Mid-year report card: The 10 best movies of 2009 - so far

When I sat down to do this, I started with 20 movies, so the competition was indeed pretty fierce.

And, at the outset, I certainly expected both Michael Mann's "Public Enemies" and Greg Mottola's "Adventureland," both just damn fine flicks, to make the cut, but they just missed (and the fact that "Up" didn't make this list in any slot isn't me being ornery, it's just my honest opinion.) I've included an honorable mention to give all the also-rans credit, so without any further ado and in reverse order, here goes:

10. "Coraline"
Of all the animated movies I've seen in 3-D, Henry Selick's "Coraline," based on the novella by Neil Gaiman, is the only one I can say I love almost unconditionally. It definitely starts to unravel by the end, but since it's the twisted fantasy vision of a child, it's to be expected. Rent this right away if you haven't seen it yet.

9. "Moon"
This was the second-hottest ticket at this year's Atlanta Film Festival, and with good reason. Though it pilfers extremely liberally from "2001: A Space Odyssey," Duncan Jones' flick still delivers a solid sci-fi allegory for our troubled times, and Sam Rockwell, who appears in just about every frame of this all by himself, is just sensational.

8. "Watchmen"
I recently watched the rather whopping 186-minute director's cut of Zack Snyder's movie, and though it took two sittings, I recommend it for anyone who liked the flick as much as I did. From the fantastic opening credits onward, Snyder gives the Watchmen's tale the pop sensibility it needs, and though he made plenty of compromises to get it onto the big screen, I don't think it could have been done any other way.

7. "Drag Me to Hell"
It's the biggest movie mystery of this year why Sam Raimi's return to horror didn't make much money at all, because I can guarantee you it's just all kinds of fun. I realize it takes a certain - and not terribly healthy - sensibility to find humor in Alison Lohman stalking her cat with a knife as she coos "here, kitty kitty" and then seeing said cat being vomited up by an old woman, but I laughed from start to finish of this one and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

6. "Star Trek"
My fellow cubicle slave Randy Waters, who has the "Star Trek" theme as his cell phone ring tone, declared this the "best movie ever." While I'm relatively confident he was at least slightly joking, J.J. Abrams' flick is indeed the definition of a great summer movie, with the year's best set piece in that scene with Chris Pine and John Cho trying to take out that giant Romulan drill, and it certainly should lead to at least five or six more Trek movies with the new crew.

5. "In the Loop"
This is also the last new movie I've watched, but its presence here isn't just proof that my short-term memory holds sway. Armando Iannucci's satire of the buildup to the Iraq War hits all its targets, and the cast, led by an extremely profane Peter Capaldi, is able to keep up with all the rapid-fire barbs. It's worth mentioning again that, although this is still playing in a few theaters, you can also watch it on Cox cable "On Demand" and probably on other cable providers too. It's well worth the $2.

4. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"
I suppose $255 million and still going strong domestic, and a whole lot more worldwide, is nothing to be dismissed, but I've been surprised that this - the best of the Harry Potter films in my book - has struggled to fend off a bunch of talking gerbils, or whatever those "G-Force" creatures are supposed to be. David Yates' second Potter flick just perfectly captures the feeling of doom that pervades the book even as he lightens things up with the kids pitching woo, and they all show just how well they've grown into the roles.

3. "Tyson"/"Every Little Step"
OK, I'm gonna cheat and make this list go to 11, but only because I forgot about the charming documentary "Every Little Step" and had to squeeze it in somewhere, though I suppose a tie with Iron Mike is indeed an odd pairing.

I don't watch any reality TV at all, simply because it doesn't interest me, but I'm sure fans of the competition shows will get a kick out of "Every Little Step," which takes a close-up look at the auditions for the recent revival of "A Chorus Line." The competition is fierce among these very talented individuals, and the film artfully intersperses the story of how Michael Bennett dreamed up the original musical from recordings he made of dancers describing their lives. I've recommended this one to the Macon Film Guild, for an upcoming screening, so I guess I'll find out soon if I have any pull or not. Probably not.

"Tyson" was easily the hottest ticket at the Atlanta Film Festival, and the only movie I've ever actually had to stand up through to watch. I hear tell that even Tyler Perry was there, but I can't confirm that. As for the movie itself, it's pretty much Tyson analyzing himself for director James Toback, appropriately enough often seated on his couch, and though that might not sound particularly entertaining, believe me that it is. He veers wildly between genuine introspection and stubborn defiance, and when he talks about his rape of Desiree Washington, it's just chilling.

