Edgy MD

It was a crappy year --- at least from where I stood. It was a two-bit popcorn movie whose best parts were stolen from other films, and has one of those headscratching hooray everything's great now post-climax wrap-ups that every jingoist action movie seems to have, but it went down better than, for instance, The Hobbit --- which, as you noted, was technically excellent, but largely heartless, despite being derived from a book overflowing with heart. It was comparable to John Carter (and hey! starred the same dude!). Goofy and absurd but with colorful and well drawn, if shallow, characters moving quickly. When you can't find nutritious viewing, sometimes the best you can do is shop in the cheese aisle. I'm apparently the only one who saw this lumpy summer cheesefest. Don't make too much of my ranking, as I only gave it 2 1/2 out of five stars. I just didn't like much of anything I saw this year.

Bike movie --- not good enough to enter a lean top ten. Lincoln Moonrise Kingdom Safety Not Guaranteed John Carter Brave Battleship The Amazing Spider-Man The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey The Avengers Salmon Fishing in the Yemen * * * Plus: Trouble with the Curve Premium Rush The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Ruby Sparks

There's a certain sub-genre of films (and yes, usually aimed at 13-year-olds) about the denizens of a thrill-seeking and adrenaline-rich, but utterly useless hobby suddenly thrown by the contrivances of a benevolent fate into a situation where their allegedly stupid and self-centered and self-destructive past-time is actually revealed to be a great tool for fighting crime! Take that, Mom and Dad and Uncle Pete!

Could they have said that any more?

This movie is probably on every other night on the All-13-Year-Old Boys Channel.

i'm one hour and one second into this reel of shite, and I'd prefer a repeat viewing of Tuff Turf.

I just saw Time After Time. My wife saw the guy who played Jack the Ripper and said "That guy's evill!" And I said, "Well, yeah, he's..." "No, I mean he's Evil --- capital E! Slugs! HE created slugs! They can't hear. They can't speak. They can't operate machinery. Are we not in the hands of a lunatic?" I mean, it's hard to imagine Gilliam would make a Hobbit that would be consistent enough with the universe of the LotR film trilogy, and there's always the chance that the film could get away from Gilliam, as Gilliam films do. But he'd definitely be a guy who'd go for a project as ambitious in the imagination department as Jackson was in the technical department. And maybe Jackson producing, with that studio that Jackson built, with all his team members bringing their experience from LotR --- maybe all that would protect and/or save Gilliam from the over-reach that does him in, or whatever it is that too frequently does his films in.

I was wondering if, after 10 years of Peter Jackson not wanting to direct this film but it ultimately falling to him, I wondered briefly if anybody thought of Terry Gilliam as a candidate. And then I realized Gilliam already made his Hobbit 30+ years ago, but called it Time Bandits. Had Ian Holm and everything.

John Goodman? Over-the-top? No WAY!

He should be the second lefty out of the pen too.

This guy saw a different film than I did.

Documentaries where the real-life people made it hard to believe they weren't actors cat in the roles: American Movie The King of Kong

Glee leaves no doubt that pumping musical drama full of irony can get it over with a small screen audience. That still leaves open the challenge for someone who actually wanted say something a little more sincerely than Fred Schneider might.

As the 'pedia says, "More generally, realist works of art are those that, in revealing a truth, may emphasize the ugly or sordid, such as works of social realism, regionalism, or Kitchen sink realism."

The increasing demand for realism has rendered the surrealism of the movie musical increasingly anachronistic. That leaves the filmmaker who dares make such an animal two options: add increasingly realistic elements, or to forsake realism and defy the trend. I don't know what the answer is, but executing becomes harder and harder. Do you go for the lighter material or the heavier? I'm a fan of Little Shop of Horrors, but it has the advantage of kinda being about popular tastes, which kinda gets it off the hook for being subject to popular tastes.. I'm also a fan of The Sound of Music, and am impressed at how it can still capture children's imaginations like no live action musical since. (Even Grease, probably.)

Docs are definitely eligible for Best Picture.

Updated the list to include Lincoln on top. And it's not like I lubbed it. Lincoln Moonrise Kingdom Safety Not Guaranteed John Carter Brave Battleship The Amazing Spider-Man The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey The Avengers Salmon Fishing in the Yemen * * * Plus: Trouble with the Curve The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Ruby Sparks

Vic Sage wrote: - TUFF TURF: Really? How so? I never saw it, but nothing in the description would lead one to guess cycling is critical to either its plot, imagery or themes; I can't imagine what you're waiting for. You could die tomorrow.

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985) ET, The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Tuff Turf (1985) Bicycle Dreams (2009)

It's a Gordon Leavitt festival going on.

The only other bike-messenger-as-protagonist film I know of, 1986's Quicksilver, also featured a hero on fixed-gear bike. Except that was set in San Francisco, and I feel my back muscles shredding at just the idea of riding around San Fran on a fixed-gear bike.

Can you rank those? OE: Hey, wait. I know you saw Safety Not Guaranteed.

I went to a multiplex last weekend to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Turkey, and walking around the lobby, virtually every poster and cardboard cutout features somebody pointing a big sexy gun at me. At least three of the previews shown before Bilbo and Thorin go to Erebor were set amidst an apocalyptic scenario. You see a film in the wake of Sandy Hook, you can't avoid it.

