The movies I saw this year were a little more varied than the games I played, due to both visiting family and having another summer pretty much full of blockbuster titles. Many of the big names warranted multiple showings, particularly when we got our hands on a juicy Blu-Ray or two.
007: Quantum of Solace - 7/10 - It was a little strange going into a James Bond film and having them refer to a previous film since the last time I saw them do that it was Sean Connery shagging the Bond girls, but overall Quantum was an exciting ride, even if they are still keeping it a bit of a gritty ride without all the cool toys and boss battles.
21 - 7/10 - Always fun to see true stories make such entertaining crime drama, the movie adaptation had a pretty good cast of believably smart, and at the same time stupid, characters. They paint a pretty fun picture of Vegas.
10,000 BC - 6/10 - Epic was definitely the word they must have thrown around a lot during production, and it certainly had a blockbuster kind of feel to it, but both the part of me that enjoys a good "fable" and that cares at all for history kind of cringed at most of what I was asked to swallow. I think I just would have been happier with either subtitles or even a better Egypt...
American Gangster - 8/10 - True crime is always a little between amazing and disturbing. I now know a little bit more about American history, glamorized as it was, and it was a nice intense drama on it's own.
Annie - 8/10 - As a bit of nostalgia I picked up the old 1982 Annie on DVD. I remember watching it on VHS many, many times as a kid, so it was easy to go back to typically out of character song and dance numbers with fond memories. I'd still say it makes an adorable family film. I'll keep it for my kids.
Batman: Gotham Knight - 5/10 - I liked what they were trying to do with an Animatrix style approach to the lore of the Dark Knight universe, but I think I had higher hopes after having seen both Animatrix and much of the Batman Animated Series. Alas, in the animated realm of the fantastic, both the animation and the stories seemed kind of bland.
Burn After Reading - 6/10 - I'm kind of torn on Burn After Reading because I WANT to like it as a rather black comedy, in particular the roles and fates of Brad Pitt and John Malkovich, but personal experience with both government work and certain character types tried to also make me hate the movie. I can give it credit for being 'just a movie' in the end, so I guess it was alright after all.
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - 7/10 - I still have fond memories of these books and though the movies are visually impressive and overall "fantastic" it really just feels like the keyword for Hollywood films in this ilk is "epic," making it feel like its trying too hard to be the next Lord of the Rings. Fun, and definitely family, but I think I've got more than enough of those.
CJ7 - 9/10 - A much more family appeal type of film than his previous outings, this still comes through as a Stephen Chow film with animated acting and I guess you would call it slapstick conversation. It was overall enjoyable and, being a distinctly non Hollywood production, managed some very non Hollywood moments.
Cloverfield - 8/10 - Getting most people past the motion sickness was the biggest hurdle for this film, but I ended up being really fond of it as both a piece of film fiction and as a character drama. Being stuck with them through the entire film, I really enjoyed the roles, and even the stupidity, of the main cast of characters. I also might have a thing for the unconventional type of ending that they gave the film.
Dark City - 10/10 - Cheating again on a movie I've seen a number of times previously, we had to have a gathering to watch the Blu-Ray edition when Henry picked it up and I have to say Dark City still stands up as a fantastic thriller and sci-fi film. There's nothing about it that I don't enjoy.
The Dark Knight - 10/10 - I will agree to all the praise I've heard lauded on this film since we caught it opening night in the theater. Through and through a fantastic film, a great crime drama, and some phenomenal characterization by the current and late cast, it was great to see a Batman film so sturdy it could stand to not even be titled "Batman."
The Day The Earth Stood Still - 6/10 - It's always hard for me to go back and see a classic, even though I really want to. It was absolutely worthwhile to look back and see this bit of film history, learning a lot about the era, the evolution of technique, and even the inside information on classic pop culture, but in the presentation always comes off as feeling sarcastic in its portrayal. Perhaps I'm too used to satire of the golden age, making it hard to take it seriously.
The Day The Earth Stood Still - 7/10 - Ironically, having seen the '51 edition hurt my impression of this update. It began really well in the kind of modern day re-imagining that I've been enjoying with things like the Ultimates story lines, and the appearance of Gort was as awe inspiring as his role was originally meant to be, but somewhere along the line things branched a little too far. True, the message had to be updated slightly, but the approach and final resolution seemed a little more cheesed than I had hoped for.
