One of my favorite non-starters for articles is the very bland “as you may know.” There’s no doubt in my mind that you’ve seen me use it in the past (I’m doing it again right now). So when I thought about how to begin this year’s top ten article, I wanted to begin by saying “as you may know, one of my great honors around here is to deliver my list of the ten best films of the year.” But you may not know how much of an honor that really is. In fact, it’s difficult for me to put into words how honored I feel to have anyone read this at all, let alone the scores of readers we see on a daily basis here at Film School Rejects. It’s safe to say that I speak for everyone here when I say that I am deeply honored by the opportunity just to write about film. You, the reader, offer that to us every day with your patronage. So my hope is that I can do you proud, dear reader, as I present my list of the ten best films of 2010. This year saw a great deal of personal turmoil for me, meaning some movie-watching blind spots. But some late-year scrambling has pushed my total films seen number well north of 200. And of those 200 or so eligible films, whittling it down to ten wasn’t quite as difficult as it’s been in recent years. Does that mean that [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

The title character in Barry Munday isn’t exactly the kind of character you’d picture when you think of actor Patrick Wilson. He is a giant man-child who has yet to grow up. A mostly failed womanizer, saddled with a dull work life, who fancies picking up girls at Chili’s and playing video games in his underwear. He’s much like you and me, but nothing like Patrick Wilson. Despite these not so flattering characteristics, Barry is likable. He’s that well-intentioned guy who’s not entirely self-aware who does perhaps more harm than good, and yet you still root for him in the end. So when he inpregnates a girl who’s not exactly his type, you buy him wanting to stick around to finally take responsibility and enter manhood. That’s what Barry Munday is about: Manhood. Wilson has played characters in the past that don’t exactly have the highest self-esteem or are the ideal heroes, but Barry is different. He’s not the typical protagonist and Wilson embraces that fact. After Hard Candy, Little Children, and Watchmen it’s surprising to see Wilson in this type of role, and that seemed to have been apart of the attraction to becoming Barry Munday for him. Here’s what Patrick Wilson had to say about emasculated men and Barry Munday.

Do you like genuinely funny movies that tell character stories in earnest as fuse humor and heart? Films that are not one-note, one-joke or one-testicled? Films that compliment rock solid acting with quality writing and a filmmaker intent on telling you a multi-dimensional story, even if that story is about a less than likable guy who gets his balls whacked off by an angry father with a trumpet? Good, because so do I. Enter Barry Munday, the directorial debut of Chris D’Arienzo, a director you should keep an eye on. Especially if you like the aforementioned quality films, namely those that will give you laughter. As I mentioned in my review from SXSW, this one’s well stocked with two wonderfully charismatic leads — Patrick Wilson and Judy Greer — and plenty of meticulously placed supporting players — the likes of Malcolm McDowell, Chloe Sevigny, Christopher McDonald, Billy Dee Williams and Kyle Gass, as seen delivering an uncomfortable moment in the trailer. It’s one of the few movies I’ve seen this year that I’d insist you see. At the very least, do me a favor and watch the trailer after the jump.

As is the case every year at this time, we need to wrap things up. Much to our dismay, SXSW cannot go on forever. And while reviews will continue to post in the next week as we get caught up on screeners and anything we haven’t written up from the actual fest, we’re confident that we can present you with our picks for the 15 Best Films of SXSW 2010.

Barry Munday was the first film I saw for SXSW, and it could have only been one of my favorite films of the festival for maybe another day or so. However, we are now on our seventh day of coverage for the fest…and Barry Munday is still one of my favorites.

Starring in my SXSW sweetheart, Barry Munday, is the very funny and gorgeous Judy Greer. Judy plays Ginger Farley, a recently impregnated woman who seeks paternity from her one night stand, Mr. Munday. See what she had to say about things and stuff..

Patrick Wilson has shown himself to be a hot commodity in Hollywood. Starting on stage and making a strong move into feature films, Wilson can claim ownership to two of my favorite performances in his roles in both Hard Candy and Watchmen. We sat down with him though, to speak about his newest and hilarious endeavor into comedy, Barry Munday.

This week, on a very special episode of Reject Radio, Brian Gibson and I break down what’s hot and what’s sweaty here at South By Southwest.

With an energetic opening that signals an upbeat and well-soundtracked tone, Barry Munday introduces us to its title character, played by Patrick Wilson. He’s a guy you’ve met before, around the office (if you’ve ever worked in one). The guy who hits on every woman in site, spends most of his lunchtimes alone and is constantly making imbecilic, inappropriate remarks. You may know him as a tool.

Today, we’re looking forward to a lot of the narrative competition films and a few cool spotlight premieres. It’s the fattest day of screening here at SXSW, so gird your loins — it’s about to get messy.

Just this morning I was watching the trailer for Chris D’Arienzo’s comedy Barry Munday on the YouTube, and it had me wondering if I should share it with you as part of our SXSW preview today. Then an email came in with not only the trailer, but a gallery of images and an official synopsis from the fine folks handling the film’s publicity. It was destiny, leaving me no choice but to share it with all of you.