The is part of my continuing project to collect and publish all of my older film lists in one place. Check out the End-of-Year Lists menu at the top of the screen. There you can find links to all the lists I have published so far. I’ll continue adding more as I find them. Stay tuned!
Side note: In retrospect, I would now put Take Shelter clearly over the rest as my #1 film of the year. That movie has stuck with me far more than the others. Also the first Captain America movie would have made it into my top 10.
I have not seen nearly as many new movies this year as I have in the past. Every year this list seems to get smaller and smaller. I’m also gettting lazier in ranking them. I’ve got fewer and simpler categories, and everything is in alphabetical order except for the Top 10. (And even that has a 4-way tie for #1 – I just can’t decide!) All the films in this year’s middle category, “OK Movies,” actually are good movies that I would consider recommendable, except for one or two issues that irk me enough to lower them. I imagine these will be my most controversial choices; please feel free to tell me why I’m wrong, so I can explain to you why I’m not.
One more quick word: I always worry people will question why such a huge percentage of my opinions skew positive, especially in the face of so many bad movies in the theaters these days. I can answer that with one word: RESEARCH. Seriously, in this economy, with such high ticket prices, why take the risk of watching bad movies? Just a little time on the internet, and maybe just a dash of common sense, will tell you that maybe you can wait for Cars 2 to come out on DVD. That’s why, with few exceptions, I just don’t watch bad movies anymore. It’s just not worth it.
Top 10
-tie- The Artist
-tie- Midnight in Paris
-tie- Rise of the Planet of the Apes
-tie- Take Shelter
5. 50/50
6. Hugo
7. Rango
8. Hanna
9. Moneyball
10. Super 8
Good Movies
Bridesmaids
Captain America: The First Avenger
Contagion
The Descendants
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter 7.5
The Help
Paul
Source Code
Warrior
Win Win
X-Men: First Class
OK Movies
30 Minutes or Less
Beginners
The Green Hornet
Hobo with a Shotgun
The Ides of March
The Iron Lady
Martha Marcy May Marlene
The Muppets
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
The Tree of Life
Thor
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse
Bad Movies
Battle Los Angeles
Cowboys & Aliens
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Your Highness
The Screen Life 