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This is basically the ugly cousin of "Planes, Trains and Automobiles". Unfortunately, it's not even close to being as funny or as heartwarming, but it still has its moments. "Due Date" certainly provides some laughs, thanks mostly to Galifianakis, but I couldn't help but question its sincerity. The film has also been compared to director Todd Phillips' previous effort "The Hangover", another roadie film that I had major issues with. "Due Date" is just as good as "The Hangover" in my opinion. In the end, however, it isn't about much else besides being a funny movie, and that's what we got. So I did like it. I just wish the whole Mexico chapter didn't exist at all.

I think this film is severely misunderstood. It's one of the most mesmerizing films I've seen, but that's not to say it doesn't have its flaws. It's far from perfect, but it's as close to bold filmmaking as anyone can get. Director Jonathan Glazer's first film, "Sexy Beast", is one of the most underrated films of the aughts, and unfortunately, his sophomore effort "Birth" falls into the same category. I think it's a wonderful film and a true hidden gem. It's soft and simple with a fantastically nuanced performance from Nicole Kidman. The scene at the opera is what great acting is all about. Beautifully shot and featuring one of my all-time favourite musical scores by Alexandre Desplat, "Birth" is a gorgeous film to watch, but at times very unnerving. Savides' subtle direction adds greatly to the film's mystery leaving us with much more ambiguity than this film has been given credit for (just in different areas). I'll never understand why "Birth" has garnered such hateful reviews, but I guess to each his own. I just happen to fall on the side of the field that thinks this is a wonderful tale of spiritual mystery that presents true human reaction to a situation that could easily have unfolded to become a corny work of science-fiction. Definitely Grade-A stuff.

This movie is a huge mess, but it's such hilarious and campy fun. I saw it back in September 2010 when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Gregg Araki has made far better films, but this one is a joy to sit through (even though the plot holes are massive). I wouldn't really recommend to see this in theaters, but it's definitely worth a look.

Unlike the horribly bland "An Inconvenient Truth", this issue documentary is surprisingly entertaining. I almost feel bad calling a film about natural gas contamination entertaining, but I mean it in an entirely educational and enthralling way, not a fun and satisfying way. "GasLand" is a labour of love by documentarist Josh Fox. He's addressing an issue that is not only affecting him and his family very closely, but the whole country and perhaps soon, the whole world. The center of this film's attention is an area of the U.S., the Marcellus Shale (which is a subterranean formation that is beneath New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and many other states), which is more commonly called by energy companies "the Saudi Arabia of natural gas". Fox travels to the towns around this area to see first hand how hydraulic fracturing has affected them and their lives. Needless to say, his findings are quite horrifying. "GasLand" is an amateurish-looking film that could have easily been made by any competent documentarist, but its heart is something that only could have been added by the talents of Josh Fox. Gas contamination is a topic that has been addressed vaguely before, but with "GasLand" we see a whole new world and it's alarmingly eyeopening. This is one of the best documentaries of the year. It receiving a well deserved Oscar nomination yesterday morning and I hope that's a push for more people to watch this important film.

This is up there with "Midnight Express" and "The Shawshank Redemption" as one of the best prison films ever made. A graphic portrayal of the rise of a small-time criminal into a big-time Mafia boss all while serving a six year sentence in prison. "A Prophet" has already established itself as crime drama classic and it's only a few years old now. Director Jacques Audiard is something of a master of the genre in France, a French Scorsese one might say. In fact, this film shares a lot of similarities with the best crime drama of all time, "Goodfellas". Besides the similar narrative, the two films share one big thing in common: Both films tackle so much and fit a lot into their 150 minute plus runtimes, yet it doesn't feel rushed or sloppy. Executed with ease, this film bowls over a lot of plot points in such little time, but in the end you want to see more. It's a saga that really satisfies and what kept me interested was the charismatic performance of newcomer Tahar Rahim as the film's main character, Malik El Djebena. If you like "Goodfellas" or, even if you don't, "A Prophet" is a must see. One of the most popular films of 2009, it won the Grand Prix at Cannes and was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Jacques Audiard's "A Prophet" is a timeless crime epic that is virtually flawless and remains refreshingly original, which is hard to in such a predictable genre.

