2008: A year in review

Hey, everybody else is doing it and it's December 31st so why not hand out some awards. Please note these are not predictions- these are just my opinions.

Film Awards

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire (Live Action) and WALL·E (Animated)
Best Actor: Sean Penn (Milk) and Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Best Actress: Keira Knightley (The Duchess)
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Best Supporting Actress: Tarija Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)


This is my Top 10 movies of the year at this current point. There are still a lot of movies I have yet to see as your not so humble reviewer doesn't get to go to press screenings. Any changes that are made will be noted below.

Top 10 Movies

1. Wall-E

A true masterpiece of cinema if there ever was one.

2. Slumdog Millionaire

A movie miracle.

3. Tropic Thunder

One of the funniest movie I have ever seen. It is even better if you have seen "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse" otherwise known as the making of Apocalypse Now, a true story of a Vietnam war movie gone to hell.

4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

A cinematic symphony. A work of art delving into the deep inner meaning behind life, death and love.

5. Definitely, Maybe

A complete surprise for me as I saw it on a whim. A completely original take on the romantic comedy genre and a surprise treat for all who watch it.

6. The Duchess

A heartbreaking true story of sacrifice. Fine performances all around, superb costume design and a breathtaking score.

7. In Search of a Midnight Kiss

Overlooked indie feature of the year. A rare film about romance on New Year's Eve.

8. Speed Racer

A frenetic treat for the eyes. The explosion of lights and colors does not overstay it's welcome.

9. Doomsday

A guilty pleasure of mayhem and violence. Purposely is cliche as it's an homage to many classic films in the same genre.

10. Cloverfield

The movie ends with the helicopter crash for me, and because I view it in this manner it remains a well executed monster movie of the highest caliber of originality.

Bottom 5

5. The Forbidden Kingdom

Cliche, an uninteresting plot and poor acting about sums up this lackluster film.

4. What Happens in Vegas

Proves Kutcher can act but his roles remain inane and stupid.

3. Drillbit Taylor

We have already seen a more offensive and profane version of this. We don't care.

2. Pride and Glory

Painfully bad. Painfully.

1. 10,000 B.C.

Too shamefully cliche to evaluate. The difference between this and Doomsday is that Doomsday never took itself seriously. This film did.

Video Game Awards

I don't have the time nor money to play all the games I wanted to this year. It is nowhere near the amount to make a well informed Top 10 list. So instead I will list notable games I was fortunate enough to play.

Worthy of note:

Grand Theft Auto IV

Mirror's Edge (Most Original Game award)

Rock Band 2

Guitar Hero World Tour

Gears of War 2

Little Big Planet

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Game of the Year (Handheld): Kirby Super Star Ultra

I bought the DS for the sole purpose of playing the latest installment of the Legend of Zelda franchise: Phantom Hourglass. I had no intention of buying anything else off the bat although I was hoping something would peak my interest. That indeed came along as I am a huge retro guy. I couldn't believe my eyes to see the Kirby SNES classic "Super Star" come to the DS. Not only is a faithful port of the entire game they added 2 new games and a new Arena! 5 Stars Nintendo!

Game of the Year/ Underrated Game of the Year: Tomb Raider Underworld

With one of the most epic begining I have seen in many years I was instantly on th edge of my seat. I have yet to complete the game (I just bought it yesterday for only $29) but I can already safely award 5 stars to this game. By the third level you have already survived the explosion of your mansion, fought the Kraken, found Thor's tomb, taken out terroists who have taken over a Class A freighter, climbed out of that freighter once it goes vertical and starts to sink and you discover that both Amanda and Natla are alive. Most people discount this franchise just because the movies are bad but play just the beginning of this game and you will be hooked. Soundtrack is A+ too.

"Slumdog Millionaire" gets another fan

As if this movie needed more buzz, I will add to this films already blazing bonfire of buzz. You have probably already heard it all but I feel like I need to say something. I will make it quick.

It's a movie miracle.


It also helped me round up my picks for Best Original Score.
Here they are (in alphabetical order):

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by Alexandre Desplat
The Duchess by Rachel Portman
Revolutionary Road by Thomas Newman
Slumdog Millionaire by A .R. Rahman
Wall·E by Thomas Newman

I am a genius

Bear with me a moment and you will see I am not as pompous as I sound.

