BEST OF THE DECADE

If you don't know, today is the last day of 2009, which puts us into a new decade. So I thought since all the other site are doing a best of the decade list, I though why not do one as well, that and because Courtney Monroe asked that I do one.

Obviously, there are a lot of movies to look at when doing a best of the decade list. How I did mine, was I looked at other lists to jog my memory and then added some that I felt were left out. Then I just went down the list and pulled whatever movie I liked the best from one to fifty. I won't comment on all fifty films, but I will on some.

Now I'm pretty sure no one person saw every single movie that came out in the past ten years, I certainly didn't so at the end of my list, I made a list of films that have been highly praised that I missed and have added to movies to see in this new decade. One more note, I do not like the Harry Potter films, I have seen them all and am not thrilled by them and many sites had them in the top films. I do not. Now this list was hard to do and it was a toss up a lot of times on what to put where so this is roughly the order, but maybe not exactly what my top fifty would be.

So here we go!

50. X-MEN
I'm starting off with a couple of comic movies at the top of the list. When you look back, much of the 2000's have been big named comic book releases. In 2000, Fox took a chance and brought Marvel's big name franchise to the big screen setting up a new genre of films. Thanks to this, we have franchises like Spider-Man, Iron Man and the rebooting of Batman. This is why I start them out at number fifty.

49. ANCHORMAN
Much like X-Men, I think that Anchorman in a way started a new line of comedies for the decade. Back then Will Ferrell was still funny, and it helped Steve Carrell and Paul Rudd rise to stardom.

48. UP

47. The 40-Year Old Virgin
When I look at comedy, I look at it like football, there are two divisions. You have the Adam McKay/Will Ferrell group who makes the goofy, often PG-13 films, then you have the Judd Apatow clan. Where McKay and Ferrell make the goofy comedies, Apatow started a new more serious and most the time more funny comedies. The 40-Year Old Virgin started this for him and now big namers like Steve Carrell and Seth Rogen.

46.WALL-E
45.SPIDER-MAN

44. IRON MAN
What Jon Favreau did here was show us how to take a less popular character like Iron Man and make him a big name character.

43. BAD BOYS 2
This is more of a guilty pleasure movie for me. We can debate all day whether it's a good movie or not, but it's fun, it has a lot of good quotes in it and it is a true action movie from start to finish.

42.O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU?
41.OLD SCHOOL

40. LORD OF THE RINGS: FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
I know a lot of people will say this is too low on the list, but honestly I'm not crazy abot this trilogy. They are good films, but you have to be in the right set of mind to watch them because they are so long. This one was a little boring for me, but I more than make up for placing this one so high.

39.KNOCKED UP
38.BLACK HAWK DOWN
37.THE HANGOVER

36. THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU
This is a very underated film. I don't think it was well recieved, but I think it is a very funny film that is worth checking out.

35.SPIDER-MAN2
34.GRAN TARINO
33.THE WRESTLER

32. STAR TREK
J.J. Abrams made being a nerd cool with this film.

31. SUNSHINE
Another very underrated film. This was done by Danny Boyle, who did 28 Days Later and Slumdog Millionaire but for some reason only got a limited release. This was a very good film, that unfortunately not a lot of people saw.

30.WEDDING CRASHERS
29.THE INCREDIBLES
28.KILL BILL VOL. 1

27. AVATAR
I'm not going to beat a dead horse since I have put a review up on it recently and put it in my top 10 of the year. It was a good film with out of this world effects so I'm putting it where I think it really does deserve to be which is a little bit below the middle. Had this had a stronger story we might be talking top 10.

26.RAY

25. MEMENTO
This was Christopher Nolan's first film. If it had not been for this film, this great new Batman franchise would never have happened and we could still be watching Batman with nipples on the suit. I think this is a very important film of the decade.

24. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
It was a good movie ok. Plus a very good performance from Heath Ledger, which may or may not have had an impact on him getting the role as The Joker, at least that is how I'm going to spin it.

23. 28 DAYS LATER
This started a new genre of zombie films, which now are sadly being overdone.

22. CASINO ROYALE
This put 007 back on track for a new generation. Daniel Craig is a much better Bond than Brosnan. Excellent writting and performances. This really got me excited about the 007 franchise again.

21.X2: X-MEN UNITED

20. BORAT
Maybe the funniest movie of the decade. I have never laughed harder in a film than I did when watching this.

19.SHAUN OF THE DEAD

18.PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN: CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL
Johnny Depp was a big name before this film, but his role as Captain Jack Sparrow launched him into an even bigger name. The sequels were less than satisfying, but the first one is a well put together, fun ride.

17.MYSTIC RIVER

16. SIN CITY
They took a chance here and gambled on a graphic novel film and boy did it pay off. People really took to this genre of comic book films and thanks to Sin City we will get a whole new variety of comics.

15.LORD OF THE RING: THE TWO TOWERS
14.CRASH

13. BATMAN BEGINS
Not to sound corny here, but Batman really did begin with this film. This is as close to perfect of an adaptaion that I have seen. Burton's films were good, but Nolan took Batman to a new level with this reinvision of Batman.

12. THE ROAD
The buzz just isn't catching on for this film and maybe it's just me but I love it. Like Avatar I'm not going to repeat what I have already posted, but it is a great story that leaves you thinking about it for days.

11.SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

10. THE HURT LOCKER
Best war film of the decade. I really hope this wins best picture.

9.THE PRESTIGE
8.INGLORIOUS BASTARDS

7. WALK THE LINE
This film has great performances by everyone in it. The fact that it and Phoneix didn't get nominated for Oscars is a joke. One of the most enjoyable films of the decade.

6.GLADIATOR
5.MILLION DOLLAR BABY

4. THE DARK KNIGHT
Easily the best comic film of the decade. This is a perfect comic film with no flaws. I'm so glad that we got to see Ledger's Joker before he passed away. I'm convinced that no one will be able to top his Joker.

3. THERE WILL BE BLOOD
The more I watch this film, the more I appreciate it. It's not flashy, it doesn't move you, it's just a great film

2. THE DEPARTED
Maybe this is a little high on the list, but I was absolutely consumed with this film all three times I watched it. Scorsese really deserved an Oscar on his previous films, but this was a good one to win for.

1. LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING
I really didn't want to put this at number one, but I got to give credit where credit is due. The effort put into not just this one but the whole trilogy is something to be cherished. Peter Jackson did the most thorough job at adapting book to film than any other adaptation has done. The movie totally consumes you and puts you right in the book, which is a hard thing to come by.

Here are the films that have got a lot of praise but I have not seen and plan on seeing this year.
Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind
City of God
Pan's Labyrinth
Lost In Translation
Munich
Almost Famous
Requiem for a Dream

THE PRESSURE IS ON

In only eleven days, James Cameron's Avatar has already reached $232 million dollars in the U.S. alone. The film made 19.6 million dollars Monday, its eleventh day in theatres, which is 3 million more than it made on its first Monday. People were worried that it might not be a profitable film having cost $300 million dollars to make. Those worries are long gone now that it looks like it will make it's money back in the U.S. alone.

So with Cameron already having the highest grossing movie of all time with Titanic, and Avatar looking like it could land in at least second place, does this put pressure on Cameron?

James Cameron has fascinated me ever since I got into film. The guy has made classics like Terminator 1&2, Aliens, The Abyss, True Lies and then goes on to make the highest grossing movie of all time, and then disappears for twelve years???? Sure he did little films like Ghosts of the Abyss and Aliens of the Deep, but come on no big motion picture. Then he goes and does a recurring role on Entourage where he is directing the fictional film Aquaman. What is nuts is that the fake stuff they had on Entourage regarding the Aquaman movie looked better than most the crap that is coming out these days.

So what is Cameron's next move? Will he jump into an Avatar sequel, will he find a new project, could he please fanboys across the world and go back for another Terminator film, or will he drop off the map for another twelve years. I hate seeing good talent being wasted, and I think that's what he did during the last twelve years. Thy guy has got a talent for making film and he could have popped off at least two films in that time. I really hope he sees that his films are appreciated and will start a new project in the next year.

Here is what is rumored to be on Cameron's plate right now:

Battle Angel
"Set in the 26th century, the story takes place 300 years after a societal collapse caused by a major war. In that society, it's a technological dark age following a pinnacle of achievement far beyond where we are right now. Cyborg technology is a way of life. People are augmented a lot as workers, so being a cyborg is not unusual. The main character is a cyborg. She has an organic human brain, and she looks like she's about fourteen years old. She has a completely artificial body and she's lost her memory. She is found in a wreckage and reconstituted by a cyber-surgeon who becomes her surrogate father."

HEAVY METAL
"An astronaut brings home a glowing green orb for his daughter. However, the orb kills him and corners the girl for its purposes. Claiming to the embodiment of all evil, the malevolent sphere, known as the Loc-Nar, terrorizes the little girl by showing a series of bizarre and fantastic tales it has influenced."

FORBIDDEN PLANET
A remake of the 1956 film where a starship crew goes to investigate the silence of a planet's colony only to find two survivors and a deadly secret that one of them has.

THE DIVE
A much smaller film he has mentioned about about the romance between controversial Cuban free diver Francisco Ferreras and Frenchwoman Audrey Mestre. Based on a true story, Mestre became a free diver under his guidance, and went on to break several world records before dying in 2002 while competing.

FANTASTIC VOYAGE
A remake of the 1966 film where a diplomat is nearly assassinated. In order to save him, a submarine is shrunken to microscopic size and injected into his blood stream with a small crew. Problems arise almost as soon as they enter the bloodstream.

So there they are, two remakes, a small budgeted film, and two futuristic sci-fi films. I think that Fantastic Voyage, Forbidden Planet and Heavy Metal sound the most promising.

HEADLINES

CAPTAIN AMERICA GETS A START DATE
Joe Johnston revealed pre-production for Captain America is about to begin and that he plans to start filming June 2010. He did not mention if anyone was being targeted for the role of Captain America, or if anyone else had been brought up to star either.

