I'm making the most definitive list of favorite movies ever.

For every year, I'm listing every movie I've seen and compare them all to each other asking one question; Which movie do I like more. Movies that score in the 80th percentile or higher, advance to the next round: Favorite of the Decade. After each Decade is done, an All Time list will be formed.

Friday, December 31, 2010

Favoritest Movies of 2010 (So far!)



My wife didn't think much of Tron.  Okay, she derided it in it's entirety.  Why would I be fond of a sequel that was so derivative of the original, that it was little more than an almost an exact rehash of the original plus jets?
Here is the plot outlines of both movies: Spoilers in italics

Our protagonist sneaks into a place in the middle of the night and sits in front of a laser and goes into the computer world.  He is given a disc, and put into the games.  The first game his opponent falls through the floor, subsequently this is followed by a Light Cycle scene which ends with going off the grid. Here we regroup, consume sustenance, and share exposition establishing on how to resolve the plot. We'll wind up on a vessel sailing on a beam of light, towards a larger perpendicular beam of light, through canyons and encounter the enemy battleship. There will be a final confrontation of good and bad guys, a big explosion and traveling home up that big beam of light to a sunny and happy ending.

This describes both Tron movies. If I deleted a few dozen words, it'd be almost every Final Fantasy game from the '80's and '90's. The less words you use to describe any story the more it sounds like another.

Tron is about a guy needing... a piece of paper. While for the whole time I've known my friend Matt, a fellow fan of the original movie we've used "Greetings program!" as a greeting. Yes, we are huge dorks.  But, in all the times I've ever been looking for a piece of paper, I've never felt or even thought of Flynn.

Tron Legacy is a father and son movie.  "You're messing with my Zen thing man."  No movie, that I've ever seen, has put all the internal contradictions of being a parent into one line so efficiently just so it can get to megalomaniacs trying to do their Ming the Merciless impersonations, only to have the heroes escape (with a shot riffing the departure in Jaws) and do a cover rendition of the Falcon escaping the Death Star; kicked off with the female character saying "Here they come!"

If a movie is going to be a hack rip off, it tries to hide it more.  This movie was nostalgia squared, cubed... Hell, nostalgia ad infinitum!  When I look at my kids, I see little derivative copies of us.  And this movie, better than any other of these ill thought out movies, born out of our childhoods, gave us (nerds at least) one to share with our kids.  I love that my kids love the Transformers movies, I loved Transformers and still do.  But I look at these movies of the past few years, and while the Blu-rays of them make my TV look prettier, and remind my how loud my sound system can get... I'd rather watch Springer and Arcee push that launcher into place against Devastator.  Well, maybe Dark of the Moon will top the post this time next year!  This year was about Tron...  other than that, it was kind of meh.

Now, there are a number of movies I'm really looking forward to seeing that I haven't yet; The Social Network, Tangled, Megamind, The Other Guys and plenty more.

  1. Tron: Legacy
  2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I
  3. Superman/Batman: Apocalypse
  4. Salt
  5. Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
  6. Toy Story 3
  7. Iron Man 2
  8. The Sorcerer's Apprentice
  9. Inception
  10. Kick-Ass
  11. Hot Tub Time Machine
  12. The A-Team
  13. Despicable Me
  14. Batman: Under The Red Hood
  15. Predators
  16. Planet Hulk
  17. Clash of the Titans
  18. The Special Relationship
  19. Killers
  20. Knight and Day
  21. Sherlock Holmes (Asylum)
  22. True Grit
  23. The Spy Next Door
  24. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
  25. Valentine's Day
  26. The Wolfman
  27. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
  28. The Last Airbender
  29. Resident Evil: Afterlife
  30. Skyline
  31. Océans
  32. The Losers
  33. Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore
  34. Centurion
  35. The Karate Kid
  36. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
  37. Dante's Inferno
  38. How to Train Your Dragon
  39. The Expendables
  40. Letters to Juliet
  41. Jonah Hex
  42. Paranormal Activity
  43. Date Night
  44. Alice in Wonderland
  45. Furry Vengeance
  46. Diary of a Wimpy Kid
  47. Cop Out
  48. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
  49. Vampires Suck
  50. When in Rome
  51. The Runaways
  52. Repo Men
  53. Dinoshark
  54. The Bounty Hunter
  55. The Crazies
  56. Grown Ups
  57. Legion
  58. Tooth Fairy
  59. Altitude
  60. Sex and the City 2
  61. A Nightmare on Elm Street
  62. The Book of Eli
  63. Robin Hood
  64. Shutter Island
  65. Black Swan
  66. Dear John

Oh heck, one more nice visual never hurt anyone...


