Either today or tomorrow, I'm not quite sure when - it's officially the halfway point of 2008. Was there something you wanted to achieve by the year's end that you haven't accomplished yet? Well you better get off your lazy ass and do it now because after this week, there will be more days behind you than ahead of you this year. 2008 has been a weird year. I haven't really enjoyed that much from it but then the movies I have enjoyed, I have enjoyed loads. I don't think I've seen as many movies this year as I did at this point last year but then I look at what is to come out between now and the end of the year and I'm excited. I do think the latter half of the year is loaded way better with films than this half. First up, your chance to tell us what you think is the best movie of the year so far (for fairness, I have not included WALL-E, KUNG FU PANDA and GET SMART)...
According to
Rotten Tomatoes, here are the top five movies of 2008... (I only counted movies with 70+ reviews) 1.
TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE - 100% from 70 Reviews 2.
WALL*E - 96% from 149 Reviews 3.
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days - 96% from 112 reviews 4.
The Counterfeiters - 95% from 111 Reviews 5.
IRON MAN - 93% from 209 Reviews Congratulations to
Iron Man - a Marvel Superhero for managing to muscle it's way on a list of critical darlings and of course a Pixar giant.
IMDB, the user generated rankings, have the top five like this...
1.
WALL*E - 9.2 2.
IRON MAN - 8.2 3.
KUNG FU PANDA - 8.1 4.
IN BRUGES - 8.1 5.
FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL - 7.8 Wow, I didn't realise that many people had actually seen
In Bruges! Here's my personal top five, followed then by a full list... 1.
The Orphanage (I know it was a 2007 release but what can you do) 2.
Iron Man 3.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall 4.
Cloverfield 5.
Definitely, Maybe (I know... this was a decent movie but shouldn't be on this list. Just shows ya what tripe I've sat through this year) Then one word reviews of everything else I've seen (can I manage it without using the same word twice)...
Rambo - Fun
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Shocking
The Incredible Hulk - Shit
Jumper - Stupid
Vantage Point - Ridiculous
Be Kind Rewind - Disappointing
27 Dresses - Insulting
The Other Boleyn Girl - Vacant
The Cottage - Confused
Justice League: The New Frontier - Delightful And the 2007 drop-offs that only made it to theatres this year...
Juno - Awesome
Dan in Real Life - Brilliant
Sweeney Todd - Bloody-Good (ok so that's two words)
There Will Be Blood - Magnificent Movies I regret not seeing (actually not a lot considering I haven't seen much)...
21In BrugesThe Happening (I know I could still see that)
Leatherheads And the second half of 2008 looks so much better. Here are the 31 movies I will go out of my way to see between now and the end of the year...
HANCOCKWALL-E* (not yet released in the U.K.)
HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMYTHE DARK KNIGHTGET SMART (not yet released in the U.K.)
THE MUMMY 3: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPREOR (you know that trailer was kick-ass... but I'm sure it will suck)
THE PINEAPPLE EXPRESS (Pulp Fiction meets Judd Apatow... WOW!)
HELL RIDE (70's biker movie nostalgia with Dennis Hopper)
TROPIC THUNDER (looks so fun)
VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA (Woody Allen always interests me, love the cast too)
RIGHTEOUS KILL (De Niro/Pacino... please don't suck)
BURN AFTER READING (Coen Brothers!!)
MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA (Spike Lee's next, loved the trailer)
CHOKE (from the author of Fight Club)
EAGLE EYE (Disturbia star/director reunite)
WHAT JUST HAPPENED (De Niro as a movie executive)
NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST (sounds like High Fidelity for youngsters)
W. (Biggest attack movie from Oliver Stone yet, should be fascinating)
CHANGELING (next movie from Clint Eastwood)
THE BROTHERS BLOOM (Looks so much fun... Adrien Brody & Mark Ruffalo as jewel theifs trying to rob Rachel Weisz)
ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PONRO (Despite Kevin Smith trying to put me off the film we everything he has shown me so far, this should be funny shit.)
ROCK "N" ROLLA - (I'm no Richie fan... but... I did like that trailer)
QUANTUM OF SOLACE - (I will forever be looking forward to the next Bond movie)
AUSTRALIA - (It will be epic)
THE SOLOIST (Robert Downey Jr/Jamie Foxx kicking ass)
THE ROAD (I think this one might surprise some people)
FROST/NIXON (I will be surprised if this is not in my top 10 of 2008)
SEVEN POUNDS (Will Smith doing serious again with the director of The Pursuit of Happyness)
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD (Mendes/DiCaprio/Winslet... wow)
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (trailer was haunting and surreal)
THE SPIRIT (see ZACK AND MIRI)
THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE (will this ever be released?)