In the last few years, people have grown accustomed to superhero movies with amazing special effects, great actors and serious storylines, resulting in films that range from great (X-Men 2) to downright superb (The Dark Knight).

But, for every good comic book movie, there are several bad ones, and Yahoo! has compiled a list of the 20 worst comic book movies ever made. I usually don’t always agree with their lists, but they’re pretty spot on with this one, as it ranges from Supergirl (I liked it when I was younger, but having watched it clearly, I was just a horny young boy who could completely overlook a terrible movie for a red miniskirt) to Steel (Shaq, remember this one?) and Elektra (oh, Jennifer Garner, how can someone so hot make something so bad?).

Go here to check out Yahoo!’s list.

Some other notably bad ones that make the list are:

• The Crow: City of Angels. I loved the first one, but absolutely hated this one. How badly? I gave it an “F.”
• Catwoman. This one was a bad idea from the start, but when you completely change the formula and put Halle Berry in an absolutely ridiculous outfit, you’re asking for bad reviews.What’d I give this one? An “F.”
• Ghost Rider. I also gave this Nicolas Cage-starring picture an “F.” Having a character with a flaming skull as a head was never a good idea to make into a movie, and this proved it.

Of course, there are a few movies that I completely disagree with:

• It may not be great, but Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II is one of my favorite films from childhood.
• Judge Dredd. I haven’t watched this one in a long time, so maybe I’ll agree now, but I rather liked this Sylvestor Stallone action flick. Not great, again, but entertaining.

Personally, I would have put Spider-Man 3 on the list. I guess it’s not as bad as the ones listed above, but in terms of expectations, it was a real disappointment.

It’s already December. Can you believe it? I can’t. Since you don’t have anything better to do, you might as well go out to theaters and check out some of the exciting new movies that are being released (or have already been released). Below is my list of must-see movies for December 2008:

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
   It could end up being dull and boring, but this David Fincher film has the potential to be spectacular. The marketing has been tremendous, and there are few, if any, films that I want to see more this holiday season. The movie is about a man who is born old (he’s a baby, but otherwise looks like an old man) who ages backwards. Partway through his life, he reunites with a woman (Cate Blanchett) he knew as a child. It’s a risky film for many reasons, but if the previews are any indication, this one has gold spraypainted all over it.
2. Slumdog Millionaire
   This one was released in November, but most people won’t have had a chance to see this film just yet. Directed by Danny Boyle, this visually stimulating film is currently the frontrunner for Best Picture. Having just watched it, it is certainly one of the best movies of the year, though it will be interesting to see how it compares come January. The movie is about a young man who is suspected of cheating as he nears the final, 50-million rupee question on India’s version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” because he grew up in the slums without education. The movie recaps his life and his dedication to find his long lost “girlfriend.”
3. Milk
   Sean Penn is perhaps a lock for Best Actor with his performance as openly gay politician Harvey Milk, if critics have anything to say about it. The Gus Van Sant movie is selling out theaters across the nation (as of right now it’s only playing in 40+ theaters nationwide), and looks to be a not-so-sleeper hit. I will be seeing this one as soon as I can.
4. Doubt
   Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep and Amy Adams in the same movie? Awesome. The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is brought to the big screen in the form of a subdued boiler of a drama, about a hardcore nun who suspects that a younger, more liberal priest is sexually abusing boys at the Catholic school where they reside. This one has Oscar potential written all over it.
5. The Day the Earth Stood Still
   Say what you will about Keanu Reeves, but doesn’t he seem like the perfect choice to play an emotionless, monotone alien who is inhabitating a human body to warn of impending doom? Purists may not like the angles the remake have taken, but in a December all but devoid of blockbusters, this one looks like good popcorn fare. The presence of ever-hot Jennifer Connelly doesn’t hurt, nor multiple scenes of the world being destroyed. And no, the movie is not directed by Roland Emmerich.
6. The Wrestler
   Frankly, the previews haven’t been anything to scream about, but The Wrestler, and star Mickey Rourke in particular, is receiving some rave reviews. Call it a comeback or whatever, but Rourke is currently a frontrunner for Best Actor, and that’s never something that should be ignored.
7. The Reader
   I just caught the preview for this last week, and was pretty impressed by what I saw. The movie is about a boy who has an affair with an older woman (Kate Winslet, who seems to like to have sex in movies) only to find out that this Hanna is an accused Nazi criminal. Sex, drama and a Nazi trial always make for qualtiy entertainment. Ralph Fiennes also stars.
8. Australia
   This Baz Luhrman film was released in November, but judging by the small opening weekend, few people went to see it. An epic romance set in the land down under, the movie stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman as an unlikely couple who have to protect an aboriginal child from being taken from the government, fight off a monopolistic cattle herder and survive an attack by the Japanese. Australia doesn’t fire on all cylinders, but it is still one of the better movies of 2008.
9. Revolutionary Road
   Sam Mendes, the director of American Beauty, returns with Titanic alumns Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio in this romantic drama. I’m assuming more happens than what is shown in the rather disappointing trailer, and I still have high hopes simply given the talent involved in the picture. This could end up being Oscar bait, even though it looks pretty routine.
10. Valkyrie
    It could be bad, it could be good, no one knows. In fact, there are probably Vegas bets going on about this Tom Cruise thriller as I write. Amidst controversy and a release that was potentially moved back in 2008 just to avoid the bad PR it received when the studio pushed it into 2009 (essentially saying that the movie wasn’t good enough to contend for awards), Valkyrie looks pretty entertaining. Furthermore, the lack of German accents hurts this Nazi assassination film. Nevertheless, one should never underestimate Brian Singer (X-Men 2, The Usual Suspects), nor Tom Cruise. Despite what you think of the man, he rarely does bad movies.
11. Frost/Nixon
    David Frost takes on Richard Nixon in the new Ron Howard film, and while Howard has faltered in recent years, he should never be underestimated come award time. Frank Langella plays Nixon, and Michael Sheen, who played Tony Blair in The Queen, stars as Frost. I can’t say I’m particularly excited about this one, but I’ve seen some good reviews so this one is definitely on my radar.
12. Gran Torino
    I don’t think anyone had even heard of Gran Torino up until a month or two ago, but so it goes with Clint Eastwood. The movie doesn’t look incredible and certainly doesn’t have the Oscar appeal that Changeling had (up until the mixed reviews started flowing in), but I’m just excited to see Eastwood holding a gun again. Yes, Dirty Harry is back! Only not really.
13. Marley & Me
    When I saw the teaser for the film, which showed Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson running after a cute little puppy, I scoffed, but having seen the full trailer, I must admit that this film looks pretty funny. Unless my mom drags me along to see it, I probably will wait until video, but in a month surprisingly devoid of children’s movies, Marley & Me looks to be the first entertaining dog movie in years.
14. The Spirit
    Fans who have been desperately waiting for Sin City 2 – or who can’t wait until March for Watchmen – will have to settle for The Spirit, a movie that looks like a not-so-good version of, you guessed it, Sin City. Using the same painted special effects, The Spirit is based on a graphic novel and stars a slew of big actors, from Samuel L. to Scarlett Johansson. However, this movie marks the solo directorial debut of Frank Miller, and as good as he is at inventing stories, I am not so sure he can guide a camera without the assistance of Robert Rodriguez. The trailers also aren’t as interesting. Then again, I’m curious.
15. Bedtime Stories
    I doubt that this movie will be all that good, but this kiddie film, with a bit of Adam Sandler humor, could be this year’s Night at the Museum. The movie runs along a similar vein, and looks like mindless entertainment. At the same time, I can’t imagine too many parents are going to be crazy about taking their kids to see an Adam Sandler film, even if it is only rated PG. And Sandler fans don’t want to see a watered down Sandler. Hmm.

Movies that are being released in December that you probably won’t see

Unless you live in Los Angeles or New York, you may not get to see any of these films until January or later, but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth mentioning:

• Defiance
  James Bond… er, Daniel Craig stars alongside Jamie Bell and Liev Schreiber in Defiance, a WWII action-thriller from the director of The Last Samurai. The movie is about a band of brothers (no, not that band of brothers) who take hundreds of Jewish refugees into the woods to protect them from the Nazis. Death and more war ensue. The movie looks like a great blend of action and drama, and if it’s not up to Oscar standards, it sure looks like it will be a blast to watch. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come out until December 31st, and only then in limited release. Look for a wide release in early January.
• Che Part 1: The Argentine/Che Part 2: Guerrilla
  I only put these on the list because the Steven Soderbergh two-parter has a lot of Oscar potential (at the very least, for star Benicio Del Toro), but both are only receiving a one-week limited run for award contention. Most people will not be able to see these until January, if not later.
• Dark Streets
  This limited-release movie may not make it everywhere, but the catchy trailer has my attention. The film looks like a seedy Moulin Rouge, full with music, murder and more. Beyond that, I’m not quite sure what it’s about, but I’m intrigued.

Movies that didn’t make this list

A few notable movies failed to make this list for a variety of reasons. Yes Man, the new Jim Carrey film, looks absolutely dreadful in my opinion (it’s like an unfunny Liar Liar), and while one should never underestimated Will Smith, Seven Pounds just doesn’t look that interesting to me. Punisher: War Zone is not included in part due to its 18% rotten rating on RottenTomatoes.

It’s September, which means that the summer movie season is officially over and the crap of Hollywood can make it to the big screen. September is historically a bad month for movies, as kids return to school, vacations end and people scramble for the remnants of good weather. This is also the perfect time for studios to dump the waste onto audiences.

Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean there will be nothing to watch this September. Below is a list of movies I’m looking forward to in September: (more…)

People love twist endings. Anyone who says otherwise is full of crap. But there are good twist endings and there are bad twist endings, and sometimes it’s a fine line between the two. Having looked at other “Best Twist Ending” lists and pulling from my own memory, I have compiled this list of the best twist endings in movie history – and the worst. Of course, there are some movies I haven’t seen and others I just plain forgot about, but these are the ones you have to see – or avoid.

NOTE: Major spoiler alerts.

The Best Twist Endings

1. The Sixth Sense
   These top several twists are hard to rank in any clean order, but I still remember the day I sat in theaters watching M. Night Shyalaman’s masterpiece. The movie was pretty decent but didn’t have much of a plot, and I was wondering where the movie was going to go. And then – bam! Bruce Willis has been dead the whole time. Not only is it an amazingly good twist ending, but it also saves the movie from being just a decent ghost story – and, on a second viewing, Shyalaman throws the truth in your face repeatedly.
2. Primal Fear
   Ed Norton jumped into his career in a big way with this courtroom thriller, where Richard Gere comes to the defense of a seemingly innocent and kind altar boy accused of brutally murdering a priest. Not only is the movie extremely good and offers a first glimpse at the exceptional acting talent stored within Norton, but as it turns out, Norton’s character was faking split personality the entire time.
3. The Usual Suspects
   Considered the best twist ending by many people, it was hard to put this so far down at #3. I’ve seen a couple people put this crime thriller starring Kevin Spacey on “Worst Twist Endings” lists, but those people are just idiots wanting to sound smarter and more sophisticated than everyone else.
4. Oldboy
   Probably the best f-ed up twist ending on the list, this film starts out with a guy waking up in a suitcase on a rooftop after years of mysterious captivity. As he seeks out the truth, he teams up and falls in love with a younger woman. He has sex with her. Then, as we learn, he’s been hypnotized to fall in love with his own daughter – and thus he has unwillingly had sex with her. A second twist comes when the guy decides to erase his memories so he can continue to love and have sex with his daughter.
5. Seven
   This exciting and intriguing thriller has a great cast and a creepy villain, who remains elusive through most of the movie until he conveniently decides to show up for one of the most disturbing twist endings ever. Spacey, the killer, leads the detectives (Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman) out into the middle of nowhere to find the final victim, only to reveal that he is the one who will be killed by Pitt. Why? Because Spacey killed Pitt’s wife, played by Gwenyth Paltrow, to drive him over the deep end. Nice!
6. Angel Heart
   OK, Oldboy is pretty screwed up, but this one isn’t exactly innocent, either. In this movie, a much younger Mickey Rourke starts investigating murders in New Orleans, only to discover that he himself made a deal with the Devil himself and is responsible for much of what has happened. Wow. [this entry has been edited since the original post]
7. The Prestige
   The inspiration for writing this post, the Christopher Nolan drama about magicians has several small twist endings that aren’t fully appreciated until repeated viewings. For one, Christian Bale’s character tricks Hugh Jackman into thinking that he got a hold of his journal full of secrets – until Jackman reads that it was all planned. Jackman pulls a similar trick on Bale, revealing to his adversary that he intended to frame him. Then, it is revealed that Jackman’s character is still alive, a result of cloning himself and murdering himself every night. If that’s not f-ed up enough, Bale actually has a twin brother and the two having been living a single life, sharing both a wife and a mistress.
8. Les Diabolique [this film was added after the original post]
   In this 1955 French thriller, a wife conspires with her husband’s mistress to murder the husband. They devise an intelligent plan to make the murder look like an accident, but then the body disappears. The wife begins to freak out as more and more clues seem to suggest that either the husband is alive or that someone else knows and is toying with them, to the point where she starts having panic attacks. Ultimately, she ends up dying of a heart attack when the truth is revealed… but since the director actually asks us before the credits to not reveal the ending, I won’t say what the cause is.
9. The Others
   An elegantly simple and creepy ghost story turns out to be a lot more when it is revealed that Nicole Kidman and her two children, who are allergic to sunlight, have in fact been dead the entire movie, and the ghosts they’ve been seeing are living people attempting to drive them out of the house.
10. Unbreakable
    This is a love-it-or-hate-it film, but M. Night Shyalaman’s follow-up to The Sixth Sense, which also stars Bruce Willis, is one of my favorite movies. There’s not a lot of plot to the film, but once again Shyalaman throws a zinger at us by revealing that Samuel L. Jackson, who has befriended Willis and helped him realize his potential, is in fact a psychopathic killer who has been committing mass murder just to find someone who is “unbreakable.”
11. Arlington Road
    This fast-paced suburban thriller has Jeffrey Bridges suspecting that his neighbor (Tim Robbins) is a domestic terrorist. As it turns out, he’s right, but he unfortunately drives the bomb into the federal building himself, and is ultimately blamed for the deaths of hundreds of people.
12. The Devil’s Advocate
    The title isn’t as metaphorical as one would suspect: Al Pacino really is the Devil, and he wants Keanu Reeves to have sex with what turns out to be his sister to have a Devil grandbaby. When Reeves refuses, the Devil just starts trying all over again.
13. The Game
    This movie is full of coincidences and conveniences, but there are so many little twists in the film that it’s hard not to be entertained. Is everything a game, or is it reality? Sure, it’s pretty unbelievable that Michael Douglas would choose to commit suicide through the exact window (and avoid all of the rafters) where a big balloon is waiting to catch him for his birthday party, but you didn’t see it coming, did you?
14. Scream
    A lot of slasher films have “twists” in regards to who the villains are, but few have pulled it off as well as Wes Craven’s classic. I remember sitting in the theater (sadly, with my mom) when Skeet Ulrich – who had been sliced up quite heavily a few minutes before, hence proving his innocence – licks his fingers and declares that his blood is in fact corn syrup. And there’s not one killer, but two.
15. Psycho (1960)
    I knew the ending before I ever saw the film, so the impact of the big twist was rather lessened, but you still have to respect the fact that Norman Bates dresses up like his mother to kill unsuspecting innocents. That’s just disturbing. Oh, and the “star” of the movie, Janet Leigh, gets killed off early on in the infamous shower scene. [this entry has been edited since the original post]
16. Planet of the Apes (1968)
    Another movie where I had seen shots of the ending before I actually saw the movie, the realization that Charlton Heston was never going to make it back home because… he’s already on Earth!
17. American Psycho
    I still don’t fully understand the ending, but I believe Christian Bale’s psychopathic tendencies are all, actually, in his mind. The great thing about this movie is that even if the entire film may “be a lie,” the actual events are up for debate. Did he or didn’t he? Everyone has their own opinion. [this entry has been edited since the original post]
18. Donnie Darko
    With more of a strange ending than a twist one, it turns out that Donnie’s sleepwalking – which saved him from being crushed by a jet engine at the beginning of the film – has put his mother and sister in peril, as a month later, they are on the plane that will eventually crash into their home a month earlier. Donnie decides to sacrifice himself and die so that his family wouldn’t a month later. Or something like that.
19. Stephen’s King The Mist
    I just watched this movie the other night, and wow, what an ending. This movie shouldn’t have been that good, with mediocre special effects and overblown acting (not to mention it’s a film about random monsters from another dimension), but it is. And the capper: an utterly depressing ending. Thomas Jane’s truck runs out of gas, leaving the five survivors, including his son, stranded in the middle of the mist, which has apparently taken over the entire world. With no chance of survivor, he turns to his gun, which only has four bullets left. He kills the other four people, including his own son, and then steps outside. A minute later, the army shows up and the mist begins to clear. Had he waited a minute longer, he wouldn’t have had to murder his only child! Ouch!
20. Soylent Green
    They’re people! They’re people! The movie is a bit dated now, but if I hadn’t known the ending ahead of time, this would have been a pretty damn good twist ending.
21. Chinatown
    Pretty common nowadays (just watch an episode of Law and Order: SVU), this Jack Nicholson film featured a twist that revealed that 1) Faye Dunaway was not who she first appeared to be and 2) that she had an incestuous relationship with her own father.
22. Night of the Living Dead
    It’s a bit of a stretch to call this a twist ending, but it’s still a shocking one. Zombies are everywhere, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Militias have moved in to clean out the walking dead, and it looks like our hero (an African American) is safe. But, then, one shooter takes him to be one of the bad guys and shoots him in the head. Not a cheerful ending, but a memorable one.
23. The Ring
    The Naomi Watts horror-thriller that took cinema by storm has a couple twist endings, even if you don’t recognize them as such. In most horror movies, once the protagonist discovers the dead body of the mean ghost, the spirit is usually set free and the movie ends. In The Ring, after Watts saves herself and her son by pulling Tamara’s body from the well, she things all are good. Wrong! Tamara is evil, and she’s just released her spirit to kill at will. And, to ultimately save themselves, Watts decides that she and her son will pass the video onto someone else (I believe a relative).
24. Memento
    Guy Pearce, suffering from severe short term memory, goes through life searching for his wife’s killer and not trusting people. Since the film works in backwards order, we slowly discover that his wife killed herself by tricking Pearce into giving her multiple insulin shots; furthermore, Pearce tricks himself by writing notes about people that aren’t true, so that in the future he won’t listen to their “lies,” which are actually truths.
25. The Descent
    If you’ve seen the original, European version, you’ll know what I mean; if you’ve only seen the American version, where the main character escapes from the monster-filled caves, you won’t. While we get to see the woman escape from the cave, drive away and so on and so forth, that escape is actually in her head – she’s still miles underground, surrounded by the creatures that are going to kill her.
26. Minority Report
    Not really a twist ending, but another one that makes you think. After Tom Cruise is accused of murder, he sets out to clear his name. Since the whole criminal system is based on a predictive, psychic machine that is never wrong, his only way to do that is to prove that the system, which he has believed in for years, is wrong. How does he do it? He sets out to kill the creator of the program, thus triggering the system to alert the authorities. But, since he knows the truth about the creator, the creator wants to kill him, too. If Cruise succeeds, the system fails. If the creator succeeds, the system fails. Bam!
27. Mulholland Drive
    No one really knows what David Lynch’s movie is about, but that doesn’t stop me from being intrigued by the completely weird ending to Mulholland Dr., the movie that put Naomi Watts on the map. There’s something about Pandora’s box, about two leading women being the same person, Watts masturbating and making out with herself, etc.
28. 12 Monkeys
    I didn’t love this Bruce Willis/Brad Pitt movie, but it does have a disturbing ending. After Bruce Willis is sent back in time to stop a virus from wiping out most of mankind, you expect him to find the solution and save humanity. Instead, he fails, and his child-self gets to watch him get killed by security guards in an airport. Cheerful.

So-So or Overrated Twist Endings

The following list contains several movies with endings that I have liked, but haven’t loved. #1 on the list should evoke some emotion, but I stand by it. The twist endings in this list neither made the movies better or worse.

1. Fight Club
   This is the one movie that will cause people to complain about this list. Many would rank this ending as one of the best endings in cinema history, as it is revealed that Ed Norton and Brad Pitt are, in fact, the same person. While I’m sure it worked in the book, I think this is a bit of a cop-out. Fight Club is still a pretty good and imaginative movie, but the fact that everything we saw was a lie – and that it really never makes complete sense – doesn’t have me drooling over the ending like it causes some people to do.
2. Swimming Pool
   This great thriller starring Charlotte Rampling has an aging author staying at a French villa only to discover that a sexy younger woman has shown up to share space. Intrigued by her sexuality, a subtle erotic thriller and ultimately murder mystery ensue… but then we discover that everything is all in her head and that we simply saw her imagination at work as she developed her story. Normally I don’t like endings where it turns out everything is a dream, but Swimming Pool pulled it off. Still, some would see it as a cop-out.
3. Vanilla Sky/Open Your Eyes [this film was added after the original post]
   In these movies (remake and the original, both of which star Penelope Cruz – in different roles), the leading man (we’ll call him Tom Cruise) starts to go out of his mind as an ex-flame comes back from the dead, his ravaged face turns out to be not-so-ravaged and other weird things happen. As it turns out, most of the movie is a corporate-controlled dream due to the fact that he has been cryogenically frozen. The movie is weird and not for everyone, but the ending works.
4. Signs
   I have mixed emotions about the “twist” ending here. When I first saw Signs, I liked it a lot. It was creepy, suspenseful, and had an ending that at least wrapped things up. Still, it seems like M. Night Shylaman threw a twist ending into the film for the sake of not letting his fans down, and a lot of people didn’t buy into the “Swing away” line. I don’t hate the ending, but it’s rather unnecessary.
5. No Way Out
   In this spy thriller, it turns out that Kevin Costner, who has been searching for a Russian mole, is, in fact, the Russian mole. It’s sort of a silly ending that seems thrown in there at the last moment, but I certainly didn’t see it coming.
6. Citizen Kane
   Does this movie have a twist ending? No, not really. But it has shown up on other “twist” listings so I just included it here to say so. [this entry has been edited since the original post]
7. Eastern Promises
   In this decent thriller from David Cronenber, it is revealed that the ruthless Russian mobster played by Viggo Mortensen, who took it upon himself to protect Naomi Watts from his own people, is actually an undercover detective. The surprise really doesn’t make the movie any better, and in many ways it takes the emotional impact of the movie out of the story. After all, Mortensen never really had to make a choice between his people and Watts; he was against them from the start.
8. The Village
   Another M. Night Shyalaman film, The Village is a pretty decent drama. I wasn’t crazy about the film because it was marketed as a horror movie, even though it isn’t, and maybe that distracted me from a pretty good twist ending. It’s not the direction I wanted the film to take, but the ramifications are huge: as it turns out, there are no monsters in the woods. The monsters were devised by the elders of the village to keep the younger people from venturing away, which would lead them to the wall: on the other side, a paved road and modern civilization.
9. Identity
   John Cusack and others find themselves being picked off one by one by an unknown killer. What starts out as a reasonable thriller develops into a supernatural one, and from that somethinge entirely different: all of the characters, including Cusack, are all in the mind of a psychotic killer who is sitting in prison. No one saw this ending coming, though I can’t say it’s an amazing one: once the ending is revealed, the thriller loses any suspense it had going for it.
10. Fallen
    In this supernatural thriller, Denzel Washington hunts a killer that moves from body to body, possessing people to carry out its evil will. Denzel figures out a way to trap and kill the demon – by luring it into the woods away from bodies to transfer to. As he becomes possessed, he inhales poison to kill the demon; but doesn’t take into account that the demon can also possess animals such as cats. So, at the end of the movie, evil wins and Denzel is possessed by a demon. Not a horrible ending – and many people love it – but it just didn’t click for me. [this entry has been edited since the original post]
11. High Tension
    An ending that is so good it’s bad, High Tension, which could have been one of the most memorable and disturbing slasher films in recent memory, ends with a whimper when it is revealed that the sexually charged killer, played by a man, is actually the female protagonist, who, driven by jealousy, has gone insane. The twist, while shocking, really never makes sense, especially considering the fact that in the first scene the killer is shown jerking himself off with a decapitated head. I go back and forth on this one…
12. Lucky Number Slevin
    Josh Hartnett gets confused for someone else and winds up getting involved in a deadly plot between an assassin named The Cat and a couple mobster-type guys. He plays it innocent until it is revealed that he and The Cat are partners and that Hartnett is himself a master assassin. There’s more to it than that, but I don’t have enough space to explain everything. The twist is a shocker, and yet it takes away something from the film. Handled a bit differently, it could have really worked, but I found it a bit underwhelming.

The Worst Twist Endings

Below is a list of the worst twist endings known to man:

1. The Forgotten
   What could have been a really good movie turns out to be a film about aliens experimenting on people. Aliens? Come on. This movie has the worst twist ending ever, and due to some scenes shown in the previews, you actually could see it coming.
2. The Number 23
   This thriller was supposed to put Jim Carrey on the map as a truly serious actor, but it failed miserably. Not only was his acting terrible, but the movie features one of the most disappointing endings ever. Having been seduced and driven to obsessed madness by a book that seems to parallel his life, giving us hints at Satan and other disturbing ramifications, it is revealed that Carrey himself wrote the book while he was in a psychiatric hospital that he no longer remembers. So the twist is: he actually is crazy and he wrote the book himself. Wow. Stupid.
3. Secret Window
   This Johnny Depp film had potential, but it has a strangely predictable ending, and one that was not particularly good. After it is revealed that he himself is off his rocker and has killed every victim, Depp never gets punished but does decide to get braces. Huh?
4. Hide and Seek
   Hide and Seek features another predictable ending. In fact, it is so bad that when I realized it in the first 30 minutes of the movie, I prayed for the next hour that I was wrong. As it turns out, Dakota Fanning doesn’t have an imaginary friend who kills people, but instead it’s her father – the main character, played by Robert DeNiro – who has a split personality. The split personality twist ending is almost always a deal killer, and Hide and Seek proves it.
5. Saw
   I only put this on the list because I’ve seen Saw mentioned on other Best Twist Ending lists. It’s not much of a twist ending, but after the protagonists do themselves in, it is revealed that the corpse in the middle of the room is in fact the killer – and that he’s just been lying still for the last two hours. It just doesn’t make much sense, nor is it very exciting.
6. Perfect Stranger
   This Halle Berry thriller is about as bad as it looks. I lost interest halfway through and thus was only paying attention at half staff when the twist ending is revealed, but the fact that the main character – Berry – is in fact the unknown killer she’s been hunting is just downright stupid.
7. Never Talk to Strangers
   Like Hide and Seek and Perfect Stranger, here’s another movie that ends with the revelation and the main protagonist is actually the bad guy.
8. The Life of David Gale
   Kevin Spacey is on death row for a crime he didn’t commit… or did he? As it turns out, he faked murder to get convicted and sentenced to death, so he could prove that the death sentence is inhumane. Uh… OK.
9. Planet of the Apes (2001)
   In this pointless remake directed by Tim Burton, Mark Wahlberg finally escapes from Ape World to land back on Earth… only to find that the Lincoln Memorial has the face of an ape. Unlike in the original, where there’s a lot less tacky and much more iconic view of the Statue of Liberty – implying that Heston is on Earth and is simply far in the future – this ending implies that there’s an alternate dimension or something like that. It’s just cheesy, and a stupid way to lead the audience into the ending credits.
10. No Country for Old Men
    The Oscar-winning drama-thriller really doesn’t have a twist ending, unless you allow the fact that the Coen brothers kill the protagonist off screen, never explain how he died and that the movie has switched gears to a pointless and rambling speech by Tommy Lee Jones. It’s one of the most disappointing endings to an otherwise excellent film. Should the ending be different? No. That’s how the film ends in the book by Cormac McCarthy (and no one should mess with McCarthy’s works), but the film is so suspenseful and exciting for the first 80% that it’s just a major letdown when the movie takes a pure dramatic turn. [this entry has been edited since the original post]

With not a lot of movies out in theaters right now (there are some good ones, but with only one to two big release coming out a weekend, it’s pretty easy to keep on top of the films), it’s a good time to get caught up on some recently released DVDs. But what to see? Here are some suggestions, based on DVD releases since the beginning of May:

1. I’m Not There
   Cate Blanchett should have earned an Oscar for her performance in this absolutely strange but brilliantly conceived drama about Bob Dylan.
2. Rambo
   My roommate doesn’t think so, but the new Rambo movie kicks ass. Gritty, bloody and thankfully not very cheesy, this is a must-see for action fans.
3. Funny Games
   I haven’t seen this one, and I can imagine that the 1998 original (a foreign film, French, I think) is better, but this one just looks f**ked up. The movie stars Naomi Watts and Tim Roth as parents who find themselves victims to a pair of crazed psychopaths. No, it’s not a horror movie.
4. The Red Violin
   This movie was originally released in 1999, but Lionsgate just released a new version of the DVD. There’s nothing special about that, but if you haven’t seen this film, it is one of the better movies of the last decade. It’s about the life a violin over the course of several centuries.
5. National Treasure: Book of Secrets
   I wasn’t expecting much from this sequel, but if you go in with an open mind, you’ll find a pretty entertaining and exciting adventure story. Nicolas Cage goes searching for the Lost City of Gold to prove his ancestor’s innocence in the President Lincoln assassination, and ends up kidnapping the President in the process. No one said the plot made much sense.
6. Teeth
   This movie is about a girl who realizes that her vagina has teeth that bite of men’s junk when she gets angry. No joke. The concept alone makes this one worth seeing, but it’s actually a pretty well conceived picture.
7. The Great Debaters
   Denzel Washington’s follow-up directorial piece is a surprisingly good and uplifting film about the first black debate team to take on a white team in the 1930’s. The movie covers racism and a range of other topics.
8. The Bucket List
   This comedy, which stars Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, may not win any awards, but the pairing of the two is brilliant. The movie, about two dying old men who decide to do everything they ever wanted to do before they die, is funny and entertaining.
9. Youth Without Youth
   This one isn’t for everyone, but it is the first movie by Francis Ford Coppola (director of The Godfather trilogy) in a long time. The movie is philosophical and Kafka-esque, as it’s about an old man, who, after being struck by lightning, becomes much younger.
10. Be Kind Rewind
    This picture received mixed reviews, but still looked pretty good. The movie stars Jack Black as a video store guy who accidentally erases all of his store’s tapes, forcing him and his colleague to make their own versions of popular movies.
11. Jumper
    This Hayden Christensen sci-fi action film isn’t particularly great, but if you want mindless action and cool special effects, Jumper has more than enough to keep you satisfied. If only the film had a smarter plot, it really could have been something.
12. Control
    This black-and-white film examines the rise and fall of the lead singer of the 1970’s band Joy Division in a very non biopic kind of way, which is rather refreshing considering all of these biographies about musicians tend to end up looking about the same.

View more recent DVD releases.

May 2008 is here, and that can only mean one thing: I grow another year older, and the summer movie season has started. Okay, that’s two things, but read on anyway! There are a lot of great movies coming out this year, or, at least, movies that appear to be great. From a new Batman movie to one of the most anticipated films of all time – the fourth Indiana Jones movie – buzz is at an all-time high.

But where there is buzz, there is unrealistic expectations… will the 2008 summer movie season offer some major disappointments? If either of those aforementioned films disappoint, I will go on a rampage, and, unfortunately, I feel like I’ve set the bar way too high. Still, beyond those two films, there are 20 other movies that might be worth seeing this summer – and this only counts the mainstream films that have released their trailers. Of course, all the real heavy hitters have showed their true colors by now… or have they?

Also, take my 2008 summer movie survey – you could win an Eastern Promises DVD.

1. The Dark Knight
   I have been waiting with eager anticipation for over a year for the follow-up to the excellent Batman Begins. Christopher Nolan’s original was a classic, and perhaps the best comic book movie of all time, and there’s no reason to expect any less here. The all-star, Oscar-glistening cast is returning, only with an upgrade of talent that includes Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart and, of course, Heath Ledger as Batman’s arch villain. Many people think Ledger’s performance drove him to death, and from everything the previews indicate, he turns in a remarkable performance. Is July really two months away?
2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
   Harrison Ford really hasn’t done anything noteworthy in years, so it’s only fitting he returns to one of his most adored roles. The fact that Ford, Lucas and Spielberg have all returned for this fourth film is a good sign, as it’s not just some lame sequel with some crappy director and a youthful actor. Unlike The Dark Knight, I can see expectations surpassing reality here; George Lucas has even commented on that in recent interviews. As long as I keep my excitement toned down, I think I’ll be OK.
3. The X-Files: I Want to Believe
   Who knows if this one will be any good. The X-Files passed its prime many years ago, and fans have pretty much moved on. Then again, maybe this is the perfect time to return to the adored franchise for what is presumably going to be the last movie. I don’t expect this one to make an amazing amount of money in theaters, but it should be an entertaining blast. It’ll definitely be cool to see David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson back together again, and early previews have been promising.
4. Hancock
   A movie that has only begun its marketing blitz, Hancock appears to be the latest Will Smith blockbuster. No one is betting against Smith, as he has a tendency to choose quality (or at least decent) projects that result in a ton of money. This movie, about a drunk-and-bitter “superhero,” looks great, as the trailers perfectly blend humor, action and visual effects together. In a season full of comic book adaptations, Hancock should still emerge as a summer blockbuster – and maybe it will even appeal to a crowd that doesn’t normally swarm to the “standard” comic book flicks.
5. Iron Man
   Speaking of “standard,” Iron Man opens tonight (Thursday) and from the reviews I’ve seen, it’s going to have no problem making tons of money. Reviews have been strong, and it’s really no surprise: the visuals look great, the action intense, the humor plentiful and Robert Downey Jr. in a surprisingly perfect role (playing a cocky, drunken bastard who must redeem himself). The previews have been entertaining and I hope I get a chance to go see this flick tonight.
6. Get Smart
   Rarely do I get that excited for comedies, but Get Smart, starring Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, The Rock, Terence Stamp and Alan Arkin, looks pretty hilarious. These TV adaptations can be hit-or-miss, but the goofy spy show seems prime for just such a conversion. The previews have been note-on, offering lots of humorous bits and a promise for some silly excitement. Carell and Hathaway both seem like good choices to lead the film, and it’s always entertaining to see The Rock in a comedy such as this.
7. WALL• E
   I have no rule: do not question Pixar, unless they’re making a Cars sequel. Pixar continues to set the benchmark for quality writing, storytelling and visual effects among animated films, if not among films in general. Wall-E looks to continue their trend of exceptional, as the film once again avoids the route of pop culture references, modern songs and marketing big voice talent to present us with a unique story about a robot who lives on Earth long after the last of humanity has disappeared. Not only is the story intriguing, but the visual effects look simply stunning.
8. Hellboy II: The Golden Army
   A couple years ago, only a few fanboys knew who Guillermo Del Toro was. Not anymore. The man took a little known comic book character (a red devil, no less) and made a truly entertaining and high quality action film on a relatively low budget. From there, we got Pan’s Labyrinth, one of the best films I’ve seen in years. And with Del Toro signed on to direct the new Hobbit sequels, demand is at an all-time high. Thankfully, he managed to squeak out a new Hellboy movie while waiting, and hopefully it will be just as good as the original. The previews have not been incredible, though it appears as though the elements were just poorly presented by the marketing department. At least I hope that’s the case.
9. Pineapple Express
   Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen are back, this time in an indie-looking, pot-smoking, crime thriller, about an ordinary guy who witnesses a murder and goes on the run with his drug dealing friend (James Franco). The movie looks substantially different from the recent Apatow films (Knocked Up, Superbad and Forgetting Sarah Marshall), but it still looks good. I like the low-budget look the film has, but the screenplay, once again, should sell this one.
10. The Happening
    M. Night Shyamalan is at it again. Once a sure-thing, Shyamalan has directed two disappointing films in a row. The Village was okay, until the end, but Lady in the Water was just a disaster. Still, I – and several other people – are holding out hope for The Happening, a movie that looks to be more along the lines of Signs than any of his more recent stuff. Can this movie save his career? It’s impossible to tell. All of his films are marketed very well and give very little away, so there’s no way of telling this one will be any better or worse than Lady. Still, it appears as though he has gone a little more conventional this time around, which should be a good thing. “Conventional,” by the way, is used relatively here.
11. Sex and the City: The Movie
    The HBO comedy series really shouldn’t get a movie. It’s just not the kind of show that should get a movie. In fact, the only HBO shows that deserve such treatment are Carnivale and Deadwood, though even those are pushing acceptability (I didn’t say The Sopranos because, like all HBO shows, they succeed because the stories span episodes and seasons, and are not and should not be contained within a single, two-hour time frame). All that being said, Sex and the City was a well-written and entertaining television show, and as such I’m looking forward to the movie. And yes, that’s coming from a 25-year old straight guy.
12. Tropic Thunder
    I’m sort of sick of Ben Stiller, and not only does he star in this movie but he also directs it, but Tropic Thunder just looks like a blast. About a group of actors who unknowingly find themselves involved in real warfare when they are meant to just be filming an action movie, Tropic Thunder has a great comedic cast that includes Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. Downey, in particular, is a selling point, not only because he is the best actor of the group but because he plays the best actor – ever – in the movie, a man so dedicated to his work that he actually undergoes a controversial surgical procedure to make himself African-American. That alone is worth the price of admission.
13. Son of Rambow
    One of the few films on this list that isn’t receiving a wide release – at least not at first – is the Son of Rambow. What’s better than one Rambo movie in the year? How about two? Son of Rambow is a comedy about a young boy who decides to make his own action movie; the previews are full of stunts-gone-bad and other childhood mishaps. The movie looks touching, but more importantly funny.
14. The Strangers
    OK, so The Strangers will probably suck. It seems to have been pushed back time and time again, which is never a good sign, and has been dropped in the middle of a hornet’s nest – the end of May. Still, with few other horror movies out and about, if any, The Strangers looks pretty creepy. The movie, which stars Liv Tyler, is about a couple who find their house invaded by a bunch of masked intruders. I’m a sucker for movies that could, in theory, happen to me, and it’s not inconceivable that some psychopaths could put on Halloween masks and break into someone’s house. The trailers are effectively scary, and that’s enough for me.
15. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
    Way down in the #15 spot is The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The movie looks good. Hell, the movie looks really good. The film is well presented, the story looks darker and more exciting than the first one, so on and so forth. Still, I’m hesitant. The first movie was decent, but a little bland and no Lord of the Rings. The fact that the movie is made for children specifically hurts, especially since the movie is marketed like it’s some kind of gritty war movie. Prince Caspian is rated PG, which means we’re going to get more of the same. I hope that going in with lowered expectations will do the film justice, but I doubt I’m going to come out of the theater raving.
16. Star Wars: The Clone Wars
    Under other circumstances, a Star Wars movie would automatically be in the Top 5 of my list. But, considering that The Clone Wars is an animated movie originally meant for the small screen, I am not that thrilled. The visuals look questionable at best – while I’m sure the action while be find, the characters themselves look quite cartoonish. This alone has me worried. I don’t know why, but I would have been excited for this had it simply premiered on television like it was meant to; there’s something about Star Wars being on another medium that allows me to separate it from the theatrical films. As such, I am worried that this movie is somehow going to ruin the Star Wars experience for me, regardless of the fact that the three prequels were less than stellar to begin with.
17. Wanted
    A clear Matrix wannabe, Wanted shows off just enough visuals, action and Angelina Jolie skin to have me curious. This is one of those movies that is going to end up being ridiculously entertaining or pathetically bad; I don’t see much in between here. James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman also bring some promise to the film, but Wanted still looks like more of a paycheck film than a legitimate, quality picture. Still, I’m curious.
18. You Don’t Mess with the Zohan
    Adam Sandler is back in another goofy comedy, and this one is sure to raise some controversy. The movie is about a Palestinian guy who heads to America to become a hair stylist – but ends up getting involved with some Islamic terrorists. The movie definitely treads on shaky ground, but there are enough laughs in the trailer to have me wanting more. I don’t expect this movie to be among his best, but it shows promise. Then again, so did Chuck and Larry, and that one was terrible.
19. The Incredible Hulk
    Ah, The Incredible Hulk. What can I say? The movie just doesn’t look that good. I’ve never been a big fan of the green “hero,” and the fact that the original movie was forgettable doesn’t help. Still, Ed Norton, one of the best actors working today, has taken on the lead role. Unfortunately, having now seen two different movie trailers, I have yet to be impressed. The visuals look questionable, the direction more so. Those slow motion shots of the Hulk flying through the air? Uh-oh. I am still holding onto an ounce of hope, but compared to the other summer movies, this one is going to sink fast if it isn’t up to par. Hell, it will probably sink fast anyway.
20. The Babysitters
    A movie few will see, The Babysitters is on this list because it’s about a teenage babysitter who starts an escort service. And no, it’s not a porn. The movie promises sex, scandal, crime and possibly more, and that’s enough to get me to add this to my Netflix list.
21. War, Inc.
    John Cusack stars in this movie that is being compared to Grosse Point Blank. I didn’t particularly like that movie, but this is the kind of movie where he thrives, so War, Inc. should not be disregarded. In fact, having just watched the trailer, this movie looks really funny and politically edgy. Why is this #21? Because I’m too lazy to move it higher.
22. The Midnight Meat Train
    Last but not least, there’s this movie. A horror movie that probably won’t be any good, Midnight Meat Train offers a pretty slick and gruesome trailer – and an awesome title. In reality, the title suggests something ridiculously cheesy and the previews show no such things, but other than that, how can I not be excited for a movie called such a thing?

Wow. I’ve been writing for an hour, and as you can tell from the last couple entries, I’ve had enough.

Can you believe it’s already April? It feels like New Year’s was just last week, but we’re already a quarter of the way through the year. The summer blockbusters are only a month away, and the misery that was March is behind us. April is shaping up to be a decent month theatrically, with a few okay but not stellar releases hitting theaters. If you’re in the mood for horror, The Ruins and Prom Night arrive soon, and there is something for almost every genre, from action (Street Kings) to family film (Nim’s Island) to comedy (Baby Mama). But there are only five movies I really want to see this month, and those movies are:

1. Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo
   Yes, Harold and Kumar is number one my list. Why would I choose such a stupid, idiotic, pot-filled movie like this as my number one film to see? Why, because the original Harold and Kumar is one of the best stupid movies ever made. I don’t even know how to describe it, but it is absolutely hilarious, and I’m not even the kind of person who enjoys idiotic movies. Yes, I know that comedy sequels are rarely as good as the originals, but I’m holding out hope that this one should at least entertain me for an hour and a half.
2. Leatherheads
   Another comedy? Yes! Comedy is my least favorite genre, believe it or not (I prefer depressing, depressing, depressing!), but the George Clooney-directed picture is my second choice for April. Unlike Harold and Kumar, though, this one is a little more of a drama-sports-comedy, as it is set several decades ago before the NFL was around. The movie promises some entertaining sports action, some witty dialogue (the exchange between Renee Zellweger and Clooney that’s shown in the previews is priceless) and John Krasinski (”The Office”) finally in a potentially good movie. Leatherheads isn’t going to blow anyone away, but it looks like it has just the right chemistry to appeal to audiences and critics alike. Too bad I don’t like Zellweger much at all.
3. Forbidden Kingdom, The
   A couple years, I was enamored with Asian kung fu movies such as this. Honestly, the genre couldn’t go wrong. Even before that, I loved Jackie Chan movies and liked Jet Li movies. That is then; this is now. These Asian films are starting to look all the same, and with titles such as “The Forbidden Kingdom”, it’s hard to keep them all straight. The movie itself doesn’t even look all that great, but it does offer one thing that fans have been craving for years: the teaming of Jackie Chan and Jet Li. And no, not just a teaming: while it appears as though they are both good guys, they do get their fair share of fighting each other… this is every fan’s dying wish. For this alone, I will go see The Forbidden Kingdom.
4. 88 Minutes
   Another actor I’ve grown tired of over the years is Al Pacino, who, as many people believe, has grown comfortable playing the same role over and over again in varied plots. That being said, I still respect him as an actor and I never underestimate him. Even when he chooses bad movies, the movies are often not that bad, and when he picks decent movies, they tend to be on the better side of decent. 88 Minutes appears to be a rather formulaic thriller with a countdown gimmick, but that’s enough to get me into theaters. The movie doesn’t look great, but it looks like it could be entertaining, and in the month of April, that’s all I ask for.
5. Pathology
   While I tried to keep this list to wide releases, I had to mention Pathology on here. Who knows if the movie will be any good, but judging from the red band trailer, which offered up lots of gratuitous sex, nudity and gore, I am more than just a little intrigued. My thinking is rather shallow here, but I’m okay with it. Anytime a movie can work lots of nudity into an otherwise adult horror-thriller, I’ll be there checking things out (supervising and chaperoning, you know).
6. Deception
   I just watched a movie trailer for this thriller, and while I can’t say it blew me away, I’m certainly intrigued. At the very least, the movie stars Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor, two actors you should never take too lightly, as well as a bunch of beautiful women who all participate in a sex group. Of course, the secrets of the sex group boil over into some kind of murder or betrayal case, and we’re left with a naughty sex thriller. These movies generally end up being really good or really bad, and only time will tell which category this one falls into.

