MOVIE RATING THREAD 2008

[Wolfe]

THE DARK KNIGHT
CLOVERFIELD
FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL
IRON MAN
THE WRESTLER
GRAN TORINO
IN BRUGES
WALL•E
TROPIC THUNDER
BURN AFTER READING  
MILK  
IN SEARCH OF A MIDNIGHT KISS
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
GHOST TOWN
MAN ON WIRE
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
YES MAN
ROLE MODELS
THE WACKNESS
LAKEVIEW TERRACE NEW
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON  
21
CHARLIE BARTLETT
YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN
STEP BROTHERS
PINEAPPLE EXPRESS
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD
HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY
HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY
TRANSPORTER 3
KUNG FU PANDA
THE STRANGERS
GET SMART
SEMI-PRO
JUMPER
THE INCREDIBLE HULK
DEATH RACE
HANCOCK
HAMLET 2
ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO
THE BANK JOB
RAMBO
PUNISHER: WAR ZONE  
MIRRORS
QUANTUM OF SOLACE
RUN, FATBOY, RUN
THE FOOT FIST WAY
CITY OF EMBER NEW
W. NEW
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
SEX AND THE CITY
NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST
SPEED RACER
THE LOVE GURU
THE HAMMER
TEETH
FUNNY GAMES
THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR
WANTED
BE KIND REWIND
THE HAPPENING
EAGLE EYE
RIGHTEOUS KILL
88 MINUTES
WAR, INC.
THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE

-----------------

[sean]

Slumdog Millionaire
Burn After Reading
Che ("Roadshow" version)
The Visitor
Resolved
Role Models
Doubt
Iron Man
The Wrestler
Pineapple Express
Gran Torino
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Tropic Thunder
The Reader
Frost/Nixon
Step Brothers
Zack and Miri Make A Pornographic Film
You Don't Mess With The Zohan
Cassandra's Dream
Synecdoche, NY
The Happening
The Incredible Hulk
The Dark Knight
Frozen River [NEW]
Quantum of Solace
Futurama DTV movie #2
Baby Mama
Valkyrie
27 Dresses
Wild Hogs
Revolutionary Road
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Recount
Get Smart
Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull
Chapter 27
Redbelt
First Sunday
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

---

I have, I think, two more weeks before something comes out in 2009 that I want to see, so I'm doing my final catching up...

'Frozen River' isn't all that good a movie, but Melissa Leo is fantastic in it.

[Tom K.]

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

.

I've been meaning to ask what your issue was with ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED.  Have you discussed this in another thread?  Or was it in this one and I missed it?

I haven't seen the movie, but it's been on my to-do list for a few months.  Why is it your worst of the year?

[sean]

I haven't seen the movie, but it's been on my to-do list for a few months.  Why is it your worst of the year?

At least half of that movie has nothing to do with the trial, but it just a summary of all the movies he made, and has all the depth of a DVD extra or an A&E Biography of Polanski, or, for that matter, an AICN post talking about how brilliant Roman Polanski is.  Because the doc isn't about this part, there are no interesting stories told, nor even interesting people interviewed [none of Polanski's famous friends], but because the guy is such a fanboy, he has to make sure to gush for at least five minutes about each individual movie and why it's the best movie ever made.  And that was the half I liked more.  

I don't remember it all that well, but there was something in the trial coverage that really offended me -- I think it was that the movie basically equivocates Polanski and the Judge as if they are equally morally bad or, if anything, the Judge is worse.  It made a lot of leaps, describing the Judge in exactly the way Polanski and his friends have always painted the guy, but just saying it, rather than proving it in any way.  It was just really disappointing.  'First Sunday' might be worse at what it's attempting to do (I only say "might", though), but it bothered me less that it was trying to do it.

At best, it was boring, and had no new information for anybody with a cursory knowledge of Roman Polanski that I noticed, and, at worst, it makes sure we understand in no uncertain terms that he anally raped a 13 year old girl and then asks us to feel bad for him because the Judge wanted to send him to jail for it.  It's like if 'Chapter 27' wanted us to really feel really bad for Mark David Chapman because he still hasn't been granted parole.

