My Top Movies: # 11-20

In an effort to get to 900 posts by my 5th Blogoversary, I'm going to countdown my Top 10 Movies, but before we get to my Top 10 Countdown, I thought I'd show you the films that didn't quite make the list.  I have never claimed to have actual good taste in films.  I know what I like and I tend to watch them a lot.  I own all of these movies and have rewatched them at least once in the last year, some of them a few times depending on their TV showings as well.  There is definitely a trend toward movies that end well, have a romantic message and generally really good writing.  

11. Waitress - It's the pie.  Every single time I watch this, I'm hungry and I want to be able to make a really good pie.  One of the things this movies does well is cultivate hope.  It makes you want to have people in your life to make pie for.  Duh, Nathan Fillion.

12. 10 Things I hate about you - Easily the greatest modern retelling of Shakespeare in film.  This high school version of Taming of the Shrew does a good job sticking pretty close to its source material without relying on you to actually have read it to understand anything.  Can't really beat Jo-Go and Heath Ledger in the same film.  

13. Good Will Hunting - I think it's the writing.  I don't like Minnie Driver in this, but I love the story and the quick witty dialogue.  It tickles my inner nerd.

14. Dogma - If Good Will Hunting reaches my inner nerd, then Dogma speaks to my Catholic upbringing.  Much in the same way Aaron Sorkin did during The West Wing, Kevin Smith attacks the inconsistencies in religion.  And it's funny as hell.

15. Sliding Doors - I love the way this takes a look at changing a single moment in your life.  When I'm driving and realize I haven't been paying attention and swerve a little to stay on the road, I often think how my life would change if the alternate universe happened where I didn't stay on the road.  Then I try to drive more carefully.  But the interplay between fate and opportunity is really well put together in this. 

16. The Proposal - What can I say, Ryan Reynolds is hot and Sandra Bullock is funny.  

17. V for Vendetta - Hugo Weaving is frickin' amazing.  He does the whole movie with a mask on and unraveling the mystery behind his mask draws me in every time.  Oh, and watching Natalie Portman try to fight off oppression in her own little ways is neat. 

18. O, Brother Where Art Thou? - It's the music.  Oh, and George Clooney.  The way he delivers the lines as Ulysses Everett McGill and makes this retelling of the Odyssey brilliant in its simplicity of tone and complexity of story and characters. 

 19. A Few Good Men - You can't handle the truth.  This drama, back when Cruise was at his best makes me watch it EVERY TIME it's on TV.  I like the element of questioning what you know to be true turning your whole outlook upside down.  And that you can be wrong, but be the good guy too.

20. Love, Actually - If you've ever listened to Reel Insight, and why wouldn't you, you already know that I love this movie, Christmas or not.  

What if a romance was defined by the movies?

Along with my mashups, I've been noticing there is often a continuity to an actor's career - I described Tom Cruise's career as a single man's lifetime:
Brian Flanagan (Cocktail) gets his life together and goes to law school.  He graduates and joins The Firm (Mitch McDeere).  However, since that doesn't work out, he joins the navy, becomes a pilot (Maverick, Top Gun) but realizes his legal career might be put to better use and he defends some murderers (Lt. Daniel Kaffee, A Few Good Men).  After he's released from military service, the intelligence community decides he's worth the investment since he's already a lawyer (Ethan Hunt, Mission: Impossible series, Roy Miller Knight and Day).  Once that's over, he decides politics might be the way to go and he becomes a Senator (Jasper Irving, Lions for Lambs).  Of course, you can't be a politician forever, and he goes becomes a music mogul (uncredited, Tropic Thunder).  


However, you can also define the stages of a relationship with titles from movies.  

When Harry Met Sally - This really works best if your name actually IS Harry or Sally, but the basic message is the same.  There's a point in every relationship when you first meet.  You'll hopefully start out as friends, but if there's anything Harry and Sally taught us, it's that man and women can't remain friends.  Which is a big part of how most relationships move along.

Lust, Caution - Hopefully, if the relationship progresses, you'll reach the stage of actually wanting to sleep together.  However, this can also be the stage in any relationship when the wheels come of the bus, so exercising caution about whether to indulge your lust might be a good idea.

