Best of 2010: The Nominees

Though I am but one man, I like to go all out when recognizing my favorite movies of the year.  Instead of just picking a winner in each category (as a normal person might), I prefer to share the love by making a full list of nominees - five per category - and then picking winners from amongst them.  Why go to all the extra work?  Because it's more fun for me, and this way, I get to recognize a much broader spectrum of films.  Nearly every movie nominated here deserves to be seen (if only for those aspects for which they're nominated, and with a few notable exceptions that aren't quite worth the suffering), and it'd be a shame to whittle the list down and the most superlative handful instead.

So, without further ado, my nominees for the best (and worst) of 2010:

Best Picture
127 Hours
Black Swan
Inception
The Social Network
Toy Story 3                                                                                                                         
Best Director
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Danny Boyle, 127 Hours
David Fincher, The Social Network
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Lee Unkrich, Toy Story 3                                                                                                                        
Best Directorial Debut
Banksy, Exit Through the Gift Shop
Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, Catfish
Christopher Morris, Four Lions
Glenn Ficara and John Requa, I Love You Phillip Morris
Floria Sigismondi, The Runaways                                                                                                                        
Best Actor
Aaron Eckhart, Rabbit Hole
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King's Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine                                                                                                                        
Best Actress
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Hye-Ja Kim, Mother
Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right
Natalie Portman, Black Swan                                                                                                                        
Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Sean Penn, Fair Game
Michael Shannon, The Runaways
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech                                                                                                                        
Best Supporting Actress
Marion Cotillard, Inception
Meliaa Leo, The Fighter
Lesley Manville, Another Year
Chloe Moretz, Kick-Ass
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit                                                                                                                        
Best Young Actor
Keir Gilchrist, It's Kind of a Funny Story
Zachary Gordon, Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Callan McAuliffe, Flipped
Charlie Rowe, Never Let Me Go
Kodi Smit-McPhee, Let Me In                                                                                                                        
Best Young Actress
Elle Fanning, Somewhere
Chloe Moretz, Kick-Ass
Ella Purnell, Never Let Me Go
Saoirse Ronan, The Way Back
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit                                                                                                                        
Best Breakthrough Performance
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Chloe Moretz, Kick-Ass
Noomi Rapace, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit                                                                                                                        
Best Body of Work, Actor
Michael Cera, Youth in Revolt and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Leonardo DiCaprio, Shutter Island and Inception
Michael Douglas, Solitary Man and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Jesse Eisenberg, Solitary Man and The Social Network
Andrew Garfield, Red Riding: 1974, I'm Here, The Social Network, and Never Let Me Go                                                                                                                        
Best Body of Work, Actress
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right and Mother and Child
Rebecca Hall, Please Give and The Town
Chloe Moretz, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Kick-Ass, and Let Me In
Carey Mulligan, The Greatest, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, and Never Let Me Go
Noomi Rapace, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest                                                                                                                        
Best Ensemble Cast
Another Year
Black Swan
Four Lions
The King's Speech
The Social Network                                                                                                                        
Best Original Screenplay
Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, Christopher Morris, and Simon Blackwell, Four Lions
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, The Kids Are All Right
Mike Leigh, Another Year
Christopher Nolan, Inception
David Seidler, The King's Speech                                                                                                                        
Best Adapted Screenplay
Michael Arndt, Toy Story 3
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy, 127 Hours
Alex Garland, Never Let Me Go
David Lindsay-Abaire, Rabbit Hole
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network                                                                                                                        
Best Cinematography
Enrique Chediak and Anthony Dod Mantle, 127 Hours
Jeff Cronenweth, The Social Network
Matthew Libatique, Black Swan
Wally Pfister, Inception
Martin Ruhe, The American                                                                                                                        
Best Editing
Jonathan Amos and Paul Machliss, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, The Social Network
Kristina Boden and Andrew Weisblum, Black Swan
Jon Harris, 127 Hours
Lee Smith, Inception                                                                                                                        
Best Art Direction
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I
Inception
Micmacs
Shutter Island                                                                                                                        
Best Visual Effects
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I
Inception
Iron Man 2
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World                                                                                                                        
Best Costumes
Colleen Atwood, Alice in Wonderland
Michael Kaplan, Burlesque
Sammy Sheldon, Kick-Ass
Louise Stiernsward, Creation
Mary Zophires, True Grit                                                                                                                        
Best Make-Up
Alice in Wonderland
Barney's Verion
Conviction
The Girl Who Played With Fire
The Way Back                                                                                                                        
Best Sound
127 Hours
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I
Inception
Iron Man 2
Paranormal Activity 2                                                                                                                        
Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat, The King's Speech
Rachel Portman, Never Let Me Go
John Powell, How to Train Your Dragon
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Social Network
Hans Zimmer, Inception                                                                                                                        
