is a tribute the director, editors and writers. This was impossibly complex movie that made perfect sense.

The Social Network. Great acting, great editing, great script. But....but...ugh. This is another of Matt's little hang ups. This is a movie about real people and it uses their real names. But screenwriter Aaron Sorkin essentially bragged that he didn't care whether he got the facts right. Now, of course, any non-documentary movie based on real people is bound to have invented scenes and dialog. (Not everything in King's Speech happened just that way.) But Sorkin wanted the cache of having a Facebook movie, having a Mark Zuckerberg movie, but he'd rather not be too bothered with the truth. As a reporter, Matt has a hard time getting over this.

OK, that's about it. All the best movies are TV shows now, anyhow! (Only sort of kidding.)

On the upside: Christian Bale's Oscar win means that Matt was in a scene with an Academy Award winner. Well, really, an Oscar winner was in a scene with Matt. Sure, the scene got cut. But, still.

Oscarama: Because not every post can star Mark

Stolen from the pages of the Beacon, here's Matt's annual list of Top 10 movies. For Matt, 2009 was a wonderful year in so many ways. But it was not a wonderful year for going to the movies. It was actually a better year for being in the movies than attending them. It was worth it.
So, if you want some likely dead-on predictions, check out Tripp's thoughts here.
No predictions from Matt, but if you want to see who Matt thought was slighted by the Osar nominations (yes, even with 10 best picture nominees), you can read the story here.
And, no, Matt did not list himself as best supporting supporting actor.

10. Food Inc.
I’m tempted to put the Baby Mozart DVD here, since it can hold my 5-month-old son’s attention for 15 minutes, providing cover while I eat dinner. That makes it one of my favorite movies this year. Sadly Mozart was released in 2000. Instead, I’ll choose this year’s best documentary. This movie made me take a second look at everything I eat — and gave me ideas on how to affect change.
9. Bruno
Bruno is far less accessible and far more biting than Sacha Baron Cohen’s previous character, Borat. It was easy to laugh at bystanders in Borat, but audiences seem hesitant to laugh at the homophobia in Bruno. But that’s the movie’s uncomfortable brilliance, right?
8. The Hurt Locker
There’s a lot to like in “Hurt Locker,” the best fictional movie made about the Iraqi War. The movie was tense, challenging and had a point of view. Jeremy Renner was spectacular.
7. The Invention of Lying
OK, this wasn’t the perfect movie. But it was the most ambitious piece of writing this year. Ricky Gervais takes the funny, inventive idea implied by his title and uses it to challenges viewers. This is not the movie portrayed in trailers: I’m surprised there weren’t protests.
6. Where the Wild Things Are
How this didn’t get an adapted screenplay nomination for turning a nine-sentence book into a 101-minute movie is beyond me. Writer Dave Eggers and director Spike Jonez found a way to film the wonders of childhood imagination and the terror of impending adulthood. A deeply symbolic movie that kids and adults can appreciate.
5. Sugar
In a down year for documentaries, “Sugar” was a fictional film that felt very real. I’ve been a huge baseball fan for years but I’ll view the International Pastime differently after this movie about young Dominicans trying to make it to the big leagues. This isn’t a sports movie. It’s about outsiders trying to find their home.
4. Goodbye Solo
The third movie from the director of “Man Push Cart” and “Chop Shop” returns to similar themes: immigrants living on the fringe of society. This time it’s a joyous taxi driver (who wants to be a flight attendant) that picks up a fare with few prospects. This is a touching film about what it means to be a friend and what we owe strangers.
3. The Hangover
This was the funniest movie I’ve seen in years. Unlike a lot of “dumb comedies”, it had great writing and a real plot. Zach Galifianakis created one of the all-time great characters.
2. Away We Go
I’m glad to see this on Andre’s list. I was afraid I was too biased seeing a movie about a pregnant couple trying to figure out their life while I was a dad-to-be trying to figure out his life. But this beautiful movie was funny, poignant and perfect.
1. In The Loop
Here’s a brilliant little dark comedy about the U.S. and Britain misusing assumptions and half facts while on the verge of war in Iraq. That would never happen, right? Outstanding performances and pitch-perfect writing.

The Elevens: A Serious Man; Up; I Love You, Man; Invictus
Some worthy movies I didn't see: Avatar, Up In the Air, Crazy Heart, The Messenger, Precious (Yes, that’s some big misses. I blame the baby. He only wants to see independent films.)

Oscar the Grouch also overlooked

It should be noted, if it hasn't already, that Matt is a huge movie nerd.
Consequently, he can't help but make a few comments on the Oscars. Matt had to watch them on tape this year, because he was working Sunday night. But that's just as fun because you can rewind and watch the losers reactions to see who was really annoyed. (We're looking at you, Hal Holbrook.)
Matt saw all five nominated films again this year and enjoyed them all. Not a dud in the bunch, even if Matt's favorite film did get left off the list.
The host, Jon Stewart, had some good lines and it was great when he brought Marketa Iglova back on stage to finish her speech. Once was the little movie that could. Lynne and Matt loved it and proudly own the soundtrack.
Here's who Matt would have voted for in the Big Six categories. (If you care).
Best Picture: Into the Wild. So what if it wasn't nominated? But No Country For Old Men - the real winner - was the best of the nominated films, no doubt.
Best Director: The Coens were great, but Paul Thomas Anderson did it all. Everything about There Will Be Blood was fantastic.
Best Actor: Yeah, Daniel Day Lewis. His milkshake runneth over. Viggo Mortensen was awesome, too.
Best Actress: Ellen Page really made Juno work. But truth be told, Matt didn't see Marion Cotillard - the winner - in La Mome. But he plans to.
Best Supporting Actor: So many great performances and more fantastic work left off the nomination list (Paul Dano). Still, there's no doubt the winner, Javier Bardem, deserved it - just for giving Matt a lifetime of nightmares. Matt wouldn't have been bummed if Hal Holbrook was picked. I mean, he deserves something for keeping Bob Woodward's secret for so long, right?
Best Documentary: What? Skipped Best Supporting Actress? Well, Matt only saw two of the performances - winner Tilda Swindon was great - but how can he vote when he never saw the others? So for best documentary... Matt'll go with ....No End In Sight. Barely, over the unnominated King of Kong. King is a great, great movie, but No End is more important, if that makes sense.

At his real-life job, Matt wrote his Top Ten list, which can be found here.
Matt and his buddy also write an annual overlooked nominee list. This year they even had the guts to kick off "unworthy films." (Move over, Rog!) That drivel can be found here.
So, now all Matt really wants to know is: In There Will Be Blood, were there really two brothers? Well, that, and how come McLovin' wasn't nominated?