YEAR END AWARDS: HONORABLE MENTIONS

I saw a lot of movies I liked this year. While I was not completely blown away by anything like in years past (ex: "No Country For Old Men", "Tyson", "There Will Be Blood", etc), I found myself having a hard time limiting my list to a top 10. So here are my honorable mentions of the year, maybe not quite worthy of my top 10, but worth checking out and worth being recognized.

1) "The White Ribbon"

This film is slow. It is in black and white. It is also foreign and classical. A lot of these elements may sway a young audience to avoid it, but the grim life this film portrays is enough to keep me interested. The acting is superb and there is a sense of mystery and uneasiness throughout the whole film. This is your typical film that will be ignored by the American masses, but praised by the critics. You be the judge, but I recommend it based on it's brooding style and the filmmaker's careful analysis of evil.

2) "Let Me In"

This film falls into the category of films I generally have a distaste for. A remake that isn't even a couple years old. An American remake of a excellent foreign film. AND in an even more broad sense, a remake in horror. While I don't like it as much as "Let The Right One In", I was thoroughly surprised at how engaging it was. The film is almost slower than the original, something unheard of in American Hollywood remakes. I think the filmmakers took the best possible approach they could with this film and I believe "Let Me In" is the 2nd best modern day vampire film, only behind the original it is based off of.

3) "Splice"

While I wouldn't call this movie good, it was a shocker for sure. Adrien Brody's career seems to be going down the tubes, but at least he's doing it in style by playing over the top roles that B-movie nerds can get down with. This is the most pure 80's style horror B-movie I've seen in recent years. There are a lot of low budget/B-movies out there right now, straight to DVD or in theaters, but they don't embody the characteristics of the old style B-movie that made these films more watchable and respectable. Horrible/heinous things happen in this movie, but you are right there along with it. You don't hate the characters and there is genuine emotion involved to go along with the disgusting moments. If I had to give a recommendation this year to go along with the bad films I review on this blog, "Splice" is probably the closest recommendation in that department you will get from me.

Other films maybe worth checking out:

"The Girl Who Played With Fire"

"127 Hours"

"Predators"

films I still haven't seen that could possibly make the list (worst of 2010/best of 2010/honorable mention):

"Mesrine: Killer Instinct & Public Enemy #1"

"Valhalla Rising"

"Due Date"

"Cyrus"

"Tron: Legacy"

"Restrepo"

"Collapse"

"Best Worst Movie"

"The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest"