1. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: I loved this film. Loved every conversation. Every quiet moment. Every pause. You either love this film or you hate it. If you don’t like westerns, stay away. Stay FAR away. Watch 3:10 to Yuma instead. Roger Deakins owns the cinematography.   2. Sunshine: Critics would be baffled I think by this decision but I adored this movie. I’m a huge fan of Science Fiction and this is, by far, the best that I’ve seen in years. I admire Boyle (the director) for his diversity. He went from 28 Days Later (Retro Zombie film) to Millions (Family film) to Sunshine (VERY Science Fiction film). He hit it out of the park. Love this film.  3. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street: I’m a fan of dark material but I’m not normally big on musicals, yet this one worked beautifully for me. To my surprise, I loved the music. I loved the actors. The intimacy of the story took me by surprise. I LOVED the cinematography. I really can’t say enough about this film. It’s dark and bloody so, if you’re expecting a bright little musical, you won’t get it.  4. There Will Be Blood: I’m a BIG fan of Paul Thomas Anderson and an even bigger fan of Daniel-Day Lewis. His performance has been widely discussed as the best in three decades and rightly so. It is a monstrous achievement in the acting world. Besides that, it’s an absorbing film. Not necessarily emotionally involving but I was hypnotized from opening frame to ending frame. Mesmerizing.  5. No Country for Old Men: The best Coen Brother’s film, next to Lebowski for me. Every scene of dialogue is so perfectly executed. Every scene is beautifully written. Javier Bardem is scary as hell and deserves the oscar. Josh Brolin has been overlooked and that’s crap. He’s fantastic. Cinematographer Roger Deakins once again owns. The much talked-about ending has split audiences down the middle. I challenge you to watch it again. pay close attention as to what the characters are discussing. Foreshadowing lingers in every scene. Terrific film.  6. Charlie Wilson’s War: The film has garnered a lot of praise for it’s actors, but the film itself is brilliant. The screenplay is just a comedic masterpiece. I enjoyed every second of this movie. The actors just have tons of fun and although the story may lose focus because of that, I didn’t care. I had a great time with it. Philip and Hanks are amazing. I’ve never been a huge fan of Julia, but she does solid work.  7. Zodiac: Initially, I liked it a lot. I remember it vividly, people in the theatre got extremely restless and complained about the film’s length. I watched it again. I loved it. It is utterly absorbing. Terrific writing. AWESOME cinematography. Knock-out performances. Don’t expect Seven, which is the other film the director did. He’s done that, it’s over. What he made here is not quite as good but great none-the-less.  8. The Mist: Another choice that I’ll get crap for. I was gripped by this film from beginning to end. It did what really good movies do, spark conversation. I loved that, in the end, it wasn’t what was in the mist that mattered but rather the situation between the people that mattered. The ending is incredibly bleak but ballsy. Really admired Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) for that decision. Scary in the right kind of way. 9. Grindhouse: This was by far one of the single greatest movie theatre experiences I have EVER had. I had so much fun here. It’s really a shame that they split the film’s up. I don’t think you could’ve truly experienced Grindhouse without seeing it in theatres anyway but it was terrific fun. I preferred Death Proof over Planet Terror and the Thanksgiving trailer was amazing.  10. Gone Baby Gone: A film that challenged me to question my morals. Such a smartly written, acted and directed film. Casey Affleck is really up-and-coming and just blows it out of the park. Check this one out. Runner Ups: 300, Hot Fuzz, Knocked Up, Rescue Dawn, 3:10 to Yuma, Eastern Promises, Michael Clayton, Juno, American Gangster, The Lookout, Ratatouille, Breach, Superbad, The Simpsons Movie, Ocean’s Thirteen, Paris, Je T’aime, Lust, Caution Films I have yet to see: Once, 4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The Orphanage, Away from Her, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, Lars and the Real Girl, Persepolis, After the Wedding, Into the Wild, La Vie en Rose, The Savages, In the Valley of Elah, The Lives of Others, Control, The Host, The Hoax, A Mighty Heart, You Kill Me

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