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.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Favoritest Movies of 2013 (so far)

Ties for first place between Ender's Game and Thor.
Then ties for third between four other movies
and both Ender's and Thor share individual match ties with ¾ of the bottom row.  
2013, is like a good buffet or bad catering, no one selection wins your plate, but there's a bit of everything.  There is no one movie to rule them all.

I made a change to scoring this year, documentaries will no longer be included, nor will they
If this movie were live action
it would have been the
biggest movie of the year
affect the score.  Ties still are going to happen, after much internal debate about whether they're healthy for the system or not.  But, I'd rather admit that a substantial percentage of the time, I like movies equally in head to head comparison.  Thus far this year, no movie dominates the year.  There was a brief Honeymoon with G.I. Joe: Retaliation,  just as there was a long stint of being quite angry with Star Trek Into Darkness.
I hated Star Trek Into Darkness so much that when the Blu Ray arrived for me to watch with the family, I hate it even more... well maybe.  Then, I kept it spinning in the player all of the next day, over and over and over until... it's the poster in the lower right of the collage atop the post here, and I've a 5" model of the USS Vengeance on my desk. 

Planes and Gatsby are the middle of the list.  Both have (at the time of writing, a .5, remakable at only how unlikely it is... or maybe for how likably bland they are...



Three movies though dominated getting talked about this year.  Into Darkness, Iron Man 3 and Man of Steel.  Looking at just the latter two,  I think I hate these two movies as much as I can hate movies in their specific character niches.  They're both angst ridden, unfulfilling, poor examples of their titular characters.  They were both sources of Fanboy rage, where with each, I liked the source of fanboy rage in each... wha?  (SPOILERS:) Yup, Neck snapping and Mandarin... I dig both, but the movies themselves are poor to unacceptable.  THEY basically helped Thor to the top of the list this year, by being the solo follow-up worthy of The Avengers, and by showing how super a guy from an alien place could be in a BRIGHT RED CAPE.   Without them, a movie could have been alone atop this list.  A movie about a small guy taken from the quiet of his home into a group of brash and many cases, less than welcoming peers... something... something... Dragon ... Dragon Army?  Describing Ender's Game sounded familiar for a second there... ;) On with the list for now:

  1. Ender's Game
  2. Thor: The Dark World
  3. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns: Part 2
  4. Oblivion
  5. Star Trek: Into Darkness
  6. Pacific Rim
  7. Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox
  8. G.I. Joe: Retaliation
  9. Now You See Me
  10. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
  11. The Wolverine
  12. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
  13. An Adventure in Space and Time
  14. Scary MoVie
  15. White House Down
  16. Escape from Planet Earth
  17. Evil Dead
  18. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
  19. Movie 43
  20. Epic
  21. Gravity
  22. Superman: Unbound
  23. R.I.P.D.
  24. Jack the Giant Slayer
  25. World War Z
  26. The Smurfs 2
  27. 42
  28. Monsters University
  29. The Internship
  30. Turbo
  31. The Host
  32. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
  33. Man of Steel
  34. Oz The Great and Powerful
  35. Phantom
  36. The Great Gatsby
  37. Planes
  38. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone
  39. Iron Man 3
  40. Red 2
  41. Behind the Candelabra
  42. The Purge
  43. Iron Man: Rise of the Technovore
  44. This Is the End
  45. Parkland
  46. Beautiful Creatures
  47. The Croods
  48. Lovelace
  49. Europa Report
  50. The Conjuring
  51. The Last Keepers
  52. Sharknado
  53. The Last Stand
  54. Syrup
  55. The Colony
  56. Texas Chainsaw 3D
  57. Fright Night 2: New Blood
  58. Dark Skies
  59. The Lifeguard
  60. Dealin' with Idiots
  61. After Earth
  62. Olympus Has Fallen
  63. V/H/S/2
  64. Parker
  65. Computer Chess
  66. Jack the Giant Killer
  67. The Last Exorcism Part II
  68. The Hangover Part III
  69. The Heat
  70. Age of Dinosaurs
  71. Grown Ups 2
  72. Pain & Gain
  73. Identity Thief
  74. A Good Day to Die Hard
Two Documentaries, were on the list; Blackfish and TWO Flight 800.  I've decided to no longer compare Documentaries with the rest of the population of movies.

I may or may not make an update to this post.  Perhaps if The Secret Life of Walter Mitty or The 47 Ronin or Despicable Me 2  break the logjam at the top in a significant way.  Did I leave anything out?


