The Cantor Outreach Program…. Where I can freely admit that I spelled my name Canter when I started typing this column.... and know
that you guys know that’s not even close to being the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.
The point of this column is to go straight into my wheelhouse… movies. I haven’t written the Five Second Stare at the movies column this
year because teaching has become harder in year two. I’m teaching three courses (last year I only taught one) and it’s three times tougher
to lesson plan for three classes than it is for one. Still, it hasn’t stopped me from watching as many movies as possible. Also, if you’ve read
Brock’s award winning film reviews, you know the ROFFL already has the movies covered.
Anyway… for those interested, on to my top 10 films of the year.
1. Juno – the script by Diablo Cody, a former stripper, will certainly grab the Oscar for best original screenplay and deservedly so. Ellen
Page owns the screen as young Juno, a young girl who’s in over her head when she gets pregnant her junior year of High School. There
is a ton to like about this film and I hate to see it take a backseat because it’s getting “played out” as this years Little Miss Sunshine. I give
a ton of credit to director Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking) for directing a sublime supporting cast with gems like Michael Cera,
Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, J.K. Simmons, and Alison Janney (the last two, I think, deserve Oscar nominations). The movie never
tries to go to far, and handles the extraordinary situations rather ordinarily, which helped me fall in love with not only Juno, but Paulie
Bleecker (Cera) her parents (Janney and Simmons), but the flick itself.
2. Eastern Promises – Simply put, David Cronenberg does not fuck around when he’s making a movie, and neither does Viggo
Mortenson. Eastern Promises is certainly the most gritty film on this list, and definitely the grossest (which is actually saying something,
considering all the blood on this list). Naomi Watts plays the heroine of the story as some a midwife who finds a diary with a ton of secrets,
but the real star of the flick is Viggo. Mortenson’s character, Nikolai, goes through a stupid amount of developments, including a ridiculous
twist towards the end of the film. If not for the third film on the list, Viggo should’ve wrapped up the best actor Oscar by gutting out the
“shower scene” alone.
3. There Will Be Blood – Ladies and gentlemen, the absolute best living actor performing today, Daniel Day-Lewis. He is the Tom Brady
of the acting world, simply the best at his profession. He plays Daniel Plainview in P.T. Andersons two hour and forty minute epic, based
loosely on Upton Sinclairs, Oil! It’s the best performance in movies since Daniel Day-Lewis played Bill “the Butcher” in Scorsese’s
overrated Gangs of New York. The movie runs a bit too long, but because almost every scene in the movie contains Lewis, it doesn’t really
matter because you’re in awe of the character. The film has garnered comparisons to Citizen Kane, considered the greatest film ever
made. While I think that praise is a bit lofty (I thought there were two movies better this year, let a lone ever), the scope of the film was the
most grandiose. Daniel Day-Lewis has no upcoming projects, but I hope he finds something soon.
4. The Orphanage – This film surprised the hell out of me (and also scared the shit out of me). I had only a small desire to see the flick
and no intention of seeing it until Brian mentioned going for one of our Sunday movie ventures. The film is getting unfairly compared to last
years Pans Labyrinth because the director of that film, Guillermo Del Toro, produced this flick. The two movies have little else in common.
While Labyrinth is more a fantasy movie, The Orphanage is more of a straight horror. Don’t get me wrong though, The Orphanage is not a
simple and cheap horror flick. The movie doesn’t go for simple jumps, but earns the fear it instills in the heart of the viewers. There were
moments of the film I jumped, but there were more moments I simply couldn’t breathe. If you like being scared, you should see this film
immediately.
5. Knocked Up – It’s hard to mention this film without mentioning Superbad because of the obvious Apatow family tree. Turns out, I do
mention Superbad later in this column, but after viewing both films again, I’ve decided that this was the better movie. Simply put, Knocked
Up is a more grown up movie, dealing with more serious things and trying to say something sweet and important along the way. It also has
stronger acting from its females (Leslie Mann and Katherine Heigl) and a great supporting actor performance (Paul Rudd). I’m not sure if it
was pound for pound funny than Superbad, but it was definitely better.
