Life in the Mind of a Modest Genius

Top 50 Films of the Decade

This has been a long time coming, but I finally completed it.  I was tired of seeing all the lists by the so-called professional movie critics where so many genuine good films were left off.  The end of 2009 called for me to create a list of my own so the truly great flicks could get the recognition they deserved.

I kept this list as compact as possible.  I could have easily done 100, but I narrowed it down to 50.  Furthemore, a  movie had to be released some time between 2000 - 2009 to make this list.  Each movie is a clickable link that will either magcially transport you to my personal review, if I have done one on it, or the Rotten Tomatoes page for the movie.  Either way, that was more space saved by me not doing a synopsis on each. 

For your viewing pleasure...the REAL top 50 of the last decade...

50.  Comic Book Villains
49.  The Gospel
48.  Zombieland
47.  Why Did I Get Married
46.  The Wedding Crashers
45.  District 9
44.  The Rundown
43.  Anchorman : The Legend of Ron Burgandy
42.  Avatar
41.  Troy
40.  Cloverfield
39.  The Emperor's New Groove
38.  Spider-Man 2
37.  O Brother, Where Art Thou
36.  X2 : X-Men United
35.  Saved!
34.  Juno
33.  American Psycho
32.  Matchstick Man
31.  Catch Me If You Can
30.  Precious : Based on the novel PUSH by Sapphire
29.  The Pursuit of Happyness
28.  Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
27.  Rent
26.  The Hangover
25.  Napoleon Dynamite
24.  Galaxy Quest
23.  Old School
22.  Dreamgirls
21.  Superbad
20.  The Butterfly Effect
19.  Transformers
18.  Monsters, Inc.
17.  Ocean's Eleven
16.  Training Day
15.  Paranormal Activity
14.  Finding Nemo
13.  Little Miss Sunshine
12.  Nacho Libre
11.  Bad Santa
10.  The Dark Knight
9.    The 40-Year-Old Virgin
8.    Kill Bill (Vol. 1 & 2)
7.   The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
6.   Star Trek
5.   Boiler Room
4.   300
3.   Love and Basketball
2.   No Country for Old Men
1.   Gladiator

A Perfect Getaway

This year is getting off to a decent start movie-wise much the same way last year did.  I wouldn't say that the two movies that I have seen so far have been contenders for the year-end list, but they were both winners.  I expected that with "Facing Ali".  You can never go wrong with a movie about "The Greatest".  "The Perfect Getaway", on the other hand, had a lot to prove.

Honeymooning newlyweds Cliff (Steve Zahn) and Cydney (Milla Jovovich) are hiking an 11-mile trail in Hawaii when they cross paths with ex-military man, Nick (Timothy Olyphant).  Nick happens to earn their trust by helping them navigate a particularly treacherous mountain cliff.  A few yards later, the trio runs into a group of girls who received reports a honeymooning couple has been murdered on one of the other islands.  Cliff and Cydney have already run into one shady newlywed couple (Chris Hemsworth and Marley Shelton) earlier.  Then they meet Nick's free-spirited girlfriend, Gina (Kiele Sanchez) and tensions start to rise.  Suspicions surface all around about who the murderous duo could be.

This is another one of those movies where the outstanding scenery takes the forefront to the point where it is almost the real star.  Unlike the catastrophic "Couple's Retreat", this film doesn't rely solely on the imagery to make the flick watchable.  In fact, it supplements it to help further the story as well as to accentuate the importance of the relationship between all of the characters involved. 

The most obvious instance of the scenery's importance to the plot is when Cliff and Cydney first encounter Nick.  They are marveling at the beauty of the landscape below them while also acknowledging how dangerous it is.  One wrong step and that very view that they are admiring could be the same one that kills them.  It becomes a metaphor for the tension that would later surface between everyone involved.  It was additionally a foreshadowing to alert us that no matter how mesmerizing an appearance can be, you still have to be careful.

What I liked best about this film was it wasn't quite as straightforward as the trailer would have you believe.  Although that was to be expected.  Anyone with any type of movie IQ knew going in there would be some things to throw you off as to who the killers were.  I was even proud of myself because I called it from the beginning.  I do give them props for having a few well-played red herring moments here and there that caused me to doubt my suspicions. 

"A Perfect Getaway" was fortunate enough to have some fantastic actors that were able to convincingly carry out this thriller.  In less capable hands, it wouldn't have been near as interesting to see how everything played out.  However, this cast kept the movie intriguing thru compelling action and drama that made this much better than I anticipated.


