John Michael Decker's Top Ten Favorite Films of 2016!!

I haven’t made a list like this in a few years. Time I got back to it. I’ll try not to get as verbose as I have the last few times I did this. I just want to point out two things before I start. Firstly, I haven’t been seeing as many flicks as I used to back in the day, which is the main reason I haven’t really produced an official list in awhile. If there is something that you think was incredible that you feel I somehow omitted, chances are I didn’t see it. Secondly, this is my list of “favorite” films. Favorite doesn’t necessarily mean “best.” These are the top ten experiences I had in a movie theatre in the past year. The ones that were the most enjoyable to me. The ones that appealed to my particular sensibilities the most. And trust me, 2016 was a year where I really needed escapism.

Honorable Mentions

Before I get to the official list, I'd like to mention a few films that didn't quite make the cut this year. Good enough to recommend, but not a top ten pick for me.

Hail Caesar was a lesser Coen brother’s comedy featuring Josh Brolin as Eddie Mannix, a studio executive in old Hollywood whose job it is “fix” problems. Particularly, to track down the studio’s biggest star, played by George Clooney, who vanished in the middle of a film shoot. This is great off-kilter comedy delivered as only the Coen brothers can.

Star Trek Beyond is the third Trek movie that takes place in what has come to be known as the Kelven timeline, and the first of this trilogy not to be directed by JJ Abrams. This time it’s Justin Lin in the directors chair working from a script co-written by Simon Pegg (who plays Scotty in the film). It’s a lot more fun than the last one, and the movie does a nice job of giving each character their place in the spotlight. Although this isn’t the Star Trek I grew up with, it offered some truly enjoyable escapism.

Green Room features, sadly, one of the last performances of the talented young actor Anton Yelchin who died tragically last year, as well as an atypical performance by the great Patrick Stewart, who played a Neo-Nazi club owner. The plot finds a punk band fending off attacks by Neo-Nazi’s in the pacific northwest after seeing something they really shouldn’t have in a Skinhead bar. This is a great, intense, bottle-film with masterfully handles suspense as well as explosive action.

The VVitch: A New England Folktale is a chilling, slow-burn of a period horror film about a family of Puritans who are exiled from their village and must face an evil force plaguing them from the deep, unexplored, forest. The 17^th century language and attention to details were astounding, as were the performances and the very genuine sense of impending doom.  

But enough with the appetizers, lets get to the main course!

My Top 10 Films of 2016:

#10: Don’t Breathe

In this clever twist on the home invasion horror flick, directed and co-written by Fede Alvarez, three ne’er-do-well teens break into an old blind man’s house, hoping for an easy score. Unfortunately for them the old man, played by the fantastic Stephen Lang, is the most terrifyingly deadly human being imaginable. High jinks ensue. Not for the faint of heart.

#9: 10 Cloverfield Lane

This terrific psychological thriller is the spiritual successor to the 2008 found-footage, giant monster flick, Cloverfield. Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays a young woman who is abducted and held in a bunker by an apparently unhinged man, played brilliantly by John Goodman, who claims to be protecting her from some kind of apocalyptic event. The film is incredibly effective as a thriller, but in the last ten minutes or so it switches gears and turns into something so amazing and unexpected that I can’t even hint as to what it is without spoiling the experience for you. Just go and see it!

#8: Swiss Army Man

This is, without a doubt, the strangest, most original, most unexpected thing I saw in 2016. Describing the plot is going to be nearly impossible, so I’ll just say that it’s about a suicidal man and a corpse, played respectively by Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe, who develop a unique friendship as they try to escape being marooned on a deserted island. Think Castaway meets Weekend at Bernie’s only somehow deeper and more thought provoking than either of those films.

#7: Doctor Strange

I’m a sucker for comic book films, and no one does comic book films better than Marvel Studios. In this one Benedict Cumberbatch plays an arrogant surgeon who loses his fine motor skills after a serious car accident crushes his hands. Exhausting all medical means to restore his ability to perform surgery, he turns to mysticism to cure his handicap. In doing so he finds a power within himself he never knew he possessed and is drawn into a bizarre occult world. As much as I enjoyed the story and the characters, my favorite thing about this movie was the special effects, which mirrored the artwork of Steve Ditko, co-creator of the Doctor Strange character with Stan Lee. I don’t say this often, but it’s totally worth it to see this one in IMAX 3D. 

#6: The Nice Guys

In 1970s Los Angeles two schlubby private eyes, played by Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, bumble their way through an investigation into the death of a porn star. This was written and directed by Shane Black, the same guy responsible for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, one of my favorite flicks, and while it’s not as good as that one, it still features Black’s signature dialogue, action, and fantastic character interactions. 

#5: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

This is, without a doubt, the best Star Wars prequel ever made. Not that a really high bar has been set for Star Wars prequels. This is also the first Star Wars film to truly deal with the heavy cost of war. Indeed, this is a genuine war film set in the Star Wars universe which tells the story of the brave band of Rebel’s whose job it was to steal the plans for the Death Star from the Galactic Empire. The end of this film fits seamlessly into the beginning of Star Wars Episode Four: A New Hope, and is especially heartbreaking considering the recent, untimely death of Carrie Fisher.

#4: Hell or High Water

In this modern day western, Chris Pine and Ben Foster play a pair of brothers from West Texas who start robbing banks in a scheme to save the family farm while being pursued by a couple of dogged Texas Rangers, played by Jeff Bridges and Gil Brimingham. It is the fascinating parallel relationships between the two groups of men as well as the complex moral gray areas this film delves into that sets it above the typical western. 

#3: Arrival

This is the best hard science fiction movie I’ve seen in years. Amy Adams plays a linguistics expert hired to communicate with a mysterious group of aliens whose spacecrafts are hovering in twelve locations across the planet. This is a story more about ideas than action, and the ideas explored are fantastic. The end of this film manages to be both devastating and hopeful in equal measure, which is no easy trick. Challenging and beautiful, the twist ending really stayed with me. Seriously, I just can’t recommend this enough.

