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2012
| Click on the Movie Posters Below to See My Top 10 Lists for the Past 19 Years! |
| MATT AT THE MOVIES MOVIE COMMENTS |
We generally become interested in movies because we enjoy them
and what we enjoy them for has little to do with what we think of as art.
Pauline Kael, Going Steady
Well, that's it, isn't it? I'm sure there are a few sad souls who go to the multiplex because they're going to encounter "art" but most of
go in the hope that we'll be amused--and ever more decreasingly, informed or inspired by a movie. Like Russell Crowe in Gladiator,
the only question I ask when go to a movie is, "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?"
| THIS PAGE IS "BETWEEN PROJECTS" UNTIL JANUARY 2020. It's not you. It's me. There are few things in life I enjoy more than going to the movies and then trying to think of something snarky to say about it. But it wears you down. Plus, movies themselves have changed so much. Of my "top ten" movies from last year, I saw half of them on a computer, a phone or an airplane. That's no way to go to the movies. You need to sit in a dark theater with a bunch of strangers and pray that they've all learned good cell phone etiquette. Only then can you start hoping that the movie will be decent. Is it my imagination or were there two kinds of movie in 2018? Superhero movies and movies on streaming platforms. It's going to take me a while to sort it out, so I'll see you next year. However, since you were so nice to drop by, I'll offer this: A ranking of my favorite movie for each of the past twenty years. You can see all twenty at the left and click on the links to go back and see what I thought about them. To put it mildly. I've made some rather eccentric decisions. (in 2000, I was disgusted by the "new" movies that I made a re-release of the 26-year-old "The Exorcist" Number One. I now recognize that was a mistake, but that's how I felt at the time. Anyway. Here in order is how I rank my "favorite" movies of the past twenty years. (The movie that won the Academy Award for Best Picture is in parentheses-not that they were necessarily great choices, either.) |
1 Lilo and Stitch (2002)
Chicago. Ask yourself, which would you rather watch right now?
2 Dogma (1999)
American Beauty. Really? The Academy could learn from me.
3 Hairspray (2007)
No Country for Old Men. Give me Travolta in a girdle any day.
4 Les Miserables (2012)
Argo. I'm guessing the Academy would like to have this one back.
5 Manchester by the Sea (2016)
Moonlight. Are you sensing a trend here?
6 CITIZENFOUR (2014)
Birdman I think this was the year the Academy stopped taking this seriously.
7 Wind River (2017)
The Shape of Water. Puh-lease.
8 The Passion of the Christ (2004)
Million Dollar Baby The Academy had to choose between Mel and Clint.
9 Sicario (2015)
Spotlight. Did you even SEE Spotlight?
10 Game Changers- (2018)
??? The Academy will probably choose something like Black Panther, thinking it's a documentary.
11 Gravity (2013)
12 Years a Slave. This was a disservice to all involved.
12 United 93 (2006)
The Departed.- Admit it. I'm waaay better at this than the Academy!
13 Walk the Line (2005)
Crash. How did this happen?
14 Spellbound (2003)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. No room left for a comment!
15 The Class (2009)
The Hurt Locker. I think I almost made this Number 1 myself.
16 Gran Torino (2008)
Slumdog Millionaire. The appeal of this movie still baffles me.
17 Hugo (2011)
The Artist. Not much to choose from that year.
18 Ghost Writer (2010)
The King's Speech. Maybe the only time the Academy chose better.
19 The Majestic (2001)- A Beautiful Mind
God knows, The Majestic was no great shakes--but still.
20 The Exorcist (2000)
Gladiator. I should have chosen something else. But not this.
Chicago. Ask yourself, which would you rather watch right now?
2 Dogma (1999)
American Beauty. Really? The Academy could learn from me.
3 Hairspray (2007)
No Country for Old Men. Give me Travolta in a girdle any day.
4 Les Miserables (2012)
Argo. I'm guessing the Academy would like to have this one back.
5 Manchester by the Sea (2016)
Moonlight. Are you sensing a trend here?
6 CITIZENFOUR (2014)
Birdman I think this was the year the Academy stopped taking this seriously.
7 Wind River (2017)
The Shape of Water. Puh-lease.
8 The Passion of the Christ (2004)
Million Dollar Baby The Academy had to choose between Mel and Clint.
9 Sicario (2015)
Spotlight. Did you even SEE Spotlight?
10 Game Changers- (2018)
??? The Academy will probably choose something like Black Panther, thinking it's a documentary.
11 Gravity (2013)
12 Years a Slave. This was a disservice to all involved.
12 United 93 (2006)
The Departed.- Admit it. I'm waaay better at this than the Academy!
13 Walk the Line (2005)
Crash. How did this happen?
14 Spellbound (2003)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. No room left for a comment!
15 The Class (2009)
The Hurt Locker. I think I almost made this Number 1 myself.
16 Gran Torino (2008)
Slumdog Millionaire. The appeal of this movie still baffles me.
17 Hugo (2011)
The Artist. Not much to choose from that year.
18 Ghost Writer (2010)
The King's Speech. Maybe the only time the Academy chose better.
19 The Majestic (2001)- A Beautiful Mind
God knows, The Majestic was no great shakes--but still.
20 The Exorcist (2000)
Gladiator. I should have chosen something else. But not this.
| I told you I was better at choosing than the Academy. Now you know. Have fun at the movies. Just turn off your damn phone. |