Sunday, September 15, 2013

Favoritest Movies of 2012



Though no year is ever truly closed, now that I've (finally) seen Braking Dawn Part II and 38 other movies since the "so far" list for 2012 later can be at least updated.  True to self fulfilling prophecy, no movie dethroned the Avengers from the top spot, but no movie had the 'genetics' to even come close, and now I've seen all of the top 24 grossing movies of the year (domestically), and 40 of the top 50.  But, if enjoyment of a movie is a self fufilling prophecy, or that this is just an inverted metric of dissapointment for least to most (2013's "So far list coming in just a few months!!!) then why bother watching so many movies?  What's the point of watching something that I'm not looking forward to if I'm incapable of enjoying it as much as a movie I WANT to see?  Surprise.  Finding the movie that you had no interest in, that despite genre preference, desire to see it going into it, target demographic, and every other categorical disadvantage a movie may have... finding one so good that it surprises you, and satisfies you and wins you over... THAT's why I love to watch so many movies.  I WANT to find movies to love that I didn't think I would. 

2012 gave me not only one of the most fantastic, fanboytastic movies ever with The Avengers, it also gave me a movie that provided that sense of surprise, that brought me out of my genre comfort zones.  I rented Pitch Perfect for my daughter on a night when she had a friend over.  They'd requested it.  Though I say I'm a total movie slut, and will basically watch anything, I had no plan or intention of watching this with them or at any point before returning it to the Redbox as soon as possible.  The movie started, and I lingered a few seconds, and by the end of the opening scene I was hooked.  By the end of it, I'd enjoyed a teen oriented musical comedy whose plot structure was closer to a sports movie than anything else.  I still love it and have watched it multiple times now.

How did some of the other movies I HADN'T seen yet fare that I mentioned?

Lincoln:  Wonderful, but I know not when I'll rewatch it again.  Score: 0.604651163

Argo:  I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would... Who'd have thunk anything about Battle for the Planet of the Apes would have ever been connected to an Academy Award!!!  Now, we can't say EVERYTHING about it sucks... I kid, John Huston NEVER sucks, and with 15 Academy Award nominations and two wins, he alone gave at least part of Battle for the Planet of the Apes some respectability.  Score: 0.73255814

Zero Dark Thirty: Definitive. Score: 0.581395

LooperLooper is a mess. It's a complete disappointment.  I know, I LOVE Millennium (and it has "time quakes") and Back to the Future (and it has Marty McFly fading) so why do I hate Looper for a very similar botching of time travel.  Timecrimes has nothing like those movies, shouldn't, by nature of why I HATE Looper, I also dislike Millennium and Back to the Future as well?  Looper has three qualities that the other two don't; First, It practically breaks the fourth wall and tells you to just accept that it works and not to question it.  This same 'explanation' was given for time travel in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.  I love that movie too, but it's a comedy, not sci-fi.  Second, it litters it's universe with almost as much  availability of Time Travel as Star Trek.  It's easier to travel in time in Looper than it is in Doctor Who with less repercussions (it does the same thing with psionics too).  Lastly;  Looper is cynical and condescending to it's audience.  It's not alone, most bad science fiction dwells on explanation, and wants an audience that is stupid, ignorant and against using their imagination.  I'm surprised I like it as much as I do.  Score: 0.203488

Dredd:  Um, first... I don't dislike Judge Dredd.  It's probably the most I enjoy a movie with Rob Schneider in a prominent role, and the rest of the cast, and the visuals are wonderful.  The new Dredd, is better.  In another year, it could have easily been the best comicbook movie of the year.  This year, it's got to take third place to only Dark Knight Returns Part 1 and The Avengers.  I think Dredd would make better HBO style television than movies, but I think that of many super-heroes.  An installment of screen Dredd every 16 years is too long, and this time the title character is note perfect.  Score: 0.825581


Rock of Ages: Tom Cruise, and the music are this movie.  Score: 0.575581

Breaking Dawn Part II:  Yay!  I did the whole thing!  I'm done with Twilight movies!
Score: 0.412791


The above movies mentioned in the "So Far" entry, and their current percentile ranks average .562, pretty close to the .570 that all the movies on the "So Far" list average with thie current scores.  The movies I've seen since average only .413.  Does anticipation or desire to see a movie increase the enjoyment of it? Or, do more appealing movies, the ones you'd enjoy more anyway have a way of mandating to be seen earlier? 

Either or both, 2012 was a really fun year for movies.