I like catchy titles and I know that bragging will usually draw attention. Now I am going to defend my statement before I also draw the snappy responses. In November of 2006 people were going crazy with the release of the Wii and the PlayStation 3. Pundits were going ga-ga for the PlayStation 3 and all its powerful specs. With the well dispersed disappointment of the Gamecube, Nintendo last effort, nobody was giving the Wii any credibility as a doorbuster for the upcoming holiday season. Except me. I alone stood the ground that the Wii would the big seller. Let me make it clear here before all the internet junkies start there rant (as most of them are the Sony and XBOX fanboys) that I am not defending the Wii's curretn game line. I lean Nintendo and am a huge Zelda fan but I must express dissapointment in the majority of their line of games. XBOX currently has the best lineup. However video games are still primarily a buisness and numbers do not lie. Wii is the winner. It has been in the lead the entire time except for a few months after Halo 3. And Playstation? HA!

From Wikipedia:

Console	Units shipped to retailers (worldwide) (as of September 30, 2008)		Units sold to consumers in Japan (as of October 1, 2008)		Units sold to consumers in the US (as of November 1, 2008)
Wii	34.55 million		6,826,612		13.4 million
Xbox 360	22 million	0870,000	0748,992 748,992		11.6 million
PlayStation 3	16.84 million	0520,000	2,369,484		05.7 5.7 million

Now on to movies:
On July 19, 2008 I made some outrageous statements. I meant the piece as a satire, to make a point. I understand the backlash I received as there was no way I could defend the comments, and it was a difficult point to make. Even Johnathan Swift had problems with his "Modest Proposal", which is now viewed as one of the finest pieces of satire ever.

What did I say?

I said forget the rest of the year, we have our Oscar winners: Wall·E and The Dark Knight should win everything.

Even I don't believe they deserve every award but I wanted to make a point that we should recognize these widely popular pieces in the areas that they deserve their due credit. I was afraid they would be overlooked. I slowly accepted that they would not be given anything major. The pundits were right...

But hold the phones, launch the torpedoes, I have yet to begin to fight, WHATS THIS?!?
Maybe the Academy won't go through and finish my dream but my point is well made. Look at this!

-Wall·E won Los Angeles Film Critics Association, The Dark Knight is runner up.
-The Dark Knight won Utah Film Critics best picture award.
-Wall·E wins Chicago Film Critics best picture award.
-Wall·E is a London Critics Circle best picture nominee.
-Entertainment Weekly has Wall·E and The Dark Knight on Lisa Schwarzbaum and Owen Gleiberman Top 10 lists. Wall·E ranks 1st and 4th respectively. The Dark Knight gets 2nd and 3rd respectively.
- The Onion AV Club puts Wall·E as the best picture of the year. The Dark Knight comes in 4th.
- Wall·E is a runner up with Toronto Film Critics for best picture.
- The Dark Knight won best picture from the Austin Film Critics.
- Detroit Film Critics have both Wall·E and The Dark Knight among their nominees.
- Wall·E ties Slumdog Millionaire (the only other film with this many wins) for Best Picture from the Boston Film Critics.
- The Dark Knight and Wall·E make AFI's top 10 list for 2008.
-Stephen King ranks The Dark Knight as his top film of the year. Wall·E comes in third.
-The Dark Knight comes in second on Richard Roeper's top 10 list.
-Both films are Critics Choice nominees.

Sure Milk and Slumdog Millionaire are garnering a lot as well but besides those two films, all the other Oscar bait are underpreforming. Doubt has been floundering, Revolutionary Road is campaigning like mad and all it has is a Golden Globe to show for it. Austrailia came and went. Changeling has as many nominations as Tropic Thunder does. Even Oscar front runner Benjamin Button has less critics backing it than Wall·E and The Dark Knight.

Face it. I was right. Even if the Oscars don't go with this trend, my point was well made.

