Category Archives: Lists

The 10 Worst Films of 2014

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BY KEVIN CARR

One of my favorite things to do at the end of the year is to hurl my venom at the worst movies I’ve been forced to watch for the last twelve months. Sure, everyone likes good films, but it’s turning the screws to the life-sucking, waste-of-space movies that really makes things fun. In 2014, we have seen an unfortunate return of the dreaded found-footage movie (though fortunately, few of these made any significant profit this year). There’s also some sequels in the mix that lived down (or below) the originals. It wasn’t a banner year for bad films, per se, but there was no shortage of them (and Tyler Perry only made it to the dishonorable mentions this year, which is nice).
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The 10 Best Films of 2014

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BY KEVIN CARR

The releases of 2014 have been a rocky road. When many of them were announced, they were like a kindergarten class of inspiring kids with plenty of ambition and potential. However, as the films matured to release date, we were left in a sea of mediocrity. Films that could have been fantastic blockbusters – like “Godzilla,” “Maleficent” and “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” – were fraught with problems, making them forgettable at best. Even the end-of-the-year award slate offerings – including “Big Eyes,” “Into the Woods” and “Unbroken” – had such promise but ended up being uninspiring.

Still, in the batch of releases throughout the years, there were some stellar movies to highlight. Like my best-of lists of previous years, I demonstrate my soft spot for animation, and I am happy to see a nice mixture of award-bait movies and blockbuster tent-poles, and even a few lesser-known films that missed out on others’ lists. Anyway, on to my ten favorite of 2014…
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The 10 Worst Films of 2013

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BY KEVIN CARR

As enjoyable as it is to watch the best films of the year, it’s equally enjoyable assembling the list of the worst films of the year. They may have been torture to sit through, but these movies provide an outlet for rage pent up over the course of the year. They’re boring, they’re sometimes offensive, they’re often difficult to sit through. The worst of the year list isn’t just an announcement. It’s catharsis. And Tyler Perry made it on my list twice…
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The 10 Best Films of 2013

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BY KEVIN CARR

I have to admit that I was a bit worried as 2013 wound down. While there were plenty of movies I enjoyed, there were few that screamed to be put on my Best of the Year list. Fortunately, as seems to happen every year, there were a handful that came through at the end of the year during the furious race of award season that made the grade. Still, this list seems rather lopsided to me, with half of the films being science fiction in nature. In a way, this is one of the more mainstream lists I’ve made in recent years, but there are a few artsy gems in there as well. The biggest surprise for me: no animated films. That was bound to happen one of these days. Anyway, on to my ten favorite of 2013…
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10 Actors Who Should Have Won the Oscar But Didn’t

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BY KEVIN CARR

Art is subjective, as is the appreciation for it and the accolades thrust upon it. This is no more evident that during award season each year, in which every film critic, entertainment journalism outfit and average moviegoer throws in their two cents as to what were the best and worst of the previous year.

The Academy Awards are famous for the nomination snubs (such as this year’s snubbing of Ben Affleck and Kathyrn Bigelow for Best Director), but less remembered are the performances that should have won but didn’t. Reasons for this range from the age of the average Academy voter to the sheer politics of the industry.

From the more-than eight decades of the Oscars, here is a look at some people who should have won Best Actor but did not.
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The 10 Worst Films of 2012

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BY KEVIN CARR

While publicists and the film industry itself eagerly await the bevy of Best Films lists from critics, they’re less excited about our lists for the bottom of the barrel. But when there’s arguably more films that can make it on a Worst Films list, this can be a cathartic act for people like me. Where my Best Films list inevitably contains several animated titles, a new trend has shown up on my Worst Films list. Check out numbers 1, 2 and 3 and question whether I want to see another shaky-cam movie in the near future.
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The 10 Best Films of 2012

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BY KEVIN CARR

This past year was a year of firsts, including the first movie to make more than $200 million on its opening weekend and the first movie to be presented in the high frame rate of 48 fps. It was a year of life imitating art, sometimes tragically and violently. There was plenty of bad with the good, and like any year, only a rare few rose to the top. I did not ubiquitously enjoy the movies throughout the year as I did in 2011, but there were still some real great ones. Here’s my ten favorite….
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The 10 Worst Films of 2011

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BY KEVIN CARR

As the year ends, many critics rush to build a list of top films from the past twelve months. While I do that myself (and you can check it out here), it’s sometimes more fun (or at least more cathartic) to compile a hate-filled rant that masquerades as a Worst of the Year list. Like any year, there have been plenty of terrible movies, but here is the sour cream of the crop for 2011.
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The 10 Best Films of 2011

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BY KEVIN CARR

Some folks will probably disagree with me, but I thought 2011 was actually a pretty good year for films. It didn’t have a ton of fantastic movies, but it had plenty of good movies throughout. Sure, there were real stinkers (which you can check out here), but there were plenty of three- and four-star films out there to enjoy. And the beginning of 2011 treated us to some truly original content, even if none of those films made this final list. But when all is said and done, there were still some fantastic films to enjoy, and the year really ended with a bang.
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The 10 Most Mediocre Films of 2010

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BY KEVIN CARR

This past year had some good films. It also had some great films. And yes, it had some bad films as well. Such is the case for any year, but what stood to me the most was the wash of mediocre movies that hit the screens. These were films that were okay to watch but not great. They defined “meh” and just didn’t rise above any sort of scrutiny. Not much more can be said about the entries to this list, except for the fact that they were all just stunningly okay.
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