Top 13 Movies of 2008

I'm going to do a "Best of 2008" series over the next couple of days. I'll do the best movies, best cd's, and best books of 2008. Some of the movies may have been released in 2007, but I didn't see them until 2008. This is only my preferences.

13. Burn After Reading. I only put this one on there because it was one of the only movies that I saw in a theater. Brad Pitt did a great job, and the last 5 minutes were awesome. Other than that it was a disappointment. I usually like the Cohen Brothers movies. But this one had a lot of possibility, because it was a great idea, but it just didn't deliver.

12. Fireproof. Come on, it's got Kirk Cameron. Actually it was a pretty good movie. It was a feel good movie. It also made me want to be a fireman.

11. Tropic Thunder. It could have just been Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr., and it would have been worth it. They were hilarious. I just wish it hadn't been rated R.

10. Lars and The Real Woman. This was an awesome movie. It was so funny, and so happy. It was very weird though.

9. The Pirates who Don't Do Anything. We like the Veggie Tales and Parker loves them. It was a good story and had some good songs.

8. Juno. I liked this movie a lot. Jason Bateman is becoming one of my favorite actors, even though he was kinda jerky in this one. The slang from the kids got annoying in the beginning but it evened out after a while. But the story and the characters were great.

7. Kung Fu Panda. I think this was hilarious. Jack Black is funny even when you can't see his face. Plus it was a great story.

6. Iron Man. I know most people would make this number 1 or 2, and it was great, but there were a few I liked better. But it doesn't take away that I liked this movie a lot.

5. Cloverfield. I liked this movie a lot. I thought it was cool how it told the story. It was incomplete because it was from one guy's point of view, mostly. It had a lot of holes in it and it left a lot for conversation afterwards.

4. 21. This made me want to play Blackjack and go to MIT. I read the book first, which was way, way, way better than the movie. But, it was still a pretty cool movie.

3. Hancock. I thought this movie was awesome. Most super hero movies focus on the powers. This one focused more on his personality and the powers were a secondary component. Again, Jason Bateman was in it and had a cool role.

2. Dark Knight. I was skeptical of this movie at first with Heath Ledger being the Joker, but after watching it I became like everyone else who thinks he did an awesome job. This would have been a mediocre movie without him and his character.

1. My favorite movie of 2008 came out in 2007, but I didn't see it until January. It was "I am Legend." I loved this movie and could watch it over and over. I just like the idea of what would I do if I was the last person in a city and had to kill some zombies.



Runners Up: Dan in Real Life, Step-brothers
Movie I didn't like at all: Semi-Pro
Movies of 2008 that I hope I will never see: Mama Mia, Sex in the City

Hancock

I went and saw Hancock today. I haven't been to a movie in forever. I never get time. There really hasn't been anything that has interested me. But I do like Will Smith and most of his movies.

This was about a guy who is a superhero and he doesn't know how he became one. He's the only one of his kind and he's lonely. The beginning of the movie he's kind of a jerk and the people don't like him. He then begins to change and tries to do a better job. People then begin to like him. I won't give anything else away, but that stuff you can pretty much get from the previews. It's got some cool special effects and some good action. I also liked how it focused more on the humanity of Hancock and the super powers were more of a secondary concept. Most superhero movies focus on the powers more and the problems of heroes as a secondary part of the story. Even in X-Men, you see Wolverines powers foremost and his amnesia and stuff as a secondary part of the plot.

I couldn't really tell you why, but I really liked the movie. I think Will Smith did a great job, and Jason Bateman is becoming one of my favorite actors.

The Scariest Movie I've ever Seen

A few nights ago, Suzy and I put Parker to bed, and then watched the scariest movie that I have ever seen. It didn't have ghosts or monsters or some psychotic killer or anything, yet it was frightening nonetheless. It was called, "Jesus Camp."

I had been wanting to see this for a while actually. It's a documentary about a Christian camp that looked like it was for kids between 8 and 12. If you know me, I love Christian camp. I've been to a ton. I've even preached a few of them. What was so scary about this one was what they were teaching the kids. They were teaching their kids how to be against everything. During the sermon, they were teaching kids how horrible Harry Potter is. During the sermon, one preacher pulled up a bunch of kids and put tape over their mouths that said "Life" for a pro-life message. Do 8 year olds need a message on abortion. Now, these are things that I agree with. I'm pro-life. I can even see where people can Biblically say that Harry Potter is wrong (witchcraft).

The thing I think is wrong is that there are more important matters about the Bible that should be taught. Let's teach them about Jesus. Let's teach them to obey the Bible. Let's teach them godly principles. Instead we're trying to raise a generation that is going to be against anybody who is different than they are. They are taught that the lady who has an abortion is the enemy instead of somebody who is a lady who is incredibly loved by God.

At the end of the movie, a bunch of kids from the camp went to Washington D.C. They stood outside the Capitol Building and had tape over their mouths with the word "LIFE" written over it. One young girl, who must have been 8 or 9, went up to a group of men and asked, "If you died tonight, where do you think that you would go?" They all said, "Heaven." She didn't seem to believe them and when she walked back to her group she said that she figures they're Muslim...maybe because they were African Americans. Interestingly, when a white couple didn't take their tract, the little girl thought they were probably already saved.

The thing that kills me about this is that Christians are already seen as being against everything and anything that is different than they are. I think it is important to make a stand for what you believe, but some things, in my humble opinion, don't need as much energy as people put into them, such as abortion. I don't think anybody has ever changed their minds about abortion after seeing a clever slogan on a sign. I think what changes minds and what changes hearts is showing people how much they are loved, by Believers and definitely by God. I don't really recommend this movie, unless you just want to be embarrassed.

Juno

So, I finally got a chance to go and see Juno today. I really enjoyed it. It had to do with a serious matter and did a very good job of talking about it. Juno had a great personality and some great wit. Some of the slang in the conversations were overdone and it was as if the writer was trying to use as many different slang terms as possible, but besides that I thought the movie was great. I really liked Juno's dad, he was hilarious and was super caring for her.
I would recommend this movie, but to younger kids, I would recommend seeing it with an adult you can talk to about the movie to afterwards. It had a good story and some great characters. It also had a good image about adoption rather than abortion. I give it:

Cloverfield

I went and saw Cloverfield today. I heard it described as Godzilla meets the Blair Witch Project. It was shot in a style like it was all videotaped by one of the actors. The guy behind the camera was hilarious. I thought the movie was more funny than scary, but it definitely had a lot of action. I loved it. But the ending was left me unsatisfied. I want some closure. But movies seem to be doing that lately, they leave holes in the plot and ending. I guess I like it because there is a lot of conversation and discussion about the things that the movie doesn't fill you in on.
For instance, I have no idea why the movie is even called Cloverfield. There wasn't a field or a clover in the movie. Well...I guess Central Park was in it for a minute. Is cloverfield another name for Central Park? Also, I wonder what the thing was and where did it come from? I took the guy I'm mentoring and we had a good conversation about some of things that we didn't see in the movie. I like being able to use my imagination a little bit and fill in the blanks, because my ideas are probably better than what the movie director would have been able to do anyways.
But, if you like action...this was a good movie. However, I pretty much like every movie I see, except for dramas and movies with Steven Segal or Jean Claude Van Damme.