95. J. Edgar (Clint Eastwood)- For a film depicting such a divisive figure, I found Eastwood’s rushed, time-hopping vision non-committal. If you’re not going to have a definitive opinion on Hoover’s sexuality and contradictions, I don’t see the point in making a movie about him, even if there are some interesting moments. An Eastwood hate-piece is brewing somewhere deep inside of me.

94. The Lincoln Lawyer (Brad Furman)- I liked that Matthew McConaughey tried an actual character on for size, but the never-ending third act seemed convoluted, and the whole film has a crass air, despite some intriguing supporting performances.

93. The Future (Miranda July)- If you’re wondering where the line between cute and too-cute-for-its-own-good is, it’s having part of your film narrated by a kitten. The miserable characters—who don’t even seem to have any kind of goal—deserve each other. I do think July has potential as a director, so that makes it even worse.  

92. Take Me Home Tonight (Michael Dowse)- This long-gestating Topher Grace project tries so desperately to make a lofty statement about the ’80s that it ends up feeling silly and, in a weird way for such a broad comedy, pretentious. It has a great cast that is hampered by a script that goes through the motions.

91. 30 Minutes or Less (Ruben Fleischer)- Oh word, fam? You’ve got Danny McBride playing a foul-mouthed dumb guy who thinks he’s smarter than he actually is? That’s novel. It would be impossible for me to not laugh at Aziz Ansari, but I wasn’t invested in the plot after the first half-hour.

90. Fast Five (Justin Lin)- I’m not going to fall into the trap of taking Fast Five too seriously when it’s obvious that no one involved did. While I have a lot of questions about the moral implications, (How many innocent people were endangered by the prologue?) this is, at times, joyfully ridiculous. There are still too many characters to keep straight, although I am excited that this is the most racially-diverse cast I’ve ever seen in a studio movie.

89. Thor (Kenneth Branagh)- As expensive as the film was, some sequences in Asgard looked cheap. I didn’t believe the romance at the center—the film gave me no reason to—and there were long stretches in which I wasn’t even sure what was actually at stake. That being said, I think Chris Hemsworth has real star power, and I liked Branagh’s use of color.

88. The Beaver (Jodie Foster)- It’s easy to see why this script was on the Black List a few years ago, what with its painstaking structure, but I found it a strange chore. It’s one of those movies that tries to be realistic in every superficial way, but it’s not even from this planet emotionally. 

87. Friends with Benefits (Will Gluck)- There are a handful of perfect scenes (most of which involve Richard Jenkins) that belong in a more consistent film. Despite the engaging leads, this is the same romantic comedy merry-go-round we’ve seen a million times.

86. happythankyoumoreplease (Josh Radnor)- I don’t think it would be possible for this film, with all of its “I’m a New York writer!” tropes, to take itself any more seriously. Everything is a statement. For example, the sister can’t just be a regular person; she has to have alopecia so that she can have some kind of problem to labor through. I was kind of interested in the subplot though—more than the main plot even.

85. Our Idiot Brother (Jesse Peretz)- What’s the point of having Paul Rudd in your movie if you’re not going to let him do Paul Rudd things? I don’t like this Paul Rudd playing a character bullshit. Just let him be charming and rakish. I understand what this movie is going for—it’s like a clumsy, broad version of Being There—but I didn’t understand why everyone was playing against type. Why not just let these talented people do what they do?

84. A Dangerous Method (David Cronenberg)- While I expected to see a battle of wills between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, Cronenberg’s parlor drama ended up being a battle of snippy letters between the two. There are some interesting ideas being danced around, but the film never actually makes it anywhere satisfying—it actually could have been about ten minutes longer. And Keira Knightley…I don’t know if she’s doing a lot of good work here, but she’s doing a lot of work. It’s a big performance.

83. The Help (Tate Taylor)- I wrote about this film a few months ago, and my views haven’t really changed. As overstuffed melodrama, it succeeds, but I’ve never been one for overstuffed melodrama.

82. Limitless (Neil Burger)- The ending is a ham-fisted compromise, and there are plot-holes big enough to drive through, but Limitless is fast and stylish. I had a lot of fun watching it, especially in the first half.

81. The Guard (John Michael McDonagh)- There’s a scene in this film in which the Brendan Gleeson character is about to kill another character, and he jokes about it in front of the guy—something to the effect of “Do you want me to feel bad for you?” And, you know what, I kind of did. I kind of wanted to feel emotionally involved in the proceedings, and this film’s brand of dark comedy is way too cool to ever let me do that. 

