This is a list I’ve truly been prepping for, for about a year now. About a year ago I had only seen a couple westerns that I had actually enjoyed (a few of those made this list), and I realized as a lover of movies I have not seen nearly enough westerns. So, I filled my netflix queue and got to watching and enjoying. I realized two things while watching the many westerns I did.

First of all, I’m quite sorry to say and I know many won’t agree with this statement and might even just X out of this page as soon as they read it, but an opinion’s an opinion and I’m not gonna lie to agree with society. I found John Wayne to be overrated. I’m just not a fan. I liked a few of his movies, such as The Searchers and True Grit, and my favorite would probably have to be The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, but that didn’t even make the list. It probably would be 11 or 12 though if I were to add on to this list.

Secondly, and much more importantly, I realized that Western genre is one of my favorites and this list list would be harder to make than I thought. I was very right. Through watching this dying genre I found not only fantastic westerns, but also some of the greatest movies I’ve seen of all time. Well, I’ve been waiting to do this for a very long time now. Here are my top ten favorite westerns of all time.

10. The Outlaw Josey Wales

Some of Eastwood’s best all around work in both acting and directing really shine in this film. There was only one other Clint Eastwood directed movie that was able to surpass this one and its listed later on this list. The story is a surprisingly  heart felt one and its told to near perfection.

9. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

This is the newest western to be placed on this list and in my eyes this movie is a breath of fresh air because it showed that great westerns can still be made today. Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck are phenomenal. A brilliant cast and script was combined to tell the very true and quite epic tale of the assassination of one of the most famous western outlaws there ever was.

8. The Magnificent Seven

There’s not much you can really say about The Magnificent Seven except that you have to let the movie speak for itself. Needless to say, the cast is stupendous and there are many great scenes. Most importantly though, There’s not much that compares with the camaraderie you feel with each character when that theme music comes on.

7. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

At the heart of this classic lies what may be the most iconic duo of all time. Paul Newman and Robert Redford play so impeccably well off each other that every scene is made real and memorable. The timing of every witty crack is absolutely perfect, the action sequences are highly entertaining, while sticking to realism and the finale is breathtaking.

6. Tombstone

Tombstone is a fantastic film that just barely misses my top five. Tombstone is the greatest telling of the now classic tale of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday. There are many memorable parts, from the classic OK coral shoot-out, to Holiday’s tricks with a tea cup in a bar. There’s something for everyone in this flick because even if you don’t find solace in the fantastic scenes, you will certainly find enjoyment out of Val Kilmer’s masterful performance as Doc Holiday.

5. For A Few More Dollars

For A Few Dollars More is a fascinating character study of bounty hunters in the old west. It’s the second film in Sergio Leone’s Man With No Name Trilogy, but as with every movie in the Dollars trilogy, it stands alone as its own fantastic story. Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef make for a very interesting and entertaining pair in the old west. Leone builds tension, keeps you guessing, and in the end he most certainly does not disappoint.

4. The Proposition

The Proposition is another western that is relatively new. It was made only four years ago and I believe it is one of the greatest westerns of all time, only surpassed by some of the greatest movies I’ve ever seen. The plot of The Proposition is genuinely simple, yet superbly poetic. In the Australian Outback, a man is hired to kill his older brother in order to save his younger one from the noose. It’s the most brutal western I’ve seen and it never lets up till its pitch-perfect ending.

3. Once Upon a Time in the West

By far the greatest title for a western I’ve ever seen, if not just the greatest title for a movie. I mean, what can possibly indicate better that you’re about to watch an epic masterpiece than a title like that. Anyways, besides a great title Sergio Leone’s complex, gritty, western tale of revenge and mayhem is so amazing that it was hard to even put it at three. I’m going to say this right now, Sergio Leone builds tension better than Hitchcock does. Every single scene from the (waiting for the train) opening to the final showdown, your always on edge. I’d also like to say that Ennio Morricone is probably the greatest film composer in history. Westerns almost always have fantastic scores, but this is my favorite of any western score. Last, but certainly not least I have to mention Henry Fonda’s flawless performance as the ruthless western gunslinger Frank, certainly out of character for him and in my opinion; his best work.

2. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Most commonly called the classic western and for good reason. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is nothing and I repeat nothing short of a masterpiece. If I’m not mistaken I think the Man With No Name trilogy is the only trilogy that truly gets greater with each film. Leone’s skill for building tension, which has attempted, but never matched, was never greater than in every single, intricately plotted, scene of this movie.

What Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood (Blondie-The Good) , Lee Van Cleef (Angel Eyes-The Bad) and Eli Wallach (Tuco- The Ugly) have given us is masterful look at the west and adventures, and subsequent stories it inspired. A story full of depth and characters, whether that be the good guys, the bad guys, and the ones in between. A timeless epic that savors my hunger for excellence with each passing scene eventually leading to what is probably the most iconic and greatest western showdown/ending ever put on screen. And for this, from the bottom of my heart, I thank them.

1. Unforgiven

As I said in the past, this was a difficult list to make, but there is not a doubt in my mind when it comes to number one. Clint Eastwood starred in many classic westerns including Sergio Leone’s classic Man With No Name Trilogy. Than he directed some of his own great westerns. His knowledge on the genre grew over years of experience and he than gave us the greatest western of all time. Unforgiven is western that was able to do what no other western was able to do. It showed us what the west really. Unforgiven showed us that a ruthless killer could fall off his horse or miss a shot.

Unforgiven shows the realistic West where no one could really be considered the good guy, not even the guy your rooting for (William Munny- Clint Eastood in an Oscar nominated performance) ,  and especially not the sheriff (Little Bill Dagget- Gene Hackman in an Oscar winning performance). Unforgiven was a masterful look into a world we’ve never seen. We thought we had, but we realize that was all just fantasy. Unforgiven mixes dark realism with the  fantasy Western genre. Add brilliant acting and characters, fantastic writing and direction and the result is not only the greatest western of all time, but one of the greatest movies ever made. A true masterpiece of our time worthy of recognition and praise.

I made this list a while back, but I was looking back over my site recently and I’m not ashamed to say this, but I did not spend nearly enough time on this list. So I’ve re-watched some movies, watched some new ones, re-evaluated my thoughts and I’ve decided to re write this list. This list consists of ten of the greatest minds and artists of our time. I’m proud to give them my money every time I hear their name attached to a movie and especially when their name is on the director’s chair.

Along with the name of the director I’ve also included a description of exactly why their on this list and also my three favorite movies in order by said director. It was one of the most difficult lists I’ve had to make, but one I believe all movie critics should divulge their time in creating.

Before I get into the actual list I’d like to give you six Honorable mentions in no particular order. These are all incredible artists who just barely missed the mark:

• Oliver Stone
• Francis Ford Coppola
• Guy Ritchie
• Alfred Hitchcock
• Peter Jackson
• Sergio Leone

Now here’s my top ten favorite cinematic directors of all time:

10. Clint Eastwood

Many people know and love Eastwood for his acting, which he does triumph in, but in my opinion his true genius lies behind the camera. He almost never disappoints and is my favorite director in the western genre. After making his masterpiece Unforgiven, he showed that he surpasses even his large influence Sergio Leone.

3. The Outlaw Josey Wales

2. Mystic River

1. Unforgiven

9. Milos Forman

The two time academy-award winning director is nothing short of one of the greatest directors of all time. His movies speak for themselves; The People vs. Larry Flynt is fantastic, Amadeus is a masterpiece and One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest is nothing short of a perfect movie and one of the greatest ever made.

3. The People vs. Larry Flynt

2. Amadeus

1. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest

8. Tim Burton

Very few filmmakers have ever been able to even match the visual expertise that director Tim Burton brings to each of his films. All of of Burton’s movies are of course full of great, story, acting, and emotion, but even more so than any other directors. Tim Burton makes sure that his movies look beautiful and absolutely never fails.

3. Big Fish

2. Ed Wood

1. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

7. Steven Spielberg

No top directors list is complete without Spielberg and actually most with disagree with the fact that he’s not higher. Sure he’s directed numerous classics, but when looking at his resume, he’s actually a pretty generic crowd pleaser. He’s a fantastic director, one of the best, but there are a few I enjoy more.

