And the very short list of the best I saw in the back half of 2008. All are highly recommended.
The Dark Knight—film. Damn near perfect in almost every area. You’ve heard what people have said; you may even have read reviews or seen them on TV. Believe them all. This is an amazing film from plot, to direction, to acting. I could go on and on, but I’ll let you see for yourselves. You owe it to yourself to see this movie. It doesn’t matter in the least that this is a comic book movie. This is a great movie, period. A
Definitely, Maybe-- I’ve probably mentioned more than once that I’m a Ryan Reynolds fan. Sure, he’s been in some bad films (who hasn’t), but he usually manages to be a bright spot in even the worst of them. He’s a guy who just needs that good part in a good film. This could be that film. He’s humorous, noble, very likable, caring; everything this role called for. The premise: a man tells his daughter stories about three women he dated, one of which is her mother. Sappy at times, but the plotting holds it together with a few curveballs—and Reynolds also is charming enough to handle it all. B+
Meet Bill—Another odd movie; it’s hard to get a grip on it. But Aaron Eckhart was his usual fantastic self. Props, too, to Logan Lerman as The Kid. He played a typical wise-ass, angsty teen—but with a purpose: to get Bill out of his funk. And it worked very well for this movie. Other names: Jessica Alba (who didn’t have much to do, but Thank God she finally found herself attached to a decent movie), Elizabeth Banks (who’s quickly becoming the latest “it girl”), and Timothy Olyphant (who needs to be in more pictures). This film won’t be for everyone, but I liked it quite a bit. B+
Sunshine—A little known film that had rave reviews from the handful of places I read about it. The basic premise is the sun is going out, and the first team of humans sent into space to try to reignite it disappeared before accomplishing their mission. A second team (the focus of this story) is sent out to succeed where the first team failed—and maybe to find out what happened the first time. The acting and directing was great. The special effects were very realistic. The movie felt very familiar in hitting the basic plot points of a movie like this, but the execution was very above average. This would be an “A” movie, easily, if I could have understood what was going on in the last half-hour or so-- like where did the final “conflict” come from? I don’t have to have things tied up in a bow, but it would have helped in this case because there was a big hole left. Things in life may not be thoroughly explained, but a little plot closure in a movie or book is recommended. B+
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