Wow, I am really behind. I am only at 17/39! Yikes, I need to catch up this week. Here are some mini-reviews with my Star ratings for the ones I have seen so far in bold.

1. Atonement - 9stars/10 - I loved this film. It felt like a piece of art with the cinematography, score, art direction, costumes, editing and acting performances. Definitely the best film of the year so far for me. See my detailed review HERE

2. Juno

3. Michael Clayton – 7/10 – Great acting all around and suspenseful. There were a few scenes that were quite brilliant, but as a whole it reminded me of the John Grisham films, which I also enjoy but aren’t groundbreaking.

4. No Country for Old Men

5. There Will Be Blood – 6/10 – Great acting by Day-Lewis and Paul Dano, but this film needed SERIOUS editing. I contemplated leaving the theatre halfway through.

6. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

7. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – 8/10 – Brilliant film by Tim Burton, as usual, and superb performances by the entire cast. It is too bad the Academy doesn’t award Tim Burton’s genius, ever.

8. In the Valley of Elah

9. Eastern Promises – 7/10 – Viggo’s performance in this film was the best of his career. The pacing and suspense were spot on, with just a few story elements that were irksome.

10. Elizabeth: The Golden Age – 5/10 – Felt like a movie I had seen before, just not written as well. Blanchett is superb, as always, but the film felt empty.

11. Away From Her

12. La Vie En Rose

13. The Savages

14. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

15. Charlie Wilson’s War

16. Into the Wild – 8/10 – Beautiful film by Sean Penn, who deserved a directing nomination. The film was thought provoking, eye-opening and heartbreaking all at once. Emile Hirsch transcended his previous work by leaps and bounds here. Hal Holbrook was a revelation. For more, see my review HERE

17. I’m Not There

18. American Gangster

19. Gone Baby Gone – 8/10 – One of the best of the year. Casey Affleck and Amy Ryan give 2 of the best performances I have seen this year. Ben Affleck’s direction and cinematography choices really do a great job of creating Boston as a character in the film.

20. Lars and the Real Girl

21. Ratatouille – 7/10 – Very cute story idea and top notch animation.

22. Persepolis

23. Surf’s Up

24. The Golden Compass – see my review HERE.

25. No End in Sight

26. Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience

27. Sicko see my review HERE.

28. Taxi to the Dark Side

29. War/Dance

30. The Kite Runner

31. 3:10 to Yuma – 9/10 – Can someone please give Christian Bale an oscar? Oh, and how about Ben Foster. He was BRILLIANT in this.

32. Once

33. Enchanted – 8/10 – Totally adorable. Amy Adams and James Marsden were HILARIOUS. Comedic acting is harder than most people realize and Amy was completely convincing. Idina Menzel was wasted though, so I wonder if she had a song that was cut out?

34. August Rush – This one definitely was schmaltzy, but if you like that kind of thing it is a must see. I enjoyed it. It helped that I knew the musician who wrote a pivotal song for the film.

35. Norbit

36. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End – 7/10 - Confusing and long, but Johnny Depp can save anything. Full review HERE.

37. The Bourne Ultimatum – 9/10 – Probably the best action flick I have seen in years. The fight scenes and car chases were like nothing I have seen before. Matt Damon disappears into the Bourne role so perfectly. Full review HERE.

38. Transformers – 8/10 – When it comes to cheesy popcorn blockbusters this one fulfilled every necessary bullet point. Big action, sarcastic leading man, hot chick and huge alien robots. How can you go wrong? Full review HERE.

39. Across the Universe