Wall-E – great!
Hancock – completely underrated!
Dark Knight – too long!
Indiana Jones – for the nostalgic story telling style and like visiting an old friend..

Haven't seen any bad or mediocre movie except for Hannah Montana 3-D, but that's mainly because my sister forced me to see it. It could have been terrible, but the 3-D saved the movie. Still, a mediocre movie. Haven't seen Beverly Hills Chihuaua, but that looks bad, too. What's wrong with Disney today.

On that note, I tend to avoid reading the critics before I see a movie. I like to make up my own mind, and find that a lot of movies that the critics love, I barely tolerate, and the ones they find "must-see" I usually wish I hadn't seen! I usually read the book (if it is from a book), see the original (if it is a remake), or at least see several trailers. Then I go if it looks interesting. If it is questionable, I usually wait for word of mouth from my friends or until it is on satellite!

However, if we are talking about good movies in 2008, I'd have to agree that my favorites were two animated movies: "Wall-E" and "Kung Fu Panda". But there were a lot of good movies in 2008.

Lets start with the ones that my wife and I considered the worst. At the top of the list was Austrailia. I have to say, when you advertise for a World War II film of any kind, that is what the film had better be. Not a cross of Crocodile Dundee, Quigley Down Under, Out of Africa, Open Range, Silverado and 3:10 to Yuma. The only difference is the fact that all of the westerns that I mentioned were actually excellent films.

Tropic Thunder should have been called Tropic Blunder. I really like Robert Downey Jr. But this film totally takes the cake, and I am quite suprised that there were not some racially based lawsuits created over his character. Of course the same thing could be said about the Wayan's Brother's movie White Chicks a few years back. Nevertheless, not a film that was worth the popcorn to throw at the screen!

My wife went to see 7 Pounds, and came back with a fairly dismal report. Needless to say after her description of the film I will probably not rent the DVD.

As for the Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, I was told to remain curious, so I will wait for the DVD.

Vantage Point was not the best film either. The constant repeat of the same action through a different set of eyes coming to the same conclusion, was definately different, but did not hold my attention long enough to make the film worth it. All I remember is my wife waking me up when the credits were rolling. That is pretty bad.

The new Ailen VS. Predator film was just a waste of celluloid!

So lets talk about some of the better films that graced the screen this year. I can truely say that I enjoyed The Kingdom. This was a very telling tale of both sides of the terrorism issues that we are facing today. For those of you who may not have seen it, this film is going to be quite a shocker. Its more than just an action flick, and it really equates itself more with Black Hawk Down.

Wall-E was definately a nice treat for the eyes, and disney did a fine job with this film. Great for the kids and adults alike. Definately a slam on our wasteful tendancies as a society. It definately addresses our need to improve our recycling programs and improving our waste management programs.

Contrary to a couple of previous comments about the Batman Dark Knight film, this was the best film of the Batman Genre I have yet to see. As noble as Jack Nicholson's effors were in the first Batman film many years ago, Heath Ledger's rendition of Joker was closer to the sinister character that Joker really is. Definately an intense film and one for the books for this year.

Hancock was a great ride in the theaters this year. We definately enjoyed that film. In my opinion it was a nice twist on the Superman Tale.

Kung Foo Panda was Jack Black's best performance I have seen in quite some time. Definately great for the kids and the kid in you.

Apaloosa and 3:10 to Yuma were definately worth the time this year, and will probably turn out to be the typical Western Classics like Silverado, Quigley Down Under, Unforgiven, Hondo, The Magnificent Seven, True Grit, Tombstone and Wyatt Earp. Good action, good gun slinging and great scenery.

I could go on, but I think CNN would probably edit the length of my article.

In any event, see you in the dark!

Worst Movie – Vantage Point
Most Disappointing Movie – Dark Knight (Hated it except for Ledger)

In my humble opinion, A film with a solid, moving, entertaining STORY. Story comes first – Story has to be the key. Story that moves you, makes you wonder, makes you think, makes you laugh, makes you cry – THEN follows the Direction, Acting, Cinematography, Editing, Music, Make up etc.

