5. Watchmen:
Watchmen is the greatest comic of all-time. There's no argument, no comparison, no nothing. Read it, then try to argue with me about it... you will lose. That being said, a movie version successfully passing my criticism would be nothing short of a miracle. Zack Snyder (one of my current favorite filmmakers) took on the challenge and succeeded wholeheartedly. From the moment The Comedian makes his last stand while "Unforgettable" plays in the background, followed by the brilliant credits sequence, I knew I was watching a genius work of art. And, as far as casting goes, this was probably the best example of the year. Who would've thought the badass twerp from The Bad News Bears would play the part of Rorschach to pinpoint, precise perfection (look for him in the new Freddy flick, which looks to be another great turn by Mr. Haley)? Freakshow's wife as Silk Spectre II? Good gawd a-mighty. The movie actually flopped in a lot of viewers and critics eyes, but I guarantee you two things: they'd never read the comic, and they were expecting a Justice League-type superhero movie. They're ignorant, in other words. Who watches the Watchmen? Me. And you should, too. But read the comic first.4. Zombieland:
It's not big secret that zombies are my favorite movie monsters. What may be a secret is that Woody Harrelson is a personal hero of mine for two (of many) reasons: he played my favorite character on "Cheers", and he's a staunch activist in the fight to legalize marijuana and hemp. So, when I heard that Woody would be taking on the undead with the kid from Adventureland, Emma Stone (a member of my harem of celebrity hot tamales), and Little Miss Sunshine, I was in like Flint. And I was very, very far from disappointed. Critics summed up Zombieland by calling it Superbad meets Shaun of the Dead... and that's fair. Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese Americanized the humor of Shaun, keeping the zombie carnage at high level, and threw in the best elements of Superbad to create a brilliant film all their own (with the help of director Ruben Fleischer, of course). Remember: always double-tap.3. Inglourious Basterds:
Quentin Tarantino directing Brad Pitt in a movie about killing Nazis. That's all anyone really needs to know about this flick. Basterds is probably the best example of revisionist history ever put on film... find me a normal person who's never though about what it would be like to go back in time and kill Hitler. Obviously Tarantino has, and his pipe dream came to fruition beautifully. Tarantino hasn't ever really made a big movie, but Basterds is a surprisingly intimate film for one that feels like an epic. Quentin also has a knack for writing about characters you care about, even if they are the scum of the earth... hell, even serial killer Stuntman Mike was charismatic and engaging. In this one, though, he did (with the help of Christoph Waltz's brilliant acting) something he'd never done before: he created in Colonel Landa a downright mean-ass bastard of a villain that is completely, utterly evil and unlikable. I know, it sounds like I'm sucking Q's dick off with all of this love, but the man has yet to let me down (even though I was only slightly disappointed with Death Proof). Quentin is in the business of making killer movies, and, cousin, business is a-boomin'!2. Star Trek:
I can say without any rhetoric that I am, without a doubt, the biggest Trekker I know. For instance, I had to explain what "Picard's flute" was the other night to Brooklynn after we watched the amnesia episode of "Family Guy" (it's a Ressikan flute that used to belong to a man named Kamin). Anyway, when I first heard that they were recasting the original series characters, I was a bit skeptical. After all, to a Trekker, The Shat IS Kirk. That was, until Chris Pine showed up... Pine plays the rogue scoundrel to much more of a T than Bill ever did. Not all of the new guys look like the old ones, but that's okay... Simon Pegg speaking with a Scottish accent is fine by me, Zoe Saldana is uber-fine as Nyota Uhura (a first name, finally!), and Harold can certainly hold his own without Kumar. The real gem of the cast, though, is Zachary Quinto... not only does he look like Spock, he IS Spock. And, of course, having Leonard Nimoy back one more time could never hurt. I really cannot heap enough praise on this movie... even if you're not a fan of Trek, you're bound to like this. It has everything a good movie of this type should have: beautiful graphics/sound, blazing action, romance, comedy, and an iconic villain (played by Eric Bana with panache not seen since Ricardo Montalban's turn as Khan). This was far and away the best movie of 2009 to me, until I saw the next flick...1. Avatar:
James Cameron has never made a bad movie, ever. Find one. Haha, can't. People may feel that Titanic is overrated, but I think a lot of that has to do with its popularity with the teens and tweens of the late '90s and not because it isn't a great movie. Anyway, I was expecting a visual feast when I saw this, but I was completely unprepared for the onslaught my eyes were about to experience when I put on my 3D glasses. If Avatar isn't the greatest pure movie-going experience of all-time, it's at least the best-looking by a landslide. One of the main criticisms with this flick is that the story is far too cliche. But, let's be honest: there's nothing new under the storytelling sun, folks. Every type of story has been told over and over again since people first felt the need to be entertained. There are only new ways to tell the stories. If anyone ever tells you they've seen this one (the big bad bullies move in to steal peaceful natives' land) done better, they're the biggest bald-faced liar you've ever met. I don't see how this won't become the most important film of this generation, if not only for the huge leap in movie-watching tech that this film plays as a 2.5 hour trailer for.
0 comments:
Post a Comment