An impeccably well crafted film that tells the remarkable true story about the relationship between King George VI and his speech therapist. Due to constant embarrassment from his stammer, George VI seeks professional help and finds Lionel Logue, a self-declared speech therapist. Logue works hard to rid George of his impediment, albeit in an unorthodox manner, and they form a teacher-monarch relationship that serves as the heart of the film. Not exactly groundbreaking work, but certainly inspired, "The King's Speech" is a lavish English drama that showcases a brilliant performance from the always charming Colin Firth. His attention to detail, especially in the scenes with Geoffrey Rush, is really what makes this biopic much more heartfelt and believable than some others I have seen lately. A terrific supporting cast, highlighted by performances from Rush and Helena Bonham Carter, along with the cinematography and that beautiful score from Desplat make this one of the most accomplished films of the year. Definitely worthy of its praise, "The King's Speech" is a charming film that details a wonderful sliver of English history.

"Dogtooth" may be the most **** up film EVER. I can't say I'm overly familiar with Greek cinema, but this certainly takes the cake as the best and worst Greek film that I've seen. Rating this movie is difficult because this is either a brilliant sadistic masterpiece or a sheer disaster, I'm still not sure which (although I'm leaning toward the former). Director Giorgos Lanthimos won the Prix Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival for his ludicrous yet terrifying portrait of a family sheltered from society who know nothing outside the walls of their country estate. The film is so completely in-your-face that even in the most disturbing of scenes it's so hard to even bat an eye. I don't know if Lanthimos drew inspiration from the films of Lars Von Trier, but it certainly seems that way. The ending was weak and I would have loved for there to be more explanation as to why the parents shelter their children so, but it really doesn't matter in the end because you'll be too busy trying to pick up your brain off of the floor. "Dogtooth" is a genuinely original yet completely deranged film that seems like the lovechild of Von Trier and Haneke... and that's not a bad thing at all.

Okay, I'm not going to beat around the bush; "Let Me In" is definitely not as good as "Let the Right One In". The original Swedish film is one of the best films of the aughts, but surprisingly, this American remake was solid and sometimes even had original ideas and a voice of its own. Director Matt Reeves has said that he adapted the story from the original novel only. This just can't be true because so much of his film is shot-for-shot replicated from the original film; the music, the cinematography, even some of the dialogue delivery. Anyway, that's not the point. "Let Me In" is a rare successful remake whose slight changes make the film stand as its own great work. The most noticeable alteration is how Reeves sets the movie in 1980s, Reagan-controlled America. From the music to the TV broadcasts, the Star Wars t-shirts to the arcades, this film emanates 80s American culture. Chloe Moretz has been receiving a lot of attention this year for her performance in this film and in "Kick-Ass", but it's Kodi Smit-McPhee who steals the show. The subtleties in his performance sometimes brought tears to my eyes. Overall, I'd say this film works on its own even though it pales in comparison to the original. Reeves vamped this up and Americanized it, which did take away a lot of the original humanity and mystery and added a lot more violence and CGI, but it did work for the most part. I wish remakes were always this solid.

This great British film, winner of the Cannes Jury Prize, combines the likes of "Precious" and "An Education" to give us one of the grittiest and most candid looks at a teen's life since "The Basketball Diaries". Director Andrea Arnold (who brought us the indie hit "Red Road") presents a world that is so honest and real, one we normally don't see on the screen. The film's candor, however, ultimately comes from the refreshingly flawless performances by Michael Fassbender and newcomer Katie Jarvis. Well shot and well performed, "Fish Tank" has become a staple in recent British cinema.

South Korean cinema has always been my favourite. They've produced such gems as "Oldboy", "Samaritan Girl" and "A Tale of Two Sisters" and none of them ever cease to amaze me. Joon-ho Bong's "Mother" reminds me of the Coen Brothers' "Fargo" (one of my all-time favourite films) in many ways. It juggles genres effortlessly and excels in every single one of them. At times, "Mother" is a hair-raising thriller, but at other times it has wonderfully witty comedic tones. At its heart, however, the film is an oddball murder mystery led by an incredibly beautiful performance from South Korean soap opera star Hye-ja Kim. Edited and shot with dynamic precision, "Mother" is not only too gorgeous for words, it's also easily one of the best films of 2010.

