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Flashback-Best of 06

Posted: February 22, 2008 at 12:04 pm   /   by   /   comments (0)

This is my write up from last year before this blog existed so I thought I would share it with you guys.

Ok, so I know some of that you that get this really could careless, but oh well, don’t read it, I’m bored at work! So last year was a pretty good year for movies I think. There are more then a few classics in my eyes after looking over the year and I didn’t even get to see everything I should have at the time that I am writing this. But, it’s almost Oscar time, and I wanted to get my list out there before that. So without further ado, here they are.

A quick list of movies I haven’t seen, that I think may have had a chance at making this list.

United 93, Half Nelson, Last King of Scotland, Volver, Notes on a Scandal, Lady Vengeance, Idlewild, This Film is Not Yet Rated, Flags of our Fathers, Infamous, Stranger than Fiction, Good German, Factory Girl, The Proposition, The Lives of Others

Most Entertaining Movie Theater Experience of the Year:

Snakes on a Plane-The most fun, I have had in a movie in I don’t know how long. The movie really inst horrible, but it’s definitely not good. One of those movies you watch with friends and can laugh and make fun of, with one of the great all time movie lines, “I want these motherfucking snakes, off my motherfucking plane!” If delivered by anyone besides Sam Jackson would have been horrible!

Most Disappointing Movie of the Year, for me:

The Black Dahlia-Just tanked on a lot of levels, and I though it had potential to be great.

(Their are 22, because well, I felt comfortable supporting all of these movies as recommendations)

22. The Prestige-Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale as dueling magicians! I’ll take this over The Illusionist (also good though)

21. An Inconvenient Truth-Al Gore talks for 2 hours, and scares the shit out of me because we are all going to melt eventually

20. The Queen-Helen Mirren will win Best Actress for this and is worth seeing for her alone, I really don’t have a complaint about it as a film, it’s pretty much flawless, I just don’t think I am going to watch it over and over, definitely need to see it once though.

19. Cars-Ka-Chow, this was a fun movie, and one of two animated movies on my list. It looked gorgeous, but compared to Pixar’s last effort (The best animated movie ever, The Incredibles) it paled in comparison

18. Superman Returns-A little long, but I dig Brandon Routh as Superman. Plus it’s Bryan Singer and you can’t go wrong with him helming anything. I like this more than the Spiderman’s

17. Babel-Sadly compared to Crash (which was good, but overrated), this movie draws you in with the characters instead of trying to shock you! Great suspense and performances around, it was one of the best films I saw in a while, but doesn’t have the re-watchability of the interweaving storyline masterpiece, Traffic

16. Over the Hedge-I really like this movie; I thought it was clever, cute, and funny. Fun characters and its nice to see suburbia get ripped on from time to time. Ben Folds soundtrack too

15. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest-This one grew on me when it was released on DVD, once I could look past the horrible use of old jokes, and the slow start. The last half-hour is awesome and it makes you want to see the next one really bad, so I guess it did its job. Good ending too, even though, we know said character will be back within 5 minutes of the last movie

14. Apocalypto-So Mel Gibson hates Jews, oh well; he still makes a hell of an action flick here, about an interesting era not seen in movies that often. Violent and an action packed last hour, this was one of the more entertaining movies I saw last year. Bring your spectacles for subtitles though.

13. Slither-An alien thing lands on earth, impregnates a woman, and its spawn turns people into zombies, how come nobody saw this movie! It’s a shame; it’s actually a good horror movie! Well, it’s more in the vain of Shaun of the Dead, but it is funny, gory, campy fun and stars Nathan Fillion or Firefly, who is worth seeing alone. But seriously, for a fun movie with some scares, you can beat this, and I don’t recommend horror

12. Miami Vice-Michael Mann, enough said. If he makes something you should see it and this was a great crime film that looked great and had some of the best, “Holy Shit!” moments in a movie all year. It isn’t an action flick, but there are some great little shootouts at the end, don’t let the name fool you!

The movies from 11-4 could easily be interchanged with each other, they were all so good and it was really hard to order them.

