Top Movies of 2008 so far...

Tarsem's long in the making second feature film is a beauty. Every single frame of this 117 minute film is a beautiful work of art that, when weaved together form a cohesive whole tapestry that is at once tragic, uplifting, and gorgeous. The interactions between the actors are so sincere and real, it is impossible not to connect with Alexandria and Roy. The last movie in which I actually cared for the characters this much was probably "Lars and the Real Girl" or "The Fountain". And that just scratches the surface of what "The Fall" has to offer. The narrative is so unique in how it is a story told by Roy, but the audience sees the story as Alexandria imagines it, an interesting choice that really pays off in the end. All in all, the best film that I have seen thus far from 2008.

Chris Nolan is my favorite director working right now and not just because he has a new great movie coming out, I would have told you the same thing last year when he had no movies being released. What he does with this characters and images just resonates with me whether it is a guy with short term memory loss, a magician, or a guy who dresses up as a bat. So yes, I loved this movie. Where "Batman Begins" dealt with fear and overcoming and using fear to become and ideal, "The Dark Knight" deals with chaos and how an ideal must react in the face of chaos. And Batman must deal with it because despite every good action he makes it seems to only hurt others and those he loves. This is an epic crime saga that forces you to consider how people react whether they are masked vigilantes, madmen, or humans caught in between. The theme of collateral damage figures prominently into everything and is very emotionally striking. The performances are great, not a whole lot to say about them that others haven't already mentioned. So, when it is all said and done, this is without a doubt my favorite comic book movie and one that transcends the genre in a way that only Chris Nolan could have put forth.

After "Quantum of Solace" I feel that James as 007 is now free to become James Bond the icon that we all know. He finally has closure with what was haunting him and he knows who he needs to be to become a superspy. Daniel Craig continues his stellar time as James Bond, communicating so much with his face and his body that allows us to see what the character is going through and who he is becoming. The supporting players are great with Judi Dench's M finally becoming a real character with a real rapport with James, Olga Kurylenko as a very active and action packed Bond girl, Jeffrey Wright as a very believable Felix Leiter, Giancarlo Giannini providing a surprisingly touching performance with his character of Mathis, and Mathieu Amalric portraying a great low-key but certainly crazy and sinister Bond villain. The action in the beginning of the film was filmed much too close to the character to see what was going on, which robbed those scenes of a bit of the intensity, but after the car chase and foot chase I feel that Marc Forster learned from his mistakes and pulled back a bit for the rest of the film. Also, Forster was able to infuse the film with some genuine heartfelt moments that i did not see coming like small shots of the indigenous people in the South American filming locations, or *spoilers* the touching death sequence with Mathis, or the briefing with M after the death of Ms. Fields *end spoilers*. All of those were a bit unexpected, but helped to form the emotional heartbeat of the story. James Bond will return...and I will be excited and ready for it.

This IS the television show which I watched marathons of on Cartoon Network at Sean Galloway's house. The Wachowski's haven't reinvented the wheel, but they have done some fun things with the wheel which we have not seen in this combination before. A lot of the moments that seem cheesy at first glance are taken in direct context from the TV series or in the exact spirit of the TV series. And the heart of this story, with the Racer family, really got to me in a way that I wasn't expecting, which made the climactic final race one that I was emotionally connected to in a very good way. Performances all around were great, just like the characters from the series, and the score was a wonderful blend/updating of the original "Speed Racer" music. Oh yeah, did I mention that the visuals were stunning and meaningful to the story? This movie absolutely blew me away.

Visually spectacular, everything on Earth is just stupendous and haunting. Simplistic story and some great visual humor in the typical Pixar fashion. My only complaint is that they laid the love story and eco-story on a bit thick, but I understand why they had to do that since this is a rated G kids movie. But, overall fully enjoyable for anyone watching due to its rich visual content.

I really enjoy movies that are set in a time period and try to emulate the style of that time period in the way that the movie is shot and acted, like "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow". This directorial effort by George Clooney effectively emulates the style of the 30's and 40's screwball comedies, and guess what...it is actually funny. Great slightly over the top performances from all the leads, all of whom are able to add a subtle communication to their performances through their very expressive faces and movements. There are a few dramatic moments here that always feel like they have been earned due to the surrounding humor, and the message about the heart of the game is one not to be ignored.

After a rather dry late winter/spring at the movies, the summer movie season is here with the first good comic book adaption in quite a while. RDJ is the man, period. He really sells the change that Tony Stark goes through which is the most important element in these comic books movies. The rest of the cast does well with the material they have, espcially the scenery chewing Jeff Daniels, but this is the RDJ show. Still "Iron Man" can't break the "need" to throw in pointless least common denominator comedy scenes and it had a few ridiculous moments, but overall it was well grounded in the real world. So not quite in the top tier comic book movies with "Batman Begins", "Superman Returns", and "Hellboy", but it is right under them on the threshold.

Hey, what do you know, I actually liked a Judd Apatow movie. Maybe that is because they replaced all of the sexual references with over the top action cliches, much funnier in my opinion. There are just so many good one liners here it will be hard to not wear them out. But the real reason that "Pineapple Express" succeeds is because of the buddy pairing between Seth Rogen and James Franco. It was nice to see these two "Freaks and Geeks" co-stars working with each other again and David Gordon Green was really able to add his mark to the film with the smaller quiet moments where these two pot-heads learn what it is like to have a real friend. Touching stuff for an action comedy about weed. I was a bit disappointed that that great MIA song was never used in the movie though, wasted opportunity. All in all a fun and funny time at the theater towards the end of a very serious summer movie session.

Again RDJ proves that he is the man. Any conversation that he had about acting was both very thought provoking and hilarious. Such a layered character for a comedy. Black and Stiller were fine, not great, but their ending payoffs were good. Overall this comedy had the most rolling on the floor with laughter moments, but didn't feel quite as well put together as a movie. There were so many plot device characters and moments that felt very lazily done, like Nick Nolte's character for example. But overall I laughed a plenty and thought that the ending for the characters were worth it. As a side note, Danny McBride is great in this and with this and "Pineapple Express" proves that he is the new supporting comic all-star.