Mike’s Top Ten of 2010 (REMIX)
I’m in the middle of revisiting the last few years of top ten lists.
I won’t do all of them, don’t you worry. I’m just doing the ones that I made since the blog started.
Well — technically I made all of them since the blog started. But I’m talking about the top ten lists I made for specific years and not for decades. The ones where I ranked stuff specifically and did it with less than a few weeks of time to think about it. Which are 2010, 2011 and 2012. Everything else I’ve had lots of time to sit with and decide my opinion on. So those I don’t need to update. These — these will be interesting.
I’ve updated my 2012 list and 2011 lists, and today is 2010. The thing about this one is that I didn’t really rank anything outside the top ten that year. I just sort of threw in a quasi-tier two thing that wasn’t well-thought out at all. So now I’m gonna update that shit for real.
Here’s my (REMIXED) Top Ten list for 2010: (more…)
Mike’s Top Ten of 2011 (REMIX)
I’m in the middle of revisiting the last few years of top ten lists.
I won’t do all of them, don’t you worry. I’m just doing the ones that I made since the blog started.
Well — technically I made all of them since the blog started. But I’m talking about the top ten lists I made for specific years and not for decades. The ones where I ranked stuff specifically and did it with less than a few weeks of time to think about it. Which are 2010, 2011 and 2012. Everything else I’ve had lots of time to sit with and decide my opinion on. So those I don’t need to update. These — these will be interesting.
So yesterday I updated my 2012 list, which is just about three months old now. Today I’m doing last year’s list, and tomorrow I’ll do 2010′s list. Each will be interesting for their own reasons. This one because 2011 was a hard year to create a top ten list for (and I still think I’ll need some more time to fully create one), and 2010 because I didn’t really list all the films I list now, so there’s a whole different set of work to do there.
That said, here is my (REMIXED) Top Ten list for 2011: (more…)
Mike’s Top Ten of 2012 (REMIX)
I had the idea to do this for last year’s top ten, and then that branched out to doing last year, this year, and the year before last — because that’s what happens with me.
I came up with the list three months ago, so there aren’t too many changes — but I have certainly updated my feelings about the films. I definitely have a better handle on stuff right now, and I have to say — sometimes I worry that I do a bad job of picking my list and that some films are gonna fall off. One, maybe two is acceptable over time. Three or more is not. And now, three months after I came up with the list — if I’m changing my top ten around, that’s not good.
So my hope in doing this was that I still felt the same way about all of the films, and that was my reason for doing this — making sure I’m still making my top ten lists the right way, which is with an eye for the long run, and not putting stuff on there because it’s trendy but rather because I think I’ll still love it as a favorite film of the year in five or ten years.
That in mind, here’s my (REMIXED) Top Ten list of 2012: (more…)
The 2013 Film Release Calendar (Unshot Films & 2012 Holdovers)
The Film Release Calendar is something I do each year to preview the upcoming year’s slate of films. It started as both a way for me to start paying attention to what was coming out (since I was really slacking around the time I started the blog) and to be able to see how well I know myself and how much I know exactly what I’m gonna think about a movie before I even see it.
What I do is, I go through the list of films scheduled to come out in a given year (using my go-to article, Wikipedia’s year in film article), month by month. I write down what they’re about, who’s in them, and generally what my thoughts are on what I see. And then I guess what I think I’m gonna rate it when I see it. Because at this point — I’ve seen so many movies — I know what a movie is gonna be. I’m running about a 70% correct percentage on guessing stuff in January. Plus, that aside, it also gives me a chance to see what movies, come the end of the year, surpassed (or fell way below) my expectations (or everyone’s). So it’s not all just a chance for me to talk about how awesome I am (since, believe me… I’m gonna do that anyway).
Today, we’re looking at all the films that currently have no official release date, and, for the most part, were just announced and haven’t even been shot yet. Odds are most of them won’t come out in 2013, but I figure, if I preview them now, it’ll save me the trouble of having to deal with them year after year. And then it’ll also allow me to maybe get the few late-year additions that I’ve missed the last few years, because I couldn’t believe they could start shooting so late and make a release date. Oh, and we’re also gonna look at the movies I previewed last year that still haven’t come out yet. (more…)
The 2013 Film Release Calendar (Films Without Release Dates; M-Z)
The Film Release Calendar is something I do each year to preview the upcoming year’s slate of films. It started as both a way for me to start paying attention to what was coming out (since I was really slacking around the time I started the blog) and to be able to see how well I know myself and how much I know exactly what I’m gonna think about a movie before I even see it.
