Top 10 Favorite Films Of 2010 Thus Far.

I've been bouncing all around trying to figure out what to do for my Top List today. I even had a dream about it. I think I was talking to Mad Hatter of The Dark of the Matinee (probably because I had just listened to his newest episode of The MatineeCast... double plug), and something he said gave me an idea for a Top 5. However, it dealt with actresses, and the last couple Top Lists I've done have dealt with actors and actresses. So I think I'm just gonna go with my original idea.

Summer is pretty much over, and I'll be starting back to teaching next week (I mean, I'm back to doing prep stuff now, but actual teaching begins next week). So I'm gonna briefly discuss what is currently my Top 10 of the year thus far. I chose Top 10 instead of Top 5 mostly because, if you're a regular reader of my blog, my Top 5 is probably horribly predictable. So here are my Top 10 Favorite Films of 2010 Thus Far. And keep in mind, these are only including films I've actually seen (I haven't seen Winter's Bone, Toy Story 3, Get Him To The Greek, Get Low, The Expendables... or even Hot Tub Time Machine). And, again, these are my favorites, not necessarily what I think are the best (except for maybe the Top 3-5. Definitely the Top 3).

Top 10 Favorite Films of 2010 Thus Far

10. The Crazies

I have a pretty crazy theater story to go along with the first viewing of this movie. If you haven't read my review (or listened to the LAMBcast episode), let's just say I didn't really get to see the whole movie until it came out on DVD. It's not necessarily a scary movie, but it's pretty intense. And Timothy Olyphant does a pretty good job in it, as well.

9. Predators

Saw this one twice in theater. I picked up on more silliness the second time through, but it's still a fun ride regardless. Yeah, it has issues, but it also has a samurai battle against an alien monster. What else could you ask for?

8. Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

This movie completely boggled my mind. It even inspired a rather lengthy article where I questioned what makes a good film adaptation. This movie is by every definition a terrible adaptation. It nearly destroys the source material. However, it was also pretty damn entertaining and managed to make a good spin on the source material (and in some ways improve it). It has a painful third act (at least for a mythology lover), but the rest of it was really good.

7. Dinner for Schmucks

Not everyone shares my opinion on this one. This movie split people down the middle. There were those that either thought it was just OK, or there were those (like myself) who thought it was hilarious. I suppose that's really all I have to say on it.

6. From Paris With Love

It has an awfully slow first 15 or so minutes before Travolta shows up, but once he does, the movie shifts gears and becomes a non-stop thrill ride with tons of laughs (mostly thanks to Travolta). And it's produced by Luc Besson, and I have a soft spot for almost anything that man touches.

5. The Karate Kid

I didn't expect to like this movie as much as I did. Jaden and Jackie both do really well in their respective roles. The action was good, the comedy was good, and the chemistry between those main two guys was great.

4. Kick-Ass

A movie that unfortunately did not get a lot of theater love. But it has some great character with Chloe Moretz's Hit-Girl being at the forefront. And, of course, it has Nic Cage being crazy, but also mixing in a bit of Adam West and William Shatner. Who can't love that threesome combo?

3. How To Train Your Dragon

This was totally my favorite of the year until the next two came along. Like Kung Fu Panda, I don't think I was expecting much going in, and then I was completely blown away... except I loved this one about five times more than Panda. What a wonderful animated film, and I'm really hoping it wins best animated film next year (at least at this point). Though it does have stiff competition with Toy Story 3, which will almost certainly take the Oscar. Oh well.

2. Inception

Really, there's nothing to say that hasn't already been said. Three times.

1. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

This movie is the very definition of "Nerdgasm." I was psyched for it from the first trailer, and then I ended up seeing it twice (so far) in theater. I absolutely adore every aspect of this movie, and it's gonna take a lot for this to leave my number 1 spot.


Note: You know, in making this list... I realized just how crappy of a year we've really had. I struggled to find 10 movies I even really liked, much less loved. 5 was easy, but all 10 was rough. There's been some real bad-to-mediocre movies this year... Granted, had I seen some of those other films I've mentioned, this might have been easier.

Short Review: How To Be A Serial Killer.

Premise: A man balances his relationship with his girlfriend while taking a video store clerk in as his protege in the fine art of serial killing.

