It's back again and better than ever!
THE STANDOUTS (19) - This should go without saying, but these are all must-sees... yes, even the animated sequel, the comic book adaptation, the foreign-language films and the are-they-real-or-not documentaries!
The Social Network ***1/2
Kick-Ass ***1/2
Toy Story 3 ***1/2
Black Swan ***1/2
Blue Valentine ***1/2
The Fighter ***1/2
Catfish ***1/2
Mesrine (Part I: Killer Instinct and Part II: Public Enemy No. 1) ***
Never Let Me Go***
The Ghost Writer ***
Exit Through the Gift Shop ***
Biutiful ***
127 Hours ***
Rabbit Hole ***
The King's Speech ***
Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer ***
Mother ***
Winter's Bone ***
Carlos ***
THE GOOD (19) - You could argue with the lower half of this list but I think these movies represent quality filmmaking all-around.
The Kids Are All Right ***
The Town ***
Cyrus ***
Let Me In ***
Greenberg ***
Cell 211 ***
Green Zone ***
I Love You Phillip Morris ***
The Square ***
The Disappearance of Alice Creed ***
The American ***
The Next Three Days ***
I'm Still Here ***
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work ***
The Book of Eli ***
Conviction ***
Youth in Revolt ***
Middle Men ***
Louis C.K.: Hilarious ***
THE GOOD... BUT SHOULD'VE BEEN BETTERS (18) - Why weren't these movies better? I don't really know. But they should be. Hence, the name of this section.
Shutter Island ***
The Red Riding Trilogy (1974, 1980 and 1983) ***
True Grit ***
Barney's Version ***
The Company Men ***
Animal Kingdom ***
Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World ***
Splice ***
Tiny Furniture ***
Due Date **1/2
Easy A **1/2
Secretariat **1/2
Stone **1/2
Paranormal Activity 2 **1/2
7 Days **1/2
The Greatest **1/2
Winnebago Man **1/2
Raging Boll **1/2
THE GUILTY PLEASURES (23) - I just added a dozen movies to this part of the list when I realized that they were guilty pleasures. I shouldn't like them but I do, whether it's because I love crazy horror movies, or enjoy Tom Cruise when he's allowed to be charming, or like spending 90 minutes with Sandler, Spade and Salma Hayek's cleavage. Anyone could poke holes in my arguments but it wouldn't change the fact that I would still recommend all of these movies to my friends or anyone else looking to be entertained, if you consider something as creepy as The Poughkeepsie Tapes to be entertainment. Also, please note that just because these are "guilty pleasures," doesn't mean they're not great films. For the record, I loved Salt, Frozen and The Karate Kid. I only feel ashamed because the Internet tells me I'm supposed to.
Salt ***
I Spit On Your Grave ***
Frozen ***
The Karate Kid ***
All the Boys Love Mandy Lane ***
The Human Centipede ***
Jackass 3D ***
Machete ***
The Poughkeepsie Tapes ***
MacGruber ***
Grown Ups ***
Piranha 3D ***
Knight and Day **1/2
The Other Guys **1/2
Predators **1/2
Devil **1/2
The Crazies **1/2
Little Fockers **1/2
Hot Tub Time Machine **1/2
Takers **1/2
The Expendables **1/2
The Sorceror's Apprentice **1/2
Saw 3D **
THE UNDERWHELMING DISAPPOINTMENTS (29) - Chalk it up to expectations but these movies just didn't cut it. They were all missing something vital, from Inception's character development to Get Him to the Greek's third act, or from a threatening villain in Despicable Me to more Mel Gibson swearing in Edge of Darkness. I'm embarrassed to have Inception and Cop Out on the same section of this list but both were, to me, underwhelming disappointments. I mean, I still thought Inception was good, and perhaps it belongs atop the Good But Should've Been Betters, but going into it, I was expecting a capital-G Great movie, and it didn't deliver on this promise, IMHO. It probably deserves it's own WTF category, but that sounds too generous. BTW, my entire opinion on Inception is subject to change upon an upcoming second viewing.
Inception ***
Dogtooth **1/2
Enter the Void **1/2
Get Him to the Greek **1/2
Despicable Me **1/2
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo **1/2
The Way Back **1/2
Date Night **1/2
Iron Man 2 **1/2
The Losers **1/2
The Wolfman **1/2
Edge of Darkness **
All Good Things **
The Loved Ones **
The Girl Who Played With Fire **
Unstoppable **
It's Kind of a Funny Story **
44-Inch Chest **
Dinner for Schmucks **
Operation: Endgame (DVD) **
Cropsey **
Brooklyn's Finest **
Nowhere Boy **
Cop Out **
Case 39 (Delta) *1/2
Two Gates of Sleep (AFI) *1/2
Daybreakers *1/2
Defendor *1/2
Tell-Tale (DVD) *
THE BAD (10) - For better or worse, I just don't know what these movies were thinking. Just horrendous decisions at every turn. Johan Grimonprez's Double Take (an experimental film, mind you) was only 80 minutes, yet it was more grueling to sit through than the 146-minute estrogen marathon known as the Sex and the City sequel. Meanwhile, Tim Burton has officially lost his mind, Michael Winterbottom's movie was as schizophrenic as its two-faced protagonist, and I could tell within the first 30 seconds of Elm St.'s opening credits that the movie was going to be a completely vapid and utterly pointless remake. Hopefully, Platinum Dunes has learned something from the Elm St. nightmare and apply it to future remakes of movies that don't need to be remade. As for Buried, I admire the effort, but I thought Ryan Reynolds was way out of his element and ultimately, he wasn't able to make a torturous experience any less painful.
Tron: Legacy *1/2
Sex and the City 2 *1/2
City Island *1/2
The Killer Inside Me *
Repo Men *
Buried *
Double Take *
Alice in Wonderland *
Somewhere *
A Nightmare on Elm St. 1/2*
THE UNGRADEABLE (1) - I cannot, in good conscience, assign a star rating to A SERBIAN FILM. It is the most fucked up movie I have ever seen, and as such, cannot be graded on a traditional scale. If I was forced to rate it, it would be a lot closer to four stars than no stars. But like I said, a star rating wouldn't do this movie justice, and would serve no purpose, since it can't be compared to any other movie that I've ever seen, let alone any of the films on this year's list.
HAVE SCREENERS FOR (12): Howl (need to finish), Leaves of Grass (need to finish) Get Low, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Restrepo, The Tillman Story, Valhalla Rising, Centurion, Solomon Kane, Frankie & Alice, Hereafter, I Am Love
STILL HAVEN'T SEEN (1): Another Year
OOPS... I MISSED (17): The Secret in Their Eyes, The Last Exorcism, Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, Four Lions, Welcome to the Rileys, RED, Megamind, Fair Game, Inside Job, Monsters, Made in Dagenham, Casino Jack, The Tourist, How Do You Know, Love and Other Drugs, Morning Glory, Solitary Man
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