Best of Year, a list by Michael Mcdermott

7.8

/174782/

78

/3925/

77

/2754/

4.0

/175100/

81

/37/

89

/2028/

74

/18/

4.0

age 10+

Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy research physician, uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease. Leonard is the first patient to receive the controversial treatment. His awakening, filled with awe and enthusiasm, proves a rebirth for Sayer too, as the exuberant patient reveals life's simple but unutterably sweet pleasures to the introverted doctor.

78

7.7

/148395/

75

/2830/

74

/1781/

4.0

/136953/

93

/71/

90

/3191/

66

/18/

3.0

Set in 1929, a political boss and his advisor have a parting of the ways when they both fall for the same woman.

72

7.4

/12931/

71

/252/

68

/158/

4.0

/19229/

80

/25/

93

/282/

67

/22/

2.0

After being thrown away from home, pregnant high school dropout Maria meets Matthew, a highly educated and extremely moody electronics repairman. The two begin an unusual romance built on their sense of mutual admiration and trust.

78

7.3

/13569/

71

/329/

69

/174/

3.8

/41876/

94

/48/

84

/335/

75

/6/

3.5

A radical student is adopted by a group of young New Yorkers, serves as a catalyst to alter his and their lives. Gathering in a Manhattan apartment, the group of friends meet to discuss social mobility, Fourier's socialism and play bridge in their cocoon of upper-class society - until they are joined by a man with a critical view of their way of life.

68

7.2

/111039/

71

/2379/

70

/1830/

3.9

/256231/

65

/57/

81

/2093/

52

/18/

2.5

age 18+

Young lovers Sailor and Lula hit the road to start a new life together away from the wrath of Lula’s deranged, disapproving mother, who has hired a team of hitmen to cut the lovers’ surreal honeymoon short.

80

7.1

/21127/

71

/429/

66

/342/

3.5

/15659/

92

/53/

78

/222/

93

/18/

4.0

Wealthy Sunny von Bülow lies brain-dead, husband Claus guilty of attempted murder; but he says he's innocent and hires Alan Dershowitz for his appeal.

73

7.1

/28216/

71

/622/

69

/395/

3.6

/15766/

86

/28/

82

/560/

60

/19/

3.0

Hell's Kitchen, New York. Terry Noonan returns home after a ten-year absence. He soon reconnects with Jackie, a childhood friend and member of the Irish mob, and rekindles his love affair with Jackie's sister Kathleen.

69

6.9

/31869/

73

/929/

67

/402/

3.4

/9864/

68

/25/

79

/664/

59

/24/

3.0

The "Memphis Belle" is a World War II bomber, piloted by a young crew on dangerous bombing raids into Europe. The crew only have to make one more bombing raid before they have finished their duty and can go home. In the briefing before their last flight, the crew discover that the target for the day is Bremen.

64

6.9

/26996/

71

/966/

67

/412/

3.3

/12714/

52

/21/

74

/668/

51

/12/

2.5

age 14+

American Matt Quigley answers Australian land baron Elliott Marston's ad for a sharpshooter to kill the dingoes on his property. But when Quigley finds out that Marston's real target is the aborigines, Quigley hits the road. Now, even American expatriate Crazy Cora can't keep Quigley safe in his cat-and-mouse game with the homicidal Marston.

68

6.9

/47360/

70

/1477/

67

/744/

3.8

/86439/

74

/31/

77

/1055/

66

/20/

2.0

A former drug lord returns from prison determined to wipe out all his competition and distribute the profits of his operations to New York's poor and lower classes in this stylish and ultra violent modern twist on Robin Hood.

76

6.8

/33010/

67

/754/

65

/452/

3.4

/24871/

92

/50/

69

/511/

86

/18/

4.0

A small-time conman has his loyalties torn between his estranged mother and his new girlfriend, both of whom are high-stakes grifters with their own angles to play.

69

6.8

/23940/

70

/685/

67

/401/

3.4

/15789/

84

/37/

71

/373/

56

/17/

3.0

With the aid of his girlfriend, Phyllis Potter, and best friend, Loomis, Grimm enters a Manhattan bank dressed as a clown, creates a hostage situation and executes a flawless robbery. The only thing left for the trio to do is make their getaway out of the city and to the airport. It sounds simple enough, but it seems that fate deserts them immediately after the bank heist. One mishap after another conspires to keep these robbers from reaching freedom.

59

6.8

/48658/

70

/1458/

68

/912/

3.4

/40403/

57

/98/

68

/2089/

54

/18/

1.0

In this remake of the classic 1968 film, a group of people are trapped inside a farmhouse as legions of the walking dead try to get inside and use them for food.

69

6.7

/14844/

68

/346/

65

/251/

3.7

/21525/

71

/35/

75

/382/

61

/23/

3.0

Talented but self-centered trumpeter Bleek Gilliam is obsessed with his music and indecisiveness about his girlfriends Indigo and Clarke. But when he is forced to come to the aid of his manager and childhood friend, Bleek finds his world more fragile than he ever imagined.

71

6.7

/21015/

67

/471/

66

/286/

3.6

/25666/

83

/87/

67

/303/

71

/18/

3.0

age 16+

A substance-addicted actress tries to look on the bright side even as she's forced to move back in with her mother to avoid unemployment.

68

6.7

/39916/

69

/885/

67

/550/

3.7

/100400/

71

/24/

70

/1082/

56

/20/

3.0

age 14+

Fifteen-year-old Charlotte Flax is tired of her wacky mom moving their family to a different town any time she feels it is necessary. When they move to a small Massachusetts town and Mrs. Flax begins dating a shopkeeper, Charlotte and her 9-year-old sister, Kate, hope that they can finally settle down. But when Charlotte's attraction to an older man gets in the way, the family must learn to accept each other for who they truly are.

66

6.6

/16099/

64

/269/

63

/329/

3.3

/11487/

71

/28/

56

/218/

67

/19/

3.0

Alice Tate, mother of two, with a marriage of 16 years, finds herself falling for a handsome sax player, Joe. Stricken with a backache, she consults herbalist Dr. Yang, who realizes that her problems are not related to her back, but in her mind and heart. Dr. Yang's magical herbs give Alice wondrous powers, taking her out of her well-established rut.

53

6.5

/14271/

68

/357/

62

/219/

3.0

/4563/

35

/17/

55

/169/

34

/16/

2.0

Larry Burrows is unhappy and feels powerless over his life. He believes his entire life could have turned out differently had he not missed that shot in a baseball game when was a kid. One night he meets this mysterious man, who could change his fate by offering him that alternative life he always dreamed of. But as Burrows embarks on this journey of self discovery he realises that even this new life has its problems and drawbacks..

72

6.5

/23104/

67

/485/

63

/297/

3.2

/12646/

94

/53/

61

/319/

78

/27/

3.5

After a film student gets his belongings stolen, he meets a mobster bearing a startling resemblance to a certain cinematic godfather. Soon, he finds himself caught up in a caper involving endangered species and fine dining.

69

6.5

/14132/

65

/309/

63

/295/

3.6

/9372/

84

/37/

62

/146/

66

/29/

3.0

Renowned filmmaker John Wilson travels to Africa to direct a new movie, but constantly leaves to hunt elephants and other game, to the dismay of his cast and crew. He eventually becomes obsessed with hunting down and killing one specific elephant.

57

6.5

/41367/

70

/1330/

65

/575/

3.2

/15426/

31

/26/

66

/1086/

47

/18/

2.0

Three of the original five "young guns" — Billy the Kid, Jose Chavez y Chavez, and Doc Scurlock — return in Young Guns, Part 2, which is the story of Billy the Kid and his race to safety in Old Mexico while being trailed by a group of government agents led by Pat Garrett.

63

6.4

/15244/

62

/379/

62

/292/

3.3

/11498/

71

/28/

49

/124/

55

/13/

3.0

Upon arriving to a small town, a drifter quickly gets into trouble with the local authorities — and the local women — after he robs a bank.

66

6.4

/11360/

66

/290/

60

/207/

3.5

/19735/

85

/27/

62

/151/

72

/27/

2.0

After Junior is released from prison, he plans on starting a new life in Miami. But when he kills a man in the airport, he flees the scene and finds Susie, a mild-mannered prostitute searching for stability. The two opposites become romantically involved, and Junior steals a badge and gun from a veteran detective. Using the officer's identity, Junior embarks on a crime spree and convinces Susie that he is the perfect man.

62

6.4

/16392/

64

/350/

63

/275/

3.3

/12212/

58

/26/

62

/302/

45

/13/

3.0

Joey Boca is the owner of a pizza parlour, and has been married to Rosalie for years. When Rosalie discovers that Joey is a womanizer and has been cheating on her for a long time, she goes to extreme lengths to punish him.

