Since I’ve done a list of my least favorite films of last year I’m going to go more on the bright side by listing my 13 favorite films that came out last year. Why 13 films? Because I want to disprove superstition. This list will probably be the most unique one because I’ve seen the sleepers and of course seen the big budget flicks so there will be a bit of both.
13. Run Fat Boy Run: this is one you probably never heard of. It came out in March which is when good movies usually don’t come out, but this is a pretty good film. It stars Simon Pegg and is directed by David Schwimmer. It’s about this guy who left his girlfriend at the altar pregnant (yeah I know it’s a horrible thing to do) and has to run this marathon to try to get her back. It was a very funny and enjoyable film.
12. Wall-E: here’s one that everyone heard of and is a film common amongst Best films of the year lists. This might cause a little controversy because it is so low on the list but for me Wall-E didn’t really do it. It felt short and wasn’t really that funny. I also didn’t like the integrated live action parts it made since in Happy Feet but it didn’t make since in this. In my opinion it’s the worst Pixar films ever, but it was still good. I liked that the didn’t go and find the biggest actors around to do voices, in fact Wall-E voice is done by a special effects guy at Lucas films. The short before the film “Presto” was the funniest Pixar short ever. While in my opinion it is overrated Wall-E was still good enough to make this list.
11. Ghost Town: Another film that flew under the radar Ghost Town is a funny and sweet film at the same time. It’s about this doctor that is a complete ass to everybody who dies for 7 minutes (actually a little less) and now sees ghost everywhere he goes. So he has to help them to put them to rest rather if he likes it or not. I think the only reason this film flew under the radar is because it came out in September or October. I definitely recommend it for anyone who wants to watch a movie that is both funny and sad.
10. Forgetting Sarah Marshall: If you seen my list of the worst films of 08 you would know that I hated Drillbit Taylor. This has the same producer and it’s hard to believe that a film so bad shares producers with this film which is good. This film stars Jason Segel who is probably best known for his role as Marshall in the hit sitcom “How I met your Mother”. His girlfriend Sarah Marshall dumps him so he goes to Hawaii to try to forget her (thus the title). Unfortunately he runs into her while there making it very hard to forget her. This film is just hilarious but raunchy. When I say this film is raunchy I mean that this film is raunchy. There’s a plethora of sex scenes and Jason Segel shows us his schlong twice. When he is trying to forget Sarah Marshall the audience is trying to forget Marshall’s penis.
9. Hamlet 2: Just like Run Fat Boy Run and Ghost Town this flew under the radar. Unlike Run Fat Boy Run and Ghost Town I don’t know why this flew under the radar because it came out during the summer. This film is about a drama teacher who really sucks at acting. The school board is going to shut down his drama department so him and his class has the idea to release a play in order to save the class. So the drama teacher decides to write an original play called Hamlet 2. This play is filled with a crap load of blasphemy including a 50’s style song named Rock me Sexy Jesus. The story’s a bit lacking but it is hard not to laugh at this film and all of it’s over the top humor.
8. Kung Fu Panda: I really expected this film to suck like Shark Tale and Bee Movie but it really surprised me. It had an array of good jokes and characters. The computer generation was pretty good and the kung fu action was awesome. As for the voice acting; I’m glad that they had Jack Black do use his real voice instead of having to do some stupid fake voice like in Shark Tale. I did however found some of the voice actors they got were unnecessary. Any actress could’ve done the voice for the Tigress they didn’t have to go with Angelina Jolie but the biggest waste was Jackie Chan doing the voice for Monkey, he only said two lines during the entire film. Other then getting unnecessary voice actors this is a good film definitely worth watching.
7. Son of Rambow: If you think new Rambo film you’ll probably think of the movie Rambo that come out in January but I didn’t see that nor will I want to. I however did see the other Rambo film that came out this year titled Son of Rambow. This film is about two boys who decide to film a sequel to First Blood (the first Rambo film). This film is funny, witty, and charming and is one of the few films I would recommend for kids despite the PG-13 rating.
6. The Visitor: The Visitor is a slow moving film that some people might find boring, but I liked it. It’s about a teacher who finds two immigrants living in his apartment. He lets them stay and develops a friendship with them. This friendship really gets put to the test when one of the immigrants gets arrested and is on the threat of getting deported. This film will make you rethink about the immigration issue in America right now. Would it really be worth it to kick people out just to lower taxes? I don’t think so.
