Inspired by my friend Jake’s post on the same topic, I’ve decided to run down my year in movies.
- In Bruge – Very good, darker than I expected. Made me wish I visited Belgium during my Europe trips.
- Dexter: Season 1 – My favorite series of the year.
- La Dolce Vita – I came away not liking this one, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it all year. This will require a second viewing.
- Man on Wire – Very entertaining. This is someone who loves life.
- Burn After Reading – Good, not great. Also darker than expected.
- Dexter: Season 2 – Not quite as good as the first.
- Blade Runner – It took me a long time to finally get around to this one. It has been hyped too much and a bit too dated for my tastes.
- I Am Legend – Disappointing. Will Smith needs to stick to the thoughtful drama category.
- The Edge of Heaven – I don’t remember this one very well, but know that I liked it a lot. This lack of memory will be a recurring theme for the year (thanks to twins, I guess).
- WALL-E – Much better than expected. I don’t get the controversy that surrounded the message.
- Brotherhood: Season 1 – Just OK. We didn’t care about any of the characters. Probably won’t pick up Season 2.
- The Duchess – No memory of this at all.
- Lust, Caution – Very good, beautiful film. I picked it up for the NC-17 rating, and it turned out to be good for a whole bunch of other reasons.
- Love in the Time of Cholera – Did not like this, although I didn’t much like the book either.
- Slumdog Millionaire – Very good, but way over hyped.
- Step Into Liquid – Good. I am one step closer to seeing every surfing movie ever made.
- Tsotsi – Pretty good, but I wanted to like the main character more. Maybe that was the point.
- Milk – Interesting story, thought Penn was pretty good.
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Story was too much of a gimmick to ever make a great movie.
- The Wrestler – Painfully good. I can’t believe Rourke looks the way he does.
- Frost/Nixon – Interesting, made me want to see the original footage. The Nixon actor was excellent.
- The Reader – Good, but forgettable.
- Gran Torino – Great role for Eastwood. Consistently loving his movies.
- Lords of Dogtown – Can’t hold a candle to Dogtown and Z-Boys.
- Weeds: Season 4 – This is holding up in the fourth season. Nice twist at the end.
- Changeling – Decent but not very memorable.
- Mad Men: Season 2 – Very good, love that Roger Sterling.
- Tell No One – Have it down as a highly rated movie, but don’t remember it that well.
- 21 – Disappointing, book was so much better.
- The Right Stuff – Exact opposite of 21, very true to the book and a great flick.
- Superbad – Dumb, but was expected.
- Deep Water – Interesting, depressing documentary about a sailor.
- Flash of Genius – Pretty predictable. I think Kinnear has better roles in him.
- Jeopardy: An Inside Look – The process of creating the questions/answers was very interesting. Would have like more on Alex.
- The Tao of Steve – Showing its age. The main character was not at all redeeming.
- Life After People – I was disappointed in this, and also in the book The World Without Us. Can anyone do the “world post humans” concept well?
- Revolutionary Road – Did not like this one either. I wanted everyone to die in the end and I almost got my wish.
- Vicky Christina Barcelona – Another beautiful film. Decent story and acting. All round good effort, but nothing like Match Point.
- Entourage: Season 5 – I’ll keep sticking with this series even though it’s pretty predictable.
- Following – Good for those wanting to see the Nolan body of work. He’s just cutting his teeth here.
- The Bourne Ultimatum – This has turned out to be a great series, even better than the Jack Ryan films or later Bond films.
- John Adams – An amazing performance from Giamatti. A good format for those wanting something faster than the book.
- Dexter: Season 3 – It was a bit harder to get into this season, but it finished strong.
- The Boy in the Striped Pajamas – Interesting perspective of the Holocaust. There are many others that are more powerful, The Pianist for example.
- The Proposal – Predictable, but better than expected.
- Julia – Hands down the worst movie of the year. I could have watched this at 2x speed and it still would have been too long.
- Valkyrie – I was prepared to hate this because the loon Tom Cruise was in it, but I ended up liking it.
- Duplicity – Good, but I found myself needing an org chart at times. The old brain isn’t what it used to be.
- Angels & Demons – Much better than The Da Vinci Code. Beautiful in the Blu-Ray format.
- Tyson – A surprise, very poignant and made me feel bad for this nut job.
- Yes Man – Blah, tried too hard for the laughs, about 45 minutes too long.