MOVIE REVIEW - Wrestler, The (2008)

Mickey Rourke's comeback vehicle is exactly as the critics are calling it - Mickey's Randy "The Ram" Robinson is almost too strikingly similar to Mickey himself. Both had their glory day, but are now washed up losers, trying to regain their glory and find a piece of dignity for their end game. Mickey does do a really great job - so realistic that it's scary. He lands 4th (behind Colin, Daniel, and Philip) in my personal Best Actor race (and thus first among the nominees). It is refreshing to see the wrestlers behind the scenes - deciding which plays they would use on each other, encouraging each other ("You've got a lot of ability" to their competitors). Some of the effects were gruesomely realistic - especially the staple gun - ouch. While it is a touching story of seeking (and not quite finding) redemption, it is also a depressing tale. While there are nice moments with The Ram and his estranged daughter, it is an ultimately depressing and too-easy plotline. All scenes (especially the nude ones) with Marisa Tomei are terrific, and she deserves her nod (and also lands 4th behind Amy Ryan, Viola, and Amy Adams in my personal Supporting Actress race). The Springsteen song at the end was terrific. With so many quality elements to the film, I expected to like it more. It's good, but also depressing and unsatisfying.

Best of 2008

Assuming that the Oscar nominations (coming out tomorrow) will get it all wrong, and along the lines of the format of AFI, I'm listing my choices for the Oscar top categories and the Best of TV for 2008. All categories are listed in order of my preference.

Movies:
Top Movies of the year:
1. Changeling
2. Defiance
3. Wall*E
4. Burn After Reading
5. In Bruges
6. The Dark Knight
7. Frost/Nixon
8. Valkyrie
9. Body of Lies
10. Wanted
11. Quantum of Solace
12. Iron Man

Best Actor:
1. Colin Farrell (In Bruges)
2. Daniel Craig (Defiance)
3. Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt)
4. Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon)
5. Robert Downey, Jr. (Iron Man)
6. Christian Bale (The Dark Knight)
7. Hugh Jackman (Australia)
8. Clint Eastwood (Gran Torino)
9. Ed Norton (The Incredible Hulk)

Best Actress:
1. Frances McDormand (Burn After Reading)
2. Angelina Jolie (Changeling)
(Admittedly, I don’t watch many movies with female leads)

Best Director:
1. Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight)
2. Clint Eastwood (Changeling)
3. Andrew Stanton (Wall*E)
4. Ridley Scott (Body of Lies)
5. Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon)
6. Bryan Singer (Valkyrie)
7. Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace)
8. Joel & Ethan Coen (Burn After Reading)

Best Supporting Actor (such a strong and difficult category – I would be happy for any of these to win):
1. Liev Schreiber (Defiance)
2. Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
3. James Franco (Milk)
4. Brad Pitt (Burn After Reading)
5. J.K. Simmons (Burn After Reading)
6. Russell Crowe (Body of Lies)
7. Thomas Kretschmann (Valkyrie)
8. Mark Strong (Body of Lies)
9. Kevin Bacon (Frost/Nixon)
10. Michael Kelly (Changeling)
11. Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon)
12. Alan Arkin (Marley & Me)
13. Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight)

Best Supporting Actress:
1. Amy Ryan (Changeling)
2. Viola Davis (Doubt)
3. Amy Adams (Doubt)
4. Marisa Tomei
5. Vera Farmiga (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas)
6. Alexa Davalos (Defiance)
7. Betty Buckley (The Happening)
8. Angelina Jolie (Wanted)
9. Tilda Swinton (Burn After Reading)
10. Michelle Monaghan (Eagle Eye)

Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted):
1. Changeling
2. In Bruges
3. Valkyrie
4. Defiance
5. Frost/Nixon
6. Doubt
7. Burn After Reading
8. The Bank Job
9. X-Files: I Want to Believe
10. Role Models

Best Cinematography:
1. Defiance
2. Changeling
3. Australia
4. Appaloosa
5. Batman: The Dark Knight

Best Song:
1. “Gran Torino” (Clint Eastwood, Jamie Cullum, et al – Gran Torino)
2. “The Wrestler” (Bruce Springsteen – The Wrestler)


And the Razzie awards:
Worst movie of the year:
1. An American Carol
2. Milk
3. Tropic Thunder
4. Australia
5. Hancock
6. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
7. Slumdog Millionaire
8. Four Christmases
9. Lakeview Terrace
10. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Worst Director of the year:
1. Baz Luhrmann (Australia)
2. David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
3. Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)

Worst Actor of the year:
1. Kevin Farley (An American Carol)
2. Samuel L. Jackson (Lakeview Terrace)
3. Will Smith (Hancock)
4. Keanu Reeves (The Day the Earth Stood Still)
5. Ben Stiller (Tropic Thunder)

Worst Actress of the year:
1. Nicole Kidman (Australia)

Worst Supporting Actor of the year:
1. Russell Brand (Forgetting Sarah Marshall)
2. Diego Luna (Milk)
3. Jack Black (Tropic Thunder)
4. Steve Martin (Baby Mama)
5. Jack McBrayer (Forgetting Sarah Marshall)
6. Jaden Smith (The Day the Earth Stood Still)
7. Robert Downey, Jr. (Tropic Thunder)

