Criticize This!

Top Films of 2007

I started writing a conventional ‘top ten films of the year’ list when I realized that some of my favourite movies, in terms of sheer fun at the theatre, wouldn’t make the cut. For instance, The Mist was one of the scariest flicks I’ve seen since 28 Days Later. Would it make my top ten films of the year? Probably not, however it warrants mention simply because most films in the horror genre are such uninspired dreck.

With that in mind, here’s a slightly different take on the top movies - and performances - of 2007 (in this reviewer’s humble opinion):

Best Threequel - The Bourne Ultimatum (Criticize This! Review)

2007 was the year of the threequel – we had Spider-Man 3, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Shrek the Third, Ocean’s Thirteen, and Rush Hour 3. Though Ocean’s Thirteen had its amusing moments, the undisputed best Part Three to come out this year was the return of Matt Damon as master spy Jason Bourne in The Bourne Ultimatum. Directed by Paul Greengrass, who also helmed The Bourne Supremacy, the espionage series quite simply kicks butt.

Top Five Albums of 2007

5. David Kilgour
The Far Now
Merge
Criticize This! Review

I know I didn’t give this the hottest review upon its release earlier this year, but I gotta say, David Kilgour’s The Far Now has really grown on me. I suppose I was comparing it too heavily with 2001’s A Feather in the Engine, which is a record I absolutely love. Or maybe I had a bad cheese sandwich that morning or something. I don’t really know, but no matter: ‘tis the season of atonement and abject apology.

Those familiar with the ouvre of Dunedin, New Zealand’s The Clean will find plenty here to please them. Which makes sense, as Mr. Kilgour was the leader of that long-lived band. Quirky psychedelic pop, inventive guitar playing and snappy songwriting are all present and accounted for. Fans of Doug Martsch’s Built to Spill will find plenty here to please them. Of special note is the extended coda of Yenisei.

4. Rufus Wainwright
Release the Stars
Geffen

This is a slightly controversial inclusion because many Rufus Wainwright fans gave this a bit of a panning compared to some of his earlier albums. What can I say? Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion because I happen to think that Release the Stars is one of his most ambitious, and yet accessible recordings to date.

Evidently happiness hasn’t dulled the spark of creativity, as is so often the case. Love is much harder to write than sorrow, and it’s amusing to note that the Mr. Wainwright’s current happiness is spawned by a steady and stable relationship with a German theatre-type. I say amusing, because songs such as Tiergarten and Between My Legs have a detectably Teutonic flair. And Mr. Wainwiright is actually wearing lederhosen on the back cover. These unexpected overtones work singularly well with his expressive modulation and phrasing. That is to say that Rufus Wainwright is one of the best singers out there, and he could probably do a good job singing the telephone book.

MOVIE REVIEW: Juno (2007)

It’s hard to imagine any young actress playing Juno MacGuff, the acerbic, wise-cracking teen at the center of Juno, like Halifax’s Ellen Page.

Soon to be 21, Page excels at playing characters mature beyond their years, and to see her interviewed you realize it’s not a major stretch for the intelligent, well-spoken actor, who deliberately eschews formulaic teen fare in favour of more challenging roles.

Juno MacGuff certainly is that – a 16-year-old high school student who mistakenly gets pregnant after a one-off with her friend-crush Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). After ruling out an abortion, Juno contemplates carrying the baby to term and giving it up for adoption.

COMIC BOOKS #21: Sin, Ash, Superman, and more!

Graphic Novels:

Frank Miller's Sin City
Frank Miller's 300

New releases:

Action Comics 860
Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash
Captain America 33
One More Day's last issue

COMIC BOOKS is written, shot, and edited by Michael Goldberg

CT! WEEKLY - December 30, 2007

-Will Smith is upset over interpretation of comment he made about Hitler.

-Have Fox and Apple made an iTunes movie rental deal?

-Speaking of which - Wal-Mart has closed its online movie rental site.

-Jay-Z is stepping down as Def Jam president. Does it matter?

-Watch this video on how not to interview John Cusack! Too funny.

-Paris Hilton isn't as rich as she thought! Guess she'll have to release another album.

-Netscape Navigator is officially dead.