3. Catch Me If You Can

2. Jaws

1. Schindler’s List

6. Christopher Nolan

Christopher Nolan is of course the director of my favorite movie, but even besides masterfully directing the Batman series to perfection, he’s also directed  a couple of other very notable and actually pretty spectacular movies. I also see him directing many masterpieces in the future, that’s the best thing about Nolan, I really think he’s just getting started.

3. The Prestige

2. Batman Begins

1. The Dark Knight

5. David Fincher

David Fincher has really become a powerhouse of genius. There’s no arguing that he really is one of the greatest directors working today. He made his masterpiece in 1999 and almost ten years later he shows us that he that he can still make masterpieces with Zodiac and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. David Fincher really is a master of his craft, not to be second guessed.

3. SE7EN

2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

1. Fight Club

4. Martin Scorsese

Now we get to the top 4. The hardest part in creating this list was attempting to order this top 4. Each in my opinion is worthy of the number one spot, but I had to figure of an order. It really saddens me that I had to put the incredible director Martin Scorsese this high on the list, but I can’t let everyone win. Martin Scorsese is undoubtedly a creator of modern masterpieces. No one makes films like him and very few make films as good as he does. He didn’t invent the art of filmmaking, but he sure as hell perfected it.

3. Gangs of New York

2. Goodfellas

1. The Departed

3. Stanley Kubrick

Stanley Kubrick is all around one of the greatest directors of all time, mainly because he has more innovation and variety than any other filmmaker. He’s really done it all. He’s made horror movies, war movies, dramas, science-fiction, romance, heist movies, even comedies, and I could go on. Each one of his films are worth watching and making opinions on. You will find at least one that you will thoroughly enjoy. Or you’ll be like me and enjoy every single one.

3. Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

2. Full Metal Jacket

1. The Shining

2. The Coen Brothers

The Coen Brothers. Their movies really speak for themselves, there’s not much I can really say. The industry wouldn’t be the same without them. They are monumental force releasing masterpiece after masterpiece. Its really impossible to ever be disappointed with a Coen Brother movie. They make films exactly how they want to make films, they let nothing hold them back like money or popularity. They make art for the sake of making art and I enjoy every second of it all.

3. Fargo

2. Barton Fink

1. No Country For Old Men

1. Quentin Tarantino

Through the years Quentin Tarantino has always stuck out as one of the greatest directors of all time. He began his illustrious career with the fantastically unique heist flick Reservoir Dogs, then he showed us what he can really do by directing one of the greatest movies of all time, Pulp Fiction. Time passed and he directed the spectacles that were Jackie Brown, Kill Bill and Death Proof. Every single one is fantastic in my opinion. He then showed me that he is the greatest director not only working today, but of all time with the release of Inglourious Basterds. Pulp Fiction is one of the greatest movies of all time and I didn’t think for a second that Tarantino would ever be able o top that. I was wrong. He did and he did it with flying colors and flare. I love all of Tarantino’s work and I don’t believe I will ever find myself being disappointed by a movie he directs. He has fun with every movie he makes. He loves what he does and as a result I love and have fun with every single masterpiece he comes up with.

3. Kill Bill

2. Pulp Fiction

1. Inglourious Basterds

For any regular readers of this site, this list may come as a shock to you, because I have never posted anything that didn’t somehow pertain to movies. Recently I’ve decided to expand a bit. I will have a new category that will include just Top Ten Lists. These lists won’t deal with movies and since this site will still be primarily a site surrounding movies, I’ve decided to not change the title.

So I’ve decided to make my very first Top Ten List (that doesn’t deal with movies) to be a list of my top ten favorite Bands/Artists. This is a very difficult task to accomplish. There are many out there and so many different opinions you can take on this matter, but after long deliberation, here’ mine:

10. The Rolling Stones

3. Sympathy for the Devil

2. Gimme Shelter

1. Paint It, Black

9. Tom Petty

3. Yer So Bad

2. Runnin’ Down A Dream

1. You Don’t Know How It Feels

8. Queen

3. Somebody to Love

2. Don’t Stop Me Now

1. Bohemian Rhapsody

7. The Who

3. Pinball Wizard

2. Behind Blue Eyes

1. Baba O’ Riley

6. The Doors

3. L.A. Woman

2. When The Music’s Over

1. The End

5. Electric Light Orchestra

3. Sweet Talkin’ Woman

2. Evil Woman

1. Mr. Blue Sky

4. Led Zeppelin

3. Whole Lotta Love

2. Over the Hills and Far Away

1. Stairway to Heaven

3. Andrew Bird

3. Tables And Chairs

2. A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left

1. Armchairs

2. The Beatles

3. Back In The USSR

2. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

1. A Day in the Life

1. Pink Floyd

3. Wish You Were Here

2. High Hopes

1. Time

I made this same list a couple months ago, but the other day I deleted it and decided to remake it. The list wasn’t perfect and it had to be perfect. Other than a list of my top ten favorite movies of all time, which will be coming soon, this list is the most important post I could possibly create. Villains are the backbone of the industry. Their are almost always the most interesting characters to watch and plots would go absolutely no where with out them. Films need them and I absolutely love ‘em.

I’ve decided to remake this list because after re-watching a couple films and even watching a few new ones, I’ve finally decided on what I’ve found to be the perfect order when it comes to film villains. I’ve moved some characters around and I’ve removed a few characters and added a few new ones. The two I removed were Roy Batty from Blade Runner and Jack Torrence from The Shining. Both are incredibly performed characters and are in some aspects more interesting than some of the characters on this list, but they’re evil for different reasons and just don’t match the caliber of villainy that each character on this film is able to reach.

I’ve tried this a couple times now, but I think I’ve finally compiled the perfect list to establish my opinion on this almost impossible conundrum. So with out further review, here’s my top ten favorite cinema villains of all time in order. I hope you enjoy.

10. Alonzo Harris

Denzel Washington received a well deserved oscar for his intense portrayal of the crooked cop, Alonzo Harris. Many films have had officers or detectives on the wrong side of the law, but no actor has ever been able to top the intensity that Washington draws from the character. In my opinion, Alonzo Harris is the most sinister cop ever put on screen.

9. Frank

The western gunslinger known only by the name of Frank is a spectacularly menacing villain, but the thing that makes him most interesting to watch is the actor whose playing him. This was an out of the ordinary choice for Henry Fonda, a man’s whose career is full of do-gooders and family men, but in the mix of all those good guys, you’ll find one black hearted fiend and he plays him to perfection. Its his best performance and that my friends is saying something.

8. Keyser Soze

When you look at the master scheme of things, Keyser Soze should probably be a bit higher on this list, but I believe with his basically 8 minute screen-time that he’s not able to show the evil the way the others on this list are able to. He’s still a classic villain who pulls the strings behind almost every crime that’s commited. He’s thought of to be legend and he likes it that way. “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” -Verbal Kint

7. Bill the Butcher

Daniel Day-Lewis is probably the greatest actor in cinema and it’s only fitting that his portrayal as the malicious Butcher; Bill Cutting, known better as Bill the Butcher. Cutting is the ruthless american born tyrant of New York 1800s in Scorsese’s masterfully made period piece. He’s played to absolute perfection by Day-Lewis, because while he is a terrible and ruthless murderer, at times it seems he even has morals. Very few though, of course.

6. Little Bill Daggett

Unforgiven is in my opinion by far the greatest western I’ve seen, and one of the main reasons its so fantastic is because of Gene Hackman’s Oscar winning performance of Little Bill Dagget. He’s ruthless, brutal, and you never know what to expect, making each of his scenes very suspenseful, and he’s supposed to be the good guy. Bill Dagget is the sheriff of Big Whiskey, Utah, and its his brutal tactics to bring about justice at any cost, that makes him a villain for the books. He just barely missed my top 5.

5. Amon Goeth

Ralph Fiennes has a long list of fantastic villains and an even longer list of fantastic roles. His greatest role just so happens to be my fifth favorite villain. Amon Goeth is the face of evil behind the classic WWII epic Schindler’s List. He dictates the labor camp where most of the film takes place and Fiennes plays it so disturbingly well. His morning routine consists of getting up, taking a piss and shooting randon jews in the camp with a sniper. He’s sick and degenrate, and if you step out of line it becomes quite evident early on what will happen to you.

