Rock and Reel

Paranoia Attack »

When Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaimed, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” he probably didn’t realize that he’d written a potential tagline for every paranoia-driven movie to follow that speech. The fears of paranoid characters are constructed, either by themselves or others around them, but our best filmmakers allow us to see the world from these fragile perspectives. Let’s immerse ourselves in the unsettling terror of the mind.

Top 10 Movies of 2002

1. Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson)

2. Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes)

3. Talk to Her (Pedro Almodovar)

4. The Pianist (Roman Polanski)

5. Adaptation. (Spike Jonze)

6. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki)

7. Gangs of New York (Martin Scorsese)

8. Catch Me If You Can (Steven Spielberg)

9. Russian Ark (Alexander Sokurov)

10. 25th Hour (Spike Lee)

Updated: December 29, 2011

Top 10 Movies of 2010

Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine, perhaps my favorite film critic, has this incredible ongoing project in which he updates his top 10 films for each year from 1920 to the present. I am in the process of doing this myself. I actually have lists for every year, but there are unfortunately some years I have only seen a movie or two. As a result, I’m going year by year in reverse chronological order and posting lists only if I’ve seen 10 movies I truly like. This means that I have to have given it an 8/10 or higher on IMDb. I’ve already posted a list for 2010, but I’m doing it again for the sake of this project and also because my list has changed quite a bit. I’m going by Ed’s rules: Everything is based off the IMDb year except for 21st century films, which are categorized according to U.S. theatrical release. These lists are always subject to change. I will include links to any reviews I’ve written.

1. Let Me In (Matt Reeves)