the BEST of 2009 in Movies (part 2)

And here at last, the list of lists. Well, maybe not THE list but....if my opinion means much, this is how it would look...

#10 – 9

9 is a small little movie produced by Tim Burton, who is no stranger to bringing audiences to the dark world of computer animation (i.e. Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride). 9 is a dark pg13 animated flick that on the surface sounds awfully familiar by its premise (a post apocalyptic earth after machines have destroyed all of humanity), however is quite inspiring and “feel-good” through its execution and story. We see this dark, dreadful Earth through the eyes of a tiny rag doll called 9, who is brought to life at the very opening of the film. Wondering around, he slowly finds other rag dolls similar to him between 1 and 8 and realize they are all that’s left of humanity after the destruction by the machines. The rest will all just sound superficial but Burton and his new found director take this very simple story and find a way to delve into our emotions and hearts with its message of saving humanity, even if it’s through a very “creative” and “different” approach.

#9 - MOON

Moon is the little space mind bender that nobody really took notice of during the horrid blockbuster run of the summer (yes transformers and terminators, im talking to you). This movie should be on everyone’s must rent from blockbuster/Netflix list like right now because there was no better mind twisting of a film done like this all year. Sam Rockwell does an excellent job, worthy of Oscar credit he won’t get though, as the central character who is, for the most part, the only actor you truly see the entire 90 minutes of the movie. He is Sam Bell, a sole employee on a lunar space station sending helium fuel back to earth to help replenish what is left of a dying fuel economy. He’s there for 3 years with only GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey), his trusty super computer (think HAL from 2001, minus the evil). What happens to Sam’s mind as his 3 years is coming closer to an end is where the story takes place, to say anymore would truly spoil the fun of watching this movie.

#8 – THE HANGOVER

The comedy that made all comedies irrelevant in 2009. The movie that every man took his boys and went to see. The movie that girls watched but inside thought, O God I’m never letting my man go to Vegas. Yes that movie, The Hangover. Quite possibly one of the very few comedies to have such high expectations heading into its release, yet THANKFULLY came through with witty humor, great script and perfect casting. Not much needed to be discussed on the movie just about everyone has seen at this point. If you are in the minority, I think I rest my case. Hangover is one of the best comedies of the decade that just past us by.

#7 – PRECIOUS

One of the more depressing movies I’ve had to sit through and watch. Admittedly, if this film didn’t garner such high praise or attention I wouldn’t have given it the time or day, but it was a damn good movie that was even better thanks to its incredible acting performances (even Mariah Carey has to get credit here). Monique….flawless. She was as powerful a performer as I seen from an actress in years. Riveting every scene she was in, like a ticking time bomb, very ferocious as the abusive mother to her pregnant and illiterate high school daughter growing up through the inner streets of Harlem, NY. Not a movie I would sit through twice, but a well deserved credited drama.

#6 – HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE

Only the second Potter film to ever make this list, but the 6th installment in the series has reached a new level of dark and grit. I truly wish I could sit and have patience to read these novels because the movies have gotten better and better through every single installment. In a 6 movie franchise, has that truly EVER happened? Sure I’m just one man’s opinion and some may not agree, but each movie has gathered more acclaim from critics and received a darker tone by the directors taking the helm. I truly have reached the status of “I gotta see Deathy Hallows at midnight” when the studios release the split-two finale of films starting in November and finishing next summer.

# 5 – STAR TREK

Easily takes the cake as the best popcorn action blockbuster released last summer. Forget giant robots morphing into 2009 chevy camaros or fake cgi’d Arnolds walking around. Last summer belonged to Star Trek and its resurgence into importance again. Written and directed by the mastermind behind the Lost series on ABC and last year’s disaster flick Cloverfield, J.J. Abrams took pieces of what has made him an icon in television and after his first taste in last year’s directorial debut with Cloverfield, he’s excelled it into this hell of a franchise starter. Using the set characters that everyone that has seen the originals know and using them as teens growing up through the academy into Starfleet was one of the smartest ideas Abrams could have made to appease to both the fanbase created and new ones still on the fence. A must see, and if you own a blu ray player, it’s the most amazingly clear HD movie released in 2009.

#4 – THE HURT LOCKER

The inevitable war movie I know I know. How many more war stories can still be told without becoming a parody of the very genre those stories grow tiring of? The answer, well you don’t necessarily make it a “story” but more of a documentary on what war does to some of these soldiers, showing its “addiction” to the game per say. The Hurt Locker isn’t anymore a story than it is a “war movie about Iraq.” That would be wrong in categorizing it as such. It honestly won’t be accepted by everyone who watches it, obviously. However, the story follows one daredevil soldier’s quest to dismantle just about every bomb in Iraq known to man while never really seeming to miss home where he has a wife and baby boy. The movie is merely a number of scenes following the soldier as he grows deeper into the addiction that is war, almost like it’s a drug itself. Do these men really miss their families? Once you get what you want, counting down the days till your leave, by the end of the movie you find out some of these guys really can’t adapt to normality again.

