Yet more movie stuff
Since I've been talking movies lately, here're my advance picks for 2009: I think these are the most likely to be good and do well: Up in the Air, The Road, Shutter Island, Thirst, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, Up, Public Enemies, Inglourious Basterds, Brothers Bloom, Avatar
I'd like to like these, they've got good things going for them or at least an interesting logline, but most of them also have worrying, possibly movie-ruining elements: Where the Wild Things are, The Wolfman, Shorts, Sunshine Cleaning, Surrogates, Terminator Salvation, Men Who Stare at Goats, Monsters v. Aliens, New York I Love You, Powder Blue, He's Just Not That Into You (that's three movies in a row on the interlocking story template of Love Actually and Crash, which automatically makes me hope they'll be good), Pandorum, Princess and the Frog (c'mon disney!), Push, Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (c'mon Gilliam!), The Informant, The International, Jennifer's Body, Julie and Julia, Lonely Maiden, Lovely Bones (That's like 7 in a row I have higher-than-average doubts about), The Fighter, Fighting, Game, Cirque du Freak, Cold Souls, Coraline (even though no other Gaiman movie has turned out well), The Countess, Crank 2, Daybreakers, District 9, Drag Me To Hell (Raimi + Lohman), Edge of Darkness, Escapist, The Boat that Rocked, Bad Lieutenant, Knowing (two with nic cage, with hopefully mitigating elements), Assassination of a High School President, Adoration.
They Probably Ruined These, but they sound like they could have been good, once upon a time: Return to Witch Mountain, Sherlock Holmes, Star Trek, State of Play, Ninja Assassin, Notorious (this doesn't look anything like the original), Pink Panther 2, Inkheart, Killshot, Leaves of Grass, The Lodger, Friday the 13th, Creation, Christmas Carol, Duplicity, The Box, Astro Boy, 9, Dorian Grey
No Thanks: Wolverine, Soloist, Stepfather, Street Fighter, Taking Woodstock, Taking of Pelham 1-2-3, Tooth Fairy, Transformers 2, Moon, New Moon, Obsessed, Possession, Old Dogs, Ice Age 3, I Love You Man, Kickass, Land of the Lost, Last House on the Left, Fame, Fanboys, Fast and Furious, Final Destination 4, Funny People, G-Force, Ghost of Girlfriends Past, GI Joe, H2, Harry Potter 6, Donkey Punch, Dragonball, Bruno, Bright Star, Bride Wars, Away We Go, Angels and Demons, Amelia, Agora, Adventureland, 2012, 17 Again, Night at the Museum 2, Nine
That's 50 hopefuls to 62 doubtfuls. Pretty darn optimistic of me, since I can barely recommend ten releases from 2008.
But if I did have to pick ten that I saw, they might well be: Wall-E, Wrestler, Keith, Iron Man, Dark Knight, Cloverfield, City of Ember, Burn After Reading, Bolt, and Sharks in Venice.
I haven't yet seen the following 2008s that I've heard were good, and some may well break into the previous list: Let the Right One In, Timecrimes, Man on Wire, Counterfeiters, Dear Zachary, Appaloosa, In Bruges, Zach & Miri, Boy A, AMONG OTHERS.
They weren't the best, but I also liked: Be Kind Rewind, Indiana Jones 4, Quantum of Solace, Kung Fu Panda, Seven Pounds, and Vantage Point.
The 10 Worst Movies of the Year that I saw include: 7 dreadful things: The Happening, Wanted, Love Guru, Jumper, Eagle Eye, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Blindness, and the nowhere near as bad but still disappointing Tropic Thunder, Clone Wars, and The Bank Job