#29: Water for Elephants

I literally just went out and saw this movie. I don't want to say surprisingly very good because I had a feeling it would be one of those well made hit movies, from the top selling novel. I really did enjoy the movie to say the least. Every character was able to play out their role almost perfectly. Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon and Christopher Waltz, all display excellence in each of their roles. "Water for Elephants," is about Robert Pattinson's, a college student, who's parent's are killed in a car accident and he then finds his life path through a traveling circus. His connection with Reese Witherspoon is great, as it is nice of him to sneak out of his typical and most well-known for role in the Twilight series. A very different and riveting movie that I highly recommend seeing.

Overall Rating: 8.7/10

- Josh Berg

#28: Super

Here comes an independent film that many would not know about and that did not get any publicity this year. "Super" is an fun and agreeable film filled with tons of action and comedy. I wasn't disappointed with the film, but it kind of copied "Kick-Ass", which I thought was astounding. Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler and Kevin Bacon make up the cast of a hidden gem. Rainn Wilson plays the lead role with lead actress Ellen Page, after Rainn Wilson's wife is practically kidnapped by a drug dealer, Rainn Wilson creates an alter-ego named the Crimson Bolt, along his journey to find his wife, Ellen Page, his newly added sidekick, Boltie, tries to help him on his adventure to stop crime and get the drug dealers that stole his wife. Although, both Wilson and Paige don't have any fighting experience, they both tag team and make a hilarious combo.

Overall Rating: 7.8/10

- Josh Berg

#27: The Dilemma

With an interesting cast of Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Jennifer Connelly, Winona Ryder and Channing Tatum, they collectively put together an average, somewhat forgettable movie about a dysfunctional relationship. Vince Vaughn is always hilarious with his sarcastic sense of humor and Kevin James brings his simple-minded humor to the table. There are a few funny scenes, it did not have a very good plot, plus it blends in with all movies about committing adultery. All in all, not the greatest movie, it may appeal to some audiences but for others that like War, Crime and Mystery movies, I would probably stay away.

Overall Rating: 6.0/10

- Josh Berg

#26: Saw 3D

I went with a bunch of people to see this movie Halloween weekend. It was a decent way to wrap up the series of the Saw's. If you like scary/gruesome movies, the Saw's should always atop the list. The director, Kevin Greutert helps repeat another adrenaline rush of a movie from beginning to end. Fun for Halloween weekend and rainy nights, otherwise a daytime showing would be a little tedious.

Overall Rating: 7.0/10

- Josh Berg

#25: Social Network

I went out and saw The Social Network. I mean, who didn't want to see this movie? I think Facebook may be the world's most widely used website and most popular social network. The Social Network was fantastic, Jesse Eisenberg was amazing, playing the role of Mark Zuckerberg. The whole premise of what happened throughout the creation of Facebook is incredibly amusing. Justin Timberlake is hilarious as usual. David Fincher, the director, did a terrific job with this film and Aaron Sorkin hit it out of the park with the screenwriting. The whole movie from start to finish was great. I enjoyed every part of it.

Absolutely must see.

Overall Rating: 8.8 / 10

- Josh Berg

#24: 12 Angry Men

12 Angry Men is a classic, I guess I kind of got away with seeing this one by watching it in my Criminal Justice class. This was way different from any other movie, based on 12 juror's trying to come to a consensus for a murder case. 12 Angry Men was probably one of the cheapest movies to make, since it only takes place in one room the entire movie. Each of the 12 individual characters played a significant role, where some were outright hysterical and others were aggravating to watch but in a good way if you know what I'm trying to say. The whole concept of the film was great, from the directing to the acting. Each actor did a tremendous job playing their specific role. 12 Angry Men is a 1957 classic everyone should most definitely see. We have to credit Reginald Rose and Sidney Lumet awesome screenwriting and directing. To name just a few of the great actors, Lee J. Cobb, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Jack Warden, Henry Fonda, Ed Begley and much more. These guys did a great job coming together and making a hit movie.

Overall Rating: 8.8/10

- Josh Berg

#23: Entrapment

Another classic Sean Connery film for you. Entrapment reminded me a somewhat of The Rock, maybe it's just because Sean Connery plays a lead role in that movie as well. Katherine Zeta-Jones plays a sexy, sophisticated, world-class thief. Sean Connery leads with his tactical training skill set and his wise ways of beating the system of thievery. Entrapment has a whole lot of twists and turns that will keep you on your seat the entire movie. Until the very end, character roles start to unfold and you eventually see who's good and who's bad, or whichever way you want to look at it. Director, Jon Amiel really did a fantastic job putting this movie together, especially with a little bit a help from fellow screenwriters, Ronald Bass and Michael Hertzberg. Ving Rhames and Will Patton add on to this supporting cast to help make Entrapment an exhilarating film. I didn't expect as much going into the movie but the outcome was far greater than anticipated.

