My Top 10 Movie List of 2010

2010 wasn't the best year for movies in my opinion. Tons of movies were released but not many that jump out as potential "Top 100 movie of all time" list makers.  This gave me a good reason to stick with my initial plan which I made a few years ago in catching up on past movies that I never watched for one reason or another when they came out in theaters..

As you watch 120 movies over the course of a year, themes and plots tend to blend together.  You start to notice the same group of actors and actresses in the same movies spanning all sorts of different genres.  Ironically, this super-saturation of movie elements makes the task of creating a top movie list amidst the cloud of movie mediocrity relatively easy as the creme of the crop effortlessly floats to the top.  So here is my top list.  My entire list is here if you want to check it out. 

My Top 10 (In no particular order)

Old Boy
Blow
Touching The Void
Downfall
2009: Lost Memories
11:14
Moon
Good Night, Good Luck
The Hurt Locker
Toy Story 3

Honorable Mentions:

The Ghost Writer
3:10 to Yuma
Barton Fink
Social Network
Tron 2
Following
Iron Man 2

Top Documentaries

I.O.U.S.A.
Most Dangerous Man in America
Control Room
RUSH: Beyond the Lighted Stage
Casino Jack and the United States of Money

Movies That Had Potential but Fell Way Short

Echelon Conspiracy
The Lovely Bones
The Other Guys
Boondock Saints 2
Shooter
Invictus
A Serious Man

2010 Movie List: 120 Total

For the second year in a row, I have eclipsed 100 movies. Last year was a with a month to go.  Here is the list in no particular order. Movies in BOLD PRINT are my favorites. Click here for LAST YEAR'S LIST

My Top 10 List comes out Wednesday along with the movies that should have been better but came up way short. 

The Insider
Deadman
Ed Wood
Brazil
Jacobs Ladder
Sherlock Holmes
Up in the Air
Public Enemies
Quiz Show
The Informant!

Inglorious Basterds
Moon
The Hurt Locker
Heist
Network
A Serious Man
The Conversation
The Lovely Bones
Ground Hog Day
An Education

The Verdict
Crazyheart
The Blind Side
Zodiac
Man on Wire
Invictus
Mulholland Drive
Silent Running
Cloverfield
The Road

Following
Traffic
Trainspotting
Ironman 2
Wartapes
Taxi to the Darkside
Serenity
Precious
Trinity and Beyond
The Mosquito Coast

Downfall
The Messenger
Donnie Brasco
The Godfather
Solaris
Casino
The War Room
RUSH: Beyond the Lighted Stage
The Watchmen
America: The Story of Us (Ep. 1-3)

America: The Story of Us (Ep. 4-6)
Fargo
Grizzly Man
The Usual suspects
Boiler Room
The A-Team
The Butterfly Effect
Good Night, Good Luck
Hot Tub Time Machine
Fight Club

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
The Cruise
Moon 44
Echelon Conspiracy
11:14
Puzzlehead
Collapse
Rabbit Proof Fence
I am Legend
Fail-Safe

Flight 93
The Machinist
Dune
Shooter
Videodrome
Darkened Room
Shattered Glass
Touching the Void
Control Room
Windtalkers

Owl - Legend of the Guardians
The Mist
The Peacemaker
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Shutter Island
Babylon A.D.
The Killing Fields
Manhunter
The Score
Ken Burns: 10th Inning

Wordplay
Oldboy
The Expendables
Barton Fink
3:10 to Yuma
Capricorn One
Three Days of the Condor
The Social Network
The American
2009: Lost Memories

Blow
Raising Arizona
Pitch Black
Outland
Living in Oblivion
Toy Story 3
Enemy Mine
For All Mankind
Strange Days
Red

Straw Dogs
Comic Book Confidential
The Ghost Writer
Boondock Saints 2
Casino Jack: The United States of Money
The Most Dangerous Man in America
I.O.U.S.A.
The Town
Tron 2
The Other Guys

More Than 600 Snow Records Last 7 Days

Image courtesy: hamweather.com

The Best Winter Timelapse EVER!

This was taken by Michael Black. whose videos/timelapse photography has been featured on television many times.  This video was taken over 20 hours with a picture taken every 5 minutes.  ENJOY!

December 2010 Blizzard Timelapse from Michael Black on Vimeo.

Super Large Solar Flare - Changing Climate?

A few weeks back, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory scheduled to observe the sun for the next years while in orbit around the earth took this video of a solar flare emanating from the sun.  It takes a second or two to load.



