Hey, it's the end of the year, and everybody else is doing a Top 10 list, so why the heck not. This isn't going to be the prestigious list, and there are several "must-see" movies I never got around to watching before the end of the year (sorry, 12 Years a Slave and Wolf Children), but these are the movies that impressed, entertained, and stuck with me the most, and even if I change the order later, they still stand as the best examples of what I liked at the movies this year. So let's get this ball rolling!

10. Blackfish

An ferocious expose of the circumstances surrounding the deaths of several SeaWorld trainers in "accidents" involving performing orcas. Unflinching, eye-opening, and heartbreaking (a scene involving a calf being taken from its mother is particularly hard to watch) to the last, this well-made piece of nonfiction may very well change how you look at performing killer whales and dolphins, but how animals think and feel altogether. Somewhere down the road this may end up being the movie that brings about change for the better, and it's worth checking out (it's on Netflix Instant as of right now), if only because it's really good.

9. Rush

The power of this movie is that you'll end up being involved in the central conflict between two equally ambitious and intriguing men (both performed brilliantly by their respective actors) whether you care about Formula-1 or not. It's technically impressive, emotionally intense, incredibly lean, and exciting and engaging all the the way through. The best sports movie since Warriors, and another sign that we need to afford director Ron Howard more respect.

8. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Maybe it's over-bloated and uneven in terms of pacing and tone, but gosh darn it, I'm having a lot of fun with this trilogy. The cast is as enjoyable as ever, the world feels alive and tangible, the action scenes and special effects are top-notch, the emotional core of the story hits harder than in the first one, and it touches upon an aspect of the One Ring that the original trilogy never really explored well: the fact that it empowers its bearer as much as it is twisting him (Martian Freeman's acting when Bilbo realizes he isn't killing in self-defense anymore is fantastic). And then there's Smaug, and he's just about the coolest thing ever. Seriously, see this on the big screen just to witness his awesomeness as effectively as possible. And the barrels.

7. Iron Man 3

This ended up getting a lot more decisive than I anticipated, which is odd, because this is easily the best of the series. Whereas the first two felt like they were made up as they went along, this one is guided by director Shane Black's vision of a character who feels like he has genuinely been changed and shaken by the stuff he's been through. It's fun as hell, the action sequences are varied and memorable (they actually figured out how to use the Iron Man suit without relying on it as the crux of the story), I really dug the twist in the final act, and the Iron Legion battle is the greatest toy-commercial-in-a-movie ever. It manages to subvert most of everything that makes superhero threequels fails and gives us a satisfying conclusion that could serve as the perfect capper to Tony Stark's cinematic adventures if they chose to do so.

6. This is the End

Sort of shocked by how much I liked it when it came out and how much I still like it. The finest raunchy comedy of the year, do in no small part to the actually epic apocalypse stuff and the obvious fun all the actors are having playing skewed and often insane versions of themselves. It's just a big, dumb ode to friendship that made me lawl more than any other movie I saw this year. You better be fine with demon penises, though.

5. Gravity

Some of the stuff in the third act is a bit wonky, but the special effects and sound design are so mind-blowing, the directing so masterful, and the central performance so compelling that you can't help but not be engaged. Unless your looking for technical details to complain about, then apparently your in good luck. Only time will tell if the movie still works as well on the small screen, but at least it'll still be a well-executed roller coaster ride that proves that roller coaster movies don't have to suck.

Also, best musical score of the year, bro.

4. The World's End

The things that made Shaun of the Dead and Hott Fuzz great are in effect here: great characters brought to life by talented actors (Simon Pegg turns in his best performance yet), a great mixture of broad humor and moments of it that reward the thinking man, an insane level of foreshadowing, genre elements that are taken almost completely seriously, homages and shout-outs that will please the geekiest without confusing the unknowing, and an exploration of maturity and responsibility that feels thought-out and fully realized. But this time there's also robots full of blue stuff having martial arts fights with a surprisingly capable Nick Frost, so yeah, this is mandatory.

3. Mud

I didn't expect to like this one as much as I did. I think what really caught me off-guard is just how plain watchable it was: the characters feel real and are interesting to watch, the southern setting is shown-off in all its beauty and detail, the cinematography is fantastic, and it's a very involving story from beginning to end. Matthew McConaughey turns in a great performance as the titular Mud, but it's the young Tye Sheridan that really carries the weight of the movie on his shoulders. I dunno, when you get right down to it, it's just a feel good southern drama. But it's a really good feel good southern drama.

2. Frozen

I liked this one enough to write up a blog post just tell people that it's one they have to see, and I still feel that way. It combines Pixar's expert storytelling and attention to emotional nuance with all the nostalgic trappings of the Disney Princess genre while still taking it new, often subversive directions. The voice cast is great, the songs are phenomenal, the animation is expressive, the imagery is imaginative, and they somehow made that Jar-Jar Binks snowman that everyone knew they were gonna hate and turned him into something hilarious and lovable. It's easily the best Disney movie in awhile and can very easily hold it's own with the Renaissance movies themselves.

1. The Wolf of Wall Street

It's Goodfellas if everyone was a raging douchebag stock broker, complete with clever narration by the main character, a progressively degenerate biography filled with drug abuse, and an ironic glamorization of a lifestyle earned by being a bit meaner than the next guy. This is officially Leonardo Di Caprio's best performance, which is bolstered by a supproting cast that is obviously having a great time playing such horrible people. But even when it's so steeped in criticizing the world of stocks and the people who exploit that system, the movie still manages to display the humanity of the debauchery's ringleader; like Martian Scorsese's best work, it's all about showing that buried within that corrupt broker or gangster or unhinged vigilante is a fallible human being.

It may be three hours long, but it's so fun, fascinating and unrelenting that you never notice. This one definitely has the potential to become the next Fight Club (though I guess we should be prepared for an entire fandom that misses the point of their favorite movie).

And that's pretty much it. Happy New Year's, everybody!