Luciano Formilan is a junior in Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology.

1. [Pelada]
“Pelada” is a documentary following two former college soccer players, Luke Boughen and Gwendolyn Oxenham, who chase the game of soccer around the world.  The name of the movie, which literally means naked in Brazilian, defines back alley soccer games and the sport of soccer at its core. Along their journey, Luke and Gwendolyn find a love for soccer in moonshine brewers in Kenya, prisoners in Bolivia, women who play in Iran and freestylers in China. It is a game that is played by anyone, anywhere, and turns strangers into friends after just one game. “Pelada” is the No. 1 movie of 2010 as it goes beyond the usual depressing documentary and instead truly represented the world’s united opinion of soccer and the World Cup.

2. The Social Network
In director David Fincher’s “The Social Network,” Harvard undergrad and computer programming mastermind Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) sits down at his computer and excitedly begins working on a new idea. What starts with simple blogging and coding turns out to become a global social network and revolution in communication. By 2009, Mark had over 500 million friends and became the youngest billionaire in history. However, his road to success was paved with both personal and legal complications. Eisenberg’s role as the confident and pompous Zuckerberg made this movie into the phenomenon that it is. Due to the great performances of Eisenberg and others, the movie is up for eight Oscars. This entertaining film seemed to have not one slow moment.

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
In part one of the film adaptation of J.K. Rowlings “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” Voldemort’s (Ralph Fiennes) power is growing stronger with his control over the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts. His hunt for the powerful elder wand is leaving Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) with little time to destroy the Horcruxes, pieces of Voldemort’s soul. Harry and his friends Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) embark on a perilous adventure as they try to find the rest of the Horcruxes. With the last book being broken into two parts, the attention to detail in the film was substantially better. The realism of the environments magnified the connection of the audience to the story. This film was a joy, and the release of the second part cannot arrive soon enough.

4. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON
The DreamWorks animation “How to Train Your Dragon” follows a young Viking named Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) who desperately wants to join the fight against the dragons that continually attack their town on the Island of Berk. However, being a small, clumsy Viking makes this a challenge. Regardless, Hiccup ventures out into battle and downs a dragon. When Hiccup fails to kill the dragon, whom he dubs “toothless,” they begin a friendship that opens up both their worlds. Soon enough, Hiccup learns that his people have misjudged the dragon species. The two soon find that only with their combined strengths can they fight the true enemy that is plaguing Berk. This fun and simplistic story was surprisingly good, and the best-animated movie of the year.

5. THE OTHER GUYS
Director Adam McKay’s “The Other Guys” follows detective Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) and forensic accountant Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell). With Hoitz’s past mistakes in the line of duty and Gamble’s reluctance to “lose control again,” the pair is not going anywhere. However, when two hero cops fall to their death, it is up to Hoitz and Gamble to step up. The mismatched duo must look past their differences when they take on a high-profile investigation and attempt to earn the respect of their fellow policemen. Having Will Ferrell in any comedic movie is easy to sell, but surprisingly enough, Mark Wahlberg pulled more than his share of comedy. The film provides classic one-liners to be repeated over and over again.

6. Red
“Red” tells the story of Frank Moses (Bruce Willis),a bored and lonely retired CIA agent whose only joy in life comes from his calls to the government pension processing center where he gets to talk to his case worker Sarah (Mary-Louis Parker). Frank decides to visit Sarah; however, something in his past forces him back into his old line of work and puts an unwitting Sarah in the middle. Frank and Sarah begin a journey into the past to discover why the U.S. government wants him dead, and with help from his former co-workers, it is not long before they are all marked RED … Retired Extremely Dangerous. Packed with explosive action sequences and just the right amount of humor, “Red” is an entertaining and humorous film.

7. Kick-Ass
Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) is a common, unnoticed high school teenager who likes comic books. He lives alone with his father and has few friends. His life is not complex, but one day he makes the decision to use his knowledge of comic books to become a super-hero, Kick-Ass. Although he has no powers or training, he soon learns that a hero is not defined by their powers but the people they save. The simple premise of the movie leaves one wondering how a movie could be made around the idea. But, behind the action and explosions, Dave’s character makes a connection with the audience. His progression from an unnoticed high school teenager to a city-known hero was worth the journey.

8. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
In Director Edgar Wright’s “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World,” Michael Cera plays Scott Pilgrim, a musician who hopes one day to be a great success. Having just been dumped by his former girlfriend, he begins dating Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). Like many rebound relationships, this one is cut short after Scott meets the uniquely stylish Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and quickly falls for her. In order to win Ramona, however, he will have to defeat her seven ex-lovers, who will do anything to get rid of Scott as a suitor. Cera is perfectly cast as Pilgrim in this highly imaginative and vibrant film. The cinematic style of the film is unique and unordinary, but refreshingly well done.

9. Iron Man 2
After revealing his identity as the armored superhero in “Iron Man,” billionaire inventor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) faces pressure from the government, the press and the public to share his technology with the world in the sequel “Iron Man 2.” Unwilling to let go of his invention, however, Stark soon faces a foe of equal intelligence and power, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke). Stark will have to put his pride aside and team up with James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) to discover new technology to take down Vanko. The film is jam-packed with action from the very beginning. Many sequels cannot match their predecessors, but for “Iron Man 2,” this statement proves to be false.

10. TRON: Legacy
“Tron: Legacy” tells the story of the virtual world of Tron, developed by Kevin Flynn. He promises his seven-year-old son, Sam (Garrett Hedlund) that he will show him the world of TRON. However, something goes wrong, and Kevin disappears. Now a tech-savvy 27-year-old, Sam looks into his father’s disappearance and finds himself pulled into the mysterious cyber world, a world inhabited by fierce programs that compete in gladiatorial games. After finding where his father has been living for 20 years, Sam embarks on a life-and-death journey across the virtual cyber world. Some saw “TRON: Legacy” as a disappointment. Many critics and moviegoers complained that the movie was unrealistic. However, they should have watched the movie for its enjoyable entertainment value.

Brent Lang is a fifth-year undergraduate in the College of Arts and Sciences

1. Inception
This psychological thriller from director Christopher Nolan (“Memento”) will forever be the reference for anterograde amnesia in introductory psychology classes. Most everyone knows what this film is about: a thief named Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his team that steals information from people’s subconscious during dreams are put to the ultimate test when asked to plant the inception of an idea in a businessman’s (Cillian Murphy) subconscious. Regardless of whether or not you think this is a complex film, its originality and superb acting should be agreed upon. Not only does DiCaprio deliver an Oscar-worthy performance, but his co-star Ellen Page (Ariadne) successfully breaks her mold as the quirky teen star of indie flicks in this top film of 2010.

2. The Social Network
How did such an anti-social computer programmer like Mark Zuckerberg gain 500 million friends? According to writer Aaron Sorken and director David Fincher, he did so by making enemies. The trailer for this film is perhaps the best use of song choice and scene selection that I have seen so far, and the actual film lives up to the trailer and media hype that it received. Whether or not Jesse Eisenberg accurately portrays Zuckerberg is not an issue; rather, his ability to present such a profound characterization in an accessible and human performance should be the topic of focus. Also, despite the beliefs of many critics, this is not a cultural critique of social networking or some profound analysis of the future of human relationships on the Internet; it is a story of what success does to friendships and what it takes to reach the top in business. In my view, Eisenberg deserves Best Actor for this role.

3. The Town
Even if you are skeptical of Ben Affleck due to his previous bombs like “Gigli” and “Daredevil,” this is a great film. The key to this film was the flow of the plot, as well as its realistic acting and story. The film was based heavily on the novel “Prince of Thieves,” but the characters seem like actual bank-robbing criminals. In fact, Affleck’s co-star Jeremy Renner interviewed actual convicted bank robbers from the suburb of Boston where the film is set. This effort allowed for a much more realistic plot — without the happy Hollywood ending. Every scene seemed to fade directly into the next, with few obvious flaws and really great connections. The action scenes were similar in intensity to that of “Heat,” but the acting, dialogue and plot in this movie was far superior. This is a film that can be seen several times and continuously be appreciated by viewers.

4. Toy Story 3
Usually, a movie with the number “3” behind the title tips us off that Hollywood is desperately exploiting the success of one film and beating it to death. This film is perhaps the best of the series and combines mature themes with beautiful animation that we have come to expect of recent animated films.The film is about life changes and how we go along different life pathways. The film begins with its central characters Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz (Tim Allen) desperately seeking the attention of a teenage Andy (John Morris), who is preparing to attend college. After a mix-up during packing, the toys end up at a day-care center where a cold-hearted teddy bear named Lotso (Ned Beatty) attempts to destroy them. Unlike your typical G-rated children’s movie, the ending is bittersweet, which reflects the adult themes which have made animated films bearable.

