TOP TEN FILMS OF 2013

Feb. 16th -- It has never taken me this long to announce a Top Ten Movie List. I can only blame the glut of quality movies that were released last year (especially in December). My only regrets are the ones I missed (Act of Killing, Frozen, Fruitvale Station, Her), and a few I didn't (Elysium, To the Wonder, World War Z).

The first three films stand apart from the pack:

1. 12 YEARS A SLAVE

2. INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS

3. GRAVITY

4. La Grande Bellezza ("The Great Beauty") - ITALY * the only foreign film on the foreignfilmguy's list!

5. Blue Jasmine

6. Nebraska

7. American Hustle

8. The Wolf of Wall Street

9. All Is Lost

10 (tie). Mud and Dallas Buyer's Club 

Honorable Mention

The East

The Invisible Woman

Much Ado About Nothing

Philomena

Rush

Stoker

Saw & Enjoyed

Captain Phillips

The Great Gatsby

Hunger Games: Catching Fire

In A World . . . 

MAMA ** Preserving the streak of a Jessica Chastain movie on every list since 2011

Saving Mr. Banks

Side Effects

In case you are unfamiliar with some of my choices:

TOP TEN MOVIES OF 2012

Unlike many of my colleagues, I found 2012 a thin year for quality American movies (this was decidedly not the case with foreign films, which I will list separately). But the December glut of releases more than made up for a lackluster year overall, accounting for six of my top ten. Here are my favorite movies of the year, in order, and the six directors I would have nominated for an Oscar (with apologies to Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master," which I inexcusably missed):

1. ZERO DARK THIRTY* - Kathryn Bigelow

2. LINCOLN - Steven Spielberg

3. ARGO - Ben Affleck

4. DJANGO UNCHAINED - Quentin Tarantino

5. MOONRISE KINGDOM - Wes Anderson

6. SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK - David O. Russell

7. LES MISERABLES

8. BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD

9. BERNIE - yes, a comedy!

10. THE IMPOSSIBLE 

Honorable Mention:

The Deep Blue Sea - Rachel Weisz deserves that fifth Oscar slot for Best Actress

The Dark Knight Rises

Skyfall

Searching for Sugarman - documentaries do not usually make the cut, but this one is an exception

Saw & enjoyed:

Flight

Hitchcock (overlooking the many liberties it took with the truth)

Lawless*

Looper

* continuing a tradition from last year, these movies starred the lovely Jessica Chastain

TOP TEN FILMS OF 2010

The wait is over! Here is 'The List'! As in past years when I haven't seen enough (or enough good) foreign films to make separate lists, I have combined the two.

RON'S TOP TEN MOVIES FOR 2010

1. The Social Network -- no contest, the #1 movie of the year.

2. The King's Speech (UK) -- an admirable #2.

3. Toy Story 3 -- and I thought I had outgrown animated movies!
>>hey, the Oscars seem to have gotten it right, so far!

4. Un prophete (France 2009)
>>Okay, forget what I said about the Oscars; they completely blew last year's Best Foreign Film award by not giving it to this amazing and gritty film (or the other great film of last year, "The White Ribbon")

5. Black Swan

6. The Kids Are Alright

7. White Material (France 2010)
>>for some reason, even the Cesars (French Academy Awards) ignored this one!

8. True Grit

9. The Fighter

10. Inception


Honorable mention (aka "The Next Five"):

11. Red Riding Trilogy: Part One (UK) -- I don't care that this was a BBC miniseries; on the big screen, this installment was searing (thanks in no small part to the great chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Rebecca Hall).

12. Winter's Bone

13. The American -- I loved the pace of this movie!

14. I Am Love (Italy) -- Tilda Swinton in an Italian melodrama worthy of Visconti!

15. Shutter Island -- Marty & Leo, together again!

A solid list, I think (but there wasn't a lot of competition).

TOP TEN LIST

February 3, 2009 --

I don't know what meds Roger Ebert is taking these days, but when he proclaims 2008 to be such a good year that he had to make a Top 20 List -- and an alphabetical one at that (the ultimate critical cop-out) -- I have to wonder. It took me 13 months (and 3 days) to fill-out my Top Ten List this year, and even then it was a struggle. [Ebert's list contains the 'blink-and-you-missed-it' "The Fall", directed by Tarsem, hence my concern about his pharmaceuticals.]

More troubling is the fact that foreignfilmguy's Foreign Film List has been reduced to 3. Tres! Trois! (and tre, in a nod to two of the entries). So, without further griping (and no cop-outs), here are, in order ....