Dead Space: Downfall - 3/10 - I'm really starting to get irritated by this new style of 'animated feature' that they are trying to market. It gives me the sour taste of cheap Hanna-Barbera productions under the guise of being marketed to 'mature audiences.' Story is fine (even if I did later find it didn't really help the game very much), but the animation and scene setup were low end at best and the actual script just hurt my feelings. Seeing this ALMOST made me not play the game (for fear that it was anything like it), but I'm glad I got over that worry because I utterly enjoyed Dead Space as a video game. It just sucked pretty hard as a prequel feature.
Death Race 2000 - 5/10 - The 70's had an odd type of action movie, mostly involving sped up car chases, so I guess this would be a natural kind of exciting feature that probably would have been on my long Summer list, had that been something I did at the time (or even been alive to do so). But it's hard to go back a lot of the time, it really is. On the plus side there were a lot of gratuitous breasts thrown around and Sylvester Stallone's car had to have made a fantastic Hot Wheels.
Death Race - 6/10 - Only marginally better than the original because for every step it took forward to update an old idea, it took two back to make it a horrible movie. Our boss had a special kind of fondness for the original Death Race 2000, though, so this ended up being a company outing. I guess I saw it for free? That's a plus.
Eagle Eye - 6/10 - I'll have to agree with my brother that overall this film was just too predictable. It started off with a reasonable setup and even had some cool concept stuff worked in, but presentation and drama were so color by numbers that it just felt like a rerun. WOPR'd beat the crap out of Aria any day of the week.
Elizabeth - 7/10 - History and film. I give credit to an awesome representation of 15th century England and beautifully cast and costumed film, I guess I can't say it was hugely exciting for me to see.
Enchanted - 8/10 - Playing with the fourth wall always entertains me, so mixing animation and reality in a weird bit of dimension hopping family film was enough to once again help me get over musical numbers.
Fido - 8/10 - Some of that satire I may have mentioned earlier, I love zombies on their own, but a retro perspective was icing on the cake. It's always amusing to think how something like this could have been made for anyone other than me and my friends.
Forbidden Kingdom - 8/10 - I had to go along for a Jacki Chan/Jet Li combo movie and even with the addition of the 'white ninja' was rewarded with a pretty awesome epic fantasy. It treats itself like a legend well enough to play off being one.
The Fountain - 9/10 - So, this one's tricky since I'm still a little bit baffled by how much I actually liked the story and how hard it was to see it with certain people who explicitly hate 'artsy' stuff, but I have to admit I was overall impressed with it's presentation, loved it's juggling of time and space as it told basically the same story three different times, and just appreciating the end(s).
Get Smart - 9/10 - Though I vaguely remember the original series from Nick at Night, I have a stronger characterization of Maxwell Smart from Inspector Gadget exposure and was willing to add this one to my list of Summer movies even before it became a company outing. I was rewarded with the best comedy I saw this year!
Hancock - 7/10 - Though I can't claim it was a "bad" film, Hancock was kind of a disappointment to (most of) our group. We were sold on and really enjoyed the early scenarios of a literally 'gritty' superhuman thrown into the world and really just kind of being a selfish prick. Unfortunately that's not what the movie was really about, so we got kind of a decent fable out of it and then left the theater continuing to laugh about that guy's head and the other guy's ass.
Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay - 6/10 - It's hard to recreate the magic that an unexpected gem like their White Castle experience created, but Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay was at least a good bit of comedy and a fun buddy film with more than its fair share of unexpected bush. It would have been more amusing to have seen them spend more of the movie actually IN Guantanamo Bay, but I think they wanted to make a stoner movie more than they had any inclination to make what might seem too deep of a political statement.
Hellboy 2 - 10/10 - I do enjoy Hellboy stories, and though I did like the first movie, I had to admit its presentation was a little lack luster. Guillermo del Toro seems to have earned a lot of clout (and a lot more budget) with Pan's Labyrinth letting Hellboy 2 shine through as the otherworldly epic the comics seem to tread with an almost casual ease. I really hope the seeds they planted in this film grow into a sequel once he finishes with his Hobbit films...