My rating:  B

Facing Ali

Is is possible to have too many documentaries about Muhammad Ali?  It does seem like there is one that comes out at least every couple of years or so.  Well when you consider that he truly is The Greatest, then that's not too much.  It's akin to giving him his flowers while he's still alive to smell them.  I've always been a fan of that concept so I had no problem at all with this latest documentary about Ali.

"Facing Ali" is a documentary that offers a new perspective on Ali.  Instead of having random famous people talk about the man, some of his opponents speak about their experiences with The Greatest.  They reflect on how their confrontation with Ali in the ring altered their lives outside the ring.  It includes interviews with Joe Frazier, the man who had three epic fights with Ali; George Chuvalo, a Canadian fighter; George Foreman, whose Ali fight inspired the documentary "When We Were Kings"; and Leon Spinks, whose 1978 upset victory over Ali thrust him into the spotlight which he was ill-prepared to handle.

This was the first time I ever heard of Henry Cooper.  He's the guy that Ali fought before the Sonny Liston fight that would eventually make Ali the youngest heavyweight champion at the time.  From the footage they showed, Cooper appeared to give Ali a better fight than Liston did.  He even knocked Ali down once.  It led to Cooper hypothesizing that it was that fight that enabled Ali to learn how to take a punch.  Something he would definitely need in his later bouts.

Speaking of Liston, it was interesting to hear all of those different fighters also chime in on their opinion that Liston threw their second fight.  Jaded folks who wanted to believe otherwise called it "the phantom punch" that knocked out  Liston.  It was evident that it was fixed.  But they raise an interesting theory here: was it fixed or was it that Liston was just scared of the Black Muslims if he would have won?  Im going with a little of both.  He was definitely scared of the Black Muslims, but he was more scared of the punishment that Ali was going to inflict on him since he had already witnessed firsthand how he handled Liston in their first match.

There were a few of these cats who I never even heard of.  Or at least I wasn't able to put a name with the face.  Like Ernie Terell.  I didn't realize he was the cat that kept calling Ali "Cassius Clay" so much that it caused Ali to make him famous.  Terell was the one that Ali fought and kept asking him "What's my name?!" as he tagged him over and over in the middle of the ring.  I will give Ernie some props for trying to call out Ali before the fight by going on national tv singing a song about him.  He actually had a pretty decent voice too.

It was nice to see how all of these different opponents have kept up over the years.  Some were clearly suffering the effects from their time in the ring with their slow speech and movement, but most all of them fairly eloquent with their words.  Mostly.  Then there was Leon Spinks.  Dude is in his mid-50s and is just as crude and crass now as he was then.  At least he can say he didn't let his boxing fame change him.

Many of us sports fans have always had an admiration for what Ali accomplished.  At least us older ones that can remember Ali before the Parkinson's set in.  But what was great about "Facing Ali" is seeing the amount of respect that these other fighters had for him.  They all speak of him with the same reverence that we had from watching him.  What other athlete can garner that type of adulation from his fellow competitors?  The list is very short and The Greatest is near at the top of it. 


My rating:  A -

"Tron" Trailer

Sicne it's so cold outside, might as well look forward to next Christmas.  And this is going to make it a great Christmas 2010...

(Other Folks') Year in Movies

Thought I would try something different this year.  I have already completed my list of the best movies of 2009 which will come out shortly.  I wanted to see what some other reliable sources were naming as their tops just to see how far off I was from theirs.  The difference is pretty sustantial...

Rotten Tomatoes.com
This is a site that is normally user driven as far as ranking movies.  That's why I would have thought this list would have been composed of the movies that scored the highest among their users for the year.  That doesn't seem to be the case though.  Not sure of how they came up with theirs...

1. Up in the Air
2. Up
3. Inglorious Basterds
4. The Hurt Locker
5. Avatar

Ain't It Cool News
AICN has  a handful of reviewers that review different films.  As a result, all of the handful put out their own list of their top films of the year.  The only one that I focused on was Harry Knowles who is the head honcho over there...

1. District 9
2. Where the Wild Things Are
3. Up
4. Inglorious Basterds
5. The Square

Richard Roeper
I don't even know what number replacement host he is for "At the Movies".  I grew up on Siskel and Ebert's "At the Movies".  Ever since Siskel died and Ebert got older, the show lost its luster.  Roeper stepped in along the way somewhere there.  The "At the Movies" brand still holds some relevance, so I included his...

1. Brothers
2. Up in the Air
3. The Hurt Locker
4. (500) Days of Summer
5. Inglorious Basterds

Roger Ebert
Which brings us to the legend himself.  Being the eccentric critic that he is, he didn't bother to rank his choices.  Since they aren't ranked I couldn't narrow his list down to 5 so he's the only one out here with 10.  He also had two different lists: mainstream and independent.  I'm going to take his mainstream ones only since indie flicks tend to bore me. 

