"Iron Man": Concentrates more on characters than effects and action, but still is very entertaining. Robert Downey Jr. is perfectly cast.
"The Dark Knight": The best movie of the year, and the ultimate superhero/comic book movie. The intricate plot and complex characterizations, along with some bang-up action sequences make this an unforgettable film. If Chris Nolan decides to make a third movie, he will be hard pressed to top this. If the Academy doesn't give this movie nods for supporting actor (the late Heath Ledger), director, and picture, they should be ashamed of themselves.
"Tropic Thunder": The funniest movie of the year was a great spoof of war movies and viciously poked fun at the shallowness of the movie industry. Robert Downey Jr.'s performance in blackface was one of the many highlights of the film (take notice, Oscar!). Also, the appearance of a certain A-list movie actor as a chubby, balding movie producer was hilarious, though not the career reviver that many people thought it was.
"WALL-E": I wasn't exactly gushing over this when I saw this in the movie theater, but I enjoyed it more and better appreciated the film's intricacies after repeat viewings. WALL-E was visually stunning, and had a great plot despite the limited use of dialogue. The film also communicates a very clear, but not heavy-handed message about the environment.
"Cloverfield": Very clever and creative look at a gigantic creature attacking New York through the eyes of ordinary people. Fun to watch and very scary. Also, the effects were top-notch considering the $25 million budget.
"Hellboy II": See below.
I can't really come up with a worst movies list, since I only saw two truly bad movies this year... "The Happening" and "Be Kind Rewind." I will spare you the details and just advise you to avoid these movies at all costs, although "The Happening" is often so bad it's funny.
Instead, I will give you my biggest disappointments of the year. Here goes...
"Jumper": It looked like a great premise, with a great concept, cool effects and a decent director (Doug Liman). Instead, we get a barely watchable film with a cliched plot, unlikable characters and lousy acting. The film leaves room for a sequel that will never be seen. I am not shedding any tears.
"Indiana Jones and the Lame Space Aliens": Not horrible, but a huge waste of time and money. This movie should not have been made, because it screws up an otherwise great trilogy. The South Park episode on this movie pretty much sums it up.
"Zack and Miri Make a Porno": I thought Seth Rogen's everyman charm and improvisational off-the-cuff acting style would be a perfect match for Kevin Smith's style of moviemaking. Instead, it looks like Smith is trying to make his version of a Judd Apatow movie, except this movie isn't nearly as funny as "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" or "Knocked Up," and the romance between the characters seems saccahrine and artificial.
2 comments:
I think your main problem with Zack and Miri stems from the fact that you saw it as an apatow movie (which, I can see since Seth Rogen plays Seth Rogen and pretty much the same character he has played in almost every movie), but I thought the writing, in some ways, was a bit better. I don't know, I am not a Kevin Smith apologist, (Jersey Girl still hurts me to this day), but I thought it was a bit of a departure from his normal movies and thought it worked. Too each unto their own though.
I am suprised that, looking up your blog a bit, Heath didn't make the list for top performances. His Joker was haunting and incredible and it sure as hell was Bale's monotone that made TDK so awesome.
Sorry... didn't see that you commented until now, so thanks for reading! Zack and Miri wasn't a bad movie by any means, and had its fair share of laughs. I was disappointed because Kevin Smith has done some truly great stuff, and I expected better than this. Also, Apatow's films "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up" were some of the best comedies ever written. Seth Rogen is hilarious, but I agree with you that he is just Seth Rogen in every movie.
As for Heath Ledger, I had just seen TDK before creating that list, so I wanted to give it a little time before I put his name on there. If I rewrote the list now, I would definitely put him on there.
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