  1. (tie) The Avengers
  2. (tie) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
  3. Skyfall
  4. The Cabin in the Woods
  5. Pitch Perfect
  6. Starship Troopers: Invasion
  7. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns: Part 1
  8. Cloud Atlas
  9. Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn
  10. John Carter
  11. Justice League: Doom
  12. Dredd
  13. The Woman in Black
  14. Men In Black 3
  15. Iron Sky
  16. Paranormal Activity 4
  17. Brave
  18. Game Change
  19. Safety Not Guaranteed
  20. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
  21. Argo
  22. Django Unchained
  23. Total Recall
  24. The Expendables 2
  25. The Watch
  26. William Shatner's Get a Life!
  27. Dark Shadows
  28. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
  29. Snow White and the Huntsman
  30. Ted
  31. Tai Chi Zero
  32. Hotel Transylvania
  33. The Hunger Games
  34. Underworld: Awakening
  35. Lincoln
  36. Mass Effect: Paragon Lost
  37. Zero Dark Thirty
  38. Rock of Ages
  39. The Pirates! Band of Misfits
  40. The Man with the Iron Fists
  41. Prometheus
  42. Resident Evil: Retribution
  43. Rise of the Guardians
  44. The Amazing Spider-Man
  45. Jack Reacher
  46. The Dark Knight Rises
  47. Frankenweenie
  48. The Dinosaur Project
  49. ParaNorman
  50. Sinister
  51. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2
  52. Silver Linings Playbook
  53. Wrath of the Titans
  54. Unicorn City
  55. House at the End of the Street
  56. Piranha DD
  57. Katy Perry: Part of Me
  58. Mirror Mirror
  59. John Dies at the End
  60. 21 Jump Street
  61. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
  62. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
  63. The Campaign
  64. Lockout
  65. The Words
  66. Chronicle
  67. V/H/S
  68. Les Misérables
  69. This Means War
  70. The Raven
  71. Atlas Shrugged II: The Strike
  72. Taken 2
  73. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
  74. Looper
  75. Magic Mike
  76. Ice Age: Continental Drift
  77. Dr. Seuss' The Lorax
  78. Life of Pi
  79. Branded
  80. Silent Hill: Revelation
  81. Chernobyl Diaries
  82. Hansel and Gretel: Warriors of Witchcraft
  83. Man on a Ledge
  84. The Grey
  85. Beasts of the Southern Wild
  86. Cosmopolis
  87. The Master


Oh... one last thing.  A movie was supposed to come out IN 2012, and didn't.  G.I. Joe: Retaliation was supposed to be released on  June 29, 2012 against Ted and Magic Mike.  So imaging that G.I. Joe came out in 2012... It's score would be...


92nd Percentile!



Tuesday, January 01, 2013

Favoritest Movies of 2012 (so far)





I've seen 48 movies from this calender year within the year itself, and there's still a few like Lincoln, Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, Looper, Dredd, Rock of Ages and even Breaking Dawn Part II that I'm yet looking forward to seeing.  But, I doubt any of them stand a chance to top the years frontrunner.  A good number of my favorite movies, not just movies I 'like', but ones that are a shoe-in for being in my pantheon of favorites are historic accomplishments in entertainment.  Star Wars, the most successful film ever (or is someone going to pay a few billion to make sequels to Gone with the Wind?)  Star Trek the Motion Picture, from cancelled TV show that didn't make it to even 90 episodes to being a big budget, high grossing, movie & television franchise spawning, behemoth...  The Lord of the Rings Trilogy ('Nuff said). Tron Legacy, a sequel 28 years later!  What Marvel did with The Avengers, and the movies leading up to it in the prior 4 years...

Just the poster for Avengers still gives me chills, like it's impossible to be real.  It's a Wizard Magazine Casting Call column come to life!  It's what comic fans have dreamed of; the simplest formula for Hollywood to have success with super-heroes.  Don't re-invent the wheel.  Respect the creativity in the comics, and just put them on screen, as uncompromised as possible.


One small disclaimer, on the numbers, The Hobbit tied with the avengers, but it's only ⅓ The Hobbit, so second place... makes the Hobbit : Desolation of Smaug 2013's movie to beat!



  1. The Avengers
  2. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
  3. Skyfall
  4. The Cabin in the Woods
  5. Cloud Atlas
  6. John Carter
  7. Starship Troopers: Invasion
  8. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns: Part 1
  9. The Woman in Black
  10. Men In Black 3
  11. Dark Shadows
  12. Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn
  13. Iron Sky
  14. Django Unchained
  15. Justice League: Doom
  16. Safety Not Guaranteed
  17. Game Change
  18. Paranormal Activity 4
  19. Brave
  20. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
  21. Total Recall
  22. William Shatner's Get a Life!
  23. The Expendables 2
  24. The Hunger Games
  25. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
  26. Snow White and the Huntsman
  27. The Amazing Spider-Man
  28. Underworld: Awakening
  29. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
  30. Prometheus
  31. The Dark Knight Rises
  32. Wrath of the Titans
  33. Lockout
  34. Mirror Mirror
  35. ParaNorman
  36. Katy Perry: Part of Me
  37. Piranha DD
  38. The Raven
  39. This Means War
  40. 21 Jump Street
  41. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
  42. Magic Mike
  43. Chronicle
  44. The Grey
  45. Dr. Seuss' The Lorax
  46. Man on a Ledge
  47. Silent Hill: Revelation
  48. Chernobyl Diaries