#3 – AVATAR

By the time I’m writing this, Avatar will probably officially pass Titanic as the number one domestic grossing film ever (having already surpassed its worldwide record of 1.8 billion dollars). Unlike Titanic, however, Avatar never hits that emotionally dramatic pitch that put the whole world under James Cameron’s spell 13 years ago. The love story on the disastrous doomed ship was a perfect balance of tragic/happy emotions elicited through two different stories being told (one fictitious one true). However, Cameron misses the mark just slightly on the love story here, he completely excels and triumphs on the disastrous part. With the stunning visuals he basically invented himself, thus the long waited release from the ground up of Avatar’s journey to the big screen, Cameron excelled at making history. The movie is truly groundbreaking and awe astounding. I have explained it in this manner to everyone I talk to about it, that it’s a movie that you “experience.” You don’t experience many movies in this day and age, with formulas recycled over and over and sequels compounded by multiplying what you did the first time by 100. No, Avatar is a truly original movie-going experience only really felt if you could ever make it to a 3D imax theater. I’m sure the story in itself will still be moving regardless but the experience is what really stands Avatar alone from….well….everything ever made. Avatar is just not the best movie of the year. The inevitable sequel, however does have my interest incredibly peaked. Why? James Cameron has only done two and their both two of the best sci-fi films ever made, and Avatar could be his masterpiece.

# 2 – INGLORIOUS BASTERDS

As dynamic an opening scene as the one Quentin Tarantino opens to begin his WW2 epic, it’s even THAT more remarkable the rest of the movie stood up the remaining near 3 hours. That scene still lingers in my mind and will forever go down as one of the true thrilling openings in cinematic history. Christoph Waltz gives us this year’s Heath Ledger performance that came out of nowhere award. The guy who nobody ever heard of, from that very opening scene to the bitter end commanded the camera’s attention. He’s an ultimate lock for best supporting actor as Heath was last year. What’s most unfortunate when a movie is lucky enough to get a performance like that out of one of its actors is when the main star did exceptionally well himself but won’t be remembered for it. Brad Pitt gave his best performance I personally seen him do since Snatch and Fight Club. I never drank much out of the Benjamin Button koolaid last year but you can’t tell me his performance in Buttons was more versatile than in Basterds as Lt. Aldo Raine. Pitt owned the camera more so than I seen him do in almost a decade. QT received all around Oscar worthy performances from just about every actor playing a pivotal role in the film. The first time I watched the movie was in the theaters and then I recently watched it again on dvd and thoroughly enjoyed it much more the 2nd time (a token to how great QT movies are when watched multiple times). Even QT’s fictional take on the end to WW2 didn’t ruin the ride he was taking us on. Only in time, like with almost every Tarantino flick, will we see where Basterds lie. But like the last line uttered in the film, we may too be saying “this might be his masterpiece.”

#1 – UP IN THE AIR

It just doesn’t get much better than movies like Up in the Air. I simply adore films that sneak up on me and I don’t see coming. Up in the Air is an instant classic! I want to get that out of the way. This movie is as perfect as they come. One of those films that you don’t really know where to categorize it, like Good Will Hunting was (don’t get carried away, its not THAT great, but close). Comedy, drama, sad, happy, tragic, gut wrenching, you don’t know where to title it because you can’t put a title on classics. They are what they are. George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham and trust me when I say this, nobody else could have played Ryan Bingham. I’ve had a couple people tell me, oh Clooney was playing himself in that role it was easy for him. Well, maybe that’s because only Clooney can play THAT role. Tell me another actor with the charisma and panache that Clooney has carried his entire career that could play somebody who fires people from their jobs for a living and the audience still loves them? Clooney is as good as he’s ever been and he’s not even the best part of the movie. The story here is everything. Jason Reitman not only directs one hell of a movie but he adapted a wonderfully terrific screenplay from Walter Kim’s novel of the same title. This is a movie I enjoyed immensely the first watch and can honestly say I can’t wait to see again once it hits dvd shelves. Not too many movies anymore get you excited like that.

The BEST of 2009 in Movies (part 1)

Welcome back one and all. This year admittedly I got off to a terribly lazy start, as here we are already into the 2nd month of 2010. At last I got around to making the time and effort to doing what I look forward to doing every year, even if its just for the 2 or 3 eyes that may ever read this boring of a blog. Anywho, i decided to change it up a bit and add this part to the yearly List, citing a little bit more to the year that was in film. hope you enjoy, and as always, leave comments galore, i enjoy them. Thank you for stopping through the rabbit hole.


Worst Hype: Terminator Salvation and Transformers 2. On a more personal basis, T4 runs away with this but Revenge of the Fallen has to be mentioned as well. Michael Bay’s style has finally showed its wear and age. After his rise from the late 90s he’s been slowly showing the same formula in every action movie and finally, with an iconic franchise sequel no less, he finally fell flat in horrific fashion. It’s a disgrace this movie ever made 400 million at the box office. And yes I’m not going to talk about T4.


Best Hype and Exceeded: Star Trek. Maybe since I was never into the Star Trek story or any of the older films/shows/etc I didn’t carry as much expectation going in. But I know plenty of fans and critics did and this movie sailed high on both those fronts, receiving much high praise. Star Trek’s reboot story was extremely hooking and action paced through and through. Not to mention it had one of the best opening sequences to a movie all year.


Best Animated Flick (no one watched): 9. This movie came and went without much of a word nor a peep. Tim Burton’s produced post apocalyptic tale about 9 small scientist/robots that are all that’s left of humanity after robots destroyed much of the world. Think Pixar with Tim Burton behind the lens and you get an idea of the weird yet very cool movie that despite what you heard is MUCH better than the well-over praised Up was.

