# martryn's Top 10 from 2012



## martryn (Feb 15, 2014)

Yep, 2012.  I know, that was two years ago.  Well, I like to give myself at least a full year so I can allow my "stomach to settle" and I can definitively pick my favorite films of the year.  These come from my Criticker account.  I'd recommend diehard movie fans to get Criticker accounts.  A great resource and a lot of fun.  This list also includes one animated short.


There is really a three-way tie for that 9th spot, so I'll mention that all three of these films just barely edged out Skyfall, which was fantastic, but with some problems with pacing. 

TIED 9th: The Expendables 2
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				martryn's take said:
			
		

> I fucking love the Expendable movies. It's the over-the-top action shit that made the 80's fucking fantastic. A good blend of modern action sequences, relevant humor (Lundgren actually has a degree in Chemical Engineering, and the references to Chuck Norris as he exists on the internet), and just a touch of plot. I think the Expendables 2 is a small improvement on the first film, which itself was fucking awesome.



TIED 9th: End of Watch
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				martryn's take said:
			
		

> Forget the notion of this film having a plot. It isn't important. The first 85% of the movie is there to do a fantastic job at building this tangible and believable brotherly friendship between these two cops, and the last 15% of the movie is there to make your stomach ache in dreadful anticipation of the ending you know is right around the corner.



TIED 9th: Chronicle 
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				martryn's take said:
			
		

> One of the better films of 2012, and definitely one of the greatest "found footage" or whatever the fuck it's called films ever. It was sorta like a live action, American version of Akira, sans motorcycles and governm... it's actually nothing like Akira, really. Still, it's amazing the effects they can accomplish on a small budget, and the young actors certainly managed a more-than-passable job.



8th: Wreck-It Ralph
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				martryn's take said:
			
		

> One of the best animated films I've seen in recent years. I really wish that there were more video game references, though, or game jumping in the film. The idea of a Mario Kart style setting and the interaction between the inhabitants of that world was cute, but I just wanted to see what else Ralph could fuck up, and how characters from one game interacted when placed in another.



7th: The Avengers
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				martryn's take said:
			
		

> This is going to be a very hard movie to beat in the ensemble super hero genre. Action scenes were nice, comedy is solid, and the minor characters get some attention as well. This film will certainly keep the super hero genre rolling for some time, as well setting the standard for films to come.



6th: Paperman
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				martryn's take said:
			
		

> Incredibly cute, and certainly the type of short they should make more of. It's sad when the animated short before the feature is much better than the feature itself.


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## martryn (Feb 15, 2014)

5th: Looper
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				martryn's take said:
			
		

> JGL stuns in another fantastic film. This wasn't what I expected going into it, but the film is strong, handles time travel alright, and mixes in just enough sci-fi and fantasy to get a nice sheen to it without overwhelming people turned off by that sort of thing.



4th: The Dark Knight Rises
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				martryn's take said:
			
		

> Does not live up to The Dark Knight, and there are some pretty glaring plot holes, but Tom Hardy delivers a performance that will define him in new ways, and you can't ever say anything bad about Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Considering those performances, you can kinda ignore the silly gadgetry, the time inconsistencies and oversights by the primary villains, and how absolutely stupid Anne Hathaway looks throughout the film.



TIED 2nd: Life of Pi
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				martryn's take said:
			
		

> Some great visuals. Not as thought provoking as it could have been, but the movie entertained even with the daunting challenge of placing half of it on a tiny life raft with a single actor. Kinda regret not seeing it in 3D, as this might have been one of the few movies up to this point that would have been made better with 3D.



TIED 2nd: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
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				martryn's take said:
			
		

> It's about the same quality as the Lord of the Rings films. Freeman does a fantastic job. I also like how they've tried to make each dwarf a bit different so they're easier to remember, but you'll notice a distinctive lack of beard of the dwarfs that are meant to be the "handsome" ones, which sorta irks me. They're exploring things that weren't explored in the books, which makes me excited for the sequels, and the changes they did make to the plot aren't as bad as the ones in the LotR.



1st: Moonrise Kingdom 
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				martryn's take said:
			
		

> Wow. Best movie of 2012? Probably. Wes Anderson, for me, is hit or miss, but he scored huge this time. The characters are just quirky enough, the story is heartwarming, the film is funny. Fantastic. I think Edward Norton and his scout troop is probably the highlight of the film. That, or when the grossly underaged Kara Hayward strips in an awkward, boner-inducing scene. Fantastic.


