1. No Country For Old Men - 10/10 - The Coen Brothers prove yet again that they are some of the best filmmakers in this business... ****, man, I saw it yesterday and I'm still reeling.
2. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - 10/10 - Not quite the classic in the making that NCFOM is, but the single best movie musical I have seen in many years, and probably the best adaptation of the original (my all-time favorite musical) that could have been made.
3. 3:10 To Yuma - 10/10 - This was a fantastic brilliant movie. First Oscar-worthy thing I've really seen this year... The Acting was fantastic. Plus im a little bit in love with the kid.
4. American Gangster - 9.9/10 - Denzel is gonna get the Oscar, and he'll ****ing deserve it. This is the best Mobster movie I've ever seen in theaters, and only ranks behind the first two Godfathers and Goodfellas on my best Mob-Film list... Now I'm going to have to wikipedia the hell out of Frank Lucas.
5. Ratatouille - 9.9/10 - The .1 is knocked off because of the beginning which was a bit weaker than the rest of the film, but the second we got Remy talking to Gusteau and introduced Linguini, the film turned to solid gold. It is going to be hard as HELL to outrank this movie this year.
6. Wristcutters: A Love Story - 9.5/10 - A fantastic quirky film that's heartwarming and so utterly surreal (in a wonderful sort of way), that I look forward to seeing it again.
7. Enchanted - 9.5/10 - The best Disney movie in ages... I couldn't stop smiling when it was over. It's funny and sweet and immensely successful at what it tried to be. My only beef is the lackluster 2D animation, but hopefully this movie will be sucessful enough to bring about a revival of the Walt Disney Feature Animation films (and i mean the traditionally animated kind)... Unless you're too jaded to enjoy a wonderful sweet movie, catch this in theaters ASAP.
8. Zodiac - 8.75/10 - Well constructed, but a bit longer than necessary. The acting was fantastic though, probably the best I've seen so far this year.
9. Juno - 8.75/10 - Ellen Page was great, though the dialogue seemed a bit forced and unnatural at times, I still felt this was a damn good movie worth seeing. Heartwarming and ****ing hilarious.
10. Charlie Wilson's War - 8.5/10 - Aaron Sorkin gives us the usual funny, plus the charming, lovable characters that really make his work brilliant. Where it fails is properly weighing in the impact this little bit of history actually has on the modern day... But that's all secondary. If you only need one reason to see this movie, it's Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
11. Hot Fuzz - 8.5/10 - Fun, Funny, Action-packed. Also: Timothy Dalton is fantastic, and I now want to write movies where I can make him the bad guy.
12. Knocked Up - 8.5/10 - Best comedy i've seen in a long while. I'm knocking it down a bit after rewatching it, just because Hot Fuzz is a better, funnier movie... But Knocked Up still has a lot of heart. AND I love Paul Rudd. Forever.
13. Superbad - 8.5/10 - I can't even properly describe why I liked it... Aside from it being one of the most real High School Movies ever at the same time as being absurd and hilarious. Funnier than I was expecting. By FAR.
14. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - 8.5/10 - A beautiful film with fantastic performances, particularly by Brad Pitt as Jesse James... It has its weak points, and drags a bit, but it's still quite a damn good movie
15. Once - 8.5/10 - Not quite the kick in the head of fantasticness that people had me expecting, but still quite good, very touching, and definitely worth seeing, no matter who you are. The music was very good, and the girl was adorable. So... Yup.
16. Sicko - 8.5/10 - Sicko is an important movie, especially if you're an American... Actually, it might only be an important film if you are an American... But if you are, this movie is equally as important a film as An Inconvenient Truth was last year. This movie is about how our country's healthcare system PALES in comparison to EVERY OTHER Western Country... This is an issue that we should make central in 2008... So, yeah. See it if you are American, if not, its not going to mean all that much. (which i deducted .25 for... the other point off is from the films various flaws, but its still a damn good movie)
17. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - 8.5/10 - The pacing was off for about the first third of the film, and Bellatrix Lestrange was exaggerated into rediculousness... but the feel and the look of the film outdid ANYTHING in the previous movies... By deciding to adapt the book as it should be adapted rather than as defined by the previous movie, we get the best film yet in the series... One that feels like it tells a complete story. And Sirius was awesome... Gary Oldman was simply the most perfect choice for that role.
18. Hairspray - 8.5/10 - Fun, Funny, and put me in a great mood... I love the music, Cyclops rocked as Corny Collins, and even though Zac Efron has soulless demon eyes, it was nice to see that he could sing without them splicing someone else's voice into his. Also: Amanda Bynes was adorable
19. Mr. Brooks - 8/10 - Very good movie... Watched it entirely based off of the suggestion of Planet-Man and other people on the previous page, and it didn't really disapoint... While it was flawed, the greatness shined through in the general idea of the piece and the acting.
20. Elizabeth: The Golden Age - 8/10 - Not quite as excellent as the first, but due to addition of John Dee (a character I felt should have been in the original), and a fantastic performance by Clive Owen, I really enjoyed it. It should have moved into the Spanish Armada stuff much earlier, and let the Mary Queen of Scots stuff run by a bit faster, but I still highly recommend it. But see the original first.
