Top Films of the Year (So Far) 2009.

1. Up
2. Star Trek
3. Sunshine Cleaning
4. He's Just Not That Into You
5. Taken
6. The Soloist
7. Wolverine
8. Watchmen
9. Terminator Salvation
10.Angels and Demons

Race to Witch Mountain, Hannah Montanah: The Movie

The Singing Book and the Monster Book of Monsters.

I have a singing book. It does not actually sing, that is what is called. It is much like the Monster Book of Monsters in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Only the one in Harry Potter is actually a Monster book. Mine doesn't sing like it promises.

I still think that Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the best of the films thus far. The first two movies were good, though they lacked any imagination apart from J.K. Rowling's magnificent creation. They were studio films with producers heavily involved. They didn't allow for the director to take off. They were fun popcorn pleasers though.

When the third film was released, the series went to some new territory. The acting got better, the direction was top noch. Hogwarts looked like it was something inside of somone's imagination rather than your default movie castle. The story, though it was presented quickly and consisely, contained everything the film needed. No more and no less, and still it did not seem short or rushed. The two films that follow Prisoner: Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix are rushed. They jump from one day to the next in Harry's precious time at hogwarts and they do not cherish each moment.

Goblet of Fire is one of the longest films in the series and it still is so jam packed with plot point after plot point. It is difficult to take in an entire year at hogwarts in so little time. The film manages to rush its audience to the end only to dissapoint. The final "challenge" in the triwizard tournament is the maze. It is a giant maze with fog, and the shrubs that make up the maze attack the champions. This hardly seems challenging to people who have overcome dragons as their first challenge, and being underwater fighting off mermaids in their next. The challenges seem to get easier and less exciting as the movie progresses. By the time Harry and Cedric get to the end, when Voldemort is finally revealled, he seems like an ordinary bad guy. All the hype of "he who must not be named" leads up to some snakey looking guy who kills people. The director gives his audience no suspense, and little to show for who Voldemort really is. He is some guy born from a cauldron. That's what the book says. But when you transfer this to film, you can visually make this a treat and something to fear.

Order of the Phoenix goes to a different level of scary that I think the series should be headed. The dementors are actually starting to be something to be afraid of in this film. Harry is having some freaky dreams about attacks and he is seeing what Voldemort sees. Voldemort becomes scary when Harry has to take some lessons on how to keep Voldemort out of his head. This is called Occlumency taught by Snape, Harry's Hogwarts Nemesis. The final battle lives up to its hype. There are wizards flying around dissappearing here and there, and people are throwing killing curses at each other. I was a little dissapointed at the show down between Dumbledore and Voldemort. These are the two greatest wizards of all time. One the defendor of good, and the other is the description of pure evil in the wizarding world. They were limited to throwing fire and water at each other. Although I thought it was pretty sick when Dumbledore transfigured glass into sand to protect himself from thousands of sharp ends of broken glass flying at him.

So I haven't been talking about the movies that much have I?
Well, I haven't seen the "major Oscar Contenders" for this year yet, but I've seen quite a few pictures this year. So Here's my top ten list of the year so far.

1. Atonement
2. The Bourne Supremacy
3. Ratatouille
4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
5. Dan in Real Life
6. American Gangster
7. Enchanted
8. 300
9. The Simpson's Movie
10. Beowulf

Oscar Predictions

Best Picture: The Departed
Potential Spoiler: Little Miss Sunshine

Best Director: Martin Scorsese
Potential Spoiler: Clint Eastwood

Best Actor: Forest Whitaker
Potential Spoiler: Peter O'toole

Best Actress: Helen Mirren

Best Supporting Actor: Eddie Murphy
Potential Spoiler: Alan Arkin

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson

Best Original Screenplay: Little Miss Sunshine

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Departed

Foreign Film: Pan's Labyrinth

Animated feature: Happy Feet

Art Direction: Pan's Labyrinth

Cinematography: Pan's Labyrinth

Editing: The Departed

Score: Pan's Labyrinth

Song: Listen (Dreamgirls)

Visual Effects: Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest

Sound editing: Letters from Iwo Jima

Sound mixing: Dreamgirls

Costume Design: Curse of the Golden Flower

Makeup: Pan's Labyrinth

Animated short: Little Match Girl

Doc Feature: An Inconvenient Truth

Doc short: The Blood Of Yingzhou District

Live Action Short: Eramos Pocos

Now that this summer is pretty much over, here is a list films coming out next summer, The Summer of 2007. GO NUTS!

Spider-Man 3
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Pirates of the Caribbean 3
Transformers
The Simpsons Movie
The Bourne Ultimatum
Live Free or Die Hard
Fantastic Four and The Silver Surfer
Rush Hour 3
Shrek the Third
Ocean's 13
Ratatouille
Evan Almighty

This is the AFI's "Top 25 Musicals of All Time..."

• 1. Singin' in the Rain, (1952), MGM
• 2. West Side Story, (1961), United Artists
• 3. The Wizard of Oz, (1939), MGM
• 4. The Sound of Music, (1965), 20th Century Fox
• 5. Cabaret, (1972), Allied Artists
• 6. Mary Poppins, (1964), Disney
• 7. A Star Is Born, (1954), Warner Bros.
• 8. My Fair Lady, (1964), Warner Bros.
• 9. An American In Paris, (1951), MGM
• 10. Meet Me in St. Louis, (1944), MGM
• 11. The King and I, (1956), 20th Century Fox
• 12. Chicago, (2002), Miramax
• 13. 42nd Street, (1933), Warner Bros.
• 14. All That Jazz, (2002), Miramax
• 15. Top Hat, (1935), RKO
• 16. Funny Girl, (1968), Columbia
• 17. The Band Wagon, (1953), MGM
• 18. Yankee Doodle Dandy, (1942), Warner Bros.
• 19. On the Town, (1949), MiraMGM
• 20. Grease, (1978), Paramount
• 21. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, (1954), MGM
• 22. Beauty and the Beast, (1991), Disney
• 23. Guys and Dolls, (1955), MGM
• 24. Show Boat, (1936), Universal
• 25. Moulin Rouge!, (2001), 20th Century Fox
  

Where's "Fiddler on the Roof?"

Welcome! This blog was created for you, me, and everybody who loves movies and especially loves talking about them. Here at this blog I will talk about the movies I love and hate. I will talk about the things I love about them, my favorite scenes, the things I hate about them, the worst scenes, my favorite people, etc. Feel free to leave comments about the movies I discuss...

First Things First...
Top Ten Films of 2005 that I've seen (and other worthy mentions.)
NOTE: Subject to Change
Honorable Mentions: The Pacifier, The Island, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, War of the Worlds, Kingdom of Heaven, The Corpse Bride, Flight Plan, Just Like Heaven, Batman Begins, Elizabethtown, The Interpreter, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

10. Wallace and Gromit, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
9. Walk the Line
8. March of the Penguins
7. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
6. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
5. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
4. Cinderella Man
3. King Kong
2. Pride and Prejudice
1. Crash