#13 Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

I love Planet of The Apes, and this film does not disappoint. There are a ton of nods to the original film for the geeks out there, and they do a great job of creating an origin story. The animation was great on the big screen. I never once thought about it looking cheesy. The picture above is of Caesar and his "Generals." It was one of my favorite shots in the movie, and I'm glad I found a screen cap of it to put on here.

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
Highly Recommended

#12 The Skin I Live In

Wow... One of the craziest films I've seen. This film went places I was never expecting with some great twists and turns. The middle section gets a bit long as it supplies the back story, but that was soon forgotten once I realized where they were going with it. Stylistically it has been awhile since I saw a movie this cool.

The Skin I Live In
Highly Recommended

#11 Real Steel

I can tell you this. Not a dry eye in the house. A heart-warming story where father abandons son, but then gets him back, and then sells him for 100K to his step-uncle, but not before they create a giant robot to fight in the high stakes realm of World Robot Fighting. I know we've all seen this movie before. I mean how many films have used this exact same plot.

But what sets this one apart are the little things... like Danny Elfman's powerful, yet strangely familiar, score. Was that "Shiloh" by Neil Diamond, or Hugh Jackman's James Cagney-like accent, and the knowledge that, in the future, all computers look like Tron-like tablets.

To be serious for a moment though I must say, and this pains me... this movie was way better than it should have been.

Real Steel
Recommended

#10 Captain America: The First Avenger

A marked improvemnet over Thor. Pure fun from beginning to end. I really enjoyed how they weaved the back story together so that it will match up with the present day set films, especially the addition of Tony Stark's father. Hugo Weaving was great playing Hitler's more evil General. Was I the only one who thought when the mask came off that it was actually Ghost Rider leading the Storm Troopers against the world. Actually for some reason a lot of this film kept reminding me of Star Wars. C3PO on the Stealth Bomber, the Speeder Bikes chasing Captain America on his motorcycle...


Captain America
Recommended

#9 Horrible Bosses

Funniest movie of the year. We found ourselves laughing out loud many times. jason Batemen is exactly what you expect, Sudekis is ok, but Charlie Day is spectacular. He completely steals the film. Go see this

Horrible Bosses
Highly Recommended

#8 Fast Five

This movie is so silly, Its one ridiculous scene after another, and how is it possible for the Rock to sweat so much? Even his beard sweats. However, its exactly what I wanted. This movie is awesome, scene after scene. This franchise just gets better. I can't wait for #6.

Fast Five
Highly Recommended

#7 X-Men: First Class

Awesome movie. I had given up on X-Men after the third movie, but this one is probably the best of the group, and its not a surprise to see Bryan Singer's name attached to it. He was responsible for the first to X-men films. The only downside of this movie was the stupid Wolverine cameo which is a little tough to look past bu whatever. This movie was great.

X-Men: First Class
Highly Recommended

#6 Source Code

Source Code is one of those films that is pretty enjoyable thriller if you dont think too much about the plot. I liked the premise that you can tap into the last 8 minutes of a dead person life to see what they experienced, but ultimately thought towards the end they could have done more with it. Instead they start making their way into the dreaded time-continuum hole that almost always leaves more questions than answers. Nearest I could tell they didnt even need to. Anyway though, if you just want to zone out and watch an exciting movie its great for that.

"Source Code"
Somewhat Recommended

#5 Bridesmaids

Now this is a movie worth seeing. I don't know if it is worthy of the hype it has received, but It is definitely one of the funniest films I have seen in a while. Melissa McCarthy (far left in the above photo) steals every scene she is in, and Chris O' Dowd who plays the Irish cop, is very enjoyable as the straight-man to Kristen Wiig. I cant say that this film blazes any new territory, but it will get you the drudge of comedies that are currently out there.

Bridesmaids
Highly Recommended

#4 The Hangover II

This still from the movie best describes what everyone was doing during it. What an awful movie. I seriously never heard anyone really laugh. Sure there are a couple of laughs, but not the kind that make you remeber what you actually laughed at.

BOO

The Hangover II
not recommended

#3 Thor

As much as I have enjoyed all of the movies from Marvel's "Avengers" series this is definitely the worst. I don't mean to say its bad, it's just really hard to care about anything that is going on. Most of the movie takes place on Thor's planet in this Shakespearean tale of blah-blah-blah where they are fighting the Frost Giants from some other planet. The only parts of the movie that were interesting were those that were on earth, because once again. I don't care about two other planets fighting over whatever.

lastly I still am having trouble watching Natalie Portman in a film without thinking about "Black Swan".

"Thor"
Somewhat Recommended

#2 The Fighter

Though I don't think this should have been nominated for best picture, Christian Bale certainly earned the best supporting actor award he received. Looking almost as sickly as he did in the Machinist he simply steals this movie from Mark Wahlberg. It certainly is more than just another boxing movie, although that is never a bad thing.

The Fighter
Recommended

#1 Black Swan

Darren Aronofsky has quite a reputation for emotionally-charged, intense films ("Requiem For A Dream" and "The Wrestler") and this film is no different. I'm honestly on the fence on if this is a better film Than "The Wrestler." Without a doubt this film should have beaten "The Social Network" for best drama at the Golden Globes. The movie draws you in to its insane world and keeps you on the edge of its sanity until the curtains close. Natalie Portman is incredible and who knew that Mila Kunis could actually act. Though I suppose the argument could be made that she didn't stray to far from past characters.

Black Swan
Highly Recommended

#12 The Social Network

Well I forgot to add this to my 2010 update. However that did not make it a great film. Entertaining from beginning to end with great acting. I only wonder how much of it is real. I suppose I could find out by reading up on it, but I don't have that kind of time, so I'll just pretend its all real and maybe add in a few extra details of my own to make it even more salacious.

The Social Network
Highly Recommended