#2: Deadpool

The popular Deadpool comic book character is brought brilliantly to the big screen by director Tim Miller and actor Ryan Reynolds, who plays the titular title character. Not only is this one of the few successful R-rated comic book movies ever made, but it also serves as the first real superhero comedy, and it is hilarious. The plot, about a loud mouthed, mentally unstable, mercenary who is subjected to an experiment which grants him accelerated healing powers but makes his face look like undercooked meatloaf, is a pretty by-the-numbers superhero origin story. What makes it great is the dark sense of humor and clever writing, which subverts typical superhero genre conventions and makes familiar comic book tropes hilarious.

And now, my favorite movie of 2016...

#1: Captain America: Civil War

As I said, and as this list proves, I am a sucker of a good super hero movie, and this one is incredible. This is the thirteenth movie in the series of films making up the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the third film to focus on the heart of that universe, Steve Rogers AKA Captain America. Not only does the plot change the core dynamic of that universe from here on out, but it features the absolute best on-screen superhero battle ever put on film. It is packed with characters, but because most of them have already been introduced in their own movies, it does not seem overcrowded the way Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad did. This is also the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to feature Spider-Man, my personal favorite comic book character, and even though his screen time is limited, this is the most true to the source material Spider-Man we’ve ever seen. But beyond all of the amazing action and spectacle and all of the strong supporting characters, this is a movie about the fracturing of the relationship between Tony Stark AKA Iron Man and Steve Rogers. The viewer is presented with two very strong protagonists with opposing points of view, both of which are totally valid. Both of these men are honorable and try to find a peaceful resolution to their conflict, but in the end their differences prove to be too big for them to resolve and it’s all kind of heart breaking.

For someone not as invested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as I am, I can see how this movie wouldn’t be on the top of their list. But for me, who has followed and loved these characters since I was a child, this was exactly the balance of character driven drama and cinematic thrill ride that I want beamed into my eyeballs every year.    

Let me know what you all thought. What were your top ten? Did I miss anything spectacular? Am I completely off the mark on anything?

John Michael Decker is an actor living in Brooklyn who loves movies, comic books, and wearing hats.

Copyright 2017 John Michael Decker. No reprints without written permission.

Life in a world where Donald Trump is President

I haven’t made any political statements on my main page in awhile. After this post, it may be awhile before I make another one. I’m sure many of you are relieved about that. With Inauguration Day fast approaching, I feel compelled to speak. This is a post aimed at my conservative friends, my Republican friends, my friends who supported Donald Trump in the presidential election of 2016…

The first thing I want to say is that I’m not looking to start a fight here. I don’t think that any of you are unintelligent, deluded, or misinformed. If you are one of my friends on Facebook, and if you are still reading this, than know that I hold only the utmost respect for you. We all had the same resources to draw from, we all looked at the arguments all sides made in favor of their respective candidates, and on Election Day 2016, we all made what we felt were the best decisions we could for our country and for our families and for the future based on our various ideological beliefs. If you supported and/or voted for Donald Trump, I know that you had your reasons, and I see no need to rehash what those were. Most of you intelligently and eloquently stated your case on your various social media outlets. Now I most likely didn’t agree with your reasons and I might even have debated with you over those reasons, but please understand that any decisions you made in the voting booth last November do not diminish the feelings of love and friendship I have for you. Hopefully we’re all on the same page so far.

When it first became clear that Donald Trump was going to be our next president, I will freely admit that my response to this was extreme. I was shocked, angered, and then seriously depressed about the outcome. If anything I posted during that emotional time offended any of you, than all I can do is apologize. I also want to thank those of you who reached out to me to see if I was alright after the election. I was not alright. To be honest, I’m still not alright about the results of the election, but at least I’ve given myself some time to look at the situation in a more practical, less emotional, light.

And the conclusion I’ve come to is that I can’t support Donald Trump as our president. I can’t give him a chance. I can’t hope he’s not as dangerous as I think he is. And I can’t just accept the situation and move on with my life, because every instinct I have tells me that making this man the 45^th president of the United States was a tragic mistake.

And it’s not just about the political and ideological differences that I have with the man. True, if any of the Republican candidates had won the election I would have been upset and I would have felt that they were taking the country in the wrong direction, but my issues with him go far beyond that. I couldn’t support Trump as president even if he were still a Democrat.

There are two major things about Donald Trump being our president that give me pause outside of the political disagreements we have. They are things that I hope you have thought of, and that should give you pause as well.

Number one is that, to my mind, there has been ample evidence made available from several reputable sources that our American election was tampered with by the Russian government under the direction of Vladimir Putin. Vladimir Putin is not a good man. He is not a good leader, and he is not a friend of the United States. I could present a list of all of the despicable atrocities that Mr. Putin is responsible for, but we all have the internet. If Vladimir Putin altered events to tip the election in favor of Donald Trump, and I truly believe that he did, that is bad for all of us. Really, really, bad. 

But let’s say that you don’t believe that Russia tampered with our election. I’ll disagree with you, but I’ll grant that maybe you have some good reason for that opinion or maybe you even have some information that I don’t. So let’s put that little chestnut aside for now. My second reason for refusing to support our incoming president is, to my mind, even more troubling.

Simply put, Donald Trump is unstable. Donald Trump is 70 years old, but has been in the public eye since he was in his early 20s. We have had ample time to observe his public persona and to get to know who he is. The kind of person he is. Trump has always been a classic narcissistic personality and he is certainly a demagogue, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. I submit to you that Donald Trump has serious emotional and mental difficulties. Difficulties which should render him unfit to serve in the capacity of President of the United States. Look at any of his speeches or his social media output. Hell, just take a random cross section of his tweets over the past two years. He is erratic, emotionally immature, and half the time I’m not sure if he’s simply lying or if he actually believes the contradictory statements that are coming out of his mouth. He is incredibly thin-skinned and can’t abide even the slightest hint of criticism. He seems more upset about Alec Baldwin’s parody of him on Saturday Night Live than he does about serous world events like the tragedy in Aleppo. I could go on and on, but again, you all have the internet.

