Red is White: Faithful & Stylish

I'm a big fan of Lars and the real girl!

the latest batman movie was pretty rockin.... I really enjoyed "there will be blood", "no country for old men", and "dan in real life". I think those might have come out before the new year though

I can't really speak to many of the movies that have been released in 2008. My wife and I decided, shortly after we were married, that trips to the cinema would be cut from the budget (a hard decision on my part as I used to want to be in the movie industry as a cinematographer).

But a quick glance at my NetFlix history will allow an opportunity to say what I liked or didn't like...

Vantage Point - better than I expected. An entertaining movie, with a unique story telling hook. As long as you can get over their timing inconsistencies, it's definitely worth the 90 minutes.

P.S. I Love You - I have to make sure I'm mixing in a rom-com every once in a while to make the wife happy, but it's surprising how often I'm pleasantly surprised. This was nothing fantastic, but I made it to the end.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead - I quite enjoyed this movie. I'm a big fan of Philip Seymour Hoffman. Good writing. Good acting. Good directing. I just thought it was a good movie.

continued...

There Will Be Blood - The first half of this movie probably ranks as high on any list as I could come up with. I wouldn't be able to say enough good things about it. It saddens me to say that I felt it got a little long winded near the end. Perhaps the 158 minutes should have been a little closer to 120. Despite my issues with the ending, I think this was the top movie of 2007.

Cloverfield - Great movie...until they showed the aliens.

Into the Wild - Emile Hirsch was absolutely fantastic. And even though you go into the story knowing the outcome, the conclusion was haunting, and thought provoking.

Gone Baby Gone - Not at all what I expected when I rented it. If I could have anyone in the movies play me, it'd be Casey Affleck. And after watching this, I wouldn't even mind if Ben directed it.

That's it for now.

The way I judge movies these days is...
If I stay awake for the entire movie, the movie is good.
If I fall asleep during the movie, the movie is bad.
So, what movies have I stayed awake for - Vantage Point, 21 (a bit slow at times, but I stayed awake, so it must have been pretty good), 27 Dresses (yea cheezy I know, but it was entertaining), and Juno - just to name a few...

-"There Will Be Blood" was a movie that left me in "awe" after I saw it with some guys from work. Daniel Day Lewis completely drives the movie and leaves you feeling frightened, angry, vindicated, and scared. It's a thrilling movie!

-"The Dark Knight" is and has been the best movie of this year, by far! I have seen it 3 times in the theaters and every time I have seen it, I have found something else I like that I missed the first time. Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker is epic and it will go down as the most all-time bittersweet portrayal of any character to date.

-"No Country For Old Men" is creepy and haunting, but still very thrilling.

continued...

-"Wall-E" is the 2nd best movie of this year and another reason why Pixar stands alone in the animation market as the BEST 3D studio. What a sweet, simple movie about love!

-"Iron Man" is probably the 3rd best movie to come out in theaters this year; it's just an all-around excellently directed and casted movie that truly re-awakens the career of under-appreciated Robert Downey Jr.

continues...

Netflix
-"Juno" was excellent and very sweet. Jennifer Garner turns in one of her best and most vulnerable performances of her career. Seriously.

-"Lars and the Real Girl" was another example of why Ryan Gosling is one of the top up-and-coming actors of his generation. Heartwarming.

-"Once" is a must-see movie that everyone needs to see. It's this little nothing of a movie that spawned an Oscar-award winning soundtrack from the brilliance of Irishman Glen Hansard. This movie will touch you.

last one I promise...

-"3:10 to Yuma" is a great modern day western starring Christian Bale and Russell Crowe that will re-ignite your love for westerns. The break out performance comes from Ben Foster...check it out.

-"The Science of Sleep" was one of those great artsy flicks that will make you think. The visuals are next to none and the cinematography will leave you feeling playful and childlike.

I could go on and on, but I don't want to hijack RiW with my movie opinions, for more of those, check out TruthOnCinema.com. I am not meaning to spam, I just got excited about this post.

Ironman was very well done; I almost didn't recognize Jeff Bridges as...well, as what he played. Can't wait for the sequel.
And Heath Ledger was absolutely brilliant as the Joker. He was incredible.
One movie we saw this year that was also outstanding (it came out a few years ago, so I'm technically cheating here) was the Constant Gardener.

Apparently RiW patrons quite enjoy the movies! You guys are hittin' some awesome flicks here. Personally I don't mind the "cheats"- or movies that are a bit older than this year, but are still fully worth mentioning. (I was also moved by The Constant Gardner, snlj. emosamurai: I also very much enjoyed 3:10 to Yuma; made me wanna man up and be a cowboy. Juno- mentioned by a few of you- had a good feel to it. And aaroni268: I also liked Dan in Real Life quite a bit; I always dreamed of having a fun family like that).

So maybe I have seen a couple of movies which actually came out in 2008. I'm not sure, though, because my sense of timing is all out of whack right now. But anyhow, it appears that I will definitely need to see Dark Knight. Lars and the Real Girl sounds interesting too. Love the indies!

Keep the good stuff coming!

I loved Dark Knight.

Wall-E was cute.

Mamma Mia! was paaaaaaainful.

X-File was worse.

Get Smart is hillarious, but much better if you've seen the old Get Smart tv series or the Get Smart Again reunion movie.