Largest Disappointment (with Oscar-worthy potential prior): Invictus. Unlike summer blockbusters that one can be hyped over yet disappointed later, Invictus was a film that had much potential to do great things, however disappointed miserably. Eastwood directing, two strong leads in Freeman and Damon. A captivating true story you could really triangulate into a dramatic emotional tale. Flat, flat and pothole flat. Oh, what Invictus could have been.


Best Sequel (in a year of too many): Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I never thought I’d see the day when I would watch a Harry Potter movie at midnight. Nevertheless when November rolls around, when the first of the final two split films are released, I am most definitely going to be there. Each of the last 4 installments have gotten better and better and…yea you get the picture.

Most Stand-Out Performance (Actress): Mon’ique in Precious. I truly believe 2012 is the end of the world. Never in my mind could I ever imagine Monique acting the way she did in this movie. Everyone is praising the new young woman in the picture who, don’t get me wrong, did wonderful. But Monique as her abusive, welfare-riddled mother, was the steal of the show. I was moved and astounded by her in every scene. She was like an atomic bomb ready to blow right through the picture with every scene she carried.


Most Stand-Out Performance (Actor) Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds. The guy better known as “the jew hunter” from the Quentin Tarintino WW2 epic. Brad Pitt did give audiences one of his better performances, shedding that dull Benjamin Button accent for a very southern-hospitality Tennessean one. However, Waltz, an actor no one in US has seen before, walked in from the very opening and took over the movie with every shot he stood in front of the camera.

Most Mailed-In Performance: Christian Bale in Terminator Salvation. Call me sour if you want, but if there was one thing that had me hopeful going into a “McG directed movie” was an actor of Bale’s caliber starring. If the movie were to fall through at least Bale would potentially carry the film to enough life to keep it afloat. How wrong was I? Bale completely mailed in one of the worst performances I’ve ever seen, so bad you can distinctly hear the dreaded “batman voice” in half the dialogue when he speaks. And if the rumors are true that he had the writers re do the script to give John Connor a larger role than what was done originally than I’m truly disappointed in how much Bale ruined my favorite childhood franchise story.

Best Opening Scene: Inglorious Basterds. In just about every Quentin Tarintino movie he opens the film with a BANG, dramatic or not at times. In his “10 years in the making” newest classic, he clearly outdoes himself. No doubt, in part, due to one of the best performances of any actor in a QT film, Christoph Waltz as the “jew hunter” Colonel Hanz Landa. Whoever knew two men talking in germen, then English, over a glass of milk and a couple of pipe smokes could engage in one intensified conversation that ends with one hell of a closing.


Best Final Act/Closing: Up in the Air. Unfortunately, I rather not say why this is, for to even mention it would give the improper “headsup” toward something to look for that would otherwise be unnoticed going in. The best part of this movie was not expecting where it takes you when it’s all over. Try to see this movie if you see one movie all year. It was a trip I look forward to taking again, buy your ticket and fly with George Clooney soon. (wahh wahhhhhhhh, cornball, i know)

The Picks for Best Flicks in 2008

Thank you, one and all, for coming to my little blog and reading up on my nerd-like moments. Movies have always been a furious passion of mine, what i like to call the last lingering effect of my youthful ADD days where I still get a little "too excited" when I talk about them. I am passionate about movies, especially ones that make this very list because I consider these elite class of film that anybody can enjoy. If you are a movie goer, who looks to find a good flick to watch, but never knows whats good anymore, maybe youll find something here, that catches your eye and if you like it as well...that is all i ever ask for is that I was able to tell someone a good choice of film to pass the time. In a time like now, where many of us stay home and are forced to save money, movies ARE the escape. They are free, they are endless and they can move us to so many different emotions. Enjoy, and feel free to come again...

10 - THE VISITOR


The Visitor sounds like a bad title for a cheesy, teen horror flick; thankfully that isn't the case. Casual, going-through-the-motions college Professor Walter Vale is a teacher traveling to New York for an academic conference he has to attend for his university. He pops up at his rarely and never used apartment in the city only to find that a couple have taken the vacancy, however silent and unbeknown. He's startled, shaken, but at the same time human as he welcomes the couple back to stay until they can find a place. The couple stays in secret due to the boyfriend, Tarek, not having an official green card to remain in the country. He plays a form of percussion, hand-drums to the sound of african music that catches Walter's inner passion. He befriends Tarek, learning to the drum skill, only long enough though before immigration catches him and tosses him into a holding cell. It is here where Walter, an everyday, college Professor that looks and acts much like a man that hates what he does, lets loose of his hold on life and unleashes the inner passion that begs to break free in all of us. A performance from Richard Jenkins that defies explanation, he's the actor you say "where have i seen him in before" but excells here as Walter perfectly. A very heart warming, and moving picture, The Visitor is a fine watch for any casual movie goer.

9 - REDBELT


A personal favorite of mine in 2008, REDBELT tells the tale of a martial arts instructor Mike Terry, who runs a karate class to teach the ultimate lesson in fighting...to protect yourself from harms way at all costs. A line he uses "there is always an escape, you must find it" from any situation. He follows a passionate moral and value in his teachings, never allowing himself to become thrusted into the Hollywood tirany of MMA competition fighting or any other sort. He remains loyal to his code, no matter how broke him and his wife go down in the process. It is only when he comes to the defense of a Hollywood hotshot who gets into a bar fight that his skills become aware to the public eye and before Mike even realizes it, he is caught up in the limelight of Hollywood attention. Chiwetel Ejiofor (another one of those "where have i seen him before" actors) drives REDBELT to the brink of absolute entertainment! He puts the movie into overdrive with one of the best peformances of the year, surely to go un noticed by most award shows. Nevertheless, the acting, the good message story telling and fine direction from acclaimed director David Mamet (Ronin, Wag the Dog) makes REDBELT a movie I would wish more people to go see.

