My Ranked Movies of the Year!

I will start by saying I didn't see that many movies this year. As I look at the list there seems to be no real method to my movie viewing.

There are three movies that I really wanted to see but haven't yet: Pan's Labyrinth, Tenacious D, Idiocracy. So I don't know how those would fit; when I see them I will let you know.

I also have a copy of Jet Li's Fearless, but haven't watched it yet. Though I'm sure it will kick ass.

I also saw part of Over the Hedge on DVD, but since I didn't see all of it, I won't rank it.

Remember, it's all relative.

13. Tristram Shandy. I didn't think this worked at all. It wasn't funny in the same way that the book was funny (and it wasn't even really that funny). It also committed a mortal error by having the character who plays Tristram being extremely unlikeable. Aren't we supposed to like Tristram? Doesn't the book fail if we don't? Thanks for making something ridiculously funny into something mildly humorous.

12. Sketches of Frank Gehry. I saw this on PBS a few months after its wide-release. It was o.k. It was interesting. Frank Gehry is interesting, but the form seemed much like the generic documentary form, so it is pretty low on the list.

11. Talladega Nights. It had some funny bits. Will Ferrel is funny. John C. Reilly was the best part. But the dinner table scene and those little kids weren't really funny to me at all. And it was largely homophobic, in a not-so-funny way. The outtakes at the end for the fake products was the best part.

10. Nacho Libre. I liked it b/c it was weird. I also like Jack Black in pretty much anything. But in some ways it was so weird I'm not sure if it worked. It worked at being weird, but did it work at being good? Pretty funny. That's why it is at #10, but could of easily been at #9.

9. For Your Consideration. I really think Christopher Guest is a genius, but this didn't work. If this was less plot driven and more sketchy I think it would work better. Jane Lynch was good as the talk-show host, Fred Willard is always entertaining. John Michael Higgins and his moustache was by far the best part. Eugene Levy was largely wasted. I think what I most admired about this film was that it was a satire to the bone. It was merciless, but that didn't make it good.

8. Pirates. Oh. Let's put the second pirate movie here. I like the Johnny Depp. The biggest fault here is that it was extremely boring until Davy Jones showed up. And that didn't happen near soon enough. It also didn't win very many points by pulling out the stale native stereotypes. But the Kraken has vaulted it up to #8. I was mostly entertained.

7. Wordplay. Solid, entertaining documentary about a crossword tournament. Not as good as Mad Hot or Spellbound, but good.

6. Art School Confidential. I don't remember much about this other than I liked it more than most everyone else. I thought it worked, but maybe just b/c it was sort of about academia and I like to loathe my own profession.

Top 5 starts now!

5. Cars. Great animation. Fairly entertaining story line, despite the racist Larry the Cable Guy. (Not that he's racist here, he just is everywhere else). And it had Paul Newman! Enough to get it in the top five regardless. It could of been higher, but I'm comparing it to The Incredibles, which was amazing in everyway. Compared to it Cars is just a very well done kids movie, but a kids movie all the same.

4. Children of Men. Just saw this last night. It was good. The performances were overall pretty solid. I like Clive Owen. I think, however, I might have been damaged by reading the reviews first. The reviews said things like "heartwrenching" and "exhilarating." I was neither heartwrenched or exhilarated. But I thought it was good. And interesting. And all that. Maybe I'm just getting tired of the "future as police state" mythos. Oh, and let's not forget Michael Caine! Perhaps the best thing to say about it is that I think it is better than the ones below it on this list but not quite as good as the ones above it . . .

3. V for Vendetta. Once again, I don't quite remember that much about it, but at the time I remember thinking it was one of the better films I would see this year. There were a few moments where I remember saying "wow!" (Not b/c of the plot, that was pretty run-of-the-mill, but the visuals were neat.) And I thought I would hate Natalie Portman, b/c usually she is in horrible shit, but I didn't. So kudos to her!

2. Stranger Than Fiction. Good all around. Really liked it. Didn't care if the plot didn't exactly work. Didn't care that it might have copped-out by not killing WF. Enjoyed it thoroughly. Good acting. Great moments. (I found this much more heartwrenching and exhilarating than COM.) And, I suppose I liked it b/c it is about books, and I like books. Though let's not fail to notice they made the lit. prof. out to be the villain. (Neo-con propaganda!)

1. Inside Man. Thought this was phenomenal. The acting was excellent - Denzel Washington usually is pretty good. It wasn't annoying like many Spike Lee joints. Maybe I liked it so much b/c it was a great heist movie. It perfectly fit into the genre. Maybe it didn't revolutionize it, but it fit its every definition. By far the most pleased I've been with a movie all year! It was tight, wasn't sloppy, wasn't overly long, wasn't bloated, supremely efficient. Oh, and it had Clive Owen. So there you go.