4. Hannibal Lecter

It was quite hard to put Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter so high on this list. Most would say he deserves the top spot, and when I do see him there on other lists, I’m never disappointed, he does deserve it, I just think there’s a few qualities (for lack of a better word) that I enjoy more in my top 3. Anyways though, Lecter is probably in my opinion “the” classic movie villain. He’s sinister, intelligent and at times even courteous. He hardly ever blinks and never once does he doubt his eventual victory. It’s one of the greatest performances ever put on the silver screen and by far Anthony Hopkins’ best work.

3. Anton Chigurh

Silent, creative, intelligent, confident, determined, arrogant (but for good reason), and above all else, evil. These are just a few of the words that can define the ruthless killer that is Anton Chigurh. His weapons of choice include a cattle gun, hand cuffs, and even a sawed off shot gun with a foot long silencer. Chigurh always has an innovative way to get what he wants and he will never stop. At one point, he decides the fate of man’s life by the flip of a coin. He’s not insane as some might call him though, he’s just nothing else, but his own gain. Javier Bardem is fantastic.

2. Col. Hans Landa

Almost all would agree that Colonel Hans Landa of the SS is an amazing villain. Most wouldn’t agree with his high placement on this list so soon after the release of the movie. Well, I’ve seen the movie seven times and I can honestly say that there is only one other villain that I enjoy more than Hans Landa. I want to point out that numbers 3 and 2 are very equally matched on this list, but I had to give it to the more entertaining villain. Landa is not your cliche nazi. He’s an intelligent and charming detective whose able to work his way through the threads of past, present and coming events so that he can assure his own gain. Nothing else matters, not even the fuhrer. He always has a plan and focus and doesn’t care who he has to step on to achieve his goals. Christoph Waltz is absolutely breathtaking in every single one of his scenes. He is one of the most eveil villains ever put on screen, but its so entertaining to watch every single thing he does, whether that be drinking a glass of milk or strangling a person to death.

1. The Joker

Heath Ledger’s Joker is by far the greatest villain ever put on the silver screen. Not only that though, I believe the Joker is the most entertaining and interesting character ever and the greatest performance by any actor I’ve ever seen. The Joker is bent on creating chaos in a world he believes desperately needs it. He doesn’t want anything else, especially not money. He just wants to watch the world burn and he wants to be the cause. All he really wants is to have a blast. He’s always one step ahead and even if something goes wrong in his plan, he just laughs it off, it just adds to the thrill. There are many times when he has the chance to kill his nemesis Batman, but he doesn’t take them because he’s one of the few villains who release that they need each other, without Batman, the world would just seem dull. Batman won’t kill him either though because it’s wrong and he knows it’s exactly what he wants. When faced with the Batman’s speeding Bat-pod The Joker insists on him to hit him and when The Joker is thrown off a building he laughs hysterically the entire way down. He’s willing to die to show the worlds true colors. The Joker is the epitome of evil.

Inglourious Basterds is a film I’ve been dieing to see and subsequently review for almost a year. It was by far the most anticipated movie of this year for me and my expectations for this film were off the chart. I’m happy to say that they were exceeded and Inglourious Basterds is not only going to be the film of the year, but also in my opinion, one of the greatest films ever made. The film was absolutely fantastic from start to finish and I can’t wait to see it again.

Tarantino being the genius that he is, managed to take everything you liked about his past films and throw them into this spectacular epic. The always amazing dialogue, the memorable characters, the quotable lines, the constant comic relief, and the unexpected twists, all was there and done better than ever. Quentin Tarantino certainly has his own style when it comes to making a movie and he holds absolutely no punches in this phenomenal piece of cinema.

Before going on, I’ve got a word of warning. I’d like to say that I found the movie downright flawless, but I can see why others might disagree, these are some of those reasons. Keep in mind I’m not saying these are bad things because what Quentin has mad here is a nearly perfect movie. These are just words of warning to some people who might not agree with me. First off, the movie, if you didn’t already guess, is very violent and gritty. You know how Aldo Raine talks about how he wants 100 nazi scalps, yeah you actually do get to see some scalpings and much more. Secondly, expect a lot of reading (subtitles) and a lot of dialogue, not bothersome to me in the least, but I have heard its boring to some. Lastly, theirs not as much action as you might think, Inglourious Basterds is an art house film first and an action movie second (one of the reasons I love, Tarantino has found the perfect concoction).

Now back to my review. Next I’d like to discuss the acting. Every single actor and actress brought a fantastic performance to the table. Everyone and I mean EVERY-ONE brought their A-game. Their was two performances that stood above the rest though. First off, any skepticism you have on Brad Pitt performing in this film needs to disappear right now because he was fabulous. It was the perfect part for him, sure it was an incredibly well written part, but it had to be played just right. Brad was able to do that.

The next performance is something that everyone can agree on whether you actually liked the film as a whole or not. Christoph Waltz gave an absolutely brilliant performance as the antagonist. He deserves every award he’s gotten and is going to get. Hans Landa is one of the greatest villains ever to be put on the silver screen. He was played so well because at some points he had to be very polite and generous, while at others he had to be completely opposite. A perfect performance. One of the greatest I’ve seen.

Now I’d like to leave you with these words. Inglourious Basterds tells a spectacular story that’s filled with even more spectacular characters, while being told in spectacular ways. Inglourious Basterds is probably the most innovative movie I’ve seen. It’s just so much different than your average movie because Tarantino did what every film maker should do. He didn’t let anything hold him back (such as the history books for example). He just had a blast with it and as a result, I as an audience member had a blast. Now I’m going to use my favorite word when it comes to reviewing, and its probably used too liberally by all, but its well-deserved here. Inglourious Basterds is a masterpiece.

Grade: A+

Every year, like anyone, I have a lot of movies that I anticipate. Everyone’s must see list is different, but there’s always a single movie that stands above the pack for everyone that is the single most anticipated movie of the year. Sometimes you get lucky and you anticipated correctly and the movie you craved to see for a year finally came out and it was fantastic. Sometimes you find yourself disappointed, whether that means it was a bad movie and you can’t believe you expected so much out of it, or it was just an ok movie, but your wild expectations were not met so you find yourself disappointed. Last year this movie was The Dark Knight and obviously my insanely high expectations were actually exceeded. This year I am anticipating a lot of movies, (Sherlock Holmes, The Wolfman, Nine, Shutter Island, etc.), but there is a single movie that stands above the pack as always and that movie is none other than Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds.

I was certainly anticipating The Dark Knight more before it came out, but Inglourious Basterds has come closer than I would have ever dreamed. It’s the story of a a group of Jewish-American soldiers looking to take revenge against the Third Reich in German occupied France. With also another plot thrown in about a cinema worker, who years ago watched her family slaughtered at the hands of the Ruthless Nazi Colonel, Hans Landa. This is Quentin Tarantino’s sixth movie and he’s been working on the script for years. He was actually talking about shooting it before Kill Bill was even started. It’s his biggest cast of talking characters ever and filled with some big name actors one of whom being the one and only Brad Pitt, sporting a fantastic Southern accent. 

Brad Pitt’s performance looks to be fantastic from the trailers, but his isn’t the performance I’m anticipating the most. It’s Christoph Waltz, whom I’ve been truly expecting a lot out of and I’ve never even seen him in a movie before. This year at the Cannes Film Festival he was the winner of The Best Actor award for his role as Hans Landa in this film. He’s the main antagonist of the feature and I just can’t wait to see what he dishes out. All I’ve seen from his performance is a few very short clips from the trailers. He looks to be spectacular, but I’m sure I haven’t seen anything yet. 

There are so many reasons why I just cannot wait for its release on August 21st, from its intriguing plot, to its many fascinating characters, but there’s one reason the stands above the rest. Quentin Tarantino has never let me down. Jackie Brown was a fantastic movie, I absolutely loved Reservoir Dogs and Death Proof, and Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction were nothing short of masterpieces. I seriously doubt Tarantino can shoot out a bad movie on his sixth try especially when its got this much going for it. I said it for The Dark Knight and I’m going to say it again for Inglourious Basterds. When 3 am roles around on August 21st I’m going to drvie home sit down and write an honest review for what I hope to be the greatest movie of 2009.

P.S. Happy Dark Knight Day!

Public Enemies was a good movie, that’s all it was though. It wasn’t spectacular or even great, but it was good. I haven’t seen a movie in theaters since Up and I had been anticipating this movie for a while. What I got was good, but I’m disappointed to say that I expected a lot more and there’s not a doubt in my mind that a lot of people will say the same. And when I use the word ‘people’ I didn’t just mean the public, I also meant critics as well. Most of the public will be expecting to see a well acted action movie. Most critics, and myself as well, will be expecting a cat and mouse drama, which it was, it just wasn’t as great a one as it could have been. 

After viewing Public Enemies, I walked out of the theater a little disappointed, mainly because of my abnormally high expectations, and I was trying to think of the best word or phrase to describe the film. After a few days I came up with a single word. I found Public Enemies to be rather dry. It seriously lacked in the innovation that this film needed in order to be great. There are so many crime dramas out there and this one was telling a story that needed to be told. It had great characters and events to work with, but throughout the movie, it just seemed that they weren’t using them to their advantage. 

I mainly blame this on the writer. The dialogue and tension was lacking to the point of extreme boredom at times and this is not a story I should be bored in. The director did a pretty good job in my opinion through detail and camera work. Michael Mann did succeed in making this movie very realistic and moody, and where you were bored in some scenes because of the writing, you felt very involved in others. 

Now I’ve talked a lot about what I didn’t enjoy in this film, but there was a lot I did enjoy about this movie. First of all, I found the movie visually very appealing. The colors were vibrant and moody and you were really brought to the era. It certainly was a period piece. I also mentioned the camera before. Most might tell you the camera work was amateur and shaky, but there really wasn’t a point in the film where I was bothered by it. I actually found the camera work quite professional. I felt much more involved in each scene because of the camera work and it seemed as if a lot of time was spent making each one worth watching.

The greatest pro I can point out when it comes to this movie is the many memorable performances. Johnny Depp was spectacular and exceeded my expectations, his performance was the best part of this film. Christian Bale was another leading man that exceeded my expectations. They weren’t that high for this character, because by the trailer it just didn’t seem like he had much to work with, but he truly put his all into this one and I enjoyed his screen presence very thoroughly. Marion Cotillard was also a force to be reckoned with along with almost every other supporting actor and actress. 

So all and all, when you look at Public Enemies you get a good movie. It is one worth a view, but not one you need to rush out to the theater and see immediately. Their were certainly pros and cons to this movie and many of them. This is one of those movies that will be all across the board. Some will love it, some will hate it, and some will find it ok. You should see it and be the judge for yourself.

Grade: B

Like I’ve said in the past and ‘m sure I’ll say in the future, Pixar has never once let me down and at this point after 10 masterpieces, I seriously would be highly surprised if they ever did. Yes this list wasn’t hard to narrow down which films would be on the list because there’s only 10 options, but to be honest, this was probably one of the hardest lists to make an order to because every single Pixar movie is so closely awesome. Even the 10th pick is very close to being as good as the 1st and that’s because Pixar hasn’t failed yet, but I think I’ve managed to order this list in a way that each film is just a bit better than the last. Ten films all rich with characters, color and morals. Each is a fantastic film, but which is the best of the bunch:

And P.S. when a new Pixar movie comes out each year, I’ll order the list to put it somewhere, that is unless it doesn’t deserve a spot. 

10. Toy Story 2

It’s difficult to make a list about such great movies because none of these films deserve a spot this low, but for me I just had to give this spot to Toy Story 2 mainly for lack of originality. Still a great movie that I could certainly watch over and over again today. Don’t get me wrong about the originality comment though I am still extremely excited for Toy Story 3 next year.

9. Finding Nemo

Most will disagree with the place of this one and some might even call this there favorite, but I just don’t think it’s as good as the other films on this list to be honest. I for one think it is a fantastic movie, but it’s also the most overrated Pixar movie to date, because other Pixar movies, which are better, are overlooked more often.

8. Ratatouille

Ratatouille is the first time I was legitimately scared to see. I just didn’t think it looked that good. Where all past Pixar movies were about colorful characters such as Monsters, Toys, or Fishes, this one was about Rats. And you know what, it totally worked and from after watching Ratatouille I knew never to doubt Pixar again.

7. Up

Pixar’s colorful spectacle of adventure just took off not even a week ago and it was quite the adventure. Up was fantastic entrance into the Pixar library. Full with all the cliches we’ve come to know and love. Characters, colors, and morals. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should get on that.

6. Cars

Pixar’s longest feature yet is a spectacular movie that just barely missed the top five. The movie was full of such vibrant scenery and incredible characters. The movie is made so watchable by its energy and excitement. The message is also so simple and yet so heart felt in the end. Quite the memorable movie indeed.

5. The Incredibles

Pixar’s action packed superhero flick is so entertaining and well made. Its one of their most elaborate to date and it was sad for me to have to put it this high on the list. Its certainly one of those movies you could just pick up any time, watch, and still enjoy time and time again. You get to know and love each character so well.

4. A Bug’s Life

A Bug’s Life is plain and simple, an amazing movie. It’s also the most underrated Pixar movie out there. It’s really an incredible movie. I could never get bored of this film. Not only does it have fantastic messages, characters, color, story, etc. It also offers the greatest villain in cartoon history. Brilliantly played by the two time Oscar winning actor, Kevin Spacey. It’s not just a great Pixar movie, it was is just a fantastic movie.

3. Toy Story

The now-classic that started it all is really a fantastic movie. From its memorable characters and scenes, to its innovation. Quite honestly, where would the industry be without this movie. This film is what got animation back into action. Just last week, Up made almost $70 million and it wasn’t just because kids were seeing this movie, it’s because Pixar makes innovated classics, and it all started right here, with Toy Story.

2. Monsters Inc.

The highly memorable Monsters Inc. is a force to be reckoned with. It had such an intelligent premise, but not only that, it had the fantastic characters played by fantastic actors and throw in a cute little girl and what you get is plain in simply a spectacle beyond belief. Monsters Inc. is a fantastic film for the way it plays with our emotions and we love every minute of it.

1. WALL-E

The greatest Pixar movie of all time just came out last year and I don’t see it being beat for a very long time, but I could be wrong. Pixar has certainly surprised me before. WALL-E is the first animated movie that I can legitimately call a masterpiece. Its a film that really is flawless, it makes you feel every single emotion you’d want to feel watching a movie and most importantly, at exactly the right times. Within the first minutes you fall in love with WALL-E and even though he never says more then 4 words, you still know exactly how he’s feeling and that’s what makes this film so perfect. WALL-E is an incredible film that can be experienced, felt and enjoyed by every living being with a heart.

I would like to start by pointing out that Pixar has never once let me down and they certainly haven’t with their tenth film. At this point I seriously doubt I’ll ever be disappointed with a Pixar movie. No matter what it is, whether it’s about colorful and funny monsters or even a rat with a keen sense for food, you can always expect a masterpiece and it’s no different here. Up was a fantastic movie and I can’t wait to own it.

It’s the story of an old man whose lost a loved one and can never let her, or the house where they grew old together, go. When he’s deemed a menace to society and is sentenced to a retirement center he decides to take a trip to South America like he promised his wife he always would with her. He does so by attaching millions of balloons to his house and using bed sheets as sails. When Carl is finally away from the many people that don’t understand him and his love for the person that is no longer around he gets an unexpected visitor. A young wilderness explorer named Russell whose trying to get his “Assisting the elderly badge”.

The relationship that unravels between this grouchy old man and this excited young boy is nothing short of beautiful. Like all Pixar movies there are a wide variety of characters that we meet along the way and a brilliant moral to be learned at the end. The movie was brilliantly colorful and the ideas were fluent and innovative. I loved this film as I do all Pixar movies. Sure this wasn’t their best, but it was still a fantastic movie worthy of praise.

Grade: A

Anyone who has a passion for movies must have been noticing all the reviews around for Terminator Salvation. It’s average grade has gotta be something around a D+ on a grading scale, while we got   Rotten Tomatoes projecting it at a 33%. Let me begin my review by saying that yes, this was not that great of a movie, but it certainly doesn’t deserve the terrible reviews it’s getting. I think most critics are grading this film by comparing it to the movie it could’ve been other than just grading it as the movie it is. 

What I mean by that is, obviously McG had the right idea when you look at the trailers. Taking a classic series n putting it into this crisp and gloomy post-apocalyptic wasteland. Then having a good well-known actor play as the main character. All looked well in the world of Terminator, and of course the movie wasn’t able to deliver as much as you would have hoped, but nonetheless, the film was better than critics are saying. 

Like I said about the trailer, the movie throughout was visually pretty awesome. The action sequences were intense and fun to watch and threw in some very new ideas to action scenes, which nowadays most films aren’t very intuitive with their action scenes. The acting was nothing spectacular and I expected more from Christian Bale and instead just got a bunch of unmotivated anger. I actually preferred Sam Worthington’s performance to Bale’s. And Sam Worthington was a no named actor for me, some of you might have seen him in others, but I haven’t.

My biggest problem with Terminator Salvation is that there was no story of its own at all. It just expected us to have known everything about the series and just built off of that. Then at the end, the film has gotten no where. At the beginning, a war is going on and at the end, a war is going on. Not much is accomplished and it seemed that they weren’t even trying to throw out a good movie, they just wanted to give audiences a movie with a lot of action, robots and explosions and they wanted to make a lot of sequels just so the can make a quick buck. I’ll leave you with this comment; you don’t really need to see this film, it’s not that great, but it is better than most are saying.

Grade: C+

P.S. There was a little cameo that made me extremely happy with this film.

Walking into Star Trek I wasn’t expecting much. I actually didn’t know what to expect, I hadn’t seen a trailer and I hadn’t once seen a Star Trek episode or movie. All I knew was the names Captain Kirk, Spock, Sulu, and Scotty, and a few of the alien species names. I had no knowledge of the show other than a few names and a few famous quotes. I was just never that interested, but I was interested to see why there was such a following and I thought this would be a good place to start. As it turns out, I was right.

My expectations were certainly exceeded for many different reasons. First of all, I wasn’t expecting anything out of the actors mainly because the two main characters were being played by actors I had never heard of. I thought the acting was actually pretty top-notch, nothing oscar worthy of course, but very entertaining and believable. Chris Pine was able to perform fantastically with Kirk’s huge ego and same goes to Quinto with Spock’s highly intelligent dialogue, also more minor characters that I loved were Simon Pegg as the famous “Scotty” and Eric Bana did a fantastic job as the menacing Captain Nero, the main antagonist of this film. 

Everything about this movie was very colorful and visually appealing. It told a story that needed to be told and it told it very well. Everything about the film was just exciting, the action was big, colorful, and fun, while the dialogue was quick and executed very well. I have never seen a Star Trek episode or movie before this one and I most certainly will see the many sequels that will follow this one. I would recommend it to anyone who’s in the mood for entertainment. You don’t have to be a fan of the series, I’m can attest to that.

Grade: A-

A fantastic actor, with many films to be remembered for. He seems to be fading lately, with less movies. Nonetheless, the guy has many classic roles under his belt.

Best Performance: John McClane (Die Hard)

Best Movie: Pulp Fiction

Scene:

Other Movies With Bruce Willis:

• 16 Blocks
• The Sixth Sense
• Twelve Monkeys 
• The Fifth Element
• The Whole Nine Yards

A brilliant actor who brings strength and confidence to all his rolls. He’s able to establish difference in his roles unlike a lot of actors today and he does it with style.

Best Movie: Sin City

Best Performance: Inside Man

Scene:

Other Films with Clive Owen:

• Gosford Park
• Closer
• Children of Men
• Shoot ‘Em Up
• Croupier

A fantastic actor known for his iconic roll in Blade Runner and his wonderful portrayals as villains most of the time.

Best Movie: Blade Runner

Best Performance: Roy Batty (Blade Runner)

Scene:

Other Films With Rutgar Hauer:

• The Hitcher
• Sin City
• Batman Begins
• Eureka
• Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Pretty soon I will begin posting my list of Top 5o Actors of all time. I will tell my favorite movie they were in and what I believe to be their favorite performance, which aren’t always the same thing. This is strictly a list of actors, I may do actresses in the future.

Watchmen was one of those movies that you walk in expectations. It wasn’t a movie you were dragged to knowing that it would be terrible, and it wasn’t a movie (atleast not for me that it) that you’ve been anticipating for half a year expecting greatness and nothing short of it. It was a movie that could’ve been terrible, amazing, or decent. And for me, it hit the latter category straight on the nose. Watchmen was a decent movie, that’s all it was. Its not amazing like the die-hard comic book loving fan might tell you, and its not terrible like the average blockbuster movie watching guy, who was expecting an action packed superhero movie and got something completely different, might tell you.

I enjoyed Watchmen because it wasn’t your average super hero movie. It was a 2 hour and 40 minute movie that did have some action, but also it told a story that had many philosophical points to make. It also, while throwing much intelligent imagery and symbolism at you, formed itself as a criticism on both society and comic book movies. It sort of did to comic book movies, what Scream did to slasher movies, if you can understand what I’m trying to say. I did enjoy that aspect of it. 

While being a very different comic book movie, I still had many reasons I didn’t enjoy it, which is why, even with its creative ideas and writing, it still wouldn’t be very high on a top comic books movie list because movies like The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Sin City, and V for Vendetta, still pass this movie by leaps and bounds. During this extremely visibly long movie, a very well-thought out story was told that I’m 100% sure was better in comic book form, but my problem was that it was a very inventive story that was told through characters that I did not enjoy watching on screen (for the most part). For a movie thats almost three hours long you have to enjoy almost all of the characters that have a lot of screen time and I only enjoyed two of them.

Don’t get me wrong, the two characters I enjoyed were great, and acted well, but one of them didn’t even have much screen time. Those two characters were Rorschach and The Comedian. Now Comedian was certainly not a character you were supposed to like because he was the definition of an ass hole, but I loved the guy, he ate up every scene he was in with a passion. Rorschach was another great character. Rorschach was by far the best character in the movie and one of the main reasons the movie was worth watching. I enjoyed every second he was on screen. 

Unfortunately there were some characters that I absolutely could not stand. Particularly Dr. Manhattan a.k.a. the glowing blue guy who could literally do anything. The delved way too far into this character and a few others that just didn’t do it for me. All and all Watchmen was probably one of the greatest graphic novels ever written, I can tell that from watching the movie because it was a movie that would work so well in comic book form. Because of its praise, it had to be made into a movie and it was decent. It was good, but Its not one of those movies that I’m jumping to see again anytime soon.

Grade: B

Friday the 13th was a great homage to not just the orignal series that basically started a hybrid of horror films (Friday the 13th and Halloween are what basically started the slasher genre), but also all classic slasher films. A clever and entertaining genre that is able to still bank today. There are two different types of horror movies. Movies that try to scare you long after the films credits through mental terrorism (The Shining, Exorcist, Poltergeist) and slasher movies that just entertain you in a way that makes your heart pump, they try just to make you jumb out of your skin and make you wonder what you would do in a situation like this.

I don’t know why, but I was expecting a lot out of Friday the 13th. I was expecting a dark, moody, realistic homage to what make this genre watchable. Well, Friday the 13th wasn’t nearly as good as it could’ve been, but it also wasn’t nearly as bad as it could’ve been if it was directed by Rob Zombie or someone. The movie started off exactly how I would’ve hoped and if it kept that same momentum that it instilled in the first 25 minutes, I would’ve enjoyed this movie just as much as any of the classics. The first half hour of the movie brought with it such a dark and moody tone, I was loving every second, but I just couldn’t say the same about the rest of the movie except for the end.

If you love the genre as I do, you’ll think the movie was pretty good, and most of all, you’ll love both the first thirty minutes and the last minute, but the rest won’t be nearly as good as it could’ve been. The rest of the movie followed the brother of one of the victims of the first 30 minute slaughter and a different group of rich attractive teenagers. This hour is the hour the brought the corny deaths, the corny lines, and the above all else, campiness that could’ve been avoided this time around, but wasn’t. This entire movie was full of parts that I love and parts that I hated so it was what it was, average, while it could’ve been exceptional.

Grade: C+

There’s only one reason I saw this movie and that of course was Liam Neeson. He was the perfect pick and did a fantastic acting job, unfortunately I can’t say that about anyone else. I was expecting a lot more out of this movie, but what I got was highly predictable and unimaginative. They could’ve done a lot more with the simple plot, but instead just did what all films about basically the same plot do. Most might find the action in this movie entertaining, but I wasn’t amused by the many action scenes in the movie.