[sean]

Slumdog Millionaire
Burn After Reading
Che ("Roadshow" version)
The Visitor
Resolved
Role Models
Doubt
Iron Man
The Wrestler
Pineapple Express
Gran Torino
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Tropic Thunder
The Reader
Frost/Nixon
Defiance  [NEW]
Step Brothers
Zack and Miri Make A Pornographic Film
You Don't Mess With The Zohan
Cassandra's Dream
Synecdoche, NY
The Happening
The Incredible Hulk
The Dark Knight
Frozen River
Quantum of Solace
Futurama DTV movie #2
Baby Mama
Valkyrie
27 Dresses
Wild Hogs
Revolutionary Road
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Recount
Get Smart
Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull
Chapter 27
Redbelt
First Sunday
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

----

'Defiance' was reasonably good, but it never seemed willing to go all the way.  Zwick knows what works, and is a little too comfortable sticking to that.  But it does work well enough.  The whole movie is all Hollywood moments, with foreshadowing so overt it probably doesn't count as subtext... but it's never anywhere near a bad movie.  Liev Schreiber still tries too hard at first, and does the overly mannered acting stuff a bit too much, but once he settled in, he was a pretty good bad-ass, believably intimidating even James Bond.

[sean]

I haven't seen the movie, but it's been on my to-do list for a few months.  Why is it your worst of the year?

In addition to what I wrote above, here's a pretty good link I happened to come upon today which says more or less exactly what I felt about the movie when I saw it:
http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2009/02/19/roman_polanski_documentary/

[Strang]

Closing 2008 at my self-imposed Oscar deadline:

1. Wall E
2. Appaloosa
3. Let The Right One In
4. Wendy And Lucy
5. Iron Man
6. The Visitor
7. Drillbit Taylor
8. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
9. Kung Fu Panda
10. Happy Go Lucky
11. Paranoid Park
12. Son Of Rambow
13. Hancock
14. Role Models
15. Slumdog Millionaire
16. Pineapple Express
17. Yes Man
18. Milk
19. The Wrestler
20. Ghost Town
21. Frost/Nixon
22. Snow Angels
23. The Dark Knight
24. Tropic Thunder
25. CJ7
26. Boy A
27. In Search Of A Midnight Kiss
28. Bolt
29. Baghead
30. 4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days
31. Defiance
32. Synecdoche, NY
33. Doubt
34. Man On Wire
35. Ben X
36. OSS 117
37. Burn After Reading
38. JCVD
39. Cloverfield
40. The Duchess
41. Run, Fatboy, Run
42. Baby Mama
43. Fool’s Gold
44. Changeling
45. Quantum Of Solace
46. Valkyrie
47. The Secret Life Of Bees
48. I’ve Loved You So Long
49. Lakeview Terrace
50. Transsiberian
51. Four Christmases
52. Redbelt
53. W.
54. The Ruins
55. Speed Racer
56. The House Bunny
57. The Fall
58. Over Her Dead Body
59. Mamma Mia
60. Traitor
61. Quarantine
62. In Bruges
63. The Spiderwick Chronicles
64. Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day
65. Definitely, Maybe
66. Last Chance Harvey
67. The Reader
68. Get Smart
69. Blindness
70. Chop Shop
71. The Other Boleyn Girl
72. Journey To The Center Of The Earth
73. The Happening
74. Then She Found Me
75. The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: A Veggie Tales Movie
76. Jumper
77. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
78. Bedtime Stories
79. The Longshots
80. Vicki Christina Barcelona
81. Shine A Light
82. Standard Operating Procedure
83. Frozen River
84. Seven Pounds
85. Fear(s) Of The Dark
86. Cassandra’s Dream
87. Eagle Eye
88. Leatherheads
89. The Incredible Hulk
90. The Strangers
91. Kabluey
92. Ballast
93. Horton Hears A Who!
94. Zach & Miri Make A Porno
95. Igor
96. Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull
97. Wanted
98. PunisheR: War Zone
99. Frontrunners
100. Hunger
101. Che
102. Sex Drive
103. Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
104. Tale Of Despereaux
105. Stop-Loss
106. Religulous
107. The Forbidden Kingdom
108. Babylon A.D.
109. Towelhead
110. Waltz With Bashir
111. Gran Torino
112. Australia
113. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
114. I.O.U.S.A.V
115. Street Kings
116. Death Race
117. Funny Games
118. Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay
119. Be Kind, Rewind
120. 27 Dresses
121. The Bank Job
122. The Promotion
123. Revolutionary Road
124. Swing Vote
125. 21
126. Mad Money
127. Rachel Getting Married
128. Step Up 2 The Streets
129. Semi-Pro
130. How To Lose Friends & Alienate People
131. Miracle At St. Anna
132. Pride And Glory
133. Chapter 27
134. Twilight
135. Doomsday
136. Smart People
137. High School Musical 3: Senior Year
138. Beverly Hills Chihuahua
139. Nick & Nora’s Infinite Playlist
140. Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys
141. Transporter 3
142. War, Inc.
143. Never Back Down
144. The Spirit
145. Sex And The City
146. Nights In Rodanthe
147. The Haunting Of Molly Hartley
148. Prom Night
149. Max Payne
150. Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants 2
151. Gammorah
152. Space Chimps
153. The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor
154. Bangkok Dangerous
155. Hellboy II: The Golden Army
156. Righteous Kill
157. You Don’t Mess With The Zohan
158. Untraceable
159. First Sunday
160. Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian
161. Married Life
162. Tyler Perry’s Meet The Browns
163. Charlie Bartlett
164. Vantage Point
165. Sukiaki Western Django
166. Nim’s Island
167. In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
168. The Love Guru
169. 10,000 BC
170. 88 Minutes
171. My Blueberry Nights
172. College Road Trip
173. Witless Protection
174. Caramel
175. Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden?
176. Cover

