I'll be doing this 'of the year' lists in several parts, but two main ones. One for film (in two parts) and one for music (in an undetermined number of parts). I considered doing one for comics, but out of the ones I read only three events or miniseries actually finished this year, and none of them were particularly spectacular. So that idea is scrapped. The music one will come a little later. For now, let's stick with the moving pictures.
Overall I'd say that out of the movies I've seen this year, it was better than average. Most everything I saw I can say at least one good thing about, and most I can say numerous things about. More than a few I can gush about for several hours. I actually decided to stick with ranking this year, but it pretty roughly done. Though perhaps more accurate here than it is for the albums post I am making later, the rankings really shouldn't be taken too seriously in any case.
So let's get going. Reverse order is the way people like to see these, right? So let's start with the first eight or so out of seventeen (because that is the number of movies I saw from this year!).
17. Charlie Bartlett (Jon Poll dir. Gustin Nash wr. Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey Jr., Hope Davis, Kat Dennings)
I saw this movie for a few reasons. First, Robert Downey Jr. has been one of my favourite actors since I saw Chaplin years ago. Second, Anton Yelchin and Kat Dennings were two young actors who I had made note of when I saw them in the TV series Huff and the film The 40 Year Old Virgin respectively. Finally, I'm a sucker for high school films. It's the John Hughes/Breakfast Club fan in me.
Sadly, it fell short of expectations. While RBJ was as solid in his performance as expected (this was his year, arguably), it was probably the best part of the movie. The rest of it just seemed to fall flat. It just all seemed improbable and strange that the new kid would show up and change everything so quickly, become so powerful within the institution of the public high school. It was also very iritating that the Hope Davis-played mother role had absolutely no evolution as a character, when it was clearly something that was needed in that character.
The only reason this movie needs to be seen really is if you dig high school flicks, Degrassi: The Next Generation cast members cameoing, and/or Robert Downey Jr.
16. You Don't Mess with the Zohan (Dennis Dugan dir. Adam Sandler, Robert Smigel, Judd Apatow wir. Adam Sandler, John Turturro, Emanuelle Chriqui, Rob Schneider)
My mother is Israeli, so after seeing the trailer for this a few months before its release I knew that it was something that she'd probably want to see. I ended up seeing it with her, and that probably made the experience for me and endeared the movie to me far more than it would have normally. My mom, having been born and visited Israel so many times, was able to get so many of the less-known stereotypes and farces, and was therefor able to pass them on to me so I could share in the fun. At the end of the day, though, a movie that starts out funny enough just collapses on its own attempts to be funnier than it really is. The plot just dissappears completely by the end and its just a bunch of people with fake accents yelling about hummus. Which sounds funny on paper...
15. Hancock (Peter Berg dir. Vince Gilligan, Vincent Ngo wir. Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman)
I don't think that I've had such high expectations that were let down so much for any other film in a long while. The concept was brilliant, a man with super powers who uses them to help people, just not very well, and not with a smile or heroic quip to go along with his heroic actions. The trailers made it seem like the movie was going to live up to its potential, and for the first half of the movie or so it pretty much did. Then the big plot twist came and the entire movie seemed to forget its first half existed and went in a totally different direction. A much worse one at that.
There are some redeeming qualities, I suppose. Will Smith gives a strong performance of the would-be hero, and Jason Bateman is as funny as ever in his role as a PR guy out to change Hancock's image. But the whole movie just collapses after the big twist. So I suppose if you just turned it off after the first half, you'd be left with a better, albiet incomplete movie.
14. Definitely, Maybe (Adam Brooks, dir./wir. Ryan Reynolds, Abigail Breslin, Isla Fisher, Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weisz)
I've said it before (though maybe not here) that I would watch pretty much anything with Ryan Reynolds in it. Yes, even Blade: Trinity and Just Friends (a movie I happen to like quite a bit, thank you very much). Ever since seeing the man in National Lampoon's Van Wilder I've found him to be one of the strongest young comedic actors out there. He seems to have drifted pretty deep into romcom territory now, but I don't mind too much.
Definitely, Maybe is another movie that has a solid concept that it doesn't quite fulfill. The idea of a man telling his child how he met her mother (a concept that works really well on television as well), and having it trace his relationships with three women without revealing which one is the mother does make the whole film a little more interesting. The issue I had with the movie came at the end, after the big reveal. I think that they either needed to end it at the reveal, or end it differently than they ended up. I almost feel like a happy ending was tacked on because it wouldn't be a romcom without one, when the movie would have been better with an ending that maybe wasn't such a positive. Maybe not everyone would go home happy, but life doesn't always have happy endings. A downer ending, in this case, would have made much more sense than what ends up happening.
