The Official SFJ Best & Worst Film What I Sawed In 2007 Awards [Archive]

Belasco

01-05-2008, 08:48 AM

This is tough - we rarely to the movies unless it's something we're pretty sure we're going to like or if it's big and loud with lots of eye candy suitable for the big screen/big sound experience.

The best movie-going experience for me this year was "Grindhouse". But, that flick will probably never again exist as I saw it in theaters.

The other bests
- No Country for Old Men
- Zodiac

The worst - actually "least impressed with" would be a better term
-- Spiderman 3 (very disappointing)
-- Pirates of the Carribbean (even more disappointing)
-- Transformers (once the nostalgia wore off I saw the turd beneath)

Booze

01-05-2008, 08:56 AM

Ferget the cinema going experience. I didn't go to the pictures once this year, thanks to Easynews. And I didn't miss it at all. What you gain in the huge screen & Dobbly sound, you lose tenfold because there's some tit behind you eating nachos & nattering to his bird.

Just the best flick/biggest pile of shit you watched what was released last year, whether you watched it on Imax 3d or on your black & white portable telly.

Spooner

01-05-2008, 12:10 PM

Yeezh... I try so fuckin' hard to avoid shit flicks, but I've seen a few "stinkery-do's" to be sure.

Off the top of my head...

Best of '07 (well, what I *seen* in '07, I should say):
The discovery of Billy Mitchell ("Homey, I'm witchya")
Windy City Heat (w/out question)
Agree fully w/Tabasco on "No Country" & "Zodiac" (obviously)
Trick or Treat, by Derren Brown (anything D.B., in fact)
Donnie Darko (pleasantly surprised w/mood and atmosphere overall)
American Gangster (despite being yet ANOTHER movie where Denzel Wershin'ton gives pious/tiresome soliloquies on how the white man keeps the black man down)
3:10 to Yuma & Christian Bale finally coming into his own
Josh Brolin also finally learning how to act (and damn well, I'll add) :up:
Crazy Love

Worst of '07
Deathproof (Sorry, B., I don't think I can ever forgive Tarantino's casting and writing in that one, save for Kurt Russell)
Series 7 (couldn't even get through it)
Astronaut Farmer (I felt contaminated with fecal material from seeing this)
1408 -- Just... putrid, through & through.

Mr. Irrelevant

01-05-2008, 01:24 PM

Spooner

01-05-2008, 01:27 PM

The only movies that I saw that I absolutely didn't like, were:

The Number 23 (When is Jim Carrey going to realize that no one takes him seriously?)
Ghost Rider (It's not even worth saying why I didn't like it)
Hannibal Rising (What a shame)
Astronaut Farmer (What BTI said)

I was slightly disappointed in these movies, however they were still watchable:

Pirates 3
Spiderman 3
Shrek the Third

Sav, I'm glad you brought up this Number 23 shit. Everytime I've had the misfortune of going into a Ballbuster, I see that fucking PATHETICALLY full-of-shit Jim Carrey face on the cover of that, and I plumb wanna puke my fucking guts out. It doesn't just bother me, it SICKENS me. Yes, he shoulda goddamn known from the BEGINNING that NO ONE can stomach him trying to make like he's a *real* fucking actor. Yeah, I can't wait to see Foster Brooks as Othello. I'll get right on that. Fuck Jim Carrey. Douchebag!!!!

Belasco

01-05-2008, 01:51 PM

Yes, he shoulda goddamn known from the BEGINNING that NO ONE can stomach him trying to make like he's a *real* fucking actor

Agreed, but with one exception... "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind".

CommunistaCow

01-05-2008, 02:36 PM

Fortunately for the Cow, I rarely see new movies. Given that I've got over 400 DVD's, I prefer to watch things that I KNOW are good (see: Beerfest, The Searchers, Lawrence of Arabia). However, as I travel quite a bit, I can attest to the stench that is modern moviedom. As such, I can only offer up my list of horrid flicks for '07.

1. Transformers - how in the hell can you screw this concept up this bad?
b. Hannibal Rising - actually saw this on our Alaskan cruise; Cruise, it had so much potential
4. No Reservations (was it 2007?) - Thank you Continental Airlines for torturing passengers with this pile of steaming streisand.

mysticllama

01-05-2008, 03:34 PM

Worst!!!!:

Shrek 3 - this was a commercial for breeding. I don't intend to breed, so fuck that shit.

Pirates 3 - it pains me to say that, but 2 was getting too 'grin/poke/nod/reference to first movie'y for my tastes - and 3 was worse. Points for shark jumping multi-char hallucinations by Cpt Jack at that one part. I couldn't decide if it was horrible or brilliant and I still can't.