49

6.4

/20148/

68

/495/

61

/220/

3.0

/6396/

23

/31/

68

/552/

24

/13/

1.0

To the Los Angeles elite, Ford Fairlane is known as "Mr. Rock 'n' Roll Detective." This loudmouthed ladies' man serves an exclusive rock star clientele, who depend on his keen eye and smug discretion. So when a heavy-metal musician dies mid-concert, Fairlane is on the case before the lights come up. But things turn shocking when radio personality Johnny Crunch hires Fairlane to find a missing groupie mere hours before he is electrocuted live on air.

55

6.4

/36092/

67

/1031/

63

/598/

3.0

/33690/

55

/22/

52

/1577/

49

/20/

1.5

age 15+

When their plane crashes, 25 schoolboys find themselves trapped on a tropical island, miles from civilization.

62

6.3

/14868/

63

/368/

60

/217/

3.2

/6889/

60

/25/

68

/277/

62

/24/

While traveling in Paris, author Henry Miller and his wife, June, meet Anais Nin, and sexual sparks fly as Nin starts an affair with the openly bisexual June. When June is forced to return to the U.S., she gives Nin her blessing to sleep with her husband. Then, when June returns to France, an unexpected, and sometimes contentious, threesome forms.

62

6.3

/12363/

63

/267/

59

/181/

3.1

/13620/

65

/20/

51

/118/

63

/20/

3.0

Wimpy young executive Michael is about to get pulverized by a jealous boyfriend in a bar when a handsome, mysterious stranger steps in—and then disappears. Later that night, Michael runs into a stranger on a pier, who wheedles his way into Michael's life and turns it upside down.

59

6.3

/23784/

68

/707/

61

/259/

3.1

/13637/

71

/21/

59

/448/

35

/14/

age 13+

FBI agent Barney Coopersmith is assigned to protect former Mafia figure turned informant Vincent Antonelli. In the witness protection program one is supposed to keep a low profile, but that is something that Antonelli has trouble doing. Coopersmith certainly has his hands full keeping Antonelli away from the Mafia hitmen who want to stop him testifying, not to mention the nightclubs...

63

6.2

/16448/

64

/621/

62

/361/

3.5

/82417/

65

/17/

59

/344/

A medical school dropout loses his fiancée in a tragic lawnmower incident and decides to bring her back to life. Unfortunately, he was only able to save her head, so he goes to the red light district in the city and lures prostitutes into a hotel room so he can collect body parts to reassemble her.

57

6.2

/20796/

66

/681/

62

/410/

3.2

/19235/

48

/25/

45

/305/

54

/13/

A young boy tells three stories of horror to distract a witch who plans to eat him.

55

6.1

/15934/

64

/593/

60

/346/

3.1

/13480/

40

/30/

46

/256/

Jack Caine is a Houston vice cop who's forgotten the rule book. His self-appointed mission is to stop the drugs trade and the number one supplier Victor Manning. While involved in an undercover operation to entrap Victor Manning, his partner is killed, and a sinister newcomer enters the scene...

60

6.1

/16676/

61

/378/

60

/257/

3.0

/10371/

59

/32/

38

/204/

56

/17/

3.5

age 15+

Real estate developer Jake Berman hires private investigator and war veteran Jake Gittes for some run-of-the-mill matrimonial work. After Berman shoots his wife's lover, who happens to be his business partner, Gittes is drawn into a web of conspiracy and deceit involving the oil reserves beneath Los Angeles. While investigating, Gittes hears a voice from his past that causes him to revisit a traumatic case in Chinatown.

60

6.1

/19479/

65

/481/

61

/316/

3.1

/8148/

70

/20/

50

/166/

67

/20/

2.0

age 14+

Barley Scott Blair, a Lisbon-based editor of Russian literature who unexpectedly begins working for British intelligence, is commissioned to investigate the purposes of Dante, a dissident scientist trapped in the decaying Soviet Union that is crumbling under the new open-minded policies.

51

6.0

/50431/

65

/1453/

62

/1002/

2.9

/17741/

26

/27/

41

/750/

36

/19/

2.5

An FBI informant has kept his new identity secret for 15 years. Now an old flame has recognised him, and the bad guys are back for revenge.

