The highlights of 2010 …
In 2010…
Kathryn Bigelow makes history by becoming the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Achievement in Directing for The Hurt Locker.
Tim Burton takes us to cinematic psychedelic heaven with his color saturated and special effects-laden take on Alice in Wonderland, starring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter.
Predators gives us the sequel to the first Predator that fans always wanted, even if the end result is underwhelming in comparison to the hype.
Zsa Zsa Gabor is hospitalized after falling out of her bed and breaking her hip in July. Gabor wavers between consciousness and critical condition in following weeks.
The third chapter in the Twilight saga, Eclipse, premieres amid a cavalcade of product tie-ins, including an upscale makeup line and underwear. This does not make the film any better than the other two.
’80s redux, Part 1: John Cusack, Rob Corddry and Craig Robinson take a trip back to the ’80s in Hot Tub Time Machine, the finest dumb comedy you’re likely to see all year.
’80s redux, Part 2: The A-Team becomes the latest classic series to receive a big screen treatment, starring Liam Neeson as Hannibal and Bradley Cooper as Face. Unfortunately the screenwriters had no equivalent to the A-Team to assist them with the script, and moviegoers get a B movie.
’80s redux, Part 3: A new generation is introduced to The Karate Kid, only this time Jaden Smith is the underdog who learns kung fu, and his mentor is played by Jackie Chan.
Rocker reality star Bret Michaels suffers a massive subarachnoid hemorrhage earlier this spring that leaves him in critical condition, but he recovers in time to appear on the finale of “Celebrity Apprentice“, which he wins. Days later he makes a surprising cameo on the season finale of “American Idol“. Michaels is currently in the midst of production on another reality series about his family life.
After six emotionally challenging and complex (and some would say frustrating) seasons, “Lost” airs its series finale. In spite of how influential the drama was, only 13.5 million viewers tune in.
Another groundbreaking series, “24“, also ends after eight seasons. The U.S. viewership for Jack Bauer’s last mission is an even more modest 8.9 million.
Corey Haim’s troubled life comes to a sudden end at age 38. His cause of death is determined to be pulmonary congestion.
M. Night Shyamalan tries to launch his own cinematic franchise by transforming the 
Nickelodeon animated series “Avatar: The Last Airbender“, into a live action epic, The Last Airbender. Although it performs well at the box office, it is widely regarded as a cinematic atrocity. In answer to numerous accusations that he’s lost his touch and should stop making movies, Shyamalan explains that audiences don’t get his “European” sensibility. European filmmakers have yet to demand an apology.
Sylvester Stallone brings together just about every action hero imaginable: Jason Statham, Bruce Willis, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke, and Terry Crews (the guy who played the dad in “Everybody Hates Chris“) for the late summer action blockbuster The Expendables.
Anna Paquin surprises Hollywood by announcing that she’s bisexual in a PSA for the Give a Damn campaign.
John Travolta and Kelly Preston announce they’re expecting again, following the loss of their son Jett in 2009.
Music by Prudence wins the Oscar for best short documentary, but before director-producer Roger Ross Williams can accept the prize, producer Elinor Burkett, who was ousted from the production, pulls a Kanye and wrests the microphone away from Williams to make her own rambling speech.
Sandra Bullock wins her first Best Actress Oscar for her work in The Blind Side. Days later, the news breaks that her husband Jesse James has been unfaithful with tattoo model Michelle “Bombshell” McGee. Bullock files for divorce in April 2010, and reveals soon after that she is adopting a one-week-old baby boy, named Louis Bardo Bullock, from New Orleans.
Inception opens in mid-July. A month after its release, Christopher Nolan’s cinematic mindbender rakes in a worldwide gross of $567 million. More than that, it is the film everyone’s talking about, unless they’re talking to people who haven’t seen it, in which case they insist that you see it before they can talk about it.
Betty White unexpectedly finds herself very popular again following a Facebook campaign to get her to host “Saturday Night Live“. In hosting the May 8 episode, the 88-year-old actress becomes the program’s oldest headliner.
Conan O’Brien earns the dubious honor of having the shortest tenure as host of “The Tonight Show” after Jay Leno decides he wants his old job back. The final episode of “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” airs on Jan. 22. O’Brien leaves NBC, taking Team Coco with him, and embarks on a nationwide live tour to fill the time until the start of his next job: “Conan,” which premieres November 8 on TBS.
- Notable & Influential Films of 2010
- Cyrus. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Machete. A Prophet. My Name is Khan. Splice
- Kick-Ass. Micmacs. The Human Centipede. The White Ribbon . Catfish
- Shutter Island. Mother. Exit Through the Gift Shop. Mother and Child. Babies
- Winter’s Bone. The Killer Inside Me. Joan Rivers: A Piece of Wor
Denis Hopper Corey Haim Patricia Neil Rue McClanahan Peter Graves
