Recollection of 2008 - The Movies

Recollection of 2008 – The Movies

Posted By Adonis on December 26th, 2008

In this part of my Recollection of 2008 I’ll be going through the movies I’ve seen in 2008. Now remembering from the top of my head I can remember some really good ones and some really bad ones, when I mean bad I mean BAD – epic! Straight away X-Files: I want to believe and The Promotion come to mind, more on this later. There have also been some really great movies, some which I didn’t expect to be any good. The Dark Night, Ironman and Wall-E are the main three that left an impression.

Now my memory isn’t the best when it comes to remembering general things, specific things I can remember in vivid details so luckily for me I have yet another service which has kept my records of which movies I have watched in 2008 and how I rate them – Flixster! I like Flixster because I’ve got it added on my Facebook profile and I can quickly review a movie I’ve just watched and check my Facebook at the same time.

So what does Flixster say about the movies I’ve watched in 2008? I’m going to choose 3 of the worst and best to keep it short(ish).

Let’s start off with the bad

X-Files: I want to believe (1.5 / 5)

Now I’m not sure what David Duchovny was thinking getting involved with this movie, maybe he felt he owed it to the brand to appear, his advisor should have told him to steer clear. Being an X-Files fan, I watched the series and the first movie and have to say that it was actually a good way to end the series and probably the whole franchise. The movie never really takes off, it sits stagnant trying to tie up events to create a link between Fox Mulder and Dana Scully and the FBI to try and get some meaning into why Mulder should come out of hiding and be involved in this movie. The plot is even weaker as there is no hint of anything unnatural happening, there are mysteries yes, but these are predictable from first glance. The cast trudges off trying to solve the missing FBI agents case, which looks more like a murder / abduction (read kidnapping) case than anything supernatural, whilst Mulder at first tries to find something Supernatural but in the end it’s more to do with how much Mulder needs Scully to function and how each try and move on from their previous jobs as FBI agents. It’s almost like an extended Xmas episode rather than a movie – this should have gone straight to DVD.

The Promotion (1 / 5)

Now if there is one thing I can’t get past is Sean William Scott not being in American Pie and saying dip shit” every 10 seconds. So hoping this was going to be his make or break movie where he can try and get rid of this label cast upon him I gave this a shot. I know he’s done a few other films after American Pie (most notably being Dude Where’s My Car and Bulletproof Monk, the latter being unrealistic and wire-framed over the top) he still hasn’t managed to get rid of the label of Steve Stifler. So tagging up with John C. Reilly I thought he may change his direction away and still keep to being funny. Boy was I wrong! Not only is this movie not funny (I hope it’s not supposed to be) its dull dreary and really slow. I can’t remember anything interesting happening in this movie, I actually don’t think anything happens in this movie. There is your usual plot yes – two guys fighting for the same job, one is a previous substance abuser, the other a young and ambitious guy that has just bit off more than he could chew buy buying a house he cannot afford so the financial strain and the risk of losing his significant other is getting to him. But that is an average situation to be in, what should have been an over the top funny movie with some crazy and stupid acts of selfishness to try and get the other out of the job, it ended up as an average movie as there wasn’t enough happening in the movie to keep interest or stand out.

Disaster Movie (0.5 / 5)

Now spoof movies have been coming out thick and fast, everyone seems to be trying to get in the act and making their own versions. This year there has been at least 3 including this one; Meet the Spartans (3 /5) and Superhero Movie (2.5 / 5) the other two I watched, both of which did decent jobs in getting some laughter out of me and also having some sort of mildly funny scenes and acting. Disaster Movie on the other hand is unique- it misses everything, in the end all it ends up doing is justifying its title. There is nothing funny as the cheesy acting is so over the top and bad, the different movies it spoofs cannot be linked together, so you what you end up with is random events happening without no reason whatsoever. The Wayan brothers did a stellar job with the Scary Movies and it seems everyone thinks they can make spoof movies, the key ingredient they seem to be missing is making the movies actually funny rather than retarded.

Swiftly moving, let’s not stick around rotten tomatoes too long.