I took a snapshot of one of the frames and drew the earth to scale so that you can the see the incredible size of this flare. Roughly 435,000 miles!

Many scientists believe that we are coming out of a period of low solar activity and trending into a period of more solar flares.  Some also believe that this increase in solar activity has a direct impact on our climate.  Some believe that the solar activity has very little effect on our global climate.  Only time will tell. 

Total Lunar Eclipse/Winter Solstice

A Total Lunar Eclipse on the Winter Solstice.  Doesn't happen very often.

Credit: Space.com

A lunar eclipse occurs when the earth's shadow passes in front of the moon obscuring the sun's light from hitting the moon directly.  Some does get through producing a reddish/rusty color from our perspective on earth.

Add in this event occurring on the winter solstice and it becomes very rare.  The last time it happened was in 1638.  Beyond this date, we really don't know for sure because the earth's rotation changes over time.  The further we go back, the actual lunar eclipse dates become less accurate.  Still, almost 400 years is a really long time.

Most articles list 2094 as the next total lunar eclipse date on a winter solstice.  But this one will only be visible in Europe and Asia.  So I checked the lunar tables on the NASA ECLIPSE SITE and came up with this date for all of us in Cleveland.

DECEMBER 21, 2466, starts at 7:19 PM

Here is the chart if you want to check the date out.  Its at the bottom in red.

 

Indeed a long way off so get ready early!

Round #2: Lake Effect And the Arctic

How the patterns have changed.  November was great.  No winter weather.  Milder temps.  Now another big round of lake effect snow; the second one in a little over a week!

CLICK HERE FOR NE OHIO RADAR

 Why the big change?


Let check out the temps compared to normal for November.  Fairly mild and uneventful.

 Most of us thought we'd make it well into December without getting lake effect.  We thought wrong!

Why the sudden change?

If you remember our winter weather outlook back in early November, we hinted at a HUGE dramatic change in the weather pattern in December and January driven by La Nina and the Arctic.

The pressure systems over the arctic change randomly. In the winter, those changes are more pronounced.

Below is a picture of how the temperatures over the arctic change the movement of the storms over the US and northeastern Ohio.  When the arctic is "NEGATIVE", it steers storms and cold air south just like our weather over the last week.

The arctic has "dipped" negative several times since September but no big weather changed occurred. 

This last "dip" in December is significant. Notice the temperatures so far compared to average.

The arctic has the potential to get more "negative" pushing COLDER AND COLDER AIR SOUTH through Christmas and the New Year.

Looking back at the DECEMBERS (17 Decembers total since 1950) in which the arctic was this strong this early in the season, we find that the temperatures are WELL BELOW NORMAL.

THE BOTTOM LINE:  LOOK FOR THIS COLD AIR AND FREQUENT LAKE EFFECT SNOW TO CONTINUE AT LEAST THROUGH CHRISTMAS AND POSSIBLY INTO EARLY JANUARY

Sunday Storm Update - Thursday morning, Dec 9th

 Sunday's storm appears to take a northerly track--at the time of this writing, Thursday morning.  If this track is accurate, we get a rain/snow mix and less accumulating snow

 

I can guarantee super-arctic air Monday and Tuesday with big lake effect snow!

 

HUGE East Coast Snowstorm this weekend!

Snow totals as of Tuesday at 10:30AM from the National Weather Service in Cleveland. This covers 2 days of lake effect snow. Click on image below for larger look.

A major east coast snowstorm seems to be developing Sunday into Monday this weekend.  As temperatures warm into the mid 30s Saturday, the snow will be a heavier, wet snow compared to the fluffy, lake effect snow of the last several days. Get ready for ANOTHER ROUND of LAKE EFFECT MONDAY NEXT WEEK!

First of Many Arctic Cold Intrusions...Lake Effect Snow

The first lake effect snow event is here and its staying over Northeastern Ohio until early Wednesday.

Here is a photo my mom took in Hudson early Monday morning.

Winds out of the northwest is pulling moisture from Lake Erie, Lake Huron AND Lake Michigan producing widespread lake effect snow across Cleveland and northern Ohio.

Lake effect snow warnings for MEDINA, CUYAHOGA, SUMMIT, PORTAGE AND THE ENTIRE SNOWBELT until late Tuesday.

As we talked about in a previous post, cold air like this will be very common in December.  Here are the forecast temperatures for Tuesday and next Monday.  Notice it gets COLDER next week. EXPECT THIS COLD AIR TO CONTINUE THROUGH CHRISTMAS.