Best Film of the Year - Nomination

[NewYorkSpider]

Transformers
Zodiac
Knocked Up

 

[The Man of Steel]

Top three

#1 300
#2 AVP-R
#3 Transformers

 

[Flexo]

I'm not the only one who would disagree with you. But I'm not in an argumentative (sp?) mood right now so whatever.

Maybe in the future you shouldn't pay to see movies about giant robots when you're really looking for poorly produced movies about people sitting around in boring locales having boring discussions about their dreary lives. Or whatever it is you're into.

Soldier on, brave internet warrior.

I was actually excited for Transformers. Hell, I even found myself enjoying the first 30 minutes. But the robots themselves were handled so poorly, the camera work during the fight scenes piss poor, and the lack of attention to detail ruined the story for me. (That and the pathetic FBI character and the pandering to American audiences. "Take it from me, these guys don't like to lose!" GAG.)

And what was up with Optimus Prime getting the crap kicked out of him? Bay might just be ******ed.

 

[Hunter Rider]

I thoroughly enjoyed Transformers, it was pretty much what i wanted from that movie. Megs kicking Prime's ass worked for me b/c Megs was all powerful and ruthless, where as Prime seemed more stoic and about protection rather than destruction.

 

[Flexo]

I thoroughly enjoyed Transformers, it was pretty much what i wanted from that movie. Megs kicking Prime's ass worked for me b/c Megs was all powerful and ruthless, where as Prime seemed more stoic and about protection rather than destruction.

It really wasn't any fun to watch Megatron kick Prime in the face. A one sided fight (At the CLIMAX OF YOUR MOVIE!) seems like a mistake. Especially in an action film like Transformers.

 

[Hunter Rider]

It really wasn't any fun to watch Megatron kick Prime in the face. A one sided fight (At the CLIMAX OF YOUR MOVIE!) seems like a mistake. Especially in an action film like Transformers.

I think it worked as an act of sacrifice, Prime holding the superior Megs off long enough for Sam to do what he had to do.

 

[L0ngsh0t]

I think there is a difference between having fun with a movie that you know is flawed and enjoying a movie that you also know is brilliantly made. I.e I had a lot of fun with Transformers but i also thoroughly enjoyed Last king of Scotland, they aren't comparable in how and why i enjoyed them, but when asked which was the better film it's clearly The Last king of Scotland from a cinematic viewpoint, which is what the question of this thread is.

but what is that?

I'd say the best movie is just what is the most entertaining movie of the year, cause that is all a movie is really entertainment, sure they are windows to view different ideas through ect. but if they fail to entertain the importance of what they maybe trying to pass through ya know? Which is why the so called "greats" do very little for me like LOTR, Godfather, Citizen Kane cause I find them quite dull and boring.

Like Last King of Scottland is a brilliant film, and surely better than transformers, that movie kept my entertainment far more than anything TF could ever do, mostly hinging on the brilliance of Whitaker and Macovy, and a pretty solid direction keeping the overarching sense of conflict that is going to hit when the **** hits the fan, the tension steadily mounting .

I dunno judge films how you will, but I generally think it doesn't make sense to have a movie you like the most, and then have a movie you think is better. I dunno Gone Baby Gone is both my favorite movie, and the movie I think is best of this year, Children of Men from last year, and Batman Begins is the year before it all both my favorite movie of the year, and the movie I thought was best.

 

[hammerhedd11]

300
The Mist
Superbad

 

[Spidey220987]

Based on my enjoyment level out of the films I've seen this year:

1) Spider-Man 3
2) Enchanted
3) Hairspray

 

[Clank81]

Superbad
Transformers
Knocked Up

 

[DACrowe]

What he is saying is that a movie like Atonement or American Gangster, Into the Wild, Sweeney Todd, Juno, etc. are better made movies than Transformers, 300, Spider-Man 3, Pirates 3, etc. They are indisputably better written, directed and acted, even if the latter you derive more enjoyment from or makes more at the box office. I've been pummeled with so much formula I am frankly sick of those movies though, so I prefer the former, unless the latter is really well made (this year examples to me would be Bourne Ultimatum, Stardust and maybe Harry Potter 5).

