Award Season Has Begun!
The award season has begun with the National Board of Review announcing their picks for the best of the year. They are traditionally not a very good judge but they’ve gone with one of the favourites in giving Up In The Air the prize for best picture. The leading critic organisations will announce their awards in the next few weeks and it’s those which I’m more interested in. I’ll keep you posted.
A Cool Movie Poster
They say that a picture paints 1,000 words. That being the case, a movie poster should be able to do more than I feebly attempt in my reviews.
I really like the poster for The French Kissers which is out on Boxing Day. You can view it by clicking here. I can’t help but be drawn in by the awkward look on the boy’s face. The yellow background and quotes give it a really cool, hip look.
It was put together by Carnival Studio in Sydney and they get my kudos for the week.
Horror Spoof Trailers
You can find just about anything on Youtube and one craze I’ve stumbled upon are people taking classic movies and cutting them together to look like a horror trailer.
One of the best is for Mary Poppins which you can view by clicking here.
There are some other great ones out there which I’ll leave you to find. Very creative some people are.
Matt’s Best Of The Decade – Mind F***
We’re down to the last two weeks of my “best of the decade” series. I had to come up with a new genre so as to be able to include these two particular films.
I saw both of these movies at the Dendy George Street Cinemas and they blew me away. They are visually amazing and you could watch them 10 times without fully appreciating everything. Darren Aronofsky and David Lynch are two amazing directors.
These two films are…
Mulholland Drive (released in 2002) – full review is here.
Requiem For A Dream (released in 2001) - full review is here.
Next week is the last genre – drama. And the two films I’ve selected would be my favourite two films (of any kind) over the past 10 years. I look forward to revealing them.
Worst Of The Year - 2009
I’ve been reviewing movies since 1996 and I always love putting together my best and worst of the year lists. This time around, I’m splitting it up into two parts. This week, I’m going to cover my worst 10 films of 2009. Now I know there’s still a small number of films which I’m yet to see but since I’ve chalked up 225 reviews already in 2009, I think I’m in a fair position to be able to make the call.
Before I kick things off, my worst film by year since I’ve been doing this have been – The Crow: City Of Angels (1996), The Stupids (1997), Tarzan & The Lost City (1998), Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999), Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000), Glitter (2001), Blurred (2002), Ballistic: Ecks Vs. Sever (2003), Van Helsing (2004), Fun With Dick & Jane (2005), A Sound Of Thunder (2006), Daddy Day Camp (2007) and The Love Guru (2008).
As always, it was tough putting this list together. There were plenty of great movies but it seemed like there just as many bad ones. Here then is my 2009 graduating class in order of worseness.
10. Dragonball Evolution
When I saw this film, I said to the cinema ticket selling guy – “I would regrettably like two tickets to Dragonball: Evolution”. He laughed. So yes, I admit to going into the film with low expectations but this is one of those cases where the book can be judged by its cover. Based on the television series, it set a level for mediocrity that made most of the other films this year look very, very good.
9. Twelve Rounds
A guy has had his girlfriend kidnapped by some nasty people and he has to complete 12 challenges if he wants to save her. This action flick for adrenalin junkies was directed by Renny Harlin – the man responsible for Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger. His best days may be behind him because this delivered one of my all time pet hates – stupid, unrealistic action sequences. I prefer story over mindless action.
8. My Bloody Valentine
My Bloody Valentine was a slasher film released over the Valentine’s Day weekend in Australia to give people an alternative (I guess) from your traditional, fluffy romantic comedies. I wish they hadn’t. This is as bad as a horror film can get. Poorly acted. No suspense. Silly ending.
7. I Really Hate My Job
The title might sound interesting but once you start watching this, you’ll realise how wrong you were. It's about 5 women and their one night trying to run a small restaurant. Was there worse acting in a film this year? It only received a tiny two week release in Brisbane cinemas but they needn’t of bothered. It should have gone straight to DVD… or even worse.
6. Bride Wars
I saw this film with a friend and the look of disbelief on our faces when the end credits started to roll said it all. Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson played two bitchy, selfish women who end up in an “all out” war over the date of their respective weddings. I didn’t end up writing a full length review because I didn’t think I had enough adjectives in my repertoire to fully express just how bad it was.
5. Seven Pounds
Ok, we’re getting close to the bottom of the barrel now. I’m not a Will Smith fan but I can usually tolerate his movies. Until now at least. Seven Pounds is manipulative garbage. A man thinks he can deem himself for his wrongdoings by going on some ridiculous journey which he knows will end in his own death. I could see the twists coming from the cinema car park. I know a lot of people liked this but NOT ME.
4. Prey
There’s usually one Aussie film which makes my worst list and this year’s contender is Prey. Interest in the film was high. I saw it Saturday night at 9pm at the Palace Barracks during its opening week. I was the only poor soul in the cinema. That’s a good thing for everyone except me. It was a horror flick starring Natalie Bassingthwaighte with some truly dreadful acting. It has 51 votes on the IMDB with an average score of 2.2. That says it all.
3. All About Steve
One day, Sandra Bullock is going to make an awesome movie which I will love. I’ll then regret all the negative comments I’ve said about her. Until that time comes, all I can do is chastise Bullock for her idiotic film choices. I hated The Proposal (which sits just outside my worst 10 list) but All About Steve, a romantic comedy where she is paired alongside Bradley Cooper, could be her worst yet.
2. 2012
It was a split between this one and my next film to decide which was the worst of the year. I decided I just couldn’t give that honour to a John Cusack movie. 2012 is just a farce. One unrealistic scenario after the other with no character development. I wasn’t even that impressed with the special effects.
1. G.I. Joe: The Rise Of The Cobra
I almost fell asleep while I was watching this. I had no idea what was going on. All I saw on screen was a blur of incoherent nonsense. Some people will say it’s just a fun action film. I will say it’s the worst film of 2009. We’ve all entitled to our own opinions and yes, that’s mine. May they never make a sequel.
I feel so vindictive after all those evil words. I hope none of the filmmakers ever read this. But hey, maybe they’ll bounce back and make some really awesome movies in the future. Maybe. Perhaps they’ll end up living in a ditch. Damn, there I go again. Must stop it.
I’ll be revealing my best 10 films of the year on my 612ABC spot with Spencer Howson this week but I’m not yet sure if it’ll be on Thursday or Friday morning. Am waiting for confirmation. You can hear it first on 612ABC or see me write all about it in a future blog.