2007 Year In Review - by Chris (Joe)
My apologies dear reader, I have slacked off tremendously of late. I have been SEEING movies, just not sitting down and writing reviews for them. Partly I blame malaise, and partly the uninspiring movies I have been seeing of late. But, alas, it is a new year and I will vow to whip the crew back in to shape and we will remount our horses and ride on more vigorously than ever! Hazaa!
Now, with that out the way, I would like to do a special feature posting for you as a peace offering.
2007 was a pretty solid year for movies. I say this without even seeing everything I wanted to see, so that is certainly a good year. I missed quite a few movies that I know I would probably like fairly well. Nothing that I am absolutely heartbroken for missing, but still, you get the point. Yet, without seeing everything I intended to, I still took in some very quality films this last year, as well as some terrible films. In light of that fact, I want to do a brief year in review with some select categories and brief recaps. I’m also doing a special “Year In Review” rating on the same scale as our normal “out of 5” rating. This is simply my hindsight score for the movie, which may differ from my original review’s score based on a movie growing on me since the first time I saw it. Enjoy!
Movie I Liked That Got the Most Disagreements:
Fantastic Four 2 (Y.I.R. Rating 3/5) – FF2 got ripped by critics and comic bookers and my other movie friends, but I have to say, as a superhero type comic movie, I really liked it. It was straight forward, had pretty cool effects, decent story, and no weak performances. I’m sorry, but you were all wrong about this one…it was pretty good.
Most Anticipated Movie That Didn’t Let Me Down:
The Simpsons Movie (Y.I.R. Rating 3/5) – This category just refers to the often occurring problem I have where I will really be looking forward to a movie coming out and then it finally does and I end up not liking it. The Simpsons, thankfully, did not do that to me. I was really looking forward to it, it came out, and I was very pleased with the result. A good solid showing in the theater for one of my long time favorite shows.
Worst Use of Good Talent:
1408 (Y.I.R. Rating 2/5) – You have Sam Jackson and John Cusack AND your movie is based on a great Stephen King short story. The end result of that mix should be a home run. Instead 1408 was more or less a mess that left me feeling disappointed and a little sad.
Biggest Disappointments:
Transformers (Y.I.R. Rating 1/5) – I know a lot of you liked the movie. I’m sorry, I thought it was terrible. Not enough Transformers IN the Transformers movie, too many meaningless plot lines and human characters, bad CG designs, terrible dialogue, rushed ending…etc, etc, etc. I hated it. Sorry
I Am Legend (Y.I.R. Rating 2/5) – My good friend Matt described this movie perfectly: “28 Days Later mashed up with Cast Away, but not doing either of them as well as the original.” I think that is pretty spot on, PLUS they absolutely desecrated one of my favorite novels. Shame on you!
Worst of 2007:
Spiderman 3 (Y.I.R. Rating 0/5) – Terrible, terrible, terrible. What else can I say? I left the theater SO very mad after this one. Just an all around BAD movie that didn’t do anything well, in fact, it pretty much did everything poorly. If you want to learn how NOT to make movies, watch Spiderman 3. Too bad too, the first 2 were pretty enjoyable. Then again, the first 2 didn’t have gay, dancing, emo Peter Parker.
Top 3 of 2007:
#3 – Sunshine (Y.I.R. Rating 5/5) – Sci-Fi Thriller perfection. I love this movie. The best word to describe the experience of seeing it in the theater: Awe-inspiring. In my review when this movie came out I described sitting in my seat with my mouth gaping open for most of the movie. It is that awesome an experience. Go buy a big HD TV and watch this movie on it. The team of Alex Garland, Danny Boyle, and Cillian Murphy repeat their brilliance of 28 Days Later with Sunshine.
#2 – The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Y.I.R. Rating 5/5) – Not quite a western, not quite a biopic, not quite a historical period piece, Assassination ended up being some sort of hybrid of all of those genres, and VERY effectively. This is the sort of movie that you don’t want to end. The performances are SO good you wish you could watch the characters for days. If Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck don’t win Oscars for this movie it will be treasonous. An absolute beauty of a film.
#1 – Eagle Vs Shark (Y.I.R. Rating 5/5) – OK, let me say this first. Declaring a favorite of the year was very tough. If you talk to me in a couple of weeks I might put these 3 films in a completely different order. They are all that good. However, if hard pressed to declare a favorite, as I am doing now, I think Eagle Vs Shark would win first more often than not. The reason is simple: Sunshine and Assassination are amazing films, but they don’t hit as hard emotionally as EvS. I’m a sucker for a movie that gets you a little in the heartstrings…especially when it is a quirky comedy that does it, hence my love of Wes Anderson. But don’t misunderstand me, this is no Wes rehash! This is a completely unique and wonderful movie that will make you laugh out loud and then make you cry a little secretly to yourself so your girlfriend doesn’t see you. And if that isn’t enough, it is a product of New Zealand…so how can it not be great?!?
There you have it. My little Year in Review for you. I hope you liked it, and if you didn’t…well, you’ve broken my heart. See you in 2008 real hard!
Now, with that out the way, I would like to do a special feature posting for you as a peace offering.
2007 was a pretty solid year for movies. I say this without even seeing everything I wanted to see, so that is certainly a good year. I missed quite a few movies that I know I would probably like fairly well. Nothing that I am absolutely heartbroken for missing, but still, you get the point. Yet, without seeing everything I intended to, I still took in some very quality films this last year, as well as some terrible films. In light of that fact, I want to do a brief year in review with some select categories and brief recaps. I’m also doing a special “Year In Review” rating on the same scale as our normal “out of 5” rating. This is simply my hindsight score for the movie, which may differ from my original review’s score based on a movie growing on me since the first time I saw it. Enjoy!