What I do is, I go through the list of films scheduled to come out in a given year (using my go-to article, Wikipedia’s year in film article), month by month. I write down what they’re about, who’s in them, and generally what my thoughts are on what I see. And then I guess what I think I’m gonna rate it when I see it. Because at this point — I’ve seen so many movies — I know what a movie is gonna be. I’m running about a 70% correct percentage on guessing stuff in January. Plus, that aside, it also gives me a chance to see what movies, come the end of the year, surpassed (or fell way below) my expectations (or everyone’s). So it’s not all just a chance for me to talk about how awesome I am (since, believe me… I’m gonna do that anyway).
Today, we’re looking at the films that currently have no official release date, but are either filming or in post-production, which means they’re most likely going to come out in 2013 (and whatever doesn’t come out, we’ll just roll over into 2014 and make that release calendar easier to do): (more…)
The 2013 Film Release Calendar (Films Without Release Dates; A-L)
The Film Release Calendar is something I do each year to preview the upcoming year’s slate of films. It started as both a way for me to start paying attention to what was coming out (since I was really slacking around the time I started the blog) and to be able to see how well I know myself and how much I know exactly what I’m gonna think about a movie before I even see it.
What I do is, I go through the list of films scheduled to come out in a given year (using my go-to article, Wikipedia’s year in film article), month by month. I write down what they’re about, who’s in them, and generally what my thoughts are on what I see. And then I guess what I think I’m gonna rate it when I see it. Because at this point — I’ve seen so many movies — I know what a movie is gonna be. I’m running about a 70% correct percentage on guessing stuff in January. Plus, that aside, it also gives me a chance to see what movies, come the end of the year, surpassed (or fell way below) my expectations (or everyone’s). So it’s not all just a chance for me to talk about how awesome I am (since, believe me… I’m gonna do that anyway).
Today, we’re looking at the films that currently have no official release date, but are either filming or in post-production, which means they’re most likely going to come out in 2013 (and whatever doesn’t come out, we’ll just roll over into 2014 and make that release calendar easier to do): (more…)
The 2013 Film Release Calendar: December
The Film Release Calendar is something I do each year to preview the upcoming year’s slate of films. It started as both a way for me to start paying attention to what was coming out (since I was really slacking around the time I started the blog) and to be able to see how well I know myself and how much I know exactly what I’m gonna think about a movie before I even see it.
What I do is, I go through the list of films scheduled to come out in a given year (using my go-to article, Wikipedia’s year in film article), month by month. I write down what they’re about, who’s in them, and generally what my thoughts are on what I see. And then I guess what I think I’m gonna rate it when I see it. Because at this point — I’ve seen so many movies — I know what a movie is gonna be. I’m running about a 70% correct percentage on guessing stuff in January. Plus, that aside, it also gives me a chance to see what movies, come the end of the year, surpassed (or fell way below) my expectations (or everyone’s). So it’s not all just a chance for me to talk about how awesome I am (since, believe me… I’m gonna do that anyway).
Today, we’re looking at all the films that are currently scheduled to come out in December: (more…)
The 2013 Film Release Calendar: November
The Film Release Calendar is something I do each year to preview the upcoming year’s slate of films. It started as both a way for me to start paying attention to what was coming out (since I was really slacking around the time I started the blog) and to be able to see how well I know myself and how much I know exactly what I’m gonna think about a movie before I even see it.
What I do is, I go through the list of films scheduled to come out in a given year (using my go-to article, Wikipedia’s year in film article), month by month. I write down what they’re about, who’s in them, and generally what my thoughts are on what I see. And then I guess what I think I’m gonna rate it when I see it. Because at this point — I’ve seen so many movies — I know what a movie is gonna be. I’m running about a 70% correct percentage on guessing stuff in January. Plus, that aside, it also gives me a chance to see what movies, come the end of the year, surpassed (or fell way below) my expectations (or everyone’s). So it’s not all just a chance for me to talk about how awesome I am (since, believe me… I’m gonna do that anyway).
