Well, that’s how I feel right now. Uninspired. I just can’t seem to write much of anything. It’s not for lack of movie watching. We’ve watched The Kingdom (Peter Berg directed movie that is basically Friday Night Lights in Saudi Arabia – a good watch), Lions for Lambs (excellent performances by all – Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, with the best by up-&-comer Andrew Garfield), The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (altogether unmemorable or should I say unwatchable, which is saying a lot from someone who actually enjoyed the first two movies), The Love Guru (god awful, I said in a previous post that Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer may have been the worst movie ever, but amazingly Mike Myers has figured out a way to top it – when the "climax" of your movie is two elephants getting it on at a hockey game you know your career as a filmmaker is officially over), I Am Legend (not bad, never quite delivers on the whole thrills & chills level though), Dan in Real Life (a rare bright spot – Steve Carrell confirms that he is truly a star on all levels), Into the Wild (another bright spot, but totally haunting) & Charlie Wilson’s War (completely overlooked by most of the awards from last year, but all involved shine – Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman).
I guess I’m not alone though, because pretty much all of the big-name movie critics have lamented about 2008 being a sub-par movie-going year. I don’t know if it was because of the writer’s strike or even the economy, but 2008 held very few bright spots (the ones I mentioned above were actually from 2007 – of late Netflix isn’t coming up with many decent DVD’s from 2008). So, I’m sending it out to all of you good people. What were your favourite movies of 2008? What inspired you? What was disappointing? I’d love to hear, so maybe, just maybe, I could be inspired too!
I TOTALLY loved Juno but I also love journey to the centre of the earth, hsm3 and I think Nancy Drew the movie came out this year!That one totally rocked!!!p.s. I named my kids 2 girls and 1 boy, Zara Layne,Nevaeh Rivers(Nevaeh is Heaven spelled backwords),and Cody James!!!!!!!!
Slumdog Millionaire was the best movie I have seen in years! Not poisoned by the whole Hollywood machine. Smart, funny, touching, enlightening, exciting…I could go on.
I agree kath I lOVED Miss Pettigrew – so frothy and fun. Becoming Jane and Atonement for pure romance; Sex and the City shallow but like visiting old friends; Burn after Reading good and quirky but over rated; and what about Passchendaele? So epic and beautiful and a fantastic achievement.
Oh! I totally forgot Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. I guarantee none of you saw it but you simply MUST. It was WONderful! Amy Adams, Frances McDormand…go rent it!
I guess my fave movie of 2008 would have to be Mamma Mia, although I did think Juno was fabulous. But I’m a sucker for ABBA, so don’t take me too seriously.
I just saw Slumdog Millionaire and it was everything I hope for in a movie; great acting, compelling story, fantastic direction. I found myself completely immersed in this film.
I LOVED Juno. I am Legend was a B Horror flick…shame on you Will Smith. I do have a big list of movies released in Dec/Jan that I want to see: Seven Pounds (hubby saw and enjoyed), The Reader, Revolutionary Road, Last Chance Harvey…and a few others I can’t think of. Btw, just saw The Tale of Despereaux after reading the book last year with my son and we all enjoyed it. Looking forward to your wish list for the next few months!
i loved Dan in Real Life too – i thought the casting of juliet binoche was great – i love her and steve carell too. over the xmas break, i caught up on some movie watching – The Dark Knight – loved it but was very haunted by Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker. Burn After REading – thought it was annoying, except for brad pitt, who was funny. and Tropic Thunder, which i enjoyed, esp Tom Cruise, who was surprisingly brilliant and edgy.
Okay, let me clarify this, The Kingdom has nothing to do with football or high school or Texas. Peter Berg just has a certain style & sound to his filming which appears across the board, so even though the subject matter is vastly different the film still reminded me of FNL.