Horton Hears a Who - 8/10 - Though I say I'll eventually get around to almost every animated feature, it was a short YouTube clip of Katie that made me stop and check out Horton over Christmas break. A really amusing adaptation of a Seuss story, and a technically inspiring piece of CG, I'll give it a thumbs up.
Hot Rod - 9/10 - There are a lot of times that I have trouble calling something I'd seen a good "movie" but can still say I enjoyed the hell out of myself. As an unexpected surprise that Mike just kind of threw on for us while we were visiting, Hot Rod would have been the funniest comedy of the year for me if I hadn't ranked Get Smart as a better overall movie.
Incredible Hulk - 8/10 - I don't know anybody who outright disliked the previous Hulk movie, but I think I'm among the minority that really actually liked it, so it felt like a little bit of a step backwards to 're-imagine' it so soon, but as an action film and a summer blockbuster, it certainly delivered. I have to appreciate that they took stronger cues from the TV series when setting up a Bruce Banner on the run, and I REALLY liked that they gave him someone to SMASH this time around. I guess I just liked the 'feel' of the last one a little better (also, hotter Betty Ross).
Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls - 8/10 - It was nice to see Indiana back in action, and a really clever bit of work to kind of reverse positions since the Last Crusade, though similar to the strange evolution of the Star Wars franchise, it kind of felt like George Lucas Might have been pushing strange CG visionary buttons on this one.
Iron Man - 10/10 - Unexpectedly good for a super hero movie, I guess there's some bit of movie making magic Hollywood is tapping into with the 'millionaire in a suite' type. Robert Downey Jr almost played the role of an alcoholic womanizer a little too well, and I have to give a lot of character credit to Gwyneth Paltrow as his assistant. Definitely worth the Blu-Ray.
Jumper - 4/10 - Eh, as an experiment in cross platform promotion it was entertaining to see what they were trying to do with this film, and Samuel L. Jackson can make up for a lot of other poor features, but overall this was a kind of a lazy teen angst film trying to duplicate how awesome the opening of X-Men II was.
Juno - 8/10 - Normally I wouldn't get around to seeing a movie like this without having a girlfriend, but I got a lot of pressure from some of my friends (all of which were in relationships) on top of my overall 'fondness' for Ellen Page so I finally caved and got around to watching it on my own (well, with Will, so close enough) and really enjoyed it. I like offbeat, and I love good characters, and I think this odd little film did them both really well.
The Kingdom - 9/10 - It's hard to have a movie without the Hollywood feel, but it's really nice to see a good 'police story' that's treated correctly both technically and culturally that managed to keep a lot of the 'action thriller' pieces at bay.
King of Kong - 8/10 - An amusing and educational piece on the initial growing popularity of my own love and profession, I got into the film and then a bit of the debate and backlash that came out of it. It may be a skewed perspective, but for a movie it's hard not to take the viewpoint of the director anyway, so it was still really enjoyable.
Kung-Fu Panda - 10/10 - I love animation, but even so, this was a surprise hit for me and my friends. Most of us are only so-so on Jack Black and his humor, but in a good role with good direction, he comes through as a fantastic voice to breathe life into the cartoon equivalent of a fanboy. The action was pretty top notch, the writing was hilarious, and the graphic detail was more than enough to encourage me to nab the blu-ray.
Midnight Meat Train - 8/10 - We sat down to watch it as we do almost any horror/slasher flick, looking forward to some laughs and some good gore effects. The resulting movie was much more solid and tense than expected. I really had to appreciate the 'twist.'
Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - 6/10 - It took a little while to return to this franchise, and I guess that kind of shows since this felt kind of out of sequence, as if it were trying to force itself into the same old/new generation action heroes that Indiana Jones had done earlier in the year. It really didn't re-capture the feel of the others as much as I had hoped.
National Treasure 2 - 7/10 - The first National Treasure was a really fun adventure through American History that did a great job of re-capturing the feel of the old Indiana Jones movies. That's kind of a hard feat to duplicate, though. The first one stretched the imagination of history, but touched on so many bases that it left this second one with a lot less maneuvering room. It was still fun but came off feeling a little more forced.