Bloodrayne 2: Now, I'm patient with 'ok-ish' movies, and I'll give anything a chance - but don't hire the local drunk to hold the camera while he's weaving around trying not to pass out. I got motion sick and turned it off.

I can't even watch!!:

Hairspray. Fat suit Travolta freaks me out. Fuck the musical, I'll just watch the original movie again.

Best!!!:

Stranger than Fiction - because I'm so Six-Characters-in-search-of-an-Author-enamoured that it was just perfect to me. I eat that stuff up.

Ratatouille: The colors. The animation. The food. Even my dad, who has major squicks about rats really loved it.

Tin Man miniseries: I never grew out of the Oz books, and though it wasn't perfect (since it was on sci-fi and they don't have the BEST special effects in the world) it was a good continuation.

Nothing else we rented or saw really stands out like those do.

The Larry

01-05-2008, 05:28 PM

Best:

No Country For Old Men
The Simpsons Movie

Worst:

Rino 911: Miami
Blades of Glory

volodya

01-05-2008, 05:59 PM

^^Do you watch a lotta movies, Lar?

Worst I Saw:

Hannibal Rising
The Mist

Best I Saw(well my favorites, at least):

The Lives of Others
American Gangster

The Larry

01-05-2008, 06:21 PM

^^Do you watch a lotta movies, Lar?

Worst I Saw:

Hannibal Rising
The Mist

Best I Saw(well my favorites, at least):

The Lives of Others
American Gangster

Well kinda, more into the older movies than anything, a lot of the newer movies these days are just steaming pyles of crap, not even the wonderful smell of the movie theater popcorn can mask the shite coming off the screen. Bill, if you thought The Number 23 was bad, be greatful you don't have kids wanting to go see "Horton Hears a Hoo". It seems whenever they make a Dr. Seus movie these days, they always have Jim as the title roll.

Don't know why,k but whenever they show an ad for Rush Hour 3 on DVD, they always throw in the fact it was directed by Brett Ratner. What? Like that's gonna make the movie any better. The Rush Hour series is shit, should've stopped at the first movie. At least Hollywood has done something right by not even nominating those pyles of dung for awards.

Mr. Irrelevant

01-05-2008, 06:56 PM

Worst:

Rino 911: Miami

I've never heard of this movie, Lar. Is it anything like Reno 911: Miami?

KungFuJesus

01-05-2008, 07:00 PM

Best:

3:10 to Yuma
King of Kong
Casino Royale

Worst:
Spiderman 3
Black Snake Moan
Superbad

volodya

01-05-2008, 07:03 PM

You accidentally put Superbad under Worst.

KungFuJesus

01-05-2008, 07:06 PM

You accidentally put Superbad under Worst.

Superbad was the most overhyped steaming punchbowl turd I have seen in several years. I accidentally watched the DVD extended edition which made the flick seem to take 5 hours. Knocked Up was a masterpiece compared this crap.

moneymaker

01-05-2008, 08:40 PM

Best:

No Country For Old Men
The Simpsons Movie

Worst:

Rino 911: Miami
Blades of Glory

Larry,

Have you really seen any of these movies? Be honest. Hindsight is 20/20.

Spooner

01-05-2008, 11:17 PM

Whoaaaaaaa! FUCK!!! How the FUCK could I forget "Casino Royale"?!!!

Fu called it (and when I saw it, with LOW expectations, I couldn't shut up about how great it was--and the new dimensions this new Bond cat gives the character). Fucking throw that on my list as well (good call, white negro). :tip:

KungFuJesus

01-05-2008, 11:38 PM

Franks n Beans

01-06-2008, 08:04 AM

I am so glad I read your opinion about Superbad. I've been tempted to get it for weeks now but this settles it. I'm not wasting my time.

Can't really put a label on the movies I watch because I dont watch a whole lot and most just seem to be about mediocre to me.

I tell ya one thing though, the camera angles and movement is really starting to piss me off.

Dr. P

01-06-2008, 08:31 AM

What camera angles and movement?

Franks n Beans

01-06-2008, 08:59 AM

Seems like they are moving the camera around during the shoot to I guess give you that feel of being there. The angles...

Why are you making me explain this.

Dr. P

01-06-2008, 09:38 AM

Sorry, Beans. I just didn't understand. Is this in one movie in particular or do you mean the way movies are being filmed these days?

Belasco

01-06-2008, 09:49 AM

Beans, we need a little more info to understand what you mean.

Really good filmmakers use angles and movement to enhance how they tell a story.

