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#1- Slumdog Millionaire Starring: Dev Patel, Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Madhur Mittal, Freida Pinto Directed by: Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan This is the kind of movie that simply blows you away and the moment you see it you can't wait to see it again. I am also a big fan of Danny Boyle and he might be one of the lesser known directors in Hollywood that is also one of the greatest. From Trainspotting, to 28 Days later and even Millions he always seems to make a great movie that draws you in. And thats what slumdog Millionaire does, it draws you in. It enchants you and just blows you away. You leave the theatre with that feeling of wow did I just see an amazing movie and man I can't wait to see it again. Its also heart warming, bitter sweet and a little sad too it just envokes so many emotions in you and thats why its so great. |
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#2- The Dark Knight Starring: Christian Bale, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman Directed by: Christoper Nolan The Dark Knight was easily my favorite movie until nearly the last week of December and I saw Slumdog Millionaire. The Dark Knight is one of those rare movies that transends genres and labels. Sure its a big blockbuster type of film that plenty of action, explosions and excitement but it is also a movie that hits on many deeper levels. Crime, madness, heroism these all play a big part in the Dark Knight. Then throw in one of the most fantastic performances by an actor in a little while in Heath Ledger as the Joker and you have a movie that hits a home run actually a grand slam. This is not just a comic book movie, this is a drama, it is an action film, it is a character piece and its one of the best movies of the year and decade. | ||
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#3- Burn After Reading Starring: George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Brad Pitt Directed by: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen The Coen's miss every now and then but more often than not they make some of the best movies in Hollywood. No Country for Old Men was my favorite film of last year and now they add my third favorite this year. And 2008 to me was the year of comedies there were more comedies and better comedies than their have been in quite sometime and Burn After the Reading was the best of the bunch. The Coen's got great perfomances by every one involved and put together one heck of a stellar cast. They are certaintly strange creatures as they can switch from a serious drama to a hillarious comedy so smoothly. Few directors have that ability and its what makes them so great not to mention there movies are always worth seeing and memorable. | ||
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#4- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Jason Flemyng, Taraji P. Henson, Julia Ormond Directed by: David Fincher This movie really grew on me and while I really liked it when I first saw it weeks after seeing it I just now realize how much I really loved the movie. This was the first movie I saw for a second time in 2009 (well technically I saw it on Christmas Day and then again after the New Year but thats just schemantics) and I enjoyed the movie even more the second time than I did the first time. The film is a little long moreso than it probably needed to be but it is one of those films that will stick with you for twenty years. It's the kind of film that ends up becoming a classic and that you watch over and over again. Fantastic story, great acting and an idea and plot that just draws you in and keeps drawing you even weeks after you saw it. | ||
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#5- Gran Torino Starring: Cory Hardrict, Bee Vang, Clint Eastwood, Ahney Her, Brian Haley Directed by: Clint Eastwood We don't get to see Clint very much in front of the cameras anymore but after fourty years in Hollywood you still can't believe how good he is. This movie is almost a what if Dirty Harry grew old and then found himself living in a slum fested area of Detroit. That same gruffness that made Harry Callahan is there but now its in an old and bitter and mean Clint Eastwood. And I love that the movie doesn't try and be politically correct which does garner many laughs but how many movies do you get to see an honest to god character that isn't afraid to call someone a spick or spook and means it. But the movie also has heart and thats why it is so good. | ||
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#6- Wall*E Starring: Fred Willard, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy, Sigourney Weaver, Jeff Garlin Directed by: Andrew Stanton Who says an animated movie can't be one of the best movies of the year, definitly not Pixar who churn out great movies every year. I think Wall*E was also a turn to greatness after a few lackluster movies like Cars. Cars was ok but it didn't have that for both audiences, kids and adults alike feel to it like Toy Story did and like Wall*E does. The movie is tongue in cheek and doesn't just cater to the kids but also allows the adults to have some fun too. Of course Beautifully animated and gorgeous to look at but with a fun kind of screw you story to it to boot. | ||
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#7- Appaloosa Starring: Ed Harris, Robert Knott, Viggo Mortensen, Renee Zellweger, Timothy V. Murphy Directed by: Ed Harris This is probably the best movie you did not see this year as I don't think many people did see it. It also was the best Western of the year, heck it might have been the only western as the genre has nearly died. But like many of the old westerns it has a great story mixed in with a little gun fighting and some drama and love to boot. It has everything you would want out of a western and while it doesn't feel like a John Wayne film it does feel like an Unforgiven or other modern classics. | ||
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#8- Pineapple Express Starring: James Franco, Seth Rogen, Craig Robinson, James Remar, Joe Lo Truglio Directed by: David Gordon Green This was the year of the comedy in my opinion as 2008 produced a number of great and funny movies and Pineapple Express was your over the top comedy about two pot smoking idiots who can't seem to stay out of a gunfight. The movie is chock full of those funny kind of moments that you can laugh at time and time again not the old cliched jokes many movies seem to rely on nowdays. Full sight gags and prat falls and sheer lunacy the movie is hillarious and silly and lots of fun. | ||
