2004 - A Reflection

[ZapRowsdower]

Much like Heineken's Movie Round-up, here's a condensed version of my Must-See/Must MISS threads, for your convenience. Complete with ratings. The other threads will remain up for review purposes.

Criteria:

10 - Flawless, one of the best pictures of the year.
9 - Despite its very few flaws, an excellent film.
8 - Not perfect, but extremely enjoyable.
7 - Very good.
6 - Pretty good, could have been better.
5 - Ok. Worth a rental.
4 - Below average. Watchable, but not worth your money.
3 - Not good.
2 - Bad. Someone might enjoy this garbage, but it's not likely.
1 - Another reason MST3K was cancelled too early.
0 - Avoid at all costs.

Passion of the Christ, The - 10/10

Hotel Rwanda - 10/10

Phantom of the Opera, The - 10/10

Kill Bill: Vol. 2 - 10/10

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - 10/10

Team America: World Police 10/10

Closer - 10/10

Aviator, The - 10/10

Garden State - 10/10

Million Dollar Baby - 10/10

Untergang, Der - 10/10

Ray - 10/10

Merchant of Venice, The - 10/10

Napoleon Dynamite - 10/10

Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War - 10/10

Incredibles, The -10/10

Troy - 10/10

Kinsey - 10/10

Shaun of the Dead - 10/10

Sideways - 10/10

I Heart Huckabees - 10/10

Finding Neverland - 10/10

Beyond the Sea - 9.5/10

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow - 9.5/10

Collateral - 9.5/10

Manchurian Candidate, The - 9.5/10

Meet the Fockers - 9.5/10

Shrek 2 - 9.5/10

Friday Night Lights - 9.5/10

Ocean's Twelve - 9.5/10

Hero - 9.5/10

Alexander - 9.5/10

Nicotina - 9.5/10

Two Brothers - 9.5/10

Ladder 49 - 9/10

Notebook, The - 9/10

Miracle - 9/10

Butterfly Effect, The - 9/10

Man on Fire - 9/10

I, Robot - 9/10

Jersey Girl - 8.5/10

Punisher, The - 8.5/10

Hidalgo - 8.5/10

Spider-man 2 - 8.5/10

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle - 8.5/10

In Good Company - 8.5/10

Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, The - 8.5/10

Bride & Prejudice - 8.5/10

Terminal, The - 8.5/10

Mean Girls - 8.5/10

Village, The - 8.5/10

Criminal - 8.5/10

Girl Next Door, The - 8.5/10

Dawn of the Dead - 8.5/10

Bourne Supremacy, The - 8/10

Blade: Trinity - 8/10

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - 8/10

Shall We Dance? - 8/10

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events - 8/10

Spongebob Squarepants Movie, The - 8/10

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story - 8/10

Saints and Soldiers - 8/10

Club Dread - 8/10

Saved! - 8/10

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy - 8/10

Bobby Jones, Stroke of Genius - 8/10

Saw - 8/10

Hellboy - 8/10

Polar Express, The - 8/10

National Treasure – 7.5/10

EuroTrip - 7.5/10

House of Flying Daggers - 7.5/10

Ladykillers, The - 7.5/10

Wimbledon - 7.5/10

Main Hoon Na - 7.5/10

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason - 7.5/10

King Arthur - 7.5/10

Wicker Park - 7.5/10

Stepford Wives, The - 7.5/10

Starsky & Hutch - 7/10

Around the World in 80 Days - 7/10

Cellular - 7/10

Spanglish - 7/10

Fahrenheit 9/11 - 7/10

Flight of the Phoenix - 7/10

Resident Evil: Apocalypse - 7/10

Exorcist: The Beginning - 7/10

13 Going On 30 - 7/10

50 First Dates - 7/10

After the Sunset - 7/10

Surviving Christmas - 7/10

Suspect Zero - 7/10

Mr. 3000 - 7/10

Shark Tale - 6.5/10

Alfie - 6.5/10

Seed of Chucky - 6.5/10

Without a Paddle - 6.5/10

Cinderella Story, A - 6.5/10

Chronicles of Riddick, The - 6.5/10

Appleseed - 6/10

Secret Window - 6/10

Alamo, The - 6/10

Final Cut, The - 6/10

Along Came Polly - 6/10

Day After Tomorrow, The - 6/10

Paparazzi - 6/10

Raising Helen - 6/10

Whole Ten Yards, The - 6/10

Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights - 5.5/10

My Baby's Daddy - 5/10

Grudge, The - 5/10

Christmas With the Kranks - 5/10

Sleepover - 5/10

Walking Tall - 4/10

Envy - 3.5/10

AVP: Alien Vs. Predator - 3/10

Van Helsing - 3/10

Taking Lives - 3/10

Catwoman - 3/10

Forgotten, The - 3/10

Godsend - 3/10

Clearing, The - 3/10

Connie and Carla - 3/10

Twisted 2/10

Torque - 1/10

Darkness - 1/10

Raise Your Voice - 0/10

Open Water - 0/10

[ZapRowsdower]

Club Dread (February 27th, 2004)

I am quickly becoming a fan of Broken Lizard. My friend, who was a big fan of Super Troopers, rented both Super Troopers and Club Dread last week. I liked Super Troopers, but that's not what this review is about. Club Dread was freakin' awesome!

Unlike Scary Movie, Club Dread used a more "natural" approach for the slasher satire. As in, the actions were exaggerated, but not by much. Then there was the dialogue, which was absolute GOLD.