Another criteria that I use is: Did the movie honored the Genre that it was in? Was it a comedy that made me laugh? Was it an Action Thriller that thrilled and excited me? Was it a Drama that moved me? etc

So by the definition and criteria stated above:

Best Film of 2008: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

A ‘complete’ film. Story is wonderful. Direction is seamless – Brilliant. Acting is very good. Music is fabulous. Everything is VERY VERY GOOD about this film hence I will call it BEST MOVIE OF 2008. I would be very disappointed if SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE misses out on BEST FILM OSCAR AWARD. (but then again they didn't give OSCAR to SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION !)

2008 showed us a lots of GOOD movies with some EXCEPTIONAL performances.

1. DARK KNIGHT - Heath Ledger was phenomenal. Dark Knight was an above average film, not the best of 2008. Heath was the BEST thing about Dark Knight. Every Scene he was in was spectacular. He did an amazing job – Rest in peace Heath!

2. THE READER – Kate Winslet is wonderful. But then Kate is never bad. She is truly gifted!

3. CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett were very good but hands down the best performance was by Taraji P Henson (she played the character of Queenie). The direction of David Fincher was very good. I, personally, did not feel the story was some sort of off-shoot or rip off of Forrest Gump. The script was based on a short story written by F Scott Fitzgerald. And, to some, if it felt a bit ‘Forrest Gumpy’ it was only because the screenplay was written by Eric Roth who also wrote Forrest Gump.

4. MILK – Sean Penn is excellent. Another great performance.

5. VALKYRIE – Tom Cruise was very good ( he may jump off couches but he can still act if he is DIRECTED well). Movie was very engaging and was well done.

6. THE WRESTLER – Mickey Rourke has done an amazing job.

7. TROPIC THUNDER – Robert Downey Jr was excellent! (Tom Cruise’s cameo was funny too)

2008 also saw some BAD MOVIES done by some GOOD ACTORS:

HANCOCK & SEVEN POUNDS – Will Smith ( Both movies had good premise but the end result was inconclusive)
INDIANA JONES – Harrison Ford (Story had no depth. It was only made because of ‘The BRAND’ )
STEP BROTHERS – Will Ferrell & John C Reilly ( Some jokes made me laugh though).

and finally the WORST MOVIES of 2008:

LOVE GURU – (Total and absolute DISASTER . DREADFUL, TERRIBLE – Mike Myers is extremely OVER RATED. ).

MAX PAYNE – (Utter failure. Mark Wahlberg was FLAT, DEAD PAN with SAME EXPRESSION – like always. Add to that Mila Kunis – Are you kidding me with leather-attire and attitude ?? – what a colossal waste !!!)

X – FILES – ( No story, no suspense, nothing X-filey – again was made b/c of the X-Files brand. One of the best things about X-Files (the Series) was that they didn’t show Mulder and Scully in bed together. They took that away in the movie. What a SHAME!)

BANGKOK DANGEROUS – ( Nicolas Cage should QUIT. The theater I was in – EVERY SINGLE PERSON walked out of the movie within the first 45 minutes. I was the only idiot who stayed till the end and what a waste of time it was.)

CASINO ROYALE – (Senseless and mind boggling Action, Bad choice of villain, bad acting, no story)

Special mention:

THE HAPPENING – ( Everything was AWFUL in this movie – the premise was absurd, the story (or lack of it) was incoherent, there was no connection, no sympathy for the characters – There was nothing INNOCENT about Mark Wahlberg – same dead and emotionless expression. Zooey Deschanel was horrible with her goofy expression. But the worst part - that it was from M Night Shyamalan! – - the guy who did ‘Sixth Sense’ and breakable’ – two of the GREATEST MOVIES ever made .

I think the fame, ego and money has gone to Night’s head. There is no other excuse. Night proved it with ‘Lady in the Water’ and just when he had a chance to redeem himself and prove everyone wrong – He did ‘The Happening‘

Looking forward to seeing some of the movies being nominated.

Dark Night – really. He sounded like Andy Dick. If that is the case they should have nomiated Jack for his role as the Joker – much less annoying.

Gran Tranio was great. Wall -E was great.