Today the Director’s Guild of America announced its nominations for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in feature films 2010. As the DGA nominations are traditionally considered an indicator of who might end up with the Oscar in the same category, these nominations, and the winner, are watched pretty closely.

The nominations are :

Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
Christopher Nolan, Inception
David O. Russell, The Fighter

I’m a little surprised that the Coen brothers were not nominated for True Grit. They’ve won the award before three years ago, for No Country for Old Men, so I thought they may be nominated again this year. I would bet they were choice number six on the list and just didn’t make the cut. Besides, I think Fincher is a lock for this, and probably the Oscar as well, so it’s not such a bad thing.

The winner will be announced at the DGA’s annual awards dinner Jan. 29 at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland. Who do you think will win, and who do you want to win?

Indeed it is the time of year when inevitability the lists appear and people pick their favorites of 2010. Some have already done their lists and some, like me, like to wait a bit. That said and since I don’t want to be accused of not following trends, I will also be making a list (or two) of my picks of the best of 2010. However, in the interest of clarity and brevity (or neither), I’m going to pick my top 5 (or so) things in the main categories we cover here at The Flickcast.

Although, as our own John Carle covered the best of 2010 in games so well already, I won’t make much (if any) a list of those and will just mention my two favorites. In case you’re not familiar with those main categories we cover, they are as follows: Movies, TV, Comics, Games, Tech and all things Geek.

So, to that end, here’s my list (or lists really) of my picks of the top stuff of 2010.

Movies

Inception – I love smart movies and this one is pretty damn smart. Featuring great performances, a mind-bending plot and twists galore, director Christopher Nolan delivers with one entertaining ride I was talking about for weeks (and months) afterward. And with all the ways I can get distracted by other things, to still be taking about this movie now is a testament to just how great it is.

True Grit – I love Westerns and this one will go down as truly one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and the rest of the cast are superb and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld owns the screen. She is definitely one to watch. Plus, the Coen brothers have a genuine love and reverence for the classic Western conventions, even when they twist and turn them into new and even more compelling shapes.

The Social Network – When I first heard of this movie I was skeptical, as probably most were, about how interesting a movie about Facebook really could be. I had nothing to worry about. This brilliant film, directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, delivers on all levels and tells a compelling story of one of the most impressive success stories in history. Along the way it also shows us a little something about the nature of greed, friendship and the real cost of success.

Winter’s Bone - This tale of a real heroes journey to find out what happened to her father before the bank forecloses on her home resonated with me for quite some time after watching this film. Jennifer Lawrence as the young mother and John Hawkes as her meth-snorting uncle really deliver top performances. Part crime movie, part thriller and part coming-of-age-story this film’s stark realism takes you into a world you didn’t know existed and holds you there until the lights come up.

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There have been some pretty big hits in the box office this year, and some expected whales, but overall this has been a great year for the worldwide box office, and here’s the proof you need. From THR.

10. Clash of the Titans, $493.2 million worldwide
9. How to Train Your Dragon, $494.9 worldwide
8. Despicable Me, $539.9 million
7. Iron Man 2, $582.2 million
6. Twilight Saga: Eclipse, $693.5 million
5. Shrek Forever After: $739.8 million
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1. $824.1
3. Inception, $825.4
2. Alice in Wonderland, $1 billion
1. Toy Story 3, $1.1 billion

There are a few genuine good films on the list, like Iron Man 2 and Inception. Some big surprises, considering how bad the reviews were for films like Shrek Forever After, Clash of the Titans, and Alice in Wonderland. And even a few expectations like Twilight, Harry Potter, and How to Train Your Dragon.

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As we approach the end of 2010, we will naturally see list start to appear. List of best movies, best TV shows, best video games, best gadgets and tech and a whole lot more. In fact, you’ll see a few lists from us pretty soon too. It’s just how this end-of-the-year thing works these days.

Until we start to roll out our own lists, we have one for you to kick things off. This one comes from the American Film Institute and highlight their picks of the best Movies and TV programs for 2010. When you read over their selections, most of them pretty much make sense.

Most of the films and most of the TV programs listed here are among our favorites as well and all are of a high quality. Of course, on every list there’s always some items that don’t seem to belong. However, we won’t disparage the AFI’s list, we will just counter with a list of our own (or three) soon.

Here are AFI’s picks:

Movies

• BLACK SWAN
• THE FIGHTER
• INCEPTION
• THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
• 127 HOURS
• THE SOCIAL NETWORK
• THE TOWN
• TOY STORY 3
• TRUE GRIT
• WINTER’S BONE

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If you’re like the rest of the nerds around The Flickcast office, then you took your 30 minute lunchbreak on Tuesday to run out and grab Inception on Blu-Ray so you can relive all of Chris Nolan’s dreamworld madness. Of course, with the instant (and legal) accessibility of the film, come the bad ass fan edits.

We haven’t seen any cool Inception lightsaber fan edits like we have for Princess Bride, but there is one video that’s been floating around the Internets that needs to be shared as much as possible. Youtube user Weikang had the great idea (and was the first) to edit all of the dream worlds side by side at once, showing how they all played together.

Mind you, some worlds run faster than others because they are dreams inside of dreams (doesn’t sound as cool when you explain it, sorry Nolan). Check out the cool fan video after the jump.

Expect to see plenty more Inception fan films hit the web as more and more folks re-watch the psychological action flick over and over again. At least we hope so.

