How’s the year going so far?

Back in January, I laid out my top 5 most anticipated films of the year. As I look at them now, I’m really scratching my head over some of my choices. Since we’re hitting the halfway mark on 2010, I thought this might be a good opportunity to see how well things have been living up to my expectations and also see if there’s been anything else that’s made this year a great year to figure out how to go to the movies for free. (It also helps get some of the legwork out of the way for when I do my best of the year in December.

Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief: I’m willing to admit that this was a pretty weak pick to make for movies that I was most looking forward to. What can I say? I believed the hype. I think the only good thing that came out of that movie was seeing the really cool outfit Kevin McKidd was wearing when he was posing as a human, a kind of GC meets longshoreman thing. I’m still trying to find all the pieces to built my own when I want to roam the docks as a high class Stevedore. Regardless, this was a waste of a pick, and I’m glads there are plenty of other great films out there to cushion the blow.

Kick-Ass: It wasn’t the be all, end all, but there’s no doubt it was fun and funny and had plenty of violence to share with the masses. The liberties they took with the adaptation from the book to screen all worked for me, and even Nic Cage’s presence didn’t throw things off for me. It’s greatest gift however was introducing me to the full power of one Chloe Moretz. I don’t know how she’s going to top this performance, but I’m totally game to find out. Did you know that Chloe responds to all her tweets on Twitter? Apparently she’ll retweet anything you ask her too. This was definitely a win, although I don’t know if I’d submit it for one of the best of the year. All it gets is a guarantee it’s gonna wind up in my collection.

Iron Man 2: I definitely had a great time at Iron Man 2, but I think in its quest to deliver everything to everyone, it fell short in certain areas. It definitely lacked the masterful touch seen in superhero flicks like The Dark Knight, but it was still head and shoulders better than Spider-Man. I had really thought this was gonna be the top dog for the year, and while it was good it clearly does not hit the ranks of being the crown jewel of this year’s releases.

Centurion: Well, I still haven’t gotten around to seeing this yet. It hasn’t shown up for a screening in Victoria, and I don’t know what stage the release on DVD is at. Does anybody have any thoughts on the film? Does it live up to The Descent or Dog Soldiers?

Okay, so I’ve got a few misses in with my hits for this year. What about the hits that I totally missed? There were some movies that really blew me away this year that I didn’t even consider to be threats.

How to Train Your Dragon: Based on the meagre early hype on this film, I didn’t even think that Dreamworks felt they had a hit on their hands with this one. This animated 3D film was a trip though, putting on some much-needed spins on the typical coming of age film with dashes of coping with handicaps and environmental stewardship. Who knew a movie about Vikings fighting dragons could touch on so many themes which an actual degree of subtlety? It’s a bit of a bummer that it was a little too intense at times to show it to my daughter, which makes this yet another kids movie (along with Kung-Fu Panda) that I can’t watch with my kids… yet.

Sherlock Holmes: I don’t know why this didn’t make my list. Maybe I thought that RDJ taking on another big film so soon was pushing his luck . Maybe my faith in the might of Guy Ritchie was less than complete. Maybe it’s because it actually came out last year and I didn’t get a chance to see it until February of this year…

Alright, so I’m a modern man, and as such I’m not afraid to admit that I’ve made a mistake and not afraid to learn from my mistakes. As such, I’ve got a few additions I’d like to make to my list – which will consequently have me agreeing with some of my colleagues.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: I have no idea why this wasn’t on my list to begin with. I guess I arrived later to the party than I thought. This feels to me like where everything’s been hurtling at since the year began. I don’t have any more love for Michael Cera’s awkward antics than anyone else, but we’re dealing with a great story told by a great director. Great things are bound to happen.

Inception: I tried to set this one aside in some kind of retaliation for Nolan’s anti-hype habits leading up to the release of the film. At this stage, when we’re getting so close to it finally coming out, I’m actually glad I know so little about it, so that I can go in being so pleasantly surprised. Nolan was only looking out for me – you always hurt the one you love, etc.

What about you lot? You guys have any addendums you wanna make, or highlights of the year you’re sure are gonna make the top of the year? We’ll be talking about this on the radio this weekend, so if you wanna chime in you should give us a call.