Legend: Onto the next Round! (Scored at or above the 80th percentile.)  In the middle. I do NOT enjoy (below the 20th percentile).

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Favoritest Movies of 1998


My father and I used to go to a movie every weekend.  I remember, having just seen Shakespeare in Love at the AMC in Crestwood Mall (The mall is defunct, but the movie theater is still there, and pretty much unchanged since the year I'm writing about) and we were walking to The Pasta House to have dinner, debating which movie would be more deserving of an Oscar win, Saving Private Ryan or Love. But, I find out, my father really couldn't care all that much about William Shakespeare.  However, on January 17th, 1980, my father gave me...



Now, I only know the date because he wrote it inside the book, with no other words except "For Paul" and "From Dad".  This book comes up in our post movie conversation since, he gave me such a volume when I'm only four yours old.  He replies that it seemed like the type of thing I would like. 
I read every word.
Only in hindsight is it apparent that my father, for all of our problems did occasionally pay attention.  Heck, by the time I was six, I was fairly regularly afforded copies of Starlog magazine.  As I do these lists, I can't hide my affection for genre films, they're to me, the reason for movies.  I'd rather see feats of, and playgrounds for the imagination than an engaging portrayal of typical peoples doing typical things, but I don't think anyone likes boring movies.



  1. TIE: Shakespeare in Love
  2. TIE: Mulan
  3. Armageddon
  4. The Man in the Iron Mask
  5. Meet Joe Black
  6. Saving Private Ryan
  7. The Prince of Egypt
  8. Star Trek: Insurrection
  9. Dark City
  10. Soldier
  11. Lethal Weapon 4
  12. The Big Lebowski
  13. Lost in Space
  14. Rush Hour
  15. The Mask of Zorro
  16. Dangerous Beauty
  17. The Truman Show
  18. Great Expectations
  19. City of Angels
  20. The Avengers
  21. What Dreams May Come
  22. Mighty Joe Young
  23. There's Something About Mary
  24. Godzilla
  25. Wild Things
  26. Deep Impact
  27. Vampires
  28. Sliding Doors
  29. The Big Hit
  30. Blade
  31. The X-Files
  32. Six Days Seven Nights
  33. Elizabeth
  34. Bulworth
  35. Small Soldiers
  36. Fallen
  37. Everest
  38. The Faculty
  39. The Rugrats Movie
  40. A Bug's Life
  41. Antz
  42. Primary Colors
  43. Les Miserables
  44. Deep Rising
  45. Phantoms
  46. Tarzan and the Lost City
  47. A Civil Action
  48. Pleasantville
  49. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
  50. Ring (Ringu)
  51. The Negotiator
  52. Rounders
  53. A Perfect Murder
  54. Enemy of the State
  55. Can't Hardly Wait
  56. The Newton Boys
  57. Sphere
  58. Out of Sight
  59. You've Got Mail
  60. Species II
  61. Urban Legend
  62. The Wedding Singer
  63. Practical Magic
  64. Dr. Dolittle
  65. Ronin
  66. The Object of My Affection
  67. Psycho
  68. Babe: Pig in the City
  69. Ever After
  70. Krippendorf's Tribe
  71. Hard Rain
  72. The Horse Whisperer
  73. Stepmom
  74. Knock Off
  75. The Waterboy
  76. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
  77. Blues Brothers 2000
  78. The Siege
  79. The Last Days of Disco
  80. BASEketball
  81. Madeline
  82. Snake Eyes
  83. Major League: Back to the Minors
  84. Mercury Rising
  85. Gods and Monsters
  86. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
  87. A Night at the Roxbury
  88. The Replacement Killers
  89. Bride of Chucky
  90. 54
  91. Jack Frost
  92. Apt Pupil
  93. U.S. Marshals
  94. Rushmore
  95. My Giant
  96. Pi

Looking back, I remember thinking 1999 was such a good year for movies. After doing 1999's list, I was wondering why I felt that way at the time. Looking over 1998, it could have been a lot better of a year. Next back, 1997...

Or
Titanic vs Contact vs Starship Troopers!
and 91 other movies... 