Today, we’re looking at all the films that are currently scheduled to come out in November: (more…)
The 2013 Film Release Calendar: September
The Film Release Calendar is something I do each year to preview the upcoming year’s slate of films. It started as both a way for me to start paying attention to what was coming out (since I was really slacking around the time I started the blog) and to be able to see how well I know myself and how much I know exactly what I’m gonna think about a movie before I even see it.
What I do is, I go through the list of films scheduled to come out in a given year (using my go-to article, Wikipedia’s year in film article), month by month. I write down what they’re about, who’s in them, and generally what my thoughts are on what I see. And then I guess what I think I’m gonna rate it when I see it. Because at this point — I’ve seen so many movies — I know what a movie is gonna be. I’m running about a 70% correct percentage on guessing stuff in January. Plus, that aside, it also gives me a chance to see what movies, come the end of the year, surpassed (or fell way below) my expectations (or everyone’s). So it’s not all just a chance for me to talk about how awesome I am (since, believe me… I’m gonna do that anyway).
Today, we’re looking at all the films that are currently scheduled to come out in September: (more…)
The 2013 Film Release Calendar: August
The Film Release Calendar is something I do each year to preview the upcoming year’s slate of films. It started as both a way for me to start paying attention to what was coming out (since I was really slacking around the time I started the blog) and to be able to see how well I know myself and how much I know exactly what I’m gonna think about a movie before I even see it.
What I do is, I go through the list of films scheduled to come out in a given year (using my go-to article, Wikipedia’s year in film article), month by month. I write down what they’re about, who’s in them, and generally what my thoughts are on what I see. And then I guess what I think I’m gonna rate it when I see it. Because at this point — I’ve seen so many movies — I know what a movie is gonna be. I’m running about a 70% correct percentage on guessing stuff in January. Plus, that aside, it also gives me a chance to see what movies, come the end of the year, surpassed (or fell way below) my expectations (or everyone’s). So it’s not all just a chance for me to talk about how awesome I am (since, believe me… I’m gonna do that anyway).
Today, we’re looking at all the films that are currently scheduled to come out in August: (more…)
The 2013 Film Release Calendar: July
The Film Release Calendar is something I do each year to preview the upcoming year’s slate of films. It started as both a way for me to start paying attention to what was coming out (since I was really slacking around the time I started the blog) and to be able to see how well I know myself and how much I know exactly what I’m gonna think about a movie before I even see it.
What I do is, I go through the list of films scheduled to come out in a given year (using my go-to article, Wikipedia’s year in film article), month by month. I write down what they’re about, who’s in them, and generally what my thoughts are on what I see. And then I guess what I think I’m gonna rate it when I see it. Because at this point — I’ve seen so many movies — I know what a movie is gonna be. I’m running about a 70% correct percentage on guessing stuff in January. Plus, that aside, it also gives me a chance to see what movies, come the end of the year, surpassed (or fell way below) my expectations (or everyone’s). So it’s not all just a chance for me to talk about how awesome I am (since, believe me… I’m gonna do that anyway).
Today, we’re looking at all the films that are currently scheduled to come out in July: (more…)
The 2013 Film Release Calendar: June
The Film Release Calendar is something I do each year to preview the upcoming year’s slate of films. It started as both a way for me to start paying attention to what was coming out (since I was really slacking around the time I started the blog) and to be able to see how well I know myself and how much I know exactly what I’m gonna think about a movie before I even see it.
What I do is, I go through the list of films scheduled to come out in a given year (using my go-to article, Wikipedia’s year in film article), month by month. I write down what they’re about, who’s in them, and generally what my thoughts are on what I see. And then I guess what I think I’m gonna rate it when I see it. Because at this point — I’ve seen so many movies — I know what a movie is gonna be. I’m running about a 70% correct percentage on guessing stuff in January. Plus, that aside, it also gives me a chance to see what movies, come the end of the year, surpassed (or fell way below) my expectations (or everyone’s). So it’s not all just a chance for me to talk about how awesome I am (since, believe me… I’m gonna do that anyway).
Today, we’re looking at all the films that are currently scheduled to come out in June: (more…)
The 2013 Film Release Calendar: May
The Film Release Calendar is something I do each year to preview the upcoming year’s slate of films. It started as both a way for me to start paying attention to what was coming out (since I was really slacking around the time I started the blog) and to be able to see how well I know myself and how much I know exactly what I’m gonna think about a movie before I even see it.