The movie had the simple plot of a daughter going on a vacation and getting kidnapped. Then her, ex-CIA agent, father goes on a quest to save her. Now a simple plot can sometimes be a lot  more powerful then it seems, take No Country for Old Men example. This is not one of those movies. It was just like any one of the 50 Harrison Ford movies about the same thing except with a better actor thrown in. Now one of these stereotypical kidnapping movies haven’t come out in a while so the public was blind- sighted, but I was not very entertained. The only scenes I really fully enjoyed were the dialogue scenes involving Liam Neeson. 

 The ending was predictable as everything else and the fact that the daughter didn’t show any signs of more affection towards her father a few days after being saved tells me the that this movie and especially the ending was not thought through very well. Well Taken was a decent film to start off the new year. Simple action plots are always good to start the year off, but there could’ve been a lot more to this one, with a great actor like Liam Neeson behind the project.

Grade: C

The first Inglorious Basterds Trailer was released today, which is amazing. This is Quentin Tarantino’s next movie and its my #1 for Most Anticipated of the Year I wanted to see this movie before any images or casting rumors were released. It’s a war movie by Quentin Tarantino, how could you not want to see that? I haven’t seen a good war movie come out in a while and Tarantino’s last movie was Death Proof, which was amazing in my opinion. This movie by the looks of the trailer looks nothing short of amazing, well here it is. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did:

Once again, as with my Top 25 Best Performances of 2008, I just couldn’t bring myself to only make a top ten, because there were a few movies this year that wouldn’t make my top ten, but in my opinion certainly deserved to be mentioned, so I made a top 15. This was a great year for films even if it didn’t start to shine until the summer. It was a tough year from a critic’s stand point, mainly because it gets very hard to make a list like this at the end of the year. It was fortunately a great year for anyone who’s a fan of films. Well here’s my list, I hope you enjoy it.

15. Appaloosa

It was very nice to see another good western to come out this year. I love this genre and I hope it never ends. This one in particular had a plot that was both simple and developed very well. The acting was great and two of the performances made it onto my top 25 performances of the year. I loved all the the performances, but Viggo’s and Irons’ performances were especially good. If you enjoy the genre you won’t want to miss this one.

14. Burn After Reading

Burn After Reading was a great movie, but it isn’t getting the credit it deserves mostly because its not really being understood. Well I enjoyed every character, every line, and every second of what is now in my mind a classic Coen Brothers movie. Extra props goes out to Brad Pitt for playing a limited role to pure perfection. I laughed out loud every time he came on screen.

13. Milk

Milk was a great movie, but I do believe it is getting way too much credit because there were many movies that came out this year that were much better. Either way, Milk was well made and incredibly acted by all especially Josh Brolin and Sean Penn. Its a tale that needed to be told and it couldn’t have been told mush better or with a better cast then this. 

12. In Bruges

In Bruges was rather surprising finding almost a perfect middle ground between comedy and drama. It was able to be very dramatic and even sad at times, while being absolutely hilarious at others, Ralph Fiennes was amazing and I had no complaints with any of the other actors. I just saw this movie for the first time on DVD and I only wish I would’ve been able to catch it in the theater. I probably would’ve liked it even more.

11. RockNRolla

Another great Guy Ritchie movie with great characters, dialogue and writing. There was a bit more story to this one instead of just a fast-paced shoot em’ up, which was a very nice surprise. I can’t wait till Guy Ritchie’s next project. People say that Guy Ritchie just directs the same movie over and over. I don’t agree, I think Ritchie has just established his own movie genre for himself. Others have tried to copy and done great like In Bruges or Layer Cake, while others have failed like Smokin Aces, but nonetheless, this is Ritchie’s territory and he owns it. 

10. Quantum of Solace

I enjoyed Quantum of Solace much more than people are saying. Sure it wasn’t as good as the first, but it was still a great movie. There were some small details that should’ve been fixed and a certain line that needed to be said. All that aside, Quantum of Solace was an intelligently crafted and well-acted action thriller that deserves a place in memory. I for one can’t wait for the next. 

9. Gran Torino

Gran Torino was a highly entertaining movie due mainly to Clint Eastwood and the wonderful dialogue and transformation he exuberates. Gran Torino is a wonderful drama that teaches us morals of race and the ability to change, while being completely entertaining the whole way through. The suppoting acting wasn’t that great sure, but Clint Eastwood sure makes up for it.

8. Body of Lies

This is very sadly, a highly over looked movie. I was very excited for it and saw it in the first weekend. It was incredible, it told a very good story with a great cast and had some really great action sequences to boot. I didn’t understand why not many people were seeing it and why it wasn’t getting very good grades, but either way, I loved the movie and can’t wait for another viewing. If you get the chance, check out this movie. Its a very entertaining watch.

7. W.

W. was a fantastic movie from start to finish. Some might disagree with me putting this movie so high (his name may start with an L and end with an ANCE), but I loved this movie. It was not what I was expecting, in a good way though. I was expecting a very well-made comedy with Oliver Stone at the helm, that would just bash on Bush. What I got was a drama with a bit of comedy thrown in. I actually liked Bush better after seeing the movie. The movie tells his story and allows you to draw your own opinions, I felt empathy for the guy. The movie was also great because of the performances of Josh Brolin and Richard Dreyfuss. They made a perfect team. The direction made what could’ve been very boring into very entertaining and what else can be expected of Oliver Stone.

6. The Wrestler

The Wrestler was movie I just recently saw and I’m so glad I did. It was such a good movie and its just really hard to describe why without giving away much other than saying that Mickey Rourke was spectacular in a role that won’t soon be forgot. The Wrestler was also probably the saddest movie I’ve seen, ever. The fact that it made me feel sad tells me that they did exactly what they set out to do. The Wrestler is a must-see this year not only for Rourke’s performance, but also the incredible story of someone whose not so incredible any more.

5. WALL-E

WALL-E is a fantastic movie. It is visually a spectacle to watch and yes it is an animated movie, but nonetheless it deserves to be this high like any other movie. It is able to have many criticisms on society, while telling a wonderful tale of how love concurs all. Each character and scene is more beautiful and creative than the last. It makes you feel every emotion and is able to keep you enthralled with the story even with the limited dialogue it has. 

4. Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire is an incredible movie and it tells a story of love that we’ve all heard or seen before, but it tells it in a way that is so different and original. Slumdog Millionaire is being called by most, the best films of the year and yes it is up there, it is one of the best, but is it the best? No I don’t believe so, obviously, as you can see, I enjoyed three other movies more than this one, but I do not think this is the best. I will be disappointed if it wins the oscar for best picture, but I will not be angry because it still is a great movie.

3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an epic in all shapes and forms. It tells one of the most beautiful tales I’ve ever seen of love and life. It is acted and directed to perfection. The movie is so astoundingly beautiful and it shows such original thoughts and morals. There’s a whole strew of well-crafted characters and scenes and through the whole movie, not once did the length bother me. It felt almost short because it was telling a story that took place over an 80 year time span. This is an elegant tale that shows that all people are special and different and everyone deserves to be loved. 

2. FROST/NIXON

FROST/NIXON was an event to be remembered. It was such a surprise of a movie, it was amazing how much better this movie was then I originally thought and I already thought it was going to be a great movie, what I saw was nothing short of perfection. It wasn’t just the incredible action, which was IN-CRED-I-BLE, it was a direction, the way the film just kept building nonstop tension, never let up and gave you everything you wanted to see and more. Frank Langella was of course breath taking, but not just him, but everybody just fit perfectly into every role. FROST/NIXON unfortunately was pretty over-looked because of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire came out around the same time and I actually enjoyed FROST/NIXON more then both of them. It’s a movie with no action, but dialogue so well written and acted that the audience feels so involved to the point where it does feel just like action. FROST/NIXON is the kind of film you could watch over and over because you just fail to release that your watching a movie. A spectacle to be hold that only comes around once in a blue moon. 

1. The Dark Knight

Anyone who has read this site before will find this of now surprise because I’ve stated in the past multiple times that not only is this the best movie of the year, but the greatest movie ever made, and I’ve seen a lot of movies. The Dark Knight is an epic masterpiece of good and evil. What more could you ask for? The classic ritual of good vs. evil has been used sense the beginning of film and it will be used until the end of film. This is the greatest depiction of good vs. evil ever created. Each understands that god needs the devil, good needs evil and they need each other. There is no good without evil and there is no evil without good. The Joker is the greatest character in film history by far. He is so evil that he kills innocent people for fun and is willing to be killed knowing that it will instill chaos and anarchy into a world that he thinks desperately needs it. While the hero of the story won’t kill anyone knowing that’s what seperates him from the dark side sort of speak. The Joker won’t kill Batman though either because he knows that evil needs good. He knows that he won’t have nearly as much “fun” without him. That’s the genius of the film and the whole Batman series, the greatest hero ever who never even asks for anything in return will never kill the greatest evil ever and vice-versa. The Dark Knight is a masterpiece, in my opinion, that’s the best way to describe a film, and it most certainly is a masterpiece.

2008 was a great year for film and most of all it was a great year for performances. I decided a while ago I wanted to make a list involving performances this year and I just could not bring myself to making it a top ten because there were way to many good performances this year. I finally decided on a top 25 and I’m proud of my list. I think most will enjoy it too. What I love about this year was every performance should such a wide range in emotion, sure some more than others, but I’ve thought long and hard about this list and here it is:

25. Viggo Mortenson (Appaloosa)

Viggo Mortenso always does a good job and its very unfortunate that he doesn’t get that many roles to work with. Then when he does have a really good role, like he had las year in Eastern Promises, there’s always someone better (Dainel Day-Lewis). One day he’ll win an oscar, but until that day I’ll just watch him in great roles like this.

24. Tom Wilkinson (RockNRolla)

Tom Wilkinson is a fantastic actor and sure you sort of hate the character he’s playing here, but that was sort of the point and he’s absolutely perfect in this role. He had the same type of role in Batman Begins and he got o change it and expand on it here. I loved every second.

23. Daniel Craig (Quantum of Solace)

Daniel Craig is the perfect Bond. There is not one person I would rather see playing this part. The movie wasn’t as good as the first (only cause the first was amazing), but Craig stayed consistent and that’s very nice to see.

22. Tom Cruise (Tropic Thunder)

I absolutely hate Tom Cruise with a passion, I do not like him at all, never will. Least favorite actors: Tom Cruise and Ben Afflek I did not like Tropic Thunder at all, but the only parts I did laugh involved Tom Cruise. It pains me to say this, but he was hilaurious, I loved every short second with his character.

21. Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight)

Here we find a fantastic actor in a very different role, normally you would probably find Gary Oldman playing some kind of villain, whether he’s a drug dealing pimp (True Romance), an intergalactic salesman (The Fifth Element), or even a crazed dirty cop (The Professional). Here he’s one of the few good cops in the city he’s trying so hard to help save and he’s absolutely fantastic.

20. Josh Brolin (Milk)

Josh Brolin didn’t have as big a part as you would’ve hoped in Milk, but he worked with what he got and created a spectacular performance. This is a very different character than you’ve ever seen him play and he chewed up every second he was on screen. He ofcourse didn’t have the best performance in Milk, but was a close second.

19. Jeremy Irons (Appaloosa)

Jeremy Irons is a fantastic actor, who once again doesn’t get enough work. I love all roles I’ve seen him in and here is a western where he plays a gunslinging villain. I get chills just thinking about it. He does a fantastic job, and as always plays a highly believable villain here.

18. Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man)

This was a great year for Robert Downey Jr. and he found his best performance of the year in a cocky and sarcastic billionaire he in his spare time flys in a battle suit and saves lives. Robert Downey Jr. was fantastic in a role you could just tell he had a blast playing. 

17. Mark Strong (RockNRolla)

RockNRolla had many likable characters, and even more likable actors, as do all of Guy Ritchie’s movies. One stood out above the rest and that was Mark Strong who played Archie, the loyal right hand man to the crime boss Lenny Cole (Tom Wilkinson). He was amazing. It might be in part that I hadn’t seen him in any movies before, but either way, RockNRolla deserves a watch by all if only just to view his performance.

16. Brad Pitt (Burn After Reading)

Brad Pitt is shortly becoming one of my favorites. If you can forget about roles he played in Mr. and Mrs. Smith and the Ocean’s movies, he’s actually a really good actor. In Burn After Reading, he’s absolutely perfect as the dim-witted, peppy, gym worker, he stumbles onto something bigger (or actually probably smaller) than he thinks. 

15. Sam Rockwell (Choke)

Choke was a highly disappointing movie especially sense the book was a masterpiece, but that doesn’t exclude the fact that Sam Rockwell was born to play this role. Victor is an amazing character and you needed a great actor to play him and no one, and I repeat, no one would’ve been able to be better than Sam Rockwell in this role.

14. Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire)

Dev Patel was fantastic and I’m thinking that because I haven’t seen him in other movies and that’s why he made this part so real, but all I can say is that he was great and played the role to its full potential.

13. Michael Caine (The Dark Knight)

Michael Caine is a really good actor and here we find him in a perfect role that could be played by many actors, but absolutely no one could’ve played it better. He had a much bigger part in this film as opposed to the first and that made me very happy, because he made every second golden.

12. Christian Bale (The Dark Knight)

Christian Bale is the perfect Batman. People say how he has a corny voice and it just annoys the crap out of me. What people don’t understand is that Christian Bale is ten times that Batman that George Clooney, Val Kilmer, Adam West, or Michael Keaton will ever be. He’s better because he knows, unlike them, is that Batman has to be three different people. The cocky Bruce Wayne you show to the public, the real Bruce Wayne you show to Alfred, and Batman. He plays the part perfect, I have zero complaints. The voice is amazing.

11. Ralph Fiennes (In Bruges)

Ralph Fiennes is fantastic in what ever he does. Bad movie, good movie, doesn’t matter, he’s good always. In Bruges is a great movie and he’s incredible in it as, the fast-talking, loud and dirty mouthed crime boss. He unfortunately just barely misses my top ten. He’s fantastic in all movies, but especially in this one.

10. Russel Crowe (Body of Lies)

Russel Crowe is on and off for me, but in my opinion, you find in Body of Lies, what I feel to be one of his best roles. He’s not a villain, but he’s definately not a hero. He’s a sleazy fat guy who trys to do the right things in the wrong ways, but never gets screwed, he has others get screwed for him. Russel Crowe was great and was the perfect choice for a this great character.

9. Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight)

Aaron Eckhart is an up and coming actor. He’s going places, he was amazing in Thank You For Smoking and he’s amazing here. He plays a very entertaining role the goes from pure good, to almost pure evil. He plays the role to perfection and not many actors could’ve. 

8. Richard Dreyfuss (W.)

W. was a great movie and it was great in part because of Richard Dreyfuss’s performance. He plays Dick Cheney, whose actually sort of the villain in this pitch -perfect biopic of our most recent president. The movie was great and he’s great in it. He made such a great transformation, I actually looked past his highly recognizable voice and had to wait for the credits to role to figure out it was him. 

7. Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

Once again Brad Pitt proves that he’s becoming better and better with each role he plays. The Curious Case of Bejamin Button is no different. This would be a very tough role to play for anyone, but Brad Pitt played it to perfection. This was a long movie, but it felt shorter than it was because of this performance.

6. Josh Brolin (W.)

Whether you liked W. or not, you had to admit that Josh Brolin was fantastic as Bush. He got everything down pact. This was a movie that had to be driven by performances and direction. Well, your gonna have the direction if you got Oliver Stone and they certainly got the the performances in Richard Dreyfuss and especially there leading man, Josh Brolin.

5. Clint Eastwood (Gran Torino)

It’s pretty unfortunate that this very well could be Eastwood’s final movie. I pray that it’s not, but either way this was the perfect role for him and he played it to perfection. He had to be grumpy and racist, but then he had to make the transformation to hero and because of his incredible performance, this was a really goo movie.

4. Sean Penn (Milk)

Well for my top 5, number 4 was much better than 5, and pretty close to 3, while 3 and 2 are basically a tie, and 1 is so far beyond the others to the point of insanity, but here we are at 4 and we find Sean Penn’s name. He was amazing in Milk and this was probably his best role. He deserves all the praise he’s getting, but he does not deserve the oscar. Sean Penn made the role his own and did it with flying colors. He was FAN-freakin-TASTIC, but unfortunately this was a year of amazing performances and there were a few better than him. 

3. Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)

Mickey Rourke performed masterfully in The Wrestler. He was showed such large amounts of emotion and he made every feeling so real. It saddens me to put him this far from the top because I could name a lot of years where I would’ve most certainly given him the top spot. Some people are saying that he didn’t do as good as others just because he’s supposedly just like the character he’s playing, well that’s load of crap and actually probably compliment to him because your saying he’s a better actor. Mickey Rourke deserves more roles and after this perfect performance, I see many to come.

2. Frank Langella (FROST/NIXON)

The number 3 and number 2, as I said before are basically tied for second in acting ability, but I just had to give Frank Langella the second spot because he just showed more of a transformation and much more charisma in what is unfortunately a much more entertaining character. Frank Langella deserves the oscar, even though he probably won’t get it. I’ve read in a couple places that he’s more Nixon than Nixon is. That doesn’t make kuch sense for someone who hasn’t seen the movie, but it completely makes sense. Langella fully embodies our 37th president, whether is the voice, the posture, or the ticks, he made a role to be remembered.

1. Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)

Anyone who reads my sight probably saw this coming, but here’s the thing. I don’t just think this is the greatest performance of the year, I truthfully think this is the best performance I’ve ever seen. It’s not just the fact that Heath Ledger passed on and I’m just giving him a pity vote. I believe he will and would’ve won the oscar either way (knock on wood). If he doesn;t win the oscar, I will never watch the oscars again, which will be very hard for me, because I love watching the oscars, but if Heath Ledger does not win, in no way does it deserve my viewing or anyones viewing for that matter. Every moment The Joker appeared on screen I just stopped breathing for a second because I didn’t want to miss a second. He made absolutely every word he spoke memorable and he created the greatest character ever put on screen. Heath Ledger created a character with nervous ticks, subtle emotions, and feeling ironically only for the one person he’s supposed to hate. In Heath Ledger’s character we learn not only, that there is no good without evil, but also we learn what acting is truly about.

Many will disagree, who am I kidding, most will disagree. My job isn’t to please viewers, it’s to tell them my opinion. Even if I were to attempt to please my viewers I couldn’t succeed in pleasing them all especially in a such a broad topic of movies. The interrogation scene in The Dark Knight is, in my opinion, the greatest scene ever put on to the silver screen. It’s a scene right smack dab in the middle of the greatest film ever made and it has the long awaited meeting between good and evil. Not just good and evil though. This good is the most heroic good there is, while this is the most diabolical evil ever depicted and this is the meeting between the two. This will forever be an iconic scene, whether you think it’s one of the best or not. The Interrogation scene has so much meaning behind it, but don’t take my word for it, watch it for yourself. This scene is what movies are all about.

Best Character: The Joker

Best Quote: “You… you complete me.”

Scene:

The Wrestler is certainly one of those movies that keeps you thinking long after the movie’s over and a movie you will never forget. You will remember this film because of its emotional story and a masterful performance by one of the greats, a Mr. Mickey Rourke. This is a film that will make you feel every emotion there is, because everything in this film is felt by both the main character and the audience. Every punch, chair, and staple gun Randy gets to the leg, face, or back, every word he’s called, every feeling of happiness is felt by both Randy “The Ram” Robinson and the audience. These feelings are felt because of the spectacular direction and amazing performances by all, except for Rourke’s. His performance can’t just be called amazing, that’s an insult. His performance was nothing short of perfection.

 The Wrestler is the emotional story of your average common man who wants to be somebody. Except the only difference here is that this average joe is that he has been somebody, only that was 20 years ago and his life has gone down the tubes. He’s now just an “old broken down piece of meat” and he’s got a lot of regrets that he wants to make up for. He’s made mistakes like anyone and he wants to make up for them. He wants his daughter’s (Evan Rachel Wood) affection back. He wants to love again and he attempts to find that love in a stripper with her own problems (Marisa Tomei). The only problem is that “The Ram” isn’t so easily changed. He can never forget the blood, sweat and cheers. 

This much more to say, but I don’t want to give away too much. The Wrestler is a film that manages to find and tap into all of our deepest emotions and dreams. Its much more than your average movie, which ironic because it’s about a very average character. This will surely strike a nerve in the hearts of millions because of its sad tale of love, life, dreams, and regret and also because of one of the most believable performances ever filmed. 

Grade: A

Walking into Gran Torino, I was expecting an average movie that would attempt to show that Clint Eastwood could still be an action hero and kick ass. Well I saw that Clint Eastwood can still act and direct to close to perfection at the age of 78, but this was so much more then the gritty action movie I was expecting to watch. Its an unexpected must-see of racism and people changing for the better. It’s was much better than I was expecting it to be.

Gran Torino is the story of a bitter old man named Walt Kowalski who just lost the only person he ever truly loved. He’s an enraged bigot and a war veteran. He’s the last american living in his neighborhood and doesn’t like it. He uses offensive stereotypical names throughout and doesn’t let up. He ends up befriending a few of his neighbors and learning that there’s more to life than lonliness and hatred. Throw ina 1972 Gran Torino and a gang whose leader is related to one of the chinese neighbors, and what you’ve got is a fantastic movie.

Clint Eastwood was absolutely spectacular in this film. I loved every moment he was on screen, which was 95% of the movie. I pray that this, even though it was a great movie, won’t be his last movie. If its not too much to ask I also pray he would do just one more western, that would be amazing. If there’s one complaint I would make about this film it would be the acting. Aside from Clint Eastwood being amazing as usual, the rest of the cast was a bunch of mediocre no-named actors. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with no named actors, they sometimes can add to the realism of the movie, but the least you could’ve done is picked some good ones.

That was the only con out of a lot of pros. What was so enjoyable about Gran Torino, was while is was a very emotional and dramatic tale race and the good that can shine from the darkest of places, it also had a lot of comic relief. There were many moments that made me laugh out loud. It wasn’t the racist jokes that were funny, it was the arrogance of the character that was funny. It was the way Walt treated everybody especially his friends. All and all Gran Torino was a great watch and I can’t wait to enjoy watching it again.

Grade: A-

Looking ahead to the future year of films I am very excited for a large amount of them. There is one movie that I am very excited for that unfortunately did not make this list. That film is Terminator Salvation. Terminator Salvation looks exceptionally good and more intense than the last few, but I’m also thinking of boycotting it because I don’t think you should make a terminator movie without Arnold. On a different note for any frequent viewers, I will be posting my top ten movies of 2008 and my top ten performances of 2008 soon, so stay tuned and be patient. Well here’s my top ten most anticipated movies of 2009:

10. Shutter Island

Without knowing much about it other than its about a serial killer escaping to a desolate island, I am excited for it because its directed by Martin Scorsese.

9. The Soloist

This looks like an excellent film of story, acting, and friendship. The trailer gives chills every single time.

8. Watchmen

This looks visually amazing and its based on what’s supposed to be the greatest graphic novels ever written and within the top 100 greatest novels ever written. The story should be great, I’m just worried about the acting and direction.

7. Taken

I love Liam Neeson, the trailer looks great, and this looks like a good piece of entertainment to get this year started.

6. Up

Every ixar movie ever made has been good in my opinion and this looks no different. You can expect a top ten pixar movies list after this is released.

5. Sherlock Holmes

Robert Downey Jr. in a Guy Ritchie movie based on a famous novel, sounds like the recipe to a masterpiece to me.

4. The Wolfman

A remake starring a fantastic actor taking a simple story into much poetic and complex depths. Benecio Del Toro has never disappointed and won’t.

3. Public Enemies

This is the next classic gangster movie based on the true crime wave in the 1930s. Its the story of the FBI and the infamous gangster it was invented to stop. The movie stars Christian Bale and Johnny Depp and will be fantastic.

2. Nine

No, not the animated movie by Tim Burton, the epic musical starring Daniel Day-Lewis about a director in the search of his next big money maker and the women trying to force the art out of him.

1. Inglorious Bastards

Quentin Tarantino is a spectacular director, Brad Pitt is a great actor and I haven’t seen a good war movie in a long time. All of Tarantino’s movies are incredible and this is his next masterpiece.