8 - TROPIC THUNDER


I find myself saying this two years in a row now, but TT is quite possibly the funniest comedy I seen in quite awhile. Like SuperBaD last year, TT is a surprise on the list because I dont fancy comedies that much in the process of time with movies (you can only laugh at the same joke so much argument). But TT has more than a few positives going its way. A tremendous cast that amazingly was on-point for each character, even down to the hard-to-believe its Tom Cruise fat suit character! Downey Jr., is every bit as wonderful and profound to watch in TT as Heath Ledger's joker was in DK, just from a comedy's persepective instead. Stiller was actually FUNNY in a comedy, Jack Black found his range as a jokster again from playing in serious roles for awhile (the forgetable King Kong), and the list is on going with this star studden cast. The story, a parody on hollywood actors, may be taken a bit extreme, but a number of laughs and good times are in store when you watch this one...especially with friends!

7 - REVOLUTIONARY ROAD


A disturbing look into white suburbia in 1950s America. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet play the seemingly happy married couple Frank and April Wheeler. Behind closed doors and at home, they are quite not. Portraying an image to Franks fellow employees and to each of their out going friends, they are the IT couple. At home, April despises her life and begs for something different and away from the place they live, even if it means working in another country so her husband can pursue...well....whatever dreams he has of finding a dream. That's how pathetic April's life has become. Frank, on the other hand is content with remaining in his uneventful life until....well he doesn't know but he doesn't care either. The two conflicting feelings clash in several uneasy to watch marriage fights. Acted profoundly by both actors, the arguments and screaming feel real and emotionally draining. A sad dramatic tale to say the least, you feel the downer mood throughout the picture, you know it won't end happily ever after. The scene stealer of the show belongs to up and coming actor Michael Shannon who plays a character who is supposedly "sick" because he has the tendency to see through people's bullshit and tell things exactly as they are. By pointing out people's flaws and insecurities, it makes a situation uncomfortable to others yet he is "sick" for telling it how it is. A comical portrayal of how life imitates art, that to be so honest and straight forward you must be a sick individual.

6 - MILK



The most surprising flick to make it on my list I would have to say was MILK. Not because it's story centers around the first Homosexual to take a public office position in American history, but that controversial films are made like this all the time during the award season and they tend to all look and come out with the same recycled Oscar feel to it! MILK was definitely done with a different approach (don't ask me what that is, when you watch movies like these enough, you catch it okay, lol). Sean Penn, not one of my favorite actors even though he is highly respected, plays Harvey Milk to AMAZING ability. Quite possibly the best Sean Penn acting I have ever seen, and that includes Dead Man Walking and Mystic River, two movies i love very much! MILK's story is simple, the rise of the first gay man to be elected into public office, during the time Gay Rights were being faught for and faced with much scrutiny and unfortunate acts of unlawful results. A hard movie to watch, yes maybe so, but wonderful when looked at in a broader scope, seeing how far America has come to accept Homosexuals now as well as minorities in a world where not to long ago, it was White or nothing! It may be a movie about a Homosexual becoming accepted, but you can easily feel the same animosity that coloreds, spanish and indian people had to endure when they too had to go through the acceptance in white america.

5 - THE WRESTLER



The Wrestler is a one man show, and that one man is Mickey Rourke. Think of The Wrestler as a one man wrecking crew! The story is nothing too outlandish, nothing that hasn't been used before...just a lot darker. A washed up athlete, still trying to cling to the glory days of when he used to rule his sport and fans flocked to scream and chant his name. Sound familiar right, only 100 movies can go like this, but usually they are watered down with either a Disney feel-good ending, mediocre acting or some other Hollywood ingrediant you can come up with. What makes the Wrestler's story different, is that it's very dark in its telling of the story and Mickey Rourke! It's Rocky meets Million Dollar Baby minus the boxing add Mickey Rourke equals one of the best sports movies in our time! That is if you're one of those that consider wrestling a sport, but that is another topic for another time. Rourke plays "The Ram", his wrestling alias, a man whose better days are behind him, yet despite doctors warnings he continues to wrestle. This is the story of a man battered down in life, whose off the mat activities include finding solitude in the arms of an overaged stripper (played beautifully by Marissa Tomei), trying to patch up what went wrong with his daughter who despises him and playing with the neighbor kids who make him feel he is still popular in the new generation, when is anything but. Rourke has been in and out of small Hollywood films the past few years, including Sin City and Man on Fire, but you have NEVER seen him quite in this form. It isn't hard to find the similarities b/w Rourke's career path and The Ram's. Both go out with one last big bang, and deservingly so, with the incredible story that is The Wrestler!

4 - GRAN TORINO



It has been 4 years since we last seen Clint Eastwood on the silver screen (Million Dollar Baby 2004) and if rumors are true, this is his final act in front of the camera. In Gran Torino, he does the job in front and behind (directing, as usual) and does both to only Eastwood standards...perfection! Eastwood plays Walter, a Vietnam war yet who just buried his wife and now has to cope with living alone in a neighborhood where Hmong people have slowly began inhabiting over the years. He is alone and he wouldn't have it any other way. He is a man who carries much hurt and pain through his past, yet washes it away with beer, bigotry and roaring at every person that tries to welcome themselves into his life. Even a priest, whose sole purpose is to fullfill Walter's deceast wife's wish to make him go to confession. It isn't until a neighborhood Hmong Thao is forced by his cousin's Gang to try and steal Walter's vintage Gran Torino (a classic sports car) that Walter is forced to come out of his shell. The kid ashames his family by doing the deed and so must work for Walter to work off his actions. Walter wants nothing to do with the kid, but finally finds work for the boy. In the process, he helps the kid become a man, teaches him manly things to do, how to ask a girl out, work for a living, so forth. When he notices the cousin's gang keep popping up to bring the kid in, is when Walter realizes old habits die hard and must step in to help Thao. It is a crucial turning point in the movie that sends Gran Torino in a direction you don't see coming and the finale' is something to watch! Eastwood plays Walter with such aggression and sadness, two polar opposite traits to convey into one character only someone of Eastwood's magnitude can sell on screen. If this is infact his final performance in front of the camera, he went out the only way Dirty Harry knows how...making our day!!!

These next 3 movies were the hardest movies to rank from 3 to 2 to 1.
I found a perfect reason to put all of them at #1 and found no reason to put either
of the 3 as low as #3. They are fantasically, amazing moving pictures that are each
completely different than the other, which in part made it so difficult to rank.

3 - WALLE



If you scroll down the page on my blog, there is a much lengthier discussion about how and why I adore this little robot so much. I will briefly touch on it once more, as I can talk about WaaaaLLLLLLeeeEEEEeeeee for hours (lol). This Disney story encompasses so much heart and emotion, it pains me whenever I hear someone call it a "kids flick." So much goes on in Walle that I think a lot of people may have missed or not given it proper attention due to the fact it is a Disney animated movie. If you are one of those people, you are doing an injustice to yourself by not watching Walle with an open mind....but more importantly an open heart. The biggest, heart warming story of the year, Walle displays the central human emotion we of ALL AGES carry...that is the want to be loved, and that deep down inside none of us want to be alone! From the hardest, coldest person in the world you know to the sweetest good person that exists in your life, inside we all don't want to be left alone and we all want someone to love. Walle may be sold as a kids flick, and it can be one for kids, but it has so much for teens, adults and people of all ages that if you blink your eye and miss it, you will be missing one of the GREATEST MOVIES of all time! Period!

2 - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE



It's the little movie that shook the world! Slumdog crept up on Hollywood in the last couple of weeks of 2008 and now its damn near impossible not to hear someone say it's one of the best movies they've seen. And it IS!!! I wrote a discussion earlier this year talking about 2 undeniable classics being released in one year (Walle, Dark Knight), Slumdog makes it 3 and only in the process of time will 2008 be greatly appreciated. A great year in movies. Slumdog Millionaire follows the tale of a young adult Jamal on the India version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, with flashbacks going on between each question showing how he learned the answer throughout his troubled young life. To say anymore of the story gives away many surprises and unbelievable emotional chills the film sends down your spine, but it's an amazing story shot and directed wonderfully by upcoming flashy director Danny Boyle (Transpotting, 28 Years Later) who uses the new technique of handheld camera-directing to great lengths throughout the many sequences in the movie! I've always admitted I am a sucker for "good" love stories, not the chick flick easy female grab kind. It's why I stand alone saying TITANIC is still one of the greatest movies of all time, because i am a sucker for a hell of a strong "real" love story. Slumdog's isn't nearly as epic and hallowing as TITANIC's to say the least, but the one it does intail b/w Latika and Jamal, when those last 30 minutes of the film roll...it's just a great fantastic 3rd act to a movie that already solidified itself as classic potential and didn't lose it like many films tend to do by its final act!

#1

THE DARK KNIGHT

The Dark Knight! I just couldn't put another movie above this film. I even watched it recently, after seeing all these newer films in such short time and didn't want the mistake of making one #1 due to the fact I saw it last (such as how much I adored Slumdog). The Dark Knight is just an epic, monumental, no not even monumental describes it, COLOSSAL achievement in filmmaking, story telling, groundbreaking scenes and a singular awe struck performance that shakes the very core of "define acting." I'm not even going to mention Heath Ledger because everybody already knows what he brought to the Joker! Every scene of DK you felt you were in a crime-drama of extraordinary proportions, it was already fitting of a classic tale, then add that to every scene you watched The Joker in, and it was like a roaring tiger unleashed inside a movie theater, you couldn't see where it was or where it was going, but it made your heart race and excellerated your emotions with every moment. When I watched DK lastly, i realized just how many great scenes were in the movie. The opening scene with the Joker and the mobsters, depicting how their true colors are. The dinner scene and how his mannerisms were just so spot on, uncanny. The interrogation moment where the Joker and Batman pretty much layout the entire theme b/w the two characters as a whole to the audience. And of course, one of the most amazing action sequences in any movie, the Batpod and truck scene. I still get chills when I see Ledger's Joker get up and walk gingerly towards the Batpod shooting aimlessly at on going cars, screaming and mumbling HIT ME numerous times. The movie can NOT be second to none, not in 2008...one of the greatest years I've got to experience in movies!!!

The Always Enjoyable Honorable Mentions: iron man, frost/nixon, the reader, body of lies

Undeniable Classics

A Dark Knight and a lovable robot with a heart.