What I do is, I go through the list of films scheduled to come out in a given year (using my go-to article, Wikipedia’s year in film article), month by month. I write down what they’re about, who’s in them, and generally what my thoughts are on what I see. And then I guess what I think I’m gonna rate it when I see it. Because at this point — I’ve seen so many movies — I know what a movie is gonna be. I’m running about a 70% correct percentage on guessing stuff in January. Plus, that aside, it also gives me a chance to see what movies, come the end of the year, surpassed (or fell way below) my expectations (or everyone’s). So it’s not all just a chance for me to talk about how awesome I am (since, believe me… I’m gonna do that anyway).
Today, we’re looking at all the films that are currently scheduled to come out in May: (more…)
The 2013 Film Release Calendar: April
The Film Release Calendar is something I do each year to preview the upcoming year’s slate of films. It started as both a way for me to start paying attention to what was coming out (since I was really slacking around the time I started the blog) and to be able to see how well I know myself and how much I know exactly what I’m gonna think about a movie before I even see it.
What I do is, I go through the list of films scheduled to come out in a given year (using my go-to article, Wikipedia’s year in film article), month by month. I write down what they’re about, who’s in them, and generally what my thoughts are on what I see. And then I guess what I think I’m gonna rate it when I see it. Because at this point — I’ve seen so many movies — I know what a movie is gonna be. I’m running about a 70% correct percentage on guessing stuff in January. Plus, that aside, it also gives me a chance to see what movies, come the end of the year, surpassed (or fell way below) my expectations (or everyone’s). So it’s not all just a chance for me to talk about how awesome I am (since, believe me… I’m gonna do that anyway).
Today, we’re looking at all the films that are currently scheduled to come out in April: (more…)
The 2013 Film Release Calendar: March
The Film Release Calendar is something I do each year to preview the upcoming year’s slate of films. It started as both a way for me to start paying attention to what was coming out (since I was really slacking around the time I started the blog) and to be able to see how well I know myself and how much I know exactly what I’m gonna think about a movie before I even see it.
What I do is, I go through the list of films scheduled to come out in a given year (using my go-to article, Wikipedia’s year in film article), month by month. I write down what they’re about, who’s in them, and generally what my thoughts are on what I see. And then I guess what I think I’m gonna rate it when I see it. Because at this point — I’ve seen so many movies — I know what a movie is gonna be. I’m running about a 70% correct percentage on guessing stuff in January. Plus, that aside, it also gives me a chance to see what movies, come the end of the year, surpassed (or fell way below) my expectations (or everyone’s). So it’s not all just a chance for me to talk about how awesome I am (since, believe me… I’m gonna do that anyway).
Today, we’re looking at all the films that are currently scheduled to come out in March: (more…)
The 2013 Film Release Calendar: February
The Film Release Calendar is something I do each year to preview the upcoming year’s slate of films. It started as both a way for me to start paying attention to what was coming out (since I was really slacking around the time I started the blog) and to be able to see how well I know myself and how much I know exactly what I’m gonna think about a movie before I even see it.
What I do is, I go through the list of films scheduled to come out in a given year (using my go-to article, Wikipedia’s year in film article), month by month. I write down what they’re about, who’s in them, and generally what my thoughts are on what I see. And then I guess what I think I’m gonna rate it when I see it. Because at this point — I’ve seen so many movies — I know what a movie is gonna be. I’m running about a 70% correct percentage on guessing stuff in January. Plus, that aside, it also gives me a chance to see what movies, come the end of the year, surpassed (or fell way below) my expectations (or everyone’s). So it’s not all just a chance for me to talk about how awesome I am (since, believe me… I’m gonna do that anyway).
Today, we’re looking at all the films that are currently scheduled to come out in February: (more…)
The 2013 Film Release Calendar: January
2012 is over, so naturally it’s time to look ahead to 2013.
I’m on my third year of doing this, so I’m starting to have this down to a system. I’ll be previewing more films this year than I ever have. I know how to do this now. And this year, I’m making things even easier on myself by doing it only one month at a time instead of two. I’m even splitting the articles into two parts, doing the first half of the year now, and then the second half in a few weeks, since the last half of the year is always the one that ends up getting changed. So I’m giving myself as much time as possible for stuff to fall in to place.