Best Original Song
"I See the Light," Tangled
"I've Got a Dream," Tangled
"Timing is Everything," Country Strong
"We Belong Together," Toy Story 3
"When Will My Life Begin," Tangled                                                                                                                        
Best Foreign Film
Dogtooth
Mother
A Prophet
The Secret in Their Eyes
Terribly Happy                                                                                                                        
Best Documentary
Catfish
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
Waiting for "Superman"
Waking Sleeping Beauty                                                                                                                        
Best Animated Feature
Despicable Me
How to Train Your Dragon
My Dog Tulip
Tangled
Toy Story 3                                                                                                                        
Best Voice Actor
Ned Beatty, Toy Story 3
Walt Dohrn, Shrek Forever After
Tom Hanks, Toy Story 3
Michael Keaton, Toy Story 3
Christopher Plummer, My Dog Tulip                                                                                                                        
Best Voice Actress
Jodi Benson, Toy Story 3
Elsie Fisher, Despicable Me
Christen Mooney, The Secret of Kells
Mandy Moore, Tangled
Donna Murphy, Tangled                                                                                                                        
Best Voice Cast
Despicable Me
How to Train Your Dragon
Megamind
Tangled
Toy Story 3                                                                                                                        
Best Animated Visuals
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
My Dog Tulip
The Secret of Kells                                                                                                                        
Best 3-D
Despicable Me
How to Train Your Dragon
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
Megamind
Tangled                                                                                                                        
Best Couple
Annette Bening and Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right
Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen, Another Year
Andrew Garfield and Sienna Guillory, I'm Here
Ken (Michael Keaton) and Barbie (Jodi Benson), Toy Story 3
Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson, Easy A                                                                                                                        
Best Pair
Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Nicolas Cage and Chloe Moretz, Kick-Ass
Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, The Other Guys
Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech
Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and Toothless, How to Trian Your Dragon                                                                                                                        
Funniest Movie
Dinner for Schmucks
Dogtooth
Four Lions
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Toy Story 3                                                                                                                        
Funniest Actor
Adeel Akthar, Four Lions
Steve Carrell, Dinner for Schmucks
Will Ferrell, The Other Guys
Nigel Lindsay, Four Lions
James Marsden, Death at a Funeral                                                                                                                        
Funniest Actress
Ann Guilbert, Please Give
Joey King, Ramona and Beezus
Chloe Moretz, Kick-Ass
Joan Rivers, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
Emma Stone, Easy A                                                                                                                        
Most Emotional Movie
Never Let Me Go
Rabbit Hole
Toy Story 3
Waiting for "Superman"
Waking Sleeping Beauty                                                                                                                        
Best Scene
Aron interviews himself, 127 Hours
Hiccup's first flight, How to Train Your Dragon
Fight in the spinning hotel, Inception
Erica dumps Mark, The Social Network
Andy tells Bonnie about his toys, Toy Story 3                                                                                                                        
Most Pleasant Surprise
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
How to Train Your Dragon
The Joneses
The Karate Kid
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief                                                                                                                        
Most Over-Looked Film
Flipped
The Killer Inside Me
Never Let Me Go
Please Give
Remember Me                                                                                                                        
Best Title
Catfish
Creation
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Hot Tub Time Machine
Waking Sleeping Beauty                                                                                                                        
Best Hero
Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz), Kick-Ass
Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Iron Man 2
Woody (Tom Hanks), Toy Story 3                                                                                                                        
Best Villain
Andrew "Pope" Cody (Ben Mendelsohn), Animal Kingdom
Ivan Vanko/Whiplash (Mickey Rourke), Iron Man 2
The League of Evil Exes (various actors), Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Lotso (Ned Beatty), Toy Story 3
Park Chang-yi (Byung-hun Lee), The Good, The Bad, The Weird                                                                                                                        
Best Trailer
127 Hours
Blue Valentine
Never Let Me Go
The Social Network
Somewhere                                                                                                                        
Shallow Guy Award
Marion Cotillard, Inception
Amber Heard, The Joneses
Scarlett Johansson, Iron Man 2
Emma Stone, Easy A
Reese Witherspoon, How Do You Know


THE DUBIOUS HONORS                                                                                                                        
Worst Picture
Charlie St. Cloud
The Last Airbender
The Last Song
Sex and the City 2
The Wolfman                                                                                                                        
Worst Director
James L. Brooks, How Do You Know
Joe Johnston, The Wolfman
Michael Patrick King, Sex and the City 2
M. Night Shyamalan, The Last Airbender
Paul Weitz, Little Fockers                                                                                                                        
Worst Performance
Miley Cyrus, The Last Song
Anne Hathaway, Alice in Wonderland
Anthony Hopkins, The Wolfman
Aasif Mandvi, The Last Airbender
Noah Ringer, The Last Airbender                                                                                                                        
Biggest Waste of Talent
How Do You Know
Little Fockers
The Wolfman
You Again
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger                                                                                                                        
Most Disappointing
The Exploding Girl
How Do You Know
The Last Airbender
Nowhere Boy
Sex and the City 2                                                                                                                        
Most Over-Rated Movie
Countdown to Zero
The Exploding Girl
Nowhere Boy
Red Riding: 1983
Splice

Top to bottom: 127 Hours, Kick-Ass, My Dog Tulip, Rabbit Hole, The Runaways