Two vastly different characters in two vastly different worlds. Heck, their ratings are even polar opposities (the G-rated pixar affair and the hardest pushed PG13 movie maybe ever).

Both films antagonists share typical sinister agendas to thwart their opposition, but in incredibly different paths.

So what is the point?

In the 3 weeks the Dark Knight has been released, every single possible angle and topic has been discussed, argued and debated by now. Nearly everyone has seen the film, its breaking records like we've never seen the likes of in quite some time, everyone has said why Heath Ledger's Joker is held as one of the all time great performances. What else can be said of this tiring topic?

And what on earth could the likes of a movie like WallE have on this far darker, deeper, more mature-adult film?

Well I'll get to my thesis, if you will. The Dark Knight is undoubtedly a classic in film, period. Classics these days are hard to come by, especially in the post-modern era of filmmaking were in where CGI and HD cameras can make even the most boring effect seem state-of-the-art. Were in a time where flash and style outweigh dull and normalcy in films. Lighting isn't used the way it used to be, just to use an example. Why use light when you have computer effects to dim and highten the mood for you at anytime necessary? So to find a classic in this day and age, isn't necessarily impossible, but just not as plentiful. What has happened this summer probably won't be appreciated until much further down the road. Two films, two very different themes, might just be held at the highest peak of their respective genres when it's all said and done. And they were both released just a couple weeks apart this summer season.



The Dark Knight had some of the greatest hype of any movie has had, with some unfortunate help due to the death of Heath Ledger (needless to say). Despite that, the movie stands alone and deservingly belongs in discussion with some of the greatest crime-dramas of our time. It feels absolutely nothing like what previous quote/unquote "superhero" movies tell us to feel like. It's a crime-drama with a man in a black suit popping up periodically as the story's hero. But even something as silly-sounding as that statement doesn't take anything away from director Christopher Nolan's masterpiece. He brings a complete sense of realism to the world of Batman that neither Tim Burton nor the terrible Joel Schuemaker did in the previous series of Batman films. You feel as if Gotham City is a real city that you and I could drive through like any other metropolis city. There's nothing cartoony or animated about the Dark Knight. Even if the title wasn't an acronym for Batman, it would be the perfect title regardless.

Outside of the hype preceeding Titanic and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I can't recollect many films having a great amount of hype that incredibly surpassed that hype. And not everybody enjoyed either of those films, I'm just speaking on popular opinion due to how well both those films turned out at the box office as well at the Oscars (both won Best Picture, the 3rd Rings movie). The Dark Knight belongs right there, it's a film that as soon as you leave you immediately have the drive to want to see it again. There is not many 160 minute movies that will make an audience crave to see it over again in the theaters, but the Dark Knight manages precisely that. The movie leaves you with a sense of seeing something that was special and breathtaking. A moving experience we as audiences don't get blessed with much anymore. A defining performance by one of it's actors (here the late Heath Ledger). An ensombled cast that has no weak link. A chilling score that does the overall mood of the film justice, not over the top loud nor quiet, it almost goes unnoticed throughout the film. And a director with a vision of how exactly to make a superhero movie feel human, which is what we all want to feel at the end of the day, that we can feel like a superhero when we walk out of the movie theater.

I won't go into particular scenes that I thoroughly enjoyed or the overall story of the film, to negate any readers that may not have seen the movie as of yet (however few of you are left). But the point I'm making on the Dark Knight, before moving onto WallE is it's an undeniable classic. An epic, if you will. A film probably even more appreciated, however hard that is to believe in the current condition of the movie's success, in the process of time.



WaaaaaaaaaLLeeeeeeeee!
This movie I can literally talk about forever. I may be alone in my group of high-testosterone friends that could never praise such a quote/unquote "kids flick." But people would be selling this movie way too short by throwing it off as another computer-animated kids flick. WallE's THE best computer-animated film to date and neither of the others come close (not Toy Story, nor Shrek). The only animated movie that may top this is still my personal favorite The Lion King, but there are a few other Disney classics that may be in there as well. Like the Dark Knight, the process of time and repeat viewings will do this movie more justice.

Walle may have a simple premise, but it's the emotion and heart behind it that totally left me with chills and smiles. If you find it hard to let your emotions go and feel like a kid again, you take yourself way too seriously (why so serious?!?, no pun intended). The opening 30 minutes or so of the movie barely carries any form of dialouge outside of a few robotic gizmo noises and crashes. That, in itself, was a risky and bold move on the part of Pixar and Disney. However, Pixar's resume is a perfect 100% on hits and when it comes to Disney, more often than not, it's a safe bet. Walle incompases so much heart and inspiration that most films of its kind don't usually reach with its audience. The film is geared to younger audiences, sure, however it also has the central human emotion that every age in this world can open to, that emotion is "the want to love." Even as a kid, or as an old retired elder, everyone knows the feeling of wanting to be loved. Walle hits that central emotion that literally we all carry genetically. Even the coldest or cruelest people in the world, deep down, never want to be alone. It's like that feeling you get when you walk down the street, and you see a happy couple holding hands smiling while gazing into each others eyes. You don't have to hear a thing, it's a sight that every human emotion knows exactly what that look entails. Love. Surprising enough, a movie as small and simple like WallE was able to accomplish all that (and even more).