Golden Globes put The Dark Knight in critical condition

The Dark Knight was shipped to an undisclosed hospital in Los Angeles around 5 A.M. Thursday morning. Authorities say the reason is because its Oscar chances are now in critical condition after only receiving one nomination from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Things were looking up after the film had regained use of it's original score but then things got worse soon after with the release of the Golden Globe nominations. Fellow blockbusters Wall·E and Tropic Thunder stood by its bedside overnight hoping for a healthy comeback by February. Together they were supposed to make a statement this year by showing that summer hits can be award material and The Dark Knight was supposed to lead the way. Now that dream seems in jeopardy. Wall·E and Tropic Thunder received 2 nominations each. Get Well cards and flowers can be sent to Christopher Nolan's office.

Enough of the analogy and down to the nitty gritty. Critics and Academy voters alike say the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HPFA) can be fools at times, so Dark Knight fans, please do not get your pants into knots just yet. This definitely isn't a good sign but the road is long and far from over. There are a lot of good contenders this year and I am honestly not surprised by the snubs in Best Picture and Best Director categories. This may very well happen in the Oscars as well but look for cinematography and art direction nods to be much more likely additions to its nomination total. Also, be happy for Heath Ledger who has gone from just buzz to a cemented front runner for both Globe and Oscar.

Overall I am very happy with the list, (and coincidentally very proud of getting 4 out my 5 prediction right in the actress categories) as my favorite films of the year placing in all of their respective categories except for one. Yes, this one thing bothers me greatly. Where the heck is Thomas Newman? One of his scores should have placed but instead they gave Clint Eastwood a nod for Changeling. Nothing against Eastwood, I love the man, but his music isn't that great, and Wall·E's score is magnificent (see my post for the top 30 soundtrack of all time). Also, I haven't heard the Revolutionary Road score yet, but I have heard many good comments and I have high expectations for it. I seriously hope to see a different score short list from the Academy, with a Newman score that goes on to win and hopefully a nomination for The Duchess by Rachel Portman. The only score worthy on the Globe list is Desplat's music for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which I discovered last night and is hauntingly perfect.

Critics Awards x 3

The Road to the Oscars have begun and the score is Wall·E and Milk- 1, Everyone else - 0.
Please don't think I expect things to continue in this fashion. I am just taking what I can get now and running to the bank with it. I love Wall·E and the fact that one of the respectable organizations (The Los Angeles Film Critics Association) have given it the title of the Best Film of 2008 makes me ecstatic. In fact I was very pleased with the LAFCA list overall. Heath Ledger got his due, Synedoche, New York got best Art Direction and Benjamin Button got runner up on the soundtrack. Not all my personal fav picks were there but it was a lot better than New York's picks.

The New York Film Critics Circle was a sad, very uninteresting thing to see. All safe picks. The politically correct choices if you will as it was Milk and Happy go Lucky running away with practically everything. Heath Ledger didn't get Best Supporting Actor, and Benjamin Button was nowhere to be seen. (It is important to note that Revolutionary Road was snubbed in both lists entirely.) The only thing I truly liked from New York's list was Wall·E for best animated film, only because if they chose otherwise nobody would take them seriously. What else would you choose? Bolt?

The Critics Choice Awards nominations are out as well. My choice is nominated in every category so I am happy but I am not going to do a full rundown here because it's pointless. Basically nothing has changed as everything that has the tiniest bit of buzz was nominated for every category. These aren't nominations- its a list of films that are considered Oscar bait (again except for Revolutionary Road, which again goes without a single nomination.). There are 10 nominations for Best Picture. 10! I am sorry I can't take this group seriously, they obviously can;t make up their minds or don't want to offend anybody. No drama here- I am moving on.

Golden Globe nominations come out at 5 AM tomorrow so I will be posting my reactions to that list tomorrow but for now I will do what everyone else is doing: PREDICTIONS!

