What In Tarnation?!?!? In the Classroom

Previously on WIT?!?!?

• 2002 in Movies
• Best and Worst of Movies 2003
• Top 10 3 List: Movies 2004
• The Movies of 2005
• The Movies of 2006

Good Stuff - The movies I really liked this year. Bold title movies are my favorite of the year.

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - With each passing sequel, the kids (or formerly kids) hone their craft. Each movie matures along with the books that they adapt. The movies continue to get the important parts and leave out the bits that didn’t really need to be there, though some of those cuts are painful.
• Bourne Ultimatum - One of the third movies that was successful for me. It keeps the momentum of the first to movies. It has all the elements that have become familiar to Bourne fans but that could also become an issue for future movies. Don’t want to do the same old all over again. Just ask Bond.
• Bridge to Terabitha - A beloved novel and a movie that didn’t hurt the original material.
• Disturbia - I’m a big fan of Hitchcock. I really like Rear Window. Despite the somewhat zany climax of the movie I really like this modern spin of Rear Window.
• 3:10 to Yuma - I’ve only recently grown an appreciation of westerns. I wanted to see how this modern take on the Western keeps up with older fair. Turns out pretty well. I really appreciated the moral muddy ending. Not the ending that I was expecting from a Western at tall.
• No Country for Old Men - I just recently caught this movie over Christmas break. The movie has several things going for it. First and foremost the movie is by the Coen Brothers, makers of one of my favorite movies of all times, Fargo. Not only that, No Country for Old Men returns to some of the same themes of Fargo. In a word, this movie was fantastic! Simply the most suspenseful movie made in a long time. I was feeling uneasy from the first scene. I think the absence of a soundtrack raise the tension to a max. Bonus: not as many F-words as Fargo! Let’s not mention the villain that is creepier than Hannibal Lector. Yes, kids, this would be Uncle W’s favorite movie of the year. Warning: Very violent.
• Amazing Grace
• Children of Men - I don’t remember if this was released this year, but I watched it this year. This would be my second favorite.
• Zodiac - There is a gritty realism to this movie that I really like. The second most suspenseful movie of the year and my third favorite.

Okay Stuff - These were decent movies, just not the best of the year.

• Ratatouille
• The Simpson’s Movie
• I Am Legend
• Spiderman 3 - I decided that it wasn’t as good as number 2.
• Shrek 3
• The Bee Movie
• Blades of Glory
• Shooter
• Surf’s Up
• Hot Fuzz

Despite the good showing of animated movies in last year’s list, this year didn’t quite perform to make it on the top of the list. 5 animated movies on this portion of the list. The curse of the number three rears its ugly head here (though I liked Spiderman 3 much more than most folk.)
Skip It - Buckets of junk. Avoid at all cost.

• 300
• Transformers
• Fantastic Four 2
• American Gangster
• Ghost Rider
• No Reservations
• The Number 23

MIA - Stuff I haven’t seen that I might like. I will edit this as I do.

• National Treasure 2
• Sweeny Todd
• Charlie Wilson’s War
• The Kingdom
• The Seeker: The Dark is Rising

Gasp! Yes, it is new content. I will try to be better.

Class dismissed!

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Now playing: Caedmon’s Call - Love Grows Love
via FoxyTunes