Monthly Archives: December 2009

Top 5 Movies of 2009

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So I’ve been thinking about this post for the past week. I’ve been doing my best to hold off on writing this until I saw a couple more movies, particularly Up in the Air, which I saw today as part of a double-feature with my parents (the other movie was NINE). I’ve yet to see The Hurt Locker or Where the Wild Things Are, and frankly, the only other movie that felt really came close was State of Play. Here are the movies that I enjoyed the most this year:

Up

Pixar is easily one of the best studios on the planet. The worst movie that they’ve ever made (in my opinion) was Cars, and even that was considered a success by many. But this year, they really outdid themselves with this amazingly charming and heartfelt story of Carl Fredericksen, a boy named Russell and a dog named Dug: Up.

Avatar

One of the most visually stunning films of the last decade. I want to see it like three more times. Such a huge accomplishment for James Cameron. Fascinating on so many levels.

The Hangover

Call it overrated or crude. I don’t agree, nor do I care. I thought that Zach Galifianakis’ performance as Alan in The Hangover was one of the most entertaining of the year. Galifianakis and The Office‘s Ed Helms totally steal the majority of the scenes in this debauchery-filled romp through Las Vegas. I haven’t laughed this hard in a very long time.

Away We Go and (500) Days of Summer

Independent movies have really come into their own over the past few years. Juno and other films have set the bar extremely high, but there were two independents that came out this year that I really loved: Away We Go, starring John “Big Tuna” Krasinski and Maya Rudolph, (which I reviewed already) and (500) Days of Summer, starring Joseph-Gordon Levitt and Zooey Deschanel (which I also reviewed). Away We Go is just a lovely movie with some amazing chemistry between Krasinski and Rudolph. And (500) Days of Summer really did some amazing work redefining the romantic comedy genre. Both movies had great performances and completely phenomenal soundtracks (which always is helpful).

Star Trek

There was a lot of speculation as to whether J.J. Abrams (Alias, LOST, Cloverfield) could pull off a reboot of one of Hollywood’s most storied franchises. He did so and he did it amazingly. Essentially, he took the traditional Star Trek story with a new cast of characters and made it into an exciting action movie that just happened to be set in space. Star Trek was everything that you could ask for a summer blockbuster to be: it was exciting and funny and (most importantly for the summer blockbuster) it set the stage for many more sequels.

So my list is probably a lot different than most, but this is what I thought was great in 2009. I’m looking forward to 2010 (especially Iron Man 2).

What did you love in 2009? What are you looking forward to seeing in 2010?

Is Cassel or Haley to blame?

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As much as I don’t like to write people off before they’ve been given an adequate shot, I’m starting to think that signing Matt Cassel to a long-term, expensive contract was one of the worst decisions that the Chiefs have made in recent years (dating back to the King Carl days). One thing is sure, Cassel is certainly not who he was advertised to be…a savvy, accurate, good decision-making quarterback.

Matt Cassel talks to Bobby Ingram in practice

The Chiefs front office (particularly GM Scott Pioli, who made this ludicrous signing) want to assure the fans that it is the offensive line that is the problem, not their 6-year, $63 million man.

I’m not buying it.

If Cassel has proven anything to me this year, it’s that he makes really bad decisions at inopportune times and he consistently under- and over-throws his receivers. Now, granted, it’s not like he’s throwing to Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco out there, but some of his throws have been so abysmally inaccurate that I’m really starting to doubt his capability at all.

The front office wants to tout his mobility. And I’ll concede that yes, he can run. It doesn’t mean he has to. There are two things that bother me about his so-called “mobility”:

  1. He exercises the run option too quickly. I’ve seen him leave the pocket far too early on numerous times this season, leading to him getting lit up by a linebacker or losing yards as he’s pulled down by a defensive end who now has to chase him a little less.
  2. The key to “mobile” NFL quarterbacks is that they have the capability to throw on the run. Cassel can’t. He can’t hit the broad side of a barn on the run. Now, neither  can his predecessor at New England, Tom Brady. But Brady is deadly accurate in the pocket. Cassel is not. Brady has good protection. Cassel does not. But if you’re going to call yourself a mobile quarterback in the NFL, you’d better be able to hit a receiver or a tight end or fullback on the run. And I’ve seen nothing this season that proves Cassel can do that.

