Remembering 2007

For me, 2007 will not be an easy year to forget. There's a good reason I didn't post much this year: I just didn't feel like it. In early February my Mom was diagnosed with a brain tumor. We were soon told it was an aggressive malignant type of tumor that could only be treated but not cured. Watching her slow decline as she dealt with her body and mind failing her made 2007 easily the worst year of my young life. Mom died in November, it took less than a year. With Christmas reminding us of her absence even more, these last few days have been especially hard, but I've been trying to remember how she was special to me.

     I love talking about movies; I will talk to anyone, anytime about any movie. My wife puts up with my endless babbling about how fantastic Martin Scorsese is, most of my friends enjoy discussing recent films they've seen, I've turned my sister into an addict, I even get my dad to watch a new movie once in a while. I get excited when I talk about a good movie, very few things truly garner my emotions and my friends and family all understand that. And whenever I would tell Mom about an upcoming movie or what I saw the night before, she would listen, and comment and sometimes she would get excited too.

     Coming from a family of librarians and writers, I've learned to appreciate the value of the written word. Mom loved books, reading, writing, language and storytelling. Movies have long been my preferred medium for storytelling, yet I always knew I could count on her to watch something with me, if I thought she might enjoy it of course. Likewise Mom introduced me to many of her favorites. Whenever I watch Charade, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, A Christmas Story, or her favorite: American Graffiti; those films will always make me think of her.
     Mom was always able to connect with me about my interests. Maybe that came easy to her, she was my Mom after all. But it's going to take a while for me to accept that there is one less person in the world who understands me. She will be missed.


Best of the Year
I didn't get out to see many movies this year but here is a list of the ones I did (note: many of these I didn't see until they were on DVD).

Catch and Release
Zodiac
300
Reign Over Me
Meet the Robinsons
Grindhouse
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters
Hot Fuzz
Spider-man 3
Shrek the Third
Knocked Up
Ratatouille
Transformers
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Simpsons Movie
The Bourne Ultimatum
3:10 to Yuma
No Country for Old men
The Golden Compass
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Juno*

I've been trying to keep up on all the year end reviews and top ten lists for 2007, and what I keep hearing is that this was the best year for film in a long time. Many have compared it to the great years of the 1970's. I wish I could say I had noticed but I simply wasn't paying much attention.

Since I didn't see very much I will give you my top seven films of the year.

1. No Country for Old men
2. Zodiac
3. Knocked Up
4. Ratatouille
5. The Bourne Ultimatum
6. Juno*

7. 3:10 to Yuma
8. Grindhouse

Here's a look back at my 2006 movie list. I still think that was a pretty good year.

*Update 12/31: I got to see Juno on Saturday and it was good; better than most of what I've seen this year.

Movies I've Seen Recently

Good Luck Chuck

I saw this Dane Cook flick last night. It had its moments, but man is it a chick flick. I felt like I was losing some respect for Cook just hearing some of the more cheesey dialogue coming from his mouth. But it was cute, and I would deem it a good date movie.

The premise is, Chuck is a good luck charm for women; every woman who has ever been with him ended up marrying the next guy they dated. Once women start realizing this, Chuck becomes a very sought-after guy. Watch out for the gross-out factor with a couple of the conquests Chuck seeks in order to break his curse. Jessica Alba does well as the cute-but-klutzy girl Chuck falls for.


Reign Over Me

I remember this movie came out around my birthday in March and I really wanted to see it. It never came to a theatre around where I live, so I was happy to see it on DVD at last.

Adam Sandler is heart-breaking as Charlie Fineman, a man who lost his wife and three daughters in 9/11. Director Mike Binder, I was warned, has been criticized for tending to beat his audience over the head with an overall message or theme. There was definitely a theme in this movie, of redemption and finding peace of mind, but I think it was tastefully done.

Don Cheadle plays his former college roommate who meets up with Fineman again on the street. When he realizes Charlie is not doing well, he gets involved with his life and tries to help him out. It also helps Cheadle's character, who complains early on to Liv Tyler, who plays a therapist, about not having anything in his life but work.

Bonus: Donald Sutherland as the no-nonsense judge in a later scene. B.J. Novak plays a lawyer you'll want to hit.


