2021's 10 Best Films!

10. “Good on Paper”:  A surprisingly cute and clever film from the hysterical mind of Iliza Shlesinger about the biggest liar she ever dated.

9. “Free Guy”:  The charm of Ryan Reynolds shines through again, in this video game based take on “The Truman Show”.

8. “Black Widow”: Missed the mark, but was the best of Marvel’s early 2021 slate.  Would have been better last year though.

7. “Gunpowder Milkshake”:  A great action shoot ‘em up with a great lead performance from Karen Gillian.  Don’t mess with this hitwoman!

6. “8 Bit Christmas”:  Another rework, take “A Christmas Story”, set it in the late 80’s and add a Nintendo.  Great holiday fun.

5. “Black Friday”:  A gory and funny romp starring genre king Bruce Campbell (“The Evil Dead” series) concerning a group of store employees working on Black Friday when the customers turn into zombies.

4. “Lamb”:  Brilliant supernatural thriller that you really have to see to believe.  My trying to give a rundown would just be unfair.  Seek this one out and see it.

3. “Dune”:  Exciting first chapter, loyal to the source material and perfectly cast.  Gripping setup for the next film.

2. “Spider-Man: No Way Home”.  Marvel fires up the multiverse arc with this fun and emotional tale.  Peter Parker screws up a spell being cast by Dr. Strange and brings powerful villains to his world.  Help arrives and the audience applauds.  So close, a few plot holes keep it just below best of status.

1. “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”:  Brilliant storyline brings new faces to the fold while being respectful of the original film. A fitting way to continue the series and update it for modern audiences. 

2021's 10 Worst Films

10. “Breaking News in Yuba County”: Milquetoast woman’s cheating husband goes missing, she gets publicity from it, ends up in money laundering mess. Terrible.

  9. “Unnamed Horror Movie”: Actors in lockdown make non scary horror movie over zoom, audience gets needed nap. 

 8. “Profile”: New take on foreign woman seduced by radical ideas story, this time an engaged woman falls in love with ISIS leader. 

 7. “Worth”: Story of an attorney assigned to place a value on lives lost on 9/11. Feels exploitative and preachy. 

 6. “Run Hide Fight”: “Die Hard” in a high school kinda sums up this messy take on a girl thwarting a live streamed school shooting. Another difference is “Die Hard” was really good. 

 5. “13 Fanboy”: Crazed fan wants to re create murder scenes from the “Friday the 13th” franchise, killing the actresses in the scenes for real. Meant to be a love letter but comes off really mean spirited and cruel. 

 4. “Silent Night”: A gas is spreading all over the world, killing everyone it comes in contact with. In response, Kiera Knightly throws a final Christmas celebration before everyone takes their government issued peaceful death (as opposed to the painful one the gas provides) pills. You really root for the gas early on. 

 3. “Werewolves Within”: A werewolf is killing people in a remote small town, a forest ranger comes to the rescue. Um..sure. 

 2. “13 Minutes”: Another “love letter”, this time to the people of Moore, OK. Covers the lives of 4 families who are impacted by a violent tornado in their small Oklahoma town. What follows is a stereotyped offensive mess. Easily the worst movie in any other year, but 2021 brought us…… 

 1. “Space Jam: A New Legacy”: Lebron James has all the personality of a sun dried dog turd, this movie is reflective of it.

2020's 10 Best Films!

 

As with our worst of for the year, not a whole lot to choose from this year and only saw 8 that I considered to be above the rest, and here they are.

8.  Tread:  In 2004, Marvin Heemeyer had had enough.  He felt the entire council of the small Colorado community of Grandby was against him, and with the help of a heavily armored bulldozer, he sat out to right perceived wrongs.  This documentary brings the story to light, without the flashy “killdozer” tags.

7.  The Go-Go’s:  Another documentary offering, taking a look at the all girl band that jump started the female rocker movement after the death of The Runaways, and how their legacy lives on. 

6.  Notzilla:  A very silly and very fun parody of Godzilla and kaiju movies in general, a fun and silly ride from start to finish.