Now at this point in my diatribe you may be thinking, “but Hilary Clinton would have been worse!” Again, I strongly disagree with that statement, but we will never know because she lost and at this point it is incredibly unlikely that she will ever be the president. Politically I believe that Hillary Clinton is finished, and any of you that had serious concerns about her can now breathe a sigh of relief. Arguing over who would have been a better president now is like closing the barn door after the horse has run away. It’s an exercise in futility.

So we have to deal with the facts that are in front of us. A dangerous and inexperienced man has taken the rains of power. Sure, he’s going to be surrounded by more experienced politicians and advisors, but nothing in his public behavior over the past forty plus years or so indicates that he will listen to them. This is not a president that the GOP can easily control. I suspect most of them already know this and are seriously concerned about this monster that they helped to create.

So at some point in the next four years, when something goes wrong, be it an act of God like an ecological or environmental disaster or a terrorist attack, a mass shooting, or some other serious international incident, Donald Trump will be the person who has to react to it. His reaction will be the important one, the one that affects things, that sets them in motion. I don’t believe that he will react in an appropriate manner. Further, I believe that there will come a point where he will need to be removed from office. And the ironic thing is that it will be the Republicans who will have to remove him.

Listen people, I hope I’m wrong. I would be so relieved if it turned out that Donald Trump wasn’t the dangerous lunatic that he appears to be. If he somehow brought about a new golden age to the country than I would happily eat my words. That would be better for everyone. But I don’t think I’m wrong about him. And, in your heart of hearts, I don’t think any of you believe it either.

So, until Donald Trump proves me wrong, I choose to be cautiously pessimistic. I’m going to watch my back, and I’m going to watch the backs of the people I care about. I will, in a peaceful and non-violent way, resist Donald Trump and everything he stands for with all of the resources that I have at my disposal. I will do this until such a time as he is no longer in a position to do permanent harm to this country that I love.

I suggest you all do the same.

Leap Day Evaluation! 29 February 2016

Happy Leap Day everyone!

If you don't care to hear about my spiritual or political beliefs, that's great. Just stop reading here.

Up until now I've tried to leave some more personal beliefs off of social media, but as this is a year for changes I'm going to break from tradition and try to make clear some of the things that are important to me and that I give a great deal of thought to.

Spiritually I consider myself a progressive Catholic. I support a woman's right to choose what to do with her body. I support marriage equality. I think that Pope Frances is an important historical figure who is helping to usher the Catholic Church into the 21st century. I also believe in Darwinian evolution and hard science and I don't think that conflicts with my spiritual beliefs. I believe in an afterlife (let's call it "heaven" for the sake of argument) and I think that if you are a good person who does their best to make the world a better place for yourself and others than there is a place for you there, irregardless of your spiritual beliefs or your gender or the color of your skin. I believe that the Bible is an important book filled with many parables that can be interpreted in many different ways, and there is a lot of good in there if you know where to look, but it is not a living history or the infallible word of God. I believe in prayer and when I do pray I feel connected to something greater than myself. I believe in ghosts and spirits and other supernatural phenomenon as well. As the bard wrote:

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
- Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio

I have certain beliefs about how the universe works, but I can't prove them nor can I say for an absolute certainty that they are true. I am a fallible human after all, and I leave myself opened to change or amend these beliefs as new information becomes available to me. I suppose this is faith.

Now to politics. I am a registered Democrat and I tend to lean heavily towards liberal ideology. This does not mean that I hate anyone with differing viewpoints. In fact, I have many close friends who are quite intelligent and vote Republican and who hold a more fundamentalist view of spirituality than I do. I welcome their thoughts and opinions on all matters as long as they don't get rude, insulting, or racist. The same goes to my left leaning friends, by the way.

I believe that currently Bernie Sanders is the best candidate available to be the next president of the united states. I don't agree 100% with Bernie or with any of the current crop of candidates for that matter, but I truly feel in my bones that Sanders has the best chance to change the toxic political landscape that is dividing this country. Will he have an easy time doing this? Hell no! No one will. But he's my guy. Should Bernie not capture the Democratic nomination, I will happily support Hillary Clinton. Although I have some serious issues with Hillary, I think she is an able politician and a better choice than any of her Republican counterparts, many of whom genuinely scare me.

I am a supporter of Barack Obama. I don't believe that he has been a perfect leader, but I do believe that he is a good man who has done his best for the country and who has a great deal of personal integrity. Yes, he has make mistakes. Some really huge mistakes at times. But the country is absolutely a better place than it was when he first took office and I am grateful to have had such a cool headed, intelligent, measured leader to represent us. His accomplishments, in my opinion, far outweigh his failures and I think that history will remember him positively. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has been especially helpful to me personally.

I am far from perfect myself. I've made quite a few mistakes in the past two years, many of which have hurt people I am close to, but I've done my best to correct them in the best way I know how. I am working hard every day to become a better person and to live with integrity. I'm still going to make mistakes, but that won't stop me from trying. One thing I've done that is absolutely not a mistake is my decision to become Tessa Flannery's life partner. She is my compass. My guiding star. Having her in my life makes me a better person and I am grateful every day that we found each other. I look forward to the many adventures that we will have together. 2016 so far has been about learning to let go of the things that no longer work in my life. I suppose part of the reason I'm writing this is to make clear to myself where my center is.

That's all for now. If you've read this far and you want to comment, I welcome it, as long as the conversation doesn't get nasty or divisive. I support free speech and welcome all opinions, even those that differ from mine. It is my hope that 2016 is a great year for my nearest and dearest.

John Michael Decker's Top Ten Films of 2012

John Michael Decker's Top Ten Films of 2012

It's time for my annual list of favorite movies from the past twelve months. I remind you all that I’m not a professional film critic – just a cinephile with some free time. I am a big geek and I expect that this article may be hyperbolic at times, but I’ve tried my best to keep a lid on it. As with anything, my opinions are subjective. Feel free to agree with me. Or disagree. Or name a movie that you think should have been on my list.

