This week’s edition of the movie rankings are a prime example why you should attend film festivals. Out of the seven new additions – not named Oblivion, The Lords of Salem, and Pain & Gain – four of them came from screenings yours truly attended at the 8th annual Sunscreen Film Festival in St. Petersburg, Florida this past weekend. And The Story of Luke, winner of the fest’s best feature honor, is one of the more complete flicks out there. Seek it out my fellow, Shockers. Here’s how the 2013 movie rankings are shaping up thus far: 1. Side Effects 2. Trance 3. Warm Bodies 4. The Company You Keep  [ Read More ]

In this edition, the arrival of Scary Movie 5, Trance, and The Company You Keep had yours truly making adjustments at the very top and very bottom of the rankings. And let’s just say if I were to do a “Worst Movies of the 21st Century” ranking…one of these cinematic products would surely be on it. Here’s how the 2013 movie rankings are shaping up thus far: 1. Side Effects 2. Trance 3. Warm Bodies 4. The Company You Keep 5. Escape from Planet Earth 6. Oz the Great and Powerful 7. Evil Dead 8. 42 9. The Croods 10. 21 and Over 11. Snitch 12. Spring Breakers 13. Louder  [ Read More ]

With seven new flicks being released in the last week or so, and therefore ranked below, you’d think this guy is knee-deep in award screeners. But that is not the case…I’m just dedicated. Aside from the wide theatrical flicks (Evil Dead, 42, The Place Beyond the Pines), a few under-the-radar limited releases (6 Souls, The Shift, John Dies at the End, Phil Spector) were placed in front of these green eyes. And let’s just say all “sections” of the list had to be modified…including the very bottom. Here’s how the 2013 movie rankings are shaping up thus far: 1. Side Effects 2. Warm Bodies 3. Escape from Planet Earth 4.  [ Read More ]

All the new arrivals sucked-out . G.I. Joe: Retaliation misfired. Room 237 forced the issue to a numbing bore. And as for The Host, although bad, it was one of those “it’s amusing because it’s bad” feelings. Recommend reading the micro-review section this week. Here’s how the 2013 movie rankings are shaping up thus far: 1. Side Effects 2. Warm Bodies 3. Escape from Planet Earth 4. Oz the Great and Powerful 5. The Croods 6. 21 and Over 7. Snitch 8. Spring Breakers 9. Louder than Love: The Grande Ballroom Story 10. Beautiful Creatures 11. Empire State 12. Gangster Squad 13. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters 14. The Iceman  [ Read More ]

Aside from Olympus Has Fallen, many of the flicks that were ranked this week came out of the Gasparilla International Film Festival. Empire State made its world premiere as GIFF’s opening night feature, while festival darling, The Iceman, was one of the last films to screen on the fest’s closing night event. Also weaving its way in was a music documentary, Louder than Love: The Grande Ballroom Story. Here’s how the 2013 movie rankings are shaping up thus far: 1. Side Effects 2. Warm Bodies 3. Escape from Planet Earth 4. Oz the Great and Powerful 5. The Croods 6. 21 and Over 7. Snitch 8. Spring Breakers 9. Louder  [ Read More ]

Oz the Great and Powerful flew in with a lot of hype and expectations. Dead Man Down was just hoping to earn some respect while Admission was a basically a dark-horse armed with a game cast. And as for the audacious, and just completely insane, The ABCs of Death, well, it was just hoping not to die (a.k.a. bottom of the rankings). Here’s how the 2013 movie rankings are shaping up thus far: 1. Side Effects 2. Warm Bodies 3. Escape from Planet Earth 4. Oz the Great and Powerful 5. 21 and Over 6. Snitch 7. Beautiful Creatures 8. Gangster Squad 9. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters 10. Dead  [ Read More ]

Now that we’re officially done honoring the movies of 2012, it’s time to start sizing up the cinematic products for this year. Time to let out The 2013 Movie Rankings. This year’s edition will flow similar to the 2012 weekly series. As yours truly attends screenings for all the major studio releases, along with limited independent products that pass through the office and/or viewed while attending film festivals, they will all be ranked accordingly. As seen during the inaugural release of this juggernaut, things can (and will) be shaken up at any given time throughout the year. An updated ranking order gets unveiled every Monday or Tuesday encompassing the latest  [ Read More ]

