Movies I Missed in 2015: Part 2

11. Lost River



Ryan Gosling's debut as a writer and director wasn't well-reviewed, but it has some things going for it that keep me interested: the spooky underwater town and a cast that includes Christina Hendricks, Saoirse Ronan, and Matt Smith. Gonna be low on my To Watch List though.

12. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl



Critics were divided on Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, mostly around the tone. Some found it charming while others described it as snotty and in love with its own specialness. Only one way to find out where I fall.

13. Big Game



Always in the mood for a movie where Samuel L Jackson plays the President of the United States and has to fight off bad guys in the wilderness alongside a kid with a bow and arrow.

14. The End of the Tour



I like Jason Segel a lot and Jesse Eisenberg some, but I'm especially looking forward to the movie's exploration of the shifting definitions of success. It's tragically fascinating how people are rarely satisfied with whatever level of success they've achieved. We're always reaching for that next rung. Would love to hear what The End of the Tour has to say about that.

15. Cop Car



I'm ready to see Kevin Bacon play a good guy again, but until that day, I'll take him as a crooked sheriff chasing a couple of kids who've stolen his ride.

16. Final Girl



I quit watching Scream Queens about three minutes into the pilot, but the idea intrigues me. And since there was also a 2015 movie with the plural version of this exact title, I'm thinking a double-feature might be in order.

17. Z for Zachariah



I like all these people and the trailer intrigued me. Looks like a twist on the traditional romantic triangle with higher stakes due to the post-apocalyptic survival angle.

18. The Intern



I'll pretty much see anything with Anne Hathaway in it these days.

19. The Keeping Room



Likewise Hailee Steinfeld, but especially a Western with a bunch of tough women.

20. Pan



I know it's supposed to be the worst movie of the year, but I like Hugh Jackman and the Peter Pan story enough that I can't ignore it. Besides, it can't be worse than Hook.

11 movies I really dug in 2013

Counting down the 2013 movies I saw, from worst to best.

20. Machete Kills



What separates Machete Kills from the action flicks on Monday's list is love. It's not demonstrably better crafted than say 2 Guns or Homeland, but what it lacks in finesse it makes up in passion. I don't love everything about Machete Kills, but I love a lot about it, and I especially love that Robert Rodriguez is able to make exactly the kinds of movies he wants and that his enthusiasm is all over the screen.

32 movies I wanted to see in 2013 (but didn't)

Happy New Year! As I've done the last couple of years, I'm going to spend the early days of 2014 running down the movies I saw in 2013 and ranking them from worst to best. I made it to 38 movies in the theater last year, which leaves 32 that I wanted to see, but will have to catch up on at home. I mention them here partly by way of explaining why some potentially great movies aren't among my favorites, but also so you can tell me which of these need to be at the top of my queue and which I shouldn't bother with.

Here they are in the order in which they were released. Some of the posters are high res, so I put most of the list behind a break for the sake of browsers everywhere.

1. Spring Breakers



Mostly just curious about Disney Princesses Behaving Badly. And I tend to like James Franco.