The Movies I Saw in 2012

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Jan 022013
 

As regular readers know, I keep a list of all of the movies I see each year.  For the second year in a row I saw more feature films (160) than I had in the previous year (155), setting a new benchmark.  

I’m planning on putting together my “Best Of” list in a few days.  As per my recent policy, I’m basing the list on movies I saw in 2012 (as opposed to waiting until The Oscars).  This means I’m missing some movies that came out in late 2012 (I still haven’t seen Django Unchained for instance).  Oh well…  All of the data porno is after the jump

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2011 Films in Review

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Feb 042012
 

Here is my review of the films I which saw in 2011.  In a change from the past few years, this does NOT include movies released in 2011 which I saw in 2012.  Which is why The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo doesn’t feature prominently on this list.  I know that I am missing some great movies by adopting this strategy.  Furthermore, movies that were on last year’s “Best Of” list should also be included on this year’s list (using the new rules) but I decided to omit them than recognize them twice.

While I wouldn’t say that 2011 was a bad year for movies, it wasn’t particularly special.  Maybe I just chose poorly…  Where in years past I would have to whittle down my list of ‘best’ films, this year it felt like work to simply come up with 10.  It’s not that there is an abundance of lowlights, but there weren’t many highlights.

 

The Movies I Saw in 2011

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Jan 022012
 

As regular readers know, I keep a list of all of the movies I see each year.  I saw more movies this year (160) than each of the past two (147)..  I did include a handful of shorts on the list this year, though.  This was also the first year I kept track of the date on which I saw each movie, which will allow me to see trends in years moving forward.

My “Best of 2011″ list will hopefully be done in the next few days.  Unlike the past few years, I’ve decided to do the list now instead of waiting until the Oscars.  I found waiting to actually be more stressful, for some reason.  Anyway, all the gory details are after the jump…

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2010 Films in Review

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Jun 152011
 
Even later than last year!
  • Top 10 Films of 2010 (in Alphabetical Order):
    • The Fighter
    • Inception
    • Jackass 3D
    • Kick-ass
    • The King’s Speech
    • Micmacs
    • Perrier’s Bounty
    • The Social Network
    • True Grit
    • Winter’s Bone
  • Bottom 6 films of 2010:
    • Clash of the Titans
    • The Human Centipede (First Sequence)
    • A Nightmare on Elm Street
    • Predators
    • Salt
    • Splice
  • Best Remake/Reworking: The Crazies
  • Most Unnecessary Remake/Reworking: A Nightmare on Elm Street
  • Best Director: Christopher Nolan for Inception
  • Best Actress: Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit
  • Best Actor: Colin Firth in The King’s Speech
  • Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo in The Fighter
  • Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale n The Fighter
    • Honorable mention for John Hawkes in Winter’s Bone
  • Best Ensemble: Jackass 3D
  • Best Original Screenplay: Inception
  • Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network
  • Best Cinematography: Inception
  • Best Soundtrack: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
  • Best Score: Inception
  • Most Alarming Cinematic Trend: Second Year for both 3D and Fake IMAX
  • Most Memorable Lines:
    • Hot Tub Time Machine
      • Lou: Here’s a question. Was it morally wrong for me to exploit my knowledge of the future for personal financial gain? Perhaps. Here’s another question. Do I give a fuck?
    • Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
      • Stacey Pilgrim: I mean, did you really see a future with this girl?
      • Scott Pilgrim: Like… with jetpacks?
    • Kick-Ass
      • Big Daddy: Good job. I’m so proud of you, baby doll. Are you okay?
      • Hit Girl: Mhmm… but getting shot, Daddy… it hurt a lot more than when you did it.
      • Big Daddy: That’s because I used low velocity rounds, child… he… he…
      • Hit Girl: You’re the kindest Daddy in the whole world.
      • Big Daddy: No, I just… I love you…
      • Hit Girl: I love you, too, Daddy… I love you, too, Daddy. Sleep tight.
    • Jackass 3D
      • Steve-O: How many stings do you think we can take?
      • Manny Puig: I think it takes about 100 to kill a man.
      • Dave England: Are you serious? Did you just make that number up? There’s 50,000 bees and it takes 100 to kill a man?
      • Manny Puig: I think it takes 100.
      • Loomis Fall: Then what are we doing here?
      • Manny Puig: Making a hit movie.
  • Best Documentary: Exit Through the Gift Shop
  • Guilty Pleasures:
    • MacGruber
    • Tron: Legacy
  • Films I feel guilty for missing:
    • OSS 117: Lost in Rio
  • Films I don’t feel guilty for missing:
    • Edge of Darkness
    • Repo Men
    • Babies
    • Robin Hood
    • The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