11. Pan’s Labyrinth-This movie was sold as a fantasy, but is really just a period piece taking place during the Spanish Civil War. The drama that takes place at this cottage is seen through the eyes of a girl and is really engaging. It does have elements of fantasy, some amazing imagery, and some of the most brutal stuff I have seen in a movie in a while. Poor Grant, thought it was going to be a kids movie, and then a guy is getting his face bashed in with a bottle, and we see every blow! He may never be the same. Great movie, and can’t wait to see it again.

10. Letters From Iwa Jima-A great alternative war movie! Sure there are battle scenes, and one of the most intense scenes I have seen in a movie, ever! but you get to know and care about these characters, a lot. And even though they are fighting against Americans, you can’t help but care for them. Great, great, war movie, I’ll put this up with Black Hawk Down, not quite Saving Private Ryan though.

9. Little Children-Kate Winslet is amazing, and so is this movie. An omniscient narrator is used to amazing effect and if it hadn’t disappeared in the movie for the middle 40min or so this one would probably be higher on my list. The first hour had me so into it, I thought it might be able to top my number 1, then the narrator left, and it threw me off a bit. Repeated viewings will shoot this up higher, but as of now it will stay here. It’s about an affair and the relationships between people in a suburb and people dealing with still finding themselves even when they are a family, great stuff!

8. The Good Sheppard-This is Robert DeNiro’s look at the CIA’s beginnings and clocks in at almost three hours, but never once got boring. Just an engaging and interesting story it’s a great bit of fictionalized history. There is a who-dun-it plot weaved in there, but that is not why you see the movie. You see the movie to see how the inner-workings of the CIA came to be, and the effect it can have on people. Matt Damon is in the lead and great as usual.

7. The Departed-Martin Scorsese is a must see every time he puts something out there, and this crime drama is a whole lot of fun and a great piece of entertainment. I really have zero complaints about this movie and should probably be higher on my list, but I had sky high expectations, and when I saw it, it was great, and never could have met the expectations I set. Once I see it again, I am sure it will climb up my list of favorite movies of this past year, and be one of the most re-watchable movies I will own. See it!

6. Marie Antoinette-That’s right, I am putting a Kirsten Dunst movie in here. Directed by the stellar Sophia Coppola and co-staring the always hilarious Jason Schwartzman, we look at the life of the Queen, well the life you don’t usually see, hair jobs, eating, sleeping, partying, and no politics. The soundtrack is amazing, and seeing people running around in 18th century clothes to 80’s pop music is a surreal experience, two of my all time favorite music cues are in this movie, the masked ball, and a fanning covered Dunst. This movie is great!

5. V for Vendetta-Right behind Sin City for best comic book movie to date, this is a great movie with the beautiful Natalie Portman. Sure it follows a terrorist, V, and his fight against the system, but his adventure in the present, and V’s past are interesting and always entertaining. If you recognize the voice under the mask you should!

4. Little Miss Sunshine-Funniest scene in a movie in a long time is housed at the end of this film. This movie is about as entertaining as it gets, and in all of its silliness it still feels real. Has one of the most touching moments in a movie in a long time, and can go from serious to farce in an instant, a great comedy, that I wish we had more of. By far, the most crowd pleasing pick on my list, the one movie I could and do recommend to absolutely everyone!

3. Brick-The one movie no one has probably heard of on this list is amazing. A crime noir set to high school, and full of style. A great plot with twists and turns throughout and great little bits of comedy sprinkled in there, this is just a great piece of cinema, and one that I will revisit over and over again!

2. Children of Men-Clive Owen in one of the best adventure movies in a long time. The world can’t have babies anymore, until we find a pregnant girl and Clive has to help her. The movie is full of twists and turns and no one is safe. It has the best cinematography in a movie in I don’t know how long, and the craziest and one of the longest shots in a movie ever, it has to be seen to believe! Amazing movie!

1. The Fountain-My most anticipated movie of the year did not disappoint. It exceeded expectations! This is an amazing story that is ultimately about love. Some of the best and most surreal visuals in a movie in a long time and an ending that will leave you thinking and discussing it with people that actually care about it too. A three pronged journey over a thousand years, Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz shine in this masterpiece by Darren Aronofsky, with one of the best scores in a movie since The Incredibles. I love this movie and it is probably in my Top 5, favorite of all time.