Dean's Thoughts on Entertainment

The Year in Movies

Dave has made a end of the year countdown of the movies he saw, and CJ informed me that I had to do a similar thing. Since I haven’t been blogging all year some of these are new, and some of these may have come out last year but I watched them for the first time this year. I couldn’t find a list anywhere of everything that came out so I know I missed some but here is my list for now. I am playing Fatal Frame at the time of writing though so I think my little blurbs are a bit lacking.

My year sucked as far as new movies, I had a harder time figuring out which movies sucked more than which ones were excellent.

31. National Security
This movie hurt to watch, hurt real bad. Martin Lawrence should be banned from movies because of this. Just punch yourself in the face and you experienced this movie.

30. Hulk
This movie was just poorly conceived. They chose to pursue far more then they could in a two hour movie, and failed at achieving anything at all. Hopefully, they will spare us from a sequel.

29. Bad Boys 2
Just mindless action and stupid banter. A shame to its successor, and a waste of money.

28. Matrix Revolutions
Ruined the first movie for me it was so bad. I don’t think I will be able to enjoy The Matrix for a few years, and only if I never watch Revolutions again.

27. Tears of the Sun
Bruce Willis is about 20 years older than he needs to be to believably play a Special Forces soldier. And as far as interesting stories go this one gets an “F”. The first movie I have seen with Monica Belucci that sucked.

26. A Guy Thing
This one was kind of fun, and I like Jason Lee, but I never cared for the premise or execution of this movie.

25. Old School
I laughed a few times, but this movie was far more adolescent than I was hoping. Could have been better.

24. No Good Deed
It was lacking a significant something to make it memorable. It’s like a good “B” movie that you watch late at night on HBO. I enjoyed watching it, but it wasn’t special.

23. Texas Chainsaw Massacre
A poor remake, but I gave it a better position because if I forsake its heritage it was a decent teen horror.

22. The Recruit
I don’t like Colin Farrell, I don’t think I ever will. I liked the beginning when they are training but then I cashed out.

21. Wrong Turn
Eliza Dushku in an uninspired horror movie, but I enjoyed it despite myself. Go figure

20. Chicago
I didn’t much care for it, and I have a limited love of musicals and Richard Gere. But it was stylish and Queen Latifah is in it.

19. Animatrix
I really wanted more from this, but it did answer some of the questions that arise from pondering the Matrix universe. Only a few of them are worth repeat viewings.

18. Bulletproof Monk
I enjoyed it, but only by removing the critical and analytical part of my mind. Seann William Scott and Chow Yun Fat were a comical mix, and except for the extreme use of wire work I would have liked it more.

17. 25th Hour
I didn’t really latch on to this movie, but great acting and some interesting questions came from this movie so…17th place.

16. Anger Management
It was probably one of Sandler’s worst movies, but Jack Nicholson is hilarious even when his scenes shouldn’t be.

15. 28 Days Later
I disengaged at the end which left a sour taste in my mouth, but it had some great zombie moments, and I really liked some of the new ideas that they mixed into the zombie movie realm.

14. The Rundown
I like the Rock, and this movie was probably his best yet. There was some good action and comedy, but Seann William Scott was off his game and Christopher Walken was underused.

13. The Life of David Gale
It had a good ending and plot, but I would have traded Kate Winslet for almost anyone else in Hollywood.

12. Matrix Reloaded
Some great action sequences but a dumbing down of a good thing. The series was beginning to piss all over itself, but you still believed that good things were possible.

11. The Grey Zone
More of an artsy picture, but the acting and premise were intriguing. And in retrospect, I think Harvey Keitel was actually scary as an unpredictable Nazi guard.

10. Darkness Falls
I can’t believe this made the top ten. It was a good fast paced horror film with some nice special effects. The pacing and jumps are used very well, and are the sole reason this movie made it this high in the list.

9. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
As far as romantic comedies go this one was pretty good. It was missing a single actor or actress that I really like, but it was consistently funny.

8. Kill Bill Part 1
A stylish and clean version of the gratuitous kung-fu movies of the past. It was a bit gory but as a guy I liked it.

7. Italian Job
I enjoyed this ensemble heist movie more than Ocean’s Eleven because the cast was more enjoyable and better suited for their respective roles. It was far more humorous, and it had chase scenes and action where Ocean’s Eleven was only interesting for the finale.

6. Finding Nemo
A bit sappier than the other Pixar movies, but was still a beautiful thing with continued excellence in voice work.

5. Bruce Almighty
Jim Carrey returns to comedy and it fits him well. This religious comedy was funnier with a Theological background and Morgan Freeman was awesome no matter who you are.

4. Identity
I liked the ending unlike Dave, and even without the ending the movie was a straight enjoyable thriller with a better cast then we will see for many years.

3. X-2
The X-Men series is definitely the best Marvel franchise, and it continued without decline with the addition of quality characters like Nightcrawler, Pyro, and some possible future teammates like Colossus.

2. Pirates of the Caribbean
I enjoyed this movie a lot, mostly because of Johnny Depp, but it was a great feel-good movie with action and intrigue. I’m a sucker for feel good stuff.

1. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The grand finale to the best movie series of all time. Everything you could want in a movie and then some.

That's my list, I may update it again when I am more coherent. But for now thats all you get.