Overall Rating: 8.4/10

- Josh Berg

#22: Love Actually

For us to do all types of films, love and romance are part of the genres necessary to watch the 365 films. I was actually completely surprised from this movie. Even though the title is Love Actually, it's less about love than you would expect it. It's got a great story outline, pretty much it's around six to eight story outlines that manage to come together in the end. Love Actually was extremely funny, where I expected something deep and romantic between two characters throughout the entire movie. Bill Nighy plays Billy Mack, a pop-star, who is unbelievable and so hysterical to watch. A tag team of big names such as Colin Ferth, Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Kiera Knightley and Emma Thompson are among great role characters for this movie. This may be the most shocking but Liam Neeson made me almost cry of laughter, I always see him as this tough macho guy, but he plays the role of a single dad, who's just great at what he does in the film. The reason I say this is because of one of my favorite movies of Liam Neeson's is Taken, where he plays a father out to get gang members who kidnapped his daughter, where he just takes absolutely no prisoners. Oh, and I wanted to add, if you haven't heard of him, Kris Marshall, possibly the funniest character in the film. Outright hysterical. Now, the title Love Actually does come into play and love does play a pretty big role in this film, where it is prevalent around every character. It's a touching, laughable, saddening, and joyful film all at the same time. Richard Curtis hits the nail on the head with his directing and screenwriting. Lastly, if you didn't realize it's a British film, which inevitably makes this movie even better, for me at least.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

- Josh Berg

#21: The Usual Suspects

The Usual Suspects is such a phenomenal movie, I can't rave enough about how great this movie is. From beginning to end, at no point in time should you be bored watching this movie. Every minute is either filled with non-stop action, or your laughing at how funny Benicio Del Toro is. Stephen Baldwin is obviously great, especially when he gets to play the role of a car-jacker. I'll just go through the list because I feel that I just might have to. Gabriel Byrne plays off his role of "Dean Keaton" so well, that it may just seem to viewers that it actually might just be him in real life. Kevin Pollack is my least favorite in the bunch but that doesn't mean he didn't play his role well. Last but not least the greatest of them all, Kevin Spacey takes the gold medal for his performance. If anyone's keeping track still, Kevin Spacey is one of my top 5 actors. He's such a brilliant actor, he can play any role any which way he wants and receive an Oscar Winning Performance. Bryan Singler did a great job directing this film, while Christopher McQuarrie's brilliance of creating such a movie is a gift to us all. Oh, and this film may have one of the best twists of ever created. Absolutely amazing movie, anyone who hasn't seen this, has to go see this film immediately.

Overall Rating: 9.5/10

- Josh Berg

#20: It's Kind of a Funny Story...

Wow.

If you saw the trailers for It's Kind of a Funny Story..., you still know nothing about the movie. I decided to see the movie on a whim this weekend after seeing the ads. I was looking forward to a nice, light, easy, funny movie about the obvious comedic opportunities provided by a mental hospital. Fortunately for me (but not for some of the people I saw it with), this movie goes much, much deeper than just Zach Galifianakis goofing off in a straitjacket.

It's Kind of a Funny Story... touches on a whole mess of adolescent issues from self-mutilation to suicide to (shocker:) romance. The movie walked a thin line, presenting itself as a comedy but bringing up suicide and other extremely serious issues, opening the door for a whole lot of tasteless, unfunny jokes. I was impressed to find that no jokes were obviously in bad taste and Galifianakis' character had a serious side, which he played impressively well.

It's Kind of a Funny Story... is much more of an indie teen romance than a Hangover-esque comedy. That said, it was funny and I found myself unable to look away. I genuinely liked these characters and wanted to see what would happen to them, a quality far too few movies have.

I'll let you decide whether or not you should see it, but being a sucker for indie movies and having just come out of those teen years and the depression that came with them, I loved It's Kind of a Funny Story...


Overall Rating: 9.2 / 10


-Taylor Dobbs

#19: Big Fish

Let's start off by saying you can tell a Tim Burton film right from the beginning. Tim Burton has a mind of his own that all makes us wonder, what made him think of that or to even decide to do something like that in the film. In Big Fish, director Tim Burton creates places of pure happiness and places that are dark and gloomy. Big Fish is truly an inspiring story about an All-American man, who has the greatest adventure stories, with life and love within it. Ewan McGregor plays the main character but the movie plays in flashbacks, where it really shows an inspiring story on his part. Let me tell you, it's somewhat sad, but it also may be one of the most happy-go-lucky movies I've seen in a while. The whole concept and the premise of the movie was extraordinary. From the characters, to the scenery, to the plot and to the directing, it's honestly a movie everyone needs to see. I'm not saying everyone will love it but most people would grin and giggle or laugh (if you want to be manly about it) after many scenes. Me personally, I honestly thought it had a great start to finish. Great movie, another reason why we know Tim Burton's a hot commodity for a director.

Overall Rating: 9.0/10

- Josh