Friends and Lovers - If all goes well, you'll reach the stage of being both friends and lovers.  Marriage is often a  big part of this stage.  Most people hope to marry both a friend and a lover.  But you'll have some time to practice being both - we live in a modern age after all.

Father of the Bride - Assuming your father is still living, there will presumably be a moment when he gets to walk you down the aisle.  Weddings, while spiraling out of control financially, are some of the most fun you can have with your friends and family in the same place.

Sex, lies and Videotape - You'll probably get a few years of enjoying one another.  Then you might decide you need to spice up your sex life.  Whatever you do, DON'T put it on you tube!


Happily N'ever After - While I do believe that it's possible to be happy with one person for the rest of your life, if it doesn't work out, at least you can move forward and attempt to start over.  Thankfully there are LOTS of movies that can help you with that!

DVD Roundup: Top Surfer movies

I was recently on a bunch of planes and got to see some recent movies I missed in theaters.  In addition, one inspired me to think about the best of the other surfer movies out there, and sadly there just aren't enough others, so this is a short list with a recommendation to Hollywood to make more surfing movies.

3.  Surf's Up - A surprisingly good animated movie about penguins who surf, I watched this when it was nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar in 2008.  It's told in a documentary style, following a penguin from Antarctica, Cody (Shia LaBoeuf) who wants to make it to the big surfing tournament to follow in the footsteps of the legendary Z who died there.  Complications arise and Cody loses confidence, but finds help from an old surfer - the not-deceased Z (Jeff Bridges as a surfer "Dude").  The documentary keeps interviewing various surfers and getting the different opinions on how the whole competition will happen.  Surprisingly cute and heartfelt, and I'm sure completely forgotten.

2.  Soul Surfer - This was the new one I saw on a plane recently.  It's based on the true story of Hawaiian surfer Bethany Hamilton who has her left arm bitten off by a shark while training for a competition.  She's just on the rise and has a sponsor when tragedy strikes.  The movie of course is about overcoming adversity and finding your way back to what makes you tick, but for airplane entertainment, it made me cry and laugh out loud once.  AnnaSophia Robb plays Bethany (with the real-life Hamilton doing the one-arm surfing stunts) and Helen Hunt and Dennie Quaid play her laid-back surfer parents who argue over what it means to help their daughter recover.  It's definitely off the shelf of "Christian" movies with Carrie Underwood playing Hamilton's spiritual advisor and head of the volunteer group Hamilton follows to Thailand after the tsunami, but they keep the God-talk to a minimum beyond the inspirational.  Plus, watching her figure out how to surf with one-arm will make any couch surfer feel like getting outside.

1. Point Break - Could there really be any other movie at #1?  And if you haven't seen Point Break (cough, Keith!) go out and rent one of the best movies you'll ever watch.  Keanu Reeves is an FBI agent (stop laughing) who has to infiltrate a surfing community (I mean it, stop laughing) to find a group of bank robbers called the Ex-Presidents because they wear masks while robbing banks (okay, that's funny) led by Patrick Swayze (yeah, now you feel bad for laughing, don't you).  Seriously, just check it out.  It's awesome.

An Ode to Rachel

I feel I haven't given enough praise and proper credit to my podcasting partner-in-crime, Rachel from Rachel's Reel Reviews.  She does all of the technical things required to produce our podcast, and has done them every week for a year, without complaint (at least to me).  I love what she does with our show and I know I couldn't maintain the level of quality she achieves every week (yes, I listen to my own show most weeks).  So in her honor I thought I would give you the Top 10 Rachels of the world.  Some are real and some are fictional, but all do a good job of honoring the name, in my opinion.   (PS - Rachel's the hot one on the left in this photo!)

1. Rachel Thuro - Rachel's Reel Reviews - She's been blogging for over four years now, and has been the shepherdess of the LAMB for more than 6 months already and doing a terrific job.  At every turn she ups her influence and creativity through her blog.  Oh, and she makes me look like a valley girl/hyena every week with terrific editing of Reel Insight.

2. Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston) - "Friends" - Probably the only one on this list to inspire a country to cut its hair in a ridiculously difficult style to manage if you don't have full-time help, Rachel Green launched Jennifer Aniston's dubious career (or convinced the world they wanted to see more of Aniston, but little did they know she wasn't Rachel).

