Top Movies of 2005

At this p0int in the year, lots of movie critics put up their top 10 lists of the year and since I consider myself to be an amateur quasi-pretend critic, here goes my list. In the end I caught 45 movies in theaters this year and another dozen or so via Netflix and Time Warner Digital Cable. I caught my last two movies yesterday and today and those reviews will be up tomorrow (Fun with Dick & Jane and Syriana).

Top 10 of '05
1. Batman Begins
2. Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith
3. Sin City
4. King Kong
5. Jarhead
6. Lord of War
7. 40 Year Old Virgin
8. Wedding Crashers
9. Crash
10. Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Honorable Mentions - Walk the Line, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, War of the Worlds, and Kung Fu Hustle.

Bottom 5
5. Lords of Dogtown
4. The Great Raid
3. Bewitched
2. Diary of a Mad Black Woman (caught this on the bus to Ft. Worth and it started off hilarious, but then got so boring and contrived that the entire bus was jeering at the little screens)
1. History of Violence

A year in review will be posted tomorrow.

Quote of the Day - December 30

You can follow the action, which gets you good pictures. You can follow your instincts, which'll probably get you in trouble. Or, you can follow the money, which nine times out of ten will get you closer to the truth.

- Jake Gittes, The Two Jakes

Quote of the Day - December 29

A boat's a boat, but the mystery box could be anything. It could even be a boat. You know how much we wanted one of those!

- Peter Griffin, Family Guy

Quote of the Day - December 28

I have killed two people since midnight. I haven't slept in over 24 hours. So maybe you should be a little more afraid of me than you are now.

- Jack Bauer, 24

Quote of the Day - December 27

We have failed to uphold Brannigan's Law. However I did make it with a hot alien babe. And in the end, is that not what man has dreamt of since first he looked up at the stars?
- Captain Zapp Brannigan, Futurama

The Producers - movie review

I loved the original movie and though I never had the opportunity to catch the play, I was a big fan of the soundtrack. This is why I was a tad disappointed at this movie. No less than 2 songs, including my favorite song, King of Broadway, were not in the movie adaptation. This, despite running a hefty 2 hours and 15 minutes. The movie was quite enjoyable and I found myself almost constantly laughing throughout the runtime. The best thing about this movie, other than the songs, was none other than Will Ferrell. This man is an absolute genius. Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick were great in their own right, but Ferrell stole every scene he was in. Uma Thurman just seemed out of place here, but she did a decent job. Many of the bit parts including the director of the play, as well as the cameos by John Lovitz and Michael McKean, were set up well and they delivered. Mel Brooks continues to be a genius and I will continue to see his movies in theaters (I am still waiting for Spaceballs 2 and History of the World Part II - make it happen Mel).

4 out of 6 beers (might have been higher if some of the Broadway songs were not removed)

Interesting Note - I didn't realize until I got home, but the last Matthew Broderick movie I saw in theaters was nearly 10 years ago with the Cable Guy.

Chronicles of Narnia - movie review

I really enjoyed this movie the first time I saw it when it was called the Lord of the Rings. I'm just kidding, but this movie had a very similar feel (and many of the creatures were quite similar). Overall, it was a decent movie and stayed faithful enough to its source material, at least from what I recall. The acting was solid considering the main characters were kids and Liam Neeson was great as the voice of Aslan the Lion. The CGI was a little weak, but that it is to be expected when compared to recent movies like King Kong. One of the best things about the movie was the scenery. The visuals were absolutely stunning to watch and the transformation from war-torn Europe at the beginning to the wintery Narnia was a great juxtaposition. I applaud the director for taking the chance to put on film such a classic and beloved novel. If you are a fan of the book, this is a must see and if you are a fan of epic movies, this one should be on your list. This was a good movie from a relatively unknown director and I look forward to more from him in the future.

4 out of 6 beers.

Quote of the Day - December 26

You must forget to remember, before you remember to forget.

- Dr. Ivan Ivanov, Man with the Screaming Brain

Fort Worth Road Trip

It was an exhaustive 24-hour day, but the road trip I took this past Friday was fantastic. At about 6:30am, I got to the campus at the University of Houston and boarded a bus with a number of my fellow alums to head up first to Denton, followed by Fort Worth and then return back home nearly 24 hours later. We left Houston around 7:30, got some beef jerky near Centerville and arrived in Denton a little over 5 hours later, just after tip-off of the UH basketball game vs. University of North Texas. This was originally a home game for UH, but was moved to accomodate those of us fans attending the Fort Worth Bowl that night. If you looked around UNT's Super Pit, it was just like a home game. At least 2/3 of the crowd was wearing red and cheering for the Coogs. Not to mention, every time their pep band started playing a cheer, we would take it over and insert our own lyrics. It came to a point where all they did was play the UNT fight song. My biggest problem with the Super Pit was the seats were way too small (though quite comfortable once you were able to squeeze into them). It was a fun game with the good guys getting back on track with a 92-84 victory over the Mean Green.

When the game ended, we boarded the bus and drove to Fort Worth where we enjoyed a fun tailgate dinner with other alumni. One interesting thing was that the UH tailgate was right next to the Kansas Jayhawk tailgate and there was a little friendly interaction between the fans. A little later we walked into Amon Carter Stadium for the Fort Worth Bowl, the first bowl game I ever attended. Although the final outcome was not what anybody expected and very disappointing (a 42-13 loss), we all enjoyed the game. One of the greatest things about the game was the Jayhawk fans. What a bunch of friendly, classy people. Generally, in games like these, when my team loses, I hate that team and root against them. However, this game was different. The Jayhawk team played with class and were a lot of fun to watch. Count me in as a Jayhawk football fan. That university deserves a lot of respect and I for one am glad to give it to them. Man, I wish our defense could learn to tackle like that Kansas team did. The game itself was marked by us not making plays on either offense or defense. Briles and Co. have a lot of work to do before kicking off the 2006 season. But, two bowl games in three years ain't half bad. Let's make it 3 out of 4.

We rolled back in around 5:30am on Saturday morning and we were all exhausted. After a few goodbyes, we all went our separate ways readying ourselves for a trip to the big dance with our basketball team. The best part of this trip was reconnecting with a few of my friends that I lost touch with a few years ago, when I left Houston for law school. I also got to meet some other alumni and have made some new friends in the process (plus, I got off work for the day - Woo-hoo!). I want to thank the Houston Alumni Organization for setting up the bus trip and the football team for becoming bowl eligible. It was a really great trip and I had a blast.