Nothing. I may have only seen a handful of films in theaters before the Rona hit. I haven’t been back. I’m too scared.
Going to movie theaters was a fun thing for me. The fact that I haven’t been back in a while, that I don’t know if I’ll ever go back, and that they may all disappear is just another of those things that 2020 has robbed us of.
The best film of 2020? I don’t think I have the heart to muster up such a sad, sad list.
No 5 star movies. Mainly 4 stars. Although, to be honest, Your Name should be five stars. And perhaps Jedi and Spiderman should be demoted to three. Beyond that I think most of these were pretty good. Surprising that there’s a few super hero movies here. Sadly, the state of the industry is such that only super hero movies are being made.
You should check out both Lady Bird and 20th Century Women on a double bill because they deserve to be seen back-to-back.
Blade Runner will again become a beloved classic. Thor: Ragnarok as well.
Here’s my list of the best films I saw in the theatre for the year 2017.
Lady Bird
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Spiderman: Homecoming
Thor: Ragnarok
Blade Runner 2049
Your Name
Get Out
Logan
20th Century Women
I do this every year because I usually watch a lot of the movies that come out in the theatre. It’s my list of best films watched where I ponied up money to see in a darkened auditorium. Once again, these are based on the 4 or 5 star film review. Now whether those stars hold up, it is left to myself to see sometime in the future. But more often they slip. There are only very few I still admire. Those would be the 5 stars films. I don’t think I have any this year. O, well. Onto the show!
La La Land. 4 stars
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. 4 stars
The Handmaiden. 4 stars
Kubo and the Two Strings . 4 stars
Star Trek Beyond. 4 stars
That’s it.
And if I would say it, The Handmaiden is my favorite. Most likely because of the eroticism in it. But it was really well made and it was a surprise when I saw it.
Here’s the year end list of the best movies I saw live in the theatre for 2015. “Best” means I gave it greater than or equal to 4 stars (4 or 5).
4 stars. Star Wars: The Force Awakens — I can’t wait to find out what happens to Rey. I hope she becomes a real good character if they write her correctly.
4 stars. Perfect Blue — An old anime, but seen for the first time, Satoshi Kon’s first film makes me miss him more.
5 stars. Mad Max: Fury Road — AWESOME!
4 stars. While We’re Young — Kylo Ren is emo.
4 stars. Selma — Should’ve won best picture last year.
These were the films I loved after walking out of the movie theatre. That’s not a lot considering I think I saw at least 20. There are a few I wish I loved more, but they didn’t make the grade. Maybe sometime later they will, but for now these will suffice.
What were your favorites from last year?
Here’s the list of films I saw in the theatre which I rated 4 stars or more. Actually, these are all 4 star films, because I didn’t see a perfect movie this year. Caveat as I list them, these are from reviews several days after seeing the film. They are 4 stars at that time, but over the year that rating could evolve to a better or worse rating. I would put The World’s End and The Conjuring with higher ratings, and Man of Steel with a lower rating.
The World’s End
The Conjuring
Pacific Rim
Man of Steel
Iron Man 3
Finally, here’s an honorable mention that needs to be seen. I’m advocating that you catch it because it is one of my favorites of the year.
Did I watch a lot of movies in the theatre last year? Yes.
Here’s my best of the 12 months of 2012 as determined by the stars given at review time. It’s only the four (and five if any) star reviews. I doubt they hold up today. They’ll probably change as I realize how stupid I was or how forgiving I was. Most likely, I should revisit them in several years time to make a change.
Nah.
Skyfall (4)
Argo (4)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (4)
The Avengers (4)
The Artist (4)
What’s yours?
I’ve become really stingy when it comes to doling out stars in my reviews. I only gave one movie a plus positive rating of four stars or more from all the movies I’ve seen this year. My list is so meager that I’m adding in the best movie I saw this year which happened to be on DVD. Also, the other movie I added is considered the best picture from last year, but I saw it this calendar year. There’s plenty of 3 star movies this year and there are also plenty of two stars or less. It’s depressing. Movies haven’t moved me in awhile. Perhaps I may see something on the last day which would.
L’Illusioniste on DVD (5 stars)
The King’s Speech (5 stars)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (4 stars)
I was searching through my archives looking for that post on Inception that so many people seem to reach via google and then I remembered that I never put up 2010’s list of best movies. Now these are just the ones I believe that I had liked at the time I wrote the review. As I look at them, I wonder if these rankings even stand up now. I definitely know it doesn’t stand up for Inception, but that is because I don’t really like Christopher Nolan’s films.
Kick Ass (4)
Inception (4)
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (4)
The Social Network (4)
No 5 star films? That’s usual, but looking at these only Scott Pilgrim and The Social Network I feel still deserve the ranking. I wonder about Kick Ass. Does it really? I’ll have to see.
