Best M Report Articles of 2012

Oscar winner Jean Dujardin drove
a lot of traffic to The M Report

In December 2009, my employer WBOC-TV gave me my own blog on WBOC.com. I called it The M Report. The thrust of it is movie reviews and not just in the vein of recommending films or not due to pure entertainment value but also analyzing the mechanics, the business and artistry of cinema. It involves not only seeing a wide array of movies but also talking to filmmakers. Of the hundreds of articles I wrote last year, there are several that I would promote as the best.

I did promote most of my articles via Twitter and Facebook. Because I simulcast all my articles on Blogger.com, which is owned by Google, the Google search engine has also been helpful. The articles, which I feel are the best, aren't necessarily my most popular. There are about a half-dozen articles of 2012 that got thousands of hits but that aren't ones of which I'm proud.

Two of which are my love letter to Jean Dujardin, which I posted on Valentine's Day, and my movie review of The Vow, the hit romantic film starring Channing Tatum. According to Google analytics, Dujardin and Tatum have been high and consistent, search terms throughout 2012. Thanks to Dujardin in particular, The M Report got a lot of traffic. The obvious reason is due to the actor's sex appeal.

The best articles on The M Report are ones of which I feel like I really worked hard. They are articles that I feel like I bared a bit of my soul. They are articles that I feel like I got at something important or insightful. Often, they are articles where I feel like I did some fairly good reporting on whatever subject or else they're articles whose ramblings I could tolerate.

10. WHY I LOVE TLA - Most articles I write are text-based, but my most popular is the Jean Dujardin article, which is photo-based, as well as this one I did about TLA Video, a movie distributor and online DVD retailer.

9. SALTWATER - I interviewed Ronnie Kerr, an actor, screenwriter and producer who sent me an online screener of his latest film Saltwater. He gave me great information about the making of that movie. He was also just delightful to converse.

8. THE 84TH ACADEMY AWARDS VS. THE 2012 SPIRIT AWARDS - There was significant enough crossover this past year that I felt comparing the two award shows was appropriate. Some actors and filmmakers do move from one show to the other, but only in my head do the two shows really compare.

7. WHITNEY HOUSTON & THE 54TH GRAMMY AWARDS - The death of Whitney Houston shortly before the Grammys this past year was too much of a shock to be ignored. Normally, I do ignore the Grammys, but I couldn't do so this year.

6. LONDON 2012 OLYMPICS - Speaking of things that couldn't be ignored, the Summer Olympics, which wasn't handled all that well by NBC, did have some great moments captured and put on television, specifically during the opening and closing ceremonies. I even did a round-up of some of the athletes and events here.

5. THE DOGMAS OF JOSHUA LIM - I was so impressed with Joshua Lim as a filmmaker that I couldn't wait to write about him. His film The Seminarian represents a great artist and craftsman on the rise.

4. NICK FERRUCCI - Like with Joshua Lim, Nick Ferrucci is an actor who the publicist for Breaking Glass Pictures directed my way. I love this article about the up-and-coming grad student because it actually got me thinking about acting and what a screen performer does in ways I hadn't thought before.

3. THE MEN NEXT DOOR (SPECIAL FEATURES) - I wrote three articles about this independent gay film. This third one is the one I list because it explored an issue for actors that I think speaks to our current culture, particularly when it comes to sex and especially nudity as depicted in the mainstream media.

2. THE 44TH NAACP IMAGE AWARDS, MINUS TYLER PERRY - I occasionally like to complain as do most bloggers, but my big beef this year was aimed at the Image Awards.

1. YOUR FILM FESTIVAL VIA YOUTUBE - Aside from the London Olympics or the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival, this article is probably the one I spent the most time. I watched and reviewed 50 short films that were posted online as part of a joint-venture of YouTube and Ridley Scott.