2008 Round Up!

It's the end of the year again! And what a sad year for movies it was. I'm having trouble making a top 5 favorite films, cause I've seen so much crap and average movies this year. I'm almost crying. Almost really. Some movies had so much potential..

Movies I saw in the theater (in chronological order):
Cloverfield; The Mist (a 2007 movie so I won't include it any further); 27 Dresses; Untraceable; Made of Honor; Sex & The City; Forgetting Sarah Marshall; Mamma Mia!; The Dark Knight; Get Smart; The Accidental Husband; Mirrors; and Eagle Eye.

Movie I saw on DVD (in alphabetical order):
Definitely, Maybe; Meet the Spartans; My Sassy Girl; Pathology; and The Strangers.

Movies I wanted to see, but didn't get around to seeing (in alphabetical order):
The Air I Breathe; All the Boys Love Mandy Lane; Be Kind, Rewind; Choke; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Drillbit Taylor; Four Christmases; Funny Games; The Happening; Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay; The House Bunny; How to Lose Friends & Alienate People; Leatherheads; The Life Before Her Eyes; Marley & Me; Midnight Meat Train; The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor; Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist; Over her Dead Body; Passengers; The Pineapple Express; Quarantine; Role Models; The Ruins; Saw V; The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2; Sleepwalking; Speed Racer; Tropic Thunder; Wanted; What Happens in Vegas.

My five favorite films of the year (notice how I say favorite and not best):
1) Cloverfield (All round great monster movie.)
2) Mamma Mia! (Fantastic cast in a highly enjoyable movie.)
3) My Sassy Girl (A touching story plus a relatable performance by Jesse Bradford.)
4) 27 Dresses (Katherine Heigl shines and carries this cute romantic comedy.)
5) The Strangers (A truly scary movie.)

My five least favorite movies of the year:
1) Meet the Spartans (No, just, no.. )
2) Untraceable (Wasted potential.)
3) Mirrors (More wasted potential.)
4) Pathology (Even more wasted potential.)
5) Sex & the City (This movie just angers me for ruining certain characters.)

Ten favorite performances of the year (in alphabetical order):
1) Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia!)
2) Christine Baranski (Mamma Mia!)
3) David Eigenberg (Sex & the City)
4) Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
5) Isla Fisher (Definitely, Maybe)
6) Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall)
7) Jesse Bradford (My Sassy Girl)
8) Katherine Heigl (27 Dresses)
9) Michael Stahl-David (Cloverfield)
10) Russell Brand (Forgetting Sarah Marshall)

My top 5 movies I'm looking forward to in 2009:
1) Inglourious Basterds
2) Friday the 13th
3) Confessions of a Shopaholic
4) Obsessed
5) Wolverine

I had trouble picking out five movies. Besides Inglourious Basterds and Friday the 13th, I don't have a strong preference.

Other movies I'm looking forward to in 2009:
17 Again; 500 Days of Summer; 2012; Adoration; Adventureland; All About Steve; Away We Go; The Box; Bride Wars; Fanboys; Fired Up!; G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra; Ghosts of Girlfriends Past; He's Just Not That Into You; I Love You, Beth Cooper; Jennifer's Body; Knowing; Land of the Lost; The Lovely Bones; My Bloody Valentine 3-D; My Sister's Keeper; New York, I Love You; The Post Grad Surivial Guide; She's Out of My League; Star Trek; The Stepfather; Sunshine Cleaning; The Time Traveler's Wife; Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen; The Ugly Truth; When in Rome; Whiteout; The Wolfman; Zombieland.

Some of these movies were on my upcoming list last year as well. Hmmm! Anyways, I thought I was disppointed with 2007's movies, but they're all looking like friggin' masterpieces compared to what 2008 has brought us. Note that I haven't seen the big award contenders, so I can't judge properly. Bring on 2009!

Review: Pathology

When Dr. Ted Grey (Milo Ventimiglia) joins a prestigious pathology program, it doesn't take long before 'the cool kids' invite him to sit at their table. Grey learns the gang plays a deadly game: who can commit the perfect murder?

When I first heard about this movie 1,5 years ago, I thought it sounded interesting. I liked the concept and the cast (Johnny Whitworth! Johnny Whitworth!). Of course, when the release date kept being pushed back and the movie eventually saw a limited release, my interest had sorta faded. BUT! When I spotted Pathology in the videostore, I decided to give it a chance, because, you know, Johnny Whitworth!

Now, what can I say about Pathology? It's a good concept that's poorly executed. Milo Ventimiglia plays our supposed hero. He goes from a seemingly decent guy to a killer in a small amount of time, and he cheats on his fiancée as well. Why?! Alyssa Milano is hotter than Lauren Lee Smith! But, that's beside the point. How am I supposed to root for him? Plus, he's kinda lacking in the personality department. In contrast, Michael Weston is very effective as Dr. Jake Gallo, the leader of the pack. He does crazy well and is this movie's MVP. Really, Weston saved this movie for me, cause the only time it's really interesting is when he's around. Johnny Whitworth is a talented kid, but didn't have much to do here. SHAME! Thirteen years after Empire Records, he still looks good though!

About the movie itself, I find it hard to believe that the 'cool kids' are able to get away with their game. They seem to be killing a lot of people in a short period of time. While I don't doubt they know ways to kill people, and I don't think they're able to pull it off without getting noticed. Also, I kinda hate the camera work in this movie and the unnecessary nudity.

I did like the ending. Sorta. I think.

Overall, worth a look if you like the cast, I guess. A 2,5/5.

Listmania: Favorite Love Actually storylines

It's the holiday season and the need to watch Love Actually again became very strong. It's one of my favorite romantic comedies/feel good movies. It continues to impress me how the script manages to fit the characters into each other's stories. David and Karen are siblings. Natalie and Mia are neighbors. Jamie and Sarah attended Juliet's wedding. All the stories are about love, but not all about romantic love. While none of the stories bore me, I do prefer some storylines over others.

1. Jamie & Aurelia
Jamie (Colin Firth) and Aurelia (Lucia Moniz)'s storyline is classic romantic comedy stuff. They don't speak each other's language, but fall in love anyways.

Credit: Striped Wall

2. Mark & Juliet
I dare you to find a straight women who didn't fall in love with Andrew Lincoln (Mark) after witnessing his "TO ME, YOU ARE PERFECT" scene. Their storyline starts off with Juliet (Keira Knightley) marrying Mark's best friend (Chiwetel Ejiofor). While it first appears Mark dislikes her, it turns out he's in love with her. Awwww!

3. Daniel & Sam
This story starts off sad with the funeral of Sam's mom and Daniel's wife. Daniel (Liam Neeson) is Sam (Thomas Sangster)'s step dad and the two bond when Daniel tries to help Sam win the heart of his dream girl. Probably the cutest of all stories.

4. Billy Mack & Joe
A funny storyline about an aging rocker (Bill Nighy) and his manager, trying to recapture their glory days by landing the Christmas #1 with the awful 'Christmas is All Around'.

5. David & Natalie
Hugh Grant is perfect as the Prime Minister who falls in love with employee Natalie (Martine McCutcheon).

6. Sarah & Karl
Sarah (Laura Linney) has been in love with Karl (Rodrigo Santoro), her colleague, approximately forever, but never had the guts to do something about it. When something finally happens, she lets him slip away. This is probably the saddest story of the bunch as it's the only one with an unhappy ending.

7. Colin
Colin (Kris Marshall) can't get a girlfriend in Britain so he decides to go the USA as he's convinced he'll be a chick magnet there. It's a funny storyline with cameos by Ivana Milicevic, Elisha Cuthbert, January Jones, Shannon Elizabeth and Denise Richards.

8. Harry & Karen
The only thing that saves this storyline is the awesome Alan Rickman. His Harry cheats on his wife Karen (Emma Thompson). It's rather depressing really.

9. John & Judy
This is supposed to be funny, but it doesn't really work for me. It's more gross out comedy, which the other stories tend to shy away from.

Trailer Park: Friday the 13th

Oh, Marcus Nispel! I kinda love you and your collaborations with cinematographer Daniel Pearl! I mean, this, a shot from the trailer of Friday the 13th, is pretty:

After watching the F13 trailer, I don't think it will look better than the gorgeousness that is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but I do like the eerie atmosphere. What I don't like is that the trailer spoils too much! I feel like I've seen everyone die already! I like being surprised while watching a movie. Now I know how Richard Burgi will die. Grr arrgh..

I will go see Friday the 13th, because 1) Marcus Nispel directed it! 2) The guy below is all sorts of awesome and hot!

Mmmm.. Jared Padalecki!

And 3) Dick Casablancas!

Okay, yeah, I know his name is Ryan Hansen, but I really hope he will channel Dick Casablancas a bit. He was awesome and hilarious as Dick Casablancas PERIOD! (Plus, it's fun to say and type Dick Casablancas!)

Now Jason has never been a favorite of mine (sorry, Jason!). The men in my life have always been Freddy and Michael. Will this movie change that? Who knows?! I never liked Leatherface much until Nispel worked his magic! Jason, I'll be seeing you on the 13th!

Review: The Strangers

I finally caught The Strangers on DVD after a short theatrical run here. Which is insane really, because I have seen a lot of crap in theaters this year that played much longer.