Best Picture Drama:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Milk
Frost/ Nixon
Doubt
The Dark Knight

Best Picture Comedy or Musical
Wall·E
Slumdog Millionaire
Happy Go Lucky
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Tropic Thunder

Best Actor Drama
Sean Penn- Milk
Frank Langella- Frost Nixon
Micky Rourke- The Wrestler
Clint Eastwood- Gran Torino
Brad Pitt- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Actor Comedy or Musical
Dustin Hoffman- Last Chance Harvey
Javier Bardem- Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Dev Patel- Slumdog Millionaire
Brad Pitt- Burn After Reading
Adrien Brody- Cadillac Records

Best Actress Drama
Kate Winslet- Revolutionary Road
Meryl Streep- Doubt
Cate Blanchett- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Angelina Jolie- Changeling
Anne Hathaway- Rachel Getting Married

Best Actress Comedy or Musical
Meryl Streep- Mamma Mia
Sally Hawkins- Happy Go Lucky
Emma Thompson- Last Chance Harvey
Beyonce- Cadillac Records
Francis McDormand- Burn After Reading

Best Supporting Actor
Heath Ledger- The Dark Knight
Robert Downey Jr.- Tropic Thunder
Phillip Seymour Hoffman- Doubt
Josh Brolin- Milk
Michael Sheen- Frost/ Nixon

Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz- Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Kate Winslet- The Reader
Tarija P. Henson- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Rosemarie DeWitt- Rachel Getting Married
Viola Davis- Doubt

Best Director
David Fincher-The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Danny Boyle- Slumdog Millionaire
Christopher Nolan- The Dark Knight
Ron Howard- Frost/ Nixon
Gus Van Sant- Milk

Best Screenplay
Slumdog Millionaire
Revolutionary Road
Rachel Getting Married
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Milk

Best Animated Feature
Wall·E
Kung Fu Panda
Waltz With Bashir
The Tale of Despereaux

Best Original Score
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", music by Alexandre Desplat
"Milk", music by Danny Elfman
"The Duchess", music by Rachel Portman
"Wall-E", music by Thomas Newman
"Slumdog Millionaire", music by A.R. Rahman

Best Original Song
"Down to Earth" by Thomas Newman and Peter Gabriel
"O...Saya" by A.R. Rahman and MIA
"The Wrestler" by Bruce Springsteen
"Barking at the Moon"- Jenny Lewis
"Right to Dream"- Mariah Carey and Willie Nelson

In 7 hours we will find out...onward!

The Top 30 Soundtracks of All Time

I am an avid fan of original scores to movies. So much so that I follow them close enough that I honestly believe I could make more informed votes on that category than half the Academy. They should really let me vote on that one category. Since that is not going to happen I decided that I would honor my favorite soundtracks. The list isn't in any paticular order since you can't compare genres of music. Who is going to say that Grindhouse is better than Amelie? One is Spanish guitar/rock where the other is classical piano. I also listed my favorite tracks on each one, the tracks that define the mood and theme of the music.

1. Memoirs of a Geisha by John Williams

Key Tracks: Sayuri’s Theme, Going to School, Becoming a Geisha, The Chairman’s Waltz

2. Amelie by Yann Tiersen

Key Tracks: J’y Suis Jamaise Amelie, Les Jours Tristes, La Valse de Amelie, La Noyee

3. Edward Scissorhands by Danny Elfman

Key Tracks: Storytime, Falling in Love With Kim, The Ice Dance, The Grand Finale

4. Wall-E by Thomas Newman

Key Tracks: 2815 A.D., Wall-E, Eve, Bubble Wrap, The Axiom, Define Dancing, All That Love’s About, Horizon 12.2

5. American Beauty by Thomas Newman

Key Tracks: Dead Already, Arose, American Beauty, Any Other Name

6. Jurassic Park by John Williams

Key Tracks: Opening Titles, Theme from Jurassic Park, Journey to the Island, Welcome to Jurassic Park, End Credits

7. The Legend of Bagger Vance by Rachel Portman

Key Tracks: Savannah Needs a Hero, Bagger Offers to Caddy for Junuh, Bagger and Hardy Measure the Course at Night, Junuh Sees the Field, Junuh Comes Out of the Woods, Bagger Leaves, Old Hardy Joins Bagger By the Sea

8. The Time Machine by Klaus Badelt

Key Tracks: Professor Alexander Hartdegen, The Time Machine,

I Don’t Belong Here, Good Night

9. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by John Williams

Aunt Marge’s Waltz, Double Trouble, Buckbeak’s Flight, Window to the Past, Mischief Managed

10. The Godfather by Nino Rota

Key Tracks: Connie’s Wedding, Love Theme, The Godfather Waltz, Apollonia, The New Godfather, The Godfather Finale

