2010 Movies Relative Rankings (6/21)

Here is the list of movies that I saw at the theater in 2010. They are rated (0 to 4 stars) and ranked relative to each other. Check for newer posts updating this list with new movies as I see them.

Last Update: 6/21 - Toy Story 3 and Get Him to the Greek. Also changed format to be more readable.

#1 Toy Story 3 (****) NEW
Place: In 3D XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Superb writing and direction. Funny and heart warming. The 3D and CG-ness don't even matter.

#2 Kick-Ass (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: Enjoyable, aestheticized violence. Hit Girl easily steals the show. I never read the comics so no comment on adaptation.

#3 How to Train Your Dragon (***1/2)
Place: 3D Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Better than I expected. A bit preachy, but not overly so. Good use of 3D.

#4 Iron Man 2 (***)
Place: In XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: I enjoyed it more than the original film. A bit too unbelievable even for a comic book movie. Iron Man does not have memorable villains.

#5 Shutter Island (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Well acted and directed. Interesting plot albeit with a pretty see-thru twist. Even still, I found it quite enjoyable.

#6 A Town Called Panic (***)
Place: Drafthoue Ritz w/Aaron
Notes: Saw this subtitled. It's stop motion animation, but technically, it's no where near the quality of Henry Selick's work. It was funny, but less so than I expected. Better if you're drunk/high.

#7 Get Him to the Greek (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: I didn't know much about the film, but Pete had wanted to see it so I gave it a try. I knew nothing of Russell Brand going into this (his accent seemed almost fake at first.) The Drafhouse played his stand-up before the movie, and I could have watched just that for 2 hours. I found the movie very funny at times and more than a little bit sad in many places which I didn't expect. Couldn't stop thinking about how huge Jonah Hill was though.

#8 The Crazies (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Reminded a bit of Left 4 Dead. Pretty standard virus/zombie fare. It was basically a clone of 28 Days Later.

#9 Prince of Persia (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Pete
Notes: Better than I expected, but not great. The CG was abundant. High end production. I thought Chesty Jake was just fine as the Prince.

#10 Shrek Forever After (**1/2)
Place: 3D in XD at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Shrek's cultrual gags -were- cool, but they've gotten stale. The underlying story is pretty weak. I've seen better (and worse) kid's films.

#11 A Nightmare on Elm Street (**)
Venue: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: I like Jackie Earle Haley, and he does a good job as the new Freddy, but the make-up artist needs to get fired. He looks like he has Down's Syndrome. Also, the scenes were repetitive: isolate character, daydream, kill. Rinse. Repeat.

#12 Alice in Wonderland (**)
Venue: 3D at Drafthouse Village Baby Day w/Family
Notes: I love Tim Burton's twisted take on things, but this didn't work out so well. Maybe because Alice in Wonderland is already pretty twisted?

#13 Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Lightning Thief (**)
Venue: Cinemark Plfuger w/Maddie
Notes: Say what you want in defense of the novels, but this is clearly an attempt to cash in on Harry Potter crowd. Far too little far too late.

#14 Youth in Revolt (*1/2)
Venue: Drafthouse Ritz Theater #2 w/Claire
Notes: I saw this because Master Pancake was sold out. That was a mistake. The story was terrible. The acting was mostly terrible. Michael Cera is the least talented 'actor' in recent memory. He plays himself in every single goddamn movie.

#15 The Spy Next Door (*1/2)
Venue: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Maddie
Notes: Man, Jackie Chan. What are you doing? You've fallen to Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) levels. I didn't expect much, and that's what I got.

#16 Furry Vengeance (*)
Venue: Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Madison loved this movie. And while it in no way can be considered good cinema (luicrous plot, terrible special effects), it's almost so bad that it's good. But it's still bad.

All my Xbox 360's

01. Launch Xbox 360. Died after 2.5 years. Fixed.
02. Arcade Unit bought used while they were scarce. Sold to Sean.
03. Arcade Unit bought as 2nd unit for upstairs. Returned when I found Premium Version (#04)
04. Bought when I found a Premium 20GB version at GameStop while they were scarce. Went upstairs.
05. The Halo Edition X360. Sold #04 to pay for it. E74'd and fixed. CURRENTLY IN LIVING ROOM.
06. The 1st Elite. 1st with HDMI. Sold #01 (after being fixed) to Mike to buy it.
07. The Red Elite (Resident Evil SE). Sold #06 with a 20GB to buy it.
08. Bought another Red Elite after finding a better deal on Dell.com. Returned #07. DVD went bad. Fixed. CURRENTLY IN GAME ROOM.
09. Bought 3rd Xbox 360 Elite for bedroom. CURRENTLY IN BEDROOM.
10. Xbox 250GB Slim (TBD)

Places I like to eat at...