What I saw, in order of goodness: Moonrise Kingdom Safety Not Guaranteed John Carter Brave Battleship The Amazing Spider-man The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey The Avengers Salmon Fishing in the Yemen Trouble with the Curve * * * Plus: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Ruby Sparks Basically, I didn't see anything all that wonderful. The best new film I saw was on the plane coming back from Africa, but it was a French film that didn't get a stateside release. What I missed, in alphabetical order: [Rec] 3: Genesis 10 Years 17 Girls 21 Jump Street 30 Beats 4:44 Last Day on Earth 5 Broken Cameras 6 Month Rule A Cat in Paris A Little Bit of Heaven A Royal Affair A Thousand Words About Cherry Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter Act of Valor Addicted to Fame Albatross Alex Cross All In: the Poker Movie All In: the Poker Movie American Reunion Americano Amour Anna Karenina Any Day Now Arbitrage Argo ATM Attenberg Bachelorette Backwards Bad Ass Bangkok Revenge Barfi! Battlefield America Beauty and the Beast 3D Being Flynn Bel Ami Beloved Bernie Beware of Mr. Baker Big Miracle Blue Like Jazz Brake Branded Bringing Up Bobby Bully Butter California Solo Casa De Mi Padre Celeste and Jesse Forever Chasing Mavericks Chernobyl Diaries Chicken with Plums Chico & Rita Chimpanzee Chronicle Cirque Du Soleil Worlds Away Cloud Atlas Comes a Bright Day Comic-Con: Episode IV: a Fan's Hope Compliance Contraband Coriolanus Cosmopolis Damsels in Distress Dark Horse Dark Shadows Dark Tide Darling Companion Deadfall Detachment Detention Detropia Diana Vreeland: the Eye Has to Travel Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days Django Unchained Don't Go in the Woods Dr. Seuss' the Lorax Dragon Dredd Ek Tha Tiger Elena Elena End of Watch Excuse Me for Living Extraterrestrial Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Farewell, My Queen Finding Nemo 3D First Position Flight Flying Swords of Dragon Gate Footnote For a Good Time, Call... For Ellen For Greater Glory For the Love of Money Francine Frankenweenie Freelancers Fun Size Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance Girl Model Gone Good Deeds Goodbye First Love Goon Grassroots Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai Haywire Headhunters Hecho En Mexico Hello I Must Be Going Here Here Comes the Boom Hermano Hick High School Hit and Run Hit So Hard Hitchcock Holy Motors Hope Springs Hotel Transylvania House at the End of the Street How to Grow a Band How to Survive a Plague Hyde Park on Hudson Hysteria Ice Age: Continental Drift In Darkness Intruders Jack Reacher Jeff, Who Lives at Home Jesus Henry Christ Jiro Dreams of Sushi Journey 2: the Mysterious Island Joyful Noise Katy Perry: Part of Me Keep the Lights On Keyhole Kill List Killer Joe Killing Them Softly Kumare L!fe Happens Last Call at the Oasis Last Ounce of Courage Lawless Les Miserables Liberal Arts Life of Pi Lincoln Little Birds Little White Lies Lockout LOL Lola Versus Looper (They made a film about Braden Looper?) Loosies Love Birds Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted Madea's Witness Protection Magic Mike Man on a Ledge Marley Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God MIB 3 Middle of Nowhere Mirror Mirror Miss Bala Monsieur Lazhar Monsters, Inc. 3D Musical Chairs My Uncle Rafael Nate & Margaret Not Born to Be Gladiators Not Fade Away October Baby On the Road Once Upon a Time in Anatolia One for the Money Paranormal Activity 4 ParaNorman Parental Guidance Patagonia Rising Peace, Love & Misunderstanding People Like Us Perfect Sense Piranha 3DD Pitch Perfect Playback Playing for Keeps Polisse Post Mortem Premium Rush Price Check Project X Prometheus Promised Land Pusher Rampart Red Dawn Red Hook Summer Red Lights Red Tails Resident Evil: Retribution Return Rise of the Guardians Robot & Frank Rock of Ages Ruby Sparks Rust & Bone Safe Safe House Samsara Savages Seattle Seeking a Friend for the End of the World Seeking Justice Serving Up Richard Seven Psychopaths Side by Side Silent Hill: Revelation 3D Silent House Silent Night Sing Your Song Sinister Skyfall Sleepwalk with Me Smashed Snow White and the Huntsman Solomon Kane Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You Something from Nothing: the Art of Rap Sound of My Voice Sparkle Star Wars: Episode I - the Phantom Menace 3D Step Up 4 Stolen Surviving Proress Take This Waltz Taken 2 Talaash Ted Teddy Bear That's My Boy The Ambassador The Apparition The Assault The Awakening The Barrens The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel The Bourne Legacy The Cabin in the Woods The Campaign The Central Park Five The Cold Light of Day The Collection The Cup The Dark Knight Rises The Day The Deep Blue Sea The Devil Inside The Dictator The Divide The Do-deca-pentathlon The Expendables 2 The Eye of the Storm The Fitzgerald Family Christmas The Five Year Engagement The Flowers of War The Good Doctor The Grey The Guild Trip The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey The Hole The Hunger Games The Hunter The Inbetweeners The Innkeepers The Invisible War The Iron Lady The Island President The Lady The Lion of Judah The Loneliest Planet The Lucky One The Man with the Iron Fists The Master The Moth Diaries The Odd Life of Timothy Green The Oogieloves in the BIG Balloon Adventure The Other Dream Team The Paperboy The Perfect Family The Perks of Being a Wallflower The Pirates! Band of Misfits The Possession The Queen of Versailles The Raid: Redemption The Raven The Runway The Samaritan The Sessions The Silver Linings Playbook The Tall Man The Three Stooges The Tortured The Trouble with Bliss The Turin Horse The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 The Vow The Waiting Room The Watch The Wicker Tree The Woman in Black The Woman in the Fifth The Words Thin Ice Think Like a Man This Is Forty This Means War This Must Be the Place Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie Titanic 3D To Rome with Love To the Arctic 3D Total Recall Touchback Toys in the Attic Trishna Turn Me On, Dammit! Twixt Unconditional Undefeated Underworld: Awakening Union Square Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning Virginia W.E. Wanderlust War of the Buttons We Have a Pope We Need to Talk About Kevin West of Memphis What to Expect When You're Expecting Why Stop Now Woman Thou Art Loosed!: on the 7th Day Won't Back Down Wrath of the Titans Wreck-It Ralph Wuthering Heights You May Not Kiss the Bride Your Sister's Sister Zero Dark Thirty

Dude, Madea's Witness Protection?