Exclusions

I have not seen Les Miserables, The Silver Linings Playbook, Moonrise Kingdom, Cloud Atlas, or The Life of Pi – all movies I’ve heard great things about – so if any of them were your favorites this year, then I'm sorry that they didn’t make my list.

Honorable Mentions

Before I get to the official list, I'd like to mention a few films that didn't quite make the cut this year. These flicks are fun and worth seeing, but there were at least ten other films I liked better.

Solomon Kane was technically released in Europe in 2009, but it only became available to American audiences this year. Solomon Kane is a pulp character created by Robert E. Howard (best known as the author of the Conan the Cimmerian adventures). To be honest, I prefer Howard’s Kane stories to his Conan tales. This movie is a pretty good origin story for Solomon Kane, the dour Puritan killing machine whose adventures take place in the Elizabethan era.

Dredd is the second movie adaptation of the popular British comic book series, Judge Dredd, which originally appeared in the magazine 2000 AD. The first was a lame Sylvester Stallone vehicle that came out in 1995; most fans of the comic book would be happy to forget that one. The 2012 version is a loyal adaptation of the source material starring Karl Urban as the stone-faced protagonist who upholds the law in the totalitarian Mega City One. 

 

The Amazing Spider-Man is a decent origin story of the popular Marvel comic book character directed by the talented Marc Webb. My major problem with this film is that Sam Raimi already made a fantastic Spidey origin movie in 2002, and as far as I’m concerned, it didn’t need to be rebooted. That being said, if I remove the Raimi movie from the equation and just look at this film for what it is, I have to admit that I enjoyed it a lot. Andrew Garfield is a great Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Rhys Ifans is excellent as Dr. Curt Connors, who is transformed into the tragic villain, the Lizard. I also enjoyed Emma Stone as Peter’s love interest Gwen Stacy. Now with this second telling of the origin out of the way, I hope I can look forward to some great web-swinging sequels that cover material not already done better by Sam Raimi.

21 Jump Street is a film adaptation of a television show that ran on the Fox network from 1987-1991. Both the television show and the movie are about youthful-looking undercover cops who pose as teenagers to thwart crime in high schools. The film stars Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum as undercover protagonists Schmidt and Jenko. I didn’t like the television show, and I am generally not a big fan of Hill or Tatum as actors, so there was no reason on Earth that I should have enjoyed this at all, and yet… I did! I don’t know what kind of cosmic confluence of events occurred to make this as entertaining as it was, but this is a really fun comedy with solid performances and a script that is just self-aware enough to be funny and not annoying.

Argo is the latest film by Ben Affleck, who has turned out to be a pretty solid director. It takes place during the Iran hostage crisis of 1979, when several Americans hid at the Canadian ambassador’s home in Iran. The CIA plan to rescue them entailed creating a fake science fiction movie, and going to Iran posing as a Canadian film crew. I love these lesser-known historical events that happened during my lifetime.

The Grey is advertised as an action film featuring Liam Neeson fighting wolves, but that’s not really what it is. It is a deep meditation on death, and more specifically the way men choose to die. There is a definite Jack London man-versus-nature vibe here that I enjoyed, and although it's not for everyone, I found this material compelling.

Django Unchained is not Quentin Tarantino’s strongest movie, but that being said, I feel even his weaker efforts are head-and-shoulders above most of the stuff I see at movie theaters. This one is a mash-up of spaghetti westerns and 70s-era blaxploitation films, starring Jamie Foxx as a slave-turned-gunfighter seeking revenge against the men who took his wife. Though wildly entertaining through most of the film, I found the tonal changes from comedy to brutality a little jarring at times.

Top 10 Films of 2012

Here are my spoiler-free reviews of the best movies of the past year:

#10: Wreck-It-Ralph

I love stories where the protagonist has to subvert the expectations that others place on him and choose to be something more. Wreck-It-Ralph certainly falls into this category. It's a Disney animated film about a video game villain who wants to prove to his peers that he is more than just a dumb wrecking machine. It's funny, exciting, and at times poignant, with terrific voice acting and Disney’s usual fabulous animation.

Interestingly enough, Wreck-It-Ralph is not a film that was produced by Disney’s all-digital Pixar animation branch, even though it seems like anthropomorphized video game characters would be something that is in Pixar’s wheelhouse. The Pixar movie that came out in 2012 was Brave, about a Scottish princess. Princess films are usually the kind of thing that Disney animation churns out. It tickles me that Disney and Pixar seem to have swapped their usual subject matter.

#9: Safety Not Guaranteed

This is a cool indie flick about three magazine employees who are assigned to investigate a man who has placed a classified ad seeking a companion to time-travel with. Aubrey Plaza plays Darius, the most cynical of the three reporters; and Mark Duplass plays Kenneth, who is either the genius who figured out time travel, or a dangerous lunatic. Darius and Kenneth are two outsider personalities who start to develop a very real connection, and the viewer is left question the validity of Kenneth’s claims right up until the end of the film.

In many ways this reminds me of the 2011 independent film Another Earth (#6 on last year's Top Ten list), in that the science fiction element is just a backdrop for a very compelling human story. Unlike Another Earth, this is a much lighter story with more humor and a lot less angst. I’m not always a fan of romantic comedies, but Safety Not Guaranteed has so much heart that I was won over.

#8: Jack Reacher

This Tom Cruise vehicle is an adaptation of the Lee Child novel, One Shot. I’ve been told that Tom Cruise’s Jack Reacher is physically nothing like the character described in Child’s novel, but having never read the book, I have to judge the movie on its own merits. As a film, this is one well-written, action-packed thrill ride, and Tom Cruise is fantastic as the protagonist.

Like Caine in Kung Fu, Jack Reacher is a character whose modus operandi is pretty much to wander the earth and get into adventures. He lives off-grid and uses his training as both a soldier and an investigator to uphold what is right, caring very little for the letter of the law. Not only does this movie have some fantastic action set pieces but there is an interesting mystery at its core that kept me involved right up to the end. Cruise’s dialogue is especially sharp, and I love some of the verbal interplay in the film that proves that not only is Jack Reacher the toughest guy in the room, he's also the smartest.

