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Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News

1. Act of Valor 2012 The movie doesn't pretend to be anything but propaganda, a modern-day cousin to the morale-boosting documentaries made by John Huston and Frank Capra during World War II. full review
2. Bad Kids Go to Hell 2012 With characters that come off more as collections of tics than people and a soundtrack stuck on earsplitting dance remix mode, Bad Kids plays like a straight-to-DVD bad dream. full review
3. Bernie 2012 Watching Bernie is a little like sitting on a shady front porch and gossiping with the town tattlers. full review
4. The Cabin in the Woods 2012 You needn't be a fanboy to enjoy the moment when the ride really takes off and the spectacle flowers. A scary imagination will do just fine. full review
5. Friends With Kids 2012 Not even the outcome's predictability (hint: romantic comedies have happy endings) can dampen the frothy results. full review
6. Haywire 2012 "I don't wear the dress," explains Mallory Kane as she ponders the details of her next job. If she did, she'd probably strangle someone with it. full review
7. How to Survive a Plague 2012 Plague isn't the history of a disease so much as the history of a movement, and a portrait of those who refused to suffer passively. full review
8. My Way 2012 Given its aggressiveness in all cinematic matters, My Way manages to color in the personal stakes with enough clarity to keep you caring about the players set loose on its massive canvas. full review
9. Take This Waltz 2012 Both the small moments and the end product of Waltz are quietly sublime. full review
10. The Adventures of Tintin 2011 The Adventures of Tintin can be a delight to look at, even if motion capture isn't your particular cup of animation tea. full review
11. Albert Nobbs 2011 Men in drag are usually played for laughs. Women passing as men? Expect a tragic twist. full review
12. The Artist 2011 The Artist is charming as all get-out, a delightful little movie about the movies. full review
13. Conan O'Brien Can't Stop 2011 In the aptly titled Conan O'Brien Can't Stop, we witness a performance addict with something to prove. full review
14. Footloose 2011 Give credit to Craig Brewer, the filmmaker behind the new Footloose, for realizing a new step was in order. full review
15. No Strings Attached 2011 You can see where No Strings Attached is heading before it gets there, but it's still a pleasant enough and surprisingly romantic ride. full review
16. Page One: Inside the New York Times 2011 If you're reading this article, chances are you have at least a passing interest in the role and value of newspapers. You like original reporting and writing enough to pay for it, online or on newsprint. And you'd probably enjoy Page One. full review
17. Young Adult 2011 The comedy of discomfort, so long defined by Curb Your Enthusiasm and its ilk, gets a new hue with Young Adult. full review
18. Bill Cunningham New York 2010 Equally at home chronicling the latest fashions on the street and the biggest celebrations among Manhattan's aristocratic swell set, he might as well be the city that forms his vast canvas. full review
19. Biutiful 2010 Boasts quality of acting and an overall intensity level that make up for a lot of narrative shortcomings. full review
20. Exit Through The Gift Shop 2010 Like Banksy's best street work, it pushes and prods our gullibility buttons and sends the mind swirling with questions of artistic authenticity and intent. full review
21. Howl 2010 It's about literature itself, the ways in which it works on the reader and the folly of applying some objective standard of decency and meaning to words on a page. full review
22. The King's Speech 2010 With its rich source material shaped from real-life events, The King's Speech doesn't need to overplay its hand -- especially not with a king waiting in the hole. full review
23. Marwencol 2010 This one's a keeper. full review
24. Nowhere Boy 2010 It relishes its myth-making enterprise without getting too cute about it. full review
25. Rabbit Hole 2010 It's not exactly full of holiday cheer. Then again, perseverance can inspire and enlighten any time of the year. full review
26. Great Directors 2009 This is a meat-and-potatoes espionage yarn that passes by quickly enough and meets the requirement of making us try to guess: Who is Salt? full review
27. Black Snake Moan 2007 Black Snake Moan is thick with Tennessee sweat and grit and the sound of insects. And it takes an overwrought, steamy path to what at least feels like a moral cautionary tale. full review
