David Vaughn

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/theint.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT><i>Interpol agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) is determined to expose an arms-dealing ring responsible for facilitating acts of terrorism around the globe. But as his investigation leads Salinger and his partner, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts), deeper into the secret world of greed, corruption, and murder, they become targets of a deadly conspiracy so vast, they soon find the only people left to trust are each other.</i>

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/redoctober.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Jack Ryan is the central character in 12 of Tom Clancy's novels about the CIA analyst. When the debut book, <i>The Hunt for Red October</i>, hit the silver screen in 1990, a relatively unknown actor, Alec Baldwin, starred as Ryan in what was to become the first of many adaptations from the successful literary series. But a combination of factors&#151;a new studio head at Paramount, some bad press about Baldwin and Kim Basinger on the set of <i>Marrying Man</i>, and the availability of superstar Harrison Ford, led to the replacement of Baldwin in <i>Patriot Games</i> and <i>Clear and Present Danger</i> with Ford in the lead role.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/kevinsmith.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Writer/director Kevin Smith made his feature-film debut in 1994 with the cult-classic comedy <i>Clerks</i>, a hilarious story about a pair of witty counter clerks in New Jersey starring Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson as the two main characters Dante and Randal. Also debuting in the film are Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith), who will show up in many more of Smith's productions.

After the death of his father and the scandalous abdication of his brother King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce), Bertie (Colin Firth), who has suffered from a debilitating speech impediment all of his life, is suddenly crowned King George VI of England. With his country on the brink of war and in desperate need of a leader, his wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), arranges for her husband to see an eccentric speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). After a rough start, the two delve into an unorthodox course of treatment and eventually forge a genuine friendship.

Taking home the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor (Firth), Best Director (Tom Hooper), and Best Original Screenplay (David Seidler), I had extremely high expectations of this film and they were mostly met. That being said, I don't think this was the best picture of 2010, my pick would be The Social Network, but I can see why the Academy chose this film due to the lavish sets, decadent costumes, and historically significant story.