My Top 10 Action Movies of the 2010s

Action movies are some of the most underrated, misunderstood, and impressive movies out there, and in the past several years, there have been some incredible ones. This list is dedicated to everyone out there who is sick of hearing people mindlessly call great movies "mindless" just because they feature explosions. Prudes. Explosions are awesome...

10. Pacific Rim
Directed by Guillermo Del Toro

Fans of Godzilla should appreciate this one. A sci/fi action epic about giant monsters battling giant robots for the fate of the Earth. A basic concept, but thanks to the style and finesse of Guillermo Del Toro, this movie is able to escalate above standard popcorn fare and into the realm of totally awesome. Though I'm not usually a fan of distinctly CGI action, the animation and approach this movie takes to the battle scenes totally capture the massive scope and epic nature the film was going for, making it a visual treat, as well as a badass kaiju vs. rock'em sock'em robot smash-fest.

My Top 10 Movies of 2015 (so far)

Guess who's back?
Back again?
I am back.
Sorry.

And now for a list, because that is how the Jeff do. These are my top 10 favorite movies of the year so far. No honorable mentions, no tom foolery. This is serious business.

10. A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Directed by Ana Lily Amirpour

Not the most original vampire movie out there (it shares a lot of similar themes with Let The Right One In), but still a very welcome inclusion to the largely poor horror sub-genre -- even though I would be hard-pressed to call this a "horror" movie at all. Though technically American, this Iranian pseudo-romantic horror drama is stylish, beautiful, and thoroughly engrossing from start to finish.

My Top 5 Biggest Oscar Mistakes of 2014

A quick write-up of the 5 biggest, stupid, dumb mistakes the Oscars made this year when they announced their nominees. Keep in mind this post is before the winners themselves are announced, so I'm only including bad choices for nominations and the corrections I would have made to rectify them.

5. Life Itself isn't the Best Documentary...?

Name 5 documentaries from 2014 that are better than Life Itself. Can't do it? Neither can anyone else. This emotional film about the life and work of Roger Ebert was one of the best documentaries of the decade, and won over everyone who watched it. This is the kind of movie that is practically designed to appeal to the film crowd, and its exclusion here is about as glaring as if they hadn't nominated The Artist for Best Picture back in the 2011 awards year.

My Top 25 Movies of 2014: Part II (#10-1)

Miss the rest of my top 25 movies of 2014? Look no further, for I just so happen to have a link for it somewhere in here...ah, here it is: *points at this link*. Click on that and it will send you to part 1! Now, onto my top 10. And it is quite a spectacular top 10, I might add.

10. Under The Skin
Directed by Jonathan Glaser

One of the most bizarre, creepy, and imaginative sci-fi/horror movies of the decade, this is a movie that focuses more on the subtleties of its character development and atmosphere than anything else. Scarlett Johansson gives one of the best performances of her career as one of the most interesting and complex roles she's taken on, with great support from a strong cast of characters. All of this paired with great music and equally awesome visuals help make this one of the best movies of the year.

My Top 25 Movies of 2014: Part I (#25-11)

I've counted down my favorite male performances of the year, my favorite female performances of the year, and (essentially) my least-favorite/most disappointing movies of the year. But now that I've gotten the lists no one cares about out of the way, it's time to make the list a few less people will not care about: my favorite movies of the year!

As always, this list is entirely subjective, so any and all comments about how wrong I am for liking something more than something else should be kept to a minimum -- in other words, quiet in the peanut gallery!

25. Enemy
Directed by Denis Villeneuve

Bizarre and slightly chaotic, this dark, symbolic tale of a man and his doppelganger is both an excellent showcase of Jake Gyllenhaal's skills as an actor and a great example of the effectiveness of a psychological drama when it doesn't succumb to the predictable tendencies often found within the genre.

My Top 10 Male Performances of 2014

The male version of my last post, obviously. The female list was a tad shallow, but this one was really difficult for me to make, since there were almost twice as many performances I would like to have included on this list, so bear with me. Any disagreements? Let me know what you think. Obviously, this list is just my opinion, though, so do try to be civil in making your counter-points: there are children present.

10. Joaquin Phoenix - Inherent Vice

A strange combination of Jeff Bridges' The Dude and Johnny Depp's Raoul Duke, Phoenix goes all out here (as usual for him) and gives one of the most entertaining performances of the year as a whacked-out private investigator in a drug-addled '70s Los Angeles setting. A trippy movie with a lead performance just insane and hilarious enough to match the tone.

My Top 10 Female Performances of 2014

A fairly self-explanatory post, this is my quick write-up of the top 10 female performances of 2014 as I see it: favorite, best, etc. Enjoy.



10. Carrie Coon - Gone Girl

Providing excellent support in a movie totally dominated by a single performance, Carrie Coon's portrayal of a sister caught up in the betrayal, lies, and complexity of her brothers highly publicized missing persons case is one of the more subdued performances of the film, but easily one of the most compelling and genuinely moving.

My Top 10 UGH Movies of 2014

What makes a movie "ugh"? Lots of things. I'll let you know better after this lovely picture.



Ahh... now wasn't that nice?

This isn't a list of the worst movies of the year. These are the movies I felt failed in some way to capture what they were hoping to achieve, or movies that I felt were over-hyped, or other reasons I will explain later. Largely, this is a list of disappointing movies for me. Generally, I don't bother watching movies I know I won't enjoy (hence me choosing not to watch creatures like 'Blended'), so when I put a movie on or go to the movies, I usually put at least a little thought into it. Sometimes, I know what I'm going into - such being the case with Ouija, Annabelle, Dracula Untold, I Frankenstein, etc. I did not expect these to be good movies, so I could not be too let down by them. The movies that are on this list are the ones I had at least some expectations for...that, or they're so profoundly stupid, they make the list just on the principle of it.

So, before I bore my audience to oblivion, here is the list. Enjoy.