2. "Sugar"
It would be enough of an accomplishment - and, unfortunately, a rarity - if directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck had simply made a great baseball movie, but with this tale of a Dominican ballplayer trying to make it to the big time you also get a whole lot more. Along with being an engaging story about immigration in America, it's also simply a great story about the power of being able to change your mind, and it features a first-rate turn from the titular star, Algenis Perez Soto. A quick visit to Amazon.com reveals this will be released on DVD on Sept. 1, so rent or buy this one as soon as you can.

1. "The Hurt Locker"
When I heard Kathyrn Bigelow's Iraq war movie was going to play "wide," which it certainly deserves to, I didn't believe it, but the flick is indeed going to play for a third week next week at the Galleria in Centerville, Ga., so see it there if you're in the area. Bigelow's movie succeeds where so many have failed because, along with delivering sensation set pieces that raise the bar for intensity and action, she and screenwriter Mark Boal just genuinely offer a view of war through the eyes of the soldiers who fight it, specifically the members of a bomb squad in Iraq, a rather stressful endeavour. And I can guarantee that after the breakthrough performances by Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie, you'll be hearing their names a whole lot in the coming years. The best movie I've seen so far this year.

Honorable mention: "The Class", "The International", "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail", "Duplicity", "Sin Nombre", "Adventureland", "The Hangover", "Public Enemies", "(500) Days of Summer", "Funny People"

And, since anyone who made it this far deserves a reward, here's the trailer for Peter Jackson's "The Lovely Bones," almost certain to be the big Oscar magnet this year unless it somehow just sucks, which I really just can't see happening. Be warned: The second half of the trailer reveals who I have to assume (not having read the book) is the killer, so if you don't want to know, don't watch it. And of course, please feel free to let me know just how wrong or right I am with my picks for the year's best. Peace out.

Wanna see Ellen Page "Whip It!"? Of course!

And when you've got something as fun as that, I suppose you really don't need anything else, but if I can briefly make a music recommendation, I'm listening to St. Vincent's "The Actor" this morning, and it really is rather amazing.

I rarely buy CDs (well, Itunes downloads more often now) without knowing a pretty good deal about them, but I saw this reviewed in some mag and just decided it sounded good, and it indeed does. The second album from the woman also known as Annie Clark, a former member of the Polyphonic Spree, is just a weird, wonderful little collection of songs, and well worth checking out.

But quickly on to the main course, because I'm very soon going to see "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," and my mind isn't really on anything else to write too long. Below is the first trailer for director Drew Barrymore's "Whip It!", which stars Ellen Page (welcome back!), Kristen Wiig and even Alia Shawkat of "Arrested Development" in a roller derby movie. I can't imagine you need to know much more than that to be intrigued, but know that the flick, due out Oct. 9, was also written by Shauna Cross who used to skate under the name Maggie Mayhem for the Los Angeles Derby Girls. Enjoy, and have a perfectly bearable Thursday. Peace out.

@ Yahoo! Video

A nifty gadget for Muppet lovers ...

and if you're not one of those, really, what the heck is wrong with you? And besides, mighty Mr. Adam Jones had the game-winning RBI for the American League in last night's All-Star game (surely an omen of the Baltimore Orioles surging in the season's second half) and I'm going to see the movie based on my favorite Harry Potter book as early as tomorrow morning, so all is right with the world, right?

Well, not exactly ... there still is evil out there, and in my book almost all of it is embodied in Renee Zellweger. I've just never, ever liked her. And I can't see anything good coming from the news that she'll be starring in a new Bridget Jones flick.

I'll admit that this dude both read and enjoyed both of Helen Fielding's "Bridget Jones" books, the first one much more than the second. As for the movies, the first one was OK and the second was pure rubbish, so I can't even imagine how bad a third one - not based on any book at all - will turn out to be.

In even worse news (remember, there's Muppets coming to lighten things up), Stephen Chow has now completely exited Michel Gondry's "Green Hornet." If you've been following this rather sad saga from the beginning, you know that Chow was originally set to both play the Green Hornet's martial arts expert sidekick AND direct the movie, but a while back he was replaced as director by Michel Gondry.

