Movies That Made My 2008

Well, its New Year's Eve today and people look back on what they've done over the past year. Maybe I'll do the same, just with movies. So here are the films that I thoroughly enjoyed this past year. Drum roll please....

#10 Forgetting Sarah Marshall

It was quirky, at times romantic but most of all, subtle.
6 out of 10 popcorns

#9 Quantum of Solace

Action-packed, kept me at the edge of my seat the whole time and I loved the Daniel Craig as Bond.
Check out my full review here.
7.5 out of 10 popcorns

#8 Tropic Thunder

A movie that had it all.
Humor, action and heartfelt moments.
Robert Downey Jr. was amazing!
And Tom Cruise, best cameo of the year I say.
7 out of 10

#7 Recount

The most intriguing, eye-opening film of the year for me.
Check out my review here.
7.5 out of 10 popcorns

#6 Burn After Reading

Very witty and clever.
As the tagline says "Intelligence Is Relative".
Only what you would expect from the Coen Brothers.
Check my review out when Burn After Reading opens in Malaysia (ETA Jan/Feb)
8 out of 10 popcorns

#5 Yes Man

I guess this wasn't my favorite comedy of the year after all.
Made me laugh all throughout the movie.
The great connection between Jim Carrey and Zooey Deschanel makes this hilarious comedy, a romantic one too.
Check out my review here.
7 out of 10 popcorns

#4 WALL-E

WALL-E was cute, sweet and very unexpected.
Very different.
Loved it.
8.5 out of 10 popcorns

#3 Iron Man

A comic book movie that didn't feel like the conventional comic book movie.
Loved Robert Downey Jr. again.
Set the bar high, only for the next movie to set it even higher.
And of course, LOVED the suit Audi R8!
7.5 out of 10 popcorns

#2 The Dark Knight

A lot of people would be going nuts at me putting this at #2.
Breakthrough movie in its genre with breakthrough acting from Heath Ledger (R.I.P).
Definitely set to be a classic that will stand the test of time.
9 out of 10 popcorns

#1 Pineapple Express

I guess this was my favorite comedy of the year.
And film.
Different kind of funny from Yes Man.
Superb acting from James Franco.
Classic Judd Apatow.
9 out of 10 popcorns

Did you agree with my list? Completely disagree? Drop me a comment. And share your own list of personal favorites for this year.

Thank you to the people who check my blog out all the time. I'll try to spice it up a bit in 2009 and try to add good content.

To close the year out, here's a stupid The Dark Knight spoof of the interrogation scene.

And I thought my jokes were bad.

Happy 2009 peeps. Have a good one.

Doctor Popcorn out!

Quantum of Solace

Badass poster huh? So, I finally caught the latest 007 flick the other day. I went into the cinema with tons of bad comments made about the movie by various people to me. 

Well I can understand what Yew Eng meant when he made the remark that James Bond should be suave and classy and all. And it was hilarious when Sakif pointed out that in previous Bonds they all hold pistols with silencers and stuff like that right? In this one Daniel Craig's holding a friggin' AK47! Hahahaha. In this poster.

So bearing in mind all the 'reviews' made of the movie to me, what is my take on this? Well there's two ways to look at this. Isn't there always?

One way of course is to look at this movie just like any other person out there. James Bond is supposed to be classy, suave and not aggressive and violent. Excuse me people. Do you know what 007 means? Its his licence to kill. But okay he goes a bit overboard with that this time. So if you absolutely adored Pierce Brosnan, you probably hate Daniel Craig as Bond. My honest opinion however, is that I love Daniel Craig. Maybe better than Brosnan. I love the new Bond.

New Bond you say? What new Bond? Well actually the 'new' Bond is the early early Bond. Confused? Allow me to explain if you don't already know this.

Quantum of Solace is the direct sequel of Casino Royale (2006) and they share the same timeline. Literally QoS begins like a few minutes after where CR left off. In CR, it was Bond's first ever mission. What does that mean? Bond was a new, fresh, raw 00 agent. This is the explanation for him being the violent, aggressive killer he is in both CR and QoS. Plus the fact that he lost the woman he loved in CR, Vesper Lynd. Which explains why in other Bond films he never gets attached to any woman. Hence to numerous Bond girls. Haha. So really quickly, the Bond portrayed by Pierce Brosnan is the 'experencied', 'matured' one, years after the one portrayed by Daniel Craig.

So about the movie, Quantum of Solace. I agreed with the numerous people who complained they didn't get enough of the Aston Martin. Beautiful. And the part where Bond is chasing the Quantum insider who tried to kill M and they end up hanging from ropes trying to reach for their guns, I felt was a scene very similar to what we would see if Jackie Chan was in Cirque du Soleil. 

I thought the cinematography was exceptionally good and gave the audience a real sense of urgency and danger. Other than the times it made me a little dizzy. Haha. I was good. 

The acting was well done. Again, I love Daniel Craig. If you notice, he has his own type of classy-ness in his swagger and all. Olga Kurylenko, I thought did a good job with her South American accent. I especially liked Mattheiu Amalric in his portrayal of the antagonist Dominic Greene. He hust looked like a raving mad lunatic that was under control didn't he? Well that lunatic side of him was unleashed when he was fighting Bind in the burning hotel. I just loved the crazy screaming.

