My extremely belated Top 3
Well, as it turns out I threw out all my past year ticket stubs under the impression that mid-February was a wee bit too late to rate the top 3 movies of 2006. But then comes Thursday, March 15 and I'm in need of a distraction so hell, here's my extremely belated top/bottom 3 movies of the past year going on memory. Yeap, this is going to be THE BEST LIST EVER.
My Three Favourite Films
1. Brick
This, to me, was the best movie of the year not simply because of the Joseph Gordon-Levitt factor, but because the idea, execution and delivery of the film was perfect on every tactical and technical level. Rian Johnson's decision to write the script in old-school mystery noir style was very ambitious and potentially fatal to the success of the film. Pretentiousness, overreaching, unrealistic.. these were some of the words attached to Brick. Luckily the majority of the movie world embraced the film with a grousing applause. It's hard to be critical about the dialogue when it flows so smoothly and adds an extra dimension to a world of thugs, drugs and murder, that is, get this, set in an urban high school. It might seem implausible but then film was never meant to perfectly resemble real life. The ensemble cast was simply exceptional and delivered above and beyond what I expected from largely no-name actors. Highly recommended to anyone who is willing to venture out of their comfortable pop culture grounds.
2. Blood Diamond
DiCaprio proved his role in The Departed was no one-trick pony with his excellent follow-up performance as the morally ambiguous black-market diamond trader in Blood Diamond. If you ask me, I'd say DiCaprio is far more engaging here as evidenced in his constantly toeing the morally grey line. Political messages aside, this film was an emotional powerhouse, Djimon Hounsou being the proverbial dynamite to the exploding show. The pacing was consistent, visuals, exciting and action, unrelenting.
3. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
No, I'm only kidding.
The real no. 3: She's The Man
Seriously though. STM is very entertaining for a teen genre flick. Plus, if you ever wondered, I base my list on shows that are not only my favourite of the year but also flicks that I wouldn't mind re-watching again in the future. So that's why The Prestige isn't taking this spot. It's fantastic and all but I doubt I'll re-watch it anytime soon.
My Bottom Three Movies
1. My Super Ex-Girlfriend
Hard to believe that the lame female lead is the same person who tore up screens a year ago on a bloody rampage as the Bride.
2. Date Movie
It was pretty bad. But Epic Movie is worse. In fact, I'll just declare this up front. As of March 2007, Epic Movie is my chosen worst movie of the year. It's kind of hard to top that disaster of lame and unfunny gags.
3. John Tucker Must Die
It's not so much putrid as horribly generic. Which is actually enough to make it pretty damn bad. So there.
Also, just since I'm on a roll and all..
My Three Favourite 'Horror' flicks
1. Slither
Yeah, I'll admit it. Besides the incredibly gross (=awesome) visuals and FX, the main reason why it's number one has a lot to do with the Nathan Fillion factor. Also, I think I'm a little bit in love with writer/director James Gunn, brother of Sean 'Kirk on Gilmore Girls' Gunn. It's a fun ride this one is.
2. The Hills Have Eyes
Did you know that the same guy who was the father of the baby plays flame-boy Pyro on X2 and X3?
3. The Descent
That scene with the night vision camera and the cave dweller had me stopped chewing my potato chips mid-bite if I remember correctly.
My Three Favourite Comedies
1. Borat
"It nice!" has entered the international lexicon of all things funny, yes?
2. Clerks 2
The humour doesn't really hold up with repeat viewings but you just can't go by the witty pop culture-laced dialogue.
3. Jackass 2
Funny, but for all the wrong reasons.
The Three Biggest Disappointments
1. Lady in the Water
Oh, M. Night Shyamalan. I tried to ignore the critics and the reviews and it worked. But when I watched the movie myself, it was hard to keep paying attention what with the lagging pace and the plodding dialogue. Also, I hate Paul Giamatti so that didn't help any. Still love your visuals though.
2. The Illusionist
I was all prepared to love this show more than The Prestige, after all they had the same 'magician in trouble' premise. While Edward Norton was amazing as per usual, the combination of Christopher Nolan, Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman takes the whole damn bakery. While the visuals were pleasant and the plot easy to understand, it just lacked a lot of the punch Prestige had. Take a bow, Nolan.
