Heffie's Top Ten... er, I mean, TEN films of 2008! Part 3: Bonus Round!
And here, we're left with the two films of 2008 that I--for one reason or another--could not objectively rank in the previous top ten. Yet they merit discussion and attention nonetheless, and I'm exceedingly pleased to be able to count them among the film's I've seen this year.
Reviewing this movie would be entirely besides the point.
All one needs to do is look at that poster to gauge if they'll enjoy RAMBO or not. It's a forgone conclusion before the ticket's even bought. This is a film that set out to accomplish specific goals, and achieved them perfectly. How many other films can you say that about?
Speaking as someone who never really cared for any of the three films (I might have enjoyed FIRST BLOOD more if I hadn't read the awesome, morally complex book first), this was probably the best Rambo ever. This shit's hardcore, man, and the Burmese setting tempers the action with real-life horror, much in the way "The Slavers" storyline did with THE PUNISHER.
Between this and ROCKY BALBOA, I'm really excited to follow the latter-day work of Old Man Stallone. He seems to have learned a great deal of humility and perspective over the years, very much "in on the joke" that he's become and working with it in grand ways.
Also, RAMBO may feature the best explosion I've ever seen in a movie. Maybe.
As a special bonus, here's CHUD.com's THE TEN FACES OF JOHN RAMBO (A STUDY IN FACIAL FREEDOM).
And then, of course, there's this:
My thoughts on THE DARK KNIGHT in general and Harvey in particular have not changed six months and five viewings later. Ultimately, I cannot view this objectively because I've spent the past two and a half years living in Harvey's brain--my novel's Harvey Dent, I mean, my ideal Harvey--exploring all the angles of Gotham from his perspective, and I cannot help but think about all the ways THE DARK KNIGHT could have been handled better, excellent as it was. Furthermore, I feel like I can see what the movie set out to accomplish, and how it failed in that regard.
And yet, for all my criticisms, TDK is a film I find I can rewatch endlessly, one that provides remarkable fodder for conversation in ways that no other blockbuster film has in recent memory. Maybe ever! But I put that blame on both the audiences who avoid seeing smart movies and the producers who think audiences can't handle intelligence in stories. There's plenty of both to keep the industry of crap churning, and now I fear what kind of watered-down, over-serious gritty wannabes we'll see in the years to come.
So while I think Nolan and company could not achieve their ambitions (which if accomplished, in my view, truly *would* have resulted in the greatest superhero movie ever. Fuck, maybe one of the greatest movies ever! That's what I feel was lost here. A great movie instead of a brilliant one.), the result was still far superior to the usual blockbuster Hollywood fare.
Ultimately, we got the movie we deserved. But not the one we needed.
Or maybe it's the other way around. I still haven't decided.
Also, for the sake of completeness, I should mention that I recently saw WANTED. But I don't want that poster stinking up my LJ. A loud, vapid movie that threw out even the novel aspects of its loud, vapid comic book source material.
Die in a fire, Mark Millar. And take your magic fucking loom with you.
Reviewing this movie would be entirely besides the point.
All one needs to do is look at that poster to gauge if they'll enjoy RAMBO or not. It's a forgone conclusion before the ticket's even bought. This is a film that set out to accomplish specific goals, and achieved them perfectly. How many other films can you say that about?
Speaking as someone who never really cared for any of the three films (I might have enjoyed FIRST BLOOD more if I hadn't read the awesome, morally complex book first), this was probably the best Rambo ever. This shit's hardcore, man, and the Burmese setting tempers the action with real-life horror, much in the way "The Slavers" storyline did with THE PUNISHER.
Between this and ROCKY BALBOA, I'm really excited to follow the latter-day work of Old Man Stallone. He seems to have learned a great deal of humility and perspective over the years, very much "in on the joke" that he's become and working with it in grand ways.
Also, RAMBO may feature the best explosion I've ever seen in a movie. Maybe.
As a special bonus, here's CHUD.com's THE TEN FACES OF JOHN RAMBO (A STUDY IN FACIAL FREEDOM).
And then, of course, there's this:
My thoughts on THE DARK KNIGHT in general and Harvey in particular have not changed six months and five viewings later. Ultimately, I cannot view this objectively because I've spent the past two and a half years living in Harvey's brain--my novel's Harvey Dent, I mean, my ideal Harvey--exploring all the angles of Gotham from his perspective, and I cannot help but think about all the ways THE DARK KNIGHT could have been handled better, excellent as it was. Furthermore, I feel like I can see what the movie set out to accomplish, and how it failed in that regard.
And yet, for all my criticisms, TDK is a film I find I can rewatch endlessly, one that provides remarkable fodder for conversation in ways that no other blockbuster film has in recent memory. Maybe ever! But I put that blame on both the audiences who avoid seeing smart movies and the producers who think audiences can't handle intelligence in stories. There's plenty of both to keep the industry of crap churning, and now I fear what kind of watered-down, over-serious gritty wannabes we'll see in the years to come.
So while I think Nolan and company could not achieve their ambitions (which if accomplished, in my view, truly *would* have resulted in the greatest superhero movie ever. Fuck, maybe one of the greatest movies ever! That's what I feel was lost here. A great movie instead of a brilliant one.), the result was still far superior to the usual blockbuster Hollywood fare.
Ultimately, we got the movie we deserved. But not the one we needed.
Or maybe it's the other way around. I still haven't decided.
Also, for the sake of completeness, I should mention that I recently saw WANTED. But I don't want that poster stinking up my LJ. A loud, vapid movie that threw out even the novel aspects of its loud, vapid comic book source material.
Die in a fire, Mark Millar. And take your magic fucking loom with you.