5. Shutter Island
This is another film starring Leonardo Dicaprio, whose character has a dead, insane wife haunting his dreams. Unlike most psychological thrillers that portray mental disorders as some mythical disease that turns people into demons, this film depicts the traumatic events that many experience and the ways they deal with them. The story begins as any other horror film: U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) is assigned to a missing patient case at Shutter Island Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane. Daniels soon discovers that the hospital staff is not what they seem and that they are actively hiding information from him. As he continues his investigation, he is haunted by traumatic memories from his time at war, as well as his wife’s murder. This film combined a great script with even better acting by both DiCaprio and his co-star Mark Ruffalo.

6. Winter’s Bone
After watching this film, I understand why I have to show my ID to purchase more than one box of Sudafed at Missouri pharmacies. This low-budget film stars mostly unknown actors and actresses, but its impact is significant nonetheless. The plot of the film is quite simple and all too realistic for many Missouri residents. The film takes place in the Ozark mountains, where extreme poverty and unemployment are the way of life. At the center of the story is Ree (Jennifer Lawrence), a 17- year old girl that has aspirations of joining the Army, in order to take care of her mentally ill mother and two younger siblings. Their desperate situation becomes a crisis when she discovers that her drug-making father put their family home and land up as part of his bail, and failed to appear at his court date. Ree must navigate through the meth drug world that surrounds her in order to locate her father and prevent her family from becoming homeless. The direction and plot of this film were not incredible by any means, but the acting definitely was. The ability of these actors to portray the bleak reality of so many people in the southern, Ozark region of Missouri is much needed in the methamphetamine capital of this country. However, beyond its realistic topic, the acting itself places it in the top 10 of the year.

7. Black Swan
After finishing this film, you will definitely be left scratching your head for a few minutes to hours later. Natalie Portman stars in this film as Nina Sayers, a perfectionist ballerina in a prominent New York ballet company. She lives with her overbearing mother who was also a dancer in the past and controls every aspect of Nina’s life. When she is chosen as Swan Queen in the upcoming performance of Swan Lake, Nina is challenged to go beyond her comfort zone as the innocent and exceptional White Swan, and demonstrate her ability to play the evil twin sister, the Black Swan. Despite being selected as the lead in the performance, she faces competition from a new dancer, Lily (Mila Kunis) who is the personification of the Black Swan role. Slowly, she embraces her darker side and as she does so, her grasp on reality fades as well. Perhaps the most horrific part of this film was the constant bone-cracking sounds, and the occasional gore. The technical aspects of this film make it truly great, even if similar stories have already been told. For example, the motif of black/white contrast is an obvious centerpiece of the plot, but is subtly inserted into the background of nearly every scene.

8. Conviction
Director Tony Goldwyn brings us this true account of Betty Anne Waters (Hilary Swank), a high school dropout and mother of two children who puts herself through law school, in order to exonerate her brother of murder. This story bolsters the old adage that truth is stranger than fiction. The best part of this film is by far its acting, with Hilary Swank delivering an amazing performance as Betty Anne Waters. Her range of emotion and use of body language convey the roller coaster of emotions which Betty Anne herself would likely have faced as she fought for her brother’s freedom. Noteworthy too is the acting of Sam Rockwell, and his ability to present a truly human character with obvious flaws, in his portrayal of Kenny Waters. If you know the story, this film can be anticlimactic, but enjoyable nonetheless.

9. Alice in Wonderland
Tim Burton’s vision of Alice in Wonderland is worth seeing for the Blu-ray format alone. Sure, it lacked the dark and macabre tone that pervade most of Burton’s other works, but I found this change to be much welcomed. In this film, 19-year old Alice is engaged to marry a nobleman, Hamish when she spots a white rabbit and falls into the rabbit role, winding up back in Underland, where she is assigned with the task of defeating the evil Red Queen (Helena Carter) and restoring the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) to power. Even though this film was deficient in many respects, its visual elements and the Carter’s portrayal of the Red Queen made it worthy of the bottom of the list.

10. Iron Man 2
The much awaited sequel successfully combined the wit and action that made the first wildly popular. The film begins with Tony Stark announcing that he is the masked superhero, Iron Man. Facing pressure from those around him, he is asked to share his new technology with the US military. Even though Terrance Howard opted out of the sequel as Rhodey, the duo of Robery Downey Jr. And Don Cheadle matched that of the original. The best part of this film was the acting by Robert Downey Jr. , Don Cheadle, and the new enemy of Iron Man, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke). While it probably will not be remembered in the long run, this sequel deserves the number 10 spot of the year.