Monday, January 15, 2007

Best of 2006: movies



1. Thank You For Smoking: I've pretty much covered my love of this film ad nauseum here on the blog, so just go see it.
2. United 93: A movie that everyone should see, whether they think it's the "right time" or not. It's a chilling reminder that yes, Virginia, there is a real enemy out there.
3. The Departed: Scorsese returns to form after the disappointment (to me, at least) that was The Aviator. Jack owns this movie. But next time ditch Leo, okay Marty?
4. Clerks II: I was prepared to be let down, but this ended up being the funniest movie of the year. Now I'm really curious about Kevin Smith's planned horror movie.
5. Rocky Balboa: The plot could have been - okay, actually is - ridiculous, but Stallone handles his duties (star, writer, director) well, making you once again root for the now-60 year old underdog.
6. Borat: The rare case where the hype actually delivers. Really funny. When analyzing this film, I tend to fall in the "Americans are just polite and accomodating" camp rather than the "Americans are all racists, sexist, homophobes" group.
7. Mission: Impossible III: The year's best action flick, Xenu be damned.
8. X-Men: The Last Stand: The year's best comic book flick, Superman be damned.
9. Idiocracy: The movie Fox didn't want you to see. A great commentary on dysgenics, dumbed down culture, and over-corporatization. Plus, it's funny, too. And it has electrolytes (it's what plants crave).
10. The Prestige and The Pursuit of Happyness: I couldn't decide on the tenth spot, so I'll let overwhelmingly grim duke it out with emotionally manipulative.

Biggest disappointments:
1. For Your Consideration: This was made by the same team that gave us Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman, and A Mighty Wind? Really?
2. Superman Returns: I love the character, but this was way too long with not enough action. Plus, Supes was kind of creepy in it. Must ALL heroes exhibit a "dark side" nowadays? Let the dude be a Boy Scout like he's supposed to be and keep the brooding with Batman.
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: I love the first movie, but this was way too long with too much action. I know that this is merely a second act, but I hope this year's installment can redeem it (and with Chow Yun-Fat AND Keith Richards, I'm thinking it just may).

I have yet to see a lot of movies on my Movie List (Apocolypto, Casino Royale, etc.), so that explains their absence from consideration.

4 comments:

spydrz said...

I never got to see Idiocracy. Is it on dvd?

Micah said...

You and 99% of America. Yeah, came out last week and I picked it up on Friday. I'll bring it up tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

you mean 99.8% of america.

i wasn't really excited about the movies from last year, although PotC:DMC (not to be confused with Run:DMC) would rank on my me-likey list. then again, i didn't see most of M:Iiii.

comic book movies dissapointed. severely. x-men scared (or scarred) me. and supes just made me wanna wag my head and cry. my wife thought it was a sissy movie - not to mention creepy.

Micah said...

Yeah, crash and burn for Superman. There was so much potential there, too.

Easy prediction: Ghost Rider is going to suck balls. But being the nerd I am - and the fact that that was one of the comics that I collected back in the day - I'll go see it.

You only saw part of M:I III?