• Bad Lieutenant : Port of Call New Orleans
• Crazy Heart
• An Education
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglorious Basterds
• Knowing
• Precious
• A Serious Man
• Up in the Air
• The White Ribbon

The REAL list will be out later this evening.  Then you will see how far off all these cats really were!

 

(500) Days of Summer

I have mentioned before that the romantic comedies generally aren't my cup of tea.  If those aren't, you know the ones that are straight up love stories have even less of a chance.  However, I will sometimes let one or two of the well-reviewed ones in just to see what I think of them.  "(500) Days of Summer" lucked up to be one of those.  It certainly didn't hurt that it starred Zooey Deschanel.

Tom(Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is an aspiring architect who had to settle for a job as a greeting card writer.  He encounters his boss's new secretary, Summer (Deschanel), and discovers that the two have plenty in common even though she is out of his league.  Before long, Tom has fallen for Summer.  Even though she doesn't believe in love.  It doesn't phase Tom and he doggedly pursues Summer to convince her that their relationship is the real thing.

Director Mark Webb utilized a concept that I have always loved: the non-linear approach.  I don't know if Quentin Tarantino invented the style, but he certainly made it popular.  His usage of it always worked because his films contain segments that can be freestanding on their own anyway.  The reason it works here is something entirely different.

The movie is basically Tom reflecting on his relationship with Summer.  When you think about it, that is exactly how we recall our past relationships.  Random thoughts come to mind about the time you spent with that individual.  It's never linear.  You will think of something you did together and it will jog a memory about something else about that person.  They could have occurred days or sometimes even months apart in very arbitrary order.  Therefore, it made perfect sense for "(500) Days of Summer" to be presented in such a manner.

Tom's description of why he was in love with Summer was a great touch.  He broke down the same things that make Zooey an alluring woman in the first place:  the eyes...the smile...the knees.  He is essentially confirming that she is average.  Zooey isn't the stunning atypical Hollywood starlet types that looks like they've had plenty of work done.  She has a very ordinary look to her that makes her more relatable.

That coincides with the chemistry between Zooey and Joseph.  You all know that the chemistry is always the one thing that can make or break a romantic movie for me.  Theirs comes across as VERY genuine.  Probably because Joseph also looks plain-jane.  The two of them are believable as a couple.  Even with the way they interact with one another, you can tell they enjoy each other's company.  It permeates their performance to the point where it transcends the screen.  We feel as though we are witnessing an actual couple.

The one scene that really stood out for me was their version of expectations versus reality.  Whenever we are getting ready to embark on a date and/or an event, there is that mental image in your mind of what is going to transpire.  It NEVER goes the way you picture it.  For "(500) Days of Summer" this is depicted with a split pane approach.  One side shows "Expecations" while the other shows "Reality".  Naturally, things don't pan out for Tom quite the way he anticipated.

This flick rounds out the second of two great selections I recently received from my Netflix queue.  I have come to the decision that I will end 2009 on a good note by making this one the last new movies I see for the rest of the year.  I don't want to run the risk of having a poor selection leave a bad taste in my mouth.  "(500) Days of Summer" was such a great film that it gives me hope of what the new year will bring.


My rating:  A

World's Greatest Dad

It was one of AICN's weekly dvd columns that hipped me to "World's Greatest Dad".  I would have otherwise never heard of it.  You would think that would be a little surprising since it stars Robin Williams.  Not really though.  He's done some mainstream releases like "RV" but he's also been known to do the occasional off-kilter film or two.  "The Final Cut" comes to mind and now this one would definitely qualify.

"World's Greatest Dad" is the story of Lance Clayton who is a man that has learned to settle.  He dreamed of being an established author but managed to only make it as a high school poetry teacher.  His only son, Kyle (Daryl Sabara) is a disrespectful deviant who doesn't want to give his father the time of day.  Lance is dating the school's art teacher, Claire (Alexie Gilmore), but she doesn't want to be exclusive and won't  acknowledge their relationship publicly.

Lance finds an opportunity to turn his luck around in the wake of a most unfortunate accident.  He becomes suddenly faced with the possibility of all the fame, fortune and popularity he could ever imagine.  The only problem is in order for Lance to live the life he's always dreamed of, he has to live with the knowledge of how he obtained it.

I didn't know quite what to expect going into this one.  Usually when AICN highlights a dvd release, they give a little blurb about it.  All they really said about this one is the less you know about it, the better.  That wasn't necessarily true because you could know what the pivotal moment of the film is and still appreciate it.  It essentially comes down to Williams performance as a dad who is struggling with a sense of morality versus superficiality.

