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We were a little behind in getting out our top fives, so we put them all into one post. Like the good old days. Tragically, we all agree way too much. And it appears we wish the Academy would find a little more room for comedies. Especially comedies concerning the undead. I do wonder, though, at the counting abilities of a few of my fellow Grouches. I’m not naming any names, but I swear I see more than five movies listed for a couple of them.
Adam
Inglourious Basterds
Zombieland
The Hangover
(500) Days of Summer
Up In The Air
Honorable Mentions:
Sunshine Cleaning
Taken
Star Trek
Brian
Up
District 9
Zombieland
The Informant!
The Hangover
Honorable Mentions:
I Love You, Man
Sin Nombre
Jared
Zombieland
Up
District 9
(500) Days of Summer
I Love You, Man
John
Up
Zombieland
The Informant!
Julie and Julia
Up in the Air
I realize it is a couple weeks late, but here’s my top five through October. Well, I guess through the second week of November.
1. Zombieland
2. Up
3. District 9
4. (500) Days of Summer
5. Star Trek
Not much movement, I know, but I expect that to change in the near future (it isn’t from lack of trying, I’ve seen at least a dozen films since the last list). I don’t believe I’ve said anything about Zombieland before. It is darn near a perfect movie. Taut, consistently funny, surprising, and well-cast. One of those films where I understand if someone doesn’t like it much, I just probably can’t be very good friends with that person. Jesse Eisenberg is who people want Michael Cera to be. Woody Harrelson was just about born to play his role (and I’m hoping he gets a nomination for The Messenger because I’ll consider it half a vote for this). Abigail Breslin, well, maybe I better let Brian chime in. And I’m madly in love with Emma Stone. If I’m not writing a ridiculous post advocating that this script should get a nomination, it will have been an insanely good year.
While I have the floor, just wanted to point out something. The latest Gurus O’ Gold list went up a few days ago. Their predictions are always interesting and one of the bets resources out there. But I was struck by how few films the experts think have a shot to get a Best Picture nomination. For ten spots, they seem to agree that only eleven have any real shot. I realize that no one really knows how the change to ten affects anything, and that it is still relatively early in the game. But this is stunning to me. I thought part of the point of the change was accepting that a wider swathe of movies can be good than the Academy generally deems. But this wouldn’t be progress at all.
It’s not quite the end of the month but I’m headed out on safari for a few weeks and I know no one will sleep until they hear my latest top 5.
1. Up. Still no change.
2. Zombieland. What a delightful surprise. This is a clever, funny, deliciously gory film. It sticks to its premise and takes it in a fun direction. Absolutely terrific characters with some excellent surprises. This is the multiplex movie to see at the moment.
3. The Informant!. Zany, hilarious, twisty.
4. I Love You, Man. Funny! If it’s on the plane I think I’ll watch it again.
5. Moon. Will the fledgling movement to get Sam Rockwell a nomination pay off? Probably not. But that would be sweet.
As time goes on we see more films it’s tougher to move the top five, so occasionally I’d like to highlight a film that probably would have made the top five had I seen it earlier.
9. By no means a perfect movie but I enjoyed its unique visual style and surprisingly dark themes. The second half is significantly better than the first – probably because by then you accept the relatively thin plot and characters – and the climax is quite effective.
Didn’t seem like that great of a summer, huh?
1. Up. No change.
2. I Love You, Man. Check it out on DVD, jobin.
3. Moon. An entertaining, thoughful, compelling sci-fi flick starring Sam Rockwell and only Sam Rockwell. Should be out on DVD in a few months and it’s definitely worth watching.
4. The Hangover. Do you know if this blog is pager friendly?
5. (500) Days of Summer. Clever and amusing romantic comedy that makes some fun twists in the genre. Even though I wish it was a little funnier I enjoyed its stylistic flourishes.
Now let’s get to the late-year good stuff. Whiteout sure looks great, huh?
Right now might be my favorite part of the year, in terms of movie-watching. We’ve seen the summer blockbusters, the interesting films I didn’t see in theaters (e.g. Sin Nombre, Sugar, Sunshine Cleaning) are rolling out on DVD, and we’re pretty much at the exact point right before Oscar contenders become legit Oscar contenders. Nobody knows anything, because most of the big films haven’t really been seen at all, but everyone wants to know something. To wit, the first edition of the Gurus O’ Gold is out, and if you haven’t seen it, check them out. And you all laughed when I said Star Trek was in the conversation. The important festivals, Telluride, TIFF, and Venice are just getting underway. Even as short as a week from now, we’ll have a better idea about the Oscars. But now, now is when absolutely anything is possible and we can still be full of hope that this will be a great Oscar year.
1. Up
If Up were to get a Best Picture nom, I’d be thrilled as all heck. And while it should have been WALL-E, it would unfairly diminish this film to call it a make up nom. Of course, I guess I should allow for the possibility I’ll seen ten films I like more than this. Man, that would be something.
2. District 9
One of the two new additions to the list since my last post. Maybe this is nostalgia talking, but I think that recent scifi/action films have tended to forget what makes their genre so great. In my mind, it isn’t the special effects, necessarily. It is the stories that couldn’t be told any way other than explosions, mindless violence, and a few broken laws of physics. Anyway, District 9 bursts out of the scifi/action genre to become a truly great film.
3. (500) Days of Summer
The other new add. It may have been the movie I was most looking forward to this summer, so there’s something to be said for it being able to stand up to my hype. It wasn’t everything I hoped it would be, but it was certainly close. There are some neat tricks in there, which manage not distract from the film, and the story is a generally compelling subversion of a romcom.
4. I Love You, Man
Sure, Rush jokes will pretty much always be funny in a movie. But someday, someone will build a film around TOTO jokes. And then I’ll have to stop watching movies.
5. Star Trek
John is still wrong.
And a special honorable mention to The Hurt Locker, which was in my Top Five for at least a little bit. Actually, I think there was a week when Away We Go made it as well.
Well, we are right around halfway through the calendar year, so here’s my top five so far. Hopefully the other Grouches follow.
1. Up
A fantastic movie, though I didn’t think it was as good as WALL-E. Which isn’t really a knock, seeing as how I would have said the same thing about every other film from last year.
2. I Love You, Man
This film is funny, sure, but it also manages to generally keep up a compelling story. It has been a long time since Jason Segel wasn’t in a movie in my top five.
3. Star Trek
As usual, John is wrong. We’ll see if I can come up with some sort of rebuttal.
4. The Hangover
I know the point isn’t original, but goodness gracious did this movie rake in the dough. It is gonna finish with $200 million domestic, and be safely in the top 100 domestic grosses all time. The film was often funny and occasionally hilarious, but I had a few quibbles with it, specifically that it significantly tailed off at the end, and they had no idea what to do with Heather Graham’s character.
5. The Brothers Bloom
Has a fantastic beginning (and no, not just due to the two cameos), but the last third has serious issues. Which is unfortunate, because I really wanted to love the film. Con movies are really hard to pull off, and Rian Johnson puts forward a jolly good effort. Bang Bang steals the show, in my humble opinion. There’s also a line in the film that’s in the early running for my favorite movie quote of the year.
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