Fair enough that. I still think Gondry can have a lot of fun with this, with Seth Rogen set to star and a script from Rogen and creative partner Evan Goldberg, but without Chow it's just gonna lose that extra bit of craziness that would have made this remarkable. Is Jackie Chan available? (Hopefully not!)

Oh well, there's got to be some good news out there, right? Actually, yes, especially if you love baseball (and again, if you don't why the heck not?)

Billy Bob Thornton has signed on to be a producer for a flick based on the Buzz Bissinger book "Three Nights in August," which is about a three-game series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs in 2003 - as told from the perspective of Cardinals manager Tony La Russa (no word on this yet, but I could certainly see Billy Bob playing La Russa, too.)

Now I haven't read the source material for this, but I did read another of Bissinger's books, "Friday Night Lights," and it's a simply fantastic look at the obsession with high school football in Texas (and, of course, sort of the inspiration for TV's best drama, soon to enter its fourth season.) And any flick that offers this intense of a look at America's great sport and into the mind of Tony La Russa can only be a good thing in my book.

And finally, as promised, Muppets, Muppets, Muppets ... 101 of them in all. I can't take any credit for this except in the delivery of it, but if you indeed click on the link below, I defy to both not smile or waste at least a minor chunk of your work day. What is it? A guide to the 101 Muppets of Sesame Street. 'Nuff said.

Enjoy.

And with that, have a perfectly passable Wednesday, and if you've seen "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," please feel free to tell me if it's any good or not. Peace out.

Well, McG's "Terminator" certainly doesn't suck ...

Before I dive into McG's take on "Terminator," I suppose the big news of the day is the return of Michael Moore, and this certainly seems to be a time that's ripe for his input.

Now, I've always had a lot of time for Michael Moore, and I'm glad he's still making noise (and documentaries), but I really just didn't care for "Sicko" at all. Watching him gallivant around Europe, Canada and finally Cuba just felt like such a stunt, and more importantly a missed opportunity to properly analyze the catastrophe that is health care in America.

But I've enjoyed all his other movies quite a bit, and I'm glad he's about to come back and tackle a subject he's rather familiar with: Capitalism and the American economy (I don't want to spoil anything here, but I don't think he's gonna be a terribly big fan.)

Due to drop Oct. 2, his as-yet-untitled flick "will explore the root causes of the global economic meltdown and take a comical look at the corporate and political shenanigans that culminated in what Moore has described as 'the biggest robbery in the history of this country' – the massive transfer of U.S. taxpayer money to private financial institutions."

The press release notes that year is the 20th anniversary of "Roger & Me," and assuming that's true it just makes me feel really old, but I'm still glad Michael Moore is back to make me laugh and hopefully think at the same time.

But getting to the main event, I come today mostly to praise McG, not to bury him, and he could certainly use it; "Terminator Salvation" currently sits at 33% positive at Rotten Tomatoes, made much worse because that puts it even behind "Dance Flick" at 35% (Really? Amazing.)

I, however, had a pretty great time with it, which admittedly may have had a lot to do with the fact I was going to see a new movie on Thursday at 5 p.m., when much of the real world is still hard at work. It's certainly not, however, a great chapter that propels the "Terminator" saga forward in a really compelling way. In fact, the screen script that sets the scene (Skynet, Cyberdyne, 2018) reads pretty much like what I'd imagine the flash card they gave McG to familiarize himself with the "Terminator" universe would have read.

That said, he at least doesn't manage to crap all over the established mythology like, say, Brett Ratboy did with "X-3." He instead seemed to just embrace as much of the saga as he could understand and made his own often very fun movie.

So, what's it about? Well in the truly ludicrous opening sequence (which is rivaled for sheer stupidity only by the final five minutes or so), we meet Marcus Wright (a very good Sam Worthington), a death row inmate who signs his body over to "science" (which, in this case, means Cyberdyne, so you know he'll turn up later with a secret even he doesn't know about.) Meanwhile, flash forward and John Connor (Christian Bale, of course) is leading his followers in the resistance against Skynet, and Kyle Reese (remember that name?) and a young, mute companion make up the entirety of the resistance's L.A. branch.