5.  Ash:  A local news blogger covering heroism in fighting wildfires near his small Canadian town is unexpectedly accused of engaging in child pornography.  What happens to him, his family and his town is powerful and gripping.

4.  Wonder Woman 1984:  A fun return to the 80’s, with a fairly clever plotline and good performances. That said, you can see some patterns creeping in and will they serve as a crutch for future adventures?  It’ll still be fun to see.

3.  Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula:  How do you follow up one of the best zombie horror films in recent memory?  You watch this tremendous story, taking a cue from Romero and continuing the storyline without attaching any of the original characters.

2.  Fatman:  An unexpected holiday blast, as a spoiled child hires an emotionally damaged hit man to kill Santa after the child finds coal for Christmas Day.

1.  Cuties:  The poster child for damn it before you see it this year, this powerful film crushes you as you see a group of kids who are in desperate need of parental involvement seeking the attention the big girls get, through online “likes” and equating that to genuine affinity.  How they go about it is devastating and a film worthy of being my best film of 2020.

 

10 Worst Films of 2020....kinda

 Ok, since this year has been....frankly fucked....the movie selection was not that great.  I actually only saw 35 movies as of this writing, and only 8 have I truly hated.  Here they are....

8.  Tenet - Nolan's cleverness finally overcame his writing ability, this convoluted mess of a film had such great promise.

7.  A Clear Shot - Based on the 1991 Sacramento hostage taking and shooting that devolved from a failed robbery at a Good Guys electronics store, this riveting event is turned into a dull, over acted, silly action flick.

6.  Killer Raccoons 2: Dark Christmas in the Dark - A bad movie trying to be a bad movie...that never works.

5.  The Beach House - A "thriller" in name only.

4.  Bill and Ted Face the Music - Good idea, but HORRIBLE execution.  Bogus!

3.  Kajillionaire - A movie about a family of con artists who somehow manage to survive in big bucks LA between heists.  Even the cast was disinterested.

2.  On the Rocks - Oh we're so rich and self important, how important our trivial issues are..

1.  Color Out of Space - Which is fucking crazier?  The HP Lovecraft story this is based on, or Nick Cage's insane take on the material.  Just awful.

10 Best of 2019

2019’s 10 Best Films

As always, this list is isolated to the films I’ve seen released in this calendar year.

10.  The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story:  An in depth and very telling account of a man who had it all, because he manipulated it from those who deserved the riches for their work.  Great story. 

9.  Hotel Mumbai:  Well done slightly fictionalized account of the 11/26/08 terror attacks around Mumbai, India.  Keeping its focus on the Taj Mahal attack, it creates a gripping narrative without having to resort to overdramatization.

8.  Avengers: Endgame:  It all led to this, and what a great ending it was.  Sure it had more than its share of pandering and skewed narrative to fit the plot, but when you’re that enthralled, who cares. 

7.  Jay and Silent Bob Reboot:  Underneath the weed jokes, the dick and fart jokes, lies a film born of pure heart and love.  Not only for the characters and the lives they’ve created, but for those of us who have faithfully watched and supported.

6.  The Best of Enemies:  A KKK leader, a black civil rights activist who also happens to be a woman….in the summer of 1971.  How could these two become lifelong friends?  Even with the factual inaccuracies, a brilliant and much needed watch, especially in our current climate.

5.  The Art of Self Defense:  A meek man’s response to a mugging…a dojo master with a twisted sense of how to pay the bills…these two collide with deadly results in this spiritual cousin to films like Fight Club. 

4.  Booksmart:  This film about two overachievers realizing they’d studied their high school years away and decide to break out for one crazy night has been called the female Superbad, but this brilliant and funny tale of self-discovery is far superior to its alleged equal. 

3.  A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood:  Not a bio of the late Fred Rogers, this lovely film is about the lives he touched, focusing on a jaded Esquire reporter who started writing a fluff piece, and ended up growing as a man. 

