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6. The Fighter

There are two kinds of great sports films: the truly breathtaking, exceptional ones, like Raging Bull, The Wrestler, and Seabiscuit, and the ones that are thoroughly enjoyable and moving, but that you wouldn't classify as great. Rudy, Remember the Titans, Hoosiers and Miracle are classics in their own right, but only as sports films, and shouldn't be considered part of the pantheon of great cinema. The Fighter belongs in the upper echelon of that second category. It features some outstanding performances (Melissa Leo gives what is quite possibly the performance of the year) but otherwise is a standard drama with entertaining boxing scenes. Mark Wahlberg is at his most Mark Wahlbergy, Christian Bale is brilliant and creepily thin (his standard when he isn't Batman) and David O. Russell seems to have toned down the crazy, which is disappointing, as this his most ordinary, and least memorable film.

7. The King's Speech

If there was ever a film that was made on the backs of its actors, it was The King's Speech. The story is an interesting one, the script is pretty good, and Tom Hooper does a commendable (but not close to award worthy) job of pulling everything together and keeping the film from dragging too much, but... I mean, Colin Firth owns this movie. As in put the down payment on it and paid it off in installments owns it. Without his gripping, inspiring performance this movie isn't worth the scraps of celluloid left on the cutting room floor. Yes, it's pretty to look at, and Alexandre Desplat rattled off another beautiful score, but... Geoffrey Rush! And Colin Firth! Together! Being awesome!

8. Toy Story 3

It might be considered blasphemy to say this, especially on this site, but I'm not a big fan of Pixar. Beyond WALL-E and the original Toy Story, none of their films are great, and a couple of them are downright average. Toy Story 3 is thoroughly entertaining, with some memorable moments and really funny sequences, but it's nothing special. In fact, it feels very much like it is simply retreading the territory already traveled by the first two films in the series, just in a different setting. Considering that the next Pixar film is a sequel to the absolute worst movie in their canon, I'm starting to question if they are starting to run out of ideas. Is Toy Story 3 fun for the whole family? Absolutely. Is it one of the best pictures of the year? Not even close.

9. Winter's Bone

I'm never sure why some indie films are embraced by critics and the Academy while others are ignored. Who decided that Lost in Translation was Oscar worthy, while Sofia Coppola's vastly superior Somewhere was ignored (Editors Note: We suggested Tom include this line to deflect claims of sexism stemming from him placing both of the nominees directed by women at the bottom of his list)? Winter's Bone is a marginally interesting effort that never really taps into the potential of the story, and squanders great performances by Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes. The result is an eminently forgettable film, that is mostly remarkable for baffling me as to how it became this year's Sundance darling, especially considering how much better Blue Valentine and Four Lions were.

10. The Kids are All Right

Oh, right, that movie about the lesbians. Um... it was okay, I guess. I feel like when the best thing about your movie is a performance by the eternally bland Mia Wasikowska, you should know something is wrong. This movie was very lazily written. Much of the plot development felt forced, and few of the characters' actions were justified, especially those of the kids. All of the characters felt like types: the scatterbrained, flitting wife (Julianne Moore has never been less interesting), the domineering, neurotic matriarch (Annette Bening has never been more cloying), and the laid back, slightly awkward, emotionally stunted man (Mark Ruffalo, wasted in a terrible role). Other than a few marginally clever lines of dialogue, there is absolutely nothing to recommend about this movie. It's not terrible, but it's not great. It's just kind of... all right.

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