Jack Reacher is directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who also directed a film I really enjoyed called The Way of the Gun back in 2000. He is rumored to be directing the next Mission Impossible movie; this is good news because he and Cruise seem to have a rapport.

#7: The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games is also based on a book, the first in a bestselling trilogy written by Suzanne Collins. It deals with a dystopian future where a tyrannical government forces the poorest of its districts to sacrifice a boy and a girl once a year to compete in televised gladiatorial sports. Only one player will emerge alive, winning food and supplies for his or her respective district. Jennifer Lawrence is wonderful as Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist who learns that in order to win, not only must she count on her considerable survival and hunting skills, but she must also become a media darling.

This is a great adaptation of the book. It's powerful, well-cast, and well-directed; and includes some pretty heavy themes like the power of the media, class struggles, and sacrifice for a higher good. Although I missed Katniss’ internal monologue from the book, Jennifer Lawrence is a strong enough actress to show the emotional impact the story requires.

#6: Chronicle

Chronicle may be the best “found footage” movie ever made (or at least, it’s the best one I’ve ever seen). The story is told largely from the point of view of Andrew, played by Dane DeHaan, a troubled high school student who buys a camera to document his abusive home life. While attending a party, Andrew, his cousin Matt, and school jock Steve discover a mysterious underground cavern that grants them all telekinesis. At first the three boys revel in their newfound abilities and do a lot of the crazy stuff you might imagine high school kids would do if they could move things with their minds. But it’s not long before their bond of friendship is tested when the darker aspect of their power emerges.

I love this street-level approach to the superhero origin story. Director Josh Trank does a fantastic job of balancing both the action and the personal story, and this film contains one of the best superhero battle scenes I’ve ever seen. The screenplay by Max Landis, son of famous director John Landis, has a lot of heart and gives this film a Shakespearean level of tragedy.

#5: Lincoln

Lincoln deals with the 16^th president of the United States and his efforts to pass the 13^th constitutional amendment in 1865, which would officially abolish slavery. This may seem like a dull subject, but in the hands of the great director Steven Spielberg, this movie is anything but.

The greatest strength of this film is the quality of the performances, among the best of which are David Strathairn as Secretary of State William Seward, Tommy Lee Jones as Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, and Sally Field as First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln. All of these performances are outstanding, but they pale in comparison to Daniel Day-Lewis’ portrayal of Abraham Lincoln, which can only be described as transcendent.

Watching this film I was able to think, “Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones are doing amazing work in this movie.” I was able to think that about most of the actors. Not Daniel Day-Lewis. Every moment he was on screen, I was watching President Lincoln. It was as if Mr. Day-Lewis was channeling the dead president. In a career of amazing performances, this may be his best – and that is saying something.

#4: Cabin in the Woods

This horror comedy produced by Joss Whedon, directed by Drew Goddard, and co-written by both men takes familiar scary movie tropes and turns them on their ear. Did you ever wonder why horny teenagers go to remote locations in horror movies and then behave in the most stupid, illogical, and cliched ways possible? Well this movie explains why, and does it with the kind of Joss Whedon sharp wit we’ve seen on his television shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

I really can’t say much more about the plot without going into spoiler territory, but suffice to say, this is essential viewing for fans of '80s horror films. Hell, this is essential viewing for people who hate horror movies for all the reasons I’ve mentioned above. This is a truly fantastic time at the movies.

I also have to say that the last twenty minutes of this film are the most fun I’ve had at the movies since… Well, since the last twenty minutes of my number one film this year.

#3: The Dark Knight Rises

With The Dark Knight Rises, director Christopher Nolan’s epic Batman trilogy comes to a satisfying conclusion. It neatly ties up the hero's journey started by Bruce Wayne, played by Welsh actor Christian Bale, in 2005's Batman Begins and continued in 2008's The Dark Knight. While I don’t think The Dark Knight Rises is as strong a movie as The Dark Knight (largely due to Heath Ledger's iconic, show-stealing portrayal of The Joker), I do think that this is one of the strongest trilogy finales in cinematic history.

This movie begins eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, with Bruce Wayne having retired his costumed alter ego to live as a recluse. But it’s not long before the Machiavellian schemes of the villain Bane, played excellently by Tom Hardy, contrive to pull Bruce out of retirement and threaten to destroy everything he holds dear, not the least of which is his beloved Gotham City. The appearance of Selina Kyle, a wildcard and cat burglar played by the sexy Ann Hathaway, further complicates matters for Bruce.

Everything I’ve mentioned about the plot pretty much takes place in the first ten minutes of the film, and I’m afraid if I say much more I’ll get into spoilers. I will say that The Dark Knight Rises is an action-packed, psychologically dense, dark, character-driven tour-de-force, and I loved every frame of it.

#2: Skyfall

Skyfall is now my favorite James Bond film, and as a huge James Bond geek, I do not say that lightly. I have seen every James Bond movie and read all of the original Ian Fleming novels. Skyfall captures everything I love about this franchise. The action, the villains, the women, the cars, and the death traps are all here and are all outstanding. We get to see the return of a few characters who have always been a big part of the James Bond mythos but who have been absent from the last several films. But the best thing about Skyfall is Bond himself, portrayed effortlessly by Daniel Craig as a very physically and emotionally damaged man. When Craig plays Bond, we see that his debonair exterior is just a thin veneer masking a brutish thug who will do whatever it takes to accomplish his missions. We also get a fantastic peek into James Bond's past that gives us some clues as to why he became the man he is.

Skyfall is directed by Sam Mendes, who usually does character-driven films like American Beauty and Revolutionary Road. His deft touch for interpersonal drama benefits the movie, but he does not skimp on the action. Judi Dench has never been better as M, Bond’s hard-nosed boss; and Javier Bardem is deliciously creepy as Silva, the main villain of the story.

