5 Most Overrated/Underrated Movies of 2010

Thanks to Jeff SC from Rotten Tomatoes for the idea :)

I guess the title's pretty self-explanatory. But don't worry, there will be descriptions so I will actually be writing something. I'll start with overrated, because I'm negative like that.

(and it'll be after the jump...)


Ahh. So much more space down here. And the list begins...

5. Easy A

This movie (87% Tomatometer) was supposed to be a really unique, inventive teen comedy. The critics seemed to think it succeeded, but I didn't. As much as I like Emma Stone, her lead character was annoying and unsympathetic, and the story was no more profound than any of the dumber movies of its genre. It's an amusing little movie, but it didn't come near the hype.

4. I'm Still Here

"I'm Still Here" wasn't exactly acclaimed by the critics (55% Tomatometer), but it was knocked up to be an interesting look at the very public recent events of Joaquin Phoenix's life which we all lived through. The movie was none of that. Phoenix just came across as a spoiled brat. He tried to explain the reason behind his retirement from acting in some profound way, but that didn't come across at all. The impression you get from the movie is that Phoenix got bored of what he was doing and decided to just incessantly bother the people around him.

3. The Town

It's hard for me to pinpoint what exactly I didn't like about this movie. Well I did like it, but I don't see what the critics thought was so great about it (94% Tomatometer). It was a fine movie, with Ben Affleck doing a good job directing, but nothing was new or exciting. The trailer made it look so cool, but the movie was a classic cops and robbers shoot-em-up movie, and a lot of parts weren't as suspenseful as they were supposed to be.

2. Please Give

I saw this movie so long ago that it will be hard to write about. What I do know is that the critics loved it (88% Tomatometer) and, unlike "The Town", this one I completely hated. What I remember of the movie is nothing happening. Basically it's about one woman who has dreams of being a great person while her whole family and her neighbors are all being assholes to each other. Okay, so that happens. But the movie doesn't lead anywhere. Director Nicole Holofcener goes through the motions, showing all of the scenes that should be dramatic, but you never get invested enough to care, and nothing ends up happening that would have validated your investment.

1. The Social Network

Well this one should be controversial. "The Social Network" is everybody's acclaimed "greatest movie ever" and probably will win Best Picture (97% Tomatometer). I thought that any of the aspects of the movie were good, but the total was much less than the sum of its parts. Aaron Sorkin's script was fine, it just didn't apply to the story at all. Sorkin and director David Fincher tried to make everything so dramatic and exciting, but the story just wasn't exciting at all. A lot of people also talk about how the movie raised issues about the statuses of privacy and friendship and other such deep things in today's world - maybe I'm dense, but I didn't see any of that.

Okay! On to the positive, touchy-feely side of things, with my most underrated movies of 2010.

5. The Expendables

The Expendables (41% Tomatometer) isn't a great movie by any means, but it's a lot of fun and fulfills on the old school action it promises. Its all-star cast delivers what "The A-Team" (a terrible movie) and "Red" (not a terrible movie, but the critics liked it a little more than this one) tried to do, and it does it really well. "The Expendables" has a lot of flaws, including a story that makes NO SENSE at all, but it's still a really entertaining two hours.

4. Get Low

The critics actually liked this movie a lot (86% Tomatometer), but considering how much I loved it, anything short of Best Picture would be an underrating. This movie, to me, is perfect, but the critics don't seem to go that far. Even Robert Duvall for Best Actor, which should be a shoo-in, isn't getting as much buzz now as it did when the movie came out.

3. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

With this movie, my judgment isn't too far off from what the critics said (81% Tomatometer), but I am saddened by its public reception. This movie might have been the most inventive I've ever seen, director Edgar Wright doing things visually that are just not done. But the American public was completely unopen to it. But this wasn't a deep, impenetrable art-house movie. People, yes, regular people, not snottily highbrow people like myself, would have really enjoyed this movie! But nobody ever gave it a chance, and it was a major box office flop.

2. Holy Rollers

Maybe I just got more of the humor because I'm Jewish. But for some reason, critics did not dig (50% Tomatometer) this movie about Hasidic Jewish drug smugglers. But it's a really fun, yet deep, story, and the acting is great, featuring, with all (more like a few) apologies to Zuckerberg, Jesse Eisenberg's best performance of the year. Highly enjoyable and thoughtful little movie.

1. The Joneses

"The Joneses" was actually a great movie, and another one that I can't get why critics didn't appreciate (61% Tomatometer). It's about, if you don't know, a fake family sent into a suburban neighborhood to try to sell their lifestyle to their neighbors by making them jealous. This obviously brings up a lot of questions about consumerism, and also about family, as these people grow into their roles and their relationships. But, unlike many "thought-provoking" movies, this one actually finds some sort of conclusions. The acting is also great, especially David Duchovny, who would probably be my second choice behind Robert Duvall for Best Actor.

Well that's the list. I guess it probably took about as long for you to read it as it did for me to write it. Sorry about that, I'm working on it. But hopefully I gave you some good ideas of movies to watch and movies to avoid. Adios!