26 December 2007

Another Year at the Movies

2007 wasn't a great year for the silver screen. Only a few good movies came out this year, and very few great ones; this year's releases included a few fun to watch (but by no means timeless) flicks such as Transformers, The Simpsons Movie, and Die Hard 4.0. Seems the year was also a breeding ground for sequels, which although came out reasonable, were by no means original - take a look at this list:

- Rush Hour 3 (Jackie Chan is getting too old to kick butt, and the only thing funny about Chris Tucker is the size of his mouth)

- Saw IV (fourth in the Saw series, seriously, how many different ways can you cut up a person before the producers call it quits?)
- 28 Weeks Later (following the great 28 Days Later, and actually good to watch)
- Ocean's Thirteen (the hottest cast in town now with Al Pacino, and I was actually there when they were filming :p)
- Resident Evil: Extinction (I have to admit, the deserted Vegas scene was cool)
- Evan Almighty (sequel to Bruce Almighty)
- Are we Done Yet? (sequel to Are we There Yet)
- Bourne Ultimatum (another good action flick in the successful Bourne series)
- American Pie: Beta House (the millionth follow up in the American Pie series that people stopped caring about like, 100 years ago)
- Another Harry Potter, another Pirates of the Caribbean, another Shrek, another Spiderman etc etc...

Now although some of these movies are good in their own right, they don't exactly push the creativity barrier here, and even some of the few 'original' movies we got either felt like copies of something else, or turned out really crap. There was the very recent American Gangster, and although supposedly a new story, this epic has been done over so many times it really feels like you've seen it all before. Knocked up, a romantic comedy about a girl getting drunk and, well, knocked up by the totally wrong guy, starts off pretty promising but ends up being the biggest possible waste of 2 hours you could spend this year. The Simpsons Movie is funny, but feels more like an extended episode than a movie. Heartbreak Kid, Ben Stiller's latest comedy, is just another "date/marry one girl then meet another girl and realize you made the wrong choice" story, and for a comedy it really falls short on the funnies. Epic Movie, which tried to follow in the footsteps of the sarcastic Scary Movie and Date movie series, was good for approximately 17 seconds, and the rest was utter rubbish.

300 (a huge cult classic, just look up the "this is sparta" parodies online) was enjoyable, and probably one of the few to remember from this year, and from what I heard The Kingdom should also be pretty good.

Oh well, an overall disappointing year for Hollywood, but hopefully we should get something good coming out in 2008 (well, I hope so anyway). Here are a few movie posters to whet your appetite for next year (click for large size):


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27 comments:

Nouph said...

I am happy to see this post as i am so far behind in movies!!

so let me have my say on what i saw :P

Transformers.. Interesting. Hot girl :P
The Simpsons Movie. SUPER FUNNY! Although i am not a Simpsons fan
300 Not bad.. but OH SUCH A GUYS MOVIE!
Die Hard 4.0. LUVED IT! I'M A BRUCE WILLIS FANATIC :$
Saw IV this is one movie i dont want to see =|
Knocked up as boring as it seems.. even the filming was bad for some reason, its actually a nice movie. u see how unforseen things can change a person to the better ;)
28 weeks later
Resident Evil: Extinction
Heartbreak Kid
wana see!

you should have put movie reviews or shtn :P

Anonymous said...

AAAh anna laman al7een makhala9t last years and the year before.
i am planning to watch every single movie that was ever filmed . is that possible?! i hope soo.... i better get on it ;p

Nora-Cassandra said...

i was not really happy with 2007 movies! i still haven't seen transformers & die hard 4... which i hope something would change my mind! i haven't seen ocean 12 to see the 13 so that has to wait! hope 2008 would have better movies!

SoulSearch said...

That post was enlightening. Thank you very much... How do you find the time to blog! Love those posts keep them comin'
Love,
Soul

Isa Yusuf Ahmed Mohsen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

the oxford murders + after life shaklhum 3AJEEEEEEEB

Coconut said...

I think the movies that are being produced the past few years are all action, fantasy, horor, animation.. anythin that shows what you can do with computers and modern technology.. i miss the old drama's and true storys where the actors really act! like erin brokovich and the pursuit of happniness ( i luved will smmith in that movie! he deserved an oscar!!) they should make more romantic comedies and war movies and documentaries..

Jay said...

10000 BC does look too good

but semi-pro, the muntant chronicles, and that on ewith the statue of liberty sure do!

thanks for the preview!
merry day after christmas!

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OutOfReach said...

nice post :P
cant wait to see them all

KJ said...

I heard the Golden Compass is really awesome, dunno whether because it IS awesome or because it is anti-religion and anti-religion is the new red these days

Islander said...

no mention of the kingdom or a mighty heart?

i thought the kingdom was great (for a film made about ksa by americans) but i havent seen a mighty heart (mainly out of fear of getting dissapointed, cuz i read the book and loved it)

Anonymous said...