6. Ratatouille – After taking a step backwards with last years Cars, Pixar picked up where it left off when The Incredibles hit theatres in
2004. What do both The Incredibles and Ratatouille have in common? Writer and Director, Brad Bird. Bird, who has worked on the
Simpsons a ton and also wrote and directed The Iron Giant, is clearly working on a completely differently level than most animators.
Ratatouille is the best looking movie Pixar has made so far, and the most grown up. The movie, about a rat living in Paris, who has a
dream of being the greatest chef in the city, caters more to adults than it does to children. The voice over work is all great. Pixar’s
strongest decisions are not going for stars to do voice over work, Dreamworks and 20th Century Fox Animators always credit “the stars” of
their animated films (most of which suck), something Pixar never does. Instead, Pixar lands Patton Oswalt as the Rat, Peter O’Toole as the
critic, Jeanne Garofalo as a feminist chef, and Brad Garrett as the legendary chef, Auguste Gusteau. All are home runs and adds to the
joy of the film.
7. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – I think it’s safe to say that this was the bloodiest movie of the year, the best
musical of the year, and yes, one of the best movies of the year. The film would definitely classify as being in Director Tim Burtons
“wheelhouse” as anyone who has seen 1999’s Sleep Hollow can tell you. I had top ten expectations before I saw this movie, and they were
definitely met. Johnny Depp, who originally moved to California to become a rock singer, performs extremely well as Sweeney Todd, the
Barber out to get revenge on London, simply because they’re all guilty of something. I also loved the performances of Alan Rickman as the
very evil Judge Turpin, Helena Bonham Carter (who has a lovely voice) as Mrs. Lovett (Todd’s business partner) and Sacha Baron Cohen,
the scene stealing revival barber. If you have a week stomach, this one might not be for you, but it’s a good time at the movies and it
makes you give about 1000% more respect to your barber when you’re sitting in that chair.
8. Zodiac – Did you forget about this one? You might have, it came out almost a year ago, March 2nd, 2007, so be exact. Running at
nearly two hours and forty minutes, David Fincher’s (Fight Club, The Game, Se7en) latest film chugs along at a brisk pace and is full of
tension. Jake Gyllenhaal does a nice job carrying the film but it was sprinkled with fantastic supporting performances by Mark Ruffalo’s
inspector and Robert Downey Jr.’s newspaper columnist. The film itself isn’t that bloody, but the scenes in which the Zodiac killer attacks
are shot so well that you become scared even though you know what’s going to happen. This is a film with the right actors and an
extremely talented director at the top of his game. Fincher’s next film is based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s story, “The Curious Case of
Benjamin Button” about a man who starts to age backwards with Brad Pitt (a reunion of Fight Club) playing Button. I’m calling it right now,
count on some Oscar nominations for that one.
9. Superbad – You knew it was coming and you know what? I don’t care. No movie made me laugh more than this one did in 2007. I
identified with both the lead characters and if the Oscars didn’t have something stuck up their asses, Michael Cera would be nominated for
Best Supporting Actor because you can’t sit here and tell me that anyone else in the world could have played the part of Evan better than
he did. The movie had a ton of heart and handled the party scene and last scene when the boys split up as good as you could have
possibly handled it. I’m not going to say I cried, but I admit to getting emotional when the two friends say goodbye. There’s no reason a
movie like this should have been able to pull at the emotional strings unless it was superbly made. It was.
10. Sicko – Is it cheating to put a documentary on this list? I don’t give a shit. This was an important movie and one of the best of the
year. Now it just so happens that I agree with a lot of what Michael Moore says, but that doesn’t make him any less of an asshole, which he
clearly is. However, he doesn’t try to piss off any particular side of the country in this film. He tries to piss us all off, and why not? Our
healthcare system sucks and like a good documentary should do, Moore examines the problems with the system and tries to ignite a
discussion on the problem. No one is safe in the film; from the obvious targets (George Bush) to the less obvious (Hillary Clinton gets
blasted). I found myself questioning a ton of things at the end of the film, so I knew I saw something special.
that you guys know that’s not even close to being the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.