Across the Universe

I had been looking forward to seeing Julie Taymor's Beatles musical for months. I really enjoyed it, because it was beautifully done and had some really creative sequences. The best part, of course, was the music. The worst, however, was the character development. Maybe Taymor didn't have enough time to expand them the way she may have wanted, but I think some parts could have been taken out (like the unusual "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" scene early on) to allow for better quality characters.

The "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" sequence, which shows hundreds of young men being drafted to fight in Vietnam carrying the Statue of Liberty, is so strong it will make your hair stand on end. The "Strawberry Fields" scene, where the main character pins and smashes strawberries onto a canvas as his friend sees carnage in the wasteland of Vietnam, is surely commentary on today's situation in Iraq.

I liked it a lot, but I found myself wanting more. This is an unusual feeling to walk away with, after a 131 minute film.

3:10 to Yuma

Owen and I saw 3:10 to Yuma last week.

Russell Crowe plays a great bad guy. A friend pointed out that you can't go wrong with Crowe in a period piece. After Yuma, I have to add to that: you also can't go wrong with Crowe as a nasty "rotten as hell" thief.

Bale is heart-breaking as the crippled, down-on-his-luck rancher with a family that doesn't respect him. He is also the most likeable character in the film.

I am a fan of westerns, but some can't help but have parts that seem to drag a little. This film is devoid of those parts. Every second holds interest and progresses character development. The characters are unpredictable and yet entirely believable.

This movie is a remake, but I have not yet seen the original. Reviews I read, however, claim the recent version blows the original out of the water.

Edit: Also this movie has the most fantastic poster I've seen all year.
-Owen

"Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots" (© M. Baily)

Since it first aired back in 1984, the Transformers have been idols for man-geeks to worship. Giant, super-intelligent robots from space that can change into cool looking cars, trucks and planes... what more could an adolescent boy want? If you grew up in the 80s as I did, you had heard about Transformers. Most likely you had some of the toys; I remember being particularly jealous of a kid who had the Optimus Prime with the attached tractor trailer. Maybe you were fortunate enough to see the 1986 film based on the TV show when it was released in theaters that featured the great voice talents of Orson Welles, Peter Cullen, Scatman Crothers and Judd Nelson(?).

The big question is, why was there all this demand for a live-action film almost 20 years after the show was off the air? Sure, there were a few attempts at rebooting the show for a new generation of fans but they never came close to reaching the popularity of the original series. Why make a film based on a cheesy 80s kids show? The answer: geeks never forget a good thing. Throw giant robots from space on the screen and we will watch the battles until our eyes glaze over, then we'll watch some more. I don't even really remember watching the show all that much but you can bet I remember seeing them everywhere. And when I heard that a live-action robot smackdown movie was going to be showing on the big screen, I couldn't wait to see it.

Even after I heard Michael Bay would be directing, I still wanted to see it as soon as I could, I mean Steven Spielberg produced it, he wouldn't let it suck right? When the day finally came and the lights came back on in the theater, I realized that I hadn't been blown away. I'm not sure how high my expectations had reached (someone said it was like seeing Jurassic Park for the first time), but they were not met.

I guess the robots of Transformers were pretty awesome, definitely the best special effects I think I've ever seen. Optimus Prime doing pretty much anything makes this movie worth the price of admission. Whether he's speaking about the rights of sentient beings with his commanding voice or absolutely destroying the face of a Decepticon while fighting in the middle of the freeway, Optimus rules.


Unfortunately most of the other transformers are horribly underused, each getting approximately two lines and one chance to show off their supposedly unique skills. Shia LeBeouf is great in the lead, all the other human characters are just fluff. Some are funny while most are annoying and useless, wasting screen time that could have been filled with more, oh I don't know... Transformers? The film is too long as it is and the plot sucks; Bay probably shot a 3 hour movie and only used the scenes that looked cool instead of the ones that helped the story make sense. Also, Michael Bay must be in love with military, the movie is full of slow motion shots of soldiers getting in and out of various assault vehicles, during the beginning of the film I thought I was watching one of those loud Army commercials.

Go see it for the robots and try not to cringe during the Michael Bay moments, you'll know them when you see them. I really hope they get someone else to direct the sequel. Also check out this Burger King commercial featuring the big 'O'.