Good examples:
Hitchcock
Scorsese

Bad examples:
Uve Boll
Paul W.S. Anderson (not the good Paul Anderson)

Do you have some examples of angles and movement you don't like?

KungFuJesus

01-06-2008, 10:06 AM

I like a lot of the camera angles and movements in porn. You would think every possible angle has been done before, but then they put a lipstick camera inside a dildo and you realize there is innovation still happening here.

djb

01-06-2008, 10:17 AM

I think Beans is referring to hand held camera techniques (Blair Witch, CSI, etc..)

Booze

01-06-2008, 10:28 AM

Beansy, this thread is about films what came out this year. I think you've been watching the box set of NYPD Blue. :poke:

The BYP

01-06-2008, 10:32 AM

He's been watching Batpussy!

Franks n Beans

01-06-2008, 04:04 PM

Ok. Maybe not all fims are like this but for a more obvious view of what I'm talking about, watch any episode of '24' and you'll see what I mean.

Otherwise, just forget I even brought it up.

Dr. P

01-07-2008, 08:04 AM

Are there any fims that used disorienting cinematography?

Hole In Face

01-07-2008, 08:14 AM

I'm not even going to mention the worst movies I have seen cause most of them have already been mentioned and most of them I can't remember because they were some lame romantic comedy I watched with my ex. Ugh, I hate that shit... Okay, i'll mention one. If you want to hate Jack Black forever and everyone else that was in the movie go watch Holiday. Holy fuck, I wanted to die the whole time I was watching it. Literally wanted to die...

The best movie I watched this year is Children Of Men. I pretty much like everything about this movie. The story, the acting, the effects and most of all the realism. The way it was shot isn't done very often and it was really different. In some scenes it seemed like you were there with the main character in real time. If you haven't seen it yet go and rent it tonight. I swear you wont be let down.

Verno

01-07-2008, 08:45 AM

I agree with Holio that Children of Men was one of the better movies I've seen this year. I liked how the story was told: the story was focused on the current day's events and left it a mystery as to why women were no longer fertile. And the last 30 minutes were just amazing.

I watched I am Legend last night and thought it was REALLY overrated. I thought The Omega Man was tenfold better (because Heston sold me better than Fresh Prince). And spot-on on the CGI. Gears of War's CGI was better than those humanoid freaks'. I will say that the no-soundtrack was a nice touch, however.

Franks n Beans

01-07-2008, 09:07 AM

Are there any fims that used disorienting cinematography?

I think The Fast and the Furious dabbled in it a bit.

I like that. "Disorienting cinematography"

mysticllama

01-07-2008, 04:52 PM

Ooh, Hole's right - Children of Men was excellent!

The BYP

01-07-2008, 04:57 PM

I like children of dogs. They're really cute.

TheWagesofSin

01-07-2008, 11:26 PM

I saw even less movies this year than usual. I think my fave was probably Zodiac. That or The Devil and Daniel Johnston.

Booze

01-09-2008, 07:56 AM

Looking at that list of everything released last year, I realised I didn't watch as many new films as I thought, either.

My film of the year has to Be No Country For Old Men. The test should be to ask yerself if you want to see it again, & I know I'll be watching No Country a few more times in the future.

Runner up is King Of Kong, helped into 2nd place by all the SFJ hype. After that, Zodiac, American Gangster, 28 Weeks Later & Control, the Ian Curtis biopic, which I don't think anyone has menchened. Anybody seen it?

The biggest stinkers I saw were Shrooms, which was formulaic teen horror bollocks I have no idea why I watched, & the remake of The Hitcher.

Sean Bean trying to fill Rutger's trousers as the embodiment of evil? Do me a favour. The bloke does about 14 voiceovers for adverts here in the UK. I can't take somebody seriously as a evil sadistic murderer if they're on my telly every night telling me that toilet roll is half price at Morrison's.

And it doesn't help maintain the suspense if you're hoping from the first minute that he hurries up & kills the annoying teens you're supposed to be rooting for.

Spooner

01-09-2008, 12:05 PM

I agree with Holio that Children of Men was one of the better movies I've seen this year.

Downloading DVD screener now. :tip:

Booze, ain't seen Control. You got a quick summary/review you care ta proffah?

Verno

01-09-2008, 04:00 PM

Downloading DVD screener now. :tip:

You have to see it. It has some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen filmed. It has some kick ass acting (Michael Caine, Clive Owen) and a fantastic ending, one of the best IMO.

