Have not heard of Moneyball, but I personally loved Rango. I mean, you can't beat a lizard at anything (:

It's getting a lot of Oscar buzz, so how's [b]The Descendants[/b]? Well, a good bit better than I expected. Alexander Payne is the director of Sideways, a movie that critics loved but I didn't. I was afraid this film would be more of the same, but thankfully it's a more mature film that doesn't try to make awkward comedy out of grief. What laughs there are seem to arise fairly naturally, the acting is roundly good, and the film becomes rather poignant by its end. It's not the kind of movie I would ever really love, but it's one I enjoyed. Judy Greer is especially good in her few scenes and unfortunately will probably be overlooked. Also I think I forgot to add [b]Attack the Block[/b] which I also really liked. This is not a mature film. It has a low budget, sort of stock characters, ties up its loose ends far too easily and neatly, and has an uneven mix of genres. That said, it's also the most purely entertaining movie of the year (with the possible exception of Super 8). It's fast-paced, very funny, throws in a bit of horror and action, and it's British! So British in fact that I had to use subtitles for much of the movie. Seriously, everyone in this film sounds like Ali G. Allow it. 1. Drive - 8/10 2. The Adjustment Bureau - 8/10 3. Moneyball - 8/10 4. Hanna - 7/10 5. Super 8 - 7/10 6. Martha Marcy May Marlene - 7/10 7. Horrible Bosses - 7/10 8. Rango - 7/10 9. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - 7/10 10. The Ward - 7/10 11. In Time - 7/10 12. Source Code - 7/10 [b]13. Attack the Block - 7/10[/b] [b]14. The Descendants - 7/10[/b] 15. Contagion - 7/10 16. The Lincoln Lawyer - 7/10 17. Limitless - 6.5/10 18. Insidious - 6/10 19. Midnight in Paris - 6/10 20. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - 6/10 21. Unknown - 6/10 22. X-Men: First Class - 5/10 23. Thor - 5/10 24. Crazy, Stupid, Love - 5/10 25. We Bought A Zoo - 5/10 26. Bridesmaids - 4/10 27. Everything Must Go - 4/10 28. Conan O'Brien Can't Stop - 4/10 29. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - 3/10 30. Just Go With It - 2/10

So...this is getting a little ridiculous and I realize that. I'm seeing lots of movies (still) that I think are good or very good but so few that are great or outstanding. As a result my 7/10 territory is becoming congested. I'm splitting my list into tiers which might make it easier and also give me some flexibility in terms of order (which is about to change). But before that, let's add a few more movies. [b]Margin Call[/b] was on the verge of greatness, at least initially. It started out with this really palpable sense of dread and a realistic look at downsizing. The early scene where Stanley Tucci gets laid off is great, and so is the moment when Zachary Quinto realizes something bad is going down and starts trying to pull his coworkers back to take a look at it. However, the script quickly becomes repetitive, as people keep saying things like "It looks ugly" and "This is bad." Then we have this loop where one person realizes the magnitude of the issue and then explains it to a superior who originally doesn't get it, but then realizes the magnitude of the issue and then explains it to a superior, etc. I swear the first hour of the movie consists of people getting worried and slowly climbing the chain of command with the bad news, which is something about risk management and variation within a system and selling useless securities and a bunch of other banking terms I know absolutely nothing about and still know nothing about having seen the film. Apparently it's based on a real life event that occurred near the beginning of the 2008 financial downturn in the country. Anyway, the film smolders but never really takes off - perhaps it's constrained by the fact that it's telling a (sort of) true story. The upside is that the film looks good and boasts an impressive roster of actors who all do good work. Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Stanley Tucci, Zachary Quinto, Paul Bettany and others give interesting, commanding performances and so it's worth watching just for all of them. The ending is something of an anticlimax, and the movie is filled with a sort of existential brooding but never gives you any idea of what the events taking place are about to unleash on the world market and how others will be affected by it. Mostly what we see is overpaid number crunchers worrying about losing their own jobs. It's a solid thriller but without the relevance or panache of something like Up in the Air or The Social Network, or even this year's Moneyball - though comparison with those films is at least complimentary. Then we have [b]Our Idiot Brother[/b], aka Our Idiot Movie. Is this a comedy? I don't think I laughed once. Poor Paul Rudd is at his most likable but the story just isn't funny. It's certainly not a drama disguised as a comedy, it's just a comedy that didn't work. Oh and it showed me Steve Coogan's balls, but kept Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer and Elizabeth Banks covered up. Thank for nothing, movie. [b]Great[/b] 1. Drive 2. The Adjustment Bureau 3. Moneyball [b]Very Good[/b] 4. Hanna 5. Super 8 6. Martha Marcy May Marlene 7. Horrible Bosses 8. Rango 9. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo 10. Attack the Block 11. The Ward [b]Good[/b] 12. In Time 13. Source Code 14. The Descendants 15. Contagion 16. Margin Call 17. The Lincoln Lawyer [b]Decent[/b] 18. Limitless 19. Insidious 20. Midnight in Paris 21. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows 22. Unknown [b]Average[/b] 23. X-Men: First Class 24. Thor 25. Crazy, Stupid, Love 26. We Bought A Zoo [b]Weak[/b] 27. Bridesmaids 28. Everything Must Go 29. Conan O'Brien Can't Stop [b]Bad[/b] 30. Our Idiot Brother 31. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 32. Just Go With It

