James R.D. Hilton

2023 Top Ten List

Posted on January 19, 2024January 19, 2024 by James R.D. Hilton

2023 was one hell of a year cinematically. Between the writers’ strike, Disney’s glorious financial woes, Daily Wire inexplicably deciding to be a film studio, and Marvel at long last going out not with a bang but a whimper, it was a miracle I found anything amidst all the noise to populate my annual list. Truth be told, it’s getting harder and harder to approach these lists with any real conviction, not because there aren’t quality films out there amidst all the pandemonium, but because I’m growing less interested in seeking them out. Part of this is the result of shifting priorities (my science fiction adventure novel, Into the Known Universe: A Cosmic Love Story, Kinda, is finally being released this April–no big), and part of it is general fatigue with movies in general (it’s also difficult to stand by a Top Ten when I change my mind and my rankings so frequently). There was a time when I would have been the first in line for a new Martin Scorsese or a Ridley Scott film, but not even my enduring love for Goodfellas and Alien could compel me to sit through Killers of the Flower Moon and Napoleon. I even tapped out of Beau is Afraid after the first hour, and that’s coming from someone who unequivocally loved Midsommar (seriously, what’s with all these three-hour runtimes lately?) Believe me, no one’s more disheartened than I am. And yet, I somehow managed not only to fill my Top Ten, but discover a handful of other films that are actually worth recommending. Some of the films on this list surprised me, as did a few down in the (Dis)honorable Mentions. Without further ado, let the 2023 Top Ten commence…

Let’s Talk About: Totally Killer

Posted on November 21, 2023January 19, 2024 by James R.D. Hilton

Actually, I’d like to take this opportunity to talk briefly about the history of the slasher movie leading up to Totally Killer, a time-travel comedy horror that dropped on Amazon Prime this past Halloween season, which I only got around to watching last week.

After Halloween slew at the box office in 1978, the early 80s saw a glut of slasher movies all trying to replicate its critical and commercial success, mostly without much of either. 1980 to 1983 in particular saw the releases of such timeless classics as Prom Night, The Slumber Party Massacre, Sleepaway Camp, The Prowler, My Bloody Valentine, The Boogey Man, Sweet Sixteen, Student Bodies, Maniac, Pieces, The Burning, Final Exam, The House on Sorority Row, Halloween II, Don’t Answer the Phone, He Knows You’re Alone, and – yes – Friday the 13^th Parts 1 through 3 (among many others, only a small fraction of which I’ve taken the time to watch). Most of these were cheap imitations, shameless rip-offs, and desperate cash-ins that were slapped together on shoestring budgets with scripts that had been written over a weekend on a bit of toilet paper, which is why most of them are set in either the director’s house or the woods (Friday the 13^th famously entered production on the basis of a movie poster). The 80s became so notorious for generating cheap, tasteless B-movies about masked killers carving up half-naked teenage girls that it became a recurring joke in the early years of Calvin and Hobbes, with six-year-old Calvin sneaking such films as Vampire Sorority Babes and Cuisinart Murderer of Central High (for the record… I would totally watch Cuisinart Murderer of Central High). By 1984, the genre had become so tired and saturated that audiences began to check out.

Let’s Talk About: Barbenheimer! (Definitely For Real!)

Posted on September 28, 2023November 21, 2023 by James R.D. Hilton

Barbenheimer is a cultural phenomenon that exploded on social media this summer following the simultaneous theatrical releases of Oppenheimer—Christopher Nolan’s biopic of J. Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb—and Barbie, Greta Gerwig’s tell-all documentary of what Margot Robbie does with her weekends. Since these two films are tonally opposite and utilize completely different colour palettes (exclusively grey and pink, respectively), the trendy thing to do this past July for couples and singles alike was to pull a double feature, thereby supporting both Universal and Warner Bros. during the writers’ strike.

Let’s Talk About: Asteroid City

Posted on July 11, 2023September 28, 2023 by James R.D. Hilton

Asteroid City is the newest film by master of symmetry Wes Anderson, an ensemble piece set in a weird retro-futuristic version of the 1950s where brainy Junior Stargazers receive prize ribbons from the military for the creation of such science projects as propulsion packs and molecular incubators. It is also the name of the small Nevada town where the film is set, a bustling metropolis of eighty-seven residents that includes a diner, body shop, rentable cabins, observatory, outdoor shower facilities, vending machines (some of which dispense land deeds for as little as ten dollars), and an abandoned overpass project, all situated around a crater that was formed some 5000 years ago. It is also the name of the in-universe stage play penned by famed playwright Conrad Earp (Edward Norton), who is shown laboring over his creation as the story unfolds in grainy black-and-white sequences that employ a vintage 1.37:1 aspect ratio. This eponymous play has been produced for a live television broadcast, hosted by a somewhat Rod Serling-esque Bryan Cranston, who frequently comments on both the creation of the play as well as the events of the play itself, at one point even wandering into the action before sheepishly retreating back to the wings.

