Empire State of Mind...

Finally took the time to make it into NYC today. Didn't have a ton of time so I focused on 30 Rock and Top of the Rock.

Movies 2009

Okay, so I have seen about 70 movies this year, give or take. I haven't seen them all, so I am only judging from those that I have seen. Here are my top 15 for the year and my bottom 10.

Let the debate begin!

15 Favorites

1) Inglorious Basterds – Revenge Fantasy? WWII movie send up? A return to form for Quentin Tarantino? How about all of the above and a movie I can watch over and over. Come for the conversation in the farmhouse, stay for the antics of Brad Pitt.

2) Up In the Air – On a side note, my boss told me yesterday, "have you seen Up in the Air? That is going to be your life for the next 6 months." With that in mind, I loved every minute of this movie. I loved the tone, the melancholy mood and the way it didn't feel like it had to leave things on a sugary note. With three movies I have loved the last few years, is it safe to say that Jason Reitman is moving to the top of my favorite director's list?

3) Star Trek – In a year jam-packed with big budget action movies, Star Trek easily took the cake for me. As a fan of everything Star Trek, I went into this looking for a way to be disappointed. Instead, I came out a bigger fan. This is how you jumpstart a dead franchise!

4) Adventureland – Jesse Eisenberg may be the star of my top 15 list since this is the first of 2 movies he starred in on my list. Maybe I related to this movie because I have spent most of my life at this point working in movie theaters. Maybe it was the great writing.

5) 500 Days of Summer - This may be the best movie about a doomed romance that I haven't seen in a while. The way the movie plays out the party scene with Gordon-Levitt's character's reality vs. his hopes was brilliant. Plus, it has Zooey in it!

6) Up – This was a great year for animation and as it should be, Pixar led the way. I had the chance to see the first 45 minutes of this movie introduced by the director at ShoWest. Leave it to Docter to find a way to develop his characters more in the first 8 minutes of the movie than most directors did with their entire works.

7) The Informant! - I think that people are starting to forget this Matt Damon gem, but that would be a mistake. Sort of bizzaro world version of The Insider, it is almost so insane that it has to be true.

8) The Hangover - I don't think a movie made me laugh harder this year.

9) The Fantastic Mr. Fox - Are you cussing me? Are you cussing me?

10) I Love You, Man – "Return the favor. Give it back." One of the many funny lines that made this non-Apatow related comedy an all-time keeper. I'm suddenly in the mood to watch Chocolat and eat summer salad.

11) Coraline – One of the many reasons I loved this movie is that it used Other Father Song by They Might Be Giants. Beyond that, it's dark, a bit creepy and touching all at the same time.

12) Avatar – I really liked this movie and the visuals can't be touched. It's the first 3D movie I have seen that I think must be seen in 3D. Not because the 3D is a gimmick, but because it is used to bring you into the environment. My only critique is the warmed over story and Cameronish dialogue. Would it kill him to let someone else do the writing on his scripts?

13) Zombieland – I really wasn't expecting much going into this one, but coming out I loved it. It's the rare horror movie that nails the sarcasm, humor and violence on every level. Plus, doesn't it have the best cameo of all time?

14) District 9 – In probably the best year for science fiction in my lifetime, District 9 was a great addition. I loved the documentary style and the unflinching violence. It does make me a bit upset that Blomkamp never got the chance to make a Halo movie.

15) State of Play – This Russell Crowe movie was really overlooked, but it was a throwback press vs. the world movie.

Worst

10) Madea Goes To Jail – I think that I have to side with Spike Lee on how I feel about Tyler Perry's Madea movies. In a lot of ways it is like modern day black face. Plus, I'm not buying Rudy from the Cosby show as a prostitute!

9) Terminator: Salvation – I don't think I have ever been more bored in an action movie.

8) X-Men Origins: Wolverine – Take a look at the scene where Wolverine looks at his claws in the bathroom mirror. That pretty much sums up the crappiness of this movie. Plus, they really screwed up Deadpool.

7) The Soloist – This is what happens when you base movies on newspaper articles. The characters lacked depth and the movie really had no place to go.

6) Amelia – Ok, I might be acting a bit harsh on this movie, but Teresa and I watched this one in St. Louis. We both walked out and sort of said, "meh." It is really paint by numbers biopic.

5) The Box – Oh I so wanted this to be great. The concept was based on an old Twilight Zone episode. However, it failed on pretty much every level.

4) Battle For Terra – I was forced to sit through this one at ShoWest. Badly executed CGI and a predictable story is a recipe for a 1 ½ wasted.