21. The Simpsons Movie - 8/10 - A fun, and suprisingly good escapade with the Simpsons family... I was laughing through the whole thing, but at the end of the day it just felt like a long, high quality episode of the Simpsons, and didn't do much to be something more than that... So it gets a pretty high rating from sheer enjoyability, but not all that much substance.
22. Grindhouse - 8/10 - Lots of fun, it has its weak points, but the sheer enjoyability of Planet Terror, and the newest Tarantino film (which includes what I now consider to be the greatest chase sequence of ALL time)... Death Proof is simply brilliant. I'll see it again if it hits the theaters on its lonesome.
23. Stardust - 8/10 - I love the book so much that this movie could NEVER satisfy what I wanted (a word for word adaptation, including the depressing epilogue), but the more I think about it, the more I think that I need to see it again, because at the end of the movie I was very pleased with it, despite all the things I think it got wrong. It isn't the book, and I think the book is better, but its still a ****ing fantastic movie.
24. Ocean's 13 - 8/10 - Its not quite the quality of the first one... But it's ALMOST up there... The first half of the movie I was really anxious, because it took a WHILE to get going... But when it picked up, it really picked up and I enjoyed the hell out of it... Clooney and Pitt's relationship gives this an extra point, but I might knock it down later in the year.
25. 1408 - 8/10 - Cusack did a damn good job in the movie, without losing his usual Cusackian Charm... My biggest problem with it all is the fact that they never really explain WHY the room was evil. It just was. But a good movie, quite enjoyable.
26. Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End - 8/10 - Satisfying ending to a well executed trilogy. I enjoyed the hell out of it, and I'll happily dish out the money for the next film on the list.
27. Tranformers - 7/10 - Your typical fun summer action popcorn flick. Good Characters, Lots of Fun action, but not much substance.
28. I Am Legend - 7/10 - This would have been ranked higher than Grindhouse if the movie had kept the pace and feel of the first two thirds of the film... From when the other characters enter the scene, the movie turns into preachy rubbish meant to teach us the meaning of faith and the American spirit. I really enjoyed it, but the ending ruined the whole thing. It felt like two completely different styles of film.
29. 300 - 7/10 - Fun. Good. But the scenes in sparta interspersed with the narrative slows the story... I need to see it again (for the fourth time), but I'm pretty sure that this is where I stand on it. Mostly Good.
30. Bridge to Terabithia - 7/10 - I must have been a little crazy when I saw this for the first time, because aside from a wonderful performance from the lead female character, the film really isn't as good as it could have/should have been. Good example of childhood nostalgia blurring my eyes to a pretty mediocre film.
31. Across The Universe - 6.5/10 - The newcomer who plays Jude is the reason to see this movie, outside of him (and his ****ing beautiful voice), the plot is entirely unsubstantial, some of the sequences and characters are ENTIRELY unnecessary. It had so much potential, and could have reached it by focusing on character development and keeping the film grounded in realism, rather than being one music video after another. I might pick up a soundtrack, because some of the best covers of Beatles songs that I've ever heard. But that doesn't make it a good movie. Not by a longshot.
32. Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer - 6.5/10 - Had a lot of the flaws of the first, but rectified several of them... Johnny Storm continues to be the strongest aspect of the series, which I absolutely hope continues... My biggest Problem is with Mr. Fantastic, cuz, well... he should seem intelligent.
33. Shrek 3 - 6/10 - Solid Enough... Not as much heart as the first, Not as much funny as the second, but still a the end of the day it was an enjoyable solid movie with fantastic CGI... There's this bit with The Gingerbread Man's life flashing before his eyes that still makes me laugh just thinking about it. Not great, Not Bad. Certainly better than I expected.
34. Spider-Man 3 - 6/10 - The most disapointing film experience I've had all year. This made me cringe so much with what they messed up that every time something decent happened it was ruined by the inconsistency of it all... The good parts simply showed that this COULD have been good. But they opted against it, apparently...
35. Evan Almighty - 5/10 - It had heart, but no real discernable message, and poor usage of Wanda Sykes, who I think can be fantastic when she's got a good script. I'm glad I saw it once, but doubt i'll ever see it again.
36. Ghost Rider - 4/10 - This movie made me want to make my own Ghost Rider movie, one that was good.
37. Bratz - 1/10 - One Point for being so bad that I could sit through the whole thing, laughing my *** off at the terrible acting and absolute lack of plot and anything worthwhile.
Movies I'm Looking Forward To:
- The Darjeeling Limited - October 5th - Wes Anderson. 'Nuff Said. Though I guess I probably won't be seeing this until its released on DVD...
- Beowulf - November 16th - More Neil Gaiman! Woot!
- I'm Not There - November 21st - I'm intrigued by the Cate Blanchet version of Bob Dylan, and plus, its a good cast. Hopefully better than the lackluster Across The Universe.
- The Golden Compass - December 7th - one of my favorite book series of all time... plus GREAT casting
- National Treasure: The Book of Secrets - December 21st - enjoyed the first one enough
- AVP: Requiem - December 25th - The first was the greatest love story of all time... How could I NOT see this movie?