 

Wow, that reads cheesy.

Legend: Onto the next Round! In the middle. I do NOT enjoy.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Favoritest Movies of 1999

We used to make Top 5 or Top 10 lists talking about the "Best" movies of the year.  I can't figure out what "Best" means anymore.  I've heard to many critics say things along the line of 'while not my favorite, it's one of the best..."  Well, if it wasn't your favorite, it must have done something wrong.  And then I see the poster above.  I was not a foregone conclusion that this would be my favorite movie of 1999.  But in every match up, it would win or split points with its competition.  I saw it 21 times in the theater.  I'd pop it in the VCR every Sunday when I worked at Comics Universe.  For all of its flaws, it's still got a bit of that Star Wars magic: rewatchability.  A tiny bit.  Okay the 1983, 1980, and 1977 lists are a race for second place at this point.

  1. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
  2. Princess Mononoke
  3. Galaxy Quest
  4. The Thomas Crown Affair
  5. The Mummy
  6. Bicentennial Man
  7. The Matrix
  8. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
  9. Office Space
  10. The Iron Giant
  11. Pokemon: The First Movie
  12. Sleepy Hollow
  13. Tarzan
  14. The Thirteenth Floor
  15. Fight Club
  16. Deep Blue Sea
  17. The 13th Warrior
  18. Entrapment
  19. She's All That
  20. The World Is Not Enough
  21. Muppets From Space
  22. Pushing Tin
  23. The Boondock Saints
  24. Godzilla 2000: Millennium
  25. Cruel Intentions
  26. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
  27. Toy Story 2
  28. The Insider
  29. October Sky
  30. Payback
  31. Three Kings
  32. The Talented Mr. Ripley
  33. My Favorite Martian
  34. The Muse
  35. Run Lola Run
  36. Election
  37. The Green Mile
  38. The General's Daughter
  39. Trekkies
  40. A Midsummer Night's Dream
  41. Lake Placid
  42. Liberty Heights
  43. Mystery, Alaska
  44. Mystery Men
  45. Runaway Bride
  46. The Haunting
  47. Fantasia 2000
  48. Three To Tango
  49. Eyes Wide Shut
  50. Notting Hill
  51. Wing Commander
  52. Stuart Little
  53. Virus
  54. Wild Wild West
  55. American Pie
  56. Analyze This
  57. Dogma
  58. Anna and the King
  59. American Beauty
  60. The Corruptor
  61. The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc
  62. Blast from the Past
  63. Inspector Gadget
  64. End Of Days
  65. Any Given Sunday
  66. Magnolia
  67. Big Daddy
  68. Stigmata
  69. Anywhere But Here
  70. The Astronaut's Wife
  71. Girl, Interrupted
  72. The Mod Squad
  73. The Omega Code
  74. Being John Malkovich
  75. The Sixth Sense
  76. Go
  77. Black Mask
  78. House on Haunted Hill
  79. Boys Don't Cry
  80. Jawbreaker
  81. Romance
  82. Brokedown Palace
  83. Man on the Moon
  84. Open Your Eyes
  85. The Blair Witch Project
  86. 8MM
  87. Baby Geniuses

Legend: Onto the next Round! In the middle. I do NOT enjoy.

Friday, December 03, 2010

Anticipation of Movies in 2011

As I do with my Favoritest movies of the year, I decided to rank; "How much am I looking forward to each of these movies?" Or, asking; which movie am I looking forward to more? And the numbers rolled out thusly...



Cowboys & Aliens 100%
Harry Potter and... 94%
Thor 85%
Green Lantern 84%
Transformers: Dark... 84%
Captain America:... 84%
Rise of the Apes 81%
Sherlock Holmes 2 79%
The Muppets 77%
Pirates of the... 73%
Sucker Punch 66%
X-Men: First Class 66%
Conan 63%
Immortals 61%
Super 8 60%
Rango 47%
Fright Night 42%
The Three Musketeers 37%
The Thing 37%
Kung Fu Panda 2 37%
Priest 35%
Cars 2 35%
Battle: Los Angeles 34%
Mars Needs Moms! 29%
The Green Hornet 24%
The Twilight Saga:... 23%
The Adjustment Bureau 21%
I Am Number Four 15%
Red Riding Hood 13%
Diary of a Wimpy... 6%
The Dark Fields 5%
The Eagle 3%