5 Best of 2008

5. Forgetting Sarah Marshall

I put this behind only Knocked Up as the best of the Judd Apatow movies. The humor was dumb, but wasn't too stupid like in Superbad or Anchorman, which was almost slapstickish. I would say the humor was subtle as it evolved out of situations, so it flowed naturally, if you're on my level here. Great "Joe-everybody" leading man too; it was easy to put yourself in his shoes and really live through his anguish.

The Steinboscar for best song from a movie goes to "Peter, You Suck"



4.Frost/Nixon

I really could not see how this movie could be any good. The entire story was centered around one interview. Alas, I was smitten. Frank Langella was crazy delicious as Nixon (though not silly ridiculous like Sean Penn, which is slightly higher on the superfluastic scale) and the supporting actors were top notch. If you're a history buff, which I consider myself to be, this will satisfy your history buffness. And Ron Howard somehow maintains a high level of tension throughout. This is one of the movies you really just have to see to understand why it's good.

And, the whole "admission of guilt" aspect is quite relevant since we're in the thick of the A-Rod steroid revelations. So it's topical!

Frost's girlfriend get's the Steinboscar for "Best Snugglebunny"


3. Religulous

Bill Maher is sometimes funny, sometimes not. Sometimes he is obnoxious. Here, he just kills it. He makes fun of religion and god by basically using each faith's very own scripture. He uses common sense and logic to expose how fraudulent, violent, and irrational religion can sometimes be (with the exception of his final 3-minute diatribe which was over-the-top).

I'm biased because I'm an atheist. I was lucky to be raised with no religious affiliation (I'm Really Not Jewish! and other thoughts). My parents let me choose for myself, which is the way it should be. Religion is a choice, a belief. And children, or even babies, certainly cannot understand the full extent of what those religious beliefs mean. Do whatever you want, as long as you keep it private and don't inundate the public space with it. Unfortunately, that is tough for Americans. And if you are one of the almost 2/3 of Americans who believe in creationism, (see here) you shouldn't be allowed to vote because you are an idiot.

If there was a god, then why would it create Mormons? God, they are awful.

2. Wall-E

I have had a torrent love affair with Pixar movies. I run through the full gamut of emotions (laughter, crying, anger, regret, denial, betrayal, redemption, hunger, thirst, nachos, soft pretzel) when watching Toy Story, Toy Story 2, or Monster's Inc. (brilliant last scene). This is right up there with their best work. The fact that this movie pulls it off while there is no dialouge for the first 35 minutes or so is amazing. People criticized Wall-E for trying to get across a message about the environment-- are you kidding me. It's a fictional movie; the story is set way in the future. Who really knows what the world will be like. They can take any liberties they want when depicting the future. Does this really affect your view of the movie? And who the hell is anti-anvironment?

As a digital arts buff, I can tell you how appreciative you should be of the animation. We've really come a long way since I'm really dissapointed that this wasn't nominated for Best Picture. If you didn't like this movie then I don't like you.

1. Slumdog Millionaire

I am unable to capture how great this movie was. Unfortunately, my opinions don't take themselves seriously enough to offer a proper review of this movie. Slumdog had it all: a seemingly simple story that branched into complex socio-economic and romantic sidestories, a completely original underdog tale, and actors who played their roles perfectly. Everything meshed together smoothly. The flow from one scene to the next was in perfect stride; nothing was out of place, which is tough in a movie that is depicted out of chronolgoical order. The soundtrack was even really good. I think it deserves all the recognition it gets. It has been about as dominant as Stefan from Top Chef: New York, and should continue to be at the Oscars.

Speaking of Top Chef, did you know that Padma was married to Salman Rushdie? Maybe I could get a "fatwa" issued against me like Salman Rushdie - maybe then she wouldn't think my collection of her hair isn't strange.



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Obviously this, if I was able to see it. I'm putting it here anyways because this couldn't fail.