Category: “Top Tens”, and others

My predictions for the 95th Academy Awards

Post author By Mark A. Lester
Post date March 11, 2023
No Comments on My predictions for the 95th Academy Awards

Welp, here we go again. I am coming in at the 11th hour, but my predictions are ready. Sadly, I did not get to seeing all I wanted to in time, but such is life.

True, last year I lucked out in going 21/23 (my best to date), but perhaps I am being too modest in saying you should take that with a grain of salt. The only true prediction I know for sure is that Will Smith won’t be there.

Note: As always, I know nothing about the idea of betting odds or anything, so don’t come yelling at me if you lose money.

Tags 95th Academy Awards, Avatar: The Way of Water, Blonde, Elvis, Everything everywhere all at once, Maverick, Oscar Predictions, Oscars, Tar, The Banshees of Inisherin, The Fabelmans, The Way of Water, Top Gun Maverick, Top Gun: Maverick, Triangle of Sadness, Women Talking

"Top Tens", and others Movies

Top Ten Films of 2022

Like my 2021 list, I rounded out the number of films I saw in 2022 at about 70 films. Unlike 2021 (or the last few years, for that matter), this year is not a top 20.

I’ve always been vocal in saying there are no bad movie years, but 2022 was a tad dull when compared to the likes of 2021 (and certainly to the juggernaut that was the 2019 movie year).

This also could factor into something that hasn’t happened to me in sometime: I did not get to rewatch any movies on my list (save one). That is more on me than the movies themselves (I did watch some more TV this past year than previously, and while not a movie, I can’t stop praising the amazing Andor.)

As always, I had my share of blindspots, so movies you won’t see on here include:

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Babylon
Barbarian
The Black Phone
Close
Devotion
EO
Living
A Man Called Otto
No Bears
Pearl
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
X

Finally, the honorable mentions

Aftersun
Ambulance (a movie I finally caught up with and may be Michael Bay’s best film since The Rock).
Armageddon Time
Avatar: The Way of Water
The Bad Guys
The Batman
The Fabe l mans
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
The Menu
Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical (one of the years most surprising charmers)
She Said
Triangle of Sadness
The Woman King

Now for the top ten, which begins on the frontlines.

"Top Tens", and others Movies

Top 10 Worst films of 2022

Post author By Mark A. Lester
Post date December 22, 2022
No Comments on Top 10 Worst films of 2022

Two weeks ago, I was experiencing back pain that I was more than likely sure were kidney stones. While the pain was not as severe as it had been in the past, it lasted enough days for me to double check with the doctor. Well, turns out it wasn’t a kidney stone…it was two.

My friend Peter said it best: “You are one stone away from an Infinity Gauntlet”.

Tags 2000 Mules, 2022, AMsterdam, Black Adam, Dinesh D'Souza, Don't worry darling, Hocus Pocus 2, Jeepers Creepers, Jeepers Creepers: Reborn, Jurassic World, Jurassic World: Dominion, Moonfall, Moonshot, Morbius, Pinocchio, Spiderhead, The Gray Man, The Lost City, Uncharted

"Top Tens", and others

2022 Halftime Report

As of this writing, I have seen a little over twenty five movies, both in theaters and on streaming.

This time around for my looking back at the first half of the year, I will do so in a way that would make Michael Scott of The Office proud: a 2022 cinematic “Dundees” for the first half of 2022.

In no particular order…

Tags 2000 Mules, 2022, Disney, Disney Plus, Disney/Pixar, Everything Everywhere at once, Halftime, Hustle, Jurassic World: Dominion, Morbius, Movie Reviews, Netflix, Pixar, The Batman, The Northman, Top Gun, Top Gun Maverick, Turning Red

"Top Tens", and others Movies

The 94th Academy Awards: My take on the Good, the Bad, and…well, you know what moment.

Post author By Mark A. Lester
Post date March 28, 2022
1 Comment on The 94th Academy Awards: My take on the Good, the Bad, and…well, you know what moment.

In the words of Ron Burgundy, “That escalated quickly!”.