That "even more" is when the movie shifts gears from the 2nd half on, where WallE is sent to where the humans left earth for (and where the bulk of the film's dialogue lies). It is here where the film jumps from typical Pixar wonderful kid-joy-flick to full-blown classic-status. Most films that begin and start strong lose its steam and power by trying too hard to be "different" in its 2nd and 3rd acts. WallE took its current theme of love and heart and went deeper with its underlining, more adult-oriented theme that was there throughout the film. And it is in that theme, which most adults will catch and younger kids will miss, where Walle separates itself from other strictly "kids flicks." Not to get too deep into the 2nd half of WallE, but basically if you saw the trailers you get the picture that the world we live in was not properly taken care of by humans. We unquestionably live in a world where, at least in America, we're all about doing less work to get more work done. In other words, lazier and lazier. And in this lazy world we are becoming, film's like Walle, however far fetched it undoubtedly is, doesn't seem so hard to imagine.

In the end, what I wanted to accomplish in this entry wasn't just a minor review of two summer movies that are easily a level above everything else released this year. I wanted to show the appreciation as a movie buff how lucky we are to be in a summer where not just one but TWO undeniable classics are in our midsts, as we speak, in the theater. One is getting an overkill of praise and recognition (and deservingly so), and the other is getting its share, but its all "popcorn flicks" to most audiences. In time, I feel these two movies will be standouts in their genres. At the very least, right up at the top with other classics of its kind. The Dark Knight is right there with the likes of Heat and The Departed, while Walle is on the cusps of great Disney classics like Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Fantasia. Two undeniable classics, that hit two very different nerves in our body.

In a trying time in a trying world, what better escape than two films that combined hit just about every emotional nerve in the human body.

The BEST of 2007 in Film

Welcome one and all to the annual TOP TEN of the year List in Film, where I get to amuse the one or two of you that actually read this. It's really not about who reads it, I've enjoyed doing this on paper in my room when I was a kid obsessed with movies and now I give you, the customer, the opportunity to partake in my amusement. I hope it isn't too boring, I enjoy it and maybe one day...hundreds or more will be reading similar lists of mine. The Dream right...

Anyway, this list is stacked with some very hard choices for me. This was the first year that I didn't really have a clearcut film that stood out as "damn, thats the movie of the year, handsdown." Plenty of potentials, however. As I've grown older (25, damn where the time go) I see the films I put in here become less popular and more critical (no Transformers here, although I enjoyed it very much. Wont see I Am Legend either, on second viewing realized it was terrible). So without further rambling, I give to you, a little piece of the kid in me...THE BEST IN FILM for 2007 (all films released in the past year)...

#10 SUPERBAD

It was one of the few pleasant surprises that came along the way to the movie theaters. The whole debate b/w which was funnier, Superbad or Knocked Up…it wasn’t even close. For starters Knocked Up could NEVER happen, but most slapstick comedies can’t anyway, but it was hilarious nevertheless. I haven’t found one person who saw Superbad who didn’t tell me it didn’t remind them of high school. The pranks, the jokes, the parties, the girls, the liquor, the cops (o shit, the cops). Superbad not only was a hilarious ride for laughter, it brought back those everlasting memories when you were in school, made those first friends, kissed that first girl, and wanted so bad to actually “get laid.” This movie owns its own spot in the comedy rankings as one of the best, definitely a top ten to say the least!

#9 LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD

Say what you want, but John McClane wasn’t going to let the franchise go out the way the disappointing 3rd Die Hard did. Not only were many people (including myself) skeptic of a 4th Die Hard (over 12 years past since part 3), but how much more can aging Bruce Willis pull off the action-heroine persona. Luckily, the “perfect” script for an action movie came along that easily catapults this film to the rankings of the first (a classic). Die Hard 4 had stunts and sequences that left me in awe (the tunnel scene) and living in the 21st century, its difficult for action movies to show much more than they already have. The picture worked so well on many levels, we even got to get a glimpse on the toll it takes emotionally for John McClane to be a “hero.” The speech he gives to Justin Long in the car says it best. Nobody wants to be a hero kid…Hippey Ki Yay indeed.

#8 ZODIAC

David Fincher, where have you gone? Ever since his critically acclaimed “Seven”, Fincher has been few and far from catching the praise he did since his 1994 psychological thriller. With “Zodiac” not only did he hit all the right notes, but he may have even surpassed that of his greatest hit. “Zodiac” is a long winded, dialogue driven movie, but it grabs your interest and never lets go. The acting could not have been more superb, probably the best assembled cast this year in a movie. Jake Gyllenhall, Robert Downey, Jr., an incredible Mark Ruffalo, ER’s Anthony Edwards, and so on. It has the drive similar to “All the Presidents Men,” but Fincher adds the thrilling edge and suspense that “Men” didn’t possess. “Zodiac” isn’t getting much love in the awards bin being it was released earlier this year, but it should get some recognition come Oscar time.

#7 GONE BABY GONE

I just recently watched this film and feel it could be higher if and when I see it a second time. Most of the movies on this list I’ve only seen once anyway, but Gone Baby Gone had a lot to catch I may have missed, but it was an astounding piece of work. A work, by none other than….Ben Affleck? That’s right, after all the tumbling spills he’s taken for his acting, Ben may have finally found his true calling, directing! And starring his younger brother Casey Affleck (an upcoming actor with sky-bound potential) alongside veterans like Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman put Ben’s directing skills to the test. And did he ever succeed! What may have pleased me the most was Ben’s choice of casting many Boston locals for the authenticity of the film’s setting. I never been to Boston, but you can tell the people in the bars, the streets, walking around live and breathe that town. Something most veteran directors wouldn’t do, Ben has shown he has the potential for even better (for once).