TheWagesofSin

01-09-2008, 04:14 PM

Spooner

01-09-2008, 04:42 PM

Gonna go hunt it down then, Verno. Already, I've downloaded "Children of Men" (watching tonight for SURE) and "Mr. Brooks," which I'm watching in a li'l bit... jus' a li'l bit.

TheWagesofSin

01-09-2008, 04:50 PM

I think I'll jump on the Children of Men bandwagon if I can find it.

Booze

01-09-2008, 05:35 PM

All of youse lot lining up Children Of Men, don't be put off by the obvious Abu Ghraib comparisons that come late on. Take it at face value, & it's a great flick. I was expecting it to be a talky, arty farty film, so I was really surprised (& a bit shocked at times) by all the violence & action in it.

There's one bit of sudden violence in particular that came right out of nowhere, & was so well done that I had to go back & watch that scene again when it was finished. And the run up to the ending has shades of Private Ryan. Real good stuff. Jesus, I might watch it again myself tonight.

I got Control off of Easynews about 3 weeks ago, so it should still be on there. Bill, it's based on the book what Ian Curtis's widow wrote, & it's the first film that Anton Corbijn has directed. You know, the photographer dude that did all the Depeche Mode & Joshua Tree stuff, & also took some iconic Joy Division shots. It's filmed in b&w, & looks as good as his pics.

I thought they nailed the look & feel of 70's England, & it's far from a fawning puff piece. I knew a lot about Curtis going in, but everything I've ever read about him was trading on the mystique surrounding him because he topped himself young. I don't know if it was the intention, but this flick debunks a lot of this & leaves you with the impression that he was a bit of a spoilt git & nowhere near the tortured genius he's been made out to be.

The dude that plays Curtis doesnt look anything like him, but when he gets onstage & starts doing the spazzy dancing, it's uncanny. And the band are actually playing the songs, not miming. Oh, & the bloke that plays Rob Gretton is fucking hilarious.

Heap

01-09-2008, 05:39 PM

For a person who only rents a flick about the rate of once every 1.5 months, what would you recommend from last year?
(and forget easynews stuff, I haven't gotten into the concept of downloading movies yet, and dunno if I ever will, I don't keep the shit I download from there, anyway).

Booze

01-09-2008, 05:48 PM

Blowjob Ninjas 9.

TheWagesofSin

01-09-2008, 05:52 PM

^Lee, that was 2006

Assploitations 5. Oh wait- I got that off of easynews. Never mind. :tip:

Booze

01-09-2008, 06:09 PM

Ahhh. 2006 was a good year for Blowjob Ninjas. They dont make em like that anymore.

Belasco

01-09-2008, 06:25 PM

I agree "Children of Men" was good, but honestly, until it was mentioned in this thread, I forgot I saw it in the theater. I don't know what that means, but I do remember liking it.

Booze

01-09-2008, 06:27 PM

You were probably heavily sedated, or had been slipped some kind of date rape drug.

Belasco

01-09-2008, 06:35 PM

Must be... those bastards!

Spooner

01-09-2008, 06:39 PM

I never dug Joy Division, but I'll check out the flick. It's comin' down the pike right now.

Christ, I wasted a massive download today on this Mr. Brooks, only to hear William Hurt talkin' fuckin' KRAUT! There was NO indication it wasn't English (that's really startin' ta piss me off; these dillholes need to specificy "TALKIN' KRAUT" or "TALKIN' DUTCH" in the filenames).

Booze

01-09-2008, 07:01 PM

Yeh, that STINGS. I've taken to downloading the samplers first, just to check that those dirty krauts aint sodding me about.

Spooner

01-09-2008, 07:05 PM

Yeh, that STINGS. I've taken to downloading the samplers first, just to check that those dirty krauts aint sodding me about.

I only see samples part of the time (and that IS a good idea). I'm glad I didn't download that 3.6GB "Blu-ray" version of Revolver, man. Something told me it was gonna wind up being a fucking ISO that wouldn't play. Not gonna happen again (knocks wood).

TheWagesofSin

01-09-2008, 07:06 PM

If there's one thing easynews has taught me, it's this: never download German porno. Ever.

Franks n Beans

01-09-2008, 07:16 PM

So will there be an actual "Award" here?

mysticllama

01-09-2008, 07:36 PM

If there's one thing easynews has taught me, it's this: never download German porno. Ever.

:rofl: :rofl:

Truer words were NEVER spoken!!

djb

01-09-2008, 07:48 PM

If there's one thing easynews has taught me, it's this: never download German porno. Ever.

Please elaborate. Wages. Do all the chicks look like Steffi Graff?

