Movies!

In an attempt to show that I do have interests outside of my kids, and I'm not always in mommy-mode, I'm going to write about the best movies of last year. Just a warning, there are a lot, and we do watch rated R movies.

Jon and I are movie people. To be truthful, I didn't used to be. Jon has converted me into one. We aren't the see every movie that comes out people, we are in quest of great movies. We check a couple of movie review sites, one of them being Rotten Tomatoes. It gives each movie a percentage rating, based on critic reviews. We don't watch movies that don't get above a certain percentage, thus weeding out many terrible time-wasters.

Now, on to the my picks for the best movies! (P.S. I know I use the word movie too much, but I hate calling it a "film" or a "picture". It's just too movie-nerdy.)

The Documentary Trilogy

We saw Sicko, Maxed Out, and No End in Sight all in a row. What a depressing view of America. I love our country, but there is so much that is wrong with it. Sicko is about how our healthcare system is irreparably broken, and that Canada, France and the U.K. have national health care, and it's awesome. Now before you totally discount Sicko because it's a Michael Moore movie, let me say, I dislike Michael Moore. He gives you a sensationalistic one-sided view, and he's just annoying. But, the fact that these things are happening in our country is just incredibly sad. I definitely don't believe the government should be in control of health care, but there needs to be a change. Maxed Out is about credit card debt, and showed how evil big banks and credit card companies are. It didn't focus on how people got into debt, but just how impossible it is to get out. It's amazing (after watching Sicko and Maxed Out) how so many bills in congress are the result of large corporations. They have too much money. The last (and best) documentary was No End in Sight. It was about the Iraq war, and how badly we botched it up. It was very well done, and I'd recommend it to anyone. It was very good at just presenting the facts, with minimum spin. Our leaders were so wrong, and I just had no idea.

Best Documentary of All Time

Try not to laugh when I tell you what it is: The King of Kong. It's about the world of competitive arcade games. I was not excited when Jon told me about it, I thought it would be the nerdiest movie ever. I can't even tell you how right I was. It's like Best in Show for video games, but it's REAL! And so much better. Please watch it. Pay attention to the nervous, sweaty, Brian Kuh. And the incredibly egotistic Billy Mitchell who is so stuck in the 80s. His mullet is outstanding. And the borderline autistic Steve Wiebe who won't stop playing even when his kid needs help in the bathroom.

Ratatouille

It needs it's own heading becuase it was that good. It's fun to have a kid movie that is equally entertaining for the adult who has to watch it 15 times in a row. Animated movies have come a long way. And Kudos to a movie that made a rat likable. I didn't think it was possible.

Others

Hot Fuzz, Waitress, The Bourne Ultimatum, and The Lives of Others were all so good, all in different ways.

The Best Picture Nominees

They are five awesome movies. I've only seen four of them, but Jon has seen all five, so I'm going with his opinion. I'm not going to recommend you see them because four of the five are rated R, and the one that isn't, I think should have been. I'll just give a brief overview:
Atonement: I loved it, the story was so compelling, and the acting and cinematography were great.
Juno: So funny and cute. I just loved Ellen Page and how weird she was. Also, Jason Bateman was such a likable jerk.
No Country for Old Men: the one I haven't seen. Jon thinks it's the best.
Michael Clayton: This was intense, and so well done. George Clooney surprised me with how good he was, and Tilda Swinton was awesome, so unlikable!
There Will Be Blood: My pick for the best movie of the year. I didn't enjoy it the most, but I think it was the best. Daniel Day-Lewis was beyond incredible, and if he doesn't get Best Actor there's something wrong with the world. Paul Dano was so amazing, I loved every minute he was in the movie. It's a dark movie, but I could go on and on about how great it was. Nearly every character is just morally bankrupt, but still a story worth telling.

Overview

Here's my top 10 for 2007
10. Waitress
9. The Bourne Ultimatum
8. The Lives of Others
7. Hot Fuzz
6. Juno
5. Michael Clayton
4. King of Kong
3. Atonement
2. Ratatouille
1. There Will Be Blood


It's sad that this post has taken all day to write. Not constantly becuase there are babies that need to be fed, changed, and entertained, but all my free time. I could have written that in about 20 min about four years ago. But that was before my kids sucked out all my brain cells. Thanks for reading if you've gotten this far, and don't feel like you have to agree with me. If you've seen any of these tell me what you thought, and if you think I missed some good ones, let me know!