Much of the blame for this season’s failures should fall squarely on the shoulders of the head coach, Todd Haley, who looks completely inept when it comes to managing a team during a game. I think that Haley was in the right place at the right time in Arizona.  The Chiefs had to get rid of Herm Edwards last year, because let’s face it, a cinnamon roll could coach better than Edwards. But I doubt that Haley was their #1 choice when it came to choosing someone to lead the Chiefs back to the playoffs (although I think fans would just accept a .500 season at this point).

I really enjoy Haley’s passion and tenacity. But those two things don’t win games if all they are doing is covering up the mistakes of your players that you can’t seem to coach. I think both Haley and Cassel are going to get another year to prove themselves. Rebuilding this once proud franchise is not going to happen overnight. But I think both our head coach and our quarterback need to be put on notice. I will be watching you.

That is, of course, unless the game is blacked out again.

Merry Christmas!

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It’s been an amazing 3 days.

We started on the 23rd, my birthday, by taking care of our nieces (and by “we” I mean Alli) for much of the day and having both our families over for some birthday festivities, Oklahoma Joe’s and funfetti cookies. I got a bunch of great presents…really good stuff.

Christmas Eve we spent with Alli’s family at Tyson and her sister’s house. More great stuff and lots of eating.

Yesterday morning, I got the present that I wanted all season: a white Christmas. So much snow! The family got up and did some shoveling — not just our driveway, but two others (and my back is paying for it today). We headed out and braved the roads to hang out with my family for lunch, more presents and really great times. Laughing with my family is one of my favorite things to do.

I made out like a bandit this year, scoring great presents from everyone and still having a wonderful white Christmas.

I hope everyone’s Christmas season has been as good as mine. A couple more movies this weekend and it will be complete!

Sherlock Holmes

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Expectations can really mess up your experience.

Everything about the new Sherlock Holmes movie was appealing to me: Robert Downey, Jr. as Holmes, Jude Law (who can even make a mustache look cool) as Watson, Rachel McAdams as Holmes’ love-interest/nemesis Irene Adler and Guy Ritchie at the helm directing. All seemed to lead to what would be a thoroughly enjoyable movie experience.

First things first, a sidebar: you must take all of this with a grain of salt…I was seated in the third row of the large AMC theater, which provided a challenge as it was. I do not recommend seeing this movie if the only seats you can find are third row.

Based on the trailers, the plot of the movie isn’t too difficult to sort out. Bad guy uses supposed black magic to take over the world, Holmes and Watson try to thwart him while being occasionally sidetracked by suspect women (McAdams) and lawman of questionable competency.

Honestly, the plot had nothing to do with my feeling let down by the movie. As I twittered, my biggest issues were the following:

  1. I felt like Rachel McAdams was a throwaway character. Her sole purpose in the movie? To fulfill a Hollywood quota that a rising star actress be on the bill. McAdams was wasted talent, in my opinion. Her scenes lacked much depth at all. She’s a good (arguably great) actress and I just felt like her role could have been portrayed by just about anyone (like Mary, Watson’s betrothed).
  2. Mark Strong (Lord Blackwood) was just not sinister enough. I guess I never really bought the black magic thing just because Strong (aka Andy Garcia’s doppelganger) never gave me a really sinister performance that made me think he was capable of such nefarious acts. I just thought he was boring.
  3. All along, I just felt like they were setting up a sequel. Now, don’t get me wrong…this is not something I am opposed to. I hope that with a better writer and a significantly better bad guy, the same cast and director could come up with something a little more complete. What’s this?