Worst Supporting Actress of the year:
1. Cate Blanchett (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
2. Renee Zellwegger (Appaloosa)
3. Kathy Bates (The Day the Earth Stood Still)
4. Gwyneth Paltrow (Iron Man)
5. Cate Blanchett (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)

Worst Screenplay of the year:
1. An American Carol
2. Tropic Thunder
3. Appaloosa
4. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
5. The Day the Earth Stood Still
6. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
7. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
8. Slumdog Millionaire

Worst Song of the Year:
1. “Another Way to Die” (Jack White/Alicia Keys, Quantum of Solace)

Disclaimer: I have not seen the following movies, which could be added at a later time:

• Bedtime Stories
• Blindness
• Cadillac Records
• Happy-Go-Lucky
• Max Payne
• Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
• Nights in Rodanthe
• Revolutionary Road
• Righteous Kill
• RocknRolla
• Saw V
• The Spirit
• Transporter 3
• Vicky Christina Barcelona
• Yes Man
• Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Television (a little awkward halfway through the season):
Best Drama:
1. L O S T
2. Dexter
3. Mad Men
4. Pushing Daisies
5. Battlestar Galactica
6. The Mentalist
7. Burn Notice
8. CSI
9. Leverage
10. Monk

Best Comedy:
1. Corner Gas
2. 30 Rock
3. The Big Bang Theory
4. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
5. How I Met Your Mother
6. The Office

Best Actor:
1. Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
2. Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)
3. Michael C. Hall (Dexter)
4. Simon Baker (The Mentalist)
5. Alec Baldwin (30 Rock)
6. Jeffrey Donavan (Burn Notice)
7. William Peterson (CSI)
8. Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies)
9. James Roday (Psych)
10. Matthew Fox (L O S T)
11. Brent Butt (Corner Gas)

Best Actress:
1. Mary McDonnell (Battlestar Galactica)
2. Lana Parilla (Swingtown)
3. Tina Fey (30 Rock)
4. January Jones (Mad Men)
5. Gabrielle Anwar (Burn Notice)
6. Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies)
7. Molly Parker (Swingtown)
8. Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica)
9. Gabrielle Miller (Corner Gas)
10. Anna Torv (Fringe)
11. Evangeline Lilly (L O S T)
12. Jordana Spiro (My Boys)
13. Holly Hunter (Saving Grace)

Best Supporting Actor:
1. Jimmy Smits (Dexter)
2. Michael Hogan (Battlestar Galactica)
3. Tracy Morgan (30 Rock)
4. Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother)
5. Eric Peterson (Corner Gas)
6. Ed Helms (The Office)
7. Michael Emerson (L O S T)
8. Fred Ewanuick (Corner Gas)
9. Justin Chambers (Grey’s Anatomy)
10. Creed Bratton (The Office)
11. Kyle Howard (My Boys)
12. Jack McBrayer (30 Rock)
13. Alessandro Juliani (Battlestar Galactica)

Best Supporting Actress:
1. Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men)
2. Yunjin Kim (L O S T)
3. Nancy Robertson (Corner Gas)
4. Christina Hendricks (Mad Men)
5. Mindy Kaling (The Office)
6. Kristin Chenowith (Pushing Daisies)
7. Lucy Lawless (Battlestar Galactica)
8. Phyllis Smith (The Office)
9. Elizabeth Mitchell (L O S T)
10. Swoosie Kurtz (Pushing Daisies)
11. Gina Bellman (Leverage)
12. Kaitlin Olson (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia)
13. Brooke Smith (Grey’s Anatomy)
14. Kristen Nelson (Psych)

Best Reality Series:
1. Survivor
2. Wipeout

MOVIE REVIEW - Unborn, The (2008)

Standard horror flick about a young woman who discovers that she was a twin, but that her umbilical cord had strangled her brother before he was born. And now he wants to be born. Ooh, scary. If only.

MOVIE REVIEW - Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The (2008)

Partial Spoiler Alert!


Story of a kid who is the son of a German soldier in charge of a concentration camp. The kid befriends another Jewish kid in the concentration camp, though the German kid doesn’t understand their situation. The kids meet at the fence each day and play – at least in the mind of the German kid. The Jewish kid, of course, realizes his situation. While many in the theater were sucked into climax wholeheartedly with tears, I found it wildly, irresponsibly emotionally manipulative and simply could not believe the filmmakers took us to this ridiculous conclusion. It is a fairly well-made movie, with good acting (especially by Vera Farmiga as the mother) and good cinematography. But this movie did not need to be made. We’ve all seen Schindler’s List, which tells a much more responsible story.