My Movies of 2010

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Jan 092011
 

Here’s the list of movies I saw in 2010…  I saw 147 movies this year, exactly as many as the year before.  As I have done the past few years, my “Best of 2010″ list will probably come closer to the Academy Awards, so I have the opportunity to see some of the well-regarded films of the year that I missed.

As I mentioned last year, in 2010 I gathered more data about the movies I see.  I also decided to no longer split up the list between “Theater” and “Home”, as the distinction doesn’t mean much to me anymore.  I did, however, gather statistics about how I watched a film, which you can view after the split:

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2009 Films in Review

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Apr 112010
 
Better late than never, right?
 

The Movies I Saw in 2009

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Jan 022010
 

Here’s the list of movies I saw in 2009…  I saw 147 movies this year, which is just about where I was the year before.  I think the number of films I can see in a year given all of my other interests and responsibilities is right in the neighborhood of 150.  I haven’t really sat down and thought about my "best of" list yet, as I usually take January to try and catch up on acclaimed movies I missed, but my gut tells me it was a pretty good year for movies.   

I think in 2010 I’m going to keep more data about the movies I view, but I also think I may eliminate my distinction between "Theatre" and "Video" in the list I actually publish next year.  We’ll see.

The list is mostly in the order I viewed them, and I tried to italicize any films I had already seen.

IFF Boston 2009

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Apr 242009
 

While I missed the opening night festivities on Wednesday evening, choosing to go to the Sox game instead, last night the Independent Film Festival of Boston 2009 began for me.  Last year’s festival I set the goal of writing reviews of all 15 films I saw in the fest, but crapped out after 6 reviews.   This year, I’m trying to set a much more modest goal for myself:  Write a 140 character review on Twitter for each of the films I see this year.  I’ve already posted my first two mini-reviews last night over there, and will hopefully do better than I did last year with the bar set so low.

My current plan is to revisit some of my favorite films after the end of the festival with more in-depth discussions, but we’ll see how that plan turns out.

Also, if you’re interested in joining me for some of the films I’m seeing, here’s an iCal feed of the movies I’m planning on seeing.  There are descriptions, links, times, and locations in there.

2008 Films in Review

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Feb 212009
 

Another great year for film..  Trying to pick my favorites this year might have even been harder than in 2007.  

To reinforce my tradition of not placing importance of one film over another in each category, I decided to alphabetize the lists this year.  

The Movies I Saw in 2008

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Jan 022009
 

Here’s the list of the movies I saw in 2008…  I was a little lazier about keeping this list up to date this year, so it’s possible I missed one or two movies.   I saw 150 movies this year, which is a handful less than last year, but still fairly ridiculous.  This year was very polarized, with some completely amazing movies and some complete stinkers.  I’m going to wait a few weeks (until before the Oscar ceremony) to compile my "Best Of 2008" list, which should hopefully give me some time to catch up on some of the ones I missed this year.

Also, I am coming to the point, with my HDTV and surround sound system, that the distinction between "Theatre" and "Video" viewing is becoming rather academic.  I do still prefer to watch movies in the "art house" theaters in Boston, because the audiences are usually quite respectful.  But the downsides of going to one of the multiplexes easily match (and probably surpass) any downsides of watching a movie in your living room.  So it’s possible in the future I may not keep track of the distinction, but I haven’t decided yet.

The list is mostly in the order I viewed them, and I tried to italicize any films I had already seen.

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