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## Ennoea (Feb 15, 2014)

Hobbit was terrible wtf


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## Yasha (Feb 15, 2014)

> It's about the same quality as the Lord of the Rings films



Doesn't agree with Hobbit being the same quality as LotR. 

A few films not on your list but would make it to my top 10:
Skyfall
Beasts of the Southern Wild
The Cabin in the Woods


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## Ennoea (Feb 15, 2014)

Beasts of the Southern Wild was easily one of the best, so was The Master, Amour, Jagten,  Tabu and possibly Cosmopolis. 

Out of this list I agree with End of Watch an The Avengers. And Chronicle was alot of fun though the found footage aspect ruined it abit.


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## Uncle Acid (Feb 15, 2014)

Looper, The Dark Knight Rises and Life of Pi.


Bye.


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## Stunna (Feb 15, 2014)

Interesting list.


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## Bluebeard (Feb 15, 2014)

Finally someone who recognizes how good Looper is.


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## martryn (Feb 15, 2014)

> Doesn't agree with Hobbit being the same quality as LotR.
> 
> A few films not on your list but would make it to my top 10:
> Skyfall
> ...



I think it was.  The Hobbit as a novel was a different tone than the Lord of the Rings, but the production quality and script were still solid, and Freeman brought a fantastic performance.  If you were a fan of the book (which gets a lot of hate on the forums), then you'd be a fan of the movie.  

Skyfall and Seven Psychopaths would be the two films that would almost make the cut.  Skyfall, like I mentioned, had some pacing problems.  I mean, the villain didn't make an appearance until the film was half over, and they killed the Bond girl within a few minutes of introducing her.  I loved Skyfall, but it wasn't as good as Casino Royale.  

I haven't seen Beasts of the Southern Wild.  I've heard of it but I'm not entirely sure what it's about.  Cabin in the Woods is a good film, but not great.  It surprised and played with stereotypes, and I'd highly recommend it, but it's not a movie I'd consider fantastic. 



> so was The Master, Amour, Jagten, Tabu and possibly Cosmopolis.



I haven't seen any of those.  I'm a fan of PTA, and I tried to drag Mary to see Amour, but my wife likes action films and science fiction and horror movies.  She's not going to want to sit through two old people dying for two hours.



> And Chronicle was alot of fun though the found footage aspect ruined it abit.



Found footage films are pretty stupid.  I thought Chronicle managed to pull it off very well, though.  They didn't abuse the genre the way some movies seem to.



> Looper, The Dark Knight Rises and Life of Pi.



All three fantastic films.  Not that I'm going to listen too much to a guy who likes Danzig enough to put them in his sig.  The Dark Knight Rises had a lot of problems, I'll admit that, but Tom Hardy alone makes that movie watchable.  Looper was fantastic.  I can't even imagine someone hating it, so I don't understand where you're coming from.  Life of Pi was a great adaptation of a great book.  Danny Boyle knows what he is doing.  Visually stunning, and a great performance by a young actor without anyone to work off of, and having to deal with a lot of CGI stuff.


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## Uncle Acid (Feb 15, 2014)

What's wrong with Danzig?


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## Cyphon (Feb 15, 2014)

I am surprised with how many on this list I actually agree with. 

My top 5 was Avengers, Hobbit, End of Watch, Wreck it Ralph and Zero Dark Thirty.

If I were stretching to 10 I would add in American Reunion, Argo, Looper, Act of Valor and…..Not sure of a 10th.


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## Rukia (Feb 15, 2014)

Ennoea is right.  The Hobbit is a terrible movie.


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## Cyphon (Feb 15, 2014)

The Hobbit was awesome. Better than the trilogy for sure.


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## Lucaniel (Feb 15, 2014)

should we all make our top 10s for whichever year we feel like and give them pride of place in individual threads?

can't say it seems like an especially productive trend, but at least it would bring a few top 10s which weren't shitty enough to have expendables 2, avengers, tdkr and the hobbit in there


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## Rukia (Feb 15, 2014)

Expendables 2 being tied with End of Watch for anything confuses the shit out of me to be honest.


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## martryn (Feb 15, 2014)

> Ennoea is right. The Hobbit is a terrible movie.



Terrible is a very strong thing to say.  It was by no means terrible.  You could say it was mediocre, but I'm pretty sure most would say it's at least good.  

Then again, it is _martryn's_ top 10.  Make your own top 10 and I'll make fun of it like the elitist I am.  Or, you could just tell me why you think The Hobbit was so bad.  There are a lot of reasons, but I'd love to hear what _you_ think the reason is.



> This message is hidden because Cyphon is on your ignore list.



Oh, why thank you Cyphon.  I'm glad you agree with me.



> should we all make our top 10s for whichever year we feel like and give them pride of place in individual threads?



No.  Only people who matter.



> can't say it seems like an especially productive trend, but at least it would bring a few top 10s which weren't shitty enough to have expendables 2, avengers, tdkr and the hobbit in there



With opinions that matter, too.



> Expendables 2 being tied with End of Watch for anything confuses the shit out of me to be honest.



They are different movies for different types of people.  For example, The Man Who Knew Too Little, the greatest comedy of all time, starring Bill Murray, does not, necessarily, belong in the same conversation as Amadeus or Seven Samurai, but I think they're all 9.4 out of 10.


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## Ae (Feb 15, 2014)

I get you like action, but Expendables tho? And your wife have basic taste as well.


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## Lucaniel (Feb 15, 2014)

oh, the agony of being told i don't matter on the richly meaningful place which is naruto forums

how will i ever live it down

perhaps i'll have to make a luc's top 10 of 1974 thread in the teeth of your _corrosive_ insult


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## Lucaniel (Feb 15, 2014)

>godfather part II
>chinatown
>the conversation
>some robert bresson film which is probably beloved of true patricians
>the taking of pelham one two three
>texas chainsaw massacre
>two robert altman movies
>young frankenstein
>blazing saddles

what a fantastic choice i've made


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## Lucaniel (Feb 15, 2014)

> I haven't seen any of those. I'm a fan of PTA, and I tried to drag Mary to see Amour, but my wife likes action films and science fiction and horror movies. She's not going to want to sit through two old people dying for two hours.



>claiming to be a fan of PTA and not seeing The Master because of your wife


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## martryn (Feb 15, 2014)

> I get you like action, but Expendables tho? And your wife have basic taste as well.



The Expendables is like an 80's child's dream action movie.  I grew up watching Arnold, Stallone, and Lundgren.  Maybe you didn't watch it with the right mindset.  I mean, I knew it was going to be corny and predictable.  But as a tribute to 80's films, it's fantastic.  I view it the same way I'd view Black Dynamite.  I love Black Dynamite.  I think it's a great film.  But I also know it's spoof.  It's not an Academy Award winning film, sure, but it is one of the greatest action/comedies of all time.  I'd rank it as the fifth best film of 2009. 



> oh, the agony of being told i don't matter on the richly meaningful place which is naruto forums



The agony of watching you triple post.  Is that why you have almost 16,000 posts?  Can't find the edit button?



> perhaps i'll have to make a luc's top 10 of 1974 thread in the teeth of your corrosive insult



But you probably won't get as many posts as I am in this thread, making this thread a success.  And as long as Godfather: Part II is on top, and Zardoz is on the bottom.



> >godfather part II
> >chinatown
> >the conversation
> >some robert bresson film which is probably beloved of true patricians
> ...



No pictures?  No mini-reviews?  At least put some effort into it.



> >claiming to be a fan of PTA and not seeing The Master because of your wife



Well, yeah, basically.  She controls what we rent on Redbox.  And I've spent precious few nights without her, so unless it was on HBO while we had it and I managed to record it, which I didn't.  

She made me cancel our Netflix, too.  I used to have the DVD-by-mail service to watch a bunch of old movies, but, alas, she hated that shit.  She has dragged me to not one, but TWO separate Fast and Furious films in theaters.


