Not bad

Costco currently has Studio Ghibli movies on sale!  Time to fill some holes in my bluray collection.

Hurt Locker?

I really have no idea how someone chooses one movie over another when voting for awards. There should be some set of rigid criteria that determines many of such awards. That being said, I have no memory of ever hearing of or seeing anything about "Hurt Locker". I don't go to very many movies, so I don't see very many trailers on the big screen, nor to I watch live TV on a regular basis. But I'd at least think that if a movie was so amazing that it needed to be granted the designation of "Best Movie of 2009" that I would have at least heard of it before today.

Free Pop and Popcorn

Parkway Plaza Theater is giving away free pop and popcorn to everyone to gives them one of these coupons this weekend. Just print one out per person and enjoy.

Dark Knight for the Win

Last night we saw Dark Knight at the Valley Drive In. We were expecting to have to wait until after Journey to the Center of the Earth to see Batman in the double feature, but they decided that since most of the people going were planning on seeing Dark Knight they were going to show it first. It was also the busiest I've ever seen the drive in, with the gates opening a half hour earlier than planned just to accommodate the extra crowds. Sadly it was not dark enough to see it well for the first half of the movie, so some of the darker scenes were very hard to make out. Also it took us a while to get the sound at an optimum balance of bass and treble to hear it well. Neither sound or video were that bad but they definitely detracted from the movie experience as a whole. I will therefore reserve judgment on the quality of the movie until after seeing it in IMAX next week. Other than that, it really was a very good movie and very much deserving of it's new record for the highest grossing box office receipts for a single day, estimated to beat Spiderman 3 by several million dollars.

Movies of 2008

So far I’ve seen 5 movies that have been released this year. There really hasn’t been that many that I’ve had a strong desire to see, or at least be willing to pay money to see. So here’s my five movie countdown:

#5
Veggie Tales: The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything

I enjoyed most of this movie, but I cannot comment on the entire since I fell asleep in the middle of it; which isn’t a good or easy thing to do when seeing it at the theater. It definitely had its moments though.

#4
27 Dresses

While seeing the first part of this movie I thought it was a rip-off of The Wedding Planner. It was pretty good overall, but lacked the sheer awesomeness of the other movies I’ve seen so far.

#3
Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!

Definitely the better of the cartoons that have come out this year. It reminded me that good animations actually do come out more than once a year. I’m not sure if I’d spend money to buy the disc, but it was still a good movie.

#2
Speed Racer

This movie was excellent. The story was good, the animation was superb, and the characters were likable. Some of it was total sensory overload on the big screen, which can be very fun once in a while. The one thing it lacked to make it the best movie of the year was a character named Dr. Henry Walton Jones, Jr.

#1
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I’ve been waiting years for this movie and was not disappointed. It wasn’t quite as good as Raiders of the Lost Ark, but still awesome. It was better than Temple of Doom and more exciting than Last Crusade, and had some of the humor from both. The only Indiana Jones story that could have made a better movie would have been Fate of Atlantis, that is and would be an awesome story to see made into a movie; I’d rather not wait almost 20 years for another Indiana Jones movie if they decide to make one. Nursing Home Brawl probably wouldn’t be a very exciting sequel to my favorite Lucas/Spielberg joint project.

I still want to see Iron Man and Narnia. Hopefully the drive-in will have the two playing together and I can see them back to back in the near future.

I think I'm done procrastinating now and will start my online final for Operations Management.

Movie List (update)

Here's the ranked list of the movies I've seen released this year. I've seen a handful more since my last ranking and I still tweak it once in a while depending on my mood.

20. Epic Movie
It had its moments but otherwise a pretty crappy movie.

19. Nancy Drew
It was ok, very predictable though.

18. The Last Mimzy
This movie was pretty good overall, but the end was just plain weird. And little kids flying is kinda creepy.

17. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
The fist movie I've seen at the theater that I thought was way too long. This movie could have been better if it was 30 minutes shorter. It looked cool but wasn't that exciting to me. Definitely not as good as the first one.

16. TMNT
Decent cartoon. Would have preferred it to be a live action movie like the first 3 turtles movies.

15. Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D
A good movie to watch every once in a while. Even better in 3-D. I still liked Corpse Bride better though.

14. Shrek the Third
Very funny movie, haven't decided if I liked it better than the other ones though.

13. Ratatouille
One of the better Disney movies in recent years.

12. Bridge to Terebithia
One of the better movie plots all year. Lost most of its cool points by being depressing near the end.

11. Beowulf in 3-D
The most stunning animation ever. Didn't follow the peom very well. Movie would have been much cooler without Grendel in it, but he was kinda central to the story. Definately a very cool movie to see in 3D on the IMAX screen.

10. Mr. Bean's Holiday
This Bean was even better than the first movie. Very funny throughout.

9. Spiderman 3
Very cool movie, almost as cool as the second one. Animation was great. But it was also too short and too emo.

8. Happily N'Ever After
I heard almost nothing about this movie before it came out; very sad. This movie was just plain cool to watch.

7. Arthur and the Invisibles
Saw it about the same time as Happily N'Ever After and is slightly cooler with better animation, but not quite as funny as HNA.

6. Meet the Robinsons in 3-D
Definitely the best of the Disney Movies released in recent years. Even better in 3D.

5. 300
It's cool in the same way as Braveheart, but much more so.

4. Hot Fuzz
British police comedy at its finest.

3. Ghost Rider
One of the best comic book movies of all time. (I think the theatrical version is slightly better than the director's cut)

2. Stardust
Very solid fantasy movie. Good story, likable characters, and funny.

1. Transformers
Visually stunning. Very funny in parts. Good epic storyline. Slightly better than Ghost Rider.

If I Picked the Academy Awards

Having not seen most of the movies nominated for anything for the Oscars tonight (not do most of them look interesting to me), I made my own picks for “best of” 2006:

Best Actor:
Sacha Baron Cohen - Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Best non-English Speaking Movie:
Jet Li's Fearless

Best Animated Movie:
Over the Hedge

Best Movie:
V for Vendetta

Best Visual Effects:
X-Men: The Last Stand

Best Song:
Snakes on a Plane (Bring It) by Cobra Starship - Snakes of a Plane

Best Soundtrack:
Apocalypto

Best Supporting Actress:
Natalie Portman - V for Vendetta

Best Supporting Actor:
Christian Bale - The Prestige

Don't feel like deciding for more categories right now.