Choosing the year’s best movies…

Exactly one year ago today, I sat down in an effort to compile my personal list of the best movies of 2010, only to discover, to my horror, that I hadn’t seen nearly enough 2010 releases to come up with any kind of comprehensive list. Undaunted, I decided to spent the next month gorging myself on on 2010 movies via Netflix and borrowing DVDs from people. Ultimately, I managed to create such a list, although it wasn’t posted until February 1 of this year.

I’ve come to realize that, while there’s a natural urge to categorize things at the end of the year, I don’t get out to the movies nearly often enough. I used to — back in the day my pal Jason and I could knock out two or three movies in a weekend, but that was before I had a blog. These days, not so much. I’ve seen a total of 36 films with a 2011 release date, 10 of which would typically be disqualified from a list like this because they were either made for television or direct-to-DVD (although I would put things like All Star Superman and Phineas and Ferb: Across the Second Dimension right up there with the most entertaining films of the year, head-to-head with any movie that got to theaters).

If I had the sort of life that allowed me to take in most movies as they were released, it would be more logical of me to try to compile a list like this, but sadly, I’m not a professional reviewer, although I’ve often wished I was. In this day and age I see movies in the theater, typically, when it’s something I have a burning desire to see that won’t wait for DVD or on those rare occasions when I’m hanging out with friends and we need something to do, something that has happened less and less often thanks to the work and family obligations that seem to hold us all back these days.

So, like last year, I’m going to frontload my NetFlix queue with 2011 releases (now that so many of them are available), then come back in a month or so to let you know what I decided were my favorites of the year. In the meantime, here are the movies I’ve already seen, ranked by how much I enjoyed them. The first few shouldn’t surprise anybody…

 

1. The Muppets
2. Super 8
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
4. Captain America: The First Avenger
5. All-Star Superman (Direct-to-DVD)
   
6. Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension (TV Movie)
   
7. X-Men: First Class
8. Attack the Block
9. Thor
10. Batman: Year One (Direct-to-DVD)
    
11. Source Code
12. The Captains
13. Green Lantern
14. Cars 2
15. Scream 4
16. Still Screaming (Direct-to-DVD Documentary)
    
17. Good Luck Charlie: It’s Christmas (TV Movie)
    
18. The Hangover Part II
    
19. Limitless
20. Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (Direct-to-DVD)
    
21. Scream: The Inside Story (Direct-to-DVD Documentary)
    
22. Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown (Direct-to-DVD)
    
23. Contagion
24. Battle: Los Angeles
25. Tower Heist
26. Paul
27. Cowboys and Aliens
28. Miller’s Tale (TV Documentary)
    
29. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Ties
30. Quarantine 2: Terminal
31. Sucker Punch
32. Unknown
33. A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner (TV Movie)
    
34. Red Riding Hood
35. Your Highness
36. The Green Hornet
    

 

What I’m Watching: Super 8

This weekend, I caught Super 8 with the Showcase crew, and the general consensus is that it was a hell of a lot of fun. J.J. Abrams is really making a name for himself as the voice of cinematic sci-fi for this era. Like with last week’s X-Men: First Class, there are two ways to get my thoughts.

First, you can read my in-depth (but mostly spoiler-free) review at CXPulp.com.

Second, you can listen to the audio version, where I talk about the movie with the rest of the Showcase guys.

And those of you still waiting for an Other People’s Heroes update — it’s coming…

2 in 1 Showcase Episode 218: Summer Movie Preview

Blake and Kenny are back together this week to run down all the movies hitting your theaters in the summer of 2011! From the big comic summer of Thor, Green Lantern and Captain America to the latest Harry Potter and TransFormers, offerings for the kids, movies for the gals, indie stuff you’ve never heard of, and REMAKES! REMAKES! REMAKES! Lots of remakes in August, is what we’re sayin’. In the picks this week, Kenny goes with Justice League: Generation Lost #23 and Blake was into Doctor Who: A Fairytale Life #1. Contact us with comments, suggestions, or anything else at Showcase@CXPulp.com!

Music provided by Music Alley from Mevio.

Episode 218: Summer Movie Preview 2011

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What I’m Watching in 2011

Okay, we’re over a month into the year, it’s time for me to begin my running tally of movies I’ve watched in 2011. Those of you who see this list when it’s first posted will notice a definite trend towards 2010 films. If you’ve read this post, that makes a lot more sense. At any rate, this is where I’m keeping my annual running tally of the movies I see this year, and my quick rating of them. And if I review a movie at any of the many websites where I turn out such content, I’ll throw up a link.

