The Social Network (2010)

Tension-building director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, equipped with his machine gun-paced dialogue, turn the story of Facebook — invented (mostly) by Mark Zuckerberg — into a zeitgeist thriller and a post-modern revenge of the nerds.

d: David Fincher | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose
Sign | Equation | The Sopranos | Sean Parker | Bosnia

The Town (2010)

Ben Affleck directs and stars in a bank heist picture set in Charlestown, Mass., the capital of bank heists, with average results. Affleck can’t find the right tone for the film or his complicated character, and only Blake Lively gives an interesting performance.

d: Ben Affleck | imdb.com | trailer | My bank was robbed.
You dummies shot a guard. | I never asked you to. | Six inches

Easy A (2010)

Screenwriter Bert V. Royal’s loose high school adaptation of “The Scarlet Letter” isn’t quite as smart as he thinks it is, but Emma Stone is a charming smartass. She leads a fun, breezy 90 minutes, complete with knowing nods to those cheesy John Hughes films.

d: Will Gluck | imdb.com | trailer | “Pocketful of Sunshine”
There’s a higher power. | Olive & Brandon | Woodchuck Todd

Machete (2010)

Robert Rodriguez’s fake trailer before the “Grindhouse” double feature is now a 105-minute, ultra-violent revenge fantasy — and it’s a blast. Deadpan Danny Trejo is Machete, an expert knife thrower who makes women (Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez) melt.

d: Robert Rodriguez, Ethan Maniquis | imdb.com | trailer
Underground Network | Both cops | You’re a fighter | Sniper

The American (2010)

George Clooney plays a hitman near the end, the maker of one last firearm in a smart, mannered film set in Italy, where even the prostitutes are beautiful and sophisticated. The movie is so good, so sure of itself, it could have been made in the 1970s.

d: Anton Corbijn | imdb.com | trailer

The Tillman Story (2010)

The documentary isn’t just about the death of Pat Tillman, the former NFL player who was killed by friendly fire in Iraq, and the ensuing cover-up by the U.S. government. It’s also about how the surviving Tillman family kept fighting for the truth.

d: Amir Bar-Lev | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose