10.) Super 8
J.J. Abrams directs an awesome throw back movie about a group of young kids that get caught up with a nasty alien. It’s set in 1979 and the entire story is told from the kids’ perspective. I've seen it described as 'E.T.' meets 'The Goonies', which is a pretty fair analogy. Just don't expect it to be 'Aliens' or 'Predator' (which I did) and you'll walk away happy.
Aziz Ansari (Parks and Recreation), Jesse Eisenberg and Danny McBride (‘Eastbound and Down’) square off in a low budget comedy about a pizza man forced against his will to rob a bank. It's definitely stupid, but it's about as funny as three of the best episodes of ‘Eastbound and Down’ - which is pretty damn funny. The pace of the jokes is amazing, as there are ZERO slow or sappy parts in the whole movie. I laughed hard every ninety seconds, which cannot be said about the other three comedies on this list.
Gets my vote as the best of the MI: series because of the jaw dropping action sequences. Things get started with Tom Cruise breaking out of a Moscow jail in the opening scene. Later, he's running up and down the side of the world's tallest building in Dubai. Toward the end, he's infiltrating the Kremlin with some sick cloaking technology. The special effects are some of the best I've ever seen; they didn't look like CGI or have cheesy slow-mo (i.e. ‘Matrix’, ‘300’), and it didn't even look like they used stunt doubles. Just Tom Cruise kicking ass all over the place. My only complaint was that (like all the MI: movies) it was pretty hard to follow. So try not to worry too much about “who's this guy” or “wait, why did they just kill that dude?” and just sit back and enjoy the action.
.jpg)
This movie was actually shot in 2007 and was abandoned by several studios before being released this year. Apparently, none of studios wanted to include the scenes with heavy cocaine use. I’m sure they were also hesitant because the script was so similar to every other high school/college/drinking movie. It’s basically like ‘Dazed and Confused’, with 80's music and cocaine instead of Skynard and weed jokes (yet still completely awesome).
Topher Grace (‘That 70’s Show’) plays a recent MIT graduate visiting his hometown in the late 80’s. He’s embarrassed about his job at a local video store, so he pretends to work at Goldman Sachs while hitting on girls. He has confidence issues, but starts to believe in himself after a night of partying with old friends (and doing a bunch of blow). Describing this movie can’t really do it justice, so just do yourself a favor and check it out. Easily one of the best party movies I’ve ever seen.
6.) Hall Pass
Two wives get sick of their husbands constantly talking about how awesome they are, so they give them a week off from being married. Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis star as the lucky husbands, and they anticipate their week off like a trip to Disneyworld. Unfortunately, when they hit bars and act like they’re single – no one cares. Lots of crude jokes and most girls probably won’t appreciate the humor, but overall this was hilarious.
I was hesitant to see this at first as the previews made it seem like a chick-flick. I guess it kind of was, but it was making fun of the ridiculousness that comes with girls getting married. I almost died laughing during a couple of different scenes, especially the one with the dress in the street (you’ll know when you see it). I usually think Kristen Wiig is annoying, but she did a great job here and so did relative unknown Melissa McCarthy (the fat one). Easily the biggest upside of any movie I saw this year compared to my expectations going in. Judd Apatow adds another gem to his massive producer resume’ (‘Get Him to the Greek’, ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’, ‘Step Brothers’, ‘Superbad’, ‘Anchorman’, etc).
This was the highest rated movie of the year on Rotten Tomatoes and I can’t see how anyone wouldn’t love it. It plays like a sequel to the original 'Muppet Movie' - which any real Muppets fan will tell you was the best. Basically, the Muppets have to put on a telethon to save their old theater from foreclosure. Jason Segel does a great job and was the perfect choice for the lead role. We also got sweet cameos from Dave Grohl, Zach Galifianakis, and Neil Patrick Harris. Gonzo (my fav) gets a lot of screen time and there was even a rendition of Kermit's classic 'Rainbow Connection'. The only downside for me was Jack Black (I think he's annoying), but he was only there for 5-10 minutes. This is definitely a must-see, and you could make a case for it as the second best Muppet movie of all-time (behind the original, obviously).
3.) Moneyball
Even if you don’t like baseball, this is worth checking out. This was the return of the cocky and somewhat crazy Brad Pitt that I’ve missed from ‘Fight Club’ and ‘Snatch’. Pitt plays Billy Beane, the unconventional GM that turned around the 2002 Oakland Athletics. He hires Jonah Hill as an assistant and basically throws all traditional baseball wisdom aside. This is the only movie in my Top Ten nominated for Best Picture – hopefully it brings home the gold.
This was the hardest I laughed at a movie theatre in years. John C. Reilly and Ed Helms star as two insurance agents spending a weekend together in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for a sales convention. Ed Helms plays the timid and shy salesman while John C. Reilly loves to party and has no filter. For example, when Ed Helms tries to explain that he’s “pre-engaged”, Reilly’s response is “Wait a minute, what's ‘pre-engaged’? Cause if I was ‘pre-engaged’, I would be pre-porking anything with a pulse”. Classic stuff. Hands down the funniest part (at least for me) was when Reilly’s character refers to Cedar Rapids as “Cedar Crapids”. I almost died laughing, as I have affectionately referred to Coon Rapids as “Crapids” for years now. It’s stupid humor, but it’s some of the best I’ve seen in a long time and easily the best comedy of the year.
-picture-MOV_02af80de_b.jpg)
This movie rules and is the best time travel flick since the ‘Back to the Future’ trilogy. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Colter Stevens, a military pilot who mysteriously wakes up in the body of civilian Sean Fortress. He’s sitting on a train next to a beautiful woman making small talk, when suddenly a bomb explodes and kills everyone aboard. But then he wakes up like it never happened, eight minutes before the bomb goes off. We eventually learn that Colter is living inside a computer program that lets him live out the last eight minutes of someone’s life. This loop continues until he can figure out how to disable the bomb, but there are several layers to the mystery. I’ve seen it described as ‘Groundhog Day’ meets ‘Die Hard’. It’s a perfect mix of action, drama and sci-fi and the end result is a near perfect movie. It’s a shame that this was the 63rd highest grossing movie of the year at just $54 million. Do yourself a favor and check this out on DVD, you will not be disappointed.
No comments:
Post a Comment