And that's really all you need to know, because from there it pretty much just plays out as a chapter from the battle against Skynet and little else, but given the expectations that was good enough for me (were I a conspiracy theorist, I'd imagine McG might be engineering this expectations game W. style, but I really don't think he has that much power or cunning.) And, not surprisingly, the machines are indeed pretty friggin cool, especially one particularly menacing dude who shoots robotic motorcycles out of his feet, and I hope I never get too old to appreciate that.

The main beef I had heard going in is that Christian Bale delivers a performance as robotic as any of the machines, pretty much just barking orders through the whole thing, and that's true. I have to ask, however, given the way the part was written, what else was he supposed to do? And besides, though he clearly has a knack for picking movies that I and everyone else get thoroughly geeked up for, is he really all that good an actor overall? Although it pains me to say it, I'd say no.

As I said earlier, Worthington fares much better, and he's gonna be a big star very soon. Even better, though, is Anton Yelchin's Kyle Reese. Yelchin, of course, has already played Chekhov in the far-superior "Star Trek," and he's now someone whose name I'll always take note of on movie posters and wherever else I might come across it.

And, finally, what of the humanity that made the first "Terminator" such a classic? Well, admittedly, there's not much of it here at all, but I really just don't think McG has it in him as a director to draw that out. The only other movie of his I've seen is "We Are Marshall," and oddly enough it left me with pretty much the exact same impression: A solidly told tale that would have been a lot more compelling with more of the human stakes thrown in.

The bottom line, however, is that if you show up five minutes late and leave five minutes early (because, trust me, those really are just about the two worst scenes you'll see in a movie this year) you'll get a better-than-average action flick that delivers a solid dose of summer fun, which on this day at least was more than enough to satisfy me.

And I'll leave with you this featurette for "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," which focuses on the relationship of Harry and Dumbledore. That's what made this installment my favorite of Rowling's novels about the boy wizard, and has me thinking this will also be the best of the Potter movies when it finally comes out July 15. Peace out.

The joys of summer: Ten (or maybe 13) flicks I'm really looking forward to

Actually, the most important thing happening possibly today for fans of great television is that DirecTV and NBC are expected to announce whether or not they've come to an agreement for a fourth and fifth season of "Friday Night Lights."

Now, I know I talk about this show a whole lot, but you'll just have to believe me that it's that good. It's the best TV drama since "The Wire," and in the interest of full disclosure, it routinely comes very close to making this grownass man cry at its most touching moments.

If you've missed out on the ride thus far, it's easy to catch up, and free too. I was rather amazed to find you can watch the first two seasons and the second half of the current one on Hulu, so I encourage anyone to give it a try.

The final decision, of course, will come down to money, specifically how much DirecTV is willing to pay to air the shows before they hit NBC. I'll definitely pass on what I hear as soon as I can, but here today it's all about summer, and what's in the movie pipeline.

There's actually some pretty good stuff coming before summer, which for argument's sake will start in May, including this week Greg Mottola's "Adventureland" and - if you live in a bigger city than me - "Sunshine Cleaning" and Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's baseball flick "Sugar," and next week Jody Hill's "Observe and Report." For a look at what comes after those that intrigues me, here goes (and please forgive any misspellings, because the Blogger spell check just wouldn't work this morning):

May 21: Terminator Salvation

I really had little to no interest in this one until I saw the latest trailer, but am now fairly convinced that McG will cook up something both genuinely gritty and fun with it. McG? Yes, McG.

May 29: Three definitely worth waiting for

The Brothers Bloom: Memorial day weekend will probably be the single best movie weekend of 2009 if Rian Johnson's sophomore flick actually manages to play wide enough to reach my little corner of the world. It was originally supposed to come out late last year, and I've certainly been ready to see this con man flick starring Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel Weisz and Rinko Kikuchi since then.



Drag Me to Hell: If anyone short of Sam Raimi were promising a return to "real horror" I'd probably just laugh and move on, but judging from the trailer above I think he's come up with exactly that. If you hooked her up to a lie detector I bet Ellen Page would reveal she regrets passing on the lead in this tale of an old woman's rather nasty curse and handing the role to Alison Lohman.

Up: Having seen just last weekend what 3D can do in the wrong hands, being thoroughly bored from start to finish by Dreamworks' "Monsters Vs. Aliens," I can't wait to see it used for the forces of good again by Pixar. Everything I've seen and heard about this tale of an adventurous septuagenarian (Ed Asner) and his flying house says it's gonna be yet another Pixar winner.

June 19

Whatever Works: After countless years of casting his muse of the moment, Woody Allen has finally looked in the mirror and turned to a cranky old man as the lead in this one, and thankfully it's veryfunnyman Larry David. Here's hoping the success of "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (my favorite comedy of 2009) means this return to NYC for Mr. Allen will play very wide.



Year One: As you can see from the trailer above, the humor in this Harold Ramis flick will be extremely broad but hopefully also on the mark. Jack Black and Michael Cera play the leads in this biblical laugher, which Ramis promises was made in the spirit of Monty Python. I have my doubts, but bring it on so we can find out.

July 1: Public Enemies

Having tried it out on one of my Johnny Depp-obsessed co-workers when she was having a particularly bad day, I can attest that there's just something extremely therapeutic about seeing him tote a tommy gun. Christian Bale will be the lawman who pursues Depp's John Dillinger in Michael Mann's flick, and you've also got Marion Cotillard as Dillinger's mol and Billy Crudup as J. Edgar Hoover, which all sounds pretty great to me.

July 10: Bruno

I'm not sure I'm ready for more of Sacha Baron Cohen's antics, but I laughed through just about every minute of "Borat," so I'll give him another shot. Besides, early word is that his exploits as the Austrian fashion reporter Bruno are at least as outrageous as anything he came up with the first time out, so it should at least never be boring.

July 17: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

It will be interesting to see if Harry Potter mania will still be running strong after such a long layoff. Given what director David Yates did with "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" and that this installment is easily my favorite of the books, I'm betting this one will be both a critical and box-office winner.



July 31: Funny People

As you can see from the trailer above (which reveals perhaps too much of the flick's story), there's a whole lot more than stand-up comedy going on in this Judd Apatow movie starring Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen. Given how often we hear the "Freaks and Geeks" creator's name nowadays, it's surprising (to me, at least) that this will be only the third flick he's actually directed, preceded by "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up" (the far superior of the two).

August 7: Julie and Julia

Far too girly for the heat of August, perhaps, but when you've got Meryl Streep and adorable Amy Adams in a movie that's all about food, I'm there. Streep will play master chef Julia Child and Adams a woman who decides to cook her way through Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in one year's time in her small kitchen. Sounds like nothing but fun to me.



August 14: Taking Woodstock

Out of some odd misguided loyalty to Dave Chappelle I've thus far resisted watching Comedy Central's latest sketch comedy star, Demetri Martin, but I'm beginning to think I'm really missing out on something good. Should I give in? As you can see from the trailer above, Mr. Martin also plays the lead role of Elliot Tiber in Ang Lee's flick about the famed hippie fest, which looks like it will be as simply silly as it is hopefully entertaining.

August 21: Inglourious Basterds

We finish, fittingly enough, with Quentin Tarantino's version of a World War II flick, assuming he actually both finishes it in time and decides to cut it enough to release it as only one movie. After watching Eli Roth removing a Nazi's head with a baseball bat I have serious doubts that this will be any good, but I'll definitely be there to see how it all turns out.

And there you have it. There are also certainly some pending blockbusters ("GI Joe", "Star Trek" and "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" among them) that simply don't interest me all that much, but if there are any other summer flicks I've omitted but should put on my radar, certainly let me know, and have a perfectly passable Monday. Peace out.

An often grumpy, clearly middle-aged man attempts to review "Twilight"

I tell you all that as a qualifier, so take this review with a big grain of salt but also know this from the outset: Despite its serious flaws as a vampire tale I really had a lot of fun watching Catherine Hardwicke's "Twilight."

I had almost decided to just act my age and skip it altogether, but instead opted to latch on to two friends who are fans of the series who were headed to a Saturday matinee (conveniently making me look like much less of a perv than I might have going to a movie intended for teen girls all by myself.) At my urging, we sat fairly close to the front and therefore away from the twittering masses, who as best as I could tell were very well behaved anyway.

Things didn't get off to the best of starts as the projector malfunctioned during a promising trailer for "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," and we were subjected to a 10-minute delay. Theater manager Wes Clark, who knows me well by my frequent theater visits, said he was afraid he might soon have a riot of "Twilighters" on his hands.

But once it finally got going, I found a lot more to like than I expected going in. First and foremost, Hardwicke gives the town of Forks, Washington, (a real place, evidently) a genuine sense of time and place (even though it was for whatever reason actually filmed in Portland, Oregon.) And she does so without resorting to any forced quirks to induce laughs, instead just letting the scenery speak for itself.

Second, apart from the vampires (which we'll deal with later), all her characters have a natural feel to them, starting with young lead Kristen Stewart. She already gets a gold star in my book for her turn in last year's "Into the Wild, and she makes a genuinely engaging lead. And Billy Burke as her clearly in-over-his-head single father gives the movie most of its intentional laughs, especially when he finds a vampire (though he doesn't know that) has shown up to take his daughter to the prom.

Finally on the very good side, the high school our heroine Bella attends is filled (again, minus the vampires) with the kind of kids you'd expect to find in an American high school in a small town. The main quartet (Anna Kendrick, Michael Welch, Justin Chon and Christian Serratos) are refreshingly geeky and insecure, and were an entertaining bunch to watch.

OK, so far so good, but this is a vampire story of sorts, right? Of course, and that's where it starts to fall apart more than a bit because the vamps themselves are (by design, but still) just way too corny.

I mean, I know this is a story for teens and tweens rather than a horror movie, but vampires that play baseball (I'm not kidding) and scurry after woodland creatures rather than feast on the blood of humans? Give me a break (and let's not even get into whether this actually makes them any better on the morality scale.) And what in the world is Dr. Cullen supposed to be, some kind of Noah of the undead? It was just creepy, and not even slightly in the fun, horror movie kind of way.

By the time we get any real action involving any actually menacing vampires there's only about 20 minutes left in the flick, and we've been subjected to so much treacle at that point that it just drains most of the tension right out of it.

So, if it doesn't really work as a vampire movie, does it work as a love story? Well, for its intended audience, I'm fairly certain it was just about right, but for the rest of us it gets more than a little bit ridiculous. As my two fellow moviegoers and devoted "Twilight" fans (and anyone who's read 2,000 pages of anything is "devoted" in my book) pointed out, the book is much more about character and dialogue than plot, which wouldn't necessarily translate all that smoothly to the big screen.

OK, fair enough, but what that leaves us instead is a lot of vacant staring between Bella and her vampire hunk Edward, played by Robert Pattinson. I'm sure this was intended to convey longing, but more than once just made me laugh out loud (and once earned me a sharp elbow to the ribs.) I'm really not sure what else Hardwicke could have done with this, but it just really doesn't work too well in movie form. (And if you haven't seen Hardwicke's flick "Thirteen," which was co-written by "Twilight" vamp Nikki Reed, rent it now and thank me later.)

But all that said, I left the theater with a smile on my face thanks to a sweet ending that adroitly sets up the next chapter, and that's more than I can say for a lot of flicks out there this year. Peace out.

10 truly magical movies

This list was compiled in (dis?)honor of "Mr. Magorium's (sp?) Wonder Emporium," and more specifically out of depression at the lack of good movies opening this week in wide-release world.

After all, this is the fall, and all you can give us is "Beowulf," which should at least be cool to look at, and the aforementioned flick which tries so hard to be magical (putting "Wonder" in the title is always a subtle touch) that I just have a gnawing feeling it's gonna be remarkably bad.

I'm not sure, actually, that I'll be taking in any multiplex movies this weekend anyway, because I'm bound for DC to enjoy the MLS Cup with my brother and his band of Minnesota soccer geeks (said, of course, with the utmost affection.) Here, however, is a list of 10 movies, and the 15 or so more that almost made the cut, that are just the definition of magical for me, even without having a witch or wizard anywhere in sight (though there is some minor "Harry Potter" news at the end, so keep reading if you're interested.) Here goes, and as always, please feel free to sound off with any of the many I may have snubbed.

Watership Down
I think I've had this movie on my brain lately because I just watched "Ratatouille" (a movie which easily could have made this list too) again, and the beginning of that Pixar flick makes me think of this one that just thoroughly freaked me out as a kid (though I was also scared of that silly animated "Lord of the Rings" movie, so it didn't take much.) It's rare today to see animals, or people for that matter, in genuine peril in movies aimed at children, and that's what made this tale of rabbits looking for a new home so perfect.

Pan's Labyrinth
A recent and fairly obvious choice, perhaps, but I bring it up to maybe make people think about what's missing from this year's best movies. Not, God forbid, that everything should copy the thrilling template of Ophelia's journey, but I just think my favorite movies of 2006, this and "Children of Men," were just superior to the best flicks I've seen this year.

Smoke
If you've never seen this little flick from Wayne Wang and Paul Auster, do so as soon as you can. The stories that unfold around the Brooklyn smoke shop owned by Harvey Keitel's Augie are almost as good as the amazing one that springs from his own mind at the movie's end.

Unbreakable
Though he certainly tried to find it again with the "fairy tale" "Lady in the Water," I think M. Night Shyamalan lost what "magic" he had after this great flick.

Wild at Heart
You could probably pick any number of David Lynch's movies, but the tale of Sailor and Lulu is still the one that I like the best, even if it does crib so directly from "The Wizard of Oz."

Wings of Desire
What in the world ever happened to Bruno Ganz? I don't think I've seen him in a movie for 10 years, but after you see him for the first time in this Wim Wenders flick (one of the very few about angels that I have any time for), his face sticks with you for a long time. A quick check at the IMDB revealed that not only is Mr. Ganz still alive and well, but he also has a role in Francis Ford Coppola's new flick, "Youth Without Youth." Huzzah!

Triplets of Belleville
Though they all humored me, I'm not sure anyone in my family liked watching this weird little animated flick as much as I did when we all saw it in New York. With almost no (or maybe even none at all) decipherable dialogue, this Sylvain Chomet movie still manages to tell a thoroughly charming tale.

Sweet Hereafter
Magic can cast a spell of melancholy as much as wonder, as Atom Egoyan proved in this flick that left me with more questions than answers that I still haven't answered to this day.

Alice
Woody Allen has certainly made better movies than this, one of the last movies he made with Mia Farrow. But even if the title gives away its obvious parallels to "Alice in Wonderland," this tale about a harried housewife who finds escape from a Chinese herb doctor just works for me.

Breakfast on Pluto
Neil Jordan's movie may indeed be lighter than air, but his take on Patrick McCabe's novel still has enough to say about "The Troubles" to make it thoroughly enjoyable. And besides, I'm sure Cillian Murphy must have had more fun getting all dolled up as Patrick "Kitten" Braden than he had making Danny Boyle's simply dreadful "Sunshine."

Honorable mention: Pee Wee's Big Adventure, The Muppet Movie, Donnie Darko, Secret of Roan Inish, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, City of Lost Children, Amelie, Big Fish, Heavenly Creatures, The Wizard of Oz, The Secret Garden, Like Water for Chocolate and, of course, Babe

Tidbits

RIP Ira Levin: The man whose novel led to still my favorite horror movie, Roman Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby," died Monday of a heart attack at age 78. Along with "Rosemary's Baby," other of his works that were turned into movies include "The Boys from Brazil," "The Stepford Wives," "Deathtrap," "Sliver" and "A Kiss Before Dying." Not all winners, perhaps, but he was a great writer of popcorn for the masses. Rest in peace, Mr. Levin.

Lavender Brown cast in "Half-Blood Prince": Just in case you were wondering which starlet-in-the-making will spend much of the next "Harry Potter" flick snogging with Rupert Grint's Ron Weasley, her name is Jessie Cave and her picture is posted here. She will soon appear on "Summerhill" on CBBC (children's BBC, I assume?) in the UK. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is set to come out Nov 21, 2008.

A scab "Family Guy"? To see how the WGA strike might get even uglier fast, simply tune into what's happening with Fox's "Family Guy". Even with creator Seth McFarlane walking the picket line out front, the network plans to continue airing original episodes. They have one that was completed before the walkout, which will air this Sunday, and then it seems they will use whoever's still available to complete some almost-finished shows. Even if, as "South Park" proved, "Family Guy" is written by manatees, there's still something about this that's just rank.

"City of Men" trailer

When you put out a sequel to what I most often list as my single favorite movie, it had darned well better be good, but from this trailer things don't look too promising. Following both Fernando Meirelles' simply brilliant "City of God" and the "City of Men" TV series that sprang from it comes this movie which stars two of the "City of God" players, Darlan Cunha and Douglas Silva. But you don't get Mr. Meirelles, whose "Blindness" I'm definitely looking forward to, or, I must note as a fan of beautiful women, Alice Braga (who has graduated to the big leagues with a role in "I am Legend.") Here's the trailer anyway, and here's hoping this somehow turns out to be tons better than I'm fearing it will. Peace out.