MOVIE REVIEW - Gran Torino (2008)

I think I went in with too high hopes. The previews painted this Clint flick as a vigilante movie, which I tend to love. It sort of was, but much more, it was a good story about building friendships across racial lines. Clint plays a softer, older, new millennium Dirty Harry, a racist curmudgeon whose wife has just died, when a large Asian family moves into the house next door. Clint is nearly xenophobic, as he trades barbs and spit with the family, until he proves a hero when an Asian gang threatens the new neighbors. The family is immensely grateful and tenacious in their appreciation, in spite of Clint's frequent rejection of their newfound friendship. The best parts of the movie are when Clint finally mentors the young male teenager, teaches him a work ethic, hires him to clean and repair - not his own home, but the homes of the other neighbors on the block. Watching this boy on the fence of good and evil choose sides is inspirational. The Asian actors were pleasant but limited in their acting range, but Clint easily held the film together. It's a bit predictable, and not quite as satisfying as I had hoped; but still a good story. I especially loved the closing song, written and performed by Clint and Jamie Cullum.

MOVIE REVIEW - Frost/Nixon (2008)

Ron Howard joined the ranks of expert filmmakers about seven years ago, and this film continues his solid run (Da Vinci Code excepting). He took a story that should've been boring (the post-resignation interview with Nixon by David Frost) and made it compelling to watch. In moments of the film, Frank Langella's Nixon is a caricature; but Ron is also willing to portray him as a complex and bright man. Howard's own politics spurred him to make the film ("Who will be Bush's Frost?", he has said), and I disagree with the modern-day equivalence to Bush that undergirds the storyline; however, there are moments when Nixon is also shown as sympathetic, self-assured, and effective. A movie with this much dialogue and political discourse should have been dry and dreary. On the contrary, it was riveting, very nicely done, an enjoyable story.

MOVIE REVIEW - Defiance (2008)

World War II drama telling the true story of a group of Russian Jews that hid in the forest for several years. It is a fascinating story, depicting how they rebuild a community, an army, families, provide for themselves, govern themselves. Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber star as brothers – both are excellent actors at the top of their game here. The scenery is luscious in the forest. The drama is tense but life affirming. Really good movie.

MOVIE REVIEW - Lakeview Terrace (2008)

Samuel L. Jackson plays a neighbor and cop when Kerry Washington (black) and her husband Patrick Wilson (white) move in next door. Yes, the racial stereotypes are that distinct, and you quickly see where this miserable movie is taking us. Samuel is a racist who thinks Patrick and his rap music should take his white-trying-to-be-blackness somewhere else. Patrick is the reasonable one who tries to play nice, even amid Samuel’s outright disdain and bullying. The always gorgeous Kerry plays peacekeeper, until she sees Samuel’s bad side, too. Samuel’s taunting escalates, then escalates again, then gets so bad you just want it to be over. There is no subtlety, just bad decision and bad attitude piled on high. No fun.

MOVIE REVIEW - Doubt (2008)

I’m used to Hollywood presenting the Catholic Church as evil. Here, they do not. I thought the church was shown in a pretty good light, where priests and nuns have compassion and courage. Still, the writers don’t understand church doctrine. There was a very long sermon by Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman, as good here as usual) that opened the movie. Of course, he didn’t say a thing about God. “Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty.” Ugh. The teaching nun (Amy Adams): “FDR, JFK, and Lincoln are our three greatest presidents.” Uh… There may be some church where these are the tenets of the faith, but I would not call it standard Catholicism.

Still, the (inaccurate) doctrine of the church was just a backdrop to this surprisingly enjoyable and decent movie. The story revolves around the lead nun’s (Meryl Streep) accusations that Father Flynn abused a kid. Whether guilty or innocent, the priest is shown here as a good priest, one who cares deeply for his parishioners. It is fairly intense, given that it is a dialogue-heavy drama. There is even a healthy dose of comic relief that is actually funny (e.g., a contrast between the priests and nuns at their respective dinners). Amy Adams and Philip are always terrific. Viola Davis was stellar as the mother, a surprising character who protects her child in highly unexpected ways. I’ve never in a movie seen snot left on the face for such a long soliloquy – brave! I don’t understand, though, why Meryl would get a nomination for her constant frowns. She is one dimensional, and too similar to her Devil Wears Prada tight ass (including the tearful breakdown), just with a habit.

MOVIE REVIEW - Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons, The (2008)

This wasn’t a horrible story – Brad Pitt plays a man born old, who gets younger as he ages. But the screenplay and direction were badly edited. What should’ve been a 90 minute movie (it was a short story, after all) was drawn out into 3 long unnecessary hours. There were so many extraneous storylines (the comic relief old guy struck by lightning; Benjamin’s affair with Tilda Swinton; the bedside scenes with Julia Ormond – couldn’t they have had Cate’s character tell the story when she wasn’t so sick? And what did Hurricane Katrina have to do with anything?). They tried to make Benjamin seem a bit like Forrest Gump – a war hero, a lifelong love, a slow talker. The bad news is, they succeeded in making him Forrest-ish. Pitt talks really slowly (only, his character isn’t supposed to be slow); he’s socially awkward (which makes sense, given his condition). Even when he meets up with Cate “in the middle”, when Brad is mostly himself, he still has a bizarre hesitancy about him that doesn’t really work. I very much disliked Cate’s character – flippant, slutty, plastically cosmopolitan. I’ve heard others talk about how great Cate was, and I thought she was very mediocre. This had potential, but needed tons more editing.