The 94th Academy Awards had more than its fair share of failures (one we will get to), but it is important to remember that it had some good moments as well. Great moments, in fact, that are worth remembering.

In no particular order…

Tags 2022, Chris Rock, CODA, Denzel Washington, Oscar, Oscars, Will Smith

"Top Tens", and others Movies

The 94th Academy Awards: Who will win, who should win, and why you should not underestimate the Power of the (under) dog

Post author By Mark A. Lester
Post date March 25, 2022
No Comments on The 94th Academy Awards: Who will win, who should win, and why you should not underestimate the Power of the (under) dog

This may be a bad analogy, but making my predictions this year has been akin to playing Candy Land, possibly the worst kids board game of all time. If the goal is to simply make the predictions at a reasonable time, I am still feeling stuck on that black dot space, or I keep drawing that stupid muffin guy or whatever that brings me back to the start.

Either way, after hours of personal research (including looking at multiple anonymous Oscar voter revelations) here are my predictions, as well as what I think should win. I was also on a podcast with an old High School friend as we discussed the nominations (thanks again Mike!). That was split into two episodes.

NOTE: Not all the predictions I made on the podcast are the same here. What I have typed out are my final predictions.

And, of course, I feel all the categories are important, and should be on TV. So we will start with the lesser known categories…

Tags 2021, 2022, Academy Awards, CODA, Oscars, Predictions

"Top Tens", and others Movies

The Top 20 of 2021

From The Little Things to The Tragedy of Macbeth (Denzel bookends), I rounded out my amount of movies seen at seventy.

Even with that amount of movies, there was a fair amount of films I did not get to in time (especially, sadly, Foreign Language films). These include The Last Duel, The Green Knight, The Card Counter, Drive my Car, The Worst Person in the World, Stillwater, and The Tender Bar.

"Top Tens", and others Movies

The Cream of the Crap: Top 10 Worst movies of 2021

Post author By Mark A. Lester
Post date December 25, 2021
No Comments on The Cream of the Crap: Top 10 Worst movies of 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic is approaching two long agonizing years of existence. I am fortunate to say that, while some in my family have caught the disease, none has passed away. I am aware others have not been so fortunate.

That said, a last minute COVID diagnosis has cancelled my family holiday plans for the second year in a row, so I am rather upset. Therefore, I am transferring my anger in a healthy way to my current separate anger at the worst movies of 2021.

Tags 2021, Beckett, Cinderella, COVID, Dear Evan Hansen, Eternals, Home Alone, Home Sweet Home Alone, Lebron James, Red Notice, Space Jam, The Little Things, The Tomorrow War, The Women in the Window, Thunder Force, Tom and Jerry, Worst of the year, Wrath of Man

"Top Tens", and others Movies

My Predictions for the 93rd Academy Awards (expect some history to go down)

Post author By Mark A. Lester
Post date April 20, 2021
No Comments on My Predictions for the 93rd Academy Awards (expect some history to go down)

When Parasite won the Oscar for Best Picture last year, it was truly one of the only great moments of 2020 (the lockdown was only a couple weeks away). Now, nearly 14 months later, the next Academy Awards is occurring (and, more importantly, the hopeful end of this horrible pandemic).

I will try my best in my predictions to answer all the questions that are on the table before Hollywood’s big night: As always, you need to guess in every one of the 23 categories (they meshed sound mixing and sound editing) if you have a pool you are participating in, so here are my predictions.

Tags Mank, Nomadland, Oscar Predictions, Oscars, Predictions, Promising Young WOman

"Top Tens", and others Movies

The Top 20 of 2020

Top 20 films of 2020

Escapism was essential for everyone in 2020, which would explain why I saw over 50 releases from the past year (not to mention catching up on older flicks I had yet to see).

Regardless of whether I saw them in theaters or on streaming services (like most others did), it was nice to have certain hours of my life to keep me away from the outside world. Of course, the better films made me look at the world in a different way. That sounds like a lesson from Film School 101, but it is true.