80. Carnage (Roman Polanski)- The performances and staging of Carnage feel, paradoxically, both too big and slight. And the more I thought about it, I realized that notion is what we call “theatricality”. I understand why this would work on a stage, but it really doesn’t work on film. 

79. Arthur (Jason Winer)- I think this movie hit all the marks it was aiming for—in fact, it’s better than the original—but it still doesn’t amount to much beyond the standard studio comedy.

78. Incendies (Denis Villeneuve)- I don’t remember anything about this movie beyond the scene of a busful of children being lit on fire. Good times.

77. Paul (Greg Mottola)- The conflict seemed contrived, and I quickly tired of the religion-bashing, but I did like how steeped in the tradition of alien movies this was. It wears all of its influences on its sleeve.

76. The Roommate (Sonny Mallhi)- This movie is kind of terrible, but, to be honest, it’s also pretty awesome if you’re as much of a fan of the genre as I am. It’s the most prototypical Single White Female creepy thriller we’ve gotten in a while. The love story actually kind of works, but you’re only getting as far as Leighton Meester and Minka Kelly are taking you.

75. Young Adult (Jason Reitman)- This film was in need of a more cynical edge, which is the exact opposite of what Reitman typically brings to the table. What’s intriguing about it is that the main character chooses delusion in the end, and the film seems fine with it. It kind of reminded me of Don Juan de Marco, which is notable not for being one of the last Brando performances, but for being a movie that unequivocally sides with the crazy person. 99% of the time, the psychiatrist has to change the crazy guy and show him how great life can be when you’re not lying to yourself. In that movie, they just sort of decide: “He’s not hurting anyone. Let him think he’s Don Juan. Roll credits.” Anyway, yeah, Young Adult isn’t very funny, and I didn’t care about any of the characters, despite some good acting from the principals.

74. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Tomas Alfredson)- This ended up feeling like a trailer for a great book. Some of it seemed exciting and promising, although I had no grasp of the context. It was cinematography and design porn of the highest order, but I don’t think it’s possible to understand it without having read the book.

73. Captain America: The Last Avenger (Joe Johnston)- Any of the wide-eyed innocence the movie achieves is undone by its Avengers commercial of an ending. I do like Chris Evans a lot, and his optimism is a welcome change from something like Iron Man or Thor.

72. Horrible Bosses (Seth Gordon)- In a summer without much comedy, Horrible Bosses was a welcome diversion, but I didn’t buy that a decision as monumental as murder was made in such a cavalier way by the protagonists. And it was sort of racist. Colin Farrell steals what is worth stealing.

71. The Adventures of Tintin (Steven Spielberg)- I enjoyed seeing a virtual camera hand Speilberg a new bag of tricks: You could tell that he had some of those moves in his head for a long time. Still, the characters seem a bit—pun intended—cartoonish for a 2011 animated film. Characters as blank as Tintin and as one-note as Captain Haddock might have worked in a comic book ninety years ago, but they don’t work now. The one-shot chase sequence is as amazing as advertised though.

70. The Arbor (Clio Barnard)- This is the quasi-documentary about British playwright Andrea Dunbar that takes interviews from real people, and then stages scenes with actors lip-syncing those lines. It’s an interesting gimmick that distances us from the harsh realities being discussed. But its dysfunctional families and drug-addicted pregnant women are so hopeless that it’s still tough to get through.

69. How to Die in Oregon (Peter D. Richardson)- I don’t support assisted suicide, and I’ll admit that my own opinion colors how much I can appreciate a documentary that ends up siding with it resolutely. Because of my own stance, I found the subjects cowardly, and I thought the film was one-sided. That happens to everyone who watches a political documentary, but no one wants to admit it. Twice though, you get to see real people actually dying, and I can’t deny the transformative nature of watching that. It’s not something you can easily shake.  

68. The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius)- By now, this Best Picture front-runner is a victim of its own expectations. It’s cute but slight, a brilliant genre exercise but not much more. It’s difficult to be an homage to films that are so much better than your own. Especially since its plot is basically the same as Singin’ in the Rain, I don’t see why it even exists. I’m glad other people seem to enjoy it so much. Cute dog too.

67. The Adjustment Bureau (George Nolfi)- The plot is completely ridiculous, to the point that you feel silly describing it to someone, but the chemistry between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt is so warm and palpable that you can’t help but root for them to be together.