For whatever reason, I didn’t see as many movies this year as I usually do, but I still managed to see 32 movies in the theater and 1 tweenariffic made-for-TV movie, High School Musical 2. I’m including all 33 in my random awards, but before we begin, here are the theatrical releases I saw this year:
Music and Lyrics, Zodiac, Blades of Glory, Grindhouse, Disturbia, Fracture, Waitress, Spider-Man 3, Once, Shrek the Third, Knocked Up, Ocean's Thirteen, 1408, Live Free or Die Hard, Transformers, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Hairspray, The Simpsons Movie, Stardust, Shoot 'Em Up, The Darjeeling Limited, The Heartbreak Kid, Lars and the Real Girl, 30 Days of Night, Gone Baby Gone, Dan in Real Life, August Rush, Enchanted, Juno, I Am Legend, Sweeney Todd, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Now, on to the awards!
Favorite Movie of the Year: Lars and the Real Girl
I saw some fantastic movies this year, but this one stood out among the rest to claim the crown. It was funny, it was sad, Ryan Gosling rules, and I wasn’t ready for it to end when the credits rolled.
Top 5 of the Rest of My Favorites: (in no particular order)
1. Hairspray - When I saw this in the theater, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, because I went in kind of wary about it since I’m a big John Waters fan. I think I’m still the only person I know who hated John Travolta in the Edna role, but there were so many other great things that overshadowed his suckitude (The Pfeiff, Zac Efron proving he can actually act when not doing his Disney over-the-top mugging, the awesome soundtrack, Seaweed), that I enjoyed it in spite of Travolta. This movie actually would not have made my top 5 after I saw it in the theater – I watched it again when it came out on DVD and it was even better on second viewing, vaulting it into my top 5 for the year.
2. Grindhouse - What a fun and different movie-going experience this was. I so enjoyed the missing reels, the grainy film and the fantastic fake trailers in the middle. I’m so disappointed that the two movies were released on DVD separately, because I think you’d need to experience everything together to make it work so well.
3. Enchanted - Amy Adams rocked my world in this fun and cheeky take on Disney princess movies.
4. Transformers - Yeah, what about it? Say what you will, but I loved this movie. Big, loud, exciting and fun – everything a summer blockbuster should be. Plus, Optimus Prime. Come on now.
5. Gone Baby Gone - To put it plainly, this movie was awesome. Amy Ryan deserves every bit of that Oscar nomination that she should be getting. To use a film critic word, the story was “gripping” and the movie had great performances all around, especially my boy Casey Affleck, who ruled while looking ridiculously hot.
My Least Favorite Movies of the Year:
1. The Heartbreak Kid - Man, this sucked. What has happened to Ben Stiller? Who is making his choices these days? Did anyone see that awful Elmo’s Christmas Countdown Sunday night with Stiller the Elf? I’m a big Muppets fan and I love me some Elmo (he’s such a ball-buster), but it was so bad. Anyway, back to the point at hand – Ben Stiller should get back to things like Zoolander and Heavyweights and gain back some cred. I can’t wait for this movie to get the Slow Roll treatment.
2. 1408 - All you need to know about this movie is that it contains a scene with a mini Samuel L. Jackson inside of a hotel refrigerator. John Cusack, you are SO much better than this.
3. The Darjeeling Limited - It pains me to put this movie on this particular list, because I love everyone involved: Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman. Love them all. (I kind of want to marry Wes Anderson after his American Express commercial.) But here it sits, basically because it was one of my most anticipated movies of the year, (I LOVE Wes Anderson’s first 3 movies so, so much) but ended up being SUCH a disappointment. It’s not a bad movie in the sense of the first 2 – it’s well-made, it’s just that it’s really long and boring and nothing really happens. I hope Wes Anderson gets my telepathic messages telling him that he needs to write his movies with Owen Wilson again.
Favorite Musical Number of the Year: Bet On It from High School Musical 2
You all know my history with this. I thought it was the most foolish thing I had ever seen, so then I watched it again and again so I could show people the absurdity of it all, but on about the third viewing it crossed over from being horrifically ridiculous to being one of the greatest things ever put to film. Okay, maybe it didn’t go that far, but it did become one of the best moments of the year in movies for me, and it continues to rule my world in many ways. I still feel a little bad for Zac Efron for having been the one to be part of it all, but I kind of think it needs to be him to retain its awesomeness. The other day my mother was talking about the recent trend of the big choreographed dances at weddings and their YouTube popularity, and she said that she could totally see me doing the Baby Got Back one at my wedding. I hastily informed her that I would not be doing that, but would be performing Bet On It instead. She should start ordering the sand now. (Speaking of which, the best part of the pop-up version of HSM2, was the bubble popping up during the dramatic sand-throwing part of Bet On It, saying, “Who knew throwing sand could look so cool?” Dear Pop-Up Writers: Look again. It does not. Thank you.)
Honorable Mentions: What Time Is It & Fabulous from High School Musical 2, Good Morning Baltimore, Ladies Choice and Without Love from Hairspray, and That’s How You Know from Enchanted.
Movie I Didn’t Remember Came Out This Year Until I Went Through My List: Spider-Man 3. Poor Spidey – I know I liked it, but don’t remember much else about it except for the fact that James Franco was shirtless in one scene.
Movie I Can’t Believe Turned Out To Be Good: Live Free or Die Hard - It kind of kicked some ass, thanks to Justin Long and Timothy Olyphant.
Characters Who Never Get Old No Matter How Many Sequels There Are: Pinocchio and the Gingerbread Man from the Shrek movies. Honorable mention to Puss In Boots.
I actually don’t like Shrek himself – I’m over Mike Myers and the Christmas special wasn’t that great because it was too Shrek-heavy - BUT I like pretty much everything else about the movies, so I enjoy them anyway. Gingy and Pinocchio make it worth my while.
Movie I Should Have Seen, But Didn’t: The Bourne Ultimatum - I didn’t see the second one yet, but plan to see them both.
Movie I Should Have Kicked Myself For Not Seeing, But Didn’t: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End - I loved the first one, but wasn’t feeling the second one. When the third came out clocking in at almost 3 hours, I didn’t care enough to devote that much time to it. Maybe I’ll rent it. Meh.
Most Underrated Movie of the Year: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story - Funny, funny movie. It's not doing so hot at the box office, but it was hysterical. Runner Up: Zodiac
So that’s my report for the year – what were your favorites? Least favorites? Hit up the comments!
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