As regular readers know, I keep a list of all of the movies I see each year. Breaking a trend, I saw fewer features (146) than I had in the previous year (160). I don’t really have any insight into this other than a strong suspicion that ~160 isn’t terribly sustainable for me. I never actually got around to writing my “Best Of” 2012 post… As you may remember, I decided to stop waiting until the Oscars and instead just judge the movies I saw in the calendar year. I may be backtracking on this for 2013. I haven’t made up my mind yet. This year, You’ll see some pretty graphs that I spent entirely too much time on. If you are interested in the technical guts of these graphs, look here. Luckily, all of the time I spent on writing the code for this year will make posting these graphs in the future a no-brainer. (I might even go back and spruce up the past few years with the new graphs). The graphs, as well as the list itself, are behind the jump below. Continue reading “The Movies I Saw in 2013” →

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 Continue reading “The Movies I Saw in 2012” →

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.

• Top 10 Films of 2011 (in Alphabetical Order):
  
  • Another Earth
  • Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey
  • El Bulli: Cooking in Progress
  • Incendies
  • Last Days Here
  • Moneyball
  • On The Ice
  • Shame
  • Take Shelter
  • The Guard
• Bottom 5 films of 2011 (in Alphabetical Order):
  • Bridesmaids
  • Hangover: Part II
  • Sucker Punch
  • Thor
  • Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon
• Best Director: Constance Marks and Philip Shane for Being Elmo
• Best Actress: Lubna Azabal in Incendies
• Best Actor: Michael Fassbender in Shame
• Best Supporting Actress: Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin in Incendies
• Best Supporting Actor: Shea Whigham in Take Shelter
• Best Inanimate Object: Robert in Rubber
• Best Original Screenplay: Brit Marling and Mike Cahill for Another Earth
• Best Adapted Screenplay: Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin for Moneyball
• Best Cinematography: El Bulli: Cooking in Progress
• Most Alarming Cinematic Trend: Once again, 3D and Fake IMAX.
• Most Memorable Lines:
  • Moneyball
    • Peter Brand: I wanted you to see these player evaluations that you asked me to do.
    • Billy Beane: I asked you to do three.
    • Peter Brand: Yeah.
    • Billy Beane: To evaluate three players.
    • Peter Brand: Yeah.
    • Billy Beane: How many you’d do?
    • Peter Brand: Forty-seven.
    • Billy Beane: Okay.
    • Peter Brand: Actually, fifty-one. I don’t know why I lied just then.
  • The Guard
    • Sergeant Gerry Boyle: Now I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, these men are armed and dangerous, and you being an FBI agent you’re more used to shooting at unarmed women and children…
    • FBI agent Wendell Everett: Oh, fuck you, Sergeant!
  • Rubber
    • Man in wheelchair: Excuse me, I hate to be a bother, but… the way I look at it, this scene makes no sense at all. Not that it was great to begin with, but at least I understood it. Now, this is just uh, totally confusing.
• Best Documentary: Last Days Here
• Guilty Pleasures:
  • A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas
  • Red State
  • Hobo with a Shotgun
  • Rubber
• Films I feel guilty for missing:
  • 50/50
  • My Week with Marilyn
  • Drive
  • Beginners
  • Martha Marcy May Marlene
• Films I don’t feel guilty for missing:
  • Midnight in Paris
  • War Horse
  • The Help

 

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… Continue reading “The Movies I Saw in 2011” →

• 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

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: Continue reading “My Movies of 2010” →

• Top 10 Films of 2009 (in Alphabetical Order):
  
  • Avatar
    
  • District 9
    
  • In The Loop
    
  • Inglourious Basterds
    
  • It Might Get Loud
    
  • Star Trek
    
  • The Escapist
    
  • The Hurt Locker
    
  • Where The Wild Things Are
    
  • World’s Greatest Dad
    
• Bottom 4 films of 2009:
  
  • For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism
    
  • Pontypool
    
  • Terminator Salvation
    
  • The Burning Plain
    
• Best Remake/Reworking: Star Trek
  
• Most Unnecessary Remake/Reworking: Friday the 13th (2009)
  
• Best Director: James Cameron in Avatar (Not the best movie of the year, but the direction was clearly tops)
  
• Best Actress: Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia
  
• Best Actor: Robin Williams in World’s Greatest Dad
  
• Best Supporting Actress: Mimi Kennedy in In The Loop
  
• Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds
  
• Best Ensemble: In The Loop
  
• Best Original Screenplay: The Hurt Locker
  
• Best Adapted Screenplay: In The Loop
  
• Best Cinematography: Avatar
  
• Best Soundtrack: Star Trek
  
• Most Alarming Cinematic Trend: 3D and Fake IMAX.
  
• Most Memorable Lines:
  
  • In The Loop
    
    • Malcolm Turner – Fuckity-bye-bye then
      
    • Malcolm Turner – Y’know, I’ve come across a lot of psychos, but none as fucking boring as you. You are a real boring fuck. Sorry, sorry, I knowyou disapprove of swearing so I’ll sort that out. You are a boring F, star, star, CUNT!
      
  • World’s Greatest Dad
    
    • Kyle: Bruce Hornsby’s a fag.
      
    • Lance Clayton: He’s got kids Kyle.
      
    • Kyle: You have a kid. And you’re a fag.
      
  • Star Trek
    
    • McCoy: Yeah. Well, I got nowhere else to go, the ex-wife took the whole damn planet in the divorce. All I got left is my bones.
      
• Best Documentary: It Might Get Loud – I now own a guitar and am taking lessons.
  
• Films I feel guilty for missing:
  
  • An Education
    
  • Up in the Air
    
  • A Single Man
    
  • A Prophet
    
• Films I don’t feel guilty for missing:
  
  • The Blind Side
    
  • The Last Station
    
  • Nine
    
  • Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
    

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.

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.  

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.

Continue reading “The Movies I Saw in 2008” →