I am really looking forward to all these films leading up to The Avengers. Iron Man, Thor and Captain America are all strong characters and I think that they are all going to be well done films. The only franchise that needs to step its game up is The Hulk. The Incredible Hulk was much better than the first, but still needs some tinkering.



NIGHT AND FOG
Producers Gil Adler and Shane McCarthy are working on bringing "Night and Fog" to the big screen.

Night and Fog is a comic set during WWII, the story revolves around an infectious mist unleashed on a military base that transforms its victims into preternatural creatures of the night. But when the survivors try to kill them, they adapt and change into something even more horrific and unstoppable.

Sounds like The Mist to me, but I am always up for some sci-fi horror films.



NO MR. T CAMEO
Mr. T recently said that he would not do a cameo for the upcoming A-Team film. He said it wasn't about the money, but that if his B.A. Baracus wasn't the main guy then why do it. He did not want them promoting the film as if he were in it and confuse his family.

Sounds a little conceded to me, but I could care less if he makes a cameo or not. I would like to see it, but I'm not going to protest the movie over it. I hope it turns out good.



THUNDERCATS NO GO
The Thundercats film has been shelved. Warner Bros. said they were going to do the film, then nothing happened for months and then big name video game director, Jerry O’Flaherty was going to direct. Now it seems it isn't going to happen at all.

This is probably a very good move. I can't see this movie coming out as a live action film and being taken seriously. It's good to see studios pulling movies instead of forcing them like FOX.



STILL HOPE FOR JUSTICE LEAGUE
About a year ago, a Justice League movie was being put together using younger actors like Adam Brody. Then suddenly and thankfully it was shelved. Now it seems that a legit Justice League movie could be happening.

Come January, Warner Bros. is going to release their DC franchise strategy. Reports say that they are going to try and build up to a Justice League movie instead of doing one, then making the individual movies. Green Lantern is going to be the first step to the Justice League film.

This is a great move for Warner Bros.. If they would have followed Marvel's lead five years ago instead of piddling around, they could be half way there by now. Warner Bros. definitely needs to step their game up when it comes to the DC universe if they are ever going to compete with Marvel.

YEAR IN REVIEW

TOP 10 BEST FILMS OF 2009

Two films that are getting a lot of buzz that I haven't been able to see yet are Invictus and Up In the Air. Obviously since I haven't seen them, I didn't put them on the list but I hear they are great and would really like to see them.



10. 500 DAYS OF SUMMER

Finally a fresh new twist for the romantic comedy genre. Sometimes watching romantic comedies can get so boring with the same plots and stories and cliche endings, but 500 Days of Summer does the opposite. The cast is great in this film and the film itself was well written. Definitely the best romantic comedy of the year.



9. UP

Pixar films will probably always be in the top 10 films of the year for me. The time and effort put into these films are clearly seen when you go to watch a Pixar film. Up is no different.



8. DISTRICT 9

Much like 500 Days of Summer, it was nice to see a change in the sci-fi world with District 9. Instead of aliens coming to destroy us or us going to an alien planet, a simple story of aliens actually getting stranded here and being put into shelters. The film gave us a unique approach going documentary style for part of the film which I thought was a good approach.



7. ZOMBIELAND

While I am tired of the zombie and vampire films that have been coming out like crazy, I have to say that Zombieland was a complete suprise. From the trailer I thought it was going to be one of those stupid raunchy comedies, but man was I wrong. This was definitely one of the funniest, well written films of the year.



6. THE HANGOVER

By far the funniest movie of the year. This film has the perfect cast who mesh together perfectly. It's good to know that there is still potential for comedies to still actually be funny.



5. AVATAR

By far the best film graphics wise I have ever seen. Cameron does not play around when it comes to trying to further technology for film. Sadly though, the story brings the film down a lot. Still it is good enough to crack the top five in my opinion. The characters were good the acting and effects were great, just the story was holding it back.



4. STAR TREK

I never thought I would be into something as nerdy as Star Trek. Star Wars is one thing, but Star Trek is completely different. Well J.J. Abrhams changed my mind real quick with his re-invention of the franchise. What a brilliant way to bring Trek back and now open it to a whole new world of possabilities. Along with the story, the film has a great ensemble cast who all are great in the film and the effects are top notch as well.



3. THE ROAD

This is a film I am still thinking about two weeks after I have seen it. It has a very powerful impact on the mind and makes you think what a post apocolyptic scenerio would really be like. The small all do great jobs, but really the story is what launches this film into the top three.



2. THE HURT LOCKER

The Hurt Locker maybe the best war film of the decade. It takes you into Iraq and puts you right there with the OED squads. A very powerful story of the squads and what they go through mentally and physically with defusing bombs, coping with being away from family, and the stress that goes into being a soldier.



1. INGLORIOUS BASTARDS

I liked this film when I saw it in theatres, but when I rewatched it at home, for some reason I fell in love with it. It isn't just about killing Nazi's and all of that fun stuff. There is a really good story that goes along with it, and I loved every aspect of this film. The characters were great, the writting was great and the story was was top notch, especially the brilliant ending.

What are your favorites of 09?

YEAR IN REVIEW

Another year has come and gone and even though this year was a better year in film then 2008 was, I am still a little let down and think 2010 will be a lot better. Here are my top 10 best and worst of 2009.

TOP TEN WORST FILMS OF 2009



10. SHERLOCK HOLMES

I know a lot of people will disagree with me and that is fine, but I hated every second of this movie. It was a total letdown. I won't get to much into it, since I just put a review up on it, but it was dull, boring, and had a plot so bland I didn't even know what the characters were trying to accomplish.



9. TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN
Michael Bay takes this so so idea for a plot and ruins it by flonting Megan Fox and robotic testicles in our face. I don't know why movie goers were dumb enough to give this movie six hundred million dollars but the film was total crap.



8. THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS

Great cast, cool story, cool trailer. All the right ingredients for a great film right? Well as it turns out, the plot was a lot thinner than it seemed and the film turned out to be a two hour snoozefest. I kept waiting for something funny to happen, something interesting, heck just something at all to happen, but it never did and I was highly disappointed.



7. KNOWING

Ah, what would a "worst movie list" be without good ol' Nicholas Cage. I have to admit that the movie had some cool ideas, but nowhere near enough to save this disaster of a film. I hate when films just go over the top in impossabilities. Never in a million years would someone sit a coffe cup down on a paper with numbers on it and realize they were "disaster dates". With all the legal and financial trouble he is in, I'm sure we can expect more crap from him in 2010, 2011, 2012, etc.



6. LAND OF THE LOST

Now we're getting into the really bad films of 09'. Land of the Lost was not neccesarily a stupid idea in the first place, but the way they went about it was. I think this probably could have been a little better but they ruined it with some of the worst graphics I have ever seen, putting Will Ferrell in it, and then targeting it towards kids when really it shouldn't have been. Every angle of this film was done wrong.



5. OLD DOGS

I respect Disney. I always have and here is one reason why. They make a lot of good films, but then like every movie studio, they make a bad one. This was one of those. And sure, Robin Williams and John Travolta, it should be a pretty good, funny flick right? Well Disney saw what a piece of crap this was and did something about it. They started axing pre-production movies like Wild Hogs 2 and the untitled Robin Williams and Anna Faris movie. That was a great move by them even though I didn't think Wild Hogs was that bad, it still don't think it needed a sequel.



4. YEAR ONE

When I first saw the trailer for this film, I was really looking forward to it and thought it would be funny. Looking back now, I have no idea why I thought that. I discovered litterally ten minutes into the film that it was going to be a horrible, horrible film. What happened to Jack Black and more importantly, why were all these respectable actors in such a horrible movie.

Now I am going to be honest here. These next three films I didn't even see. But that does not mean they are not the top three worst films of the year. By reputaion alone, I can place them in it.



3. MISS MARCH

Dude wakes up from a coma to find out his high school sweetheart is a Playboy model. Well that is a really stupid and pathetic attempt to get a young audience in and here is why. The target audience for this film is going to be 16 year olds and younger. Why, because they want to see it in hopes of some nudity. The problem is, it's rated R so they couldn't get in and any mature male adult knows that it was going to be a pile of crap and women were to disgusted by it to even bother. The marketing genious's behind this one got it all wrong. Not to mention it looked terrible.



2. DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION

Most guys my age were watching Dragonball Z when they were younger. It was a phase it was cool. So I'm sure I am not the only one who wanted to see a good Dragonball film. I'm also sure, I'm not the only one who was pissed off when FOX took a nice little dump on the franchise for making this film. I did see half of this film before I quit watching. They missed on all aspects of the film. The wrong studio picked it up, they had horrible casting for the film, and the script and plot was laughable. What's even more funny is that they actually thought they were going to make enough money to get a sequel out of this crap.



1. STREET FIGHTER: THE LEGEND OF CHUN-LI

So did they not get the picture the first time with Street Fighter starring Jean- Claude Van Damme. Of course that was a great film compared to what this one looked like. You take stupid character from the game and give her a movie. Then you add on a bunch of no name to lower name actors and throw them in there and that is not how you make a good film. I don't understand why studios don't go,"Ok, so we have no respectable names in this film right? And the script is terrible right? Ok, lets not do this movie then". They could save so much money. The studio knew the movie was so bad that they did little to no marketing for it which is always a disaster.

*UPDATE*
I tried my best to remember all the films that came out this year. After I posted this I realized I missed films like Dance Flick, C Me Dance, and Fighting. Which were a lot worse than Sherlock Holmes, The Men Who Stare At Goats, and Transformers.

So what do you all consider the worst of 2009?

MOVIE REVIEW: SHERLOCK HOLMES

Guy Ritchie brings us his vision of the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Rachel McAdams. In the film, Holmes and Watson finally bring in a serial killer and alleged sorcerer Lord Blackwood. Blackwood is tried and executed for his crimes.......or so they thought. When Blackwood mysteriously returns from the grave and starts a new series of murders, it's up to Holmes and Watson to end the madness once and for all.

Let me start out by saying how much I love the cast of this film. Robert Downey Jr. is one of my all time favorites and was really pleased when I heard he would be playing Holmes. Sadly, a great cast doesn't always call for a great film. From the moment it started I found myself bored and counting the seconds until it was over. Sherlock Holmes has such a small, simple almost non-existent story, that they have to make up for it by covering it up with never ending dialogue and a few over the top action sequences. If this is the best mystery story they can come up with, I truly hope they think twice about doing a sequel which is already being talked about.

On top of the pitiful excuse for a story, Holmes character was horribly and completely wrong. In the novels, Holmes is this smart, cunning detective. In Guy Ritchie's adaptation, he has turned him into a arrogant, sloppy, obnoxious, UFC fighting detective. I think they really swung and missed on trying to get a "new" style of Holmes to the big screen. Rachel McAdams, who I normally love, was a complete waste in the film. They gave her character no depth, hardly any background and forced her in and out of scenes.

I think this is a potential franchise, but Guy Ritchie is not the guy to head these films. It seems that every film he makes, he has to have shirtless guys fighting in slow motion, and in this film for no reason. There is a scene where Holmes is more or less in a nineteenth century UFC ring fighting a guy for no apparent reason. Ritchie needs to stick to the fast paced mob movies he has been successful with and steer clear of classical literature characters who have been beloved for decades. I was not impressed, nor did I enjoy one single moment of this film so I am giving it a one out of five.

TRAILER REPORT: COP OUT

I was hoping for a lot more from this. I had a couple of laughs during the trailer, but I have a feeling that Tracy Morgan is going to get really old, really quick.

HEADLINES

INFO ON NEXT BOND FILM
Writer Peter Morgan gave an update on the untitled Bond 23 film. He is done with the script and that it is a "shocking" story. He also said that production on it has been put on hold until sale of MGM goes through.

I hate when stupid things like this puts movies on hold. Expect to see The Hobbit be put on hold as well now.



CLASH OF THE TITANS GOES BACK FOR MORE
Sam Worthington revealed that come January, they will be going back and shooting more scenes for Clash of the Titans, and that they could possibly release it in 3D.

The movie comes out in March so that only gives them two months to shoot extra scenes and get it all edited together, and then they still think they will have time to convert to 3D? That sounds a bit rushed to me.



JACKASS THREE GETS A RELEASE DATE
The third installment of Jackass will be released October 15. Here is what Johnny Knoxville had to say about the film:

"We're going to take the same 3D technology James Cameron used in 'Avatar' and stick it up Steve O's butt. We're taking stupid to a whole new dimension." 


They could make 10 of these things and I would still laugh. As for 3D, I'm not sure how it will turn out, but at least it's a unique idea.....



HANGOVER MOVES OUT OF VEGAS
A source close to The Hangover sequel, revealed that the guys would be going to Thailand for the sequel.

I figured they wouldn't be repeating the same story from the first film, and I'm glad they're not. Also, I hope we see more of Doug in this film. I felt bad for him because he wasn't included in any of the posters, interviews or commentary of the blu-ray.



HORRIBLE IDEA OF THE WEEK AWARD
Alex Zamm, who after a little research I found out did great movies such as Chairman of the Board starring Carrot Top and Inspector Gadget 2, has signed on to do a Marvin the Martian feature film.

The premise of the movie is that Marvin plans to destroy earth on Christmas Day but ends up being wrapped up as a Christmas present instead. Marvin will be CGI and then the rest of the cast will live actors. The studio is going after Mike Myers to voice Marvin.

Ok, so this has stupid written all over it. Marvin the Maritan is actually one of my favorite Looney Toon characters but I don't think he needs his own movie, especially with a story like they have come up with. Now I wouldn't be opposed to maybe a Duck Dodgers movie with him as the villain or something like that, but this doesn't sound good.

MOVIE REVIEW: AVATAR

The long awaited Avatar is finally here! James Cameron brings us the story of Jake Sully, a paraplegic ex-marine who is sent to gain the trust of the Na'vi, an alien race of the planet Pandora, using an avatar made from the DNA of his twin brother and a Na'vi alien. The military wants the Na'vi's land for a valuable mineral that is scattered throughout their land. If Jake successfully infiltrates their tribe and gets them to move, he is promised to have his legs repaired. Once Jake is accepted by the Na'vi, he becomes torn on what side he wants to take. Will he betray the new friends he has made, or will he stand and fight with them?

Twelve years in the making, James Cameron sets a new bar on CGI and 3D technology. Never have I seen a more beautiful film. As for 3D goes, it was getting to be an old trick, however with Avatar you have a whole new experience. Computer screens come right out at you as if you could reach out and touch them, burning embers look as if they are going to fall right into your lap and the beautiful planet of Pandora comes right out at you.

Cameron has been raising the bar for technology for a while now, the alien from The Abyss and the T-100 from Terminator 2: Judgement Day, were both breakthroughs in their day. Another thing Cameron does is create characters that become instant classics. There is no difference here with Avatar. The performances were outstanding in the film. Colonel Miles Quaritch, played by Stephen Lang, is the best villain I have seen in years. Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Giovanni Ribisi and even Michelle Rodriguez all give great performances in the film.

Where the graphics, technology, and characters are all phenomenal, the story is not. The story shares similarities with several films that you've seen before. Guy infiltrates new group, falls in love, becomes torn, switches sides. You have seen this story before. You pretty much knew how it would all turn out before you even went into the theatre. It wasn't a bad story, it just lacked originality and the element of surprise, something Cameron is normally very good at. When he took Terminator 2 flipped it and made Schwarzenegger the good guy, that was something audiences didn't see coming.

I had a blast in the film, and will probably see it a few times in theaters. I highly recommend this film to anyone, I can't see many people coming out of it not blown away. However, I was disappointed in the story and for that reason only I am going to give it a four out of five.

MOVIE REVIEW: THE ROAD

The Road follows the story of a father and his son's journey across a post-apocalyptic United States after an unexplained event has killed most life on Earth and ash blocks most sunlight making the planet cold and barren.

It is one of those deep, well thought out film's, that will have the audience thinking about it all the way home. It takes your emotions and tears them into a few different pieces.

At first, it starts out slow. Your wondering if they are ever going to get to what caused the post-apocalyptic world that you are watching the characters struggle through. Is a plot ever going to be revealed? What is the goal of the movie?

Then there is a certain scene in the movie that for me, made me realize there is no plot, it's just a simple story of a man and his son's survival. You never find out what caused the event and I think that makes it a better and stronger film. There is no elaborate special effects scene where a super volcano explodes, tidal waves destroy cities and the Earth shatters into several pieces. Once you realize this, your mind eases and you just take in the story.

The story itself is remarkable. The obstacles that humans must now endure are terrifying. With no animals alive and vegetation gone, humans have succumb to cannibalism to survive. This is the main fear for the two unnamed characters. Throughout there journey, they come across different gangs of survivors who hunt the "good guys" as the little boy describes themselves. They also come across locations where mass suicide has occurred and a shelter where a gang traps "the good guys" and harvests them to eat.

The small cast performs terrifically throughout the film. Vigo Mortensen plays the lead character, and Robert Duvall and Guy Pierce give great brief cameo's in the film.

The film leaves you wondering, what would you do in a situation like that. Would you be a good guy or a bad guy? Is there a difference, or is everyone just trying to survive. If your into fast paced CGI films, The Road probably wont be for you. But if you enjoy a great story that leaves you thinking, I highly recommend this. I give it a 5 out 5.

HEADLINES

300 PREQUEL MOVING FORWARD
In an interview, Frank Miller revealed the plot for the prequel to 300. Here is what he said:

"The film will be titled “Xerxes,” which begins about 10 years before the events of “300,” and Snyder has expressed interest in it as a film property as well. “It’s the battle of Marathon through my lens,” Miller said Wednesday. “I’ve finished the plot and I’m getting started on the artwork.”

Apparently the "Battle of Marathon" is the first major failure by the Persians to invade Greece and the rise of Xerxes who then led the second invasion. The Battle of Thermopylae, seen in first 300 film.

I was hoping for something a little different than this, but this could turn out ok I guess. Snyder knows what he is doing when it comes to graphic novels.



UNIVERSAL WANTING TO RELAUNCH MONSTER CLASSICS
With the upcoming release of "The Wolfman", Universal is wanting to relaunch all of their "monster classics". For their next project, they will be focusing on "Creature From the Black Lagoon". Ridley Scott's son-in-law, Carl Erik Rinsch, has been attached to direct the film. Rinsch has never had a big film but has just signed on to direct Keanu Reeves in 47 Ronin, which is about a group of samurai who set out to avenge the death of their master. So I'm sure that will be a gem.

I'm not opposed to remakes. I think that some movies actually deserve to be remade, but the problem is most of the remakes are done cheaply because they know the name alone will draw people in and then the movie ends up sucking because there was no real effort put into it.



GIBSON'S NEXT FILM
"How I Spent My Summer Vacation" will be Gibson's next film. He wrote the script and will produce and star in it. Here's the synopsis for the film:

"A career criminal who gets caught by Mexican authorities and is sent to a drug- and crime-filled prison, where he learns how to survive with the help of a 9-year-old boy."

Normally, Gibson's projects are interesting and unique, but this one just sounds boring. I'll wait for his film he is doing with Dicaprio about Vikings.








DUMB MOVIE OF THE WEEK AWARD
I came upon this poster yesterday for the film "Frozen" starring Shawn Ashmore and Emma Bell. Here is the brilliant synopsis for the film:

"A typical day on the slopes turns into a chilling nightmare for three snowboarders when they get stranded on the chairlift before their last run. As the ski patrol switches off the night lights, they realize with growing panic that they've been left behind dangling high off the ground with no way down.

With the resort closed until the following weekend and frostbite and hypothermia already setting in, the trio is forced to take desperate measures to escape off the mountain before they freeze to death. Once they make their move, they discover with horror that they have much more to fear than just the frigid cold. As they combat unexpected obstacles, they start to question if their will to survive is strong enough to overcome the worst ways to die?".

So here would be my idea what to do in this "tragic" situation. Take your jacket or your shirt off and zip line or shimmy your way down the cable. Will it take some time due to the chairlifts....yeah, but it could be done in like thirty minutes I'm sure. Plus there will probably be a tree you can reach or some point where there isn't a big fall and in that case you could just snowboard down. Go find someone and tell them, they come and turn the lift back on and you snowboard the rest of the way down.

Maybe it's just me, but that really sounds like a stupid movie.

HEADLINES

NATALIE PORTMAN TO STAR IN PRIDE AND PREJUDICE........AND ZOMBIES
Natalie Portman is not only starring, but also producing the upcoming film Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The story is a spin on the Jane Austen novel and is about the story of a woman's quest for love and independence amid the outbreak of a virus that turns the undead into vicious killers.

While I am sick of all the zombie films coming out, I loved Zombieland and this sounds awesome as well. I'm glad Portman is getting some more roles now, because I think she has a lot to offer even though she was terrible in the new Star Wars trilogy (who wasn't though right?).



LARTER IN TALKS TO STAR IN UFO
The Joshua Jackson flick UFO is looking for it's female lead, and may have found one in Ali Larter. She is now in talks with the director and it looks like she will land the part.

I like Larter, but she hasn't really ever been in anything I like. Hopefully she can shine in this one.



HOWARD JOINS EASTWOOD'S LATEST
Bryce Dallas Howard will star alongside Matt Damon in Clint Eastwood's latest film Hereafter.

Hereafter is about the story of three people; a blue-collar American, a French journalist and a London school boy — who are touched by death in different ways. I'm guessing Howard will play the French journalist. Steven Spielberg is producing.

First off, I really like Howard in everything she has been in so far and I think she is on track to become a major star in Hollywood. Secondly, is it possible for Eastwood to make a bad movie. I use to think Spielberg was the "greatest", but the more Eastwood film's I see the more I'm sure it is him.



JAMES CAMERON'S NEXT PROJECT
James Cameron has confirmed that his next project will be Fantastic Voyage a remake of the 1960's classic. He will not direct the film, he will produce and use the 3D technology used in Avatar for the film.

I don't really care about what Cameron is producing next, I wan't to know what he is directing next. I could really go for another GOOD Alien movie or True Lies 2 would be nice.





GHOSTBUSTERS 3 SPOILER
Sigourney Weaver recently did an interview and gave a pretty big spoiler away on the upcoming film. So if you do not want to know a major plot point of the film stop reading here.

Here are her quotes from the interview she did:
"I'm afraid to say that it *is* happening, I hope people are excited about that," she said. "I don't know if I'm going to be in it, I have gotten a couple of calls asking 'would you read the script.'"

"I know that my little son, Oscar – who was kidnapped from me – I think he has grown up to be a ghostbuster," she added before spilling another, even bigger bit...

"I might be in it and I see nothing wrong with being in it, although I don't think I will have a big part in it. I think Bill Murray has a little more to do with it - he might be a ghost."

So there you have it. Oscar has grown up to be a Ghostbuster and could Peter really be dead? I'm just glad the film is finally happening.

MOVIE REVIEW: ARMORED

Ty, an armored truck service employee with serious money problems, begins to panic when the bank threatens to take his house, and the state threatens to put his brother in foster care. His co-workers, knowing his situation, talk him into helping them steal 43 million dollars from the truck service to save his house and brother. When things don't go as planned, Ty decides to do what is right and stop his friends from taking the money, locking himself and an injured officer in the truck. Time becomes a factor when they start trying to break open the doors. Will they get in before help can arrive?

Armored is full of B-list actors with one time hits under each of their belts. Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix, CSI), Matt Dillon (Crash), Jean Reno (Couples Retreat) and Skeet Ulrich (Scream) round out the film as the guards trying to take the money.

The pace of the movie is very fast. It starts with cheesy buddy cop jokes and pranks, riddled with "tough cop" dialogue which feels so forced you almost want to laugh. The film very quickly and then for the most part stays in an abandoned warehouse where the potential heist is taking place. Here the movie improves some going from stupid dialogue to an actual plot. Ty locks himself and the injured officer in the truck while the group on the outside has internal conflicts with themselves and each other. Then it abruptly ends with some, but no real sense of closure on the story. The viewer is left, not necessarily wanting more movie, but wanting more closure to the characters and their story.

A few good thing about the film, is that it didn't force too much action. A lot of times when lower budget "action flicks" are released they try and compensate with over the top action for a less than par story. This film felt as if it could have been real. No jumping out of helicopters or hot wiring an impossible contraption to escape an impossible situation.

Another plus was the performances. Yes, at first it was borderline terrible, but once the story picked up I found myself rolling my eyes less and paying attention more.

