2010 could live forever as the best year for movie releases in my lifetime. As I write this today (April 22, 2023), I, sadly but more confidently, feel like the years when we have two to three dozen quality movies are forever gone. With the advent of streaming television shows and series and an established vast array of cable programming, the cinematic single-viewing experience may be left to blockbuster-type movies. There have been no better examples than 2020, which I had discussed in previous reviews was the worst year of film in my lifetime, only for that argument to be surpassed by the 2021 cumulative list of below-average movies. 2021 is the first year when none of the Best Picture nominees will be in my end-of-year top ten list. Rewatching a film like The Social Network, despite receiving a 100% review, was just my fourth favorite movie of 2010. This would have been my favorite movie in many other years. Still, with The Town (my second favorite movie of all time) and the incredible Blue Valentine and Shutter Island, even a perfect film finished outside my top three.
Category Archives: Jesse Eisenberg
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
What do you need to know about Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice that you haven’t already been told? This has easily been the most hyped movie of 2016 so far. In fact, there may not be another movie all year that receives this kind of publicity. And rightfully saw. This film pits arguably the most recognizable superheroes in the world against one another for the first time. If you saw a movie in the theater at any point between, say, November 2015 and March 2016, you likely saw a preview for this film. The preview does such a great job of not really letting us know who is the good guy and the bad guy. When we think we figure it out, we see a trailer portrayed in a completely different light. Marvel is doing the same thing with Iron Man and Captain America for the trailers of Captain America: Civil War (maybe even more effectively than the movie being reviewed today). It is interesting. It is even more interesting that these two rival companies are releasing these movies so close to one another. You could make the argument that Marvel could have waited until Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice was released and then learned from any mistakes made while also capitalizing on what the Warner Brothers movie did well. But, as we know, that we have delayed production and would have probably pushed this movie to a release date to the beginning of 2018 at the earliest.
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The End of the Tour (2015)
The most unexpected surprise movie of 2015 was the incredibly well-written and well-acted The End of the Tour. While The Gift was the biggest surprise of the year, I went into that movie believing I would probably like the film, but maybe not that much. With The End of the Tour, I was super apprehensive about one of those things because the trailer just looked pretty corny. While I know many comedic actors can start in fantastic dramas (Robin Williams, Jonah Hill, Bill Murray), I was very uncertain that Jason Segel was up to this task at this point in his career. Segel has killed it with his comedy, both on the big screen (I Love You, Man, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Muppets) and television (How I Met Your Mother, Freaks and Geeks). He’s had a couple of misses (Sex Tape, Bad Teacher), but I still felt that he hadn’t worn out his recipe for success. Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, and others have all made hundreds of millions using the same formula. I think Segal is undoubtedly a more talented actor than Sandler. With Ferrell, time will tell. He’s in a bit of a lull, but I wouldn’t count him out. Nonetheless, Segal is an unbelievable talent who quietly goes about his business and will continue to earn opportunities in film and television.
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