3. Rachel Berry (Lea Michelle) - "Glee" - The self-professed diva who intends to make it as a triple threat someday, Rachel Berry has two dads, a heck of a singing talent, and if we believe the hype, the intention to head to Broadway after high school.  She's developed a bit as a character over two seasons, but it's still hard to like her every week.

4. Rachel Ray - "30 Minute Meals", "The Rachel Ray Show" - I love her because she really taught me to cook.  I'm pretty bad-ass, I won't lie.  And it's all because Rachel Ray taught me to do it in 30 minutes, and I figured out that it's only a starting place.  She doesn't take herself too seriously so she's fun to watch - though I know a ton of people hate her or her voice, I'm not one of them.

5. Rachel McAdams - Sherlock Holmes, The Notebook, The Family Stone - She's already a huge star, but usually keeps her private life pretty private.  She didn't end up in rehab after The Notebook and she keeps getting the chance to work with huge actors (Russell Crowe, RDJ, etc.) and I love seeing her on screen.

6. Rachel Maddow - "The Rachel Maddow Show" - I don't watch this show every day (The Daily Show gives me most of my news) but I think Rachel Maddow is freakin' amazing.  She's one of the only news people on TV who seems genuine and authentic talking about almost any topic.  She rocks the glasses that probably wouldn't work on the hottest man on TV, but somehow she can pull off.

7. Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardiner, About a Boy, The Mummy -  The former Ms. Aranofsky and current Mrs. Daniel Craig, Weisz makes strange choices in her movies, but she's captivating on screen or on the red carpet.  Oscar-winner for The Constant Gardiner while playing a total bad-ass who breaks the hearts of those around her while trying to fight for justice and equality.  But sadly, I still prefer her nerdy Egyptologist in The Mummy.

8. Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt) - Rachel Getting Married - This movie still haunts me and really makes me want to see more of Rosemarie DeWitt.  She's a kooky character having a very strange wedding, and a lesser character would have been completely upstaged by her recovering sister (Anne Hathaway) attending the wedding, but Rachel manages to stand out and hold her own (plus she rocks a sari).

9. Rachel Dratch - "Saturday Night Live" - She plays some intensely annoying characters, but she's also gotten really good at being a stock character in any movie also starring a SNL alum.

10. Rachel Marron (Whitney Houston) - The Bodyguard - I think this might have been a stretch, but since I harbor a secret love of The Bodyguard I couldn't really leave out the Queen of the Night.

Wow - Thanks all 50 of you!!!

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen.  I feel I must acknowledge the fact that I've finally reached 50 Followers, if only to say thank you!  I didn't notice the 48th and 49th and then all of a sudden it's up to 50!  I know it's a somewhat arbitrary measure of the success of Insight into Entertainment, but I want to tell you how much I appreciate it.  There are so many terrific blogs I read too.  And for your procrastination enjoyment here's a post from all the blogs I currently follow (I did leave out the personal blogs of friends).  Some are recent (all within the last month or so) and some are even from today.  Enjoy.

Big Thoughts from a Small Mind

Cinema Sights

Kano's Lay-Z-Boy Theater

Screen Insight

A Life in Equinox

Anomalous Material

Blog Cabins

Cut the Crap Movie Reviews

Encore's World of Film & TV

Films from the Supermassive Black Hole

Hoping for Something to Hope For

Invasion of the B Movies

Just Chick Flicks

M.Carter @ The Movies

Movie Reviews by FAQs

Movie Reviews by Tom Clift

Rachel's Reel Reviews

Random Ramblings of a Demented Doorknob

Reel Fanatic

Reel Whore

Riku Writes - Mostly about Films

The Cooler

The Dark of the Matinee

The Large Association of Movie Blogs

The List

2010 Wrap up for Insight into Entertainment

A toast to the year that was.  Rachel and I did our Top 5 on the podcast this week, but I thought you  might like to know what made the rest of my Top 10.  Also at the bottom is a list and the score I gave all the movies of 2010 that I saw.   I found it sad that none of my Top 10 came out before July (Winter's Bone's wide release might have been earlier).  However, they were pretty spread out from September onward with the usual push toward the end of the year.  I saw more in theaters than I expected and many were not very good.