And I think as much pleasure can be derived from Juno as Transformers, but actually caring about the characters and laughing at intelligent writing and not urine jokes and as much horror and shock can come from Sweeney Todd as the slasherfests that was the Halloween remake, for example. But I still can enjoy a really well made raunchy comedy like Superbad or Knocked Up or an action movie that keeps me interested other than for eye candy like Bourne Ultimatum and Stardust. I've seen so much eye candy it takes more than CGI malestroms and robots to keep my interest, anymore. Spidey 3 for the record walks the middle very dangerously but does not satisfy either camp by a long shot.

These are just my opinions though.

 

[Spider-Fan]

What he is saying is that a movie like Atonement or American Gangster, Into the Wild, Sweeney Todd, Juno, etc. are better made movies than Transformers, 300, Spider-Man 3, Pirates 3, etc. They are indisputably better written, directed and acted, even if the latter you derive more enjoyment from or makes more at the box office. I've been pummeled with so much formula I am frankly sick of those movies though, so I prefer the former, unless the latter is really well made (this year examples to me would be Bourne Ultimatum, Stardust and maybe Harry Potter 5).

And I think as much pleasure can be derived from Juno as Transformers, but actually caring about the characters and laughing at intelligent writing and not urine jokes and as much horror and shock can come from Sweeney Todd as the slasherfests that was the Halloween remake, for example. But I still can enjoy a really well made raunchy comedy like Superbad or Knocked Up or an action movie that keeps me interested other than for eye candy like Bourne Ultimatum and Stardust. I've seen so much eye candy it takes more than CGI malestroms and robots to keep my interest, anymore. Spidey 3 for the record walks the middle very dangerously but does not satisfy either camp by a long shot.

These are just my opinions though.

I agree with this for the most part...thus why I posted earlier that while I enjoyed SM3 the most this year, my top 3 movies of the year are 3:10 to Yuma, Sweeney Todd, and American Gangster. Fewer plot holes and bigger themes than the big blockbusters.

 

[Nirvana]

Sweeney Todd
American Gangster
3:10 to Yuma

Honorable mentions: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Transformers, No Country for Old Men, Grindhouse, The Golden Compass, Spider-Man 3, 300

 

[Kakihara]

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

anything else by comparison is laughable.

 

[DACrowe]

I liked No Country, but while impeciably made and Javier is a shoe in for best supporting actor, the movie at first frustrated me with the

Spoiler

climax happening off-screen, when Brolin died. I understand it was not a thriller but an exploration of the human condition in this land and an older man evaluating his life and comprehension of the new generation, which is really more of the same. But still 2/3 of it were structured like a suspense cat-and-mouse thriller, and it was AFFECTIVE so no pay off makes it fundamentally flawed IMO. I don't care if that is how it happened in the book, it is bad storytelling on film, simply put.

But I thought about it a lot because of this and learned to like the ending and movie a lot more, but looking back movies like Michael Clayton, Assassination of Jesse James, Into the Wild, etc. are in similar genres (particularly Jesse James) and are just more satisfying movies. I understand the Coens must be worshipped by some film buffs, but meh. I liked it and it is in my top 10 but there are just 7-8 movies that I think were as well made and more entertaining than that.

Just my opinion though.

 

[Dark Donnie]

No Country for Old Men
Zodiac
Knocked Up

Watching Last King of Scotland now.

 

[DX]

Edit - wrong thread

 

[Sentinel X]

No Country for Old Men
Zodiac
Knocked Up

Watching Last King of Scotland now.

I completely forgot that movie came out this year,
that being said...top 3 in no particular order:

The Last King of Scotland
No country for old men
Beowulf @ Imax 3D

honorable mentions:
Transformers - Im surprised when I checked its score at rotten tomatoes, I thought it was a fun summer film. Its not as deep as some of the others but still really cool

Ratatouille- Fun animated film but def not the best dinsey/pixar film as everyone claims it to be.

I should be watching Juno and Sweeney Todd soon though

 

[Untilteld]

Am I the only one who went for Alvin?

 

[L0ngsh0t]

What he is saying is that a movie like Atonement or American Gangster, Into the Wild, Sweeney Todd, Juno, etc. are better made movies than Transformers, 300, Spider-Man 3, Pirates 3, etc. They are indisputably better written, directed and acted, even if the latter you derive more enjoyment from or makes more at the box office. I've been pummeled with so much formula I am frankly sick of those movies though, so I prefer the former, unless the latter is really well made (this year examples to me would be Bourne Ultimatum, Stardust and maybe Harry Potter 5).