Starring: Dameon Clarke, Matthew Gray Gubler, Laura Regan, and George Wyner.

My Reaction: This is a very dark comedy, but a comedy nonetheless. It's also in a bit of a mockumentary-type style (similar to The Office). There are some similarities with Dexter, I suppose, but Dexter's more serious in tone. I wouldn't necessarily say it's incredibly memorable considering I watched it last week and I can hardly remember a thing about it. That being said, I was rather entertained while watching it. There were three main segments of the film. There was George Wyner as a psychiatrist just talking about the nature of killers. There was Demeon Clarke as the main serial killer character talking on a big stage about the major rules and whatnot to follow to be a successful serial killer. And then there are the segments with him and Matthew Gray Gubler, who plays the protege. The highlight of the movie is definitely Matthew Gray Gubler, who you might also recognize from (500) Days of Summer. It also became easy to figure out, as you started to catch on that whenever Dameon Clarke or George Wyner would talk about something, the next "real life" segment would mirror whatever was just said. Overall, it's an entertaining movie, and it's a decent way to spend an hour and a half. It's just not super fantastic or anything.


I Am McLovin!

Random Ramblings of a Demented DoorVlog #2.

Well, it's here! Episode 2 of the Vlog. As some of you know, I promised this week's episode to focus more on Jason Soto. Explanation is in the video. Anyway, this 5-minute thing can be killer sometimes. I had to cut out quite a bit this week.

There are three segments in this episode. The first is Jason-centric, and I had to cut out maybe 30 seconds of it.

The second segment is a bit of a skit--an idea that I've had for a few weeks now that I thought I'd incorporate. Unfortunately, this got the biggest cut. There's about 3-4 minutes cut out of this segment, and it's probably noticeable. And if you follow my Facebook page for this site, the *expletive deleted* comment last week dealt with this particular segment. It's a lot more difficult than it appears. The one angle alone is a mix of about 3 different shots... though that wasn't really the hard part.

The third segment is Jason-centric again, and it's probably one I'll continue to incorporate into later episodes (I don't know about all of them being Jason-centric, but I mean the idea itself). But I cut about MAYBE 30 seconds from this one. There's a noticeable cut near the end.

Anyway, hope y'all enjoy it. Leave me some comments down below! Here y'all go:

R2D2... The One With A New Weekly Schedule.

Alright... so the other day, I asked people for suggestions on a weekly schedule for the blog. Thanks to Jason, Rachel, and Dylan, I got some great comments.

Using their suggestions, I've come up with a new weekly schedule to begin implementation tomorrow. So without further ado, here it is:

Sunday: Sunday Vlog

New episodes of Random Ramblings of a Demented DoorVlog will premier every Sunday. I've already finished episode 2, so you'll definitely be getting the next one tomorrow.

Monday: Movie Monday

Taking Dylan's idea of just taking all my non-theatrical movie reviews and tossing them into a Netflix Review thing... well, that's what I'm doing here. Every Monday, I'll review a movie (or two, if they can fit under a 2 In 1) that I've seen via Netflix.

Tuesday: Top Tuesday

Tuesdays will be my Top 5 or 10 lists. Everyone loves a Top list, right?

Wednesday: Review Wednesday

This can be anything... another Netflix review, TV Review, Book Review, etc.... it's not as limiting as my Monday reviews, as those are specifically movies and specifically Netflix.

Thursday: Thursday Thoughts...

Thursdays, you'll get an article. These can be anything like my Thoughts On..., Five Great Things About..., Why Haven't They Made This Yet?, or any regular kind of article like my James Cameron article or my article on adaptations.

Friday: Friday Free

I wanted at least one day off from blogging, and the name suited Friday the best. This is not to say you won't get anything on Fridays. You may get a theatrical review for all I know. But I'm just saying you shouldn't always expect something on a Friday.

Saturday: Saturday Surprise!

This can be anything. It can be a theatrical review, a Netflix review, another random kind of review, an extra article, or just boring site updates like this... the options are endless! OK, maybe not endless, but you'll never know what to expect come Saturday!

And that's everything. That's my new weekly schedule, and I hope I'm able to stick to it as the new school year starts up and teaching bogs me down.

SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD.

This was one of the greatest, nerdiest, most stylish movies I've ever seen, and I have no qualms whatsoever about declaring it pretty much my new favorite movie. Scott Pilgrim is a bassist in a band with Kim (Alison Pill), Stephen (Mark Webber), and Young Neil (Johnny Simmons). He has a promiscuous gay roommate named Wallace (Kieran Culkin), who is constantly texting Scott's personal issues to Scott's sister, Stacey (Anna Kendrick). And he's dating a 17-year-old Chinese, catholic schoolgirl named Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). But then he meets Romona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Just knowing she's the girl of his dreams (literally), he'll do anything to be with her. But once he's with her, he realizes he has to fight the League of Evil Exes, Romona's seven exes that pretty much all have superpowers. These include Matthew Patel (Satya Bhaba), Lucas Lee (Chris Evans), Todd Ingram (Brandon Routh), Roxy Richter (Mae Whitman), the Katayanagi Twins (Keita and Shota Saito), and Ghideon (Jason Schwartzman). The movie also co-stars Aubrey Plaza as a girl who hates Scott and appears to work everywhere.

OK, so I used to be a pretty big gamer. I still game from time to time, but nowhere near as often as I used to. In other words, I'm a total nerd. But I'm sure you could have figured that out otherwise. Anyway, after seeing the first trailer for this movie, I had what one might call a "nerdgasm." I immediately hoped and prayed that this movie would be good and that it would basically end up becoming my favorite movie, which it had a good chance considering my previous favorite movie was director Edgar Wright's comedy classic, Shaun of the Dead. This movie completely reached my insanely high expectations, and then some.

The editing for this movie is insane. It gives it a non-stop flow kinda feel. There's never a slow or dull moment. And that's not to say it's because it's non-stop action. It isn't. In fact, the evil exes don't even show up for maybe 20-30 minutes into the movie. There's a lot of setup for the characters and their friendships. And then it builds into the relationship with Romona, letting them get to know each other just briefly before getting into the exes. But it doesn't stop there. Scott continues to build his relationship with Romona even after craziness ensues.

Of course, the greatest part of the movie (besides the wacky editing) is all the video game imagery. If you loathe the very idea of video games, stay away from this movie. They say Crank was supposed to be a live action video game. Well, not compared to Scott Pilgrim, it isn't. But it doesn't stop there. Scott Pilgrim is like a 20 video games wrapped up in a comic book and saturated in cleverness, style, and heart.

And it isn't purely style versus substance. It actually has both. There is character growth. There are lessons to be learned. But it just looks so damn cool while it's happening. I can't even begin to describe it. So let's get into the action...

The action was very differentiated. It's not all Scott fist-fighting people. Of course, that's there, but that's not all there is. And I really don't want to say much more than that in order to avoid spoiling it. What I do want to mention, however, is how the movie had the vast opportunity to waste potential, but how it didn't. For instance, this kind of movie--I suppose kind of a "Reverse-Revenge" film--has this big build up to a final fight. Take Kill Bill for example. The Bride's whole purpose is the destroy all those who destroyed her, and then go after the boss: Bill. You have this awesome fist-fight at the beginning and an epic Crazy 88's battle at the end of Volume 1. Then you look at Volume 2. The fights are a lot different. They're less epic. And the Bill fight is over in about 10 seconds. It's this major build up and then... anticlimactic. Scott Pilgrim doesn't do this. Every battle is like a Crazy 88 battle (minus the blood), in that they're grand-in-scale, fun, clever, and over-the-top (different from grand-in-scale). But, as I said before, they're all different enough so that you don't get bored with the same thing over and over again. I'm not even sure I can choose a favorite. It'd probably be a tie between Roxy and Ghideon.

However, I will say this: I'm sure this movie is not for everyone. There's probably a good chunk of the population that won't "get" it. And I don't mean this in the way that snooty film fans say people just don't "get" Wes Anderson, or people just don't "get" what Robert Altman was trying to do with Gosford Park. This is a nerd's movie through and through. If you don't have background knowledge in video games or comic books (in general), the humor is gonna go right past you. Now, not all the jokes are game/comic-related. But they're at the heart of the movie, and the whole look and feel of it is very centric to them. You'll probably sit there going "what the hell am I watching? This is dumb." But if you're a nerd, like me, this movie is like an Ode to your whole culture. Granted, I'm not saying it's one or the other, either. You don't have to be a gamer or a nerd to like this movie. I just mean that you'll "get" it more if you are.

All that being said, is it a perfect movie? No movie is. But it's one of the most entertaining bleeping movies I've ever seen. I don't think the smile ever left my face throughout the entire run-time. There was even a moment near the end where a guy in front of me took out his cell to text, and I didn't even care, because the movie had me in such an awesome mood. So after all the stylishness, the fun editing, the gaming humor (and other humor), the great action, and--believe it or not--Michael Cera actually changing it up a bit, I walked out of this movie having had a blast. Currently my favorite movie of the year, and now one of my favorite movies ever.


Royale With Cheese

Podcast: The Demented Encyclopedia #17 - The One Where Han Solo Is Caramelized.

NOTE: If you have tried downloading previous episode from iTunes, but it says the bandwidth has been exceeded, I apologize. The new format for posting podcasts eats up bandwidth like a mofo. I've just got it reset, so now you may try again. Anyway, I'm posting it up in the older format. I beg you that if you post this up on your own blog or wherever, please use the old setting, as well.

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Well, it's our final episode. I know it's late, but (as I said) there were some pod-o-matic issues. Anyway, on with the show. Before the main topic, we give some plugs/Recommend A...'s. For our farewell, we give our Top 5 favorite cliffhanger endings. While most are from movies, some are from television shows, as well. Beware, this episode is very spoiler heavy. And we also go into more movies than just our Top 5 lists, so if you're worried about having any particular movies spoiled, take a gander at the list of movies/shows we discuss (this is in alphabetical, not chronological):

28 Weeks Later...
Back to the Future
Back to the Future Part II
Blade Runner
Chronicles of Riddick
CSI: Las Vegas
CSI: Miami
Evil Dead
Evil Dead 2
Final Destination
Final Destination 2
Hills Have Eyes, The (Remake)
Inception
Italian Job, The (Original)
Kill Bill Vol. 1
Mortal Kombat
Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
Saw
Saw 3
Saw 6
Saw 7 (Leaked Comic-Con info for the beginning of the movie)
Silent Hill
Sopranos, The
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Street Fighter
Super Mario Bros.
Thelma and Louise
Thing, The
Troll 2
Twin Peaks

After our lengthy discussion on cliffhangers, we mosey on into a Film vs. Film. Travis defends Saw 3 while I defend Saw 6. And once we struggle hating on a series we both enjoy, we end the show with a double dose of the Mono-Dia-logues of the Week. That's right, both of us do 2.

And that'll about do it!

Thanks goes out to Kevin MacLeod's Imcompetech Website for the music. As always, you can use the player above to listen to the podcast, or you can search iTunes, where we are also available for download. The earlier episodes are being removed from the player for space, but you can still always download them on iTunes.

Finally, thanks to everybody who has been a fan and supported the show. It's been a good run!

R2D2... The One Where I Ask For Suggestions.

My posting around here has been relatively uneven as of late. It seems I've gotten to a point where I only post maybe once or twice a week. And this has been while I'm not working.

However, the school year is starting back up and teaching is knocking at the door. I'm afraid that I'll get lazier and post even fewer things. I think it might help if I had more of a daily routine. So what I'm gonna do here is list a bunch of things and ask you what you'd like to see more of around here. I'm not gonna bother listing the "Vlog," because that's already going into the schedule, and I'm only doing one of those a week. So here we go...

- Theatrical Reviews: Of course, this would make me have to go to the theater more often than I already am. Sometimes I skip a week or two, depending.

- New-to-DVD Reviews: Assuming I missed it in theater, I'll catch it here.

- Older Movie Reviews: By older, I mean older than the current time... so despite the implications of the following statement based on the fact it's when I grew up: 90s movies and older.

- Classic Movie Reviews: This would force me to watch at least one classic movie a week. Though at least it would culture me more.

- Top 5/10 lists: I've been doing these a bit frequently lately, it seems. And I have another one in the queue, waiting to be finished. But do you want more?

- Articles: Just my thoughts on certain subjects. If you look in "The Closet" section of this blog, at least half the stuff in there would qualify under this.

- TV Reviews: I actually watch more TV than I review. I don't mean going back to Idol Chatter or anything like that. Rather, just regular reviews of TV show seasons as I've done in the past.

- Link Love: Do you want me to share what I've found on other blogs that I've enjoyed? I know quite a few other blogs I frequent have started doing this, as well.

- Open to suggestions: Really... if you have an idea of something you'd like to see that I didn't list here, tell me in the comments!

Anyway, I've kinda tried this in the past (a long time ago), and that faded away. But I'm hoping to change that a bit. I've also asked this kinda thing in the past, and didn't get too large of a response. Come on guys, I know I have at least 18 followers (according to blogger), so leave me some comments! What do you wanna see more of around here?

Random Ramblings of a Demented DoorVlog.

So I've been planning this for a while. This is a video blog (AKA Vlog) about just the randomness in my life. I'll discuss regular things about me or possibly give super short reviews of movies and TV shows I've seen recently. I want to keep each video 5 minutes or less for time sake, so it's a pretty quick watch.

Like the title, it is random ramblings, so things cut around and back and forth. Some "segments" are returned to, some are just one-shot things. This is mostly an introductory video, though. I promise that future editions will be more specific per segment (like mentioning specific articles from a blog instead of just the blogs themselves). Like I said, this one is mostly an overview kinda thing.

So yeah, tell me if you like it. What do you think? Is this a good idea? Are you even going to bother watching these? Leave your comments below... I always appreciate the feedback. And other suggestions on what you'd like to see more or less of (or something else entirely) are great, too.

Note: I actually cut a LOT out of this video. I had other random side-moments, longer explanations to things, and even a couple other movie reviews. I probably cut 2-3 minutes worth of stuff (minimum) off this video. So... yeah.

Anywho, here you go (and yes... I'm aware of the typo at the very beginning... that'll be fixed in the future):



This week's music (I know, it was hardly loud enough to hear) is courtesy of Norwegian Recycling, a Mash-Up Artist. The song is called "Hey Oh Tonight."

Top 5 Up-And-Coming Young Actors.

We know Hollywood is essentially a man's world. Even in the acting world, males dominate the scene. Sure, there are the female superstars, but it typically takes longer for them to break out than perhaps a male. For a guy, it might take a few minor movies and one big movie and they're a major star (yes, there are females that have pulled this off, but it's rarer). Look at my female list from yesterday: their film resumes were in the mid-to-high teens with a mix of minor and major films, but they're still not all that big of names. Of course, there are rare reverse instances (Chloe Moretz becoming more popular than Aaron Johnson). It makes you wonder, though, due to the sexualized nature of the entertainment business why this is... but that's another article.

My point here is that it's tougher to find a male up-and-comer, because most of them are already big, household names... and I don't consider them 'up-and-comers' if they've already arrived. Taylor Lautner? Daniel Radcliffe? Michael Cera? And even, to a lesser degree, Jesse Eisenberg, Clark Duke, and (regardless of him being too old for this list, but just to make a point) Zach Galifianakis AKA "The dude from The Hangover"? They all essentially had one major film and became instant superstars.

So my list here might have some names of actors who have been in big-name movies, but they aren't quite major house-hold names (sorry Jo-Go... I don't think you can make my list anymore).

Top 5 Up-And-Coming Young Actors.

5. Kyle Gallner
Current Age: 23
# of Movies: 16
Probably Recognized From: A Nightmare on Elm Street (remake), The Haunting in Connecticut
Details: He's kind of a "that guy" for young actors. Every time I see him in something, I'm like "Oh, I recognize him." His acting isn't bad, but like the following young actor, he has yet to really shine in anything. Though he was pretty good in Haunting, despite the movie only being OK at best.

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4. Logan Lerman
Current Age: 18
# of Movies: 13
Probably Recognized From: Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief, 3:10 to Yuma
Details: Logan became a bigger name after Percy Jackson, even to the point he had been rumored to take over as Peter Parker for the Spider-Man reboot. As Percy Jackson, he showed some comedic timing, action skills, and a whole lot of "WTF is going on?" He showed similar traits in the incredibly disappointing Gamer. In 3:10 to Yuma, however, he was more hard-headed and much more dramatic. He's been in other recognizable films, but nothing really in a major role.

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3. Jimmy Bennett
Current Age: 14
# of Movies: 20
Probably Recognized From: Hostage, Star Trek, Orphan
Details: I first saw this kid in the Bruce Willis/Ben Foster thriller, Hostage. He did great as the crafty but scared little boy. But he's gotten to be tougher and tougher the more movies he's in. In Orphan, he's the upset older brother. And in Star Trek, for instance, he plays young James Kirk. But one movie that's like "Ho-ly Crap" is one of his earlier films, The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things. In this (really, really messed up) movie, he plays the son of a drug-addicted whore who uses him and is, well, not a good mother. That is a very difficult movie to watch--probably one of the most depressing I've seen (when Marilyn Manson plays one of the more likable characters, and he's still a total perverted sleazeball on screen for maybe 5 minutes, you know what's up). But Jimmy Bennett does amazingly well in it.

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2. Aaron Johnson
Current Age: 20
# of Movies: 13
Probably Recognized From: Kick-Ass, The Illusionist, Shanghai Knights
Details: This guy has actually surprised me. I didn't know he was in those latter two movies before looking him up. He plays the young Edward Norton in The Illusionist, and the young Charlie Chaplin in Jackie Chan/Owen Wilson's Shanghai Knights. But, of course, his biggest claim to fame was the recent Kick-Ass. As I stated earlier, Chloe Moretz gained more fame through that movie than Aaron Johnson, but with the sequel in pre-production, I'm sure he'll garner more fame soon. And to top it off, his acting skills aren't too shabby (and he looks almost nothing like he did in Kick-Ass, strangely).

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1. Anton Yelchin
Current Age: 21
# of Movies: 19
Probably Recognized From: Star Trek, Terminator Salvation, Charlie Bartlett, Alpha Dog
Details: Anton Yelchin is an anomaly. He's starred or co-starred in quite a few major Hollywood films, yet you go to your average moviegoer and say "Anton Yelchin," you'll probably get a "who?" But then you say something like "the kid from Charlie Bartlett," and you'll receive a fairly even mix of "Never seen it" and "Oh, I love that movie!" I think his first semi-big role was in Morgan Freeman's Along Came a Spider when he was about 12. But I don't think I first recognized him until the Bruce Willis/Ben Foster (huh...) drama Alpha Dog (OK, so it's more Emile Hirsche/Ben Foster, but I just felt like going the other way). He was excellent in that rather depressing film, and his performance at the end of that movie is just heartbreaking. But after that movie, he popped up quite a bit, from a great quirky comedy (Charlie Bartlett) to two major Blockbusters (Star Trek and Terminator Salvation). While Salvation was decent at best, Yelchin was easily the best part about it as a young Kyle Reese. Sure, his voice might grate on some... but his movies are worth sitting through. And I think out of all the up-and-comers, he's probably the one who will do the best (he already has, really... but people just can't latch on to that name).

(P.S. I'd love to add Joel Moore to this list, but he's unfortunately too old for it... oh well...)

Top 5 Up-And-Coming Young Actresses.

I've had this post idea for a while, and I think I finally have enough thoughts to get it down.

In this day and age, you have a lot of the mediocre in the younger world of actresses (Miley Cyrus, Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, etc... can you see the pattern there?). But there is also a lot of amazing talent out there as well. Some names are bigger than others, but you also have your non-household names.

The five actresses I detail in this post are, for the most part, relatively young. You might have only seen one or two of their films. You might have seen more and just not realized it. But in their repertoire, they expose themselves as great up-and-comers. For each actress, I'll state their current age (even if their birthday is next month, I'll state what it is right now); the number of movies they've been in (including those in post-production, but not including TV work); where you might recognize them; and further details/my thoughts. So without further ado, I will now detail my top 5 favorite up-and-coming young actresses.

Top 5 Up-And-Coming Young Actresses

5. AnnaSophia Robb
Current Age: 16
# of Movies: 11
Probably Recognized From: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Bridge to Terabithia
Details: She's probably the oldest on my list. AnnaSophia Robb has a tendency to be in not-so-good movies, with I believe Bridge to Terabithia being a prime exception. But even in bad movies, she's always one of the biggest highlights. Most notably, she probably did the best job in the abysmally disappointing film Jumper, playing a younger version of Rachel Bilson. I also personally believe she should have played Annabeth in the movie adaptation of Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief, as every description of that character in the book pointed to AnnaSophia.

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4. Saoirse Ronan
Current Age: 16
# of Movies: 8
Probably Recognized From: Atonement, The Lovely Bones, City of Ember
Details: She's probably (arguably) the biggest name on my list (at least critically). Atonement, as a film, left me conflicted, but there were two things I loved about it: the music and Saoirse Ronan. I knew from the second the film ended that this girl was going to be something special. Hers was always my favorite portrayal of that character. I don't remember much about City of Ember, meaning it left me pretty underwhelmed. But I do remember I enjoyed her character more than anything else in the movie. She's an excellent young actress, proving she can do both adult drama and children's fantasy.

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3. Jodelle Ferland
Current Age: 15
# of Movies: 16
Probably Recognized From: Silent Hill
Details: Jodelle Ferland is kinda like my female Ben Foster. Not really a household name (though Ben is getting there), but I find myself excited when I realize she's in a movie. Strangely, she's in quite a bit of horror. I guess she does the creepy little girl thing well, regardless of her doing the 'creepy little girl' or not. A big thing she brings with her, though, is innocence. She has an amazing innocent and likable quality to her (which I suppose is why they chose her for the mostly pointless character of Bree in the recent Eclipse). She's quite excellent in Silent Hill. But she's also done a crazy amount of TV. For instance, she was in a mini-series from a while back called Kingdom Hospital. She was also in the pilot episode of the criminally underrated and prematurely canceled Dead Like Me (talk about a tear-jerker episode). But I can totally see this girl hopping from the horror-train to more dramatic roles. There's no doubt in my mind she'll end up with more recognition in the future. It might take a while, but it'll happen.

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2. Elle Fanning
Current Age: 12
# of Movies: 19
Probably Recognized From: Phoebe in Wonderland, Benjamin Button
Details: Simultaneously the youngest on my list and owner of the largest number of movies (though if you count television, Ms. Ferland and the following choice might rival her). Of course I know her as the younger sister of Dakota. But part of me wonders if Elle is even better than her sister. She didn't really show up on my radar as somebody to watch until I somewhat recently saw Phoebe in Wonderland. That is an amazing film, and her acting in it is phenomenal. Usually, her role is a young sibling or a younger version of a main character. But she's almost always not the focal point of the film (if a younger version, for instance, that version might not be shown for long). Though after her starring role in Phoebe, I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for this one.

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1. Chloe Moretz
Current Age: 13
# of Movies: 17
Probably Recognized From: Kick-Ass, Let Me In (trailers, at this point)
Details: No surprise here. Chloe, of course, hit it big as Hit-Girl in Kick-Ass. But she already had quite a resume under her belt before that point. And it's strange looking at it, as it makes me go "She was in that?" For instance, I don't remember her in (500) Days of Summer, nor do I remember her in the Amityville Horror remake from a few years back. But she makes my number 1 spot because she's basically jumped up in popularity quite a bit since her Hit-Girl performance, and I think I can safely assume she's gonna become a 'go-to' child actress for a lot of things here soon.

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Runner-Up: Isabelle Fuhrman
Current Age: 13
# of Movies: 5
Probably Recognized From: Orphan
Detail: Have you seen Orphan? I don't blame you if you haven't. I had an aversion to it myself, despite my love of horror (crappy or otherwise). It's not the best horror film in the world, but holy crap is Isabelle Fuhrman's perfomance great. Kind of a spoiler here... but she was essentially an 11-year-old American girl playing a 30-something-year-old European woman pretending to be a 9-year-old Russian girl. And she pulls it off. It's really an outstanding performance on this little girl's part, and I think most would agree--whether you liked the movie or not.


(P.S. Keep an eye out for a potential Top 5 Up-And-Coming Young Actors.)