The point of this column is to go straight into my wheelhouse… movies. I haven’t written the Five Second Stare at the movies column this
year because teaching has become harder in year two. I’m teaching three courses (last year I only taught one) and it’s three times tougher
to lesson plan for three classes than it is for one. Still, it hasn’t stopped me from watching as many movies as possible. Also, if you’ve read
Brock’s award winning film reviews, you know the ROFFL already has the movies covered.
Anyway… for those interested, on to my top 10 films of the year.
1. Juno – the script by Diablo Cody, a former stripper, will certainly grab the Oscar for best original screenplay and deservedly so. Ellen
Page owns the screen as young Juno, a young girl who’s in over her head when she gets pregnant her junior year of High School. There
is a ton to like about this film and I hate to see it take a backseat because it’s getting “played out” as this years Little Miss Sunshine. I give
a ton of credit to director Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking) for directing a sublime supporting cast with gems like Michael Cera,
Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, J.K. Simmons, and Alison Janney (the last two, I think, deserve Oscar nominations). The movie never
tries to go to far, and handles the extraordinary situations rather ordinarily, which helped me fall in love with not only Juno, but Paulie
Bleecker (Cera) her parents (Janney and Simmons), but the flick itself.
2. Eastern Promises – Simply put, David Cronenberg does not fuck around when he’s making a movie, and neither does Viggo
Mortenson. Eastern Promises is certainly the most gritty film on this list, and definitely the grossest (which is actually saying something,
considering all the blood on this list). Naomi Watts plays the heroine of the story as some a midwife who finds a diary with a ton of secrets,
but the real star of the flick is Viggo. Mortenson’s character, Nikolai, goes through a stupid amount of developments, including a ridiculous
twist towards the end of the film. If not for the third film on the list, Viggo should’ve wrapped up the best actor Oscar by gutting out the
“shower scene” alone.
3. There Will Be Blood – Ladies and gentlemen, the absolute best living actor performing today, Daniel Day-Lewis. He is the Tom Brady
of the acting world, simply the best at his profession. He plays Daniel Plainview in P.T. Andersons two hour and forty minute epic, based
loosely on Upton Sinclairs, Oil! It’s the best performance in movies since Daniel Day-Lewis played Bill “the Butcher” in Scorsese’s
overrated Gangs of New York. The movie runs a bit too long, but because almost every scene in the movie contains Lewis, it doesn’t really
matter because you’re in awe of the character. The film has garnered comparisons to Citizen Kane, considered the greatest film ever
made. While I think that praise is a bit lofty (I thought there were two movies better this year, let a lone ever), the scope of the film was the
most grandiose. Daniel Day-Lewis has no upcoming projects, but I hope he finds something soon.
4. The Orphanage – This film surprised the hell out of me (and also scared the shit out of me). I had only a small desire to see the flick
and no intention of seeing it until Brian mentioned going for one of our Sunday movie ventures. The film is getting unfairly compared to last
years Pans Labyrinth because the director of that film, Guillermo Del Toro, produced this flick. The two movies have little else in common.
While Labyrinth is more a fantasy movie, The Orphanage is more of a straight horror. Don’t get me wrong though, The Orphanage is not a
simple and cheap horror flick. The movie doesn’t go for simple jumps, but earns the fear it instills in the heart of the viewers. There were
moments of the film I jumped, but there were more moments I simply couldn’t breathe. If you like being scared, you should see this film
immediately.
5. Knocked Up – It’s hard to mention this film without mentioning Superbad because of the obvious Apatow family tree. Turns out, I do
mention Superbad later in this column, but after viewing both films again, I’ve decided that this was the better movie. Simply put, Knocked
Up is a more grown up movie, dealing with more serious things and trying to say something sweet and important along the way. It also has
stronger acting from its females (Leslie Mann and Katherine Heigl) and a great supporting actor performance (Paul Rudd). I’m not sure if it
was pound for pound funny than Superbad, but it was definitely better.