Top 10

1. Winter’s Bone
2. The King’s Speech
3. The Kids are All Right
4. The Social Network
5. Black Swan
6. True Grit
7. Inception
8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
9. The Town
10.  Easy A

I think this is the first time ever that I saw my Top 10 entirely in theaters.  There was an extra showing of Winter's Bone that I caught late, so that was just luck.  

Bottom 5

1. The Bounty Hunter
2. Sex and the City 2
3. Killers
4. Leap Year
5. Letters to Juliet

 I know my worst list encompasses some crappy romantic comedies, but I also saw a few I enjoyed over the course of the year Love and Other Drugs, Valentine's Day, and Burlesque were good for what they were. 

Here's my list of 2010 movies, 35 seen in theaters *

1. Alice in Wonderland 3/5
2. Babies 3/5
3. Black Swan 4.5/5*
4. Blood Done Sign My Name 3.5/5
5. Burlesque 3.5/5*
6. City Island 4/5
7. Creation 3/5
8. Date Night 4/5 revised 3/5*
9. Dear John 2.5/5*
10. Death at a Funeral (remake) 3/5*
11. Due Date 2/5 *
12. Easy A 4.5/5 *
13. Eat, Pray, Love 2.5/5 *
14. Eclipse 3/5 *
15. Extraordinary Measures 2/5
16. Get Him to the Greek 2/5 *
17. Green Zone  3.5/5 *
18. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 4.5/5 *
19. Hot Tub Time Machine 3/5
20. How to Train Your Dragon 4/5
21. HOWL 3.5/5
22. Inception 4.5/5 *
23. Iron Man 2 4/5 *
24. Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work 3.5/5
25. Killers 1.5/5
26. Leap Year 2/5 *
27. Letters to Juliet 2/5
28. Love and Other Drugs – 4/5 *
29. Megamind 3D 4/5 *
30. Percy Jackson and the Olympians 3.5/5 *
31. Prince of Persia 3/5
32. RED 4/5 *
33. Salt 3.5/5 *
34. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World 3/5
35. Secretariat 3/5 *
36. Sex and the City 2 1.5/5 *
37. Shrek Forever After 3.5/5
38. The A-Team 2.5/5
39. The Bounty Hunter 1/5
40. The Expendables 2.5/5 *
41. The Fighter 4/5 *
42. The Girl who played with fire 4/5
43. The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus 3/5 *
44. The Kids are All Right 5/5 *
45. The King’s Speech 5/5 *
46. The Losers 3/5 *
47. The Social Network 4.5/5 *
48. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice 3/5 *
49. The Town 4/5 *
50. Toy Story 3D 4/5 *
51. True Grit 5/5 *
52. Valentine’s Day 3/5 *
53. Winter’s Bone 5/5 *

 What have I missed from 2010?  I still intend to see Animal Kingdom, Rabbit Hole, and 127 Hours.  Anything else I shouldn't miss?

Reel Insight Episode 28: 2010 Wrap Up

Rachel and I throw the regular show format out the widow to bring you an episode broken down into three parts: Bottom 5 Films of 2010, Best 5 Films of 2010 and Most Anticipated 5 Films of 2011. There are the regular plugs, feedback and quotes though, so don't miss those.  Check it out and see how many you agree with!

Best Books of 2010: An Insight

Okay, it's time to confess.  I have more than 24 hours in a day.  That's how I watch more than 200 new movies a year (that's a later post), keep up with more than 20 TV shows, and have managed to read 50+ books a year for the past 3 years, I'm currently at 45 with 4 weeks to go.  And I realized I've never done my yearly top list of books (First Annual, Rachel?).  So I thought I'd give it a go.  These are definitely not all books that came out this year.  They are books I read for the first time in 2010.  Some are best-sellers, some were best sellers, and some will never be read by more than a few people.  In not much of a particular order except that I liked #1 the best, here are 5 I highly recommend.