New Avengers - 5/10 - My faith in the American OVA is being kind of crushed by these productions. They're produced at feature length with probably a little more genuine fighting than can actually make it onto TV, but the budget of production and the fact that it feels like its still being aimed to appease children is starting to offend me. New Avengers in particular seemed like it could have been a cool concept to explore, but it would have been much better explored in a comic book form. Likely better written and able to explore deeper drama and trauma before it was time for the next action sequence.
No Country for Old Men- 8/10 - As much as I have to admit it was a good solid movie with fantastic characters, it ended up feeling a little too true to life for me to really enjoy it. Many of the characters were flawed to the point of distaste for me, which is an unfortunate disposition on my part because I'd have to say the whole thing was perfectly, believably human.
The Page Turner - 5/10 - Now this was kind of a pretty French drama, and I guess I can get over some of the stretches in circumstances that led the movie along, but the overall message of the film seems to be that women are evil, vindictive, psychopaths. Now, I don't know if that's really true or not, but it certainly makes it hard for me to enjoy a movie when I hate the players.
Punisher: War Zone - 7/10 - Closer to the real recipe for a Punisher film, we were still missing a lot of Frank's detached determination that makes him such a fantastic comic book character. The film also spent way too much time with Jigsaw and his puny mob doing random amounts of nothing remotely clever for a supposed underworld mastermind. Still, it had some fantastic Punisher moments that reminded us of why we like the guy enough to see the movie after the previous disappointments.
Rambo - 8/10 - Extremely reminiscent of the original Rambo role where the out of place man was trying to lead a simple life, I thought this was a great bit of cultural drama about good intention crashing itself against harsh reality. The 'action' was also some of the best portrayed violence I've seen on screen in a long time, fairly accurate to the truth behind caliber. My only disappointment was in the representation of a raiding camp and the hostages they took. I'm no expert, but that sounded a lot more 'tasteful for the audience' than what I've ever heard.
Speed Racer - 9/10 - Another incredible surprise, and a fantastic jump start on the Summer action thrill ride that kept us going until Tropic Thunder rolled around. The cartoon may not have been a favorite going in (I was more enamored with the space based series), but it was incredible how they managed to keep throwbacks to the action, and even the budgeted effects, of the original TV series exciting and artistically appealing. The cinematic 'flair' of the Matrix definitely comes through, with the color and action blown out just as far. I've made the joke that the movie is like epilepsy on a disc (which really shouldn't be as funny as it is true), but it's absolutely a good disc to own in blu-ray!
Spiderwick Chronicles - 7/10 - As kind of a sucker for a good fairy tale I was a little interested in this movie even before I set out on my quest to compare movie and licensee games, so I was glad for an excuse to sit down and enjoy this one. The story (or perhaps just the transition) felt a bit forced and it was definitely a little weird having a single child actor play both roles of a set of twins, but overall it was pretty enjoyable. It FELT like lore, so it was pretty cool to see them refer to their own guide for the rules of engagement. End result is that the movie was better than the game, though.
The Spirit - 5/10 - I was more excited for this on principle than I guess I should have been. I'd never actually known much about The Spirit other than it had been created by Ed Asner long, long ago, but the adds were sharp, the direction seemed solid and the style was a perfect fit. Unfortunately the lore (or at least the modern interpretation) fell short, and more than a little hoaky. Sometimes it's just hard to look back at the origins of certain themes or tropes, but some re-imaginings have done pretty well, too. The Spirit was a visual treat, but was kind of a 'movie' let down...
Stardust - 8/10 - I might have mentioned my penchant for fairy tales, so when I heard of this one I was extremely excited to catch it! Unfortunately I seemed to be alone in that regard as it hit theaters and left, since, if left to my own devices, I usually spend my solo time with video games. I was all over it when it hit DVD, and though I'm still kind of disappointed with the DVD presentation (and features) the movie itself was spellbinding! I thought so at the time, and having read the book since am more convinced, but some of the little plot 'nods' that they fed the audience weakened the film overall, but I liked it overall, and, since having read the book, I have to say I really like 'climactic ending' that they added for the film. In no ways does it really hurt the one from the book, and it feels more 'cinematically' conclusive.
