Posts tagged 2008

2008 has come to an end, and you may have gone to the movies around 5 times this year if you are an average American citizen. I know for myself that I have been a few more times than that and something gives me the feeling most people have been to more than that as well, but the national average still stands a 5 movies a year.

Throughout this year there have been many good movie releases; some were noted for their excellent screen play, some were noted for good special effects and so on, but I rank movies just as how good they are in general.

Starting with The Bucket List, released January 11 starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, is the story of two dying men who want to get some things done before they “Kick the bucket.” Jack Nicholson’s character, Edward Cole, is the owner of a large hospital and uses large sums of money to take him and Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) on the adventure of their lives. They do things from racing cars on a track to sitting atop the pyramids of Gaza.

Iron Man, released May 2, this film, starring Robert Downey, Jr. was one of the best movies of the year, no doubt. The good special effects, cameo comedy, and realistic romanticism pushed this movie to the top of the list. The basic plot line is, a man is captured by terrorists, he makes an “Iron Man” to escape. He escapes and refines his “Iron Man Suit” idea. Another man steals the plans, and the other man tries to rule the world.

Get Smart, released June 20 starred Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway as undercover agents in a company called “Control”. Control is trying to take down “Chaos” in this comic James Bond-like film. Steve Carell lives up to his comic ability (as shown in The Office) and makes this movie one of the funniest movies to release this year.

The only cartoon movie to make this list, WALL-E was released June 27. It was the classic telling of a robot who discovers love. Though slightly on the younger side, WALL-E is fun for all ages and the wonderful music scores help emotion and suspense move the word-less plot along.

Perhaps the best movie of the year, The Dark Knight, released July 18, starring Christian Bale, opposed by Heath Ledger (The Joker) was a must see. The movie grossed just under 1 billion dollars in the box office, making it one of the largest grossing movies of all time. Though its predecessor, Batman Begins, was not nearly as large a hit.

Eagle Eye – released September 26 – starring Shia LaBeouf. This movie is an action movie about a man named Jerry who is running from the program “Eagle Eye” who mysteriously sees everything he does and is able to predict what he can do to avoid complete destruction while running from the FBI because of the terrorist equipment that was placed in his aparment by and unknown party. This movie is non-stop action and is very entertaining.

Lastly, Yes Man, released December 19, starred Jim Carey as the first new Jim Carey starred movie in over a year. In the movie, Carey is forced to say “Yes” to every question asked of him, no matter how ridiculous. This opens for funny opportunities as well as helping the main character find true love. This movie is the comedy must see of the year.

I may have missed a movie or two on this list, as I have not been able to go and see the movies that closed out the year, such as Valkyrie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Seven Pounds and The Spirit.