2007 listmania cont: no longer hungover edition
listmania - film & television
Top 5 movies
5. 300
Its trashy unthinking filler made for guys (also see #2). But I enjoyed it.
4. Bourne Ultimatum
It's a satisfying end(?) to the series...unlike my much anticipated but in the end slightly disappointing Pirates of the Carribean 3. It's an espionage film free from James Bond-esque trappings of unrealistic gadgets and fast women. In fact, a reversal has happened - Casino Royale was more Bourne than James Bond. Instead, the Bourne Ultimatum contains all the things I liked about the Bourne movies - flawed characters, beautifully choreographed fight scenes featuring improbable weapons (Bourne beats up an assassin with a book!) and a sense of urgency all the way to the end of the movie. It may have one more movie in it, but as it stands I'm happy to see it end on a high note.
3. Paris je taime
Token foreign film to maintain my indie cred? Its a collection of shorts about all kinds of love, each set in the 18 different districts of Paris. Some are weird, some are sentimental. Some end abruptly, others sadly. It's a grab bag of stories that, for someone time poor like me, is able to watch short sections without having to worry about an overarching plot. I liked it, even if it's not going to win awards or make bold statements about controversial subjects.
2. Transformers
It should've been a terrible rape of my childhood memories. Instead, it's over the top action filled with shallow characters that I somehow loved. I guess it's the way you approach it. Go in with low expectations.
1. Superbad
Had to drag people to watch this but it was totally worth it. It's funny in both a slapstick and intelligent way. Featuring both believable dialogue and a bullseye capture of the trials and tribulations of a bunch of underage teenage boys trying to score booze and women, its something thats pulled from the essential primal psyche of a guy growing up. So many times in the movie I found myself thinking "Wow, this was just like me in high school". Which speaks volumes about my lameness I'm sure. It ends on a slighltly bittersweet note, but it reinforces the image that this movies just isn't about cheap gags. Watch it if you haven't already.
Dishonorable Mention:
Spider Man 3
I didn't know what I hated most about the movie: The mediocre acting, overlong pacing, the sudden and disjointed shifts in atmosphere and tone (the movie never recovers from the over-the-top-acrobatic-dancing-scene-with-jazz-music-and-emo-haircut lowpoint), the sickly generic Hollywood ending or the fact that I'd been convinced to pay $25 to watch this in a Gold Cinema all the way in Innaloo. Oh, that's right, it was all of it.
TV Shows:
Heroes.
I don't watch much TV, but I liked Heroes. Sure, some of the story arcs are useless (ie Nikki/Black guy/black boy), Claire seems to get horrific injuries over the simplest of tasks and Milo Vensomthingsomething can't act for shit (Keanu-Reaves-style-hammying-it-up-in-every-scene school of acting). But it takes an interesting premise, adds in an air of mystery and is filled with a backstory that is oddly compelling. What spawned these powers? What is their parents link to each other. Just who are the Outfit? Answers to be solved soonish I hope (and not in a dragged out Lost way hopefully)
Gossip Girl
I love Gossip Girl. The new series from Josh Schwartzman of Welcome-to-the-OC-bitch fame, it has all the hallmarks of OC design (and success): the good lookingtwentysomethings posing as high school students, trendy fashion and music, all set in the glamorous world of the well off in Upper East Side Manhattan. It's trash, right down to the way Kristen Bell narrates "xoxo" in the beginning and end. But oh how I love it. A guilty pleasure, and one I'll never admit in public. YOU HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED
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