Roman Polanski is one of the very best when it comes to directing a thriller. "The Ghost Writer" employs a simple yet wildly engaging plot that develops wonderfully around the main character. We see the ghost writer (McGregor) slowly unraveling the mystery of the film which ultimately puts him into a sheer state of paranoia that builds quite impressively thanks to the seamless direction of Polanski. Political thrillers often fail to engage their audience, but this one was downright mesmerizing. Solid performances from McGregor and Brosnan, but the real standout is Olivia Williams. This film earned a lot of attention in early 2010, but it seems to have faded as of late. It's sad because films like this don't come along all that often. One of the best of 2010.

"Frozen" is the definition of a chiller and it takes you on an absolutely terrifying ride. Assuming this was going to be mediocre at best, I wasn't expecting much, but it really delivered and ended up being one of the most frightening films I have seen in years. Much like "Open Water", but on a ski slope, it centers on a few friends who go on a skiing trip and get trapped on the lift when the resort closes for the weekend. Unless they want to wait a week for the resort to reopen, the three friends must take desperate measures in order to survive. The film starts off slow, but builds a tremendous momentum and becomes taut and genuinely scary. It's definitely one where you have to cover your eyes and look through your fingers at times. A must see for fans of the genre.

I really wanted to like this, but I think this film failed on a few different levels. It didn't really settle on a tone and sometimes I just couldn't tell where the movie was going. It certainly had its strengths and I even really liked some select scenes, but as a whole it didn't come across as a cohesive film. In fact, it came across as quite redundant and sometimes insincere. The one great strength, however, is Carrey's performance. Even when the film felt ingenuine, Carrey pulled through and provided an emotional center to what sometimes felt like emotionless scenes.

"Tangled" dances awfully close to the perfection of early 90s Disney films. Far better than last year's "The Princess and the Frog", "Tangled" provides a fresh take on the classic tale by the Brothers Grimm and has a certain magical quality that makes for an extremely fun movie going experience. It fits right into the Walt Disney canon and although it isn't quite as groundbreaking as "Beauty and the Beast" or "The Little Mermaid", the comparison certainly is justified. "Tangled" is a wonderful throwback to when animated films weren't only fun, but magical as well.

"A Perfect Murder" is a remake of Alfred **** classic "Dial 'M' for Murder" which in turn is an adaptation of a Frederick Knott play. It certainly provides thrills, but what this film lacks that the great Alfred **** never went without, is great suspense. The film sometimes feels flat with what it's presenting and what little suspense it does have is executed so wearily that the whole thing feels tired and recycled. Aside from that, "A Perfect Murder" does come together as a solid thriller for the most part; it never ceased to keep my attention and most of the character interaction was intriguing. The police inspector role was cut down a lot from the original film this time leaving most of the detective work up to Paltrow's character. The ending left me a little cold, but all-in-all, this is an okay thriller.

Joe Wright redeems himself from his last feature, "The Soloist", which was a massive disappointment, and whips out this electric action thriller. The reaction that I've noticed about this film so far has been either you love it or you hate it. I can see why people dislike this movie, but I guess I just fall on the other side of the spectrum. I loved this movie and I feel like I will go see it in theaters again. As a revenge film, what "Hanna" gives us (unlike films like last year's "Salt") is a pretty simple plot. Its simplicity is why I think some people's reactions to it may seem a little sour. People may be expecting some intricate story, but if you go in expecting that, I think you may be a little disappointed. Nothing in regard to Hanna's past is explained fully and some characters Hanna encounters just seem to disappear, but this is unimportant in terms of the film's outcome and basic premise. Saoirse Ronan is magnificent as the titular character and I love how she's blossoming as an actress from her breakout role in Joe Wright's last great film, "Atonement". What I loved about this movie the most, however, is both Cate Blanchett's amazing portrayal of the film's villain (shocking, I know) and the film's score by The Chemical Brothers. The electronic music that makes up the score really propels the film and provides a great contrast between the serenity of Hanna's discovery of a new world and the fantastic action sequences. I like it even more than Daft Punk's score to last year's "Tron: Legacy" and that was one of my favourite scores of 2010. A lot of wacky characters and wild, yet silly situations provides some needed humour to this film and it all blends together to make an exciting and fun film that still proves to be a lot deeper than most fluffy action films nowadays. Definitely go see this in theaters. I'll be going again for sure.