Goose Egg!
That’s how many awards The Curious Case of Benjamin Button won!
Worst Movies of 2008
Note: These were the least enjoyable movie experiences that we had this year. We try not to spend our money on movies that we know will be bad, so you could also call these the most disappointing movies of the year.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
An annoyingly epic movie which shows the life of a man who ages backwards. You don’t really see anything happen other than that and there is a stupid hummingbird added in the movie for awkward conclusion effects. Great aging affects, but other than that absolutely atrocious. Read review here.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
I have a feeling that this movie was not meant to be a comedy, but the plot was absolutely abysmal and ::SPOILER ALERT:: did they really decide that aliens were the best idea?! Movie was ridiculous and only watch it if you want to get a good laugh.
Happy-Go-Lucky
This movie wasn’t really that terrible, but the main character is so annoying that I wanted to die every time she came on the screen. This movie has a 94% rating at Rotten Tomatoes and the lead actress is getting buzz for all kinds of awards, when all she did was a terrible impression of a retarded person on speed.
Best Movies of 2008
Granted we didn’t see all the movies that we could have in 2008, this is a list of the movies we saw and what we deem as our favorites. Movies are not listed in any particular order.
Pineapple Express
Surprising action-packed stoner comedy that takes a turn for the greatest at the end. James Franco finally get a lead role in an Appatow movie and maybe he’ll be considered for more.
The Dark Knight
Sequel in the Batman series is movie perfection with outstanding performances from the deceased Heath Ledger. Great action, suspense and thrill which sets high standards for the new movie making generation.
Wall-E
Adorable robot love story while showing the consequences of current American lifestyles. A must see movie for the whole family.
Step Brothers
The Will Farell comedy series may be getting a bit repetitious at the moment but this comedy was completely underrated. John C. Reilly is probably one of the most underrated actors of the moment. Movie is chalk full of great one liners probably since Anchorman.
Slumdog Millionaire
A moving story about a orphaned boy who grows up in the slums of India. The quick paced movie is quite disturbing at times, but successfully portrays the underlining theme.
The Wrestler
Mickey Rourke’s portrayal in The Wrestler is absolutely amazing and he does a fantastic job of conveying the emotion and heartbreak of a man trying to get back to a life he used to have. The documentary styled filming is perfect for the character driven movie.
Milk
Biopic of the first openly gay politician, Harvey Milk. Suprisingly uplifting, given the subject matter. Wonderful acting by all, wonderful hotness by James Franco.
Iron Man
A cool, thrilling superhero movie that also gave its viewers some things to think about. Surprisingly good performances from Gwyneth (who Emily hates) and RDJ.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
One of the more realistic plot lines of the Judd Appatow movie series has Jason Segal trying to overcome heartbreak by escaping to a place full of honeymooners. A great romantic comedy.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Beautiful and charming Woody Allen movie about two friends who spend a summer in Spain and entangle themselves with Javier Bardem. Penelope Cruz was particularly great.
My Favorite TV Shows of 2008
(Sanita was not included because she doesn’t watch good TV).
1. Friday Night Lights–THE BEST. The third season has so far only been available on DirectTV, but it will be coming back to NBC in the coming weeks. WATCH IT. The second season had some bizarre storylines, but the third season is so so so good. Unfortunately it is only thirteen episodes, but they have done a hell of a lot with what they have had. This is the only one of three shows that everyone in my family enjoys (the others are #3 and #7 on this list). This show makes me cry a lot.
2. 30 Rock–THE SECOND BEST. This show is shockingly hilarious. The heir apparent to Arrested Development.
3. Mad Men–This show is sexy.
4. Chuck–This show is great and makes me happy. Wonderful combination of romance, humor, action/adventure. Better than the other Josh Schwartz show on T.V. right now (Gossip Girl, which I love), not as good as the first season of The O.C. (but what is).
5. The Tyra Banks Show–I probably spent more hours watching this than almost anything else in 08. Jesus Christ this show is an emotional rollercoaster! Tyra always has the most fascinating guests, and then she spends hours yelling at them for not living their lives to her moral standards. You really cannot beat that. Or sometimes she has Beyonce on and tells her a secret in front of the audience. God Tyra don’t ever change.
6. How I Met Your Mother–Even though this show hit some rough patches lately and is not really as good as it used to be, it is still hilarious, original, and waaay better than it needs to be.
7. The Office–repeat the above.
8. Gossip Girl–I watched an episode of this show with my roommate. She spent the entire hour making fun of the show. Next week she did the same thing. The next week she screamed when she realized it was Monday at 8 PM and Gossip Girl was on. She is now ADDICTED. This is what happens with this show. It never makes sense but it is never boring except when Serena’s boyfriend Aaron Rose is on the screen.
9. Project Runway–This show is riveting and great to watch with a group of people (these other shows I can’t watch with others because if they talk I want to cut them). Last season was obviously pretty lame but 2008 also brought us the delightful Christian Siriano.
10. Sanita’s Pick: I Love Money– This VH1 reality tv show takes all the outstanding rejects from other reject reality tv shows such as Flavor of Love, Flavor of Love 2, and Rock of Love then makes them compete for money. These celebrity wannabes try their hardest for tv time as well as a chance to win a minimal amount of money. Absolutely pure chaos and drama.
Movie Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, or LITTLE OLD MAN BOY
I usually love all movies that I see with Sanita. This was an exception. The biggest problems with this movie:
1. It was way too long
2. Nothing happened
3. It was the most cliched thing ever.
I had very high hopes for this movie about (SPOILER) Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt), who ages backwards, and his love story with a girl named Daisy (Cate Blanchett). While I thought the performances were pretty solid (Sanita hated Brad Pitt’s southern accent, but I actually thought Cate Blanchett’s was the worst) and the digital effects of aging and getting younger were amazing, the script of this movie was the most drawn-out, cliched and boring thing ever. The real strength of this movie was the love story, but before we got there we had to deal with all this nonsense about tugboats, hummingbirds, a clockmaker, a romantic subplot with Tilda Swinton, etc etc etc. The most awful part of the movie was the narrative framing it used, with an elderly and dying Cate Blanchett grunting things to her daughter with unecessary references to Hurricane Katrina. There were a lot of things to admire about Benjamin Button, but I felt like I was actually trapped in time while I was watching it. At a certain point Sanita and I just started laughing at the absurdity and extreme length of this movie. This movie reminded me of Forrest Gump and Titanic, two awful movies that are chock-full of cliches. But both of those terrible movies won Best Picture, so godspeed Benjamin Button.