More than that though, "World's Greatest Dad" takes a different look at how a death can create a phenomenon that forges both cults and celebrity.  You see it all the time with celebrity deaths, but this film examines it on a more elementary level with it being in high school.  It's not really that far-fetched either.  People tend to exploit the dead no matter how known the deceased was.  This film brilliantly explores that thru a dark sense of humor while infusing some real truths.

I was somewhat surprised to discover that this one was written and directed by none other than Bobcat Goldthwait.  Only somewhat though because this clearly had a touch of his sense of humor in it.  The subject matter is something that shouldn't be too amusing, but there are more than a few moments where I found myself laughing out loud.  Some for such a while that I had to rewind to see what I missed.  In just one movie, Bobcat has created something better than he ever has in all of his years in front of the camera.

The stats for "World's Greatest Dad" indicates it did get a very limited theatrical release.  It must have been limited to only a few cities because I never heard of it.  I thought for a minute it was a straight-to-dvd release.  It's a shame that studios don't invest more publicity into great movies like this one so they can get into more theaters.  Here we have one of the best movies of 2009 flying under that radar that clearly deserved more recognition.


My rating:  A

 

Sherlock Holmes

The world famous detective has been around so long that he's a part of folklore.  But I'm sure there are folks like me that only know Sherlock Holmes by name without ever having seen a movie or read a book about him.  We just always knew that he was supposed to be the world's greatest detective.  So much so that his name became a noun associated with anyone who thinks they've got everything figured out.  Honestly, I'm surprised it took someone this look to make a modernized film of his escapades.

The story of "Sherlock Holmes" is after finally catching serial killer and occult leader Lord Blackwood  (Mark Strong), legendary sleuth Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and his equally legendary assistant Dr. Watson (Jude Law) can close yet another successful case.  However, when Blackwood mysteriously returns from the grave to resume his killing spree, Holmes must take up the hunt once again.  This time around he must contend with his partner's impending engagement with fiancée Mary (Kelly Reilly) as well as   the temptress Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams).

Right away, we get signs that this isn't our folks' Sherlock Holmes.  Or even our grandparents' version.  When I think of Holmes, the one thing that always comes to mind is a mild-mannered middle-aged fellow who battles with his mind.  This Holmes is quite the action hero for his time.  Both he and Watson were wrecking shop up to par with any of the action films you see today.  That was one way director Guy Ritchie tried to make Holmes more relevant with the audience of today.

Something else he did was give the film a bit of a "CSI" twist to it.  There were certain moments when Holmes was piecing together something that it would re-enacted as he's narrating it.  Much as is done on the show "CSI" when they are hypothesizing how certain clues come together.  However, it's done here primarily when Holmes is getting ready to scrap.  Which happens more frequently than you would expect.

As much as I do like Robert Downey, Jr., I will have to admit that he could use some work on his English accent.  It didn't sound quite as genuine as it could have.  Although to be fair, it could also be that he was at a supreme disadvantage being paired up with Law who's pronounced English accent is a constant reminder of what the real thing sounds like. 

Overall, both RDJ and Law did a great of job of making a more interesting Sherlock Holmes and Watson for a more action-driven 21st century.  Hats off to Ritchie too for doing so while keeping the setting and atmosphere in the 19th century, which he accomplished very well with some stunning visuals.  They stayed true to the spirit of the Holmes legend yet managed to make it more relevant so we could better appreciate it. 

I was told going in that "Sherlock Holmes" would be a very cerebral flick.  One of those where you had to follow along closely to keep up with what's happening.  I didn't come away with that at all.  The entire case was pretty straight-forward and actually fairly transparent.  That coupled with the fast-paced action produced a pleasant surprise for an nicely done updated Holmes.


My rating:  B+

The Nightmare Before Christmas

This is another film that I had put off for quite a while.  None of the trailers for it appealed to me even though I was a Tim Burton fan.  However, the fact that it always got such rave reviews intrigued me.  Especially since I have family members that swear by "The Nightmare Before Christmas".  That many people couldn't possibly be wrong about how great the movie is, could they?  Humph.

"The Nightmare Before Christmas" tells the story of Halloweentown's beloved Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington (voiced by Chris Sarandon) who has designs to take over the Christmas holiday.  A lonely rag doll by the name of Sally (Catherine O'Hara), who has feelings for Jack, advises against it.  Still, Jack moves ahead with his plans.  Althogh he eventually realizes after he has some minions kidnap Santa Claus (Edward Ivory) that he's made a mistake, he has to contend with the evil Oogie Boogie (Ken Page) before he can make things right to restore the Christmas holiday.

