Somebody to Love

Currently pushing: "Public Speaking," the recent Fran Lebowitz documentary by Martin Scorsese. We all need a person like Fran in our lives or we'll continue to feel empty inside. I will anyway. Lebowitz is so hilarious and quotable that I can't pick a favorite thing she's said. Check out the preview clip of the film and then get some HBO. Then invite me over.

In 2009, I watched a lot of movies in the theater but after cleaning out the recent holiday season, I finished 2010 with more than forty films experienced on the big screen. Possibly a personal record but who's counting. It's not like I'm a dork and keep a spreadsheet about this stuff. During 2010, I watched thirteen "A" rated movies, thirteen "B," eleven "C", and five "D's." Not bad right?

Those "A" movies were: Visual Acoustics, Iron Man 2, Toy Story 3, The Secret in Their Eyes, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, Step Up 3, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Catfish, The Town, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Love and Other Drugs, and Blue Valentine. I'm a sucker for end of the year lists -- who isn't -- and it seems like Toy Story 3 is the trendy "Best of 2010" answer but my favorite was Scott Pilgrim or Blue Valentine. Technically I watched Blue Valentine in 2011, just a few days ago, but I'm going to include it in the year end wrap up. I need to rewatch both to determine a winner. Actually whatever, Blue Valentine was my favorite film of 2010, easily.

At the other end of the spectrum, the list of terrible movies were: Percy Jackson, Clash of the Titans, Dinner for Schmucks, Expendables, and Secretariat. Oh and I had one of the worst movie experiences of my life this past year. It was so bad that I refused to mention its name or talk about the film afterward to anybody, out of fear they loved it and our friendship would have to be immediately tossed aside.

So imagine my surprise when I see the film on Quentin Tarantino's favorite movies of 2010 list. He says that it's got "the best credit scene of the year....maybe best credit scene of the decade. One of the greatest in cinema history." Watch the opening credits and see for yourself. If you can stick with it for longer than fifteen seconds, maybe you'll enjoy the film. I just know that by the time the end credits rolled I wanted to stab my eyes out and give myself a concussion to forget the preceding two hours. Seriously, the movie experience was that bad. Going through cinema hell was a bonding experience my friend and I will (tragically) never forget.

Movies I missed in 2010 but will be Netflixing shortly: Please Give, The Ghost Writer, Machete, Fish Tank, Marwencol, Inside Job, Mother, Buried, Tangled. I was thinking about how much I'd pay for a monthly all you can watch pass. I think I'd pay $50. That's about how much I spend anyway, if not more, and when you throw in concessions, I drop most my entertainment budget at cineplexes near me. In related news, I haven't movie hopped in New York yet but I'm gonna try soon. The security here is like so much tighter. Boo on that.

To finish this post off, the best movie posters of 2010 via kottke.