Movie-Holic

I’ve been thinking about the movies that I enjoyed last year and then wanted to look them up and see how they stacked up against the top money earners of 2008. I have to say that as I looked back I enjoyed seven out of the top ten.

Three of the top grossing movies of 2008 I really didn’t care for. For whatever reason, they weren’t something that I’d want to see again and I actually walked out of one of them.

Biggest Box Office Movies of 2008

10. Horton Hears a Who Coming in at the number ten spot is a Dr. Seuss movie with the voice talents of Jim Carrey and Steve Carrell. This would be one of those three movies that I wasn’t too overly thrilled about.

I can’t really put my finger on why. I like animated movies. I even like movies that I get to sit down and watch with my family. My kids really liked Horton Hears a Who and we probably watched it eight times over Christmas vacation.

I guess it’s not really fair to say that I didn’t like it. I guess it’s more accurate to say that I was a little disappointed in it. I was looking for it to be a little funnier with both Carrey and Carrell working on it, but… not so much.

9. Quantum of Solace It should be no surprise that a James Bond movie makes it into any year’s top grossing movie list. Following his performance in Casino Royale, Daniel Craig, doesn’t mess around inQuantum of Solace, making it a better than average Bond movie. Not better than the previous, but still good nontheless.

I saw this at the theater twice and actually enjoyed the experience. I’m not the biggest Bond fan, and there is still one movie I haven’t seen, but thought Quantum of Solace was a good representative to the series and a great follow up to Casino Royale because it gives us not a new, improved Bond, but a damaged, hurt Bond.

8. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa As one of the four animated films on the list, I liked this one a great deal. It was a lot of fun to watch.

Madagascar – Escape 2 Africa is a fun ride through Africa with the characters as they try to make it back to New York. Of course tailing along are a bunch of funny as heck penguins, the lovable Julian, king of the lemurs, and a lot of singing and dancing. Just exactly what a great movie needs.

Of course you have to look past Ben Stiller’s, Chris Rock’s, and David Schwimmer’s annoying voices.

7. Twilight There is no surprise that Twilight made it onto the top grossing movies of 2008. The way that people (teenage girls) carried on about the book it’s only a surprise it didn’t rank higher. I have to say that I wasn’t all that impressed.

Twilight is the kind of movie that you either love or just don’t like. The concept is ok, while an old one. The problem with the movie I feel is that it was rushed in order to capitalize on the hype the books made. If there was a little more time, and effort, into casting, script, and directing the movie could have been much better. But, then again, I’m not a 15 year old girl who thinks Robert Pattinson is just dreamy.

6. Kung Fu Panda Another animated movie makes into the top ten. And I think it’s a pretty good fit too. Kung Fu Panda not only was a good family movie, but carries a message too. In a world overwrought by low self-esteem, Kung Fu Panda tells us that self confidence is the key to reaching your full potential.

I didn’t actually see it in the theaters when it came around, but did go out and pick up the DVD when it came out. I was thinking my son would like it. It took about five minutes after he watched it for him to talk us all into watching it with him again. From almost the beginning, Kung Fu Panda had me laughing and giggling. Another thing this movie caused me to do… keep watching the funny parts over and over again. A true mark of a truly great movie.

5. WALL-E For the life of me I can’t figure out why this movie was so popular. I walked out of it. It simply didn’t thrill me and downright bored me.

I was looking forward to it too. So many people were raving about it and talking about how great and funny it was. I was thinking, “Great, I’ll take the entire family to the theater and we’ll make a great night of it.” Yeah right.

Wall-E disappointed me right from the beginning. As much as Kung Fu Panda had me rolling over with laughter and enjoying the movie, Wall-E left me utterly frustrated. Even the kids, who pretty much like anything, were not that happy with it. Eventually, about 45 minutes into it… we left. Walked right out.

I’ve been wanting to go and grab the DVD but can’t bring myself to doing it. Maybe I’ll just add it to my Netflix queue.

4. Hancock Will Smith has been one of the most consistent actors in Hollywood. It just seemed like everything he was in had box office smash all over it. That doesn’t change in Hancock.

I went into this movie with the same expectation I have with every Will Smith movie. Well, at least the action ones. Fast action, hard hitting, and just plain cool stuff. Hancock had some of that. It isn’t as good as I, Robot or Bad Boys, but it’s a whole lot better than I Am Legend.

The key to the movie isn’t expecting a brilliant masterpiece, but to see Will Smith do what he does. And he does it. Hancock is a type of superhero that has a lot of issues to work out. With the help of an overzealous PR guy, he begins to take on the role of protector instead of just plain… well, superhero with issues. The film has great moments and certainly deserves to be on of the highest grossing movies of 2008.

3. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull The top three movies are not only the top movies of 2008, but should also be counted as some of the best all time. Yes, this fourth Indiana Jones movie isn’t as good as the previous ones, but it’s still a solid, entertaining movie. One that I am glad was made.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull picked up Indiana as a much older version of himself. That doesn’t stop him from getting into trouble with some bad people looking for some priceless artifact. This version has everything we’ve come to love about Indiana Jones and while the alien thing was a little weird, was still good enough to entertain. Just like Indiana Jones should.

2. Ironman As far as best movies of the year, Iron Man should win it hands down. But, unfortunately it had to compete with the highly anticipated The Dark Knight and was beat out of the highest grossing top spot by a little more than $200 million.

I’ve written my thoughts about Ironman and it’s no secret how much I love this movie. The effects are amazing, the concept is stellar, and the casting was superb. No other movie in 2008 had better actors filling roles they were almost born to play.

The beauty of Ironman is that the story just flows throughout the film with very little room to lose interest. You’re always plugged in to the action and storyline. Man, I can’t wait for Ironman 2.

1. The Dark Knight You knew this was coming. I’ve said a lot about The Dark Knight here on the blog and don’t want to rehash it all over again.

The main thing is that, while I didn’t think The Dark Knight was the best overall movie of last year, I did think it was a good movie. It had some great moments, but some things in it I wish would have been left up to another movie or just left completely out.

What will be number one in 2009?

I am really excited about some movies coming up this year and I am wondering where they will stack up in the race for most money earned in 2009.

All in all, 2008 was a solid year for movies with just a few bad ones in the top ten. What do you think? Did you like them all?