For our number three pick, spin the top to make sure you’re not dreaming. Did it fall over? Okay, good. Yes, we’ve chosen Inception as the number-three screenplay of 2010. This amazing, mind-bending blockbuster from Dark Knight helmer Christopher Nolan is also one of the five films to receive any first-place votes, and it’s not hard to see why. Inception is an extraordinarily difficult film, should it work at all. “It’s an action movie that takes place in a dream…and a dream within a dream…and a dream within a dream within a dream?” The concepts at play in Inception are kept somewhat vague (while we are told that the military requested technology to access people’s minds, we don’t know why or which military asked), but the world is completely believable. Nolan’s script is an original trailblazer, packed with memorable action and emotional character arcs.

Our number four pick is the answer to the following question: what is the best film trilogy ever? Okay, technically, the answer is the Toy Story trilogy, not just Toy Story 3. But you know what I mean. Toy Story 3, while not receiving any first-place votes, did very well in our voting, barely missing the number three spot. That the people at Pixar Animation Studios once again made a brilliant film is not shocking, but the emotional power of Toy Story 3 is one of the great surprises of 2010. The script has also been nominated for an Oscar — while it won’t win, the Academy is right to acknowledge the Pixar gift of crafting compelling, inventive, and rewarding stories. For number five, we take a right turn into the psychological drama, with Black Swan. This horror film set in the world of ballet features a bravura lead performance from Natalie Portman, and describes an insane world of duality (black and white, good and evil, love and hate) appropriately. Some love this, some hate it, but Black Swan is unforgettable one way or the other.

Everybody and their mother (especially the mothers) loves The King’s Speech. We only love it up to the number six slot for Best Screenplay. Written by David Seidler, The King’s Speech tells the story about how the King of England overcomes a stutter and makes a new friend. There’s no question that there’s a crowd-pleasing element here, and people have really thrilled to it. Seidler may well share the stage with Sorkin on Oscar night as the two writing champions of the year. Our number seven Best Screenplay is one of the underrated films of the year, Easy A. Emma Stone proves that she’s one of the smartest and funniest actresses in the business in a modern-day retelling of The Scarlet Letter. Stone is a perfect match for this film’s witty and knowing script. If you liked Mean Girls, Easy A is for you, filled with biting one-liners and knowing satire.

Rounding out our top ten are three very different films. In order from eight to ten, they are Winter’s Bone, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, and The Ghost Writer. Winter’s Bone is a true independent film, and has made its lead, Jennifer Lawrence, enough of a star that she’s about to be eaten alive by a new X-Men movie. The script helps build the palpable atmosphere of the Ozarks within the film; the script also creates some disturbing, creepy characters right out of the darkest film noirs. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, however, is an all-out sensory overload, even as it describes how the title character grows up just a bit when he falls in love with the girl of his dreams and fights off her evil ex-boyfriends. Funny, knowing, relatable, and surprisingly believable, Scott Pilgrim is the cult film of the year and it shouldn’t shock you that we loved it. The Ghost Writer is our number-ten pick. This thriller was, in many ways, return to form for director Roman Polanski, with Ewan McGregor playing a ghost-writer working on an autobiography for an embattled politico.

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