Best
Wall-E (2008)
One of the things I love about the Pixar shorts is that they each tell a complete story without the use of dialog. Now we have Wall-E, a feature length film which has no dialog (except for a few commercial voiceovers) for the first half of the film. What results is a masterpiece of character animation. Not since Buster Keaton has a character shown so many emotions with so little facial movement. Also of note is the fantastic work of Ben Burtt who created such a lush soundscape for the film and gave Wall-E his voice, all against the backdrop of Thomas Newman’s beautiful score. I almost put this one at number one.
Worst
Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter (2001)
I’m not quite sure what I was expecting, but I was definitely not expecting an amateur production with unexciting slapstick fights, vampires preying on lesbians, Jesus joining forces with a Mexican wrestler, and the occasional musical number from out of the blue (one of which I am sure was inspired by "Every Sperm is Sacred" from The Meaning of Life). The production values are shoddy, the script is on par with your average student film, and overall the film is more dumb than sacrilegious (which says more about its intelligence than its theology).
Coming up next: the best of the best and the worst of the worst. Any predictions?
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Top and Bottom of 2008 - #3
Best
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
This film tells essentially two stories. First is the story of the trial. Charles Laughton stars as a defense lawyer who is presented with a nearly impossible murder case to defend: lots of circumstantial evidence against the accused and a shaky alibi. And then his only witness, the accused’s wife, testifies for the prosecution, and things really get interesting. Laughton is riveting in the courtroom scenes and I could not take my eyes off his every tic and unorthodox delivery. The second story is Charles Laughton versus his nurse (a very funny Elsa Lanchester). Since he is just coming home from the hospital after a heart attack, her mission in life is to keep him from his favorite vices of whiskey and cigars. It is immensely entertaining to watch the cat-and-mouse game the two of them play as Laughton tries to escape from his nurse for a quick cigar while she is relentless in her attempts to pin him down to take his pills. Both stories are highly entertaining and compliment each other superbly.
Worst
Love Story (1970)
"Love means never having to say you're sorry."
"That's the dumbest thing I ever heard."
Those immortal words from What's Up, Doc? pretty much sum up my reaction to both the signature line and the film in general. Ryan O’Neal hates his father, so he ignores his father’s sensible advice and marries his college crush. She tells him "Love means never having to say you’re sorry," then gets sick and dies. His father tries to reach out to him, and he tells his dad, "Love means never having to say you’re sorry," and the credits roll. The line makes no sense and every way I try to figure it out it comes out saying something very incorrect about love. When Ryan O’Neal’s beloved says it, it’s dumb but excusable because she is a free spirit and can get away with saying things like that, but when he utters the silly phrase to conclude the film it makes absolutely no sense and puts a perfectly idiotic ending on an already silly film.
Coming up next: two saviors who save humanity from life-sucking entities.
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
This film tells essentially two stories. First is the story of the trial. Charles Laughton stars as a defense lawyer who is presented with a nearly impossible murder case to defend: lots of circumstantial evidence against the accused and a shaky alibi. And then his only witness, the accused’s wife, testifies for the prosecution, and things really get interesting. Laughton is riveting in the courtroom scenes and I could not take my eyes off his every tic and unorthodox delivery. The second story is Charles Laughton versus his nurse (a very funny Elsa Lanchester). Since he is just coming home from the hospital after a heart attack, her mission in life is to keep him from his favorite vices of whiskey and cigars. It is immensely entertaining to watch the cat-and-mouse game the two of them play as Laughton tries to escape from his nurse for a quick cigar while she is relentless in her attempts to pin him down to take his pills. Both stories are highly entertaining and compliment each other superbly.
Worst
Love Story (1970)
"Love means never having to say you're sorry."
"That's the dumbest thing I ever heard."