[Rev. Danny]

W. better than In Bruges?

Whaaaaa?

[Wolfe]

THE DARK KNIGHT
CLOVERFIELD
FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL
IRON MAN
THE WRESTLER
GRAN TORINO
IN BRUGES
WALL•E
TROPIC THUNDER
BURN AFTER READING  
MILK  
IN SEARCH OF A MIDNIGHT KISS
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
GHOST TOWN
MAN ON WIRE
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
YES MAN
ROLE MODELS
THE WACKNESS
LAKEVIEW TERRACE
RELIGULOUS NEW
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON  
21
CHARLIE BARTLETT
YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN
STEP BROTHERS
PINEAPPLE EXPRESS
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD
HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY
HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY
TRANSPORTER 3
KUNG FU PANDA
THE STRANGERS
GET SMART
SEMI-PRO
JUMPER
THE INCREDIBLE HULK
DEATH RACE
HANCOCK
HAMLET 2
ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO
CHOKE NEW
THE BANK JOB
RAMBO
PUNISHER: WAR ZONE  
MIRRORS
QUANTUM OF SOLACE
RUN, FATBOY, RUN
THE FOOT FIST WAY
CITY OF EMBER
W.
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
SEX AND THE CITY
NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST
SPEED RACER
THE LOVE GURU
THE HAMMER
TEETH
FUNNY GAMES
THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR
WANTED
BE KIND REWIND
THE HAPPENING
EAGLE EYE
RIGHTEOUS KILL
88 MINUTES
WAR, INC.
THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE

-----------------

[Tom K.]

WALL*E  *new*

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL *new*

BURN AFTER READING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
IRON MAN
HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY
THE DARK KNIGHT
ZACK & MIRI MAKE A PORNO
QUANTUM OF SOLACE
REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA
CLOVERFIELD
WANTED
U2 3D
TROPIC THUNDER
SPEED RACER
HANCOCK
THE FALL
THE ORPHANAGE
THE RUINS
MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN

THE INCREDIBLE HULK
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
ONE EYED HORSE
PINEAPPLE EXPRESS *new*
THE SPIRIT

--

[Dalton]

ANP TOP MOVIES OF 2008

What I've done here is taken each of the posters who were active in posting their lists through the end of 2008's top five.  I've weighted each movie depending on where it was in each poster's list.  Here is the top ten:

1. THE DARK KNIGHT (51)

2. WALL-E (46)

3. IRON MAN (34)

4. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (33)

5. THE WRESTLER (20)

6. FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL (12)

7. FROST/NIXON (10)

8. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (8 )

8. BOOGIE MAN: THE LEE ATWATER STORY (8 )

10. KUNG FU PANDA (7)

10. CLOVERFIELD (7)

10. BURN AFTER READING (7)

There you have it.  I know BOOGIE MAN seems strange up there, but remember Fart-with-a-beard had it in his top position and I had it high up, so by using my methodology, that was enough in this case.

[BrianLynch]

That's a pretty good list.

[Keith]

Damn, no ROLE MODELS? I don't think I saw 10 movies in the theater last year.

[Dalton]

Damn, no ROLE MODELS? I don't think I saw 10 movies in the theater last year.

Yeah not a single person had ROLE MODELS in their top 5 (of the 17 people who were keeping tabs on the board anyway).

[Keith]

Yeah not a single person had ROLE MODELS in their top 5 (of the 17 people who were keeping tabs on the board anyway).

Did you like it? Was I the only one?