Monday, March 15, 2010

Top and Bottom of 2009 - #5

Best
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
Robert Donat is captivating in the role of a British school teacher who teaches Latin to generation after generation of Britain’s finest. We see him grow from being a green first-year teacher, easy target to practical jokesters, to being such a steadfast fixture at the school that even exploding German bombs are unable to keep him from having class. He is ready with words of wisdom for his students, never shy from administering discipline when it is called for, and always willing to build a relationship with his students outside of the classroom.

Worst
Species (1995)
You would think that a movie with Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina, Forrest Whitaker, and Michael Madsen would at least have some potential, but unfortunately the promising cast is completely wasted on this dreck. The effects are gross, half the characters have no real reason for existence, the dialog is stilted and unnatural at best, and the climax is predictable and far from thrilling.

Coming up next: a movie that is a whole lot of fun, and one that could have been but failed miserably.

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