And now, my favorite movie of 2011...

#1: Marvel’s The Avengers

If anyone had any doubt that Marvel’s The Avengers was going to be my favorite movie this year, then they don’t know me very well. As both a movie and comic book fan, I came into this with very high expectations. The kind of expectations that are often dashed when a project gets too ambitious for its own good. The buildup to this film was epic, and it seemed as though it would be impossible to live up to the hype. Marvel Studios hinted that the Avengers movie was on its way at the very end of Iron Man in 2008, then continued to drop tantalizing breadcrumbs throughout The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), and Captain America: the First Avenger (2011), all the while building up a cohesive Marvel Movie Universe complete with characters who crossed over from film to film.

The very idea of a flick featuring Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Hulk, the Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Agent Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. – all characters capable of carrying their own films – seemed like it would collapse under its own weight. How could you make a film with all these huge personalities in it, load it with the kind of action that modern comic book fans would demand, and give each character their moment to shine without the story over-focusing on one hero? Who could take on the responsibility of pleasing both rabid fans and the studio that invested massive amounts of time and cash into this project?

Enter geek legend Joss Whedon. Third-generation television writer, producer of cult hits like Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and comic book writer of, amongst other things, Astonishing X-Men and Fray. He also had a hand in a little movie called Cabin in the Woods (#4 on this list). As director and co-writer of Marvel’s The Avengers, Joss Whedon managed to craft a film that balances character drama, explosive action, and even comedy and pathos, and leaves its audience drooling for more. I saw this in the theatre four times; once in IMAX 3D, once in RealD 3D, and twice in regular 2D, and after each viewing I left the theatre with a silly grin on my face, loving life and ready to fight an alien invasion.

Whether or not you’ve seen the films leading up to Marvel’s The Avengers, this is a truly amazing time at the movies, well worth paying full price and buying a tub of artery-clogging popcorn. It gets my highest recommendation.

Summary

I’ve had a lot on my plate, and putting together my annual Top Ten list this year was a difficult birth. I would like to acknowledge the efforts of my good friend Jem Matzan who once again edited this article for me, as well as offering words of encouragement when I thought writer's block was going to beat me. I may even pull out that short story I’ve had hidden in the bowels of my computer for years. Thanks, Jem!

I hope this list was an enjoyable read, even if you totally disagree with my taste in entertainment, and I hope to see you all at the movies.

John Michael Decker is an actor who loves movies, comic books, and wearing hats.

Copyright 2013 John Michael Decker. No reprints without written permission.

Interview with John Michael Decker (aka Damion Spector; Evil Sheriff)

Interview with John Michael Decker (aka Damion Spector; Evil Sheriff)

Here is an interview with Sterling Actor John Michael Decker !!! (2008)

1. Your name and Sterling Character (s) name. ~

John Michael Decker

1994 Nicodemus "Nick the Nose" Snipe; Gallant Beggar
1995, 1996, 2001 Thaddeus Pringle; Traveling Poet
1997 Severus Wackford; Executioner
1998-2000 Ignatius "Iggy" Weevil; Executioner
2002 Cuthbert Exelby; Pirate Cabin Boy
2003 "Dashing" Jack Scrimshaw; Pirate First Mate
2004 Roland Puddleton; Mud Beggar
2006-2008 Damion Spector; Evil Sheriff

plus I've played the Dottore in the Commedia from 1998-2004, 2006-2008

2. How did you first get into acting and what was your first job ? ~

In the forth grade I was in a play called; "Jack, Beanstalk, and Friends." I played W.C. Fieldson (the guy who sold Jack the beans). I was a shy kid, but I found that I could get accolades from my peers without having to be myself. After that I knew I was meant to be an actor.

My first professional job was for the Lake George Opera Co in 1984 or 85. I played a stage hand in their production of "Kiss Me Kate."

3. What is your approach to figuring out how to play a character ? ~

I use the Gary Izzo method (discussed in his book, "the Art of Play"). I try to figure out the characters main passion in life, then I figure out what the characters flaws are that might get in the way of that passion, then I figure out what virtues the character might have.

4. What is your favorite role so far? Least favorite and why ? ~

Favorite role in a play: E.K. Hornbeck from "Inherit the Wind." I liked the moral gray areas the character lived in. I liked how Hornbeck's function in the show was to push other character's buttons. My favorite interactive character role has been Damian Spector the evil sheriff I play at Sterling. It's just so much fun to play a character who is that evil but also extremely vulnerable.

Least favorite character: I honestly can't think of a character I didn't enjoy playing.

5. Who are your influences (both acting and non) ?

I've had three major mentors in my life.

1) Dr. H. Charles Kline (or "Doc" as we all called him), my college adviser and head of the SUNY Plattsburgh Theatre Department in the late 80s, early 90s. Besides teaching me some valuable theatre technique, Doc was a real father figure in my life at a time when I really needed one.

2) Rev. Jerry McKinny, who I worked for as a counselor and arts and crafts director at the Hebron Camp and Conference Center for five summers (Summer of 89 through the summer of 93). Jerry taught me the virtue of service to others for a higher cause.

3) Gary Izzo, my director at Sterling and zen interactive theatre master. Gary helped me to refine my talents (which were pretty raw when I met him), and turned me into a better performer. Gary also taught me the real value of escapism and play.

7. What inspires you to do what you do ? ~

I like being able to help people forget their problems, be it for a minute, an hour or a day. Art is so important, especially in uncertain times.

8. Funniest mishap behind-the-scenes or onstage ? ~

Working at the Great Escape Fun park and playing Beulah the stripping Buzzard (yes, you heard that right), I fell off the stage because I couldn't see out of the giant buzzard head I was wearing.

9. What do you enjoy most and least about theater/acting ? ~

Most: I love playing the part of the sacred clown. Being able to show the folly of man through the failings of my characters.

Least: I hate that acting pays so poorly. 

Thank you so much John for the interview !

Which superhero are you?