3. Babel
The more critical acclaim this film gets, the more I hate it. While each individual plot was engaging, the movie as a whole lacked cohesion and at the end of the movie, I was left with a "urmmmm.. was that all?" feeling. I don't know.. maybe I just expected too much from it. Whatever the case is I'm pretty glad it didn't win best picture at the Oscars.
My Three Favourite Films
1. Brick
This, to me, was the best movie of the year not simply because of the Joseph Gordon-Levitt factor, but because the idea, execution and delivery of the film was perfect on every tactical and technical level. Rian Johnson's decision to write the script in old-school mystery noir style was very ambitious and potentially fatal to the success of the film. Pretentiousness, overreaching, unrealistic.. these were some of the words attached to Brick. Luckily the majority of the movie world embraced the film with a grousing applause. It's hard to be critical about the dialogue when it flows so smoothly and adds an extra dimension to a world of thugs, drugs and murder, that is, get this, set in an urban high school. It might seem implausible but then film was never meant to perfectly resemble real life. The ensemble cast was simply exceptional and delivered above and beyond what I expected from largely no-name actors. Highly recommended to anyone who is willing to venture out of their comfortable pop culture grounds.
2. Blood Diamond
DiCaprio proved his role in The Departed was no one-trick pony with his excellent follow-up performance as the morally ambiguous black-market diamond trader in Blood Diamond. If you ask me, I'd say DiCaprio is far more engaging here as evidenced in his constantly toeing the morally grey line. Political messages aside, this film was an emotional powerhouse, Djimon Hounsou being the proverbial dynamite to the exploding show. The pacing was consistent, visuals, exciting and action, unrelenting.
3. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
No, I'm only kidding.
The real no. 3: She's The Man
Seriously though. STM is very entertaining for a teen genre flick. Plus, if you ever wondered, I base my list on shows that are not only my favourite of the year but also flicks that I wouldn't mind re-watching again in the future. So that's why The Prestige isn't taking this spot. It's fantastic and all but I doubt I'll re-watch it anytime soon.
My Bottom Three Movies
1. My Super Ex-Girlfriend
Hard to believe that the lame female lead is the same person who tore up screens a year ago on a bloody rampage as the Bride.
2. Date Movie
It was pretty bad. But Epic Movie is worse. In fact, I'll just declare this up front. As of March 2007, Epic Movie is my chosen worst movie of the year. It's kind of hard to top that disaster of lame and unfunny gags.
3. John Tucker Must Die
It's not so much putrid as horribly generic. Which is actually enough to make it pretty damn bad. So there.
Also, just since I'm on a roll and all..
My Three Favourite 'Horror' flicks
1. Slither
Yeah, I'll admit it. Besides the incredibly gross (=awesome) visuals and FX, the main reason why it's number one has a lot to do with the Nathan Fillion factor. Also, I think I'm a little bit in love with writer/director James Gunn, brother of Sean 'Kirk on Gilmore Girls' Gunn. It's a fun ride this one is.
2. The Hills Have Eyes
Did you know that the same guy who was the father of the baby plays flame-boy Pyro on X2 and X3?
3. The Descent
That scene with the night vision camera and the cave dweller had me stopped chewing my potato chips mid-bite if I remember correctly.
My Three Favourite Comedies
1. Borat
"It nice!" has entered the international lexicon of all things funny, yes?
2. Clerks 2
The humour doesn't really hold up with repeat viewings but you just can't go by the witty pop culture-laced dialogue.
3. Jackass 2
Funny, but for all the wrong reasons.
The Three Biggest Disappointments
1. Lady in the Water
Oh, M. Night Shyamalan. I tried to ignore the critics and the reviews and it worked. But when I watched the movie myself, it was hard to keep paying attention what with the lagging pace and the plodding dialogue. Also, I hate Paul Giamatti so that didn't help any. Still love your visuals though.
2. The Illusionist
I was all prepared to love this show more than The Prestige, after all they had the same 'magician in trouble' premise. While Edward Norton was amazing as per usual, the combination of Christopher Nolan, Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman takes the whole damn bakery. While the visuals were pleasant and the plot easy to understand, it just lacked a lot of the punch Prestige had. Take a bow, Nolan.
3. Babel
The more critical acclaim this film gets, the more I hate it. While each individual plot was engaging, the movie as a whole lacked cohesion and at the end of the movie, I was left with a "urmmmm.. was that all?" feeling. I don't know.. maybe I just expected too much from it. Whatever the case is I'm pretty glad it didn't win best picture at the Oscars.
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