3) The Ugly Truth – The anti-Hangover. Not funny!

2) The Final Destination – The original Final Destination was enjoyable and fresh addition to the horror genre. Now, as the franchise limps away, this turd is the final word on the matter.

1) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – I think Roger Ebert said it best, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a horrible experience of unbearable length, briefly punctuated by three or four amusing moments. One of these involves a dog-like robot humping the leg of the heroine. Such are the meager joys. If you want to save yourself the ticket price, go into the kitchen, cue up a male choir singing the music of hell, and get a kid to start banging pots and pans together. Then close your eyes and use your imagination."

Let's not forget racist, illiterate robots, sophomoric humor, (that wasn't funny), and a plot filled with more holes that Michael Bay's talent. A transformer can disguise itself as a college-aged whore and no one is worried that there might be more than one? This wasn't only the worst movie of the year, but should be right up there with the worst ever.

The Macy Cache

So, the final step for me as I as I say goodbye to Macy Dog is creating a geocache in her honor. This will be a dog-friendly cache that I am going to hide near one of her favorite haunts. It will be filled with dog toys that people can take and replace with other dog toys. I am also going to put an album in with my favorite pictures of her. The way I see it, there will be a little bit of her sweetness that keeps on giving!

Here are some of my favorites that I found while putting it together:

The girl has talent to spare!

I was cleaning up my hard drive when I stumbled upon this forgotten gem. I had to share it with the group!

A "note" on Horner

Okay, anyone that knows me knows that I am a movie junkie. Those that know me well know I'm also a soundtrack and musical score fan. It's easy to say, "I love the work of John Williams". Any kid born in the 70's or early 80's should be able to cite William's best work like the alphabet, if their childhood was even mildly entertaining. Star Wars, E.T., Indiana Jones, etc. Big or small, Williams scores are always classic.

It's nearly cliche to say he is the master.

Now, the composer I actually own the most scores of is James Horner. Admitting you are a Horner fan is a bit more daring, but his body of work is deep and memorable. I think he is second only to Williams in finding a way to enhance the movie through the music. Here are my favorites:

1) Braveheart - My favorite score ever. Enough said.
2) Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan - Yes, I'm a Star Trek nerd but I have to put this at the top of the heap when it comes to Star Trek cinematic scores. The Khan theme is fantastic, but I can pinpoint the moment I fell in love with movies in this film. It's Enterprise powering up and leaving spacedock. This scene doesn't play nearly as well without the swelling Horner score building anticipation. Don't believe me? Watch it with your sound down.
3) Glory - Lots of brass. The Harlem Boys Choir. A heroic but tragic fate playing out to the Charging Sumptner climax. The only album that I have played through a tape and a CD! I have bought it four times in my life.
4) Field of Dreams - Seriously, I don't think that I have made it through the last ten minutes of this movie without a tear in the corner of my eye. Horner plays it soft until Costner asks, "Dad? Wanna have a catch?" The theme builds and cue the waterworks.
5) Apollo 13 - One scene cements this score in my all-time favorites. The astronauts boarding their Saturn rocket and the launch sequence for Apollo 13. Excellent.
6) Cocoon - The first of many collaborations for Ron Howard and James Horner.
7) House of Sand and Fog - Little known but beautiful!
8) A Beautiful Mind - A fractured score for a fractured tale.
9) Aliens - A suspenseful score for a great action movies that all other action movies strive to be in the 80's and 90's. Easily the sci-fi cousin of Wrath of Khan.
10) Willow

honorable mention: The Mask of Zorro and Battle Beyond the Stars

Horner's most popular work is of course Titanic. The third highest selling soundtrack of all time and best selling score. However, I think this is where I begin to have problems with what Horner does. It's clear that the guy draws inspiration from his own work. When you listen to Titanic, you can clearly hear Braveheart. Perfect Storm? You can take sections of the end credits and not be able to distinguish them from Cocoon. Bicentennial Man? I swear the hook in the main theme is a direct rip from Braveheart. You can do this over and over and over again and find similarities in just about all of his scores. A little pan flute. Celtic chants. Clanging brass.

All that being said, I love them all. I'll continue to listen!

The long-awaited first post...

Like anything you get excited about and dread at the same time, I have been putting off starting a blog. Why? Do I think anyone cares what I say? Well, I've decided that my need for a portal to write outweighs my neurotic, vanity concerns. So it begins...

Be entertained.

Don't give a shit.

I'm going to write and I hope you read!