1. The Help (Kathryn Stockett) - This is an absolutely amazing book that takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s and tells the story of a group of black women who work as maids and nannies for white families.  This description doesn't do it justice.  One of the white women, Skeeter (who is going to be played by Emma Stone in the new movie) decides she needs to do something about the way racism is starting to revert backwards and enlists the help of some of the maids to tell their own stories.  It's beautifully written with an edge because the violence that accompanies the time is never far off.

2. The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)- I know, I'm a little late to this phenomenon, but I'll catch up quickly.  This is the story of a teenage girl, Katniss, in a reborn post-apocalyptic society where the Capitol, to remind the 12 Districts of who's in charge, demands a tribute of a young boy  and girl every year who compete to the death in The Hunger Games.  Katniss is from one of the poorer districts and has spent most of her life trying to find her next meal, so figuring how to stay alive is not new for her.  The book stays close to Katniss, but you see the fantastical nature of this new society through her eyes.  The "celebration" that is the Games has a macabre twist to a beauty pageant.  While purported to be for young adults, everyone should definitely check this series out.

3. Oliver Kitteridge (Elizabeth Strout) - The Pulitzer Prize winner from last year, this is a series of related short stories that take place in the rural Northeast (think I can relate) and involve at some point this curmudgeonly old woman named Oliver Kitteridge.  We see her life through all the people around her, and while she's not particularly likeable, you have trouble blaming HER for it.  Short, but good. 

4.  The Ridiculous Race (Steve Hely and Vali Chandrasekaran)- This is a non-fiction hilarious book written by two TV writers who challenge each other to a race around the world.  The original rules involve not using planes, and there are two ways to win - being the first back (they start of going different directions) and having the best adventure.  They have an amazing time.  It's hard to read in one continuous setting, but if you like their humor (and who wouldn't - one guy tries to buy a jetpack to fly across the ocean) it's a brilliantly conceived idea that I'm surprised hasn't become a movie.

5. The Elegance of the Hedgehog (Muriel Barbery) - I waited much too long to read this, stupid library list, and the hype around it probably didn't help, but I have a weakness for all things French, and this book was translated from French so you can see the twist of phrases that aren't quite common English, but since I can see the French it's coming from, I liked it even more.  It's the story of an older woman who is the doorman of a wealthy building in a posh neighborhood in Paris.  It's also the story of one of her 10-year-old neighbors.  What they unknowingly have in common is that they're both much smarter than anyone around them realizes.  The woman tries to keep it a secret so people won't bother her with more tasks, but the girl suffers because her family is a bunch of idiots.  Then a Japanese man moves to their building and outs them for who they really are.  Very funny, philosophical, and timeless.

What were your favorite books this year?  What should I add to my 2011 list or try to fit in before the new year?  Leave comments if you think of anything.

The Archives are finished!

This is the first part of organizing Insight into Entertainment.  I wanted to see how many different movies I've reviewed, and while this post will stay up, but I've also added it as a permanent page entitled Archives at the top, so you can always see if I've already reviewed a movie.  I'm hoping to put together a similar page for TV shows I've watched and enjoyed or not.   What a crazy list - there are 325 movie reviews, with lots of movies I've seen, but never mentioned.  I'll try to update the list as I watch new movies. 

I went back through all my reviews of the past three and a half years.  Many were reviews of my first viewing of the film, but others were from the Monday Musicals or Tuesdays Top Grossing Movies.  I couldn't believe how many there were.  Some have links directly to the review and some are links to the many reviews I've done mentioning a film. Enjoy.  This showed me lots of gaps in my reviewing, if not viewing, history and I hope to rectify this soon.  If there are really obvious omissions, please suggest what I should see now.

