This blog started as my movie marathon — watching a movie a day for a whole year — and has continued as a place for me to write reviews about movies, TV, and various other items.
This is still a work in progress as I migrate from my old platform at Tumblr. For now, you can still access the whole backlog of posts there at http://reelmatt.tumblr.com
As the year progressed and the number of films steadily increased, I began making lists of all the top films I watched along the way. In each of the four lists, I compiled the best of the best along with summaries of each of my reviews and a section awarding top honors to just four of the films (one for Best Comedy, Best Drama, Best Classic, and Best New Release). Now that the year is over, and the list of just the best films is quite extensive, I wanted to create a single repository for them.
Below you’ll find the entire list of all the films to which I awarded five-stars with links to the individual reviews. There’s also a similar, but expanded, list of awards in addition to a few honorable mentions. Some of the categories are self-explanatory, but a few I’ll clarify here. Best Blockbuster covers any big-budget, “tentpole” film whereas Best Indie covers smaller films, though not necessarily an independent release per se. Best Underdog is awarded to the most unexpectedly great film, not necessarily an underdog story. And of course, honorable mentions are the three films that I wanted to give awards to but another stood in their way.
So enjoy this trip down memory lane, and maybe you’ll find the next film you want to watch.
Best Comedy: Dan in Real Life Best Drama: Argo Best Animated Film: Wreck-It Ralph Best Documentary: Life in a Day Best Classic: Gandhi Best New Release: The Kings of Summer Best Blockbuster: Skyfall Best Indie: The Perks of Being a Wallflower Best Romantic Film: Crazy, Stupid, Love. Best Underdog: Dredd
Honorable Mention: The Shining Honorable Mention: Cloud Atlas Honorable Mention: Jurassic Park
Adaptation. Argo The Artist Big Daddy Blood Work Cloud Atlas Crash Crazy, Stupid, Love. Dan in Real Life Dredd The Fugitive Gandhi Gladiator The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Howl’s Moving Castle How to Train Your Dragon Inglourious Basterds It’s a Wonderful Life Jurassic Park The Kings of Summer Kramer vs. Kramer Lars and the Real Girl Lawrence of Arabia Life in a Day Life of Pi The Manchurian Candidate Mrs. Doubtfire Mulan My Left Foot My Week with Marilyn The Next Three Days No Country for Old Men Parental Guidance The Passion of the Christ The Perks of Being a Wallflower Pitch Perfect Ponyo The Prestige Real Steel Restrepo Rise of the Guardians Rudy Scent of a Woman The Secret World of Arrietty Serpico Seven Psychopaths The Shining Side By Side Side Effects Skyfall Star Trek Star Trek: First Contact Terms of Endearment This Film is Not Yet Rated United 93 The Way Way Back Wreck-It Ralph