Let’s Talk About: From

Posted on June 30, 2023October 2, 2023 by James R.D. Hilton

I’m going to switch gears for a minute here and delve into something I don’t normally talk about: the wondrous world of television. Aside from a few brief comments On The Television Side of Things at the tail-end of my annual Top Tens, I’ve never devoted an entry to a television series on this site, mostly because I prefer reading and writing to binge watching anything on Netflix (especially since I cancelled my Netflix account). However, I’m willing to make an exception for From, MGM+’s criminally underrated horror series that has thus far succeeded in capturing my enthusiasm. With season two having just wrapped this past Sunday, I thought I’d take a page or two and lay out some the mysteries that have been introduced thus far and present my current working theory as to what the hell’s going on, which is actually tame compared to what’s floating around the web. Besides, I haven’t seen Asteroid City yet and have zero interest in watching Indiana Jones be put in his place by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, so without further ado…

Be forewarned – spoilers for seasons 1 and 2 abound in plenteousness…

Let’s Talk About: Renfield

Posted on June 3, 2023October 2, 2023 by James R.D. Hilton

Robert Montague Renfield has a problem – he hates and fears his boss. For years, he’s endured severe emotional, verbal, and even physical abuse from his employer, whose aggressive nature and increasingly unreasonable demands have taken their toll on poor Renfield’s sense of self. He yearns to be free of his boss’s influence, to establish some desperately-needed boundaries, and to become empowered to be his own person. To this end, he’s joined a self-help group of individuals dealing with codependent relationships in the hopes of finding freedom, and maybe help them with their own problems along the way.

Let’s Talk About: Evil Dead Rise

Posted on May 22, 2023June 3, 2023 by James R.D. Hilton

And I thought the Overlook Hotel’s elevator had a blood spill problem…

Evil Dead Rise is a supernatural horror and standalone entry in the Evil Dead series, which has completely eschewed its campier elements in favour of the sort of tone that’s designed to traumatize you for life (to be fair, everything that happened to Ash Williams in Evil Dead II was pretty traumatizing, blunted for us only by the slapstick elements and goofy delivery).

Let’s Talk About: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Posted on May 16, 2023May 22, 2023 by James R.D. Hilton

Finally.

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 is the third and (hopefully) final installment of James Gunn’s wild and colourful Guardians saga, and the first Marvel movie I can remember seeing since Endgame (I’ve seen other Marvel movies since then, of course, but this is the first one I can actually remember). The titular Guardians have come a long way since we last saw them properly in Vol. 2 (their standout appearances in the final two Avengers and recent Thor movie notwithstanding) – Peter Quill is still reeling from the loss of Gamora, Rocket Raccoon has settled into something of a leadership role, Nebula is officially one of the gang, and Groot looks like a WWE wrestler with cardboard boxes taped to him (it’s a quaint look that probably serves as a callback to the rubber-suited aliens of classic sci-fi). Everyone is a little calmer, a little wearier, and a little more mature (a little). The plot kicks off with the sudden appearance of superpowered golden boy Adam Warlock, whose destructive attempt to kidnap Rocket at the behest of an old adversary results in him dealing a near-fatal injury to everyone’s favourite anthropomorphic trash panda. Unable to operate on Rocket due to a mysterious kill switch installed in his heart by whoever created him, the Guardians waste no time in setting out to retrieve the deactivation code and save their friend’s life.

2019 Top Ten List – Revisited

Posted on May 2, 2023October 2, 2023 by James R.D. Hilton

I’ve mentioned before that one of the troubles with viewing films with the express purpose of assigning them a numerical rating and committing your thoughts to public scrutiny is that your tastes, preferences, and opinions are subject to change, sometimes very quickly. There are many films over the years that I’ve liked in the heat of the moment, only to forget about them within a few months as my enthusiasm waned. Conversely, there are numerous movies I was dismissive of or ambivalent toward upon release, only to grow to appreciate them the more I thought about them. This can make an annual Top Ten somewhat difficult to defend and even embarrassing to revisit, especially when you realize that you’ve only viewed your number one pick exactly once. 2019’s Top Ten is one such list. Though I penned it a mere three years ago, I was amazed and slightly appalled to see how I ranked the year’s best in show. As such, I thought it would be fun to revisit what I’d easily call that last good year in cinema before the world went barmy and see which films have held up in my mind. While the films themselves haven’t changed, the order in which they’re ranked has (or… has it??).

2022 Top Ten List (For Real)

Posted on February 5, 2023May 2, 2023 by James R.D. Hilton

In the words of a certain animated saber-toothed cat, who’s up for round two?! That’s right, folks – since I’ve barely updated this site in the past year, you’re getting two top ten lists for the price of one. In my last post, I disclosed a few personal reasons why I haven’t been giving Snooty Film Critic much attention lately, so I feel it’s only fair and natural to open this official top ten with one more. As a younger man, I took a perverse delight in seeking out bad movies and systematically dismantling them in long online rants, mostly to annoy people who watch movies for mindless escapism or worse – enjoyment. Movies like Man of Steel, Jurassic World, Venom, and 2016’s Suicide Squad were all targets of my caustic assessments in one form or another over the years, and while taking a Critical Drinker approach to bad movies is certainly fun, there just comes a point in life when it isn’t rewarding anymore. Like the hard-drinking, chain-smoking persona I regrettably spent years enabling, trashing movies for the sake of it just isn’t really me anymore. At this stage in life, I find I’m more interested in praising and appreciating films I like rather than dismembering movies I don’t. Maybe it’s the natural benevolence that sets in after one turns 30; maybe it’s the fact that my time has become more precious as I stare down the barrel of eternity in a post-COVID world; and maybe it’s the fact that I can’t be compelled to sit through anymore bloody comic book movies.

Whatever the case, here’s my real Top Ten for 2022:

Author: James R.D. Hilton