The film won't leave you fully disappointed, but you will not leave anticipating it's arrival on dvd either. I give Armored a two and a half out of five.

HEADLINES

POSSIBLE WRITERS FOR DEADPOOL
There is a very strong rumor that Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the writers from Zombieland, are in talks with Fox to pen the Deadpool film.

This is a good sign for Deadpool. I think the strong writing is what made Zombieland such a hit.




GOOD/BAD NEWS FOR SPIDER-MAN 4
Movieline has claimed today that sources to the film have confirmed that John Malkovich and Anne Hathaway have entered the negotiation stages of the film. Malkovich will play the Vulture and the reports are saying that Hathaway won't play the Black Cat but will play the Vulture's sidekick The Vulturess. They say they didn't want to confuse viewers with The Black Widow from Iron Man 2 and Catwoman from the Batman films. Several reports had said that The Lizard was the front runner to be the villain, but they say they want someone with a human face and not a "rampaging monster".

So raise your hand if you think The Vulture is a cool bad guy and someone you would want to watch for two hours. Yeah, didn't think so. John Malkovich and Anne Hathaway are great actors, which is the good news, but The Vulturess isn't even a real character. This movie is starting to sound worse than the third one. Now at this point, it is all rumors, but I really hope this news isn't true. The Vulture to me is just a boring villain. As for Hathaway playing the made up Vulturess, if people are so dumb they can't tell the difference between The Black Widow, Catwoman and The Black Cat, then they are to stupid to comprehend a movie anyway, so I don't see why her talent needs to be wasted on this stupid character.




HAPPY FEET 2 COMING
Robin Williams and Elijah Wood have signed on to do the sequel to Happy Feet. The plot is currently being kept under wraps. There is no word if Hugh Jackman and Nichole Kidman will return.

I didn't see what the big deal was about Happy Feet. It to me, was a very, very weird and kind of creepy movie.

HEADLINES

TWO MORE TERMINATORS FOR MCG?
In a blu-ray live chat, director McG said that he will still be doing the fifth and sixth installments of the franchise. He said that in the next installment, he would like to bring Robert Patrick back as a scientist who comes up with the model for the T-100. This all sounds good on paper, but the rights to the franchise are going up for auction. Halycon currently owns the rights and has a chance to maintain them, but if someone else were to get them, they have the right to choose whoever they want.

I hope he does at least one more film. I'm not going to beat this dead horse since there has been a lot of news on this recently, but I think he will learn from the mistakes of Salvation and make a great sixth film.



RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE PUSHED BACK
Due to the extra post-production time shooting a film in 3D requires,Resident Evil: Afterlife has been pushed back to January 2011. The film will now be going up against Joss Whedon's horror film, Cabin in the Woods, which is also being shot in 3D.

I'm not happy about the way this franchise has turned out. I think the games had great stories and if they would had followed the story lines of the games that the franchise would have turned out a lot better. With that being said, the films always make good money, I just don't think they live up to their potential, like most adapted video game films.



ANOTHER VAMPIRE MOVIE
Summit Entertainment, the kind people who brought Twilight to the big screen, is now working on a new vampire film titled "Vlad". Vlad centers on Dracula as a young prince; he is known to history as Vlad the Impaler, the man behind the Dracula myth. Bradd Pitt is producing the film and music video and photographer Anthony Mandler is in talks to direct.

ENOUGH WITH THE VAMPIRE CRAP!!!! I'm so sick of Twilight, True Blood, Vampire Diaries and all of these other vampire films that are coming out in the next two years. Why does Hollywood have to take everything that is remotely successful and then run it ten miles in the ground? This doesn't sound good at all, especially with a music video photographer in talks to direct.



GIBSON DIRECTING NEW FILM
Mexico governor Fidel Herrera says Mel Gibson will make a movie at a prison in the Gulf coast state next year. There were no details given of what the film's plot may be.

I like any film Gibson makes so I will be looking forward to hearing more from this. I use to like Gibson, but after the way he has acted the past couples of years, I've really been turned off of him.



DUMB MOVIE IDEA OF THE WEEK AWARD
It's only Monday, and I just read a synopsis for a movie so stupid sounding, I think it will top anything I read for the rest of the week. TMU Pictures is developing a film titled "War Birds". The film follows an Air Force veteran-turned-reckless airshow re-enactment pilot as he gets pulled into the underground culture of illegal, real-life aerial combat.

What is the first rule about War Birds? You do not talk about War Birds. This sounds completely stupid and totally unrealistic. Are you meaning to tell me that people are really going to buy into the idea that there is a secret underground aerial combat club? I already see Jason Statham signing on for this film.



BLACK TO DO ANOTHER ANIMATED FILM
Jack Black is developing a new animated film revolving around "cryptozoology," the study of creatures who seemingly don't exist (like the Lochness Monster, Bigfoot, Chupacabra, etc.). He will also produce and voice the film.

This could be a fun idea, or it could be stupid. I liked Kung Fu Panda, but I'm getting a little tired of Jack Black.