13. Wanted (Timur Bekmambetov dir. Michael Brandt, Derek Haas, Chris Morgan wir. James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie)
Loosely based (key word, 'loosely') on the Mark Millar-penned comic book miniseries of the same name, all my friends seemed to love this movie when we saw it. Me, I was less impressed. Maybe it's that I couldn't get over that James McAvoy, who delivered an incredible performance in The Last King of Scotland, was playing an action hero. Maybe it's that something about Angelina Jolie has always rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe it's because the "amazing special effects that populate the action sequences are the best ones since The Matrix" really aren't that impressive when you think about how far special effects have come since 1999.
It's probably a combination of all of those, and more. I think at the end of the day, Wanted is just one of those mindless action movies that are all style, no substance. It's like looking at a full table spread of delicious food, but it all being made of wax. It looks pretty, but eating it isn't going to bring you any satisfaction.
12. The Incredible Hulk (Lou Leterrier dir. Zak Penn, Edward Norton wir. Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt)
When compared to the 2003 adaptation of the Marvel anti-hero (would the Hulk be considered an anti-hero?), Hulk, this reboot/reimagining is downright spectacular. When compared to the other comic book adaptations that were released over the summer, it's perhaps just below par. When judged on its own merits, then I suppose it would be at about par. Nothing too impressive, but certainly not bad at all. Something that you would enjoy watching a rental of, but not something I would want to see in theatres and certainly wouldn't buy in anticipation of several repeat viewings.
Since the popular way of judging comic book films this summer seems to be by judging the performances, it becomes clear that The Incredible Hulk doesn't really measure up. Norton is fine in the main role of Bruce Banner, and Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky was likewise pretty good. Tyler wasn't anything special, but certainly didn't drop the ball in my eyes. I thought Hurt as General Ross was particularly good, and Tim Blake Nelson in a brief appearance as Samuel Sterns was a nice surprise. The problem is that in comparison to other comic book films of the summer, the performances fall short. I have to add my consensus to the majority of the critical community in saying that this is more The Adequate Hulk rather than an incredible one.
11. Zack and Miri Make a Porno (Kevin Smith dir./wir. Seth Rogan, ElizabethBanks, Craig Robinson, Jason Mewes, Traci Lords, Jeff Anderson, Katie Morgan, Ricky Mabe)
I think it has been established that I am a huge Kevin Smith fan, to the point of rabitity, so this was probably my most anticipated movie of the year. Which is why it makes me so sad that I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. It had such a positive response from people who had seen it in screenings before opening day that I was sure that I was going to love it just as much as I loved his past work, if not more. That's just not the way it worked out. I think a lot of it has to do that I'm a little overexposed to Seth Rogan at this point, and that I've been exposed to him doing mostly the same things. He needs to do something new and fresh, after doing something like a half-dozen films playing pretty similar characters the whole time. Since Kevin Smith wrote this with Rogan in mind when the only thing he had been in was The 40 Year Old Virgin, it plays to the mannerisms that I've seen so many times before. It also gave the movie more of an Apatow feel than a Smith one, and I was really hoping for straight Smith, to be honest.
I think this is supported by the fact that I loved pretty much everyone else in the movie. Banks is funny and adorable as the second lead, Robinson is probably the funniest character and the flick, and I couldn't get enough of Mewes, Anderson, Morgan, Lords and Mabe. Literally, I wish they had more screentime, all of them were hilarious.
While Zack and Miri was a let-down, I don't hold it against Kevin. I'm still seeing him in February for one of his Q&As.
10. Pineapple Express (David Gordon Green dir. Seth Rogan, Evan Goldberg wir. Seth Rogan, James Franco, Danny R. McBride)
Interesting that I say how overexposed I am to Seth Rogan above, but then place this Seth Rogan-helmed movie ahead of it. In my defense, I saw this way before I saw Zack and Miri, so I wasn't as overexposed then. I also simply found this movie to be way more entertaining, and I don't think it had to do with Rogan.
More likely it had to do with James Franco (and Craig Robinson, but mostly Franco). Franco's Saul is probably the most lovable drug dealing stoner since...well, since Jay of Jay and Silent Bob. His almost childlike mannerisms and positivity coupled with his love for his grandmother and desire to be a civil engineer make for a very endearing character that you want to see succeed, even if his successes are a little odd.
But the movie isn't without its faults. The final action sequence is more than a little hard to believe, when two guys who have shown themselves to be entirely incompitent in everything else they've done thus far are somehow quite proficient at firing automatic weapons, and quite unperturbed by committing several murders. The final scene also is pretty useless and drags on for far too long, making me antsy to simply leave or shut the movie off, despite the credits not rolling yet. Still, overall an entertaining watch.
So that's the bottom eight out of seventeen. Tomorrow (likely) will see the big reveal of the last half or so of my favourite flicks from 2008.
