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 […]

My work is never done getting to all the most buzzed-about films in a given year, which is why I allow myself until right before the Oscars to publish this list each year, and even then I didn’t get to some in time (“Call Me By Your Name,” “Phantom Thread,” “Coco,” “I, Tonya,” “The Post”) […]

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 […]

As always, I close the book on 2012 with my year in review, a close examination of the trends in movies and moviegoing that either emerged or changed during the course of the year.

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 […]

2012 was one full of small gems, and as such, I was inspired to add something new to my annual Best of the Year posts. With so many great blockbusters and big-name films stealing away your attention, you probably weren’t as eager to seek out independent films and films with smaller distribution.

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 […]

I’ve already shared with you the top genre films and my top 10 films of 2010, so now it’s time to take a close look at the year 2010 as it was for movies. Most movie-lovers, myself included, look back in disappointment at this year. The first-half slate of new movies was excruciatingly weak and […]

It’s that time of year again where everyone wants to know what the best and worst of the year were, so naturally, to keep up with the demand, I am forced to whittle down the year’s movies into the ten best in my eyes. I’ll be honest — I like the retrospective take, but this […]

It’s time for my second annual Year in Review, where I’ll recap my thoughts on the film year that was 2010. Today I begin by awarding the best films in each genre and I’ll follow up with my Top 10 Films of 2010 as well as my thoughts on the year as a whole. 2010 […]

As I’ve alluded to the last couple of days, 2009, in my opinion, was a year for great genre films, not necessarily straightforward dramas. For instance, this time of year I’d normally be busy planning how I was going to get to see all the major Oscar contenders in the next month. This year, my […]