#6 THE MIST

The sleeper of the year is this instant classic monster movie. However, the monster isn’t a creature (although there is one in this movie), the real monster lies within us…people, and what fear can do to the weak of heart. A town is engulfed by an enormous mist and a few of the town’s people trap themselves inside a local market store. Inside they wait, soon they get spooked, turn fearful, and become strangers amongst friends. All in an instant. The movie is another one from the mastermind of horror Stephen King, and it will give you the creeps. What gave this film a major exclamation point was the ballsy and very un-Hollywood ending it went with. A definite jaw dropping moment that will live you silent (the theater was quiet for the final moments following the twist). “The Mist” is an underrated movie that deserves an audience.

#5 3:10 TO YUMA

There’s a quote written by a critic plastered on the DVD of this movie that says “the best western since ‘Unforgiven’.” Well it’s definitely NO “Unforgiven” (one of the best films ever, period, not just Western), however it most likely is the best western since Eastwood’s masterpiece, but only because Hollywood is too scared to greenlight any. “3:10 to Yuma” is an action-packed style of Western, unlike the more grimey, dark “Unforgiven”, but works in a different way. It’s an epic tale, told before (a remake), but without the definitive acting this one entails. Christian Bale gives another strong performance (he’s done a lot of those), but it’s the villainous Russell Crowe who sends this movie over the mountain and beyond. Since “Gladiator” I don’t think I’ve seen Crowe in better form than here. To my recollection, he hasn’t played a villain since the forgetful “Virtuosity” with Denzel Washington. Here, he not only excels at it, he put “Yuma” on the map as one of the best films of the year.

#4 RATATOUILLE

The most surprising film of the year comes from that of a mouse that loves to cook. Easy enough to sell, right? I admit, I was wrong (very wrong) about how good this movie would be, and went far enough to question what was Disney thinking this would sell to kids. However, this is why I always claim I give any movie of any genre a chance. There isn’t a specific type of movie I don’t like or like too much. Each movie I see speaks to me on its own level. “Ratatouille” was a surprise, but an extremely pleasant one. The movie will make you laugh, make you “want to” cry (haha, its true) and leave you wanting more of that cute little rascal of a mouse (yea I said cute, so). Disney, I’ll never question you again…just please, no more Pirate movies

These next three movies were the hardest for me to rank. As I said before, I didn’t have one movie stand out to me, but there were many that could be thrown together as such. These three were those for me, this is how they finally ranked out…

#3 NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

A remarkable achievement in filmmaking by the always entertaining Cohen Brothers (Fargo). This movie has been climbing the charts on just about every critics top ten list and rightfully so. It’s a simple story really, but with loads of depth and meaning that most films of its nature never take the time to develop. A man hunting, finds people dead, finds money, keeps money, discovers person behind it wants it back, person behind it is a sociopath killer, man is in deep trouble. That really is about it, but watching it unfold and performed is quite a different experience. I still ask myself has Tommy Lee Jones been in a movie he didn’t act well or take the movie to another level. There may be one, but it’s clouded by all the great ones he’s been apart of, and most may not top this particular one.

#2 THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM

I wanted to give this movie number 1 because of the experience it left me as a whole after all three Bournes. However, it belongs at number two for reasons I’ll explain in number one. Very few sequels have the distinct ability to please the audience more than the first (T2, Godfather 2, Aliens, to name a few). But I can’t even think of one movie that had a 3rd part to its franchise that stuck out more than the first two. Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you “The Bourne Ultimatum.” Each film actually IS better than the previous and “Ultimatum” is a juggernaut piece of filmmaking. Paul Greengrass’s direction is profound, he loves to shoot many scenes with that of a handheld camera, almost documentary like, to give a more in your face and human experience to the scene at hand (similar to the way he shot many of the airplane scenes in “United 93”). The car chase in Times Square is a prime example of exactly that. Even better example is what has to be the best hand to hand fighting scene I’ve ever witness in a movie before between Matt Damon (his best Bourne performance of the three) and another assassin. The trilogy is one of the best to come our way, and forgive me but I can’t even think of a better trilogy outside of the original Star Wars (sorry Godfather, Part 3 ruined your chances). I will miss seeing Jason Bourne…I mean David Webb, in further pictures.

NUMBER 1 FILM OF 2007

Thank god for bootleg, or I would have never seen this amazing film (nor a few others, DVD quality too lol). “The Bucket List” may seem like a safe pick for number one to some: it just came out, it has Oscar written all over it, stars two of the greatest actors of two generations, be more bold NICK!!! Well, I just can’t okay. I mean what is it about old people that moves us? In this film, the two characters learn they have cancer, one is told they have at most, a year to live. They don’t hit it off immediately, but after sharing a room for awhile they get along, make friendly and begin to “make a list of things they want to do before they kick the bucket.” NOW, you get the title right? It sounds simple, almost cliché-ish, but there’s no substitute for Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. This movie had me laughing, smiling, hoping, and the most obvious…near tears (I was strong). The movie may have had the luxury of being seen the latest of the ten, therefore most fresh in my mind, but I can not let that take anything away from a movie that hits your heart, your mind and your funny bone. Go see “The Bucket List”, it’s the single movie I recommend to any one in 2008 (it was barely released before the end of 2007).

HONARABLE MENTIONS: Transformers, 300, American Gangster, 1408, Black Snake Moan