<p>Dec. 20 issue - 1. The Village Another Big Twist special from M. Night Shyamalan, but the surprise turned out to be how dull, stilted and muddled this excursion into Ye Oldeland turned out to be. Scarily contrived. Click here to watch the trailer. <p>2. Van Helsing Get the stake! This overstuffed, overamped Monster jamboree is a perfect demonstration that more can be so much less. You never want to see another special effect after director Stephen Sommers is done abusing them. Poor Hugh Jackman. Click here to watch the trailer. <p>3. Alexander The passion, and the point, have gone AWOL in this Oliver Stone misfire, arguably the first dull film this gifted filmmaker has made. It's a long, grueling epic; be sure to pack supplies. Click here to watch the trailer. <p>4. The Alamo How do you take a stirring tale of gallantry in the face of death and turn it into a nap-inducing Saturday-afternoon special? Disney did it, and got what it deserved—an Alamo nobody remembers, because nobody went to see it. <p>5. Dogville That sometimes brilliant sadist Lars Von Trier pushed the limits of cinema (and our patience) with this dogmatic fable about the black feral soul of small-town America. Enacted on a bare stage, with barren Brechtian results. <p>6. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow This ambitious CGI experiment—everything but the actors was digitally created—produced some stunning retro sci-fi images. But who could care, when the human drama was so anemic? A stylish bore. Click here to watch the trailer. <p>7. Silver City It sounded good on paper: a zinging political satire about a Bush-like candidate from smart-guy John Sayles. But this clumsily made jeremiad seemed tame and old hat. Sayles's fiction couldn't hold a candle to current political fact. <p>8. A Very Long Engagement Jean-Pierre Jeunet's whimsical, cluttered, antique-store approach to cinema was fine for "Amelie," but in an epic love story against the backdrop of World War I it just alienates. Audrey Tautou, with a limp and a tuba, cuts a preciously unreal figure as she searches for her lost soldier love. We wanted to be moved. Click here to watch the trailer. <p>9. The Terminal Spielberg's airport-bound fable starts fresh and frisky, with Tom Hanks's Eastern European traveler forced to use his wits to survive as a permanent resident of JFK. But reality gives way to secondhand Capra corn and an improbable romance, as a great premise devolves into a long layover. <p>10. De-Lovely A fine Kevin Kline performance is wasted in this lugubrious, tone-deaf biopic of Cole Porter, which bungles a fascinating subject—the marriage of a gay man and a straight woman. The big musical production numbers are hopeless. Not swell, not witty. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6700297/site/newsweek/ Any thing on this list you agree with or disagree with? I personally think "The Terminal" shouldn't be up there but I digress, opinions? Thoughts?
I agree 100% that The Village was the most disapointing movie of the year. That movie sucked. Club Dread was also a huge disapointment
from this list, i unfortunately only saw Van Helsing and The Village. i used to live at the movies with my wife...kids crimp that a bit! Van Helsing sucked, save just getting to look at Kate Beckinsale. and I really liked the Village...but I like all things Shyamalan, so i'm hardly objective.
I can rehash it for you if you want. I thought it was much better than the first one (with this cast).
i haven't seen it yet. hope to over the holidays. i figure a date night movie that has brad pitt and george clooney in it means a good night at the MadMax house afterwards. plus, the first one was just ridiculously fun to watch.
Yeah, and you get to look at Catherine Zeta-Jones for a while too. You'll get a kick out of the hilarious scene involving a Red Sox fan and a Yankees fan.
Too true. I used to go to the movies at least once a week. I haven't seen any on that list. (and from the reviews...i'm not about to...--Ocean's 12, i will see though...).
I agree that the terminal shouldnt be on that list and that club dread should be. There were plenty of other bad movies this year that should have made that list for sure for example why is Catwoman not on there? there is no why in hell you can argue to me that catwoman was a better movie than the terminal.
No freakin way Terminal should be up there...are u kindding me?! If anything, his other movie, Ladykillers, should be there. But then again, I don't think much was expected out of that one to begin with. And I'd put Hellboy on that list, what a steaming pile of s**t that was... and then I, Robot cause it could have been sooo much more better, it could have been a classic considering the source material. And then Taxi, just because they took a great concept from a hit French film, remade and butchered it.
I'm with ya! That's why we bought a big-screen a few years ago and I collect any and all the DVDs I want. Funny thing is that some of our friends borrow the DVDs before we ever find the time to see them.
I can see how he thinks Terminal was disappointing. I think his point of the list wasn't bad movies, but rather ones that didn't live up to expectations. That being said, I don't think Terminal was bad, but it wasn't as good as I expected. Maybe I just had too high a hopes. I didn't expect Ladykillers to be any good, so I wasn't disappointed.
From the list, the only one I've seen is A Very Long Engagement. I was not at all disappointed. It is a bit difficult to follow all the character's stories but it's interesting and entertaining. If you don't like watching foreign films, skip it.
I don't see how Home on the Range can be on there, nobody should have expected anything from that. Club Dread was also a movie that didn't have the kind of expectations that some of these other movie did. From that list I've only seen Sky Captain and Van Helsing. I wanted to watch Silver City and De-Lovely.
I also thought that Ocean's 12 wasn't very good. It's worth seeing just for the cast and the occasional funny moment but the story sucked and made no sense. The part where the other thief was doing his little laser dance was one of the gayest moments in movie history.