Movies
    17 Again
    2 Days in Paris
    27 Dresses
    2012
    3:10 To Yuma
    50 First Dates
    (500) Days of Summer
    A Christmas Carol 3D
    Adam
    A Chorus Line
    Adventureland
    Aladdin
    Aliens
    An Accidental Husband
    Angels and Demons
    Appaloosa
    A Serious Man
    A Single Man
    As You Like It
    Atonement
    Aurora Borealis
    Australia
    Avatar
    Away from Her
    Away We Go
    Ballet Shoes
    Bee Movie
    Because I Said So
    Becoming Jane
    Blades of Glory
    Blood Diamond
    Bobby
    Bonneville
    Botany of Desire
    Bride Wars
    Brideshead Revisited
    Bright Star
    Brothers
    Burn After Reading
    Cabaret
    Cadillac Records
    Catch and Release
    Changeling
    Charlie Wilson's War
    Charlotte's Web
    Children of Men
    Choke
    Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
    Click
    Coco Before Chanel (Coco avant Chanel)
    Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
    Confessions of a Shopaholic
    Coraline
    Couples Retreat
    Crazy Heart
    Crazy People
    Dan in Real Life
    Date Knight
    Dear John
    Death at a Funeral
    Death at a Funeral (2010)
    Deja Vu
    Did you hear about the Morgans?
    District 9
    Domino
    Donnie Darko
    Doubt
    Down in the Valley
    Dreamgirls
    Driving Lessons
    Duplicity
    Eagle Eye
    Eat, Pray, Love
    Elizabeth: The Golden Age
    Enchanted
    Encounters at the End of the World
    Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
    Extraordinary Measures
    Evening
    Everybody's Fine
    Fame (2009)
    Fantastic Mr. Fox
    Forrest Gump
    Four Christmases
    Freedom Writers
    Frost/Nixon
    Frozen River
    Funny People
    Get Him to the Greek
    Get Smart
    Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
    Ghost Town
    Good Hair
    Gone Baby Gone
    Gran Torino
    Green Zone
    Guys and Dolls
    Hairspray
    Hancock
    Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
    Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix
    Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
    Happy, Texas
    Hellboy
    Hellboy II: The Golden Army
    He's Just Not That Into You
    Home Alone
    Hoodwinked
    Hot Fuzz
    Hot Tub Time Machine
    How About You
    Howard's End
    How the Grinch Stole Christmas
    I am Legend
    I Could Never be Your Woman
    I hate Valentine's Day
    I love you man
    I'm Reed Fish
    Inception
    Independence Day
    Inglorious Basterds
    I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry
    In the Land of Women
    Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
    In Her Shoes
    In Bruges
    Invictus
    Iron Man
    Iron Man 2
    It's Complicated
    I've Loved you So long (Il y a longtemps que je t'aime)
    Jane Austen Book Club
    Jeffrey
    Julie and Julia
    Juno
    Jurassic Park
    Keeping Mum
    Killers
    King of Kong
    Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
    Knocked Up
    Knowing
    Kung Fu Panda.   
    Lars and the Real Girl
    Leap Year
    Leatherheads
    Lions for Lambs
    Little Children
    Little Shop of Horrors
    Live Free or Die Hard
    Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
    Made of Honor
    Mad Money
    Mamma Mia
    Management
    Man on Wire
    Marley and Me
    Martian Child
    Michael Clayton
    Milk
    Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
    Miss Potter
    Moon
    Monsters vs. Aliens
    Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
    Music Within
    My Best Friend's Girl
    My Sister's Keeper
    National Treasure: Book of Secrets
    New in Town
    New Moon
    New York,I love you
    Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist
    Night at the Museum
    Night at the Museum: The Battle for the Smithsonian
    Nim's Island
    Nine
    No Country for Old Men
    No Reservations
    Ocean's Thirteen
    Oklahoma
    Once
    Out of Africa
    Over Her Dead Body
    Paper Heart
    Paris, Je t'aime
    Paul Blart: Mall Cop
    Penelope
    Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightening Thief
    Phoebe in Wonderland
    Pineapple Express
    Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
    Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
    Playing by Heart
    Post Grad
    Precious
    Pride and Glory
    P.S. I Love You
    Public Enemies
    Pure
    Ratatouille
    Rachel Getting Married
    Rent
    Revolutionary Road
    Role Models
    Run Fatboy Run
    Salt
    Saving Private Ryan
    Sense and Sensibility
    Sex and the City
    Sex and the City 2
    Sherlock Holmes
    Shooter
    Shrek II
    Shrek III
    Simpsons Movie
    Snow Cake
    Spiderman
    Spiderman 3
    St. Trinian's
    Star Trek
    Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith
    State of Play
    StepBrothers
    Stomp the Yard
    Sunshine Cleaning
    Surrogates
    Swimming Upstream
    Sydney White
    Taken
    Terminator 2: Judgement Day
    The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
    The Astronaut Farmer
    The Blind Side
    The Bourne Ultimatum
    The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
    The Boys are Back
    The Bounty Hunter
    The Brothers Bloom
    The Bucket List
    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
    The Counterfeiters (Die Falscher)
    The Dark Knight
    The Dream Team
    The Duchess
    The Edge of Love
    The Expendables
    The Express
    The Golden Compass
    The Good Shepherd
    The Great Debaters
    The Hangover
    The History Boys
    The Hulk
    The Hurt Locker
    The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
    The Informant
    The International
    The Invention of Lying
    The Kids are All Right
    The Kingdom
    The Last King of Scotland
    The Last Mimzy
    The Last Station
    The Little Mermaid
    The Lives of Others
    The Lookout
    The Losers
    The Maiden Heist
    The Messenger
    The Namesake
    The Nanny Diaries
    Then She Found Me
    The Other Boleyn Girl
    The Painted Veil
    The Princess and the Frog
    The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
    The Proposal
    The Pursuit of Happyness
    The Queen
    The Reader
    There Will Be Blood
    The Secret Life of Bees
    The September Issue
    The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
    The Soloist
    The Sorcerer's Apprentice
    The Spiderwick Chronicles
    The Station Agent
    The Time Traveler's Wife
    The Town
    The Ugly Truth
    The Visitor
    The Wind That Shakes the Barley
    The Women (2008)
    The Year of Living Dangerously
    The Young Victoria
    Titanic
    Toy Story
    Toy Story 3
    Transformers
    Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen
    Tropic Thunder
    Twilight
    Under the Same Moon (La Misma Luna)
    Up
    Up in the Air
    Valentine's Day
    Valkyrie
    Venus
    Vicky Christina Barcelona
    W
    Waitress
    Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
    WALL*E
    Wanted
    Watchmen
    Wendy and Lucy
    Where the Wild Things Are
    What Happens in Vegas
    Whip It!
    X-Men Origins: Wolverine
    Yes Man
    Young @ Heart
# 325.   Zach and Miri Make a Porno

