Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Top Ten Movies I Saw This Year

Hi everyone. My name is Josh and I'm starting this blog in order to send out my various opinions to the world without any initial contradiction. Not that I don't love a good argument, because I do, but I tend to think of my opinions as facts. If you disagree with me, that's fine, leave me a post and tell me why and I will probably decide that you are wrong and will continue believing everything that I believe. And what is it that I will be discussing exactly? Pretty simple really. Each post I will decide on a topic and then list my ten favorite items, movies, people, things, etc. that i think qualify for that topic, hence the name Josh's top ten list. Most of the topics will be about movies, music, or sports since those are my three main interests. So without further rambling, I will now commence discussion on the first topic:

Top Ten Movies That I Saw This Year.

I might note that I am not a film critic and have not seen all the movies this year but here it goes anyway.

10. "Charlie Wilson's War." This movie got a lot of hype early in the year because of the likes of Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Phillip Seyemore Hoffman, to name a fiew but dropped off the map when it suffered a few less than impressive reviews. But I liked it. I thought it was a very timely subject matter, dealing with a covert war and government deception, yet dealt with it very well. Plus, I love Tom Hanks. He is a great actor, though sometimes I think his performances are a tad overrated, but he is just awesome in this movie. He and Hoffman have great chemistry and are hilarious together. Julia Roberts was terrible but I always think she is terrible so no surprise there.

9. "Zodiac." If this movie came out later in the year I think it would have received some oscar consideration. It was GOOD but not GREAT. Robert Downey Jr. however, was great as he usually is. When Robert Downey Jr. is on screen, you cannot help but watch his every move, whether 
he is talking or not. He is just so talented and so unpredictable. Too bad he was drugged out for a few years there. Anyway the rest of the movies was just pretty good and they really made eerie accusations that really got me thinking which made it last longer. When in doubt, I say if you are thinking about the movie later on (and not thinking of how much it sucked) then it was probably pretty good. Bit long though. Could have cut some of it down a little.

8. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." I don't care what anybody says, this movies was bad ass. The action was awesome and Ralph Fiennes once again represents evil perfectly in the form of Voldermort (The other of course being his role in Schindler's List). It was awesome. I don't have much more to say about that.

7. "There Will Be Blood." I saw this movie with my brother and when I came out I said "I didn't really like it." But try as I might, I could not get the damn thing out of my head. Whether or not I had
 decided to like it or not yet, there is no denying that the film making, from a technical stand point, is incredible and the performance by Daniel Day Lewis is nothing short of brilliant (fun fact: Lewis has only been in 9 films since 1989 and has four oscar nominations for those films and will probably receive his second oscar this year... and should). But I wasn't sure if I liked the story. Without giving away too much, I think the title should have been different. 
Having said all that, I think everyone should go see this movie. If nothing else, it will get you to think... a lot.
 
6. "Into the Wild." This movie was inspirational. It made me realize that a lot of the things people covet really don't matter. This was another movie that I had to think a lot about. The film seemed to me to be a little over-directed. It seemed like a lot of directing cliches were use
d. I don't remember any specifics because I saw it like 4 months ago, but I remember thinking it. I also remember the acting being tremendous. Emil Hirsch did a great job if only by keeping my interest while taking up like 90 percent of the screen time. It is tough to watch just one person more or less the entire movie, but I was never bored and the various other characters throughout the film were all very well acted.

5. "Live Free or Die Hard." Very surprised. Justin Long and Bruce Willis worked very well together and were very entertaining. Beyond that, all you need to know is that it was BAD ASS.

4. "Superbad." Oh... my... God... This movie was absolutely hilarious. It is, in my humblest of opinions, an instant classic. It was so raunchy and yet it struck so many chords close to home. The dialogue was fantastic, the situations outlandish yet believable, and the characters relatable. It was so funny and yet at the end of the movie they tie it in with an emotional ending that made it a good MOVIE instead of just a good COMEDY. And it wasn't good, it was great.

3. "Transformers." When I saw the trailer for this film, about a year before it's release, I thought that it would be a joke but that I would go and see it because I loved watching the Transformers cartoon. It was incredible. The reason people started going to movies was to escape from reality, if only for a short while. Now people are to worried about the production v
alue and the acting performances or whether what you see can actually happen. I am also guilty of this. But Transformers wipes that away and if viewed from the right point of view, it is pure entertainment. Plus it kicks serious ass.

2. "Ratatouille." I have never disliked a Pixar movie. In fact I thought Cars was the worst one and I own it. But Ratatouille was excellent. I LOVED it. Everything from the animation to the musical score. It was nearly perfect. If you have not seen this movie, go buy it.

1. "No Country For Old Men." When I walked out of this movie, I immediately wanted to see it again. I have already talked about how other movies made me think a lot, but none compared to this movie. A lot of people I talked to said that they didn't get it, or that they didn't like the ending, or they didn't think anything was resolved. To those people I say, exactly. I know that might not bring you much closure, but go and rent it and watch it again. This time, watch the movie through the perception of Tommy Lee Jones' character. He is the old man and the one that realizes things are changing for the worst and could not be stopped. The acting was superb on all counts and the Cohen Brothers do it again with this movie. some of their movies have missed in my opinion, but I think they nailed it with this one. A perfect commentary of the state of violence of today. It is almost as though this movie is set in the old west. It is so good.

Just missed the cut:"The Bourne Ultimatum:" Very good, but I've seen it twice from the first two Bourne movies. And it wasn't as fun as its action competition.

"Juno:" It was good. Not great. Probably the second most overrated film of the year. I think most people liked it because it has been deemed the "cool movie to like."

Not even close:"Attonement:" THE most overrated film of the year. No actor chemistry, bad direction, bad acting, annoying Keira Knightley. It was just bad.

3 comments:

Jesse C. said...

I like your premise. Simple, easy, and entertaining. As for your post. Nice insight, I agree on the Daniel Day-Lewis and Robert Downey Jr. fronts both are ridiculously talented. A few movies I would recommend, that might sneak into your top 10. 1.) The Assassination of Jesse James... Yes the length of the movie matches the title, but Casey Affleck gives what is in my opinion one of the most powerful performances in the last decade, by anyone. Seriously. 2.) not to stick on the Case Affleck thing but "Gone Baby Gone" was a brilliant movie, Amy Smart Kills it as the strung out drug addicted mother of a kidnapped child. aAnd finally 3.) Michael Clayton, This movie reminds us that yes George clooney can actually act, instead of just picking roles where he plays himself in different costumes. Tom Wilkinson would deserve the academy award for best supporting actor if it wasn't for Casey Afflecks previously mentioned role.

John Eightclip said...

Interesting topic, however, putting Transformers, and Live Free or Die Hard in the top ten for the year? I don't buy it my friend. If you're going to put those anywhere near the top ten, then Bourne needs to be in the top ten. Other than the weird appearances of sub-par action films. I agree with most of your top ten. Although it makes me want to go rent the two I hadn't seen. Thanks for the recommendations.

Jesse C. said...

Hey forgot to leave a link on my last post. For all things movie check out The Internet Movie Database