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## Lucaniel (Feb 15, 2014)

> The agony of watching you triple post. Is that why you have almost 16,000 posts? Can't find the edit button?



tbh the reason i actually included the third post was that i remembered you get mad about people double posting such





> But you probably won't get as many posts as I am in this thread, making this thread a success. And as long as Godfather: Part II is on top, and Zardoz is on the bottom.



i'm almost completely sure i could muster 20 posts tbh. and if not, then only because 1974 isn't quite as recent as 2012



> No pictures? No mini-reviews? At least put some effort into it.



i was checking which films were released that year

surely "some robert bresson film which is probably beloved of true patricians" or "two robert altman movies" should've clued you into the fact that i hadn't watched all of them and wasn't ranking them


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## Lucaniel (Feb 15, 2014)

also i'm gonna double post


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## Stunna (Feb 15, 2014)

We've had so many top ten threads.

Why not a handful more.


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## John (Feb 15, 2014)

martryn said:


> It's about the same quality as the Lord of the Rings films.


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## TylerDurden (Feb 15, 2014)

Enno is right where is all the Jagten love

The Master is also supposed to be a no-brainer inclusion


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## Ceria (Feb 15, 2014)

martryn said:


> The Expendables is like an 80's child's dream action movie.  I grew up watching Arnold, Stallone, and Lundgren.  Maybe you didn't watch it with the right mindset.  I mean, I knew it was going to be corny and predictable.  But as a tribute to 80's films, it's fantastic.  I view it the same way I'd view Black Dynamite.  I love Black Dynamite.  I think it's a great film.  But I also know it's spoof.  It's not an Academy Award winning film, sure, but it is one of the greatest action/comedies of all time.  I'd rank it as the fifth best film of 2009.



[YOUTUBE]gQWq1Z-J-EE[/YOUTUBE]

even stone cold steve austin recognized the power of that automatic shotgun. This was one of the best moments of the movie for me, being somewhat of a gun nut and that being one of the ultimate guns i'd love to own.


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## Cyphon (Feb 15, 2014)

TylerDurden said:


> The Master is also supposed to be a no-brainer inclusion



Maybe on your list. I thought it looked awful and a friend of mine who watched it said it was bad.


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## Samavarti (Feb 15, 2014)

Ennoea said:


> Beasts of the Southern Wild was easily one of the best, so was The Master, Amour, Jagten,  Tabu and possibly Cosmopolis.
> 
> Out of this list I agree with End of Watch an The Avengers. And Chronicle was alot of fun though the found footage aspect ruined it abit.



I was gonna complain about you not mentioning Oslo, 31. august, but then i checked and saw it was a 2011 movie.


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## martryn (Feb 15, 2014)

> surely "some robert bresson film which is probably beloved of true patricians" or



Really?  Lancelot of the Lake, or whatever it's called, is actually a really fucking good movie.  I've not seen the Robert Altman films, and was wondering why they were ranked so high, but I figured it had to do with your poor tastes.



> even stone cold steve austin recognized the power of that automatic shotgun. This was one of the best moments of the movie for me, being somewhat of a gun nut and that being one of the ultimate guns i'd love to own.



That scene had me rolling in the theaters.  Hilarious.  I'd still say that Randy Couture piledriving a flaming Stone Cold Steve Austin was a better moment.  However, this was all in the first film.  I thought the second movie was the better of the two, and I loved the first movie.  The second movie was less bogged down by a plot I didn't care about.  It was a basic find and kill a guys for revenge story.  



> Enno is right where is all the Jagten love
> 
> The Master is also supposed to be a no-brainer inclusion



Again, I haven't seen either.  I am aware of both, but I'm limited in the types of movies I can see.  There isn't a lot of opportunity to watch a Danish film here in the states.


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## Yasha (Feb 15, 2014)

Jagten is solid, a rare gem from Northern Europe. It's gripping and provocative.

Beasts of the Southern Wild is another film I think you would enjoy, looking at your Criticker list. It's a bit similar to Where the Wild Things Are but better.


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## Varg (Feb 16, 2014)

This is not a film  and Blancanieves  were pretty good that year.


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## martryn (Feb 16, 2014)

> Beasts of the Southern Wild is another film I think you would enjoy, looking at your Criticker list. It's a bit similar to Where the Wild Things Are but better.



The only thing I've heard about it is the young black actress was fantastic, and then she went and did a super bowl commercial that didn't make sense.


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## Ennoea (Feb 16, 2014)

> I was gonna complain about you not mentioning Oslo, 31. august, but then i checked and saw it was a 2011 movie.



