You could try using the REST/oData web services to access the list items, features such as filter are part of the REST/oData protocol.
You can filter items and pagination directly from the url for example:
/Products?$filter=ID lt 4
OData sample on code project
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/393623/OData-Services/
To access Rest/oData service in SharePoint 2010 use _vti_bin
/MySite/MySubSite/_vti_bin/listdata.svc/ExternalList
Here are some article and blogs on odata with windows application:
http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/54db21/insert-data-from-sharepoint-list-using-odata-service/
http://www.orbitone.com/en/blog/archive/2010/06/09/odata-and-wcf-data-services.aspx
If REST/odata is not turn automatically and you may need to install an small patch.