Those immortal words from What's Up, Doc? pretty much sum up my reaction to both the signature line and the film in general. Ryan O’Neal hates his father, so he ignores his father’s sensible advice and marries his college crush. She tells him "Love means never having to say you’re sorry," then gets sick and dies. His father tries to reach out to him, and he tells his dad, "Love means never having to say you’re sorry," and the credits roll. The line makes no sense and every way I try to figure it out it comes out saying something very incorrect about love. When Ryan O’Neal’s beloved says it, it’s dumb but excusable because she is a free spirit and can get away with saying things like that, but when he utters the silly phrase to conclude the film it makes absolutely no sense and puts a perfectly idiotic ending on an already silly film.
Coming up next: two saviors who save humanity from life-sucking entities.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Top and Bottom of 2008 - #4
Best
The Dark Knight (2008)
A hero who truly longs for justice. A truly twisted and evil villain. Lots of thrilling actions sequences. Moral dilemmas with serious consequences. Cool gadgets. A beautifully executed bank heist. Really, what’s not to like?
(So there’s not much I can say that hasn’t already been stated by thousands of other critics, and really by this point, you have either seen it or already know if you want to see it for yourself or not, so my vote of confidence is just a drop in a very large ocean.)
Worst
Casino Royale (1967)
What a piece of trash! There were very few laughs in this "comedy" and the plot was so disjointed it seemed that every scene was completely unconnected to the previous one. Even the presence of Peter Sellers, David Niven, Orson Welles, and Woody Allen could not save this film. If you see only one spy spoof movie, see Austin Powers.
Coming up next: a movie that is a mystery and a movie that is a mystery to me why it is considered to be a great film.
The Dark Knight (2008)
A hero who truly longs for justice. A truly twisted and evil villain. Lots of thrilling actions sequences. Moral dilemmas with serious consequences. Cool gadgets. A beautifully executed bank heist. Really, what’s not to like?
(So there’s not much I can say that hasn’t already been stated by thousands of other critics, and really by this point, you have either seen it or already know if you want to see it for yourself or not, so my vote of confidence is just a drop in a very large ocean.)
Worst
Casino Royale (1967)
What a piece of trash! There were very few laughs in this "comedy" and the plot was so disjointed it seemed that every scene was completely unconnected to the previous one. Even the presence of Peter Sellers, David Niven, Orson Welles, and Woody Allen could not save this film. If you see only one spy spoof movie, see Austin Powers.
Coming up next: a movie that is a mystery and a movie that is a mystery to me why it is considered to be a great film.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Top and Bottom of 2008 - #5
Best
White Heat (1949)
James Cagney seethes evil as the gangster Cody Jarrett. He has no moral compass other than a messed up mother complex that would have made Hitchcock proud. When the police place an undercover cop in Jarrett's gang, the tension mounts until the inevitable explosive ending. And as Jarrett shoots friend and foe alike with no regard for his own safety, my only thought was "Heath Ledger's got nothing on Cagney."
Worst
La Vie en rose (2007)
I watched this film knowing nothing about French singer Edith Piaf, and once the film was over, all I knew was she had a big voice, liked to drink, and loved an already married boxer. The story is annoyingly told out of chronological order, so there is no sense of when anything is happening and what has already happened. People pop in and out of Edith’s life with no explanation as to where they went or how they came back. And if things start to get interesting, the film jumps to a completely different time period with no common thread to tie the scenes together. It is as if the editor misread the slates, and when they said "Day 1" he thought they meant "Scene 1," so edited the film in the order in which it was shot. And to make matters worse, half the film is woefully underlit. Granted, I watched the film on my computer screen which was already dark, but when half the scenes are at night (for no apparent reason) or in dimly lit interiors, the fault is not solely in my computer hardware.
Coming up next: a couple alternate versions of already established movie characters.
White Heat (1949)
James Cagney seethes evil as the gangster Cody Jarrett. He has no moral compass other than a messed up mother complex that would have made Hitchcock proud. When the police place an undercover cop in Jarrett's gang, the tension mounts until the inevitable explosive ending. And as Jarrett shoots friend and foe alike with no regard for his own safety, my only thought was "Heath Ledger's got nothing on Cagney."