Movie I Liked That Got the Most Disagreements:
Fantastic Four 2 (Y.I.R. Rating 3/5) – FF2 got ripped by critics and comic bookers and my other movie friends, but I have to say, as a superhero type comic movie, I really liked it. It was straight forward, had pretty cool effects, decent story, and no weak performances. I’m sorry, but you were all wrong about this one…it was pretty good.
Most Anticipated Movie That Didn’t Let Me Down:
The Simpsons Movie (Y.I.R. Rating 3/5) – This category just refers to the often occurring problem I have where I will really be looking forward to a movie coming out and then it finally does and I end up not liking it. The Simpsons, thankfully, did not do that to me. I was really looking forward to it, it came out, and I was very pleased with the result. A good solid showing in the theater for one of my long time favorite shows.
Worst Use of Good Talent:
1408 (Y.I.R. Rating 2/5) – You have Sam Jackson and John Cusack AND your movie is based on a great Stephen King short story. The end result of that mix should be a home run. Instead 1408 was more or less a mess that left me feeling disappointed and a little sad.
Biggest Disappointments:
Transformers (Y.I.R. Rating 1/5) – I know a lot of you liked the movie. I’m sorry, I thought it was terrible. Not enough Transformers IN the Transformers movie, too many meaningless plot lines and human characters, bad CG designs, terrible dialogue, rushed ending…etc, etc, etc. I hated it. Sorry
I Am Legend (Y.I.R. Rating 2/5) – My good friend Matt described this movie perfectly: “28 Days Later mashed up with Cast Away, but not doing either of them as well as the original.” I think that is pretty spot on, PLUS they absolutely desecrated one of my favorite novels. Shame on you!
Worst of 2007:
Spiderman 3 (Y.I.R. Rating 0/5) – Terrible, terrible, terrible. What else can I say? I left the theater SO very mad after this one. Just an all around BAD movie that didn’t do anything well, in fact, it pretty much did everything poorly. If you want to learn how NOT to make movies, watch Spiderman 3. Too bad too, the first 2 were pretty enjoyable. Then again, the first 2 didn’t have gay, dancing, emo Peter Parker.
Top 3 of 2007:
#3 – Sunshine (Y.I.R. Rating 5/5) – Sci-Fi Thriller perfection. I love this movie. The best word to describe the experience of seeing it in the theater: Awe-inspiring. In my review when this movie came out I described sitting in my seat with my mouth gaping open for most of the movie. It is that awesome an experience. Go buy a big HD TV and watch this movie on it. The team of Alex Garland, Danny Boyle, and Cillian Murphy repeat their brilliance of 28 Days Later with Sunshine.
#2 – The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Y.I.R. Rating 5/5) – Not quite a western, not quite a biopic, not quite a historical period piece, Assassination ended up being some sort of hybrid of all of those genres, and VERY effectively. This is the sort of movie that you don’t want to end. The performances are SO good you wish you could watch the characters for days. If Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck don’t win Oscars for this movie it will be treasonous. An absolute beauty of a film.
#1 – Eagle Vs Shark (Y.I.R. Rating 5/5) – OK, let me say this first. Declaring a favorite of the year was very tough. If you talk to me in a couple of weeks I might put these 3 films in a completely different order. They are all that good. However, if hard pressed to declare a favorite, as I am doing now, I think Eagle Vs Shark would win first more often than not. The reason is simple: Sunshine and Assassination are amazing films, but they don’t hit as hard emotionally as EvS. I’m a sucker for a movie that gets you a little in the heartstrings…especially when it is a quirky comedy that does it, hence my love of Wes Anderson. But don’t misunderstand me, this is no Wes rehash! This is a completely unique and wonderful movie that will make you laugh out loud and then make you cry a little secretly to yourself so your girlfriend doesn’t see you. And if that isn’t enough, it is a product of New Zealand…so how can it not be great?!?
There you have it. My little Year in Review for you. I hope you liked it, and if you didn’t…well, you’ve broken my heart. See you in 2008 real hard!
posted by Joe Punchface at 9:37 AM
1 Comments:
Okay. Now I know to never trust your reviews again. You "hated" Spider-Man 3 and LOVED "The Assassination of...who-gives-a-crap by some dude."
First, Spider-Man 3 was not the best of the recent trilogy, I'll grant you that. However, the "gay, dancing, emo Peter Parker" was actually quite true to the character. If Peter Parker were trying to be cool (or, being cool in his own mind) that is what he would do. It would be over the top, awkward, and it would end up being as equally "un-cool" as the rest of his life as Peter. He would simply be more confident in his goofiness.
As for "Assassination...", the title is long, a bit cumbersome, and you lose interest after about 1/3 of it. This pretty much sums up the movie too.
You mentioned that you didn't want it to end...I couldn't wait for that beautifully shot piece of crap to be done with. What a waste of the good talents of Pitt and Affleck.
Possibly the worst movie I've ever seen (besides "Copland"). I rented it and played it on my X-Box. I had to apologize to my X-Box.
Anyhoo, this comment is not written with animosity or vitriol, just good old fashioned impassioned disagreement. I hope we can still be friends. Have a great day!
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