Oh, and in case you don’t know what these are — every January, I go over all the movies that are scheduled and even not yet scheduled for release that year. (This year there are gonna be a lot that aren’t yet scheduled. Just wait.) I go over what they are, brief synopsis, who’s in them, whatever, and then I write what I think I’m going to think about them, or what my expectations are of them based on what I have. Just something to go back to later on. Mostly because I feel like I know myself pretty well, so I like to see how close I can guess my opinions on movies based on almost nothing except a synopsis, a cast/director and a release date. (After two years, I’m running around 67-70% correct.) Plus, it also helps to let me know which films end up surprising me at the end of the year, for better or for worse.
So, let’s start off another year by previewing all the films that are coming out this month (as scheduled): (more…)
Mike’s Top Ten of 2012
Another year, another Top Ten list.
I was very pleased with this year. Definitely more so than 2011. This year felt like it had a lot of strong choices for inclusion on this list. Last year’s list was probably easier to compile, but that’s because I knew right off the bat seven or eight of the films that would make it. This year, I didn’t really know what was gonna make it, but I did know I’d have a lot of great films to choose from. And overall, it just felt like I was happier with the amount of choices available to me for this list.
In case you didn’t know — what I do every year is list my ten favorite films of the year, along with an 11-20 (as I do on all my top ten lists for each year), and then I also create lists of second and third tier films, which are basically my way of ranking as many movies as possible that I liked. The top ten are my absolute favorites, the 11-20 were my next favorite, and so on and so forth. The entire thing ends up being a top ten plus fifty more films. Last year, I struggled to round out tier 3. This year I had to cut off an extra ten films I could have included. So overall this felt like a strong year. Or maybe that’s because I wasn’t as negative about everything this year.
The other thing to note, before we get into the films, is that this is the only time I really ever rank my top ten. After this, it pretty much reverts to alphabetical order. It’s not really about the numbers so much as what’s on the list. I also, as I always say, try to think of the long game when I rank these films. I try to think of films that are most likely to remain on my top ten list when I revisit it in one, two, five years. So let’s get right into it. Here are my Top Ten Films of 2012: (more…)
Films I Haven’t Seen: The Dirty Secrets
You know that secret list everyone has of films they haven’t seen? Not the list they tell everyone about. I’m talking the one that you don’t ever mention, because no one would ever guess that you hadn’t seen those movies, and it would be really embarrassing if they did. I’m talking the really big stuff. Of course, what constitutes “big” depends on how deep you are into movies. At my level, there isn’t much. Believe me. I tried.
The impetus for this article came when, yesterday, for the first time, I watched Rashomon. For some reason, I made it almost 24 years without seeing it. For someone like me, having seen all the movies I’ve seen, no one would even think to guess that I haven’t seen Rashomon. And that was my big secret. Of course, Rashomon is one of those films where, even if you haven’t seen it, you’ve seen it. Everyone knows the plot of the film because it’s been repeated so often. But I’d never actually sat down to watch the film. And that’s what counts. Kind of like how, last year, until I saw it for the Quest, I’d never actually watched Rear Window. Weird, right?
And we all have that list. That “dirty little secret” list. The films that you’re so embarrassed you haven’t seen, if you even see the title of the film in print, you get paranoid. “Is my face turning red? They’re gonna know. They know I haven’t seen it.” And god help you if it comes up in conversation. You have to stay deathly silent. But not silent enough so as to make it obvious. Because you can live with your friends knowing you haven’t seen Schindler’s List. But telling them you haven’t seen The Dark Knight — out of the question. They’d look at you sideways. “How the hell did you manage to make it this far without having seen that?”
So, in the interest of getting things out in the open, I’m going to give you my list of films that you’d think I’d have seen by now, but in reality, I haven’t. (more…)
The 2012 Film Release Calendar (Films Without Release Dates)
This is more like — films without official release dates.
I used to call it “The Rest Of,” but, that was last year, and last year I wasn’t really on top of my shit the way I am now. Last year, it was like, “What films are scheduled, then what films do I definitely know are coming out because I’m excited for them?” I limited that second list to 30! That was dumb. I missed shit like J. Edgar. So what I did this year was — real searching.
