We did it last year and now its time again. With awards season gearing up, here at TFS we have come up with 20 of our favorite films of the year. For all the naysayers saying the year has been disappointing, I challenge anyone to watch the following and stand by that statement. These are films that have had at least a limited US release in 2010. No order, just 20 films that are more than worth your time. Check them out below and let us know what you’ve enjoyed the most this year. Read the full story

Congrats to Disney/Pixar as well as Lee Unkrich. Toy Story 3 has officially topped Paramount/DreamWorks’ Shrek 2 to become the single highest grossing animated film ever. [THR] Read the full story

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Heavily advertised animated film Despicable Me reaped the benefits of its campaign with a respectable opening weekend. It earned just over $60 million dollars, limiting The Twilight Saga: Eclipse to only one week in the top spot. The latter earned $33 million in its second weekend, bringing it to $237 million, making it the 10th fastest movie to $200 million. Read the full story

I am currently watching Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, which has more story than this weekend’s top two grossers combined, but that’s beside the point. The estimates for Independence Day Weekend (which I remind you may change), have The Twilight Saga: Eclipse earning $69 million over the weekend, totaling $161 million in its first five days. It opened with $68 million on Wednesday, the highest opening Wednesday total of all time.

The Last Airbender placed in a distant second, earning M. Night Shyamalan an undeserved $40 million, with a $57 million total (the film was release on Thursday).

Toy Story 3 took another $30 million in its third week for third place on the weekend. It has now brought Pixar an impressive $289 million.

Farther down the list, Cyrus faired well with a slightly wider release, finishing tenth, with only 77 theaters. It earned $770,000 in its third weekend.

Check out the top 10 (movie- weekend; total)

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Toy Story 3 held on to first place in a unique battle of sentimental family flicks, holding off Grown Ups. In its second weekend, Pixar‘s trilogy entry brought in $59 million, justifying its $226.5 million domestic gross so far. The toys now hold the 7th-largest 10-day opening in box office history.

Adam Sandler continues to prove his comedic worth, no matter how low brow the comedy, as Grown Ups had an impressive opening weekend, earning $41 million in the runner-up position. It over-shot the other wide debut, the star-driven action comedy Knight & Day, which earned $20.5 million. Another sign that Hollywood movie stardom is losing its financial luster?

The Karate Kid continues to outperform The A-Team in the 4th and 5th spots, respectively. The former earned another $15 million, bringing its total to $135 million, while Hannibal and the boys are fizzling out quickly, with a small $6 million in its third weekend. It has now earned only $62.8 million, meaning that the plan didn’t quite…come together.

Check out the Top 10 Estimates (movie-weekend; total)

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In this episode of the The Film Stage podcast Jordan Raup and Dan Mecca review Lee Unkrich‘s Toy Story 3 and Jimmy Hayward‘s Jonah Hex. Read the full story

E-mail Jordan Raup here. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook for the latest TFS updates!

Pixar‘s third installment of the Toy Story franchise sprinted out of the gates Friday, earning $41 million, the 8th highest Friday gross of all time. It continued to perform through the weekend, earning an estimated total $109 million (which could increase dramatically depending on Fathers’ Day theater-goers). This is Pixar‘s highest opening weekend to date, ousting The Incredibles by nearly $40 million.

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Before we get to the actual news, if you haven’t seen Toy Story 3 yet, run to your nearest theater. It single-handily redeems this mediocre summer film season. It is an emotional, heart-pumping, vibrant, hilarious, dark, bittersweet finale that anyone in the world can enjoy, well except Armond White. I’ve never been so moved by an animated film and the more I replay it in my mind, the more it outdoes the rest of the excellent Pixar library. Now, for the real news. Read the full story

E-mail Jordan Raup here. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook for the latest TFS updates!

Warning: This review contains spoilers.

Toy Story 3 is like the end of a 15-year relationship. It’s a good friend you know the ins-and-outs of, and, just like that, he’s gone. It’s extremely ironic considering the film itself is all about morality. Every Toy Story stands for major obstacles in life as experienced through the eyes of a young boy’s (then young man’s) toys. This new and final chapter is no different. It’s a beautiful farewell.

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In the vein of their super bowl ad, Google has released a commercial featuring the (voices of) the characters of Toy Story 3. We normally don’t feature videos like this, but it is pretty well done and well worth a watch. Check out the TS3 video as well as the similar style Super Bowl ad below. Read the full story