So last year, by my count, I saw 128 movies counting only those movies I saw from start to finish in their entirety. That's actually less than normal but not too bad as far as totals go, I guess. Anyway, here are some of the best.
Let's start with the obvious and say The Dark Knight. Believe the hype. It really was as good as people say and Heath Ledger was flat out brilliant in it. There was nothing bad about it. Writing, directing, acting, editing, music, it's the total package. They even replaced the bad actress from the first one with an actual actress and filled out the only soft spot from the first one. Whether you like comics or not, whether you like Batman or not, you will like this movie.
Next up is Tropic Thunder. Not only is it hysterical, it skewers every single level of the Hollywood machine from directors, actors, agents, producers, FX guys, writers, you name it. Think about it like this, this movie is so funny it made people laugh at a white man in blackface.
Doubt is a powerful story with wonderful acting though I include the disclaimer that I am a huge Philip Seymour Hoffman fan.
Gran Torino is Eastwood displaying his prodigious acting talent. He got some flack for playing a politically incorrect character but I applaud his realistic effort and love it top to bottom.
In Bruges is a movie everyone should see but very few have. Hopefully all the awards it was nominated for will cause more people to seek it out. I love black comedy and this one is black as pitch with sharp writing and acting. Go rent it. Now.
George Romero got back on track after the deeply disappointing Land of the Dead with Diary of the Dead. Yes it's a zombie movie but unlike the crappy ones, it's not about zombies. This entry is about the modern person's inability to disconnect from the constant stream of INPUT. Internet, cell phones, 24 hour cable news, the neverending slam of information that people just can turn away from. Hot damn it's good. Welcome back George.
It wasn't a great year for horror but there was the aforementioned Diary of the Dead, Cloverfield, The Orphanage, Let the Right One In and REC (remade in the U.S. as the vastly inferior Quarantine). On the B-horror front there was Otis and Zombies! Zombies! Zombies! which hit the B bone just the way you like it.
It was a decnt year for the R rated comedy, which I appreciate. I'm a grown person and I like grown person comedies. Pay attention Hollywood. Tropic Thunder and In Bruges were joined by Pineapple Express, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Zach and Miri Make a Porno. Five isn't a huge number but how often do five good R comedies drop in one year?
It also wasn't a great year for indies as far as I'm concerned. Previous years have been much better but this year did have Son of Rambow, Smart People, Be Kind Rewind and my favorite Teeth. Teeth makes female empowerment so empowered it's downright frightening. See it. Soon.
Other notables include Burn After Reading (another solid entry in the Coen brothers army of fine films), Iron Man (which was Downey Jr's big comeback even though he's been in some damn fine movies in the last three or four years), Hellboy II (visually stunning if nothing else), Run Fatboy Run and The Bank Job which I didn't think I would like but I did.
I haven't seen Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler, Revolutionary Road or The Curious Case of Benjamin Button yet (soon though) but I hear very good things about them so they probably deserve a spot on your To View list.
And while Heath Ledger got all the press we should all remember that we lost Paul Newman last year. One of the last remaining titans has fallen. They don't make them like him anymore and he will be sorely missed. We also lost Chuck Heston, Roy Scheider, Isaac Hayes, Sydney Pollack, Cyd Charisse and Eartha Kitt along with many others I forget off the top of my head. Rest in peace, all.
4 comments:
:\ where'd my comment go?
To recap:
Nice list, mate. I'm glad to see someone else not only watched but really enjoyed In Bruges. Surprised there's no mention of WALL·E, though... marvelous work from Pixar, that.
I haven't done my usual list compiling this year, aside from the fact that I did it last year and never got around to posting it on here, No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood only came out at the start of 2008 around here so they're my picks ahead of the aforementioned, along with Burn After Reading.
Did "Smart People" earn it's shout out in your list, or is that a reflection of how bare the Indie landscape was this year? Because I heard really average things about that... but then I didn't hear as much about Be Kind Rewind as I expected and I thoroughly enjoyed that.
Also, I saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button just last week. I gave it 3/5 stars. My Flixster review follows:
I was quite excited about this film once Fincher was attached to direct, not knowing anything about the source material or the fact that it was adapted for screen by Eric Roth, who did the same for Forrest Gump. While Fincher's usual visual flair and attention to detail are stunning, the story itself can't break free of the Forrest Gump mold, unless it's to crib from Big Fish or Titanic.
Unfortunately it never quite resonates with the emotional depth of the former and inexplicably interrupts any interesting moments with flash-forwards like the latter. I admire the ambition and technical work behind it, but it's too ambitious for the story it wants to tell, and falls short of the mark. Interesting to watch, but hard to love.
I look forward to these all year. *R-U-N-N-O-F-Ts to netflix*
Hoffman lover. You are sick and not even in a good way.
My mother tells me that Benjamin Button is very good, and she is developing a good taste in films (thanks to me). I remain skeptical, but it seems to have a lot of good things going for it. Cate Blanchett who is yay. Brad Pitt who, despite being a pretty boy, can act. And the same director that did Se7en and Fight Club.
I really need to buy Dark Knight, just to double check that Ledgers performance is as mind-numbingly awesome as I remember it being. Like basking in the sun.
Post a Comment