Your results:
You are Green Lantern

Green Lantern 90% Spider-Man 80% Superman 70% Batman 60% Supergirl 55% Hulk 55% Catwoman 55% The Flash 50% Robin 47% Iron Man 45% Wonder Woman 40%

Hot-headed. You have strong will power and a good imagination.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

John Michael Decker's Top Ten Films of 2011

It's time for my biased list of favorite films from the past twelve months. Even though attendance at movie theatres was down in 2011, it was actually a pretty good year at the movies. I found that I enjoyed far more films than I disliked. In fact, there were so many outstanding movies that it was harder than usual to narrow it down to the top ten.

Honorable Mentions

Before I get to the main event, I'll mention a few films that didn't quite make it into my top ten this year. These films are fun and worth seeing, but there were at least ten other films I liked better.

The critics may have maligned Green Lantern, but I think that this is a well-told superhero origin story with lots of action and great characters.

Thor is another cool comic book film that works largely because it focuses on the dysfunctional relationship between the God of Thunder (Thor) and his misunderstood step-brother (Loki).

Midnight in Paris is a fantastic Woody Allen movie with romance, comedy, and time travel. What more could you want? Allen has always been an expert at turning his backdrops into characters, and this movie certainly brings the "city of light" to life.

Source Code, the second film by Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie), is a trippy action thriller about a soldier who keeps waking up in the body of a stranger on a Chicago commuter train. Lots of twists and turns keep the audience guessing. This film has a great mix of action and interesting character development.

Super, is a film about a guy who decides to become a costumed vigilante after his wife leaves him for a drug dealer. Although he has the best intentions, he has absolutely no discernible skills other than an insane will to stop crime, and a lot of dumb luck. For a comedy, this movie delves into some incredibly dark territory, and you'll often end up feeling guilty for laughing at some of the material.

Bellflower is billed as an apocalyptic romance, and that's a pretty good description. The story is about Woodrow and Aiden, two friends who spend their free time building flame-throwers and muscle cars in the hopes that a global cataclysm will occur and thrust them into a post-apocalyptic world ala Mad Max. But when Woodrow falls for the unpredictable Milly, he experiences his own personal apocalypse.

Attack the Block is an awesome low-budget British sci-fi flick about a gang of south London punks protecting their neighborhood against an alien invasion. It's directed by Joe Cornish, who worked as a producer on Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, and has a fantastic sense of kinetic energy. This film also features one of the most unique alien species I have seen on the big screen in years.

Speaking of fantastic kinetic energy, I would be remiss if I didn't mention The Adventures of Tintin, an animated film directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Peter Jackson. The film is based on a popular European comic book and has a kind of young Indiana Jones vibe to it. It's a hell of a lot of fun and well worth your time.

I love The Muppets, which stars and was co-written by Jason Segal. Although it takes a little while for it to get going, watching Kermit, Gonzo, Piggy and the gang on the big screen is like welcoming back old friends. Hearing the Muppets sing "Rainbow Connection" again brought tears to my eyes.

Anyone who has a love for classic films should do themselves a favor and catch Martin Scorsese's Hugo. This starts out as an adventure/mystery about a scrappy orphan living in a train station in France, and morphs into a love letter to history's earliest movies and the pioneers who made them.

In any other year, many of the above films would have made my top ten, but this year there were just too many great movies to choose from.

Top 10 films of 2011

Here are my choices for the best of the past year, presented without spoilers:

#10: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

After the abysmal Tim Burton remake of Planet of the Apes in 2001, I didn't expect to ever see a decent "Apes" film again. That's why it comes as such as shock that Rise of the Planet of the Apes is as good as it is.

At its core, Rise is the heartbreaking story of a scientist who, with the best of intentions, sets in motion the events that will bring down the human race. Andy Sirkis' truly brilliant motion capture work as Caesar the ape is the heart and soul of the film. This is science fiction as I love it, with fantastic action sequences, a lot of humanity, and big moral and ethical conundrums.

#9: Captain America: the First Avenger

This is a good old-fashioned superhero flick set in the early days of World War II. Unlike many of the grim and gritty anti-heroes we tend to see a lot of, Cap has always been about fighting for the little guy. In the film, Cap's alter ego, Steve Rogers, makes it clear that he doesn't relish the thought of killing Nazis, he just doesn't like bullies.

I like that Steve Rogers isn't an over-muscled Adonis through the first half of the movie; instead, he starts as a scrawny 98-pound weakling who just wants to do the right thing. When he finally gets his super abilities, he retains the humility of a little guy from Brooklyn who's been bullied all his life. Chris Evans makes a fantastic Captain America/Steve Rogers and Hugo Weaving is an excellent foil to the hero as the evil Nazi super criminal, The Red Skull.

Director Joe Johnston, who also helmed another great period superhero film, The Rocketeer, had the right sensibilities to bring these characters and this time period to life.

#8: Drive

Drive reminds me of a modern-day Clint Eastwood "spaghetti western." Like Eastwood's iconic "Man with No Name," the protagonist in this film (played by Ryan Gosling) is a taciturn loner with a mysterious past who is only referred to as "the Driver."

The Driver is a Hollywood stunt man who leads a double life as a wheel man for local criminals. When the Driver gets involved with the wrong criminal (played brilliantly by Albert Brooks) and a beautiful woman from his apartment complex (played by Carey Mulligan), his solitary and ordered life starts to spin out of control.

I like how stripped-down this movie is. I enjoy the growing sense of menace as the main character is drawn into situations that it doesn't look like he can get out of. I especially like the stellar ensemble cast including Ron Perlman, Bryan Cranston, and Oscar Isaac.

#7: Warrior

Warrior is a lot like the original Rocky film, only with two protagonists. Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy play Brendan and Tommy Conlon, two brothers who are involved in the brutal sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). Although at the start of the film the brothers have become estranged, the one thing they do have in common is a hatred for their abusive, ex-alcoholic father, Paddy (in a heartbreaking performance by the great Nick Nolte).

