Michael Clayton (2007), the critically acclaimed drama-thriller starring George Clooney, is returning to theaters on January 25th, presumably with hopes of getting some Oscar recognition. While quite incredible, the movie has suffered from a few things that could hurt its chances:
It didn’t make any money. Sadly, financial success is often a factor in winning major awards.
Very few people saw it. This ties in with the financial succes, of course, but the movie pretty much arrived with a thud.
Everyone has forgotten it already. Sometimes, releasing a movie in October is good enough to carry it through early January. And other times, like in 2007, people will forget a film a month later.
2007 is just too competitive. In most years, George Clooney would be guaranteed an Oscar nomination, Tom Wilkinson a supporting nod and the movie a possible Best Picture nod. In most years. 2007 has been filled with great movies, and Michael Clayton doesn’t have the same kind of punch as some of the heavyweights.
All that being said, Michael Clayton is a really good movie. Read the Michael Clayton movie review or – on January 25th – watch the movie in theaters! It’s reaching 1,000 theaters across the country, so it’s not exactly a tiny re-release.
The Top Ten Movies of 2007 List, as selected by me, Erik Samdahl, is here! As I said all year, 2007 was a terrific 365 days for film, as there were more quality movies than the last two or three years combined. I usually scrape to put a Top Ten List together, but this year I had nearly twenty candidates that I would feel happy about mentioning here. Beyond those twenty candidates, there were several others that were still well done, including some great action movies, quality thrillers and some of the funniest comedies in a long while. Still, in such a competitive year, these films below really stood out. These are the creme of the crop, the best of the best, the must-see films of 2007…
I normally don’t place animated films in my Top Ten, but Pixar came along, delivered a comeback after the horrible movie Cars and provided audiences with the best animated picture in years. Ratatouille is the perfect example of why Pixar is better than any other animated comedy; unlike the other companies, they actually try (and normally succeed) to do something unique. They don’t rely on modern day satires, spoofs and references, and instead go about creating memorable, high quality stories. Ratatouille is a well-written, witty and entertaining animated picture, and a sure lock for this year’s Oscar in the category. On top of that, the visual effects are simply stunning; the Pixar team really outdid themselves this time.
I had trouble deciding where to place I’m Not There on this Top Ten List. I found I’m Not There pretty confusing at times and didn’t find it as entertaining as some of the other pictures on the list. That being said, the movie is easily the most ambitious film of the year. Writer/director Todd Haynes really deserves props for managing to pull this feat off, as his movie stars not one but six actors (including Richard Gere, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Cate Blanchett and even some little black kid) as Bob Dylan. To make things even more confusing, each actor represents a metaphorical stage in Dylan’s life and career, and if you’re like me and don’t know a thing about Dylan, you’ll be lost. Still, for Haynes to actually develop a coherent film out of this chaos is absolutely amazing, and he makes it look easy.
I normally don’t place feel-good movies on my top ten lists as I generally tend to lean toward serious dramas, but I have two on here this year. Lars and the Real Girl stars Ryan Gosling as a socially awkward young man who finally gets a girlfriend – unfortunately, his girlfriend is a life-size sex doll. To help Lars get over his psychological issues, the townspeople decide to pretend that his girlfriend is real. The movie features some great comedic performances, and, in general, the movie is quite funny; it’s also sweet, touching and sad all at once.
Funny and politically charged, this movie based on the screenplay from “West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin stars Tom Hanks as a womanizing, cocaine-snorting U.S. Representative who decides to covertly fight the Russians by funding Afghanistan militants. It doesn’t sound like a comedy at first glance, but the movie is at times quite hilarious. Hanks is the best we’ve seen him in years, but Philip Seymour Hoffman is the scene-stealer. Charlie Wilson’s War isn’t for everyone, but for those who like a little dose of politics with their comedy, this one is a must-see.
7. Once (UPDATED: I added this movie to the list on 1/23/2008)
I forgot to add Once to this Top Ten List because based it on a list of movie reviews I had done for 2007. However, I hadn’t yet written a review for Once, a film I had already intended to put on the list. Hence, I forgot. Once is an incredibly simply but mesmerizing film. The song, which is nominated for an Oscar (it better win!), is simply astounding, and pretty much makes the film. Regardless, the chemistry between the two leads is terrific.
And now come the heavy hitters. No Country for Old Men is still a front runner for Best Picture, as it has already picked up several awards over the last month and a half. The movie, easily the best Cohen Brothers film in years, is a dark and depressing action-drama about a man (James Brolin) who discovers a bunch of drug money and finds that by taking it he has unleashed the wrath of one of the nastiest, most psychotic assassins in the history of cinema. Javier Bardem is absolutely stunning as the madman killer. Still, as good as the movie is, I feel it was slightly over-hyped; the ending left a lot of audiences wanting more, and in all honesty, it isn’t a very satisfying conclusion to such an exciting, suspense-filled film. Nevertheless, No Country for Old Men leaves you on the edge of your seat the entire time, and that’s worth something.
The other feel-good movie of the year, Juno is tearing it up at the box office and has critics singing praise with its excellent screenplay and terrific acting from young star Ellen Page. The screenplay, from writer Diablo Cody, is one of the top candidates to win Best Screenplay, and Page has an outside chance at winning Best Actress. The dialogue is what makes this movie – about a pregnant 16-year old girl who decides to give away her baby – so good, as its sharp wit flies so fast that’s it hard to keep up with all of it. Juno also has its sweet side to it, which will delight the female members of the audience.
David Fincher’s Zodiac may long be forgotten as the film was released way back in March, but those of you who saw this picture hopefully realized that Fincher has developed quite a masterpiece. While the movie, based on the real Zodiac serial killer investigation, isn’t your typical crime thriller, Fincher somehow managed to make a suspenseful drama out of a three-hour, dialogue-driven screenplay. Not everyone loved Zodiac, but it is one of the best serial killer films in a long time.
Few people have seen this Brad Pitt/Casey Affleck drama, and even fewer would probably place this film in their top ten list, but The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is an amazingly engrossing and deep drama. The film is nearly three hours long and features almost no action, which may surprise people expecting an action-western, but for those of you who know better, the picture is an impressive character study of two drastically different men. Brad Pitt is stunning as the outlaw James, even if you don’t realize how good he is for most of the movie. Casey Affleck, however, is absolutely captivating, and delivers the best performance of his career, knocking off his previous best – from Gone Baby Gone, which just missed out on making this top ten list. Needless to say, 2007 was a good year for the younger Affleck brother, and Jesse James is an excellent movie, highlighted by a shockingly good final half hour.
The top two films of 2007 really set themselves apart from the rest. There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterpiece, is a bold and powerful examination of one man’s rise and fall. The movie is excellent, but Daniel Day-Lewis delivers his best performance ever – and that’s saying a lot. Day-Lewis transforms himself into a mesmerizing character who hates everyone and is greedy beyond belief. Like I say in my movie review, if he doesn’t win an Oscar, I will turn my back on the awards show forever.
While There Will Be Blood was amazing, it will not appeal to everyone. Atonement, on the other hand, is a bit more mainstream, but thanks to incredible direction from Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice), Atonement is the best movie of 2007. Its widespread appeal is not the reason Atonement is the best movie of 2007; the movie is simply captivating from beginning to end. A near-thriller to begin with, the film turns into a war romance in the second half, but the film carries more than a few punches that catch you off guard. Wright does a marvelous job of crafting a story that makes you optimistic and then crushes your emotions, and then starts all over and does it again. Atonement is a sad movie, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t great.
Why did I choose Atonement over There Will Be Blood? It was a close decision, but I felt There Will Be Blood dragged in a few small sections while Atonement did not; there were a few parts where Blood seemed to lose focus, whereas Atonement is just a bit more consistent. There Will Be Blood has better acting, but Atonement pulls at your emotions slightly more. Still, it was a tough decision, but I stand by it.
Stay tuned for other top ten lists over the coming weeks!
Mammoth came out on DVD on January 8, 2008, but I had to wait to watch this one with my mom. You see, I’m not a big fan of direct-to-DVD or TV movies, especially ones like Mammoth which are pretty much guaranteed to be lousy. My mom, on the other hand, loves these kinds of pictures.
Having just sat through the travesty that was the Seahawks-Packers game (my mom, being first a Packers fan, second a Seahawks fan, was quite happy, while I, being by far and away a Seahawks fan for life, spent my afternoon cursing out the Seattle defense on their horrific performance at Lambeau Field), the last thing I needed was to put a nail in the coffin with a terrible movie from the Sci-Fi Channel (aside from Battlestar Galactica, has this channel ever produced anything even remotely good?) – but that was the plan.
Mammoth is about a killer mammoth who comes back to life in a small, modern day town. How does it come alive, you wonder? Why, aliens crash land in the museum where the mammoth was being held and take over the body, then proceed to run around town stepping on people and sucking the life energy out of others. The scientist who was studying the mammoth is forced to team with a “Men in Black” federal agent to take down the seemingly unstoppable creature.
It’s really quite an absurd movie. I was expecting a standard movie about a killer mammoth (created through cloning or what not), but instead get an absolutely cheesy and shockingly dull flick about a computer-generated mammoth-monster inhabited by aliens. Admittedly, it’s quite clear the creators of the movie did not intend for Mammoth to be taken too seriously, but whatever they did intend, I hope it wasn’t the final product.
Mammoth just isn’t fun to watch. Crappy monster movies can still be entertaining if there are enough deaths or cheap thrills, but Mammoth lacks almost all of that. Nothing – literally nothing – happens for the first half hour of this 90 minute picture, and the mammoth probably only has five to ten minutes of screen time total. Of course, given that the creature looks less like a mammoth (aren’t they supposed to be woolly?) and more like some amalgam of other monsters, it’s no wonder the director decided to leave the monster off screen most of the time. Still, Mammoth is so boring at times I almost fell asleep.
Mammoth is sadly a step up from some other Sci-Fi Channel productions, but it is still another lousy sci-fi movie with lame special effects, a terrible script and uninspired delivery. Why I decided to watch this piece of crap is anyone’s guess, but definitely avoid Mammoth at all costs.
Thank you, Lord! In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale has flopped, taking in only $950,000 on Friday, January 11, 2008. That means the movie, according to Box Office Prophets, should only make about $2.5 over the three-day weekend.
Why I am so happy? Well, as you probably know, the movie is directed by Uwe Boll, the worst director in the history of cinema. Uwe Boll’s movies suck beyond belief, and I’m sure In the Name of the King is no different.
I was worried, however. The movie has a better cast (Jason Statham, for instance) than some of his other pictures, and the production values seem higher. As far as the movie trailers go, the marketing team did a pretty good job in making the movie look halfway decent; while it doesn’t look great, the trailer is cohesive enough to pass the film off as a respectable, B-grade fantasy action picture. I was worried that audiences unaware of Boll’s deadly touch would turn out and give In the Name of the King a $5-$7 million opening, which would just be horrible.
But now my Saturday is better… If the Seahawks beat the Packers, I will be on top of the world!
Check out this hot new picture of Odette Yustman in bed, naked (though with sheets) from Cloverfield. Paramount just released the pic today, and it adds to the rest of the Cloverfield image gallery that includes additional pictures of Odette Yustman.
Here are some more pictures of Odette Yustman in Cloverfield:
OK, as of writing this post it’s late on January 11th. The month is almost halfway over, and only now am I writing my The Top Movies to See in January 2008 article. Thankfully, it is January, and very few new movies come out in the beginning of the year – and the ones that do, you don’t want to see.
Keep in mind that this list is for movies officially released in January 2008, and does not include limited releases that came out in December 2007 or earlier and are only now opening wide. For those, see this December 2007 movies list.
Unfortunately, there are only two movies being released in January, 2008 that I actually want to see, and those are:
Cloverfield
All I can say here is: Duh. Probably one of the most hyped films featuring no big name stars or based on an established franchise, the marketing team for Cloverfield has to be praised for creating more Internet buzz than even Snakes on a Plane. Of course, that film never lived up to its buzz in terms of box office success, but Cloverfield has a few things going for it that Snakes on a Plane didn’t:
It looks good.
It is a monster movie, but no one knows what the monster looks like. Ooh… mystery. Suspense. Excitement!
It isn’t called Snakes on a Plane, which means it will attract normal audiences.
There will have been no major theatrical releases, except for expansions, for nearly a month.
It looks good. Did I say that already?
Rambo People are utterly divided on this one. There is the camp that laugh and mock the fact that Sylvestor Stallone is trying to resurrect his other successful franchise to reclaim a career he once had; and then there’s the camp that has seen the previews for Rambo and are uber-excited for an ultra-bloody and non-stop action movie. I am, needless to say, in the latter group, and am excited to see Stallone kick ass once more in the role that made him an action hero. Oh, and Rocky Balboa wasn’t half bad, either.
Cassandra’s Dream While Woody Allen continues to have a lot of hits and misses, one of my favorite films in recent memory is Allen’s Match Point, and Cassandra’s Dream has a similar feel to it. A crime drama about two ordinary men who agree to murder someone for cash they desperately need, the movie could be 2008’s In the Bedroom, though no one expects it to be that good. Still, this one looks interesting.
Untraceable The techno-thriller genre is not my favorite, especially ones that feature killer websites. Hollywood’s attempts to make thrillers based on Internet-themed stories have historically failed badly, and so I’m hesitant about Diane Lane’s new movie Untraceable. That being said, the movie trailer is well constructed and has an interesting concept, though it will be interesting to see how the ultra-hacker/killer is played out. So this one could go either way, but it looks like a fun ride.
Teeth Wow. Have you watched the movie trailer for this film? This one looks weird – whether it’s any good remains to be seen. It appears to be about a girl who has deadly teeth in her… female region. That’s only a guess, but there’s “something not right down there”, and the movie’s title is Teeth, and this gives me enough info that tells me I want to see more, though I am guessing a penis or two gets bitten off in the process. Um, yeah.
First Sunday I’ve grown to never underestimate Ice Cube; not only does he generally make pretty good movies, but his movies make a lot of money, too. However, First Sunday doesn’t look like a winner. He doesn’t have the family thing going for this movie, and on the flip side, there doesn’t be much edge to this flick – at least compared to Friday. And since this movie is clearly aimed at the exact same audience, the previews for First Sunday make me want to just head on over to Blockbuster and rent another Ice Cube movie instead. Furthermore, Tracy Morgan co-stars; while Morgan is funny, he’s only tolerable in small doses – I can’t imagine sitting through an hour and a half movie with him.
Mad Money This movie doesn’t look terrible, but it doesn’t look all that good, either. Starring Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes, Mad Money is about three ordinary women who steal a lot of money. Unfortunately, while the concept is decent enough, the previews just aren’t that funny and look more like the “women-defying-their-own-characters” genre, which is not surprising since it’s from the people behind Thelma and Louise. Mad Money may serve as good counter programming for the more male-oriented movies of January, but it’s not going to pull in many men… at least by choice.
27 Dresses One of the film most likely to make some money this month, 27 Dresses has everything one needs to make a successful chick flick: a good-looking, popular cast, a storyline that every single woman dreads (attending 26 weddings that aren’t yours) and your standard romantic fluff. There are some funny moments in the movie trailer, but overall you can tell exactly what’s going to happen from the previews. From a guy’s perspective, that’s enough to not see the movie unless I’m on a date.
One Missed Call This forgettable horror movie somehow made $12+ million last weekend, probably because there was nothing else new to see (come on, people, what about all the award contenders out in theaters right now?). One Missed Call looks like a lame Japanese techno-horror movie without the Japanese influence; J-horror remakes are bad enough, let alone ones that American writers came up with independently. There’s nothing even remotely interesting about this movie other than the very catchy movie poster.
How She Move Your typical dance move for the winter of 2008, How She Move looks about as unique as a grilled cheese sandwich. I am really getting sick of these dance movies, yet they continue to make money. Why? I don’t know. Are these films really filling a gap for a demand that can’t be filled by higher quality films?
VeggieTales: The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything This movie is about a bunch of vegetables. Christian-themed vegetables. Need I say more? Still, I’d rather see this one than any of the Uwe Boll movies.
Meet the Spartans 2008’s first stupid spoof comedy, Meet the Spartans has all the intelligent makings of classics that came before it. Really, this genre grew old long ago, and this spoof on 300 looks no different. Watch this one come and go quickly.
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale God, I just know some people are going to be tricked into going to see this movie. With enhanced production values and an almost-decent cast (Jason Statham, Leelee Sobieski, Ray Liotta and more), In the Name of the King looks like your typical, B-grade fantasy action picture. Don’t be fooled! The movie is directed by Uwe Boll, and will suck as always. Don’t even think about it. Don’t. Please, please don’t.
Seed This film is still slated for January 25th, but I have to imagine it’s going to get pushed back or sent direct to DVD. The world can’t handle two Uwe Boll movies in one month, and the studio hasn’t even released a movie trailer for it yet. Is it that bad that marketing refuses to make a trailer?
As you can see, there aren’t a lot of great new films to choose from. Beyond Cloverfield and Rambo, there’s nothing with much weight, and those two are canceled out by two different Uwe Boll movies. Again, I haven’t listed here movies that are expanding wide, such as The Bucket List, Atonement (excellent movie!), The Orphanage and so on and so forth.
Watch the new movie trailer for George A. Romero’s Diary of the Dead, the latest “sequel” in his Night of the Living Dead series. This latest picture looks like more of a re-imagining than a sequel, as it is about a bunch of young people who witness the beginning of zombies coming back to life (whereas Land of the Dead was a continuation from his previous films).
Frankly, Diary of the Dead doesn’t look all that good. I mean, it’s hard to really mess up a zombie picture, but Romero’s decision to go with a Blair Witch hand held camera approach isn’t the greatest. After all, who would run around with a camera the whole time? Basically, compared to some of the more exciting zombie films that have come out in recent years, Romero’s takes on the zombie franchise are starting to look old. He should quick while he is still regarded as “the master of zombie movies”.
Here’s the movie trailer for George A. Romero’s Diary of the Dead:
I watched this video while at work today… the dumbest people make for the greatest entertainment, don’t they? The video is real security footage of a wannabe burglar trying to break in to a coffee shop in Lakewood, WA… the problem is that this persistent burglar is an idiot. Instead of breaking in to the coffee shop, the man proceeds to circle the building several times trying to get in through doors, windows and probably the walls. Oh, did I mention he wasn’t wearing gloves and manages to place not only his fingerprints but whole hand prints all over the place?
To cap things off, his final attempt to break in includes a running kick, which causes him to dislocate his knee.
Watch this funny burglar, dubbed the Captain Jack Sparrow burglar due to his pirate motif, which has a great voice over by the coffee shop’s sarcastic owner. You can also read the full story at King 5 News.
I normally don’t feature projects like this, but writer David Desjardin contacted me in regards to a project he has been working on called Heavy Weapon. David, who’s in the military, decided to write an action movie script after he and his friends found themselves complaining about how modern action movies don’t compare to those in the 1980’s. This right there caught me attention, as while there have been quality action films of late, they just don’t compare to the classics of the 80’s (think Stallone and Schwarzenegger at their apex).
So, what does David do in response to his disappointment? He writes his own script. Of course, tons of people write movie scripts that never see the light of day nor are of any quality to deserve such honor, but here are a few things that make David’s script stand out from the rest:
He actually registered the script with the WGA, which means he knows more about getting a script produced than 90% of other amateurs.
The script is available for any to edit and refine.
I’m not endorsing the script; in fact, I haven’t read it. But the concept is a neat one: How better to create the perfect action movie than allow anyone in the world to edit it? David explains:
Basically, the idea behind Heavy Weapon is to allow anyone (especially action movie fans) to influence the script. You could almost look at it as being akin to the old Choose Your Own Adventure books: We’ve built the foundation for the movie, but anyone can suggest changes to be implemented throughout the story. Nearly every aspect of this movie is open for change; the actors, the characters, the spoken dialogue, the action. Everyone has the opportunity to make this movie rock, and it’s all up to the fan-base to spread the word about “their” movie. The internet community worked wonders for giving Snakes On A Plane that boost to the box office, and the way we see it, if that community actually holds stakes in this film, it could easily be a [shared] success in not only being picked up by a production company but eventually being shown nation-wide on the silver screen.
If you do provide work to the script, you won’t go unrewarded:
We’ve even worked incentives into the project to show our support to those who get involved in the project. Not just monitary incentives for providing workable script ideas, but also the incentive of seeing your name credited in the movie as a writer if you help as a major contributor. Don’t think we’d forget about the little guys either; If you help in even the slightest with anything that is implemented into the script, we’ll make sure your name makes it into the credits.
Who knows if this concept will take off. The probability of it succeeding are rather slim, but I think the idea has a lot better shot than most other projects. I get plenty of emails from people asking “How can I get my script turned into a movie?” and it is clear they will never get their script produced, let alone learn how to write quality English. David’s project is the first one to come along that I think actually has a chance.
It’s been a year of great comedies (Knocked Up, Superbad, Hot Fuzz), and 2007 ended with a bang in the form of Juno (2007). Juno, about a 16-year old girl who gets knocked up by one of her friends and decides to keep the baby to term and then give it to a seemingly perfect couple (who of course is anything but), is a funny film with sharp and witty dialogue and great performances from almost everyone involved, namely Ellen Page – who has a shot at winning an Oscar for her performance.
Normally, comedic roles don’t fare too well for women when it comes to Oscar wins, but while 2007 was a great year for movies, it really wasn’t a good year for leading ladies. When you think back on all the quality films of 2007, very few of those movies starred women that could be considered (even by the Oscar’s loose rules) leading actresses, and even fewer offered the kind of performances worthy of awards.
Enter Ellen Page, who handles the rather “complicated” script from Diablo Cody (isn’t that an awesome name) with ease and makes Juno her own. Ellen Page has a solid chance at winning, though her age and inexperience may work against her.
Michael Clayton (2007), the critically acclaimed drama-thriller starring George Clooney, is returning to theaters on January 25th, presumably with hopes of getting some Oscar recognition. While quite incredible, the movie has suffered from a few things that could hurt its chances:
