8. Pacific Rim
As a once-fan of LEGO Bionicles, it is awesome to see robots beating the snot out of monsters. The story is handled simply, and the action is wonderfully exciting. Director Guillermo Del Toro handles giant robots and monsters with unbelievable grace. The film is fluid, dynamic, and even the cheesy ‘last hurrah’ speech by Idris Elba is somewhat rousing. It’s a pleasant surprise also to see the cast being lead by no major stars, a testament that blockbusters can be made with a simple idea and good execution.
7. Side Effects
The first of two Soderbergh films on here, this one is a great medical drama that succeeds in dropping a twist a minute near the end. The cast here is top-notch. It’s wonderful to see the rising careers of Rooney Mara and Channing Tatum enter dramatic territory that is so sinister and un-mainstream, and it’s a nice welcome for Catherine Zeta-Jones as an actress. Jude Law, however, steals nearly every scene he’s in, as a man obsessed with solving the film’s multi-layered problem.