5. Tropic Thunder: This is the first big budget comedy that came out this year that I thought was great ( I didn’t see Forgetting Sarah Marshall until a couple weeks ago on DVD) and this one is big budget. It has a plethora of big actors and celebrity guests. Usually when you throw random celebrities into shows or films it usually sucks (SNL is the prime example) but this film really done that well. This film satirizes everything wrong with Hollywood like drug addiction, series that run sequels past its prime and even comedians playing multiple parts in their movies. See it, watch it, and laugh.
4. The Dark Knight: Everyone and their dog have seen this movie so I don’t need to explain the story at all. You’re probably wondering why this movie is not higher on the list. Before I explain why it’s not higher I just have to say the Joker was a great villain; Heath Ledger did a great job. But what else is great about it? Every time I see or hear somebody saying that the Dark Knight is the best movie of the year their explanation is that the Joker was awesome. They don’t comment on anything else. That’s because the Joker is this movie. This should’ve been called the Joker and Heath Ledger should win an academy award for best actor because the Joker is the star of this film just like Anton Chigurh was the star of last year’s movie No Country for Old Men. The Joker make the Dark Knight have a very good story to it. All the scenes that either doesn’t have the Joker or not about the Joker are unentertaining, that’s because the Joker seems to be the only character with real personality to them. I’m not saying that the actors were bad at doing their jobs I’m just saying that the characters in the Dark Knight other then the Joker are bland. That’s the first two reasons that I didn’t put it higher on the list. The third reason is that I hated the ending. Let me explain; after Batman kills Two Face he speaks with Commissioner Gordon and he tells Batman that they can’t tell the people that Harvey Dent ended up bad because it will make the people lose hope. So they have the crimes pinned on Batman. I get that they were trying to be philosophical with the whole in order to be the hero he has to be the villain but in this situation it doesn’t make since. Sure finding out that Harvey Dent became a criminal would make people lose hope for maybe a week or two but instead they have them learn that Batman a man who lurks in that shadow and beats up criminals is a bad guy instead. That would scare the crap out of the people and do you know what happens when people get scared? They lose hope. Despite the stupid ending and bland characters the Dark Knight is still a great movie, just not the best movie of the year.
3. In Bruges: The Dark Knight was dark but In Bruges was dark and funny. It’s about these two hit men who are crashing in a town called Bruges (that’s why the movie is called In Bruges). One of the hit men accidentally killed a little boy during his last hit (which was also his first hit) so the boss of the two hit men told the hit man who didn’t kill the boy to kill the hit man who did. The plot doesn’t sound like a comedy but there’s enough good dialogue, F-bombs, and racist hooker loving drug addicted midget to make it funny.
2. Iron Man: The majority of the people seem to like the Dark Knight better then Iron Man. I honestly don’t think it’s fair to compare them because Iron Man is a superhero action movie while the Dark Knight is a crime thriller that happens to have a guy in a bat suit and a clown but if you have to compare them then I’m in the minority because Iron Man for me is better then the Dark Knight. Iron Man is movie where every second is pure entertainment. Is it because of the action? No there are only 3 action scenes. The reason Iron Man is pure entertainment are the characters a field where the Dark Knight was lacking. All the character seems to be rounded especially our main character Tony Stark. It’s hard to laugh at Bruce Wayne pretending heatanistic when we have Tony Stark who is heatanistic. I’ve seen Iron Man three times and it is as great the third time as it was the first time. Iron Man is great and it 7 months for me to find a film that is superior but I finally did and it’s my number 1.
1. Slumdog Millionaire: If you haven’t seen this then you’re missing out on something great. Slumdog Millionaire sucks you in like a great novel and gets you attached to the story even after you leave the theater. The movie’s about a phone service assistant who goes on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire and is arrested because he is accused of cheating at it because he’s done so well. Why did he do so well? It’s because every answer in his question comes from something in his life. Now I know you’re thinking that a movie with a popular game show as a key plot component can’t possibly be good. Well it is not only good but the best movie I’ve seen all year hands down. If you haven’t’ seen this movie then you should. It’s a great film and I’m not going to spoil any of the plot for you because it just got released in theaters. With the Oscar nominees going to be announced I hope that this film is in the list of nominees for best picture.
13. Run Fat Boy Run: this is one you probably never heard of. It came out in March which is when good movies usually don’t come out, but this is a pretty good film. It stars Simon Pegg and is directed by David Schwimmer. It’s about this guy who left his girlfriend at the altar pregnant (yeah I know it’s a horrible thing to do) and has to run this marathon to try to get her back. It was a very funny and enjoyable film.
