For every Cell or Knowing, there have been dozens upon dozens of "great looking/effects/crappy story" bad reviews he's done. Selective memory is awesome!

The difference being is The Cell and Knowing were relatively unique -- I can't really say I remember a ton of movies where a psychiatrist gets drugged up and enters the brain of a serial killer or a movie where extra terrestrials come and act as angels at the eve of extinction so humanity can live on. I don't think Knowing really had great visuals, though Proyas did have a few really cool shots here and there.

He also put The Fall on his Top 20 of 2008 list (which fits well into the visually stunning with mediocre storytelling).

Personally, I think he was a bigger fan of Knowing because the ending is almost like a light-hearted prequel to Dark City. And the man loooved Dark City (as did I).

Cage, probably not, but I'm sure he has a stiff one for Proyas and I have no problem with that. Cage aside, Knowing was awesome. I haven't seen most of the others but I can say I wouldn't put it above Up or the Princess and the Frog which seem to be missing from his list.

"Knowing" instead of "District 9" (or almost any other film)... what a 'tard.

Nice... Haha.

I can't defend Knowing (nor would I really want to, though it was better on round 2), but the love for District 9 mystifies me ever more.

Meh, every person probably has a movie on their list that someone else hates or thinks is undeserving. Big whoop.

I don't like it when critics label certain foreign films as "Independent" though. It's mainstream in the native country but not mainstream when it plays abroad? That makes no sense. That's like saying if "Avatar" played in only one movie theater in Russia, then Avatar is an "Independent" film.

Indie just means not funded by a major studio... so yeah a lot of foreign flicks would qualify under that... except The White Ribbon.

It's a shame he couldn't make one definitive top 10 list, but I'm guessing people in the mainstream would complain that they never heard of some of the films.

I hated Knowing in the theater, but my viewing conditions weren't ideal -- blurry projection, people talking and heckling Cage throughout. His endless enthusiasm for it makes me want to give it another shot in the future.

At least, unlike EW's lists, Ebert's have actually provided me a few "Hey, I have to see that!" titles.

The star system is particularly worthless since the return -- it seems like 90+% of his reviews are 3 stars or higher -- but the guy's writing is as sharp and informative as I've always remembered it, and his passion is contagious.