After attending a wedding, Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman) return to James's family vacation home. Not long after their arrival, the young couple find themselves being terrorized by three masked individuals.

This is the kind of movie that scares me deeply, because it could actually happen. I grew up watching Freddy, Michael, and Jason but they don't scare me because of the fantasy element. I don't believe Michael Myers will be knocking on my door anytime soon. But real crazy people? They're out there.

One of the scariest things about The Strangers is that we don't get any info about the attackers. No motivation. They don't target Kristen and James because they hold a grudge. They target them simply because they are home.

The Strangers reminds me of two other movies: Funny Games and Vacancy. The first I haven't seen, but the latter I enjoyed, more than The Strangers. There's something so unsettling about The Strangers that makes it hard to enjoy and maybe it's not even the terrorizing. Kristen and James are having problems in their relationship. James has just proposed and Kristen said 'no' (ohww, you're a fool, Kristen!). They as a couple are hard to watch. In Vacancy, Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale are having marital problems, and, if I remember correctly, are about to divorce. Their arguing is more amusing than unsettling. They as a couple have more screentime together and actually work together to survive the ordeal. It's easier to relate to them than it is to Kristen and James.

Our unlucky couple splits up twice in the film. Both times we follow Liv Tyler around while Scott Speedman in all his gorgeousness is nowhere to be seen. I'm not sure why this is. Watching Liv as Kristen cry and crawl around is not all that interesting. I was half expecting her in horror movie cliché style to stumble across James's body and that would've been the last we've seen of him. Lucky for us the movie avoids that, but the reintroduction of James is not that earth shattering either.

And the ending.. my God! First, after all that terrorizing the maskies just sorta awkwardly stab them and leave them to bleed to death. They are eventually found and Kristen is not dead. Yet the movie announces at the beginning that it's unknown what exactly happened to them. If Kristen survived, how could people not know?

I'm not hating on this movie though. It's one of the better movies I've seen this year and it includes the most haunting scene I've seen in ages. When James's friend, the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia dude, is walking down the hallway and one of the strangers is following him with an axe.. well, that was just beautifully shot. I felt the atmosphere. The entire movie is well shot. The performances are good. The first half of the movie is pretty great.. too bad it falls apart in the second half. A 4/5.

American Pie 4?!

Moviehole reported the following earlier this week:

Universal has decided to abandon those direct-to-video American Pie spin-off films in favour of making a third sequel to the original film – one that might possibly pick up on the whereabouts of now-married Jim and Michelle (Jason Biggs and Alyson Hannigan). Like the other three, it’ll be released theatrically.

YES! Finally! American Pie is one of my favorite movies EVER! I wasn't really satisfied with Pie 2 and Wedding though. The sequels lacked the heart of the original and certain castmembers were either missing or had throwaway parts. I dug up my original review of American Wedding, which I wrote in 2003. Here's how it ends:

Will we see American Pie 4? Probably. I hope. But not soon. I don't wanna see American Baby or American Pie: le Divorce. I don't even want to see a Stifler spin-off. I want to see American Reunion and I want to see it in 2009 DAMNIT! Let's have the ENTIRE cast return for their ten year high school reunion. I want to see what the gang is like all grown up, and I want to see Kevin and Vicky back together!

I stand by my idea from five friggin' years ago. American Pie 4 should be about their ten year high school reunion. It's the perfect device to get entire cast involved. I've read ideas that the movie should be about Jim and Michelle having a baby, but that plot alone doesn't leave much opportunity for the other original characters to return. A reunion does. And even if the movie's central plot is about the reunion, Jim and Michelle could still have a baby. All the characters need their own storyline anyways. And Alyson Hannigan is pregnant in real life so if they move quick, they don't have to make her wear a fake belly.

Now what's the likelihood that the original cast will return? Pretty big since most of them haven't enjoyed much success since the Pie movies. Let's hope we hear more news soon!

Review: Eagle Eye

I found a piece of paper with some notes I scribbled after I watched Eagle Eye weeks ago. Since I don't feel like writing a proper review anymore (because I barely remember the movie), I will just leave you with the following:

• Eagle Eye is an attack on the sensory organs.
• Entertainment for the MTV generation.
• No substance.
• No character development, except Shia and Michelle (somewhat).
• I feel like I've seen this movie before.
• The ending, WTF?
• Shia once again proves to be a capable and appealing leading man.
  

Then I wrote down 'a 3,5/5' so obviously I didn't hate it as much as you would think based on the above. Shia is probably the reason it scored that high, because Rosario Dawson, Ethan Embry and Eric Christian Olsen are wasted here.