1) The Muppets
It’s time to get things started- all over again! This film savors everything you ever cared about the Muppets in a fun, nostalgic, and self-referential way that will not only make you laugh out loud, but maybe even cry a little.
2) Drive
I still think that in real life Ryan Gosling might be mildly retarded, but it totally works in his favor (again) in what I like to call a spiritual sequel to the 1978 Walter Hill movie The Driver. The violence is somehow beautiful, the soundtrack is amazing and it was filmed in my backyard of downtown LA. What more could you want?
3) Rise of the Planet of The Apes
The last film in the long wave of summer blockbusters turned out to be not only the best but also the most unexpected. Andy Serkis’ mo-cap performance of the revolutionary ape Caesar should be in contention for an Oscar. I can’t wait for more films in this series! Go apes!
4) Harry Potter 7 part 2
A great ending for (looking back) what was really a great film series. While the first few films are more for little kids, each movie got progressively darker and darker until this final chapter where fan favorites are killed off in pretty horrible ways. Kudos to the casting directors who picked three amazing 10 year olds a decade ago that we would watch grow up into great actors before our very eyes.
5) Super 8
JJ Abrams perfectly captures the nostalgia of the early 80’s through Spielberg tinted glasses. This movie looked and felt like I remember Stand By Me or Goonies was like back in the day. The monster reveal at the end was a bit weak, but JJ has never really been that great at endings (see:Lost).
6) Captain America: First Avenger /Thor/ X-Men: First Class
I’m lumping all of these Marvel comic book movies together because they were all pretty good. I had some big problems with First Class, but that’s mostly because I’m a bigger X-Men fan than the Avengers. Captain America was probably the best out of the three in that it took the campy origins of the character and really made it work for him. Thor was better than I expected although it’s the only one of the three I haven’t really wanted to watch again.
7) Fright Night
I’m not usually big into horror movies- but horror comedies are right up my alley. Fright Night does the remake right. It modernized the story from the 1987 version, cleverly referenced other vampire movies (including Twilight) and also had a cameo from the original vampire Chris Sarandon in it. Extra points for casting former Dr. Who David Tennant. Whoever did this film has my permission to remake Lost Boys or Monster Squad.
8) 30 Minutes or Less
This film flew under the radar for most, but I really enjoyed the director’s last film, Zombieland so I was anxious to see it. I wasn’t disappointed either. All the main cast (Jessie Eisenberg, Aziz Ansari, Danny McBride, and Nick Swardson) are all playing versions of other characters they’ve played before, but they do it so well and the script is so good that you’ll be willing to overlook it.
9) Moneyball
How does screenwriter Aaron Sorkin manage to make boring things so funny and interesting? With The Social Network he made nerds programming computers cool and he does the same here for baseball statistics. I am not a big sports fan but I was engaged and laughing for this entire film- and so was the rest of the theater.
10) Rango
Remember Rango? He’s the animated lizard voiced by Johnny Depp that just happens to look like Hunter S. Thompson? This movie didn’t break any records but it was a fun romp through the genre of Westerns. Throw in a little plot twist from Chinatown and you’ve got yourself one fun movie.
Honorable Mentions: Attack the Block, Hanna, Puss in Boots
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