This being an action movie, it didn't disappoint. I loved the fact that in this movie there was a rooftop chase scene, a car chase scene, a boat chase scene and a plane chase scene. Friggin' awesome. Should've had a bike chase, a train chase, a helicopter chase, maybe even a space rocket chase. Then the movie would be complete. Haha.

Some stuff I was disappointed with or didn't like.

No catchphrase of Bond...James Bond.

Aston Martin treated badly.

James Bond falling through glass and ceilings and whatnot and still fit as a horse.

Camille Montes' gross scars on her back during the pier scene. Later explained that she was in a fire as a child. Made her look like Mohinder Suresh though. Haha.

I read somewhere, forgot where, that "It's a good action movie but not a good Bond movie". I can agree and disagree on this. It is a good action movie. No doubt about it. Not a good Bond movie? Questionable. If you're comparing to the typical Pierce Brosnan Bond, then CR and QoS aren't your cup of tea. But if you're the kind of person that appreciates the story behind everything, you'll appreciate the story of Bond early on in his espionage career and think this was a good film. Like me. So two different ways to look at it. And I find myself rating another movie in different ways again.

As an action flick, 4 out of 5 popcorns.

As a Bond film, 3.5 out of 5 popcorns.

Overall the movie for me was 3.75 out of 5 popcorns.

And I say the movie is well worth paying for to watch.

VOTE for me!

November Movies

Well October's almost over. Which means its gonna be blockbuster season again. As the Christmas movie season is just around the corner, lets see what's in store for the U.S. market in November and which of those movies will make it to Malaysia before 2009.

Soul Men

Starring: Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson

USA Release: 7 Nov

M'sian release: N/A

Plot: A comedy in which two legendary soul singers who have not talked to each other for two decades reunite to sing in the honor of their recently deceased former bandmate. The irony is that after this movie was shot, both Bernie Mac as well as a supporting cast member, Isaac Hayes, both passed away. R.I.P. Bernie. And Isaac, whoever you are.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Starring: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett-Smith, David Schwimmer

USA release: 7 Nov

M'sian release: 13 Nov

Plot: This sequel sees Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo hatch an ingenius plan to leave Madagascar. After getting a plane to fly, it doesn't stay up for long, but long enough for the whole gang to crash land in the plains of Africa. Although the forst movie wasn't all that bad, i thought it didn't produce many laughs and i certainly think it didn't merit a sequel.

I like to move it move it. Hahaha.

Quantum of Solace (Oooh)

Starring: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Judi Dench

USA release: 14 Nov

M'sian release: 6 Nov

Plot: With bitter vengeance being the theme of this 007 flick, James looks for the organization which betrayes Vesper Lynd, his love back in Casino Royale. On a mission that takes 007 to Italy, Austria and South America to track down a ruthless businessman from the organization Quantum, who is trying to take control over one of the world's most precious resources. Be prepared for a huge dose of bullet-dodging, car-chasing, jumping-off-building action in this. Definitely one movie to look out for this year-end.

Did you know, that in 22 Bond films (Quantum of Solace is the 22nd) this is the first one that Bond throughout the whole movie does not even once say the phrase "Bond. James Bond." Such a shame.

Bolt

Starring: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus

USA release: 21 Nov

M'sian release: 27 Nov

Plot: The latest Disney animated movie is about...a dog who believes he has superpowers. Thats because Bolt's lived his whole life on a hit action TV show. When he accidentally gets seperated from his owner and his normal Hollywood life, he gets shipped to New York City. He then tries to find his way back home with the help of an old cat and a fat hamster. Sounds cute. Should be a great movie for the kids and the family.

Twilight

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson

USA release: 21 Nov

M'sian release: 27 Nov

Plot: Personally i had no idea Twilight was a big deal as a book. But apparently, everybody is soooo excited about it. So, this highly anticipated movie adapted from the book of the same title is about some chick falling in love with some dude who runs super fast, can stop a car with his bare hands, hasn't aged for 90 years and is a vampire. Yeah, real typical romance story right? So these two, they fall in love...yada yada yada...and this is where it gets interesting. The closer the vampire boy gets to his one true love, the stronger he has to fight the urge to be drawn into an uncontrollable vampire frenzy. Ooooh. If this movie is as good as people say the book is, then we're all in for a real unorthodox action-romance ride.

"I'm so sorry. I vanted to give you a hicky but i gave you two puncture vounds instead." Hahaha.

Transporter 3

Starring: Jason Statham, Robert Knepper, Natalya Rudakova

USA release: 26 Nov

M'sian release: 4 Dec

Plot: Guess who's back for a third time?? Yes it is the crazy, gun slinging, kung fu fighting, maniacal, bald, Brit chauffeur cum assassin. Haha. This time, he's joined by an even more maniacal character played by Robert Knepper (T-Bag in Prison Break). In this one, its real simple. Frank Martin. Bomb strapped to wrist. Must deliver package for bad guy. If package not delivered, Frank Martin goes Ka-Boom. Get it? Yeah thats about it. The basic shooting, fist-fighting and car crashing. Should get your adrenaline pumping.