Friends, family members, work colleagues, Facebook acquaintances and other strangers in the night,
Don't know how I found the time this year, but the 14th "Bouwman Movie List" is now available and open for criticism. Whether you've been receiving this annual report from the get go, or just now acquiring it for the first time, you are part of a tradition that dates back to the mid-90's. Hopefully, none of you mind seeing this document show up in your e-mail inbox every year in early January. So, here is what I have to say about 2010's group of motion pictures.
I would definitely say that the quality did take a dip in 2010. There were way too many stupid horror films, animated features and very little imagination. The first two films on the list were by far the best, and the next 18 or so picks after that were very hard to rank (not much difference between 3-20). The start of the really substandard work begins at around 80, and that's way too soon for me to start bashing. Anyway, at least the movie prices stayed relatively consistent with years past. Good thing to, because I don't think there are too many banks out there that would've given me a loan for purposes of going to the movies.
The 2010 stats (140 movies seen in the theater) show a small increase in my movie theater consumption from 2009 (133 movies seen in the theater). I peaked in 2007 with188 movie theater experiences, and I think it's pretty safe to say that number will never be reached again. This year 140 represents going to the movies about once every 2.61 days, or approximately three times a
week. Thanks goes out to AMC, MJR, Emagine and Landmark Theaters for keeping ticket prices at $5.00 or less for several of their showings. The concessions may keep going up, but sneaking in candy seems to be easier then ever.
Despite seeing 140 films, there were several highly publicized ones that came out in 2010 that I had absolutely no desire to sit through. As a result, you will not see a review of "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," "The Karate Kid," "The Last Airbender," "Jackass 3D," "Paranormal Activity 2," "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," "Tooth Fairy," "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too?," "Yogi Bear," "Predators," "Saw 3D," "The Last Exorcism," "Legion" or "Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader."
Besides the attached list, here are my annual film awards. My vote may not count, but you're getting my opinion anyway:
Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, "Shutter Island;" Runner-up: Colin Firth, "The King's Speech"
Best Actress: Greta Gerwig, "Greenberg;" Runner-up: Jennifer Lawrence, "Winter's Bone"
Best Supporting Actor: Kevin Kline, "The Extra Man;" Runner-up: Geoffrey Rush, "The King's Speech;"
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, "The Fighter;" Runner-up: Hailee Steinfeld , "True Grit"
Best Director: Christopher Nolan, "Inception;" Runner-up: Martin Scorsese, "Shutter Island"
Here's hoping your 2011 year brings you joy and happiness throughout. As is customary, the attached movie list (with commentary) is numbered in descending order 1-140 (1 being the best and 140 being the worst). Also, history dictates that I must leave you with a movie quote. Tell you what? How about two? Let’s go back to 2000 for a quote #1, and 1998 for quote #2:
"What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?"
-John Cusack as Rob Gordon in “High Fidelity”
"I thought I was going to sneak away tonight. What a glorious night. Every face I see is a memory. It may not be a perfectly perfect memory. Sometimes we had our ups and downs. But we're all together, and you're mine for a night. And I'm going to break precedent and tell you my one candle wish: that you would have a life as lucky as mine, where you can wake up one morning and say, "I don't want anything more." Sixty-five years. Don't they go by in a blink?"
-Anthony Hopkins as William Parrish in "Meet Joe Black"
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