This year, I have a shitload of films that are either filming, in post-production, or are completed. Or are guaranteed to come out, because they always come out (looking at you, Paranormal Activity…). That’s the upside. The downside? There are lots of them. Like, a lot a lot.
I tried to put the ones that seem like they’re gonna go in certain months in those articles (and actually, I’ll probably do some more as I write them up, which won’t make any difference to you, since I’m doing this all well in advance, and everything will be finalized by the time this gets posted. Not that you needed to know that, but sometimes the man behind the curtain likes to have some fun. Just don’t interrupt his special alone time). (more…)
The 2012 Film Release Calendar (November & December)
This is it, folks. The end.
Of course, not really the end, because this is Hollywood, and even when something ends, there’s always the possibility of a sequel somewhere.
In this case, there actually will be a sequel. Tomorrow I’ll be posting all the films without release dates. (Lots of them, too. I won’t make the same mistake I made last year.)
But before we do that — we have November and December to deal with. They’re pretty simple — Oscar movies and big budget stuff designed to soak up all the money that the quality films don’t make. There’s always your franchises that gravitate around Thanksgiving and Christmas, and outside of that, it’s pretty much all Oscar stuff, thereby making it my favorite time of year.
So, here are November and December, as they’re scheduled for 2012: (more…)
The 2012 Film Release Calendar (September & October)
Ah, the fall. If there are two months I really hate, it’s September and October. Because at least with January and February, the Oscars are going on and the films that are out don’t matter. In the fall — there’s nothing.
It’s common knowledge that the first two weeks of September are the worst of the release calendar (hence the reason there isn’t anything scheduled before the 14th this year). And even then, not that much real quality comes out in September or October. At least, in bulk. Most of the time is spent compiling your list of awards films to see and waiting for them to come out. Say there are 20 films in September and October. Maybe like, five of them really matter. Plus you get the Halloween shit — it’s not fun.
This year seems just as barren as the rest of them, with the same requisite handful of decent-looking films. At least we have those, right? (more…)
The 2012 Film Release Calendar (July & August)
Today, we’re looking at the peak of the summer, and the steep drop as everything comes crashing to an end. July is, without a doubt, the month where all the heavy hitters come to bat. It’s the 4-5-6 of the lineup. These are your homerun hitters. And then August is basically the rest of the lineup. The first week is okay, since you get a July run-over. But as you get closer to Labor Day, the films get worse and worse, and they’re basically dumped there because they’re technically summer films, but basically you know Hollywood has no hope in them whatsoever to succeed, and then by the time you get to September, absolutely nothing is out.
The other great thing about the summer is that you can pretty much guess the films exactly. They’re all engineered to be of a certain quality, and very rarely go higher than that. And you know which films are gonna win the weekend. It’s great. I barely have to do any work.
Only thing, though — how bad does this summer look? It started yesterday with May and June. But here — take out Dark Knight and what then? Spider-Man, sure. If they do it correctly, it’ll be entertaining, but we saw this exact same story (for the most part) ten years ago. There are only two other films in these months that seem remotely interesting, and neither of those are really big budget films. The point of the summer in modern Hollywood has been the blockbuster. Is anyone interested in any of these? We really seem to be digging for rock bottom, creatively, aren’t we?
On that note, enjoy the rest of the summer, everybody! (more…)
The 2012 Film Release Calendar (May & June)
Ah, the summer.
What I love about the summer is how sparse it is. Earlier in the year (especially 2012. Have you seen March?), you’ll see three, four, even five films jockeying for a weekend. Not here. Here it’s — this film is opening, and it will win the weekend. And occasionally, you’ll see them counterprogram a film because the other one doesn’t carry over to that audience. Like when you saw in December, Sherlock Holmes and Alvin and the Chipmunks coming out on the same day. There’s no worry there, since neither is really stealing audience from the other.
The summer is so easy to talk about. One film a weekend, and that’s it. And you already know whether or not that film is going to be good or not. Blockbusters are such that you know exactly what you’re getting, within a certain range, and usually the only difference is, “Wow, that was much worse than I expected,” or, “Wow, that was fun like I expected, and the quality was actually passable too.”
So, let’s take a look at the summer, the part of the year I hate the most (because it’s exactly what’s wrong with the business today). (more…)
