Slate's Ninth Annual Movie Club free-for-all is up here.
For the first time in years I have not seen enough of the most critically acclaimed films to be able to render judgment or a years-end best list. This has more to do with the way films today are made and marketed than anything else. Film-makers are focusing less on four-quadrant efforts [ones that appeal alike to young and old, male and female viewers] and are attempting to reach target audiences. Most films, therefore, are made without any consideration of people outside those specific audiences and hold nothing of interest to them [read me or you].
One thing I realized several years ago found even more confirmation this year. I neither share nor respect the attitudes that inform the most recent generation of movie critics. Their life experiences and cultural references are so alien to me that I cannot empathize with them on any level. The Slate Movie Club is a good example of the way they think and write, and a fascinating view into the mental processes and cultural norms of what seem to me to be a very inane and eccentric group of self-referential, over-educated fools. See, for instance, their discussion of who hates war movies more.
Oh? What films did I like?
I enjoyed "Apocalypto," a ripping yarn that took me back to the boys adventure stories I avidly consumed as a youth. I enjoyed the new Bond film, especially since I attended it with and was amused by the reaction of some women who really, really enjoyed it. I was mildly repulsed and annoyed by "Little Miss Sunshine" and I really hated "Borat."
UPDATE: Peter Suderman agrees with me -- "Apocapypto" was the best film of the year. [here]
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