11. Raiders of the Lost Ark by John Williams

Key Tracks: The Raiders March, Marion’s Theme, The Map Room, The Basket Game, The Warehouse

12. The Shawshank Redemption by Thomas Newman

Key Tracks: Shawshank Prison, New Fish, Rock Hammer, Brooks Was Here, Suds on the Roof, Shawshank Redemption, Sisters, Zihuatanejo, Lovely Raquel, And That Right Soon, Compass and Guns, So Was Red, End Title

13. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring by Howard Shore

Key Tracks: Concerning Hobbits, Many Meetings, The Council of Elrond, The Ring Goes South, The Great River, The Breaking of the Fellowship

14. The Land Before Time by James Horner

Key Tracks: The Great Migration, Whispering Winds, If We Hold On Together, Foraging For Food, Rescue/ Discovery of the Great Valley, End Credits

15. Grindhouse by Robert Rodriguez

Key Tracks: Grindhouse, The Ring in the Jacket, Killer Legs, Cherry’s Dance of Death

16. Pride and Prejudice by Dario Marinelli

Key Tracks: Living Sculptures of Pemberly, Arrival to Netherfield, Postcard to Henry Purcell, Liz on Top of the World, Secret Life of Daydreams, Your Hands Are Cold, Mrs. Darcy

17. Ocean’s 11: David Holmes

Key Tracks: Caravan, Gritty Shaker, Tess, 160 Million Dollar Chinese Man, 69 Police

18. Meet Joe Black: Thomas Newman

Key Tracks: Yes, Everywhere Freesia, Peanut Butter Man, Whisper of a Thrill, Cold Lamb Sandwich, Frequent Thing, Someone Else, That Next Place, Over the Rainbow

19. The Empire Strike Back by John Williams

Key Tracks: Main Theme, The Asteroids Field, Luke’s Nocturna Visitor, Han Solo and the Princess, The Imperial March, Yoda’s Theme, End Title

20. The Good the Bad and the Ugly by Ennio Morricone

Key Tracks: Main Title, The Strong, The Story of a Soldier, The Ecstasy of Gold, The Trio

21. The Duchess by Rachel Portman

Key Tracks: The Duchess, Gee and Grey Together in Bath, Six Years Later, End Titles

22. Atonement by Dario Marinelli

Key Tracks: Briony, With My Own Eyes, Half Killed, Elegy for Dunkirk

23. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest by Hans Zimmer and Klaus Badelt

Key Tracks: Jack Sparrow, The Kraken, Two Hornpipes, Wheel of Fortune

24. The Fountain by Clint Mansell

Key Tracks: The Last Man, Death is a Disease, Xibalba, Death is the Road to Awe, Together We Will Live Forever

25. Road to Perdition by Thomas Newman

Key Tracks: Rock Island 1931, Just the Feller, Murder in Four Parts, Road to Chicago, Reading Room, Dirty Money, Rain Hammers, Virgin Mary, Grave Drive, Cathedral, Ghosts, Lexington Hotel Room 1432

26. Psycho by Bernard Hermann

Key Tracks: Prelude, The Patrol Car, Hotel Room, The Murder, The Search

27. The Horse Whisperer by Thomas Newman

Key Tracks: There Was Snow, Runaway Meadow, Rhythm of the Horse, Grace, End Title

28. Hook by Thomas Newman

Key Tracks: Prolouge, Granny Wendy, The Arrival of Tink and the Flight to Neverland, Presenting the Hook, From Mermaids to Lost Boys, The Never-Feast, Remembering Childhood, You Are the Pan, When Your Alone, The Ultimate War, Farewell Neverland

29. A Beautiful Mind by James Horner

Key Tracks: A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics, Playing a Game of Go, Creating “Governing Dynamics”, Cracking the Russian Codes, Of One Heart of One Mind, The Prize of One’s Life…The Prize of One’s Mind, All Love Can Be, Closing Credits

30. Gladiator by Hans Zimmer

Key Tracks: Homecoming, The Slave Who Became a Gladiator, Rome is the Light, The Gladiator’s Waltz

Honorable Mention: Jaws