Comedies can win Oscars, or at least Golden Globes. Foreign films get their own category. So, aside from family films, the one genre that never gets much recognition other than through box office dollars is the action movie genre. Action films have become blurred with thrillers recently, as Hollywood has leaned more toward serious, realistic action-thrillers over kick-ass explosion-filled extravaganzas. This list includes some of those, but 2007 saw the reemergence of some bad ass action films.

And no, Spider-Man 3 is not on the list. Here are the top ten action movies of 2007:

1. Transformers (2007)
   The top five action movies of 2007 are pretty close to one another, and the top three are almost interchangeable. But there’s no denying that the film with the biggest impact over the summer was an explosive action film that had fan boys salivating and even regular audience members blown away by spectacular visual effects and a finale that all but destroys Los Angeles. The movie was plagued with some annoying dialogue and other screenplay issues, but Michael Bay’s action sequences overcame those flaws to make Transformers the best action movie of 2007.
2. 300 (2007)
   Coming in a very close second place is 300, a movie from Dawn of the Dead director Zach Snyder. 300 could have been a complete disaster, but Snyder made the movie a visual feast. Some people complained that the movie had a lot more talking than fighting, but I found it to have the perfect balance of politics, drama, visuals and action. 300 is by far and away the most visually original picture of 2007, and it’ll be interesting to see how the Visual Effects Oscar gets handed out – on the one hand, Transfomers offered seamless visuals; on the other, 300 was one long special effect that defied expectations and made the film the biggest hit of the first four months of the year.
3. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
   The smartest action film in the top three, the third Bourne film places third simply because I thought The Bourne Supremacy was slightly better. The Bourne Ultimatum felt a bit like it was re-treading on the second film’s originality only with a less interesting plot, but I only say that because Supremacy is one of my all-time favorite action films. Ultimatum is still a great action movie, and continues to prove that Matt Damon can be an action hero, and a damn intimidating one to boot.
4. Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
   Despite going way too over the top at times (the fighter jet blowing up a billion dollars worth of highway, for instance), the fourth Die Hard movie was everything fans were expecting and waiting for. People had all but given up on the chance that they would indeed make a fourth movie, but Bruce Willis brought his rugged John McClain back to theaters one more time. The movie is one long action sequence, and while it is hit a bit by the fact that it is rated PG-13, it is still a pretty brutal thrill ride. At the very least, it was refreshing to return to the action films of old, where tough guys did tough things.
5. No Country for Old Men (2007)
   Who knew that a major Best Picture contender would end up on a Top Ten list for Best Action Movie? Regardless, No Country for Old Men, from the Coen Brothers, is one of the most exciting movies I’ve seen in a long time. Not your typical action film, the Coen Brothers fill their film with an impending sense of dread, and give us one of the scariest and most ruthless villains ever witnessed on the silver screen. Unfortunately, the movie doesn’t end the way most of us would have liked – otherwise, this film could have been a lot higher on this list.
6. Shooter (2007)
   Items six through ten aren’t nearly as good as items one through five, but are still good entries for those looking for mindless entertainment. Shooter is a pretty mindless film that tries to cover some idiocies with a political assassination and conspiracy storyline, which, for the most part, works well enough. Mark Wahlberg does a good job in the lead, and Shooter offers plenty of action and intrigue. It’s not a great movie, but it’s still better than most action movies we get these days.
7. 28 Weeks Later (2007)
   Okay, so 28 Weeks Later is technically a horror movie, or at the very least a zombie movie, but as far as excitement goes, it’s a great little film. The movie didn’t receive very good reviews nor box office revenues, but this zombie sequel is exciting and suspenseful from the first minute to the last. The opening sequence is great, and the film is full of exciting moments.
8. Vacancy (2007)
   It’s been a while since I last saw this thriller, but I had to put it on the list anyway. It’s not an action movie per se, but it is action-packed, so I think it deserves a place. Starring the unlikely combination of Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale as a nearly divorced couple, Vacancy is about two people who find themselves trapped at the hotel from Hell. The movie is exciting from beginning to the end, minus the last two minutes, which are just dreadful. Still, I hadn’t sat on the edge of my seat like this in a long time.
9. 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
   I wasn’t crazy about the ending of this one either, but there’s no denying that 3:10 to Yuma is still a thoroughly entertaining film. Starring the great combination of Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, the western remake offers a complicated and disturbing villain (Crowe), some good action scenes and several other exciting moments. If anyone still thinks that westerns are out of date, 3:10 to Yuma is just one of many recent westerns that proves them wrong.
10. The Kingdom (2007)
    This one wasn’t as good as I was hoping it would be, but The Kingdom has some great action, especially toward the end. Somehow this movie, which featured some pretty spectacular trailers and a quality cast, flopped in theaters despite having everything that action audiences require. The shortcoming of the film is that the screenplay isn’t nearly as good as it should have been, given the material.

Other movies that almost made the list: Planet Terror, Death Proof and Smokin’ Aces. The two Grindhouse films were both thoroughly entertaining and offered some good action, while Smokin’ Aces was entertaining but not quite as action packed as I was hoping for.

Why wasn’t Spider-Man 3 on the list? Because it just wasn’t that good of a movie. Harry Potter? Not nearly as good as the other movies (and not really an action movie). Pirates of the Caribbean? That movie just sucked. Fantastic Four 2? Enough said.

Has anyone realized that 2008 has just as many big movies, if not more big movies, than 2007 did? We get Batman, Bond, Harry, Indy, Kirk, Rambo and Mulder over the span of approximately 180 days, and those are only a fraction of the cool-looking movies coming out this year. Of course, the most anticipated movies of 2008 includes a lot of big budget films – because the smaller films and dramas that come out at year’s end have yet to release trailers or develop much buzz as of yet. That will change, but in the meantime, here are my 20 most anticipated movies of 2008. Enjoy the 2008 movie list:

1. The Dark Knight (2008)
   Easily my most anticipated movie of 2008, The Dark Knight brings back nearly everyone that made Batman Begins so great, while adding Heath Ledger as The Joker. I was skeptical about whether it was smart to bring back The Joker after Jack Nicholson made an icon of the character in Tim Burton’s original, but there is no denying that Heath Ledger looks and sounds a heck of a lot more terrifying. Without all the back story that slowed down the first one (don’t get me wrong – I loved it), The Dark Knight promises to be more action-packed and even better.
2. James Bond 22 (2008)
   On Batman’s heels is the latest James Bond film, which once again stars Daniel Craig. After Casino Royale defied expectations and proved that the world could handle a blond Bond, I have huge expectations for this sequel. That being said, there have been a few worrisome developments. There was one article that suggested the producers wanted to inject more humor into the film, though I’m guessing that was fake news – after all, why would they mess with a formula that worked so well, both critically and financially, the last time out? Oh, and the director has never done an action movie before. Regardless, expectations have never been higher for a Bond film; I usually went to the theaters expecting some fun action and entertainment, but now I expect a truly quality film.
3. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
   In other years, this movie might have been #1, but not this year. Still, there’s no denying that the biggest movie of the year will probably be Indiana Jones 4. We haven’t seen any previews yet, but with Harrison Ford returning to the role and Steven Spielberg back as director, there’s no reason not to expect another entertaining thrill ride. The only thing that could kill this film will be super high expectations; fans have been waiting nearly 20 years, and the anticipation in the weeks leading up to the film’s release will be crazy.
4. Star Trek (2008)
   The buzz is already big on this film. Abrams is flying high right now after Cloverfield launched big (and his previous directorial effort, Mission: Impossible III, was an awesome movie), and thus I am expecting nothing less than incredible for the new Star Trek movie. Looking back, the last several movies have been a bit cheesy and not all that great, but the teaser trailer for this film indicates that much of the cheese factor may be removed. How this rests with Trekkies is anyone’s guess, but hopefully fans of the shows (like me) realize that something like this is necessary to keep the franchise going – much like the Bond franchise needed Casino Royale.
5. Cloverfield (2008)
   This J.J. Abrams-produced movie has already been released in theaters, but even before I saw it, I was definitely looking forward to it. The marketing team did an incredible job of creating buzz for the film over a six-month period, and for the most part, the film lived up to expectations.
6. The X-Files 2 (2008)
   This sequel is flying under the radar right now, and often times I forget that it’s even coming to theaters this year, but once the trailer hits the airwaves, things will change. As a huge X-Files fan, I’m definitely looking forward to this long overdue film, but the question remains: will anyone care? It’s been a long time since The X-Files ended, and the movie is probably not going to make hundreds of millions of dollars. It’s anyone’s guess, but I hope it delivers big in one way or another.
7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2008)
   Normally, a Harry Potter movie would rank much higher, and in years past they have often topped my lists; however, after the disappointing last movie, it’s a waiting game for me. David Yates, who I pretty much blamed for the previous film’s lack of cohesion, is returning to direct this film, and I really have to wonder what Warner Brothers was thinking. That being said, the original screenwriter – who has done all of the other movies except for The Order of the Phoenix, is returning, and that should spice things up a bit. This prequel to the final movie (rumored to be two movies?) is an important one, and so Yates better not blow it again.
8. Rambo (2008)
   Okay, it might be endless entertainment, but if you’re a guy, you have to be at least a little excited at the prospect of watching a new Rambo movie. Sure, Sylvestor Stallone is scraping for any way to make a buck, but after Rocky Balboa managed to be halfway decent, I’m holding out hope. Furthermore, the previews have absolutely kicked ass; I don’t care how old Stallone is – if he’s tearing apart bad guys with his bare hands and blood is flying everywhere, I am in theaters opening night.
9. Iron Man (2008)
   I was skeptical about this one at first. While I was a comic book fan as a kid, I never purchased a single Iron Man comic, though I’m sure I’ve read one or two over the years. The character never intrigued me very much, and the thought of a tin man flying around doesn’t sound like it could work. Still, the previews for Iron Man have suggested otherwise. The trailers are kick ass, full of explosions, special effects and everything else you’d want from a movie like this.
10. Hancock (2008)
    This superhero movie took me by surprise when I saw a preview for it in front of National Treasure 2; I hadn’t heard or seen anything about it up until then. But this movie, about a loser of a superhero who causes millions of dollars of damage to everything he touches, looks pretty damn entertaining. Did I mention it stars Will Smith? That alone means this film will be a blast, as he has yet to truly disappoint in a blockbuster flick.
11. Get Smart (2008)
    Steve Carrell is at the peak of his career right now, and Get Smart looks like it may finally capitalize on his sense of humor (since Evan Almighty sucked Jesus balls). The teaser trailer for the movie is spectacular, and features Carrell in all kinds of awkward, spy-oriented situations. The phone booth sequence is entertaining, as is the phone-throwing attempt. I usually don’t put too many comedies on my list, but Get Smart definitely deserves a place.
12. Wall-E (2008)
    This is the new movie from Pixar. Enough said. Okay, I’ll add that the visuals look great, and once again Pixar is doing something unique, which is more than what can be sound about their competitors.
13. Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo (2008)
    The first movie looked completely awful, but it was so funny and I ended up watching it twice in the same day. The second movie looks pretty funny as well, though for these kind of films, you can never tell. The marketing team will of course be able to make a funny two-minute trailer out of ninety minutes of stupidity, but I’m holding out hope that this Harold and Kumar sequel will be pretty good.
14. Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)
    The trailer for this sequel isn’t as good as I would have liked, but since the first movie was such a refreshing jolt of excitement, I have high hopes for this sequel. All of the main cast members are returning, and it looks like Guillermo del Toro, fresh off his foreign-language masterpiece Pan’s Labyrinth, has injected similar styles from that Oscar-nominated film into this one.
15. Jumper (2008)
    This Hayden Christensen/Samuel L. Jackson sci-fi thriller may end up being mindless fluff, but Jumper looks cool. The concept, about a young man who can teleport anywhere in the world, is relatively unique, and the special effects look good enough to back up the idea. The movie’s release date suggests it won’t be anything too intelligent, but you never know.
16. The Incredible Hulk (2008)
    I actually liked the first Hulk movie moderately enough, up until the absolutely horrible ending. That being said, if I watched it again, I would probably laugh at how bad it is. I’ve never been a fan of the Hulk – I never understood what the big deal is about an anti-hero who turns into a monster – but this movie does have potential. After all, the studio heard the complaints about the original film and have presumably made amends. The presence of Ed Norton as Bruce Banner doesn’t hurt, either.
17. Revolutionary Road (2008)
    Again, here’s another drama without a trailer, but come awards time, everyone expects this film to be right up among the major contenders. Why? The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, reuniting for the first time since Titanic, and is directed by Sam Mendes, who directed one of my all-time favorite movies, American Beauty. You may have heard of it.
18. Sex and the City (2008)
    I’m not anticipating this comedy as much as I am intrigued by it. Even though I am a 25-year old straight male, I have to admit that I have seen almost all of the Sex and the City episodes and thoroughly enjoyed them (living with two females for a year helped). It’s truly one of the best comedies ever to be seen on television; of course, HBO has an unfair advantage in that it puts a lot more dollars into its shows than the average sitcom. Whether the television show will work as a movie is anyone’s guess, but we’ll find out in a few months…
19. Run, Fatboy, Run (2008)
    Just to fill out my Top 20, I added one that I haven’t seen on anyone else’s list. Run, Fatboy, Run, starring Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) looks funny in a completely goofy kind of way, and that’s enough to have me looking forward to it. Pegg really hasn’t stumbled yet, and while I’m not expecting anything as clever as his Shaun or Hot Fuzz, this one should be a bloody good time.
20. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)
    Some people are really looking forward to this movie. I’m holding my breath. The previews don’t make this one look as good as the first one, and the first one was a mild disappointment. I thought the first one looked cool, until I sat down for a two-and-a-half hour film that was mildly entertaining at best and boring at its worst, so the marketing department is really going to have to step it up to convince me that this sequel is different.

Just so everyone knows, I updated my Top Ten Movies of 2007 List. I forgot to put Once on the list, and if you’ve seen Once, you know that’s a movie that deserves to be recognized. The movie, about a street musician and an immigrant who strike up a relationship to work on producing an album of the musician’s work, is incredibly simple yet absolutely intriguing at the same time. The song, nominated for an Oscar, is one of the greatest songs to grace the silver screen in a long time.

Read my Once movie review, or take a look at my updated Best Movies of 2007 list.