12. Wall-E: here’s one that everyone heard of and is a film common amongst Best films of the year lists. This might cause a little controversy because it is so low on the list but for me Wall-E didn’t really do it. It felt short and wasn’t really that funny. I also didn’t like the integrated live action parts it made since in Happy Feet but it didn’t make since in this. In my opinion it’s the worst Pixar films ever, but it was still good. I liked that the didn’t go and find the biggest actors around to do voices, in fact Wall-E voice is done by a special effects guy at Lucas films. The short before the film “Presto” was the funniest Pixar short ever. While in my opinion it is overrated Wall-E was still good enough to make this list.
11. Ghost Town: Another film that flew under the radar Ghost Town is a funny and sweet film at the same time. It’s about this doctor that is a complete ass to everybody who dies for 7 minutes (actually a little less) and now sees ghost everywhere he goes. So he has to help them to put them to rest rather if he likes it or not. I think the only reason this film flew under the radar is because it came out in September or October. I definitely recommend it for anyone who wants to watch a movie that is both funny and sad.
10. Forgetting Sarah Marshall: If you seen my list of the worst films of 08 you would know that I hated Drillbit Taylor. This has the same producer and it’s hard to believe that a film so bad shares producers with this film which is good. This film stars Jason Segel who is probably best known for his role as Marshall in the hit sitcom “How I met your Mother”. His girlfriend Sarah Marshall dumps him so he goes to Hawaii to try to forget her (thus the title). Unfortunately he runs into her while there making it very hard to forget her. This film is just hilarious but raunchy. When I say this film is raunchy I mean that this film is raunchy. There’s a plethora of sex scenes and Jason Segel shows us his schlong twice. When he is trying to forget Sarah Marshall the audience is trying to forget Marshall’s penis.
9. Hamlet 2: Just like Run Fat Boy Run and Ghost Town this flew under the radar. Unlike Run Fat Boy Run and Ghost Town I don’t know why this flew under the radar because it came out during the summer. This film is about a drama teacher who really sucks at acting. The school board is going to shut down his drama department so him and his class has the idea to release a play in order to save the class. So the drama teacher decides to write an original play called Hamlet 2. This play is filled with a crap load of blasphemy including a 50’s style song named Rock me Sexy Jesus. The story’s a bit lacking but it is hard not to laugh at this film and all of it’s over the top humor.
8. Kung Fu Panda: I really expected this film to suck like Shark Tale and Bee Movie but it really surprised me. It had an array of good jokes and characters. The computer generation was pretty good and the kung fu action was awesome. As for the voice acting; I’m glad that they had Jack Black do use his real voice instead of having to do some stupid fake voice like in Shark Tale. I did however found some of the voice actors they got were unnecessary. Any actress could’ve done the voice for the Tigress they didn’t have to go with Angelina Jolie but the biggest waste was Jackie Chan doing the voice for Monkey, he only said two lines during the entire film. Other then getting unnecessary voice actors this is a good film definitely worth watching.
7. Son of Rambow: If you think new Rambo film you’ll probably think of the movie Rambo that come out in January but I didn’t see that nor will I want to. I however did see the other Rambo film that came out this year titled Son of Rambow. This film is about two boys who decide to film a sequel to First Blood (the first Rambo film). This film is funny, witty, and charming and is one of the few films I would recommend for kids despite the PG-13 rating.
6. The Visitor: The Visitor is a slow moving film that some people might find boring, but I liked it. It’s about a teacher who finds two immigrants living in his apartment. He lets them stay and develops a friendship with them. This friendship really gets put to the test when one of the immigrants gets arrested and is on the threat of getting deported. This film will make you rethink about the immigration issue in America right now. Would it really be worth it to kick people out just to lower taxes? I don’t think so.
5. Tropic Thunder: This is the first big budget comedy that came out this year that I thought was great ( I didn’t see Forgetting Sarah Marshall until a couple weeks ago on DVD) and this one is big budget. It has a plethora of big actors and celebrity guests. Usually when you throw random celebrities into shows or films it usually sucks (SNL is the prime example) but this film really done that well. This film satirizes everything wrong with Hollywood like drug addiction, series that run sequels past its prime and even comedians playing multiple parts in their movies. See it, watch it, and laugh.
