Catching Up on CineStrays

If you didn’t notice, back somewhere in the summer I fell behind with the section on the site called “CineStrays.” It’s the section where I hoped to write caption reviews of the films that did not screen for film critics.

In case you didn’t know, not every movie is made available to critics prior to the release date. Sometimes studios hold movies back to keep negative reviews from showing up on the morning of opening day. Other times, the studio won’t screen a film because there is a limited release (and usually in this case San Antonio is one of the last major cities to open the film).

Anyway, no matter why I don’t get a chance to see certain movies, I do try to catch up with everything I miss the following week. But with a brand new batch of movies coming out that week, I, unfortunately, really don’t have time to write a full review of the things that went under the radar. “CineStrays” was supposed to remedy that and give me a place where I could write shorter reviews just to let visitors know what I thought about the movie.

Alas, I fell behind and could never catch up. Although I continued to screen these “cinestrays,” even writing caption reviews became difficult. Then, before I knew it, I was behind 30 films…then 40…and so on.

Well, enough excuses. Starting next year, I promise to keep up with the “CineStrays” section and make sure I post a short review of any film that I see that isn’t screened for me in advance.

Until then, let me go ahead and just list the CineStrays I missed this year and give you my grade for each. The higher on the list, the better…

The Kids Are All Right   A-
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo  A-
The Square     B+
Waiting for Superman    B+
City Island     B+
Vincere     B+
Catfish      B+
Get Low     B+
Exit Through the Gift Shop   B+
Greenberg     B+
Nowhere Boy     B+
Best Worst Movie    B+
Restrepo     B+
The Human Centipede   B+
Ramona and Beezus    B
Megamind     B 
Ondine      B
Pelada      B
The Last Exorcism    B
Monsters     B
Nanny McPhee Returns   B
Oceans      B
Unstoppable     B
Mid August Lunch    B
Cairo Time     B
Countdown to Zero    B
Soul Kitchen     B
A Surprise in Texas    B
Devil      B-
Date Night     B-
Harry Brown     C+
Secretariat     C+
Buried      C+
The Good, the Bad and the Weird  C+
It’s Kind of a Funny Story   C+
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps  C
Burlesque     C
Piranha 3-D     C
Diary of a Wimpy Kid   C
The Virginity Hit    C
Cool It      C
Walt & El Grupo    C
Knight and Day    C-
The Next Three Days    C-
Jack Goes Boating    C-
A-Team     C-
The Losers     C-
South of the Border    C-
La Mission     C-
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest C-
Love and Other Drugs    C-
Just Wright     C-
Charlie St. Cloud    C-
For Colored Girls    C-
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice   D+
Predators     D
Resident Evil: Afterlife   D
A Nightmare on Elm Street   D
You Again     D
The Warrior’s Way    D
The Expendables    D
Alpha and Omega    D
Barry Munday     D
Marmaduke      D
Killers      D
Case 39     D-
My Soul to Take    D-
Furry Vengence    D-
Skyline     D-
Legendary     D-
Saw 3D     D-
The Bounty Hunter    D-
Jonah Hex     D-
Vampires Suck    F