Dat movie broke me


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## pfft (Feb 18, 2014)

I love LOVE LOVE Moonrise Kingdom

great list 

great choices for the most part 

would rep you if i werent 24 hr


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## martryn (Feb 18, 2014)

> would rep you if i werent 24 hr



You rep too much for someone who is never online.


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## pfft (Feb 18, 2014)

i also rape too much


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## Nuuskis (Feb 20, 2014)

I would have put Avengers higher and The Hobbit lower. Also would have added Django Unchained, Lincoln and maybe Skyfall to the list.


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## martryn (Feb 21, 2014)

> I would have put Avengers higher and The Hobbit lower. Also would have added Django Unchained, Lincoln and maybe Skyfall to the list.



Oh, shit, Django.  Completely forgot about that movie.  It would likely be the #1 film of 2012.  

I haven't seen Lincoln, and those types of films rarely do it for me anyways, but I explained Skyfall.  While I loved it, and it was close, I thought the pacing was wonky, they killed off their Bond girl within minutes of introducing her, and the bad guy didn't make an appearance until the film was half over.

I'm a big fan of Tolkien, and while I do admit that the Hobbit has some issues, so does Empire Strikes Back, but that doesn't stop Empire from being my favorite movie of all time.  I thought the Hobbit was a lot of fun, seamlessly integrated some great special effects and CGI, and Martin Freeman made for a believable Bilbo.  I'm a bigger fan of Tolkien than I am to Marvel comics, and I did go see The Hobbit twice in theaters, and I only felt compelled to see the Avengers once.


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## Uncle Acid (Feb 21, 2014)

What about Blancanieves? Or Gwanghae, Wangyidoen namja? Or Dredd? Clearly three of the best films of 2012. And Indie Game: The Movie of course, but I am not sure you'd count documentaries. Seen 'em?


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## martryn (Feb 21, 2014)

No, I've not seen a bunch of fucking foreign films.  I did see Dredd.  It was alright, for what it was.  I don't dislike it.  I would count documentaries, but I'm not sure I saw any in 2012.


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## Uncle Acid (Feb 21, 2014)

Ok, ok. It was just a question. I thought every single human being interested in films would at least be into South-Korean cinema considering the amount of quality films they've put out the past decade. It's insane.

Not seeing Blancanieves is understandable though. It's a sadly overlooked film. But in 5-10 years I am sure this will be regarded a classic, and one of _the_ films to watch from the last 20 years. Not even joking. I was lucky enough to experience this on a film festival here and it's easily one of the most enjoyable, if the most enjoyable, experience I've had at a cinema. Magnificent!

And Indie Game: The Movie are worth checking out, but it would help if you're into gaming to begin with. One of my all time favourite documentaries, only beaten by the masterpiece that is Jiro Dreams of Sushi.


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## martryn (Feb 21, 2014)

> Ok, ok. It was just a question. I thought every single human being interested in films would at least be into South-Korean cinema considering the amount of quality films they've put out the past decade. It's insane.



Oh, I fucking love the South Korean film industry.  The Vengeance trilogy, The Man from Nowhere, The Host, The Good, the Bad, and the Weird, etc.  Unfortunately it usually takes a few years after a foreign film comes out before I get a chance to see it.



> Not seeing Blancanieves is understandable though. It's a sadly overlooked film. But in 5-10 years I am sure this will be regarded a classic, and one of the films to watch from the last 20 years. Not even joking. I was lucky enough to experience this on a film festival here and it's easily one of the most enjoyable, if the most enjoyable, experience I've had at a cinema. Magnificent!



Is that the Spanish black and white film?  I've seen some hype about it.  I think it'll probably be a film I enjoy watching, but I don't think it would crack the Top 10.  I'm not sure it'd crack the top 20 based on what I've seen of it.

 Indie Game: The Movie is on my radar, though.  I've seen some trailers for it, and I think it'd rank up there.  I know it made several top 10 lists, and I've seen a lot of positive hype about it.  I'll probably catch it as soon as I get an opportunity to.



> One of my all time favourite documentaries, only beaten by the masterpiece that is Jiro Dreams of Sushi.



Another one that I've got on my Netflix list.  When I get a chance, I'll probably be watching it within the next few weeks.  If you like documentaries, you should watch the soul crushing _Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)_.  I openly wept at the end.


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## Pseudo (Feb 21, 2014)

Cyphon said:


> Look at me, I'm a troll



...............................


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