If you're looking for a Horror satire that's better than Scary Movie, you should give Club Dread a look. I am quickly becoming a fan of Broken Lizard.

(8/10)

Finding Neverland (November 24th, 2004)

Hailed by the critics, voted best picture of the year by the National Board Review, and for good reason, too. This is one film that will most definitely be receiving some Oscar consideration. This could very well be the Forrest Gump of 2004, taking the Oscar from right under the Aviator and the Passion.

Johnny Depp never ceases to amaze me. His portrayal of J.M. Barrie was absolutely stunning. Kate Winslet also did an excellent job, and should definitely be considered for the Oscar.

Think Big Fish meets Shakespeare in Love.

(9.5/10)

Christmas With the Kranks (November 24th, 2004)

God, movies don't get more "PG" than this, do they? I mean, last I checked, you can get away with saying "ass" in a PG-rated movie. Hell, I remember back in the day, in movies like Beetlejuice ("Nice fuckin model!") and Spaceballs ("Fuck! Even in the future nothing works!) when even though it was rated PG, the MPAA was aware children heard this language all the time anyway. That is my biggest complaint about the movie, a feeling that I could never really shake, unrealistically PG-rated dialogue.

However, Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis did an excellent job nonetheless. And Dan Akyroid. God, it's good to see that guy working again. The performers were energetic, and you can see they were having fun with this movie. That's a major plus in my book.

But nonetheless, wait for the DVD and rent it. It's not a great movie, and the ending just pissed me off (rather, the last 5 seconds... a sequence which was totally stupid and unnecessary). It's wholesome enough for kids, but it may be too cheesy for adults.

(5/10)

[Bartwald]

IamTheSmitty said:

I am quickly becoming a fan of Broken Lizard.

I saw Super Troopers several days ago for the first time ever and though I can't say it was genius, I can quite honestly say that I enjoyed it; it felt like Police Academy with bigger balls. And the actors were just hilarious! Anyone else saw this one?

[ZapRowsdower]

Closer (December 3rd, 2004)

Talk about controversy... which in a cinematic sense, controversy is definitely a good thing. A movie without a single likeable character, and it's still one of the best damn movies of the year. Mike Nichols is a genius, what can I say?

The performers were downright EXCELLENT. All around great performances. Clive Owen, Julia Roberts, Jude Law, and Natalie Portman all deserve at least an Oscar nomination, they were all phenomenal.

If you are looking for what is quite possibly a shoe-in for the acting categories at the Oscars this year, check out Closer. You will love it.

[Bartwald]

Don't wanna like a pig or something but, uhh, does Natalie get nekkid there or does she not??!

[ZapRowsdower]

Well, yes and no. Yes, she does get naked, but you don't see anything. but Clive Owen got a free show.

Actually, I read that Mike Nichols and Natalie Portman were in agreement about not showing her frontal nudity. I guess she's just not comfortable with that kinda thing.

[Bartwald]

Ah, well - gotta love her even more for being so shy.

[frankenjohn]

Actually, Nichols deleted all her nudeness.

[ZapRowsdower]

Yeah, but wasn't it done at her request?

[frankenjohn]

No, cause I remember her saying Nicols was more overprotective than her parents, which of course means he did it.

[ZapRowsdower]

Yeah, I remember reading that too... but I also read in the same article something about Portman not being comfortable with it.

[ZapRowsdower]

Blade: Trinity (December 8th, 2004)

By all means, I should not like this movie as much as I did. I should be ashamed of myself for liking this movie so much and rating it so high. This was the most commercial movie I had ever seen in a long time. I swear, they totally want you to buy an iPod.

Now that the cynical critic BULLSHIT is out of the way, I can explain to you what earned this movie its high rating.

Commercial... who has time to care about this in what is quite possibly one of the coolest fucking movies of the year? You want to see some good old-fashioned ass-whoopin' with a side order of wit, check this out. Ryan Reynolds makes what would have already made an entertaining action flick ten times more entertaining.

And I never thought I'd comment on a wrestler-turned-actor as I must comment on Triple H. Yes, sir, was he rightly cast. Nobody could have played that part but him. No, it won't earn him an Oscar, but it was still entertaining watching him onscreen.

If you liked the first two Blades, there is no reason why you shouldn't like this. If you want a really good action movie (probably about the closest we're gonna get to Hard Boiled since Desperado), check this one out. Even if you just like comic books, take a look at this one. The Smitty most definitely approves.

9/10

[Heineken Skywalker]

I'm a fan of the first two BLADE movies and even though TRINITY is getting pretty lousy reviews, except for Smitty here, I think I still wanna check it out.
How would you compare TRINITY to the first two? Better? Worse? Equal?

[LivingDeadGirl]

I'm going to see it tomorrow night so after reading Smitty's review maybe I won't be disappointed. And seeing Triple H's performance will just be icing on the cake. ;D

[Phoenix]

IamTheSmitty said:

Blade: Trinity (December 8th, 2004)
If you liked the first two Blades, there is no reason why you shouldn't like this. If you want a really good action movie (probably about the closest we're gonna get to Hard Boiled since Desperado), check this one out. Even if you just like comic books, take a look at this one. The Smitty most definitely approves.

9/10

Gotta say I agree with Smitty again! I went in with really low expectations and was surprised at how much fun this movie is. The emphasis on I-POD and NOKIA bordered on the ridiculous, but I've become immune to the powers of product placement.

The special effects weren't too shabby either. I know critics slaughtered this, but what the hell do they know? This is one good action flick. I liked it a lot better than the 2nd one, although the first is still my favorite.