Starship Troopers - 7/10 - It had been a while since I'd seen Starship Troopers, and watching it in Blu-Ray could definitely be called a new experience. As such a ridiculously over the top action movie it fits right in with Chris's collection of 80's action and comedy flics. A good group of Space Marines will probably always be the only thing better to see in a movie than co-ed showers.
Sunshine - 6/10 - Danny Boyle's work strikes me as very strangely spread. Though, I have enjoyed what I've seen of it so far, so when he went to make a sci-fi space film about what I figured had to be a suicide mission, I was pretty interested. The result was a nice little piece of psycho thriller in space with a bit of Alien setting, a touch of 2001 awe, and just a bit of Even Horizon crazy. I was a little disappointed by some of the extra fiction in science fiction, but, oh well, that seems to always happen to keep the movie going audience entertained.
Sweeny Todd - 6/10 - Being unfamiliar with Sweeny Todd, this was my introduction to the musical which was really well performed as a film and beautifully art directed as a mood/period piece. Being that I'm not too terribly fond of musicals in the first place, I contented myself just fine with the fact that this one was about vengeance and murder.
There Will Be Blood - 5/10 - There wasn't nearly as much blood as I had been expecting with such a title, but as a character piece highlighting eccentricity, greed, and more than a touch of the crazy, There Will Be Blood was a fantastic examination of one exceptionally over the top oil tycoon. I just wish it had had more of a plot I'd cared about.
Tropic Thunder - 7/10 - I guess it shows a little bit about my demographic that Tropic Thunder rates higher for me than the likes of Sweeny Todd and There Will Be Blood, but at Tropic Thunder I walked into knowing I'd get a stupid character comedy, and I most certainly got exactly what I wanted. Ben Stiller is still a hit or miss kind of guy for me to watch, but putting himself on equal footing with the film's other comedy troops I really enjoyed his role. Nobody really seemed to out class anybody else, there was a distinct place for each level of insanity and it was juggled beautifully. Tom Cruise was also surprisingly inspiring in his spot, too.
Twilight - 5/10 - Having never read the books, I didn't really know what I was getting into when I joined a large (and fairly excited) group outing to see the Twilight premiere. I actually thought the movie was about some weird kind of back woods albino incest before the car scene and I realized there were super powers at play. Maybe I just don't have enough familiarity with the source material, but the whole thing felt like some tween girls' wish fulfillment RPG, sorta like World of Darkness and Rainbows... It wasn't necessarily THAT bad compared to your average teen movie, but I can't say I was drawn in even as much as something like the Harry Potters.
Two Brothers - 6/10 - This was a short and very artistic film that I rented with my mom on a whim. It was a pretty strong character piece about one brother really wanting to do something with his life and his younger sibling doing everything he can to be part of that. It was a cute story, but really just something stumbled upon.
Vantage Point - 8/10 - I really enjoy clever storytelling, so a two hour movie about roughly 15 minutes from some half dozen perspectives was absolutely excellent! I felt a little ripped off that the final chapter kind of gave up the formula, but I guess we were running out of guys to follow that could really have filled in any more gaps.
Walk Hard - 8/10 - The music for this faux documentary was surprisingly good considering everything, including the titular ballad was basically a joke. That sold me even beyond the kind of corny life affirming drama that worked really well as a comedy. Not necessarily my favorite comedy of the year, but I would still recommend it to almost anyone.
Wall-e - 10/10 - Pixar bought my faith a long time ago proving that whether they make a movie about superheroes or automobiles they're making a movie of as strong a caliber as their tech demo. The animated tale of a robot immediately had me interested, and to be sure it was funny and amusing, but the first half of the movie, almost completely pantomime, told through subtle animation and well placed music, was truly a thing of art and beauty. Then, there's that bit at the end, of absolute passion that makes me tear up every time I watch. That, ladies and gentlemen, is no "cartoon." That's art.
X-Files: I Want to Believe - 6/10 - Though the movie was alright, it wasn't really much of an X-Files in the expected sense. It was more of a classic sense, since it was basically a regular episode but taken from farther down the line. It's a slice of the life our familiar characters have moved on to that mentions, but never really touches on the final unsolved mysteries of the old series, the real driving passions that at least I thought I remembered from these characters. It seemed like less "belief" and more "concession."