6. Ratatouille – After taking a step backwards with last years Cars, Pixar picked up where it left off when The Incredibles hit theatres in
2004. What do both The Incredibles and Ratatouille have in common? Writer and Director, Brad Bird. Bird, who has worked on the
Simpsons a ton and also wrote and directed The Iron Giant, is clearly working on a completely differently level than most animators.
Ratatouille is the best looking movie Pixar has made so far, and the most grown up. The movie, about a rat living in Paris, who has a
dream of being the greatest chef in the city, caters more to adults than it does to children. The voice over work is all great. Pixar’s
strongest decisions are not going for stars to do voice over work, Dreamworks and 20th Century Fox Animators always credit “the stars” of
their animated films (most of which suck), something Pixar never does. Instead, Pixar lands Patton Oswalt as the Rat, Peter O’Toole as the
critic, Jeanne Garofalo as a feminist chef, and Brad Garrett as the legendary chef, Auguste Gusteau. All are home runs and adds to the
joy of the film.
7. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – I think it’s safe to say that this was the bloodiest movie of the year, the best
musical of the year, and yes, one of the best movies of the year. The film would definitely classify as being in Director Tim Burtons
“wheelhouse” as anyone who has seen 1999’s Sleep Hollow can tell you. I had top ten expectations before I saw this movie, and they were
definitely met. Johnny Depp, who originally moved to California to become a rock singer, performs extremely well as Sweeney Todd, the
Barber out to get revenge on London, simply because they’re all guilty of something. I also loved the performances of Alan Rickman as the
very evil Judge Turpin, Helena Bonham Carter (who has a lovely voice) as Mrs. Lovett (Todd’s business partner) and Sacha Baron Cohen,
the scene stealing revival barber. If you have a week stomach, this one might not be for you, but it’s a good time at the movies and it
makes you give about 1000% more respect to your barber when you’re sitting in that chair.
8. Zodiac – Did you forget about this one? You might have, it came out almost a year ago, March 2nd, 2007, so be exact. Running at
nearly two hours and forty minutes, David Fincher’s (Fight Club, The Game, Se7en) latest film chugs along at a brisk pace and is full of
tension. Jake Gyllenhaal does a nice job carrying the film but it was sprinkled with fantastic supporting performances by Mark Ruffalo’s
inspector and Robert Downey Jr.’s newspaper columnist. The film itself isn’t that bloody, but the scenes in which the Zodiac killer attacks
are shot so well that you become scared even though you know what’s going to happen. This is a film with the right actors and an
extremely talented director at the top of his game. Fincher’s next film is based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s story, “The Curious Case of
Benjamin Button” about a man who starts to age backwards with Brad Pitt (a reunion of Fight Club) playing Button. I’m calling it right now,
count on some Oscar nominations for that one.
9. Superbad – You knew it was coming and you know what? I don’t care. No movie made me laugh more than this one did in 2007. I
identified with both the lead characters and if the Oscars didn’t have something stuck up their asses, Michael Cera would be nominated for
Best Supporting Actor because you can’t sit here and tell me that anyone else in the world could have played the part of Evan better than
he did. The movie had a ton of heart and handled the party scene and last scene when the boys split up as good as you could have
possibly handled it. I’m not going to say I cried, but I admit to getting emotional when the two friends say goodbye. There’s no reason a
movie like this should have been able to pull at the emotional strings unless it was superbly made. It was.
10. Sicko – Is it cheating to put a documentary on this list? I don’t give a shit. This was an important movie and one of the best of the
year. Now it just so happens that I agree with a lot of what Michael Moore says, but that doesn’t make him any less of an asshole, which he
clearly is. However, he doesn’t try to piss off any particular side of the country in this film. He tries to piss us all off, and why not? Our
healthcare system sucks and like a good documentary should do, Moore examines the problems with the system and tries to ignite a
discussion on the problem. No one is safe in the film; from the obvious targets (George Bush) to the less obvious (Hillary Clinton gets
blasted). I found myself questioning a ton of things at the end of the film, so I knew I saw something special.
 |