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#9- In Bruges Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, Clemence Poesy, Jeremie Renier Directed by: Martin McDonagh In Bruges fits into one of my favorite sub genres of the crime/gangster genre. It is the black comedy and foreign gangster movie rather than the very stylized Hollywood gangster movie. Much like the recently released Bank Job and classics like Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels the film is a mixture of a comedy, action and drama all set in a British like atmosphere. Granted the movie takes place in Belgium but all the actors are on the lam from England and have that very dry British humor that I am big fan of. Granted the movie is probably not for everyone as it really doesn't fit into your traditional mold for an action film but for those who love black comedies and British heist movies the movie is incredibly fun, funny and entertaining. | ||
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#10- Iron Man Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Shaun Toub, Leslie Bibb, and Gwyneth Paltrow Directed by: Jon Favreau Since the release of X-men in the summer of 2000 there has been at least three or four movies based on comic books every summer. Some are well known and popular stories others are more obscure. Some are really great, some are just good and a lot of them are mediocre or just plain bad. So where does Iron Man fall in this onslaught of comic based stories and characters? Iron Man would fall in the category of one of the better done and more exciting comic book movies to make its way to the big screen in the last decade or so. Up there with other greats like Spiderman 2 and Batman Begins the movie mixes plenty of action with a really good story and real drama. It keeps your glued to your seat and never really seems to have a slow moment even as it unfolds an intricate tale. Then mix in a lot of really awesome action sequences and realistic CGI and the movie just plains blows you away. | ||
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Honorable Mention- Young@Heart Starring: Bob Cilman, Young@Heart Directed by: Jane Villiers, Sally George Another movie that flew pretty low on every ones radars but also one of those movies that you are doing yourself a big diservice if you don't at least rent the movie. Proof that even though you get old you don't have to act old and you can still have a good time and there is still a lot to do in life. The movie is heart warming, funny and just a pleasure to watch. And better yet its a psuedo-documentary meaning everything you see really did happen and that makes it that much more fun and entertaining. | ||
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Honorable Mention- Tropic Thunder Starring: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jay Baruchel, Nick Nolte Directed by: Ben Stiller The last comedy to make my list and thats not really a mark against it as there were just so many other great comedies this year. Tropic Thunder is such great satire as it makes fun of itself and all those who make films. Also we get another great perfomance by Robert Downey Jr playing a dude pretenting to be a dude playing a dude. Even cameo's like Tom Cruise just add another element in a movie that was downright funny and so much fun to watch. | ||
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Worst Movies of the Year #1- Babylon A.D. Starring: Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, Melanie Thierry, Lambert Wilson, Gerard Depardieu Directed by: Mathieu Kassovitz I have to admit I haven't seen some of the worst movies released in 2008 because they were so obviously bad and horrendous I was smart enough to stay away from them (the Hottie and the Nottie, Meet the Spartans, Disaster Movie etc...) but of the movies I saw in 2008 this was the worst. It was a mess all the way through and was a true disaster. The story was horrible, the acting was bad, the effects were mediocre and the movie just stunk. But unlike crap like the Hottie and the Nottie which is so obviously crap and you keep a distance from this movie actually seemed like it might have a chance from the trailers. The old bait and switch where the trailer was ten times better than the film itself and so much more mercifully shorter. | ||
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#2- The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Starring: Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Maria Bello, Michelle Yeoh, John Hannah Directed by: Rob Cohen Just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should pretty much sums up everything you need to know about the latest installment of the Mummy franchise. The movie fails on so many different levels that it is almost astonishing that they were able to ever get the movie made. Just because you can use lots of CGI doesn’t mean you should. Just because you can go to one action sequence after another and fail to set up any type of plot that holds up for more than a second or two doesn’t mean you should. Just because you have run out of ideas doesn’t mean you should introduce new and boring characters that don’t fir well with the story. Just because you can make another sequel to a series that is a remake of another series of sequels doesn’t mean you should. The first two Mummy films were actually good in that popcorn action kind of way, the third installment is just pure stupidity, really bad CGI, very little plot, tons of bad one liners and if this is all they have left hopefully the end of the series. | ||
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#3- You Don't Mess With the Zohan Starring: Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Nick Swardson, John Turturro Directed by: Dennis Dugan Adam Sandler has made my worst of list in back to back years now which is kind of a sign of how much he has fallen considering I only do the three worst films of the year (I try to not celebrate mediocrity as I could eaily do a top ten worst as well). Sure Bedtime Stories his second effort of 2008 was an ok film but it is pretty obvious Sandler really doesn't care that much anymore and will take anything that has a paycheck involved with it. The problem with You Don't Mess with the Zohan was that it was one joke that really wasn't that funny to begin with that they hammered into the ground over and over and over again. It was like hearing the same bad joke for 90 minutes. | ||
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Biggest Dissapointment of 2008 Quantum of Solace Starring: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Giancarlo Giannini, Jesper Christensen, Mathieu Amalric Directed by: Marc Forster I know a lot of people have Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on their list as the most disappointing movie of the year but I really wasn't that excited about a fourth Indiana installment so the movie just didn't disappoint me that much. It had been twenty years in between installments and the movie just didn't seem necessary so it really didn't let me down. But Quantum of Solace was high on must see list all year and its only been three years since the fantastic Casino Royale and so this very mediocre Bourne wannabe was a crushing disappointment for me. To come from such heights to such mediocracy in such a short time in such a shame. Hopefully they will right the ship with the next installment. | ||