Hopefully you’re into sequels because this week’s Movie News Cheat Sheet is full of them. Sam Raimi is aiming to pen “Evil Dead 4” this summer while Jason Blum and the folks at Blumhouse Productions are gearing up for another round of “Sinister.” Meanwhile, there’s been even more buzz than usual surrounding “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” not because Chris Cooper was just cast as Norman Osborn, but because of the trouble sparked by behind-the-scene shots of Shailene Woodley as Mary Jane Watson. If it’s not sequels, it’s remakes. We’ve also got two “Harry Potter” stars on their way to playing major roles in highly anticipated adaptations of iconic source material.  [ Read More ]

Everyone waits until the year is over to compile their “Best of whatever” movie lists. This has become a mundane practice. Time for a bit of a change, kids. If yours truly did not have to cover other topics in addition to penetrating every crevice of film industry (Hollywood, independent, local, etc.), this growing monster of a list might have reached around 240 flicks screened. But since this guy still likes to eat, have some sort of social existence, not look like a stoner (bloodshot eyes), and pay the bills in a timely fashion, we’re cutting this sucker off now. For those just arriving to this weekly party, the goal  [ Read More ]

Everyone waits until the year is over to compile their “Best of whatever” movie lists. This has become a mundane practice. Time for a bit of a change, kids. All the elite veterans come to play on one of the final release weekends of 2012. Tom Cruise, Quentin Tarantino, and Judd Apatow and friends execute what they do best. Meanwhile, the alternate Hitchcock from HBO Films, The Girl, runs well with the big boys. ***Being a voting member of one of the accredited film critic associations recognized by the studios for year-end awards, a ton of “For Your Consideration” screeners will be viewed up until Christmas time; all vying for  [ Read More ]

Everyone waits until the year is over to compile their “Best of whatever” movie lists. This has become a mundane practice. Time for a bit of a change, kids. The year is winding down and yours truly has been catching up on all the limited releases of 2012 since just about all the marquee flicks have been screened. The Guilt Trip is the only notable wide release that got ranked while documentaries Marley and Jiro Dreams of Sushi received some play time this past weekend. And the top ten was given another shuffle. ***Being a voting member of one of the accredited film critic associations recognized by the studios for  [ Read More ]

Everyone waits until the year is over to compile their “Best of whatever” movie lists. This has become a mundane practice. Time for a bit of a change, kids. The 2012 movie season was hoping to save some of the best entries for last, and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was destined to be one of them. Or is it? Also coming over to play stateside, are Best Foreign Pic hopefuls Amour and Holy Motors. And a few other indie flicks found their way into the coveted rankings as well. ***Being a voting member of one of the accredited film critic associations recognized by the studios for year-end awards, a  [ Read More ]

Everyone waits until the year is over to compile their “Best of whatever” movie lists. This has become a mundane practice. Time for a bit of a change, kids. As more independent flicks enter the 2012 movie fray, a few marquee releases such as This Is 40 and Les Miserables arrived to be in consideration for respective film critics’ associations year-end voting deadlines. Besides those two notables, due out around Christmas time, Spike Lee’s Red Hook Summer The Weinstein Company’s Quartet, and a unique documentary titled The Imposter, all made a decent impression when compared to the 200 films reviewed/screened by yours truly up to this point. ***Being a voting  [ Read More ]

Everyone waits until the year is over to compile their “Best of whatever” movie lists. This has become a mundane practice. Time for a bit of a change, kids. ***Being a voting member of one of the accredited film critic associations recognized by the studios for year-end awards, a ton of “For Your Consideration” screeners will be viewed up until Christmas time; all vying for award nods/momentum heading into the 84th Academy Awards*** After a slew of indies and docs entering in earlier this week, some of the more notable contenders are starting to arrive: Silver Linings Playbook benefited from game performances from the cast while Kathryn Bigelow’s cinematic chronicle  [ Read More ]

Everyone waits until the year is over to compile their “Best of whatever” movie lists. This has become a mundane practice. Time for a bit of a change, kids. ***Being a voting member of one of the accredited film critic associations recognized by the studios for year-end awards, a ton of “For Your Consideration” screeners will be viewed up until Christmas time; all vying for award nods/momentum heading into the 84th Academy Awards*** A bunch of documentaries, most of them very good, found their way into the rankings. Two that standout revolve around music in Bad 25 an Shut Up and Play the Hits. As for the other new entries,  [ Read More ]