For different reasons, both brothers enter an MMA tournament with the highest-ever purse in the history of the sport. Both are underdogs and not expected to make in through, but end up on a collision course which forces them not only to face each other in the ring, but the personal issues they have from their horribly dysfunctional family.

Both brothers' stories are equally compelling, and by the end of the film, knowing that only one can win the tournament, as an audience member I didn't know which brother to root for.

#6: Another Earth

Another Earth is a quiet little indie sci-fi film where the science fiction is largely the backdrop for the human drama. When a duplicate planet Earth appears in the sky, events are set in motion that cause the lives of a student and a composer to intersect both tragically and beautifully.

I like how the themes of grief, guilt and redemption are played out in this movie, with the second planet Earth constantly hovering in the background, reminding us of other possibilities on other worlds. Brit Marling, the star and co-writer of this film, is a talent to watch. William Mapother (perhaps best known as Ethan Rom from the popular television series Lost) also gives a powerful, gut-wrenching performance. It is the chemistry between these two actors that holds this picture together.

#5: X-Men: First Class

X-Men: First Class is my second-favorite "X-Men" film after the excellent X2: X-Men United. It is not a perfect movie, but what really makes me forget the film's shortcomings are the incredible performances of James McAvoy as young professor Charles Xavier, and Michael Fassbender as young Erik Lehnsherr (AKA Magneto). As any comic book fan knows, Xavier and Magneto are destined to become enemies, but the story of how these two men met and became friends has never been told on the big screen.

I love that this movie is set in the swinging 60s, with the Cuban missile crisis playing out in the background. The earliest X-Men comics were written during this era, so it struck me as appropriate. I also enjoy seeing young Xavier as a womanizing intellectual hipster, and young Magneto as an obsessed Nazi-hunter.

Although not all of the characters in this movie are very well drawn out, I have to give honorable mention to the performances of Jennifer Lawrence as the young Mystique, and Nicholas Hoult as the young Hank McCoy. Seeing the different characters interact and work together at the beginning of the movie, and then being forced to pick different sides of the mutant conflict at the end is a big part of the drama.

#4: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

The "Mission Impossible" film franchise is unlike most others; instead of the quality of the movies getting worse as more sequels are released, it gets better. No one is more surprised than I am that this movie is so high on my top ten list this year, but it was really that good. Perhaps the increasing quality is due to the fact that every MI movie has a different director. In this case it's Brad Bird, who until now has only directed animated films (such as The Iron Giant and The Incredibles). Bird is fantastic with action, and this movie has, hands down, some of the best action set pieces that I've seen in the last few years. I know it's cliché, but I can literally say that I spent most of the movie on the edge of my seat.

Another departure from the earlier Mission Impossible films is that this one focuses more on the whole IMF team, not just Tom Cruise's character, Ethan Hunt. Sure, this is still a Tom Cruise movie, but for the first time, his supporting players (portrayed by Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, and Jeremy Renner) play a major part in both story and action.

Most of the movies on my top ten list this year are rather deep. They delve into characters, ideas, and themes in a way that elevates them above typical action films. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is not deep; it's just a hell of a lot of fun and an epic popcorn movie.

#3: Rango

Rango may be the most unique western I've ever seen. This animated feature, directed by Gore Verbinski, tells the story of a chameleon who, through a series bizarre circumstances, exaggerations, and downright lies, becomes the sheriff of the water-deprived town of Dirt.

Not only does this movie understand the heart of the west, but it has a real trippy vibe that just makes it unique. Rango (voiced by Johnny Depp) is an incredible "hero on a journey" character, and is surrounded by other iconic personalities like Rattlesnake Jake, the classic western villain who lives by his own code. The character designs are the most original I've seen since Toy Story. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Rango is on par with Pixar's finest computer-generated films.

#2: Hanna

Hanna reminds me of Luc Besson's The Professional, in that it is a perfect fusion of foreign art film and American action thriller. The movie opens with the title character, Hanna (played by Irish actress Saoirse Ronan) living with her CIA-trained father (Eric Bana) in the wilds of Finland. Her isolated life is forced to change when dangerous forces come looking for her, led by a ruthless intelligence agent (played by Cate Blanchett).

On the one hand, this is a pretty straightforward action picture with the heroine traveling through Europe avoiding bad guys; but on the other, this is a modern-day Brothers Grimm fairy tale with Hanna as the lost princess, her father as the huntsman and Blanchett as the wicked witch.

The action sequences are poetically filmed and never slow down, the metaphors are drawn well, and the characters are multi-layered and continuously fascinating.

And now, my favorite movie of 2011...

#1: Super 8

Super 8, directed by JJ Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg, is a throwback to some beloved classic films like Stand By Me, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Perhaps "throwback" is the wrong word, because this movie is its own unique entity, paying homage to these films without copying them.

Super 8 takes place in a small Ohio town in 1979, where a group of 13- to 14-year-old kids are filming a zombie movie with a super 8 camera. During a night of filming, the children witness a catastrophic train crash, and accidentally record something alien escaping from wreckage. The science fiction part of this story is exciting and well-told, but it is really just the backdrop to the real human story of these kids and their families.

It's not easy to find actors this young who are good, but all of the kids that were cast in Super 8 are terrific, especially Joel Courtney as the sensitive Joe Lamb; and Elle Fanning as Alice, the girl he is interested in.

Perhaps one of the reasons I feel so connected with this film was because in 1979 I was a 13-year-old kid running around with my friends in a small town in upstate NY. We were always working on some kind of wacky artistic project and getting into crazy adventures (although we never encountered an alien as far as I know). It's this sense of nostalgia, coupled with great storytelling and compelling characters that makes Super 8 my favorite movie of last year.

Summary

And there you have it -- my top picks for last year at the movies. Feel free to get in touch and tell me what you think, or tell me about a great film I may have left off the list. Once again I would like to thank Jem Matzan for his stalwart friendship and excellent editing skills.

John Michael Decker is an actor who loves to go to the movies. This list is just his way of showing appreciation for all the entertainment he's enjoyed over the past year.

Copyright 2012 John Michael Decker. No reprints without written permission.