Now I knew going in that since this was a Burton film, it would be a little off.  He has a penchant for having a very dark angle to his work.  In the process of doing that, the storyline can sometimes get a little twisted as well.  So much so that there are parts that make very little sense.  Even if it's essential to the plot.  That certainly seems to be the case with this flick.

The whole reason that Jack even finds out about Christmastown is because he happens to wander into a forest where there are trees that have the different entrances to the different holidaytowns.  He acts like it was the first time he's ever been there.  With him being the Pumpkin King, shouldn't he have known his kingdom better than that? 

I will give Burton credit for taking a familiar concept into a different format though.  Jack was essentially a king who was getting bored with his current kingdom.  In the world of dictatorships, once that's happens the leader gets greedy and sets out to conquer other kingdoms.  Those of us who enjoy the sci-fi/fantasy action films know that premise very well.  It was no different here.  Burton just used stop-motion animation and a musical template for a change of pace.

As for the music portion of "A Nightmare", it didn't really work for me.  In fact, it was a little annoying.  Burton had gone thru the trouble of creating this imaginative world of odd little characters and they were set to music which distracted from their potential.  I can appreciate where Burton was trying to go with it though.  All of us old fogies will often associate stop-animation holiday movies with music thanks to the Rankin-Bass classics from our childhood.  Burton was again putting his own spin on the genre.  Maybe I just couldn't get into it because I have too much admiration for those Rankin-Bass flicks.

I was just mentioning the fact that RottenTomatoes.comwas good about being consistently on point with their Tomotaoemeter when it came to ranking movies.  However, they have been known to get it wrong every now and then.  This would be one of those instances.  "The Nightmare Before Christmas" scored a 97%??  People can rave all they want about it, but I was thoroughly disappointed.  I expected a masterpiece and was left with a hokey wannabe alternative Christmas classic. 


My rating: C -

The Santa Clause 3 : The Escape Clause

I honestly don't remember if I ever saw "The Santa Clause 2".  In fact, I'm fairly certain I didn't.  I just remember the trailers and that it was something about how Santa (Tim Allen) had to get married as another part of the clause?  I may even have that one on dvd somewhere.  I put off seeing it for so long that before I knew it (four years later) the third one was out.  Here it was coming on regular television so I figured I might as well watch it.

In this third installment, Santa Claus Scott Calvin is getting a little stressed because not only is toy production a little behind schedule, but his wife Carol/Mrs. Claus (Elizabeth Mitchell) is pregnant and expecting any minute.  As if that's not enough, Carol's parents are coming for a visit which prompts an emergency make-over for Santa's Village into a nondescript Canadian town to protect Santa's true identity.

With so much going on, Santa reluctantly allows his fellow seasonal legendary character Jack Frost (Martin Short) to step in and help out.  Although he really goes along with it due to the fact that Frost has been trying to promote his own self-indulgent agenda for the Christmas season.  Still, Santa tries to see the good in him.  Even though Frost has the ulterior motive of tricking Santa to give up his reign so Jack can step in.

What they were essentially going for here was a different take on the "It's a Wonderful Life" storyline.  Scott wonders for a second what it would have been like if he had never become Santa Claus.  Frost takes advantage of that so Scott gets to see what his life would have otherwise been like.  It makes him appreciate the burdens of being Santa a little more.  It also produces a very interesting North Pole theme resort concept that Frost created in Scott's absence.

One thing about these Santa Claus movies that always makes me cringe just a little is the obvious flaws in logic they expose.  For instance, I can overlook the thing about Santa traveling thru the sky and not being able to be tracked.  Maybe he has some type of cloaking device that I missed in the second one or forgot about from the first one.  But how is he going to park a huge sleigh with reindeer in front of a house and nobody notices something is out of place?

Speaking of the reindeer, the animatronics for them was HORRIBLE!  It looked like something out of movie from the 80s when they didn't have the technology we have today to make better special effects.  This flick was released in 2006.  There was no reason that they could not have spent more time and/or money to make the reindeer less fake. 

However, the whole movie had the overall fell that it was hurried.  Which is surprising because it didn't come out until 4 years after its predecessor.  It's also rather shocking because the actually had a decent concept.  Nevertheless, it just didn't seem like they wanted to try very hard with "Santa Clause 3".  Allen wasn't helping matters either.  His performance appeared very canned as if he was just along for the the ride for the paycheck.  It's a good ting that Short was able to be somewhat interesting as Frost or it would have otherwise been a total waste.


My rating:  D+