These are small quibbles and that’s the bugger about expectations. I found little things to pick on rather than just enjoying the experience (although it was a bit tough from the 3rd row). Unlike Avatar, where I went in with somewhat lower expectations, my high level of anticipation for this flick really worked against me.

OK, now for the good…

  • Any scene that involved Holmes and Watson together. This movie was a bromance in a lot of ways and the Holmes/Watson chemistry was perfectly portrayed by Robert Downey, Jr. (who is probably one of my favorite living actors) and Jude Law.
  • The set design. I’m not ready to give Guy Ritchie his props just yet, but this is by far, his most striking film to date. The look of old school London is somewhat reminiscent of Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd, but with a little less macabre.
  • The action scenes. I think we can all agree that this is a place where Guy Ritchie should excel and he does here. The movie tends to drag in a couple places, but it is balanced by a few instances of really good action. Not great…but good.
  • Robert Downey, Jr. I know that I’ve expressed my appreciation for this guy, but he’s terrific. Without him carrying the movie, it wouldn’t be nearly as successful. He’s such an engaging actor and he portrays the role of Holmes as it was intended by the director.

So the question I always ask myself is: who would I recommend this movie to? It’s certainly not for kids, although teenagers could easily handle it. Meesha claimed that long-time fans of the books will like it (yes, it’s true, he exists…I actually met him) and I think that people looking for something action-packed an fun will like it. I’m not sure it’s the first movie I would recommend this holiday season (AHEM), but for those of you who don’t have a lot of interest in blue people, I think Sherlock Holmes is probably right up your alley.

Also, I’m probably doing you a favor by bringing your expectations for this movie down a bit. So, you’re welcome.

Avatar is awesome

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As usual, the big guns come out in Hollywood around the holidays. Alli and I headed out with Jake and Kelly to see James “I’m the King of the World” Cameron’s 15-years-in-the-making, sci-fi-fantasy-action-spiritual-romance-drama genre-bending movie, Avatar.

avatar

I haven’t been this enamored by a movie in as long as I can remember. Several hours later and I can’t stop thinking about it, talking about it, and wanting to see it again.

At the risk of over-stating and over-promising, I’m still gonna say it: Avatar is one of the most innovative, original films to be made in the last 20 years.

James Cameron has spent the last 15 years writing and conceptualizing this EPIC film, a story that at its most basic is a love story wrapped in a war movie set in space. But that ignores the spiritual and philosophical dimension that makes this movie so unique.

We meet Corporal Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) first, on his trip to the planet Pandora, a world occupied by humanoid creatures called the Na’vi. There he meets a native woman named Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) who helps him to learn about the culture and their people’s beliefs and traditions.

Along the way, he’s faced with physical, emotional and moral challenges, not to mention a middle-of-the-night showdown with a pack of rabid doberman-like wild animals.

I don’t want to give away anymore of the plot. I want people to discover it for themselves. The only thing I will say is that the commercials and trailers don’t do this film any kind of justice. The movie is so much more than I ever expected.

When I first started seeing stills and clips from the movie, I had little to no interest in it. I love James Cameron and I think he’s an innovative filmmaker, but from what I could see, it didn’t seem to interest me. Giant smurfs controlled in a Matrix-like way on some crazy other planet? No thanks.

Then it became really hard to ignore. As the first reviews began to flow in, I began to think that my first judgement may have been incorrect. And the more I heard about it, the more my interest was piqued.

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So we went today.

And like I said before, it was one of the best times I’ve had at the movies in my life. I was completely rapt for the full 2 hours and 40 minutes. I didn’t want to move, didn’t want to go to the bathroom, didn’t want to do anything but spend that time with the completely brilliant James Cameron and his perfect film. I leaned forward in my seat almost the whole time because I didn’t want anything else to distract me from what I knew 30 minutes in was the crowning achievement of this man’s illustrious career.