TheWagesofSin

01-09-2008, 07:52 PM

Please elaborate. Wages. Do all the chicks look like Steffi Graff?

yeah, and drinking spody out of a punch bowl, or beating a guy off with her feet. Those krauts are sick motherf'ers.DJB.

TheWagesofSin

01-09-2008, 09:30 PM

Children of Men was pretty great. Those single-shot sequences might be the longest and most intricate I've ever seen- I can't even imagine the amount of work,planning, and time it took to pull those off.

As far as what the movie is saying, thematically...I'll keep those thoughts to myself, lest I put anyone to sleep. Cool flick.

I tell ya one thing though, the camera angles and movement is really starting to piss me off.

Seems like they are moving the camera around during the shoot to I guess give you that feel of being there. The angles...

Why are you making me explain this.

mysticllama

01-10-2008, 05:42 AM

As far as what the movie is saying, thematically...I'll keep those thoughts to myself, lest I put anyone to sleep. Cool flick.

I like Aaron Burr's posts, so obviously your post wouldn't make me snoozy. I dunno about everyone else. I like the serious thoughtful stuff that's posted here sometimes.

Booze

01-10-2008, 06:25 AM

So will there be an actual "Award" here?

Yes, for 'most disorienting cinematography'. Marty Feldman will be presenting the trophy.

Wedge. :rofl:

Mr. Irrelevant

06-02-2008, 02:33 AM

So in a case of pure dumb luck... I was flipping through the channels today and out of nowhere, I see "King of Kong" listed on the channel menu! It was on the G4 Network at 5 o'clock and I found it at 5:02 :score:

Needless to say... I was pumped and I felt like I must have done something good for someone out there to warrant this bit of good fortune that was bestowed upon me.

So I finally got to see this documentery that everyone here has been raving about. O mi go!!!! The show blew my fucking mind. At first I thought that Steve "Weeble" was a total loser. But he grew on me toward the end of the show. Billy Mitchel was the ultimate megalomaniac, a douche, and a spineless coward... but he was funny as hell to listen to. A real peice of work. lmao

Then there was his posse... Oh Cruise, were those guys a bunch of fags or what? Especially that Brian Kuh guy. Calling Billy on his cell every two minutes and giving him scores and play by play updates on a fuckin' 80's video game!! lmao lmao I loved all of the cloak and dagger type drama too. lmao The shoddy video submitted by Mitchel and the fact that they wouldn't allow Steve to view it afterwards. And then Mitchel somehow convinced the owner of the place to give him back his record. Unbelievable!!! lmao

And the best part was toward the end when Billy's right hand man told the camera crew that he thought Steve "Weeble" was a great guy and a premier player. The camera got a close up of Billy's face and he looked like he was going to have a panic attack! lmao lmao lmao

Spooner

06-02-2008, 03:05 AM

Hey, Sav... I saw Heat today! It kicks ass!

lol. Dude, you KNOW I'm goofin'!

Spooner

06-02-2008, 03:14 AM

Oh Cruise, were those guys a bunch of fags or what? Especially that Brian Kuh guy. Calling Billy on his cell every two minutes and giving him scores and play by play updates on a fuckin' 80's video game!! lmao lmao I loved all of the cloak and dagger type drama

Seriously, though... outside of Billy Mitchell being our Lord and Savior, those were the two best elements of the flick. Seeing a grown man follow around a mullet'ed guy who wears tight jeans and plays Pac Man in his living room for a living... you start to question which guy's worse. I vote for the hangers-on, clearly, especially the pudgy one who wants to play with Billy Mitchell's joystick. That guy was the ultimate Grimer Wormtongue.

There's already a sequel in the works, I've heard.

Mr. Irrelevant

06-02-2008, 11:11 AM

A sequel would be fantasti. I want them to focus more on Mitchell's posse. I want to see what makes them tick and why they feel the need to kiss Billy's ass during every moment of the day. And of course, they've gotta get Billy to refer to himself in the 3rd person again.

Spooner

06-02-2008, 12:06 PM

If I ran *any* kind of retail store (especially a video game store), I'd create a life-size cardboard standup of Billy Mitchell (with American flag tie) and have him be the first thing that greets you as you open the door. No question. Maybe one of Kuhn behind him, whispering in his ear.

TheWagesofSin

06-02-2008, 04:13 PM

I re-watched that on G4 last night as well. My favorite line: "Would you believe he's going for a high score on Ladybug right now?" (Cut to shot of ponytailed douchebag)

I'm still waiting for that Chasing Ghosts to appear on netflix. I've heard that it's actually better than Kong. However, if Billy Mitchell's not in it, that is impossible.