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Ever since The Dark Knight was released, rumors have been circulating about the cast of the unnamed Batman 3 project. From Johnny Depp as The Riddler to Phillip Seymour Hoffman as The Penguin, fanboys and film lovers alike have been speculating endlessly about who would take up the mantle as Nolan’s next villian, especially after Heath Ledger’s fantastic performance as The Joker.

While nothing’s confirmed yet and Batman 3 is still very much in the preliminary stages, Ain’t It Cool News has reported that Tom Hardy will play a “lead role” in the next chapter of Nolan’s Batman trilogy.

This news is pretty plausible, because Nolan is known for working with the same cast members over and over again. Hardy is no stranger to Nolan’s films, having played the part of Eames in this summer’s sci-fi thriller Inception. While it’s a little soon to speculate, many are hoping that Hardy has been cast to play Edward Nigma, aka The Riddler, but at this point he really could be playing any part, villain or hero.

You can be sure that if this and any other rumors for Batman 3 are confirmed, you’ll hear about it right here  because we’re honestly just as excited for this movie as you are.

Welcome to this week’s On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage this week. Let is know if we missed something interesting. Otherwise, on to the links!

• Though it may not really have a reason to visit, the Green Lantern film site has gone live.

• In an effort to bring you some of the best trailer mash-ups of the week, here’s a brief rundown:

• Tron abides. The TRON Lebowski

• Three’s Company meets The Shining

• A joke? Sure, probably in there somewhere. Pee Wee meets The Hulk

• I vote for the one that takes place in space. Star Trek Vs. Star Wars: The Trailer

• You have to go deeper. Inception 1950′s Trailer

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And now for the bad news: it’s only coming to the U.K. Wah! I hear you say, but that’s what www.amazon.co.uk is for, right? And did you know that blu-rays are region-free? See where I’m going with this? Let’s take a look at what Warner Brothers is including with the limited edition ‘Inception’ release, shall we?

The limited edition blu-ray comes contained within a smashing stainless steel mini-briefcase, but also includes: a PASIV (Portable Automated Somnacin IntraVenous) Device User Manual, a series of Movie art-cards, an Inception Spinning Top (Cobb’s token in the flick) and last but not least, a disc of Special Features. I should mention too, that the limited edition includes a ‘triple-play’ edition, which includes a  Blu-ray, DVD & Digital Copy of the film.

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Welcome to this week’s On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage this week. Let is know if we missed something interesting. Otherwise, on to the links!

• Supercut: If I Told You, I’d Have to Kill You.

• National Lampoon’s Christmas Inception.

• LIST: 8 of the dirtiest Sexual Innuendos in children’s cartoons.

• Batman robs a Taco Bell.

• HBO cutting out the vampire middle-man (or woman) and making a show about porn.

• Chelsea Handler to host the MTV VMA’s. General MTV-watching public’s response: Who?

• The new promo for Dexter is pretty terrible, and we haven’t even seen the show.

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Well, Stallone and company have still got it. Score one for the aging action geezers, they dominated the box office with over $35 Million for the weekend. Expendables, a testosterone laden action movie, was a big hit with men, particularly those who grew up seeing members of the cast in iconic 80′s action movies.

Most people I know who saw it admitted that it was not a great movie, but thought that it delivered exactly what one would expect-lots of senseless action.  That is more than can be said for the priv-lit drama Eat Pray Love.

As you read in our review here on The Flickcast, the movie failed to capture what many women fell in love with from the book.  The inner turmoil of the protagonist was glossed over, disappointing fans of the book.  Still, Eat Pray Love, starring Julia Roberts managed to make  $23.7 Million.  This is the best opening Julia Roberts has had since 2001, when she co-starred in America’s Sweethearts, with Catherine Zeta Jones and John Cusack.

Sadly, Scott Pilgrim vs The World (one of my favorite films of 2010) didn’t fare very well at all. The film placed fifth, and only made $10.5 Million, far below expectations.  This is very similar to what happened with Kick Ass back in April.

Kick Ass was widely anticipated in film circles, hailed by critics and fanboys  alike as a great, original  movie, yet it failed to muster much at the box office.  Kick-Ass debuted to $19 million its opening weekend, shocking prognosticators.  After its entire run, the film only made $48 Million domestically.

Now, we have a film that has gotten even better reviews (as of this writing, it has an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes), and has had most  industry insiders cheering for its success, yet it barely registers in the top five for the weekend.  *Sigh*

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Welcome to this week’s On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage this week. Let is know if we missed something interesting. Otherwise, on to the links!

• Think seven Saw films are enough? The filmmakers think you are WRONG!

• Star Wars: Episode One candy? Your taste buds can’t repel flavor of this magnitude. Or can they when Jar Jar is involved?

• Don’t understand Inception? Don’t worry, perhaps this Scrooge McDuck comic will help you.

• We can’t tell if the episode is going to be painful or hilarious, but this new image from Jusin Beiber’s appearance on CSI may say it all.

• It’s the 25th Anniversary of both Real Genius and Weird Science, so of course it begs the question “Who would win in a fight?”

• Tired of worrying if some stranger will take your seat because you got up for 5 seconds? These guys have you covered.

• Because we love lists almost as much as you do, here’s the 10 Songs That Movies Need To Stop Using.

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This week on The Flickcast Matt and Chris go a little off topic while discussing all kinds of new things. Some of these things include Deadpool directing rumors, new trailers for Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark and The Expendables, the intricacies of Christopher Nolan’s Inception and how people today have a serious case of self-entitlement.

They also made two more picks this week including Matt’s pick of the TV show Dream On and Chris’ pick of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Season 2.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook and MySpace or via email.