There I go again. People who know me know that I have a tendency to get over-excited and maybe overstate things a little. I promise, I’m not exaggerating on this movie. It really is that good.

This movie manages to make a statement without being preachy. It uses amazing CGI without being cheesy. It has an obvious romantic element without being sentimental. And it has action that is meaningful and exciting without sacrificing it for poor dialogue. When I consider that all of these things can mostly be attributed to Cameron, it’s hard to argue against him to win the Oscar for Best Director.

We will see. He’s certainly set the bar and he’s set it high.

Is it time for The Office to close?

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NBC’s American version of Ricky Gervais’ The Office is now in its sixth hilarious season. For the people that follow the show, most would agree it is one of their “can’t miss” shows week after week.

Steve Carell’s Michael Scott and Rainn Wilson’s Dwight Schrutte are two of the best characters on TV right now and Jim and Pam are a couple that are difficult to dislike.

However, outside of Michael finally finding love and Dwight and Angela rekindling their relationship, I kind of feel like the show has really run its course.

It hasn’t ceased to be funny by any means, but the narrative seems to have stalled a bit. I’m predicting that the delivery of Pam & Jim’s baby is going to be the final nail in the coffin.

Let’s be honest, The Office has lasted considerably longer than anyone predicted, even NBC. Remember back when it almost got cancelled after its first 6-episode season, but was saved its popularity in the iTunes Store? These days, it is still consistently funny, but I get the feeling that we are one season away from the start of regurgitated content from other popular sitcoms.

BJ Novak and Mindy Kaling have been EPIC over the course of the six seasons it has been on, entertaining us and making us uncomfortable in ways that we never expected, but could always relate to. Most of us, after all, can relate to many of the characters who make up the Dunder-Mifflin Scranton office. We’ve worked for a Michael, or with a Dwight. We’ve always wondered what it would be like to put someone’s stapler in Jell-o.

I don’t want to see The Office become overdone. I want it to be always remembered as one of the funniest shows on TV, a great reimagining of a critically-acclaimed British show that managed to make its own mark on the landscape of the small screen.

Maybe I’m crazy here. It still is one of my favorite shows on TV. Who would ever ask for one of their favorite shows on TV to go off the air? Maybe I’m misguided. It’s really just one guy’s opinion. I highly doubt that NBC will let it slink away easily. It’s one of the 4th-place network’s only success stories.

I just want it to go out on top. Maybe we’ll see how the rest of the season goes. I might be wrong.

The Joy of Glee

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Rarely does a show come along that is heartfelt, funny, witty and just makes you smile every single time you watch it (when it isn’t pulling at your heartstrings and making you tear up).

Glee is that show.

Tonight was the “fall finale” of this new series that has taken much of the country by storm. While it hasn’t really broken through in the ratings, it scores strong, coming in second in its time slot to NBC’s “Law and Order: SVU” on a few occasions and never out of the top 5.

I watched the original pilot episode back when it first aired in May and got Alli hooked on it this fall.

The show captures the awfulness that is high school, allows the glee kid in all of us to sing along with the soundtrack, and makes us happy. It makes me look forward to Wednesday nights (not that I didn’t already…TOP CHEF is on Wednesday nights) because it is a smart, fun show. Also, JANE LYNCH.

The series was actually intended to be a full-length feature film by creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan. From Wikipedia: “Murphy selects all music featured within the series himself, and intends to maintain a balance between show tunes and chart hits.”

And let’s face it: it’s all about the music.

Glee songs are consistently leading the download charts on iTunes for their unique, choral take on modern music or new renditions of show tunes.

I was kind of hoping that the second half of the season would bring more ratings with possible lead-ins from the new season of American Idol (and what moron didn’t think that was a good idea?), but I just found out that we won’t get any new episodes until APRIL????? What kind of garbage is that? Way to take advantage of that momentum, Fox!

So since no one at Fox seems to understand what to do with a good show, I beg of the few readers I have out there…WATCH GLEE.

PLEASE.