Places I like to eat at...

As often as possible:
Tacodeli
Rudy's
Salt Lick
Chuy's
Homeslice
Rounders
Alamo Drafthouse

On occasion:
Hut's Hamburgers
Casa G's
Charlie's Steakhouse
Mangia
Saccone's
Freebirds
Serranos
Texadelphia
Pluckers
Whataburger
Hooters
Macoroni Grill
Olive Garden
Gattiland
Culver's

Special Occasions:
Gino's
Hula Hut
Maggiano's
Buca di Beppo
Alamo Cafe (San Antonio)
Mi Tierra (San Antonio)

2010 Movies Relative Rankings

Here is the list of movies that I saw at the theater in 2010. They are rated (out of 10) and ranked relative to each other. Check for newer posts updating this list with new movies as I see them.

Last Update: 6/3 - Prince of Persia and A Town Called Panic added.

[New Rank - Old Rank - Highest Rank - (Score Out of 10) Movie/Notes] 
01 - 01 - 01 - (8) Kick-Ass
                   Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
                   Enjoyable, aestheticized violence. Hit Girl
                   easily steals the show. I never read the
                   comics so no comment on adaptation.
02 - 02 - 02 - (8) How to Train Your Dragon 
                   3D Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
                   Better than I expected. A bit preachy, but
                   not overly so. Good use of 3D.
03 - 03 - 03 - (7) Iron Man 2 
                   In XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
                   I enjoyed it more than the original film. A bit
                   too unbelievable even for a comic book movie.
                   Iron Man does not have memorable villains.
04 - 04 - 04 - (7) Shutter Island 
                   Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
                   Well acted and directed. Interesting plot albeit
                   with a pretty see-thru twist. Even still, I 
                   found it quite enjoyable.
05 - ** - 05 - (7) A Town Called Panic 
                   Drafthoue Ritz w/Aaron
                   Saw this subtitled. It's stop motion animation,
                   but technically, it's no where near the quality
                   of Henry Selick's work. It was funny, but less 
                   so than I expected. Better if you're drunk/high.
06 - 05 - 05 - (6) The Crazies
                   Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
                   Reminded a bit of Left 4 Dead. Pretty standard
                   virus/zombie fare. It was basically a clone of
                   28 Days Later.
07 - ** - 06 - (6) Prince of Persia 
                   Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Pete
                   Better than I expected, but not great. The CG
                   was abundant. High end production. I thought 
                   Chesty Jake was just fine as the Prince.
08 - 06 - 06 - (6) Shrek Forever After 
                   3D in XD at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
                   Shrek's cultrual gags -were- cool, but they've 
                   gotten stale. The underlying story is pretty 
                   weak. I've seen better (and worse) kid's films.
09 - 07 - 07 - (5) A Nightmare on Elm Street
                   Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
                   I like Jackie Earle Haley, and he does a good job
                   as the new Freddy, but the make-up artist needs
                   to get fired. He looks like he has Down's 
                   Syndrome. Also, the scenes were repetitive:
                   isolate character, daydream, kill. Rinse. Repeat.
10 - 08 - 08 - (5) Alice in Wonderland
                   3D at Drafthouse Village Baby Day w/Family
                   I love Tim Burton's twisted take on things, but
                   this didn't work out so well.  Maybe because 
                   Alice in Wonderland is already pretty twisted?
11 - 09 - 09 - (4) Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Lightning Thief
                   Cinemark Plfuger w/Maddie
                   Say what you want in defense of the novels, but 
                   this is clearly an attempt to cash in on Harry
                   Potter crowd. Far too little far too late.
12 - 10 - 10 - (3) Youth in Revolt 
                   Drafthouse Ritz Theater #2 w/Claire
                   I saw this because Master Pancake was sold out.
                   That was a mistake. The story was terrible.
                   The acting was mostly terrible. Michael Cera is
                   the least talented 'actor' in recent memory. He 
                   plays himself in every single goddamn movie. 
13 - 11 - 11 - (3) The Spy Next Door
                   Cinemark Pflugerville w/Maddie
                   Man, Jackie Chan. What are you doing? You've
                   fallen to Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) levels. I 
                   didn't expect much, and that's what I got.
14 - 12 - 12 - (2) Furry Vengeance 
                   Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
                   Madison loved this movie. And while it in no way
                   can be considered good cinema (luicrous plot, 
                   terrible special effects), it's -almost- so bad 
                   that it's good. But it's still bad.