I’m avoiding my queue of reviews to write by writing my thoughts on the movies of this past decade. I’m not gonna list them as the best what’s the point as I am an amateur at movie reviewing. I can’t also put them as the best because I’ve only seen a fraction of the movies put out during the past 10 years. I really didn’t start to get serious about movie going until perhaps 2002 and since I didn’t have a blog to jot down my reviews I don’t really remember many of them. I’ve really seen lots, some good, some bad, some good I found bad, and some bad I found good. It’s just too much to list out, and anyway the Seed will complain about something.
So instead, since I did come back to enjoying watching movies, I’ll tell you how movies that made me have fun in the theatre or on DVD: my favorite moments from my movie viewing over the past 10 years. While I’m gonna try to stick to movies released during the past decade, I’m gonna meander to some older films.
Trying to figure out this list, the only movie to jump out of my memory quickly is The Incredibles (2004). This is the point where I thought Pixar and American animation has grown up. You can make animated CG movies that go beyond kids fare. Of course, it didn’t turn out completely this way as Pixar still adheres to family flicks, but they showed flashes of brilliance in their successive films after The Incredibles. Still, The Incredibles will always remind me of the joy of watching movies. Its score is still much a favorite. I remember sitting in the theatre and cheering just as the trumpets blare in “Marital Rescue.” Love that cue. And so that is how these films will be on this list: fun and moving.
The second film to pop out of my memory is The Queen. Why? No idea, but I was shocked in my response to it. I thought as I watched, “This is a really good film.” It was and I still think of that stag. But what connects me to this film is the day Diana died. I was at a bar after a shift at work. I drank a toast to the dead Princess.
Let’s go the DVDs, The Parent Trap and Rushmore always are the movies of the year 2000 for me. The former picture was my favorite at the start of the year because Lindsay Lohan is just so darn cute in it as both Hallie and Annie. Go Annie! Plus, it was the movie I watched the most as my dad lay dying. The latter film reminds me of my dad’s funeral and the wistful, melancholy of those days. That’s the way the decade started and those two are the movies I remember for the year 2000.
One sleeper hit for me during the past decade has to be Wicker Park. I think it is unappreciated because of the two stars. Shaggy and the dude from Pearl Harbor, but it did have Rose Byrne and the hottie whose face launched a thousand ships. Little did I know how much I would dig the film going in. The unrequited love, the play on Shakespeare, Shakespeare’s plays, all contribute to me liking the flick. Love was illusory for me this past decade. I’ll just continue wistfully thinking I will find it.
Duplicity is another movie I enjoyed in the theatre. Fun to guess the plot twists.
The Lord of the Ring trilogy was something every Tolkien fan waited for. It doesn’t live up to the books and your imagination, but it still is something to behold. I caught every one at the midnight showing. I remember fighting off sleep for the Fellowship. I just wanted to see Moria and the Balrog. I remember wondering why they changed Theodred’s motivation in the Two Towers. I remember the glee I had to see the ride of the Rohirrim in Return of the King. Those where moments that made me glad to see Tolkien in live action.
I’ll have to put Hitchcock on this list. From watching Vertigo, Notorious, Rear Window, and The Birds on DVD from Netflix or watching them at The Charles Hitchcock will always be the master of movies.
Finally, anime and with it Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. The best animated film of the decade. Yes, even better than The Incredibles, because it is so touching and poignant in its themes of searching for identity and environmental awareness. Miyazaki is how I thought Pixar would mature to being. Not yet, but maybe they’ll get there.
That’s about all the movies I care to remember for the decade. Every time I think about movies, I remember the fun I had. Like the guy calling Spidey a bitch during Spiderman 2. Or the lady grabbing my arm as she cooed with delight for the abs of 300. I remember watching and not seeing any of the fright movies I went to see in the theatre (The Grudge, Drag Me to Hell, etc.).
It will always be about the experience of movie watching. The movies will come and go. There will be good and bad ones. There will be ones that make you laugh, make you cry, make you think, make you love. There will always be movies to watch. Here’s to those in the past, and here’s to those in the future.
The end of the year and the end of the aughts brings another list of movies. Like the previous ones, these movies are rated 4 stars and above when I wrote the review. Most likely, if I re-watch them, they wouldn’t be rated so high.
Star Trek (5)
Drag Me To Hell (4)
Duplicity (4)
I Love You, Man (4)
Watchmen (4)
The Wrestler (4)
Every year, the lists seems to get shorter. I’m either being more judgmental of the films I saw this year or my taste is getting more refined. I admit that this year I have missed lots of movies in the theatre. I shouldn’t have published my list until seeing the movies of December, but I doubt I would ever get to those coming out this month. I’ll update if appropriate. I can’t wait to see yours.
