As indicated by the Oscars, 2018 was a year that celebrated popular films, and while I liked a lot of those movies and some of them make this list, I was equally if not more impressed by independent films and less-heralded filmmakers.

In 2012, I was at the peak of my film-watching powers and saw all kinds of smaller movies that critics loved but audiences generally didn’t find. This past year wasn’t a total return to movie-watching form, but I saw way more movies in 2017 than any of the previous four years to be sure (current […]

Although I’ve still missed out on some big films this year (“Hidden Figures,” “Lion,” freaking “Moana” somehow …) it’s almost the Academy Awards, and that’s my cutoff for completing my top 10 list of any given year (except last year, which if you didn’t notice, I just posted days ago)

I’m never one to do my end of year top 10 lists on time (who can see all the most buzzed about movies by Dec. 31???), but 13 months, yea, that’s a little late even for me. Nevertheless, I’ve gone on a tear to not only catch up on what I missed in 2016, but […]

As with what happened to me last year, it’s hard to name the top 10 films of the year on Dec. 31 when you haven’t seen a bunch of the best-reviewed ones. So, just before 2014’s best get honored at the Academy Awards, I present to you my 10 favorite films of 2014. Unfortunately, there were […]

You might be wondering — aren’t I a little late on the “Top 10 Films of 2013” list? Sigh. Yeah, I probably am. But at least I beat the Oscars. I refused to slide any further into the new year than Oscar Sunday. 2013 was a great year for movies, but it was a tough […]

What’s so curious about the best movies of 2012 is that they aren’t the ones getting Oscar buzz — at least not if you ask me. It was a great year for movies, with excellent films being offered as early as January (one of those made this list, in fact) and all the way up […]

Given that we live in a time in which Hollywood remakes and reboots run rampant, it’s considered taboo to clamor for one. But the truth of the matter is, there are a lot of decent films that have been made over the years that simply could’ve been better.

Most every modern comic actor has his fans and detractors. Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell, for example, have love-hate relationships with fans and non-fans alike. After some exposure, young stars such as Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and Michael Cera started to rub people the wrong way. But I challenge you to find someone that can’t […]

Just like how rules were meant to be broken, prisons were meant to be broken out of, and movies have literally and figuratively given us much escapist entertainment over the years. Prison movies are especially fun when we’re not just talking iron bars. A great number of filmmakers over the years have imagined prisons of […]

One of the first ever posts on Movie Muse was my Top 10 Superhero films, a celebration of a genre near and dear to my heart, or at least one that I love to dissect more than most considering I’m a product of the superheroes on TV/film era. Yet as many triumphs as we’ve witnessed […]

Few actors have a career comparable to that of Liam Neeson’s. The Irish-born actor didn’t really hit the map until he was nearly 40, yet he’s known as a dedicated and gifted thespian with the chops for an occasional mean streak. Neeson forged his career on a reputation for playing historical figures including Oskar Schindler, […]

You’re probably so over 2011 right now. You probably have no interest in the Top 10 Films of 2011 anymore, but allow me to explain why it took until Jan. 3 to publish this list. 2011 left something to be desired at the movies — and that’s being nice. Each year tends to be full of […]

Robots are still the future, right? Or at least androids? Hopefully there’s still a high demand for artificial intelligence like all the great sci-fi authors predicted, otherwise who is going to do stuff for us in the future like fight our battles and take care of our children? Last weekend’s “Real Steel” envisioned a time when boxers […]

Baseball might have lost a ton of ground to football in popularity, but it’s still America’s pastime. And frankly, the tide can change quickly in football (only three NFL teams haven’t made the playoffs in the last 8 years), but in baseball, a chance to win the World Series doesn’t come around all that often. […]