28. Freedom Writers 2007 It's not a great movie, but at-risk teens could do a lot worse. full review
29. Paranoid Park 2007 It's always exciting when a film that plays with cinematic language can squeeze in among the flotsam and jetsam of repetitive mediocrity. full review
30. An Inconvenient Truth 2006 An Inconvenient Truth, like its star, is quite persuasive in framing global warming as a crisis rapidly accelerating along with the planet's population. That means us. And that means the potential to take action. full review
31. Last Holiday 2006 The Queen is in fine form, but this particular throne is a bit rickety. full review
32. United 93 2006 United 93 is an exhausting but commanding work of art. full review
33. Bad News Bears 2005 A cynical money grab made to capitalize on as well as cannibalize an old title that should be spinning in its grave. full review
34. Brick 2005 Brick drops down like a frenzied teen fever dream of criminal patter and hairpin plot turns. A word to the wise: Pay attention, or you'll feel a lot less wise. full review
35. The Constant Gardener 2005 The Constant Gardener manages to fight through its own pretensions to deliver a tale you care about, featuring characters you care for. full review
36. Four Brothers 2005 The fatal flaw of John Singleton's latest and most mainstream offering is an off-the-rails narrative that adds up to one giant 'Huh?' full review
37. Land of the Dead 2005 With all due respect to 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead, nobody goes zombie quite like George A. Romero. full review
38. Neil Young: Heart of Gold 2005 Few artists are so adept at addressing the past and embracing the future all at once. And few recent films have so gracefully captured a musician at a specific point in his time. full review
39. This Film is Not Yet Rated 2005 This Film Is Not Yet Rated may be a mischievous, slanted and even angry piece of work, but it articulates a rage that filmmakers and film consumers have felt for years. full review
40. Hotel Rwanda 2004 A must-see for teens (and adults, for that matter) who know the Rwanda massacre as but a distant headline. full review
41. Inside Deep Throat 2004 A better film than its subject. full review
42. Me and You and Everyone We Know 2004 It's a sturdy piece of writing wed to an utterly unique visual style. full review
43. 21 Grams 2003 Boasts so many moments of sublime acting that it's hard to know where to start. full review
44. Swimming Pool 2003 Works as a character study and a quiet thriller. full review
45. Touching the Void 2003 A white-knuckle adventure that combines the suspense of great drama with the veracity of documentary. full review
46. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress 2002 A nifty little film about the powers of culture and the humanities. full review
47. Bowling for Columbine 2002 Even those who would like to dismiss the film outright should find much to mull and debate. full review
48. Punch-Drunk Love 2002 Even if he turns around and makes Mr. Deeds 2, [Sandler] has shown that his range goes beyond mindless fisticuffs and easy laughs. full review
49. The Trials of Henry Kissinger 2002 Scores by marshaling facts that speak for themselves. And they don't speak kindly. full review
50. Baran 2001 Matches neorealism's impact by showing the humanity of a war-torn land filled with people who just want to live their lives. full review
51. Pootie Tang 2001 The rule is pretty simple: The thinner the skit, the thinner the big-screen spin-off. full review
52. The Safety of Objects 2001 Happiness is a Magnolia Ice Storm of American Beauty. full review
53. Scary Movie 2 2001 When did comedy become so lazy? full review
54. Sexy Beast 2001 A stylish, assured battle of wills, and a masterpiece of reverse casting. full review
55. Tape 2001 It's for anyone who appreciates the bitter erosion of friendship and the one-upmanship and mind games bred by festering antagonism. full review
56. Gangster No. 1 2000 Director Paul McGuigan and cast infuse the proceedings with a strong dose of psychotic gusto and visual flare. full review
57. Scary Movie 2000 The Wayans have shown they have more talent than this. full review
58. Titan A.E. 2000 Eye candy has rarely been more tasty. full review
59. In Too Deep 1999 Some solid acting; a great-looking film. full review
60. Ride with the Devil 1999 The film is less than the sum of its parts. full review
61. Snow Falling on Cedars 1999 Snow Falling on Cedars is very rarely dull, very often poetic. full review
62. True Grit 1969 full review
63. Rosemary's Baby 1968 The devil may come in many forms, but few have been more entertaining. full review