Top 3 Foreign Films of 2008

1. REPRISE (Norway)
2. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Sweden)
3. I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG (France)

TOP TEN MOVIES OF 2008

1. MILK
2. THE READER
3. THE DARK KNIGHT
4. FROZEN RIVER
5. RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
6. FROST / NIXON

7. HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
8. VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA
9. TRANSSIBERIAN

10. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*

Honorable mention:
Changeling
Slumdog Millionaire*

Tropic Thunder
U2: 3D
The Visitor
The Wrestler

"Saw & enjoyed"
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Choke
Doubt *
The Duchess
Funny Games (starring the lovely Naomi Watts, who can be seen in The International, opening February 13th!)
In Bruges

There you have it: now it's on to the Oscars, where none of what I just wrote matters one whit!

I cannot wait any longer!

I have to post my TOP TEN LIST for 2007 before January ends--even though I haven't seen PERSEPOLIS or CHARLIE WILSON's WAR.

First, an overview: this have been the BEST year for movies in at least 3 years! It produced not one, but two memorable lines, "Friendo" & "Whoa...dream big!"

I could have easily flipped five of my 'honorable mentions' into the Top Ten. Nevertheless, in my mind, two films transcended all other movies in 2007 ... but you have to wait until the very end to find out which two!!

It is also encouraging that the critic's lists has been all over the map this year --I've seen very few repeats on anyone's lists. Mine is no exception -- except mine is the definitive list!

So I will start with my new favorite category:

Ambitious Failures:
I have to start with perhaps the most ambitious failure of all time:
I'm Not There - if you want to make a movie about Bob Dylan, make it about Bob Dylan!!
Across the Universe
Inland Empire

3 Worst:
3. Premonition (Sandy, I still love ya!)
2.'300'
1. Goya's Ghosts

ehhh . . . what's the fuss?
Amazing Grace
Away From Her
The Kingdom
Michael Clayton
Rescue Dawn
Year of the Dog

Saw & enjoyed (13):
2 Days in Paris
3:10 to Yuma
Becoming Jane
The Bourne Ultimatum
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
The Golden Compass
Harry Potter 5
Into Great Silence (doc.)
The Jane Austen Book Club
A Mighty Heart
Ratatouille
The Savages
Sweeney Todd

Honorable mention (10):
(I had to think of a reason to keep these films out of the Top Ten!)
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Breach
Control (UK)
The Darjeeling Limited
Into the Wild
Juno
Margot at the Wedding
Sicko (doc.)
The Wind That Shakes the Barley (UK)
Zodiac

Top Ten Movies of 2007
10. Gone Baby Gone -- Breach and Zodiac are in a virtual tie for #10, but I have to give it to first-time director Ben Affleck and his love for South Boston.
9. Lars and the Real Girl
8. The Lives of Others (Germany) - 2006's Oscar winner
7. Eastern Promises
6. The Diving Bell & the Butterfly (France)
5. La Vie en Rose (France)
4. Once (Ireland)
3. Atonement

. . . and now for the separation from great to awesome!. . .

2. There Will Be Blood -- ambitious movie-making on a grand scale, with a grand performance by Daniel Day-Lewis.

1. No Country For Old Men -- hands down, a brilliant movie. [Don't like the ending? So you think you're a better writer than Cormac McCarthy??]

Now it is on to the Oscars!

BEST OF 2006

At last . . .
My previous observation about 2006 being a weak year for movies has held true through the end of the movie season, so I am forced to break with tradition and combine my Top Ten List with my Best Foreign Films list, to bring you my TOP 15 MOVIE LIST. It is top-heavy with foreign films, but that's not my fault!

Only one movie this year earned the title of "Best Film of the Year," and that film is . . . . . .

1. PAN'S LABYRINTH (Mexico) - amazing and unforgettable
the rest:
2. THE QUEEN (UK)
3. TSOTSI (South Africa 2005)
4. VOLVER (Spain)
5. Cache (France)
6. The Departed
7. Stranger Than Fiction
8. La Moustache (France)
9. Running With Scissors
10. Children of Men
11. Inside Man
12. Little Children
13. The Painted Veil
14. Notes On A Scandal
15. Flags of our Fathers

Honorable mention (alpha):
Brick
Casino Royale
The Good Shepherd
Hollywoodland
Letters From Iwo Jima
Miss Potter
Tristram Shandy: A Cock & Bull Story
V for Vendetta

Saw & Enjoyed:
All the King's Men
The Good German
The Illusionist
The Lake House
The Last King of Scotland
Mission: Impossible: 3
A Prairie Home Companion
World Trade Center

Significant film missed: United 93

Notable documentaries:
1. An Inconvenient Truth
2. Wordplay
3. The Bridge

Coming soon: Worst Movies of 2006 !