And I think as much pleasure can be derived from Juno as Transformers, but actually caring about the characters and laughing at intelligent writing and not urine jokes and as much horror and shock can come from Sweeney Todd as the slasherfests that was the Halloween remake, for example. But I still can enjoy a really well made raunchy comedy like Superbad or Knocked Up or an action movie that keeps me interested other than for eye candy like Bourne Ultimatum and Stardust. I've seen so much eye candy it takes more than CGI malestroms and robots to keep my interest, anymore. Spidey 3 for the record walks the middle very dangerously but does not satisfy either camp by a long shot.

These are just my opinions though.

Well I watch movies for entertainment, that is the standard I hold all movies too, I derive entertainment from more than just CGI and impressive action, but if a movie is able to successfully entertain me as a pure blooded action flick like Live Free or Die Hard more than the good but not great character drama American Gangster, I am going to call it like I see it and I see nothing wrong with that, but I also don't take the completely low brow approach ether considering no pure action movies appear in my top six.

I do think it is funny that everyone is praising Juno, which was a good movie, but you bring up raunchy humor and include Knocked Up in that mix, which it was raunchy humor to simply classify it as that is completely putting it in a category it doesn't deserve. Very well written, excellent real life character put in a real life situation with the sister of kathreine heigl in the film, being one of the best performances of actresses in all of movies this year as a women dealing with being a middle aged married women stuck in a going nowhere life with a husband she hardly communicates with.

And you bring horror movies up too I thought the whole final chase in Halloween was just as intense as anything in movies, and I would put Sweeny Todd in the over glorification of gore category that everyone puts Halloween in (which Halloween should be in as well).

 

[Castlewood]

1. The Mist
2. August Rush
3. Zodiac

 

[killingfields]

sunshine
enchanted
live free or die hard
into the wild
across the universe
stardust
hairspray

 

[Warhammer]

Well I watch movies for entertainment, that is the standard I hold all movies too, I derive entertainment from more than just CGI and impressive action, but if a movie is able to successfully entertain me as a pure blooded action flick like Live Free or Die Hard more than the good but not great character drama American Gangster, I am going to call it like I see it and I see nothing wrong with that, but I also don't take the completely low brow approach ether considering no pure action movies appear in my top six.

I do think it is funny that everyone is praising Juno, which was a good movie, but you bring up raunchy humor and include Knocked Up in that mix, which it was raunchy humor to simply classify it as that is completely putting it in a category it doesn't deserve. Very well written, excellent real life character put in a real life situation with the sister of kathreine heigl in the film, being one of the best performances of actresses in all of movies this year as a women dealing with being a middle aged married women stuck in a going nowhere life with a husband she hardly communicates with.

And you bring horror movies up too I thought the whole final chase in Halloween was just as intense as anything in movies, and I would put Sweeny Todd in the over glorification of gore category that everyone puts Halloween in (which Halloween should be in as well).

That is 100% exactly how I judge films, as well.

My Top 3:

- No Country for Old Men
- Juno
- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Honorable mention to American Gangster, Ratatouille, Live Free or Die Hard, and Zodiac.

 

[DACrowe]

This is true, but I take how good a movie is made and written into account in this as well. You are right, Knocked Up is excellently written and acted with endearing and memorable characters in a realistic situation, but with comedic events. I completely agree. I'm just saying some movies that are popular may not be that, but get many votes. When I see Transformers get more votes than Atonement, Juno, The Assassination of Jesse James and Into the Wild for example...it strikes me as odd, but I accept those movies' popularity. I was simply commenting on it.

Anyway, I'd safely argue the bloodletting in Sweeney Todd was neccessary as it was an act of theraputic catharsis for the main character and as much an aspect of the film and personality asa the set design, costumes and cinematography. I personally liked Halloween, but that was gratuitous for the sake of violence like torture porn with Hostel II and Saw IV.

But that is just my opinion.

 

[Spider-Fan]

Sweeney Todd
American Gangster
3:10 to Yuma

Honorable mentions: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Transformers, No Country for Old Men, Grindhouse, The Golden Compass, Spider-Man 3, 300

Are you copying me

J/k...great minds think a like