53

6.0

/17663/

57

/793/

59

/329/

3.2

/16975/

43

/14/

52

/393/

41

/18/

Mark 13 is a government-built killing machine programmed with artificial intelligence, able to repair and recharge itself from any energy source. Through a series of coincidences, the cyborg's head ends up in the home of a sculptress as a bizarre Christmas present from her boyfriend. Once inside its new home, the cyborg promptly reconstructs the rest of its body using a variety of household utensils and proceeds to go on a murderous rampage.

61

5.9

/41725/

63

/1099/

57

/565/

3.2

/33290/

64

/36/

54

/1427/

45

/18/

3.5

age 12+

Hypochondriac Joe Banks finds out he has six months to live, quits his dead end job, musters the courage to ask his co-worker out on a date, and is then hired to jump into a volcano by a mysterious visitor.

49

5.9

/31427/

63

/843/

58

/591/

2.9

/14135/

31

/16/

36

/320/

41

/19/

2.0

Veteran cop Nick Pulovski is used to playing musical partners; many of the partners he's had in the past have died on the job, and often as a result of Nick's risky tactics. But the rookie who's been assigned to help Nick bust a carjacking ring is almost as hotheaded as he is … and when Nick gets kidnapped, his newbie partner is his only hope.

48

5.9

/29054/

63

/777/

56

/409/

2.8

/13424/

30

/27/

44

/540/

34

/14/

Two garbage men find the body of a city councilman in a trash can on their route. With help from a supervisor, the duo must solve the case and find the man's killer while hiding the body from the cops.

52

5.9

/26016/

64

/891/

60

/571/

2.8

/12650/

27

/11/

50

/488/

49

/14/

Just retired from the Drug Enforcement Agency, John Hatcher returns to his hometown and quickly discovers that drugs have infiltrated his old neighborhood. Determined to drive the dealers out, Hatcher crosses paths with a ferocious Jamaican drug lord who vows that Hatcher and his family are now marked for death.

45

5.8

/32176/

64

/1012/

58

/636/

2.9

/9937/

12

/17/

35

/423/

33

/13/

Air America was the CIA's private airline operating in Laos during the Vietnam War, running anything and everything from soldiers to foodstuffs for local villagers. After losing his pilot's license, Billy Covington is recruited, and ends up in the middle of a bunch of lunatic pilots, gun-running by his friend Gene Ryack, and opium smuggling by his own superiors.

53

5.7

/17265/

61

/483/

58

/281/

2.9

/11090/

62

/13/

32

/175/

50

/21/

2.0

Joe's a car salesman with a problem—he has two days to sell 12 cars or he loses his job. This would be a difficult task at the best of times but Joe has to contend with his girlfriends (he's two-timing), a missing teenage daughter and an ex-wife.

45

5.6

/19527/

61

/581/

54

/262/

2.7

/8385/

15

/39/

42

/419/

38

/23/

During a rescue mission, a team of Navy Seals discovers that a terrorist group has access to deadly, US-built Stinger missiles and must set out to locate and destroy them before they can be used.

44

5.6

/28214/

58

/583/

56

/521/

2.7

/17484/

15

/54/

26

/267/

27

/27/

2.5

After his mistress runs over a black teen, a Wall Street hotshot sees his life unravel in the spotlight; A down-and-out reporter breaks the story and opportunists clamber to use it to their advantage.

52

5.5

/28384/

60

/916/

58

/557/

2.8

/16782/

40

/20/

43

/1000/

51

/19/

age 12+

Sylvia's work increasingly takes her away from the three men who help bring up Mary, her daughter. When she decides to move to England and take Mary with her, the three men are heartbroken at losing the two most important women in their lives.

46

5.4

/10816/

55

/438/

56

/284/

2.6

/13744/

29

/7/

33

/229/

When he hears talk radio host Fran Ambrose discussing the topic of matricide, Norman calls in under a false name to tell his story.

44

4.8

/10752/

56

/410/

52

/363/

2.5

/8461/

11

/9/

63

/195/

31

/9/

It's been some time since Father Jebedaiah Mayii exorcised the Devil from little Nancy Aglet, who is now grown up with a husband and two children of her own. But the prince of darkness wants to go a second round and has returned to repossess her! With Father Mayii unwilling to help, Father Luke Brophy tries his best to help Nancy, even when TV's Ernest Weller plans to air the exorcism live on TV.

41

4.7

/50733/

56

/2036/

55

/1444/

2.4

/33114/

13

/16/