Thursday, January 01, 2009

FILM: BEST FILMS of 2008

Here's why you should see them:

ROMANTIC COMEDY
Penelope
Reese Witherspoon plays a spunky best friend to an adorable pig-snout-having Christina Ricci, while James McAvoy ups his Prince Charming factor when he plots to become her knight in shining armor.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall
You’d think watching Jason Segel cry his eyes out and completely humiliate himself would be difficult. It isn’t.

27 Dresses
You’ll get charmed by James Marsden’s sarcasm and enjoy a refreshingly funny and formulaic romantic comedy.

Mamma Mia!
It lives up to the hype with amazing songs and funny moments.

Sex and the City: The Movie
Even if you’ve never watched the series, you can still enjoy this female perspective on loving life, men, and fashion.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Yes, the word porn is in the title, but I swear, there’s like maybe 10-20 minutes tops of lewd or pornographic material. The rest is just a story about two best friends (Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks) who only realized they were romantically interested in each other after they were so broke they had to sleep with each other on camera to make rent. I know, a modern day fairytale, isn’t it?

Yes Man
If you haven’t found Jim Carrey funny since Me, Myself, & Irene like me, you’ll appreciate the slapstick humor and how he's finally learned how to turn off the crazy and play a normal guy when he needs to.

What Happens in Vegas
Two tall stringy goofballs (Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher) fall in love as they torture each other. If you’re a fan of rom-coms where the leads love to hate each other like I am, then you’ll get a kick out of this one.

Made of Honor
Rom-coms have had a bad rap ever since they went Technicolor, so I was surprised to find that this one—despite the premise of a promiscuous guy (Patrick Dempsey) realizing a tad too late that he was in love with his bff (Michelle Monaghan from Eagle Eye)—to be really funny.

Watching the Detectives
Lucy Liu finally shows some range by playing—hands-down—the craziest girlfriend ever documented in this wacky rom-com indie.


ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER
The Dark Knight
Hmm. Let’s see, Heath Ledger playing the creepiest and most conniving Joker to date plus an effortlessly cool Christian Bale as Batman equals the coolest hero flick to break box office records. What more could you ask for?

Wanted
Timur Bekmambetov will introduce you to a whole new level of action, while reminding you how cool Angelina Jolie used to be.

Iron Man
Superhero flicks are generally not this funny without clutzy behavior and jokes based on insecurities, but Robert Downey Jr. did an amazing job of bringing back the humor that Spiderman 3 sucked out of the genre.

Eagle Eye
J.D. Caruso (Disturbia) has become a pro at action and suspense and I have to admit, I love watching Shia Labeouf run around all MacGuyver-like with a mission.

Quantum of Solace
If you like Jason Bourne’s ass-kicking methods and are a fan of badasses who show no remorse, then this vengeance-seeking, heartbroken Bond will thrill you to no end.

Hancock
It has a great love story with just enough action to keep everyone entertained.

Get Smart
You’ll enjoy watching Steve Carrell act spazzy, while Anne Hathaway pulls off playing a smooth, kick ass vixen.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Three reasons: 1) It was way better than the first. 2) It managed to relate to teens in this time period. And 3) It introduced us to the porcelain God that is Ben Barnes.

The Incredible Hulk
This superhero redo could’ve been horrible, but it turns out watching Edward Norton get angry and green wasn’t as unbelievable as I thought it would be.


TEEN
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
If you’re too lazy to read the very well-written super-short novel, then I suggest you rent this endearingly funny-and-sweet romantic young adult film about two lovelorn souls who find each other during a crazy night of music-loving.

Charlie Bartlett
Witness the rise of Anton Yelchin in a teen comedy that explores the prescription drug abuse of our generation, while shining a light on parental negligence.

Step Up 2 the Streets
There’s amazing dance choreography and a brief cameo from Channing Tatum.

Twilight
Even if you haven’t read the book and you’re skeptical about all the hype surrounding it, you can’t deny that watching a human and a vampire fall in love Buffy-style is pretty entertaining.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
While I did prefer the first film, in this one American Ferrara and Amber Tamblyn get more screen time for major lessons on loving themselves before falling in love.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year
It’s not better than the first, but it is better than the second, which is reason enough to watch it. No really, the second one sucked.


CHILDREN/FAMILY
Son of Rambow
Two super aborable British kids record themselves reenacting scenes from Rambo—you know you wish you could do that. Actually if you youtubed it, I’m sure somebody is already doing it.


DRAMAS
Slum Dog Millionaire
There’s too many good things about this film to say in a couple of sentences. But I guess if you’re in the mood for a believable love story and a tale of two brothers who suffer through the ghettos of India, all told in a creative format, then you’ll definitely enjoy this romantic dramedy.

The Fall
Tour the amazingly surreal mind of Tarsem Singh in this lovely fantasy flick starring Lee Pace.


COMEDY
Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr. making an ass out of himself with a semi-racist accent in this war flick spoof will keep you laughing the whole way through.

Pineapple Express
While it may be a PSA about the dangers of inducing marijuana and hanging out with your drug dealer, it’s also a ridiculously funny buddy comedy jam-packed full of action a la Seth Rogen.

Check out the films of 2008 that I haven't seen yet and plan to add to my Netflix Queue.

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