My list of Movie Podcasts

I've wanted to do a post like this for a while since beginning my own podcast, Reel Insight.  Not to suggest that you should listen to anything other than Reel Insight, but if I have time to record one and listen to others, so do you.  So AFTER you listen to Reel Insight, consider checking these out.  Also, please feel free to leave a comment about which amazing movie-related podcasts I'm missing.

1.  The LAMBcast - of course I listen to this one, I'm a proud member of the LAMB.  It's a rotating group of movie buffs, led particularly well by the LAMB major domo, Fletch from Blog Cabins.  They discuss movies in depth - sometimes random movies, sometimes popular new releases, and on occasion discuss a particular topic in it's entirety like the Pixar discussion (Episodes 29 and 30) or the films of Kevin Smith.

2.  The Dark of the Matinee - The Mad Hatter talks movies with a great format and succinct discussions.  With pertinent music choices as intro/exit music, the whole thing comes together with clarity, humor, and of course lots and lots of love of movies.

3.  NPR Pop culture - This one comes from itunes.  I like it better than their more formal Culturetopia podcast.  It's basically an accumulation of all the stories NPR has produced that week dealing with pop culture, so movies and TV most often make the cut with bits on music, art, celebrities, etc.  Since I don't commute during the best hours of NPR, this gives me all the fun stuff I miss without actual news in the middle.

4.  Smodcast - This one is movie related because it's hosts, Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier, make movies.  However, they discuss whatever comes to their minds.  This has been going on for a few years now, and they've even produced a book that is a printed version of exactly what they've said on Smodcast.  It's always funny, sometimes reveals a lot about the world of movies and definitely goes too far when it comes to sex or bodily functions and often both.  It's insanely addictive.  My only complaint is that they often run well over an hour. 

5.  This is a list within the bigger list of podcasts I've only listened to once or twice but I'm sure are worthy of more listening: The Lair of the Unwanted, Frankly My Dear, and Some cast it hot.   Also, catch old episodes of the soon to end The Demented Encyclopedia (particularly the Twilight: Eclipse discussion)

All the podcasts I've listed, including REEL Insight are available on itunes.