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2008 Bellview Awards, Part III

12/31/08

Folks--

The finale!

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The 20 Best Movie Moments of the Year:

A “movie moment” is essentially when you have a scene where everyone in the audience seems to have the same reaction—maybe it’s a big laugh, or an awe-inspiring stunt, or a moment where everyone in the audience, even “that guy that never cries”, cries.  Two recent examples:  maybe the most famous line about wine in the history of the movies from "Sideways" ("I'm not drinking any fucking merlot!"), or the best moment from 2004, the bag of weed dream sequence from "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle."  And now, this year's list (in no particular order)...

20--"Stop-Loss":  When King visits Rodriguez in the army hospital

19--"The Orphanage":  When the old lady gets hit by a car and her jaw comes off

18--"The Strangers":  Although all of Liv Tyler's screams are great, the moment when we first see a Stranger standing in the living room off behind her is scare-tastic!

17--"Semi-Pro": The main title song

16--"Gran Torino":  "Okay, Dragon Lady...get me a beer!"

15--"Young @ Heart":  The music video for "Stayin' Alive" shot at the local bowling alley

14--"Wanted":  When Wesley is using The Repairman's head as a crutch during the end action sequence

13--"Rachel Getting Married":  When Rachel announces that she is pregnant, then watching Kym go off in another direction

12--"In Bruges":  When the fat tourist is chasing Ray around a park bench

11--"Hellboy II: The Golden Army":  Hellboy and Abe sing Barry Manilow together in the library

10--"Towelhead":  The frightening sequence where Travis asks Jasira to strip

9--"Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay":  the cock-meat sandwich!

8--"Son of Rambow":  amongst many moments, either the flying dog in the teachers' lounge scene or when Didier shoots the bird with his dart gun rank well

7--"The Wrestler":  "Hey, good-lookin', whaddya need?"

6--"Rambo":  within those violent final 20 minutes, the shot of Rambo walking away with guts hangin' off of his knife is classic

5--"Be Kind Rewind":  the "remake" of "Ghostbusters"

4--"Slumdog Millionaire":  Jamal jumps into the pile of shit to run after his matinee idol

3--"Pineapple Express":  "Thug life!!!"

2--"Role Models":  "I don't want to get into too much detail, but..."

1--"Tropic Thunder":  The baby getting tossed off the bridge is just as funny as Cruise's first dance sequence

 

Best DVD Rental of the Year--TV Series:  "The Wire" (Seasons 3, 4 and 5)

There's nothing I even need to add to this...if you haven't watched this show by now, you have told the world you accept mediocrity.

 

Best DVD Rental of the Year--Movies:  (tie) "Street Fight" and "White Light/Black Rain"

In looking back, I saw a ton of movies this year but I didn't give any of the features an Opening Weekend...documentaries were king this year and two of the best were a film about a dirty city political campaign and the aftermath of many Japanese citizens unlucky enough to be living in or near Hiroshima or Nagasaki during World War II.  Both were effective and powerful pieces of storytelling.

 

Most Popular (counted by number of responses) Bellview Essay--Approval Ratings

My first foray into politics (matched against the vast number of Americans who I don't know) was a success, but the bigger success?  That Obama guy bringin' home the gold.

 

Best Xbox 360 Game:  "Grand Theft Auto IV"

I only played through a few games on my 'Box in 2008, and all of them were great, but "GTA 4" had the edge on "Fallout 3" thanks to a vast world represented well in hi-def, plus another killer soundtrack and an improved combat system.  Of course, wall-to-wall profanity doesn't hurt...

 

Best PS3 Game:  "Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots"

It's too bad more people don't have a PS3, because the hardware is better than the other consoles on the market and when the games are actually good (admittedly, rare), they are really something special.  Yes, there are too many movies that play during the game, but the gameplay is great and offer the hardcore gamer something most games don't: real choices in how you complete the game.  One of these days, I'm going to play it again just so I can see what it is like to blast your way through a game, instead of just trying to sneak around.  Great action, great weapons, great bosses, great voice acting, great graphics, great soundtrack.

 

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What does 2009 hold?  To be honest, a little less from me on the Bellview front.  Planning a wedding takes time, going to weddings takes time, and all of that takes cash.  We are going to hit a film festival this year (not Sundance, though) and I'm going to crush my DVD player this year with home movies.  Otherwise, not much to report!  Have a good one...

 

 

Comments?  Drop me a line at justin@bellviewmovies.com.