John Rambo returning to action and slicing legions of Burmese soldiers in half with a gigantic machine gun in Rambo, the look on a young prostitutes face as she takes a teenage (if still elderly looking) Benjamin Button’s cherry in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Marlena’s explosive exit in Cloverfield, Nixon admitting wrongdoing in Frost/Nixon, a heat-seeking rocket taking out a bad guy as he gaily leaps between building in Punisher: War Zone, a mechanical crane tossing a police car through the air in Eagle Eye, the Joker introducing a fellow villain to a pencil in The Dark Knight, The Drover removing his shirt in Australia, Pierce Brosnan trying to sing “S.O.S.” in Mamma Mia!, Ken’s impromptu exit from a church in In Bruges, Jamal’s interrogation via electro shock in Slumdog Millionaire, Abby slapping Kym in Rachel Getting Married, the stripper’s surprising revelation in How to Lose Friend’s & Alienate People, Chad’s ill-fated introduction to Harry in Burn After Reading, Maria Elana’s talent for making herself known in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Tony Stark’s press conference admission to being a superhero in Iron Man, a young man bloodily losing his joystick in Teeth
Penelope Cruz in The Weinstein Company's Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Great Start – Horrible Finish
Pride and Glory was two-thirds of a masterpiece only to crash and burn so spectacularly I still can’t quite believe just how badly it self destructed, the CGI monster-clash in The Incredible Hulk turned that potential guilty pleasure into nothing more than another forgettable cinematic video game, EagleEye going from exciting, intense, intelligent Hitchcock-like thriller into an unintentionally hysterical SAL 9000 snooze-fest, the moving and emotional Henry Poole is Here not having faith in its own convictions to see itself through to the end, Transsiberianderailing in the climactic act after chugging suspenseful along for the majority of its running time, David Mamet’s Redbeltgoing down for the count during a silly ringside battle royale
Great Performances Sure to Be Forgotten
Colin Farrell in In Bruges, Debra Winger in Rachel Getting Married, Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder, Brad Dourif in Humboldt County, Hiam Abbass in The Visitor, Michael Caine in Flawless, Ryan Phillippe in Stop-Loss, Kate Beckinsale and Sam Rockwell in Snow Angels, Frances McDormand in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Aaron Eckhart in The Dark Knight, Isla Fisher in Definitely, Maybe, Amy Poehler in Baby Mama, Francois Cluzet in Tell No One, Bill Nighy in Valkyrie, Margherita Buy in Days and Clouds, Ben Kingsley in The Wackness, Anna Faris in The House Bunny, James Franco in The Pineapple Express, Rebecca Hall in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Ralph Fiennes in The Reader, Sarah Michelle Gellar in Suburban Girl, Michael Peña in The Lucky Ones, Summer Bishil in Towelhead, Viggo Mortensen in Appoloosa
Great Performance in a Lost Cause
Robert DeNiro in Righteous Kill, Joan Allen in Death Race, Keira Knightley in The Duchess, Samuel L. Jackson in Lakeview Terrace, Diane Lane in Nights in Rodanthe, Noah Emmerich and Jennifer Ehle in Pride and Glory, Angelina Jolie in Changeling, Will Smith in Seven Pounds, Amanda Seyfried in Mamma Mia!, Meg Ryan in The Women, Jason Bateman in Hancock, Jim Broadbent in When Did You Last See Your Father?, Julianne Moore in Savage Grace, Cynthia Nixon in Sex and the City, Russell Brand in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Dennis Quaid, Thomas Haden Church and Ellen Page in Smart People, Jim Sturgess in 21, Rachel McAdams and Patricia Clarkson in Married Life
Already Forgotten
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian seemed to have vanished from memory the moment I left the theater and try as I might I’m having trouble recollecting anything about it now, Twilight was a massive hit but the only thing I can recall about my experience watching it was the giddily hysterical reactions of the mostly under-16 audience, I loved The Spiderwick Chronicles back in February but now I’m scratching my head as to why and, finally, am I the only one who completely forgot the monumental mess which was Speed Racer actually came out in 2008?
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in Summit Entertainment's Twilight
Better than Their Rep
Leatherheadsmight have its problems but it was hardly a disaster, The Happening was silly and poorly cast but it still had more than its share of freakishly creepy scares, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a wonderful thrill-ride whose only fault was to fall victim to unreachably sky-high audience expectations and City of Ember kept me thrillingly entertained start to finish reminding me of past favorite fantasies from childhood long since past.
Worse than Their Rep
The Incredible Hulk is no better than Hulk, it made less money and cost more to make yet it is considered a success – go figure, Milk and Slumdog Millionaire are very good (and very entertaining) movies but neither hardly breaks new ground or is anything close to a classic, I Served the King of England is unfocused and contradictory, Ping Pong Playa is corse and unfunny and My Brother is an Only Child got rave reviews from most critics even though absolutely nothing of emotional interest ever seems to occur.
Unforgettable Lines
"It's a terrible thing," T.J. Miller in Cloverfield
“No one is born afraid,” Christopher Lloyd in The Tales of Despereaux
“I am Iron Man,” Robert Downey, Jr. in Iron Man
“Death is peaceful, easy. Life is harder,” Kristen Stewart in Twilight
“Yes, I think I'll have the mahi-mahi, but can I get it with just one mahi?” Anna Faris in The House Bunny
“Oh, that word ‘focused.’ Yeah, with your accent, I wouldn't use it that much,” Ron Perlman in Hellboy II: The Golden Army
“My name is Harvey Milk and I’m here to recruit you!” Sean Penn in Milk
“I can't color enough, I would color all day every day If I had my way, I would use every crayon in my box,” Kim Cattrall in Sex and the City
“I'm saying that when the President does it, that means it’s not illegal!” Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon
“You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And I won't kill you because you're just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever,” Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
“Dirrrrr-ect-tivvve?” WALL-E the robot in WALL-E
“Who do you think you are? A Kennedy? You're a Bush. Act like one,” James Cromwell in W.
“Cockburn, from now on my fist is going to be so far up your s**thole that every time you have a thought, it's gonna have to tiptoe past my wedding ring,” Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder
"I don't know. Something else. Also terrible," T.J. Miller in Cloverfield
Top Seventeen Reasons to Get Excited About 2009
Director David Yates and stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson on the set of Warner Bros' Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Avatar (Dec. 18), Coraline (Feb. 6), Duplicity (March 20), The Fantastic Mr. Fox (Nov. 6), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (July 17), The International (Feb. 13), Jennifer’s Body (Sept. 18), The Lovely Bones (Dec. 11), The Princess and the Frog (Dec. 25), Public Enemies (July 1), Sherlock Holmes (Nov. 20), Shutter Island (Oct. 2), Star Trek (May 8), The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (June 12), Up (May 29), Watchmen (March 6), Where the Wild Things Are (Oct. 16), Whiteout (Sept. 11), The Year One (June 19)
- portions of this article reprinted courtesy of the SGN in Seattle