2.  Parasite:  A gem from Korea, about a family who rises to riches on the basis of schemes and scams.  When the truth comes out, it destroys everyone involved.

1.  Joker:  A devastating look at how easily one hopeless man can snap and wreak havoc on the society he feels wronged him. 

10 worst of 2019!

2019’s 10 worst films!

This year, to my surprise, I haven’t seen 10 movies that I loathed.  I saw 9.  This was a pretty good movie year overall…at least the films I watched.  So we’re going to have an honorable mention, one that I didn’t see but its pretty much universal hate.  Here goes!

10.  HONORABLE MENTION:  Cats – Haven’t seen it, but with reviews so outlandish I had to actually go to each listed publication and verify those were the words actually written, I think it’s safe to be on here.

9.  Ad Astra:  A pompous, over stuffed story does have some really beautiful visuals going for it.

8.  Brightburn:  A masterful concept, what would happen if a super-being was sent for evil rather than a hero, handled so poorly by an inept, brain dead director that it boggles the mind.

7.  Rocketman:  Boy, you really gotta be a fan of Elton John to get through this flight of fancy.  Waste of two hours.

6. Poms:  Diane Keaton must really need the check.

5.  Alita: Battle Angel:  Stupid, stupid, stupid stupid.  Dull, dull, dull, dull dull.

4.  Godzilla: King of the Monsters:  Well, at least we had monsters this time around.  Too bad they were surrounded by the plot equivalent of a loaded fart.  Awful movie.

3.  Men in Black International:  The film that killed the franchise.

2.  Once Upon a Time in Hollywood:  Tarantino’s latest is a half assed mashup of 3 films that he couldn’t bother to come up with a full storyline for.  This once great director is over and done with.

1.  The Haunting of Sharon Tate:  Yes, this film wants us to explore the what if?  Did Sharon have visions of her murder at the hands of the Manson family?  Stupid beyond belief.

2018's Ten Best!

Yes folks, its time for you to know what I liked the best this year of the dozens of movies I saw! 

10 - "Black Panther":  A great film with a great story line and visuals.  Very well done.

9 - "First Man":  A well done, if a bit slow paced, tale of the first man to walk on the moon.  Gives us a look at our hero as the distant, kind of obnoxious man he was as opposed to the rose colored ideal.

8 - "Support The Girls":  A day in the life of a dedicated manager at a Hooters style restaurant and the girls she manages.  Brilliant character study.

7 - "Deadpool 2":  Hysterical, off color and almost as good as the original. 

6 - "22 July":  Harrowing Netflix released film about the 2011 attacks on a government building and a youth camp in Norway.  Far better than a "direct to streaming" release has any business being.

5 - "Halloween":  Yet another in the series, and it maintains the 10 year cycle of each 10th year movie being the only ones worth watching.  Respectful of the source and a great watch.

4 - "Bohemian Rhapsody":  Compressed timeline will annoy long time fans, but theres no doubt that Remi Malek deserves a best actor nod for his almost perfect transformation into the legendary Freddie Mercury.

3 - "Avengers: Infinity War":  Magnificent lead in to what may be the end of the current run of films and sets up the next run with excitement and thrills.  The Marvel machine rolls on!!

2 - "Revenge":  A beautiful young woman goes off with her rich married boyfriend to a hunting retreat.  While there, his friends arrive early and things get out of hand.  Following her rape by one of his friends, her boyfriend pushes her from a cliff to her presumed death to protect his marriage.  She didn't die...and she's out for vengeance.  From the first frame, the film pulls you in and has you rooting for her to get the justice she deserves. 

1 - "Eighth Grade":  Kayla is almost done with 8th grade.  Next year, off to high school and a fresh start for this introverted, shy and nearly friendless young girl.  However, in the last week of school, Kayla will learn a lot about life, friendships, mean girls and herself.  The hands down best film of the year, something we can all relate to.  You'll ache and cheer for Kayla as she handles the ups and downs of almost high school.  Brilliant and should be far more viewed than it has been.