1. How to Train Your Dragon (2010), B+
2. Infestation (2009), B+
3. Hot Tub Time Machine (2010), A
4. True Grit (2010), A+
5. Shutter Island (2010), B-
6. Robin Hood (2010), C
7. Easy A (2010), A-
8. Splice (2009), D-
9. Dinner For Schmucks (2010), B-
10. Buried (2010), B+
11. The Social Network (2010), A
12. Repo Men (2010), C
13. Logan’s Run (1976), B
14. Exam (2008), A
15. The Town (2010), A
16. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (2010), B
17. Fame (2009), B-
18. Back to the Future (1985), A+
19. Superman (1978), A+
20. Cop Out (2010), D
21. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (2010), C
22. All-Star Superman (2011), A
23. The Crucible (1996), A
24. Unknown (2011), C+
25. Legion (2010), C-
26. The Book of Eli (2010), C+
27. Mulholland Drive (2001), B
28. A Bug’s Life (1998), B
29. Battle: Los Angeles (2011), B
30. RED (2010), B+
31. Frozen (2010), B
32. Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown (2011), B+
33. A Beautiful Mind (2002), A
34. Machete (2010), D
35. Monsters (2010), C
36. Let Me In (2010), B
37. Limitless (2011), B+
38. Devil (2010), C+
39. 30 Days of Night: Dark Days (2010), C-
40. Scream (1996), A
41. Scream 2 (1997), B
42. Scream 3 (2000), B-
43. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), A+
44. Love and Other Drugs (2010), B+
45. Moon (2009), A
46. Fight Club (1999), B
47. Megamind (2010), B
48. Scream 4 (2011), B+
49. The Experiment (2010), B
50. It’s Kind of a Funny Story (2010), A-
51. The King’s Speech (2010), A
52. Lottery Ticket (2010), C
53. Mary Poppins (1964), A
54. Ghostbusters 2 (1989), B+
55. Wall•E (2008), A
56. The Other Guys (2010), D
57. Akira (1988), B
58. The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story (2009), A
59. The Phantom Tollbooth (1970), A
60. The Last Unicorn (1982), B+
61. Chicken Little (2005), B
62. The Fighter (2010), B
63. Saw: The Final Chapter (2010), B-
64. Memento (2000), A
65. The Untouchables (1987), A
66. Thor (2011), A
67. Firebreather (2010), B-
68. Bookwars (2000), B-
69. Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010), A
70. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), C
71. Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy) (2010), B+
72. Die Hard (1988), A
73. The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993), B+
74. The Princess Bride (1987), A+
75. Holes (2003), B+
76. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), B+
77. Skyline (2010), D
78. The Last Airbender (2010), C-
79. The Last Starfighter (1984), A
80. Duck Soup (1933), A+
81. The Hangover Part II (2011), B
82. Piranha (2010), C+
83. UHF (1989), B
84. Spaceballs (1987), B
85. The Golem: How He Came Into the World (1920), B+
86. Labyrinth (1986), A
87. The Green Hornet (2011), D+
88. Series 7: The Contenders (2001), B+
89. 127 Hours (2010), B+
90. Saludos Amigos (1942), B
91. The Three Caballeros (1944), B+
92. X-Men: First Class (2011), A-
93. The Last Man on Earth (1964), B
94. The Vampire’s Night Orgy (1973), F
95. Chloe (2009), B
96. Nosferatu (1922), A
97. The Virginity Hit (2010), B
98. The Color of Magic (2008), B
99. Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (2011), B+
100. Vanishing on 7th Street (2010), C+
101. Green Lantern: First Flight (2009), A-
102. Rubber (2010), C+
103. Walt and El Grupo (2008), B
104. Super 8 (2011), A
105. Big Fish (2003), A+
106. Black Death (2010), B
107. Battle Royale (2001), B+
108. The Faculty (1998), B-
109. Green Lantern (2011), B-
110. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010), B-
111. Synecdoche, New York (2008), C
112. The Phantom of the Opera (1925), A
113. Fright Night (1985), B
114. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), A
115. The Fugitive (1993), A
116. Cars (2006), B+
117. Cars 2 (2011), B+
118. After.Life (2009), C
119. Zapped! (1982), D
120. James and the Giant Peach (1996), B
121. Young Frankenstein (1974), A
122. The Addams Family (1991), B+
123. The Great Muppet Caper (1981), B
124. A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner (2011), D
125. Dracula (1931), B
126. Death Note (2006), B
127. Tales From the Script (2009), B+
128. Unthinkable (2010), B+
129. The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford (2007), A-
130. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001), B
131. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), B-
132. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), B+
133. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), B+
134. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2008), B-
135. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), B+
136. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2010), A
137. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011), A
138. Frankenstein (1931), A
139. The Mummy (1932), B
140. Be Kind, Rewind (2008), B
141. 25th Hour (2002), B
142. The Incredibles (2004), A+
143. Zodiac (2007), A
144. Rec (2007), B+
145. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), A
146. Miller’s Tale (2011), B+
147. Freaks (1932), B
148. Red Riding Hood (2011), D
149. Battle Royale II (2003), C
150. Cowboys and Aliens (2011), C+
151. Ernest Goes to Camp (1987), B
152. Ernest Goes to Jail (1990), C+
153. The Beginning of the End (1957), F; MST3K Riff, B
154. Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966), F; MST3K Riff, B+
155. Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension (2011), A-
156. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), A
157. Cat People (1942), B
158. Curse of the Cat People (1944), C-
159. Sucker Punch (2011), D
160. The Fly (1958), A
     