-David Letterman has made a deal with his writers. His show will return on January 2.

-The National Film Registry has added 25 more films to the list (including Back to the Future).

-This just proves that Hannah Montana fans are nuts (well their parents are)!

CT! WEEKLY is a list of the top movie, music, television, game, gadget (and anything else entertaining) news of the week. If you have any news we can use drop us a line at info@criticizethis.net (or post a comment below).

MOVIE NEWS: Steal This Film II Now Available

The documentary Steal This Film II is now available to download for free (via .torrent) on the film's official site. The film deals with the good side of peer-to-peer file sharing and is best described by them:

Because waves of repression continue to come: lawsuits are still levied against innocent people; arrests are still made on flimsy pretexts, in order to terrify and confuse; harsh laws are still enacted against filesharing, taking their place in the gradual erosion of our privacy and the bolstering of the surveillance state. All of this is intended to destroy or delay inexorable changes in what it means to create and exchange our creations. If STEAL THIS FILM II proves at all useful in bringing new people into the leagues of those now prepared to think 'after intellectual property', think creatively about the future of distribution, production and creativity, we have achieved our main goal.

You can download the film in the following formats: XviD, iPod, DVD, HD (720p) and, although free to download, we recommend making a donation to support them. If you haven't seen the the original Steal this Film yet you can download it here.

New in theaters - December 28, 2007

The Great Debaters (Released Dec. 25) – A true story inspired by the life of Wiley College Texas professor Melvin B. Tolson (Denzel Washington, who also directs) who inspired his students, despite his sometimes controversial methods, to start a debate team. The team is so successful it eventually challenges Harvard in the national championship.

Aliens vs. Predator – Requiem (Released Dec. 25) – Acid blood-dripping Aliens and camouflaging Predators battle it out once again on the big screen. This is the second go-round for the AVP franchise, and let’s hope the last.

The Bucket List (Released Dec. 25) – Directed by Rob Reiner, The Bucket List stars Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as two terminally ill men going through a list of things to do before they kick the bucket.

MOVIE TRAILER: Super High Me

This is an interesting take on the fast food documentary Super Size Me. Instead of eating McDonald's though, Doug Benson smokes marijuana everyday for 30 days - and then stops for another 30 days to see what happens. Should be fun to watch if it gets a distributor.

Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think.

GAME REVIEW: Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure (Nintendo Wii)

The era of the ‘point and click’ computer adventure game was, as far as I am concerned, the greatest in gaming history.  While my heart will always lie with the 16-bit revolution and the iterations that followed, it was these games that captured by mind, and challenged me for hours and days and weeks on end.  Maniac Mansion, Leisure Suit Larry, Monkey Island, Sam and Max (which is now getting its own rebirth), and every quest from Police, Space to King’s; they all were series’ that combined some of the best storytelling, with the most challenging tasks, all presented with the amazingly basic gameplay of rolling your mouse over different objects and people and places to just explore, explore, explore.

Over the years, these games became a lost art.  Consoles had no means or even apparently real general interest in adopting them and computer games evolved into much more complex simulations in their adventure titles.  They fell by the wayside and despite some absolutely horrendous attempts at resurrecting some of the other titles along the way (Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude being the first to spring to mind) it seemed as the ‘point and click’ games were to become nothing more then a distant memory.

ALBUM REVIEW: Wu-Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams

Wu-Tang Clan
8 Diagrams
Universal, 2007
** out of 5

Six years is a long time between albums. When the Wu-Tang Clan released their last album, 2001’s Iron Flag, the twin towers were still smoldering, and America hadn’t yet invaded Iraq. Ol’ Dirty Bastard was still alive, but spinning out of control. Six years is longer than the duration of either world war. Children have entered and graduated from high school as adults in the time it took the Wu-Tang Clan to release 8 Diagrams.

I guess what I’m saying is that for all the time it took to make 8 Diagrams, it’s just not as good as I’d hoped it would be. To me, the biggest latent problem is probably caused by the very fact that the album took so long to make, namely, that there’s a disjointed feel. It’s as if the fame of the individuals within the Clan can longer comfortably reside within the Wu-Tang frame.