Any time you have 4 GREAT comic book films hit the big screen in a year, you know it’s going to be an awesome year of film goodness. Seriously, I haven’t been this excited about going to the movies in a loooong time. This also marks the first time I watched a movie in a theater around the same time The Fresno Bee gets delivered in my neighborhood. Who does that?? We do it here at The Drum. Anyways, my top 5 of the year so far:
5. Iron Man
Robert Downey Jr. really delivered a stellar performance as Tony Stark. This is really a no-brainer here. You’ve got a mega-millionaire playboy genius who’s got it all…and on top of that, he’s got a suit of armor that makes him virtually indestructable. He can fly, deflect gunfire, shoot rockets out of his forearm and go 12 for 12 with Maxim cover girls. Tony Stark is the epitome of Alpha Male-ness. Tony Stark is who I wanted to be when I grew up. I like blogging too.
4. Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
When I think of cool documentaries I think of films like Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine and Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size me. Those films are intriguing, have a bit of humor and they somehow manage to keep you entertained without the assistance of huge explosions, CGI, or Megan Fox. Bigger, Stronger, Faster* is a documentary by Chris Bell, a regular guy who, like any kid, just wanted to be like Rambo, Arnold and Hulk Hogan. Bell and his brothers are all powerlifters who have experimented with anabolic steroids and this film gives you a peek into their everyday lives, dreams and issues. BSF* also uncovers the dark truth about steroids and the people that use them. What I like most about this movie is you don’t have to be a gym rat meathead with tubs of whey protein in your kitchen to love this film. But if you are, then it’s f***ing awesome.
3. The Dark Knight
Number 3? Having an epic film like TDK take the third spot really speaks volumes about the kind of year it’s been in film. A ridiculously amazing performance by Heath Ledger, a brilliant screenplay and a big fat IMAX screen at 6:00a.m. For me, this is about as close to movie perfection as it gets and it just happens to be about a comic book super hero. I really want to put this at number one, but these two other films got in the way.
2. The Wackness
Ahh, The Wackness. The best movie of 2008 that you probably didn’t even hear of because it didn’t show in a theater anywhere in the valley. Classic hip-hop soundtrack, a great script and I really thought Josh Peck pulled off the “Shapiro” role pretty damn well. This film really took me back. It reminded me of hanging out with my cousins as we blazed it up and listened to music that would eventually become classics. There were just so many moments from this movie that I could relate to , moments that were so meaningful that I would still remember them to this day like they happened yesterday. This is a movie that you absolutely have to watch ASAP if you haven’t already.
1. Cloverfield
I’ve said it before, I’m a big, fat sucker for epic , “OMG, we’re all gonna DIE!!!” disaster movies. War of the Worlds was my fave in the genre until this mofo came outta nowhere and bitch slapped it. For a whole 85 minutes I sat back and watched 4 people in New York try and survive a Godzilla-style attack on thier home and loved ones, all by way of a hand-held cam. For those 85 minutes I forgot where I was, I forgot what bills I had to pay, and I forgot about the car in my drive way with a blown motor that I had just replaced a few months before. The visuals were amazing, the audio blew my mind and I love how Abrams teased the whole way through, never completely reavealing the giant creature that rips NY a new one until the very end. This is film making at it’s finest. This is quite possibly my most favorite movie of all time.
Didn’t make the list:
Wall-E
The Fall
Hancock
Biggest Disappointments So Far:
The Happening
Drillbit Taylor
The Love Guru
Cloverfield was good, perhaps top 10 at the end of the year?