161. Peeping Tom (1960), B
162. Best Worst Movie (2009), A
163. Troll 2 (1990), F
164. Psycho (1960), A
165. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), A
166. Quarantine 2: Terminal (2011), B
167. Super (2010), B+
168. The Haunting (1963), B
169. Night of the Living Dead (1968), A
170. The Last House on the Left (1972), C-
171. Suicide Girls Must Die (2011), C-
172. Wait Until Dark (1967), A
173. The Exorcist (1973), A
174. Gamera (1965), C; MST3K Riff, A
175. Gamera Vs. Barugon (1966), D; MST3K Riff, B+
176. Gamera Vs. Gaos (1967), D; MST3K Riff, B
177. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), C+
178. Jaws (1975), A
179. Carrie (1976), B+
180. Suspiria (1977), D+
181. Gamera Vs. Guiron (1969), D; MST3K Riff, B+
182. Contagion (2011), C+
183. Halloween (1978), A
184. Alien (1979), A
185. The Shining (1980), C+
186. Friday the 13th (1980), B
187. The Evil Dead (1981), B+
188. The Thing (1982), A
189. Poltergeist (1982), B+
190. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), B
191. Return of the Living Dead (1985), C-
192. Misery (1990), A
193. Ringu (1998), B+
194. The Blair Witch Project (1999), B
195. Saw (2004), A
196. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949), B+
197. The Creeping Terror (1964), F; MST3K riff, B+
198. Mad Monster Party (1967), B
199. Zombiemania (2008), B
200. Tower Heist (2011), B-
201. Scream: The Inside Story (2011), B
202. Still Screaming (2011), A
203. Your Highness (2011), D
204. Repo: The Genetic Opera (2008), B-
205. The Cannonball Run (1981), B
206. Batman: Year One (2011), A-
207. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), A-
208. Up (2009), A+
209. The Muppets (2011), A
210. Good Luck Charlie: It’s Christmas (2011), B
211. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964), F; Cinematic Titanic Riff, B
212. Christmas and A Christmas Carol (2009), D
213. Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny (1972), F; RiffTrax, A
214. The Great Gatsby (1974), A
215. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), B+
216. Tom and Huck (1995), Bl
217. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), A
218. Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas (1999), B
219. Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas) (2005), A
220. Scrooged (1988), A-
221. The Magic Christmas Tree (1964), F; RiffTrax B+
222. It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002), B
223. The Lemon Drop Kid (1951), B
224. Miracle on 34th Street (1947), A+
225. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), A+
226. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989), A
227. A Christmas Story (1983), A
228. Love, Actually (2002), A
229. Source Code, (2011), B+
230. Paul, (2011), C+
231. Tron: Legacy (2010), B+
232. Attack the Block (2011), B+l
233. The Captains (2011), A
234. Gnomeo and Juliet (2011), B
235. Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (2011), C

Last Updated on January 1, 2012.