Top 15 of the year so far (and then some)

Just so I don't forget, I guess... and 15 cause 10 isn't enough, even mid-way through a year that is decent but far from great for cinema.



1) Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen)

2) I Saw the Devil (Jee-woo Kim)

3) Tabloid (Errol Morris)

4) Rango (Gore Verbinski)

5) 13 Assassins (Takashi Miike)

6) Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami)

7) Meek's Cutoff (Kelly Reichardt)

8) Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Werner Herzog)

9) The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick) (but goddamn that ending)

10) X-Men: First Class (Matthew Vaughn)

11) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II (David Yates)

12) Hanna (Joe Wright)

13) Stake Land (Jim Mickle)

14) Cold Fish (Sion Sono)

15) Attack the Block (Joe Cornish)



Honorable mentions: Hobo with a Shotgun, Super, Machete Maidens Unleashed, Source Code, Milocrorze: A Love Story, Kidnapped (aka Secuestrados)...



And, might was well include it, worst of:5) Scre4m

4) A Good Old Fashioned Orgy

3) Mega Python vs. Gatoroid

2) Sucker Punch

1) Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 (probably will stay worst-of too by year's end)

Nightwing: Escalation Ep. 1 "Exodus"

This is a web-series that is off to a good start. In the interest of full disclosure it's a series written/directed/produced by some friends of mine, so there is some cross-plugging going on here. That said, I offer it up as an example of how to do a good Batman adaptation. One of the things that makes the Gotham universe so captivating is its film-noir aesthetic, how gritty and on the streets, which is the thing that also made Tim Burton's and Christopher Nolan's films so appealing. And I think friendly bias aside, it's a solid example of gritty filmmaking.

So, yeah... check it, share it, can't wait for more episodes!