I would say this film is easily the surprise of the year so far for me and I don’t expect anything to eclipse that surprise as I am not a big Sam Raimi fan by any stretch but enjoyed almost every minute of this film. I can’t wait to see it again on Blu-ray as it may actually be one of the films on this list to get better the more I see it, which would make it an interesting addition to my year end top ten should it manage to make it that far.
This one dropped a notch with me over the weekend as I just caught Star Trek for the second time. When I reviewed it I handed it a B+, but I would have to take it down to a B now, primarily because the story is just so absolutely ridiculous. However, this film proves how important character development is to a movie. Star Trek is a fabulous character story filled with some of the best casting in a long time. It makes you want to see a sequel just so you can see that cast together again. It also is an absolutely fantastic piece of sound work. I fully expect Oscar nominations in the sound categories for this one.
I guess you could also call this one a surprise for me as I never expected to like this film this much and had it not been for the extremely melodramatic ending Tetro may have found its way into my top three. I can’t wait to see what Francis Ford Coppola tackles next.
This would be my “Make Sure You Catch This One On DVD” entry on this list. This is another film made up of perfect casting and along with Marion Cotillard in Public Enemies, I would say Emily Blunt’s performance in this one is perhaps my favorite of the year. However, along with Blunt, Amy Adams is great, so is Alan Arkin and “24” regular Mary Lynn Rajskub adds a lot to the proceedings. Hopefully this one finds an audience on DVD because it’s my pick for most overlooked title of the year so far. Oh, it hits DVD and Blu-ray on August 25 if you want to mark it on your calendar.