4. The Dark Knight: Everyone and their dog have seen this movie so I don’t need to explain the story at all. You’re probably wondering why this movie is not higher on the list. Before I explain why it’s not higher I just have to say the Joker was a great villain; Heath Ledger did a great job. But what else is great about it? Every time I see or hear somebody saying that the Dark Knight is the best movie of the year their explanation is that the Joker was awesome. They don’t comment on anything else. That’s because the Joker is this movie. This should’ve been called the Joker and Heath Ledger should win an academy award for best actor because the Joker is the star of this film just like Anton Chigurh was the star of last year’s movie No Country for Old Men. The Joker make the Dark Knight have a very good story to it. All the scenes that either doesn’t have the Joker or not about the Joker are unentertaining, that’s because the Joker seems to be the only character with real personality to them. I’m not saying that the actors were bad at doing their jobs I’m just saying that the characters in the Dark Knight other then the Joker are bland. That’s the first two reasons that I didn’t put it higher on the list. The third reason is that I hated the ending. Let me explain; after Batman kills Two Face he speaks with Commissioner Gordon and he tells Batman that they can’t tell the people that Harvey Dent ended up bad because it will make the people lose hope. So they have the crimes pinned on Batman. I get that they were trying to be philosophical with the whole in order to be the hero he has to be the villain but in this situation it doesn’t make since. Sure finding out that Harvey Dent became a criminal would make people lose hope for maybe a week or two but instead they have them learn that Batman a man who lurks in that shadow and beats up criminals is a bad guy instead. That would scare the crap out of the people and do you know what happens when people get scared? They lose hope. Despite the stupid ending and bland characters the Dark Knight is still a great movie, just not the best movie of the year.
3. In Bruges: The Dark Knight was dark but In Bruges was dark and funny. It’s about these two hit men who are crashing in a town called Bruges (that’s why the movie is called In Bruges). One of the hit men accidentally killed a little boy during his last hit (which was also his first hit) so the boss of the two hit men told the hit man who didn’t kill the boy to kill the hit man who did. The plot doesn’t sound like a comedy but there’s enough good dialogue, F-bombs, and racist hooker loving drug addicted midget to make it funny.
2. Iron Man: The majority of the people seem to like the Dark Knight better then Iron Man. I honestly don’t think it’s fair to compare them because Iron Man is a superhero action movie while the Dark Knight is a crime thriller that happens to have a guy in a bat suit and a clown but if you have to compare them then I’m in the minority because Iron Man for me is better then the Dark Knight. Iron Man is movie where every second is pure entertainment. Is it because of the action? No there are only 3 action scenes. The reason Iron Man is pure entertainment are the characters a field where the Dark Knight was lacking. All the character seems to be rounded especially our main character Tony Stark. It’s hard to laugh at Bruce Wayne pretending heatanistic when we have Tony Stark who is heatanistic. I’ve seen Iron Man three times and it is as great the third time as it was the first time. Iron Man is great and it 7 months for me to find a film that is superior but I finally did and it’s my number 1.
1. Slumdog Millionaire: If you haven’t seen this then you’re missing out on something great. Slumdog Millionaire sucks you in like a great novel and gets you attached to the story even after you leave the theater. The movie’s about a phone service assistant who goes on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire and is arrested because he is accused of cheating at it because he’s done so well. Why did he do so well? It’s because every answer in his question comes from something in his life. Now I know you’re thinking that a movie with a popular game show as a key plot component can’t possibly be good. Well it is not only good but the best movie I’ve seen all year hands down. If you haven’t’ seen this movie then you should. It’s a great film and I’m not going to spoil any of the plot for you because it just got released in theaters. With the Oscar nominees going to be announced I hope that this film is in the list of nominees for best picture. 
1 comment:
I like your list and agree at least with the ones I have seen. There's a lot I haven't seen, so I'll try to see it this year.
I wanted to point out a possible correction with a detail you had in Slumdog Millionaire.
The movie isn't about a "phone service assistant" because Jamal that wasn't his position. In fact, I think he just served tea for the call center. I do recall him walking into a room and he was asked various questions and knew the answers to it. The scene was significant because his coworker asked him to cover for him and that's when he tried to look up Salim, his brother, and Latika.
I think calling him a "slumdog" captures him very well. For some time, he served tea for the call center, but he also did do lots of things like selling goods (shoes), giving pretend tours, pickpocketing, etc.
It's a pretty minor detail and it may be a little much I felt compelled to comment. I just found your lists on youtube and thought I'd read up more on the movies you've mentioned. I like your site.
The film is my # 1 for 2008 and is considered for my favourites list.
Post a Comment