Worst
La Vie en rose (2007)
I watched this film knowing nothing about French singer Edith Piaf, and once the film was over, all I knew was she had a big voice, liked to drink, and loved an already married boxer. The story is annoyingly told out of chronological order, so there is no sense of when anything is happening and what has already happened. People pop in and out of Edith’s life with no explanation as to where they went or how they came back. And if things start to get interesting, the film jumps to a completely different time period with no common thread to tie the scenes together. It is as if the editor misread the slates, and when they said "Day 1" he thought they meant "Scene 1," so edited the film in the order in which it was shot. And to make matters worse, half the film is woefully underlit. Granted, I watched the film on my computer screen which was already dark, but when half the scenes are at night (for no apparent reason) or in dimly lit interiors, the fault is not solely in my computer hardware.
Coming up next: a couple alternate versions of already established movie characters.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Top and Bottom of 2008 - #6
Best
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
The film tells the rousing story of a group of misfit soldiers who elect to go on a suicide mission during WWII in lieu of serving out their prison sentences. While we don’t get a full look at each member of the titular dozen, the film does a wonderful job juggling its large cast in a way that we still get to know most of the twelve. Lee Marvin lights up the screen in every scene, and watching the film makes me want to check out more of his extensive work. The film has a lot in common with The Great Escape: a war movie that feels like a comedy until the third act when the tension ratchets up several notches, leading to a sobering ending that still does not seem out of place.
Worst
Mean Streets (1973)
My roommate walked in while I was watching the movie. "What’s happened?" "Nothing." "You just started?" "No, I’m an hour in." And it was downhill from there. I have never enjoyed Martin Scorsese’s exercises in ugliness, but this one didn’t even have a plot to pretend to engage me. In fact, I had to read the back of the DVD case to get the story of the movie I just watched. Most of the characters are thoroughly unlikeable and all the scenes take place in dingy, dirty environments that most people would clean before inhabiting. While it may have some interesting camera work, all the fancy camera work in the world is useless unless it is showing something worth looking at.
Coming up next: a crazy protagonist and a crazy chronology.
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
The film tells the rousing story of a group of misfit soldiers who elect to go on a suicide mission during WWII in lieu of serving out their prison sentences. While we don’t get a full look at each member of the titular dozen, the film does a wonderful job juggling its large cast in a way that we still get to know most of the twelve. Lee Marvin lights up the screen in every scene, and watching the film makes me want to check out more of his extensive work. The film has a lot in common with The Great Escape: a war movie that feels like a comedy until the third act when the tension ratchets up several notches, leading to a sobering ending that still does not seem out of place.
Worst
Mean Streets (1973)
My roommate walked in while I was watching the movie. "What’s happened?" "Nothing." "You just started?" "No, I’m an hour in." And it was downhill from there. I have never enjoyed Martin Scorsese’s exercises in ugliness, but this one didn’t even have a plot to pretend to engage me. In fact, I had to read the back of the DVD case to get the story of the movie I just watched. Most of the characters are thoroughly unlikeable and all the scenes take place in dingy, dirty environments that most people would clean before inhabiting. While it may have some interesting camera work, all the fancy camera work in the world is useless unless it is showing something worth looking at.
Coming up next: a crazy protagonist and a crazy chronology.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Top and Bottom of 2008 - #7
Best
The King of Kong (2007)
I have played a little bit of Donkey Kong, and it is hard and frustrating. So I was intrigued when I heard about a film that chronicles two men: the Donkey Kong high score record holder, and the man out to beat that score. While it did not give me any enlightening tips on how to beat the game, the film does provides an interesting look into the world of competitive gaming and ranks high on the nostalgia factor, featuring many old-school arcade games. But the film is even more than that, providing heroes, villains, and many who we’re not sure what side they’re on, and thrilling the whole way through. And as an added bonus, as the credits roll, we are treated to clips chronicling the evolution of video games from the earliest arcade games to the most recent, state of the art console games.
Worst
I Know Who Killed Me (2007)
This is an ugly movie with a "surprise twist" that is more like a bad Twilight Zone episode that has absolutely no redeeming value that I can think of.
Coming up next: films that are dirty and mean.
The King of Kong (2007)
I have played a little bit of Donkey Kong, and it is hard and frustrating. So I was intrigued when I heard about a film that chronicles two men: the Donkey Kong high score record holder, and the man out to beat that score. While it did not give me any enlightening tips on how to beat the game, the film does provides an interesting look into the world of competitive gaming and ranks high on the nostalgia factor, featuring many old-school arcade games. But the film is even more than that, providing heroes, villains, and many who we’re not sure what side they’re on, and thrilling the whole way through. And as an added bonus, as the credits roll, we are treated to clips chronicling the evolution of video games from the earliest arcade games to the most recent, state of the art console games.
Worst
I Know Who Killed Me (2007)
This is an ugly movie with a "surprise twist" that is more like a bad Twilight Zone episode that has absolutely no redeeming value that I can think of.
Coming up next: films that are dirty and mean.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Top and Bottom of 2008 - #8
Best
The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
Few movies are as much of a joy to look at as this one is. Each frame is filled to the brim with lush, glorious Technicolor. The audience is treated to a plethora of visions: beautiful palaces, immense statues, a flying carpet, a flying horse, a giant spider, and a six-armed blue guitar player. All these sights are brought about through a combination of magnificent sets, luscious matte paintings, and ground breaking visual effects. The highlight of the film is the giant genie played by Rex Ingram who, while still being a comic character, never lets us forget how truly powerful and dangerous he is. The story is pulled from several of the 1001 Arabian Nights tales and features an exiled king, an evil vizier, a trapped princess, and, of course, a thief. This film holds its own alongside other fantasy epics such as The Lord of the Rings and The Wizard of Oz.
Worst
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Gorgeous photography and camera work. Excellent performances all around. Characters so abrasively angry and uncaring that half an hour into the film I was looking at the clock, wondering when the movie would be over. Elizabeth Taylor yells at Richard Burton. Then Richard Burton yells at Elizabeth Taylor. Then they belittle each other. Then they alternate between making their unfortunate guests uncomfortable and setting each other up to look foolish in front of their guests. Lather, rinse, repeat. There is a bit of hope present in the last moments of the film, but by that time I had almost completely lost interest in the whole affair.
Coming up next: a film that won more Razzies than it should have, and a film that should have gotten more Oscars than it did.
The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
Few movies are as much of a joy to look at as this one is. Each frame is filled to the brim with lush, glorious Technicolor. The audience is treated to a plethora of visions: beautiful palaces, immense statues, a flying carpet, a flying horse, a giant spider, and a six-armed blue guitar player. All these sights are brought about through a combination of magnificent sets, luscious matte paintings, and ground breaking visual effects. The highlight of the film is the giant genie played by Rex Ingram who, while still being a comic character, never lets us forget how truly powerful and dangerous he is. The story is pulled from several of the 1001 Arabian Nights tales and features an exiled king, an evil vizier, a trapped princess, and, of course, a thief. This film holds its own alongside other fantasy epics such as The Lord of the Rings and The Wizard of Oz.
Worst
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Gorgeous photography and camera work. Excellent performances all around. Characters so abrasively angry and uncaring that half an hour into the film I was looking at the clock, wondering when the movie would be over. Elizabeth Taylor yells at Richard Burton. Then Richard Burton yells at Elizabeth Taylor. Then they belittle each other. Then they alternate between making their unfortunate guests uncomfortable and setting each other up to look foolish in front of their guests. Lather, rinse, repeat. There is a bit of hope present in the last moments of the film, but by that time I had almost completely lost interest in the whole affair.
Coming up next: a film that won more Razzies than it should have, and a film that should have gotten more Oscars than it did.
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