I'm willing to bet next to none of you have heard of [b]Bellflower[/b], the indie romance/revenge story that made a proverbial splash at the Sundance Film Festival and that no regular movie-going person actually saw. The only reason I found out about it was because one of my favorite critics listed it as his number 2 choice for the year and I was in the mood for something different. Well I got something different - something weird - but perhaps not altogether different or weird enough for me to wallow in its weirdness and let that be enough without calling out its insufficiencies as a narrative film. This isn't quite Gummo territory (thank heavens for that) but you're at least headed in that direction. It's like if Bill and Ted were obsessed with Mad Max instead of Eddie Van Halen, and spent all their time outfitting muscle cars with flame-spitting exhaust pipes. The movie is kind of a low-key naturalistic romance during the first half, and then becomes a series of feverish violent displays of people acting out of hurt and betrayal. It's ultra low budget but has a nice look to it. The biggest problem is that the narrative is out of chronology, but only sometimes. There are long stretches where you forget that you might not be in the present, as it were. Then when the editing starts cutting the story into smaller pieces, it gets harder to know if what you're watching is supposed to be real or not. I have my take on it but I couldn't say with any real confidence that my interpretation is correct. The intensity does ramp up at the end, but it might be a case of too much too late for some viewers who had trouble keeping focus during the first 80 minutes and then are shocked at the cruelty displayed in the final act. For my part it kept my interest but it also felt longer than it was and the reaction it left me with was trying to nail down what exactly had happened so I would know what to think of what I just watched. [b]Great[/b] 1. Drive 2. The Adjustment Bureau 3. Moneyball [b]Very Good[/b] 4. Hanna 5. Super 8 6. Martha Marcy May Marlene 7. Horrible Bosses 8. Rango 9. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo 10. Attack the Block 11. The Ward [b]Good[/b] 12. In Time 13. Source Code 14. The Descendants 15. Contagion 16. Margin Call 17. The Lincoln Lawyer [b]Decent[/b] 18. Limitless 19. Insidious 20. Midnight in Paris [b]21. Bellflower[/b] 22. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows 23. Unknown [b]Average[/b] 24. X-Men: First Class 25. Thor 26. Crazy, Stupid, Love 27. We Bought A Zoo [b]Weak[/b] 28. Bridesmaids 29. Everything Must Go 30. Conan O'Brien Can't Stop [b]Bad[/b] 31. Our Idiot Brother 32. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 33. Just Go With It

At 46 films now - the list even looks different from my article last month. Just added [b]Drive Angry[/b], which was going for a similar thing as Piranha 3D last year, but is significantly less shocking (though frankly Piranha sets such a high bar for schlock it's probably not a fair comparison). This is what a grindhouse movie would be if you took all the grit out of it. Somehow even the constant bloody violence just becomes a rumble of noise. There's activity in this movie more than action. It all sounds good on paper - Nick Cage escapes from hell to avenge his daughter and save both his granddaughter and earth, pursued by a suited supernatural henchman while driving classic muscle cars and having shootouts during sex. It sounds super awesome. But on the screen it isn't that great. For one thing, it steals the "having sex while shooting the bad guys" scene from Shoot 'Em Up, so it's sort of been there done that (plus Monica Bellucci > Charlotte Ross). With all the tongue-in-cheek, ultra-violent exploitation throwbacks in recent years (Planet Terror, Machete, My Bloody Valentine, Crank, Snakes on a Plane) the ones that work best are the ones that play it more or less straight. While Drive Angry isn't nearly as annoying as Rubber in its self-consciousness (and a little self-awareness isn't bad) it somehow never achieves real surprise, thrill, or even revulsion. You can't force a so-bad-it's-good cult hit. Drive Angry is passable if you're bored, but if you're really craving something depraved (and what other reason is there to watch this unless you just love Cage or Fichtner) you'd be better off with Piranha or Planet Terror - movies with real edge. [b]Great[/b] 1. Drive 2. The Adjustment Bureau 3. Moneyball 4. 50/50 5. Mission:Impossible - Ghost Protocol 6. Warrior 7. The Tree of Life 8. Shame [b]Very Good[/b] 9. Hanna 10. Super 8 11. Martha Marcy May Marlene 12. Attack the Block 13. Horrible Bosses 14. Rango 15. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo 16. The Ides of March 17. The Ward [b]Good[/b] 18. Source Code 19. The Guard 20. In Time 21. The Descendants 22. Contagion 23. Margin Call 24. The Lincoln Lawyer [b]Decent[/b] 25. Limitless 26. 13 Assassins 27. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 28. The Artist 29. The Help 30. Insidious 31. Midnight in Paris 32. Bellflower 33. My Week With Marilyn 34. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows 35. Unknown [b]Average[/b] 36. X-Men: First Class 37. Thor 38. Crazy, Stupid, Love 39. We Bought A Zoo 40. Drive Angry [b]Weak[/b] 41. Bridesmaids 42. Everything Must Go 43. Conan O'Brien Can't Stop [b]Bad[/b] 44. Our Idiot Brother 45. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 46. Just Go With It