The good Movies of 2008

Step Up 2 The Streets (3.5 / 5)

Now not everyone will like this, if you aren’t remotely interested in Hip Hop, Rap or R&B then you should steer clear of this as it’s cheesy and the acting is pretty lame, but the choreographed dance moves and phat beatz make this more than anything. The plot is mainly about a rebel school kid who has lost her mother and lives with her mother’s friend. She can’t fit into your typical schooling system mainly down to her interests in street dancing and also the fact she is hanging out with the “wrong crowd”. That’s the plot, you could probably figure out what’s going to happen in the movie. Although this is cliché and there won’t be any seriously Oscar nominating acting going on, you will find some great music, dance moves and a light hearted funny and romantic movie which should keep you going until the end for the finale – which is not to be missed.

WALL-E (3.5 / 5)

This is one movie I did not expect much from. Yet another animation movie by Disney and yes that’s what it is. But it’s got something about it and also a loose plot which you can’t help but carry on watching. The star of the movie is little WALL-E himself; a cleaning robot left and abandoned on Earth to clean up the pollution whilst the human race has gone off to live in space in the hope one day they will return and inhabit it once again. The Earth is desolate with the exception of WALL-E and his cockroach friend (they can survive nuclear strikes) who are left to clean the place up. The story properly gets into action when an explorer robot is sent to Earth to find out the status and look for plant life signs. And now starts a romance between robots which takes them on an adventure out of this world – literally. Overall the movie is warm, light and funny – nothing too complex, which in the end is what probably makes it good.

Pineapple Express (4 / 5)

If you have seen Superbad, then you should be looking forward to this movie, it’s from the same guys. The movie in all actuality takes a little while to get going, but fulfils it’s job in being funny, with action and a stupid plot only those that have delved into the “good stuff” would appreciate – I am of course referring to the “reafer,” that is the main plot of the story. With the usual pothead, unambitious dead jobber somehow getting themselves into trouble mostly being involved in drugs (smoking, distributing.) They get themselves deep in over their heads with both Chinese and American drug traffickers and gangsters. Ensue a hilarious and idiotic chase which takes up most of the runtime, but is worth it as it’s over the time, funny but totally expected and pleasing.

Transporter 3 (4 / 5)

Now if there is one thing I can be shocked at in 2008 is this movie. I have seen both the previous two movies and was not looking forward to this. My opinion of Jason Statham is dropped quite a bit since his days in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. Mean Machine, The Bank Job and Death Race haven’t done anything to repair that, nor did the other two Transporter movies. I personally think Jason Statham is the British Vin Diesel, you won’t get much variety from either of them, nor will you get a lot of acting talent. But they are what they are and put in the right sort of roles (look at Schwarzenegger, Van Damme and Stallone) they can do a decent job. Whilst the previous two were really poor, this has some good action, plot and is almost a 3rd attempt at doing the one movie and finally have succeeded. It’s got action packed fights, car chases and cheesy lines – this is what James Bond would have been like if he hadn’t been so cut clean and sterilised.

Now it looks like I’ve gon through the good and bad movies from 2008, there is an extra in the good section and so there should be, being positive is always good.

To summarise this up:

The Worst Movie of the year award is going to go to Disaster Movie – it’s head and shoulders above anything else.

The Worst Movie of 2008 - if not all time!

The Best Movie of the year you’d think would go to Transporter 3…but no, there is only one clear winner here – The Dark Night! (4.5 / 5)

Movie of the Year 2008

There is no doubt this is the best Movie I have seen this year and no I’m not even saying this because of the late Heath Ledger (although he’s performance as the Joker was better than Jack Nicholson’s), the movie as a whole is fantastic. The Batman movies had been struggling of late, where Keaton’s Batman was a law abiding nice guy and based on Tim Burton’s and Joel Schumacher’s characters, it was more constrained, more reserved and less risky. Christopher Nolan’s Batman on the other hand is darker, more mysterious, troubled and alone. It shows a different side of the superhero and also the risks and vulnerabilities of actually being human and swayed by emotion, love and hate. With Ledger playing the part of the Joker splendidly and toying with the Batman at will, always getting the upper hand and being one step ahead, Batman is under a lot pressure and starts to doubt himself.

This movie is more than just a play on the superhero movie, there is much much more to it. The fabulous stunts and action scenes, the twists in plot and the exploration of the inner Batman and his emotions make this a bigger thriller than anything released this year.

This movie looks into what makes the Dark Night, how he gets to be the hero of Gotham City and what he is willing to sacrifice and do to protect the people of the City whether they like it or not.

Get it on Blue-Ray and watch it if you haven’t yet and can’t find it in your local IMAX – it’s being re-released in January so I’d urge you to go and see it.