Dude you've got to see 'the girl next door ' 2007 and 'grindhouse' ! How could you forget to mention a Tarantino movie ?.
All the movies you mentioned were forgettable for me except maybe Saw and as for 'greatness' old French movies do it to me or just old movies .

Re.Loaded Soul said...

This year was very average, as far as movies are concerned. But I can see many good to come really next year, from those posters, but worried to fall into the trap of judging a book by its cover ?

and Will Smith's new movie "I am Legend" can't wait to see it!!!

Anonymous said...

Liked The Simpsons movie and 1408...can't remember much though!

10,000 BC sounds interesting :)

Anonymous said...

License to wed is kinda funny(one time watchable)

Ammaro said...

Foof; whats shtn? the last word in your post?

BlueDress; ummm... if you watch like 5 movies or something every day for the rest of your life, MAYBE.

nora; yeah, not a great year.

soulsearch; i blog at work :p

isa; why'd you delete the post?

outkasty; there are a bunch that look pretty good

ge6awe; true. check my post (not so scary) a few days back

jay; the statue of liberty thing is by the same guy who wrote Lost. it looks pretty effin amazing

ilparra; will do, thanks for the pass by

outofreach; wow, all of them? i just wanna see like 4 or 5

KJ; its supposedly pretty good

sunshine; dude, i already mentioned the kingdom! (but i havent seen it yet)

greyshorts; grindhouse, i was DYING to watch it. i love QT, but when i was told it was a load of crap, i got really dissapointed.

Reloaded; i am legend wont live up to expectations... watch 28 days later instead

joel; 1408 had the makings of a great movie, but was sort of a miss... too distracted overall... never really hit the right spot

Dr. Shale bin Agnon said...

hey, I am glad you liked Res Evil. I thought it was rather slick. I am a major Milla fan though, even in Million Dollar Hotel, and ever since 5th element.

Do you think they will change 01.18.08 to 18.01.08 for the civilised nations?

Anonymous said...

I found 2007 movies disappointing too. I saw pretty much all the movies you named, and I only liked a few. Rush Hour was fun, cause I'm French... ;)

I'm waiting for Cloverfield to come out now, looks interesting.

Taqo said...

It's sad; I haven't even seen Saw Hahaha. I'm excited about the 2nd Narnia movie, and Jumper (read the book)..that's about it :D

Nouph said...

ops.. i meant something = sthn*
:$

Anonymous said...

Mashalla !

wat a list ! :)

Redbelt said...

Dude,you are bored of American movies.
May suggest to you:
Anime.
That should give you a different perspective. Start with DEATHNOTE
You will love this

Ammaro said...

shale; haha, funny you mention that, see my next post :p and yeah man, milla. hot. uuh.

zhu; there really wasnt that much to see. i miss the 90's. we had a LOT of excellent movies back then. the new millenium hasnt been great overall

taqo; i dont want to see saw anyway. i dont see the point of that movie.

fo0f; ok :p youre forgiven

cat; if you pay me ill make you one every year

anime; anime was a lot better back in the early 90's. akira and so on.

Unknown said...

Yep, I liked the movies this year! :)

Coolred38 said...

I do not like to waste my time with a movie if it doesnt deserve it....how many times have I returned a movie having only watched about 1/2 an hour of it...if it doesnt grab my attention in that amount of time then Im done with it.

I sat through an entire hour of american gangster with my friend...had enough and got out and went the Jashanmals while she finished the show...she told me it got good after I left...if it takes more than an hour to "get good' then whats the point? the first hour is just a warm up?

I like a movie plot that doesnt treat the audience as if we are idiots...throw anything at me but make it believable...if I can see mistakes..or holes or anything that detracts my interest in the story itself...Im gone...lifes too short to sit for 2 hours viewing crap. Lost a lot of money in rentals or cinema tickets...better that than the space in my brain wasted on and filled up with mindless drivel.

Now I like the Die Hard series...all of them...even though Bruce can go over the top quite often...he looks damn good doing it and you get the feeling he doesnt take it all too seriously...and he actually gets hurt while taking out the bad guys...not too many good guys bother to break a sweat much less walk over glass barefoot...or take a few bullets here and there...Bruce seems to let you know going in that while it may just be a tad unbelievable...you will laugh and shout at the screen in encouragement anyways...and thats what a good cinema movie is all about. While watching MI3...I was bored...and 3 little boys behind me were shouting the whole time...."he's got strings holding him up...he has a stuntman doing that...etc" so even they werent too impressed...very sad Tom...you used to be a hero...how the times have changed.

Nora-Cassandra said...

i was not happy with the movies this year! hope next year will be better!