Ronald Short's Top Twenty One Favorite Movies of 2008!

I didn't think that I would have a chance to type this before my work trip to Houston, Texas, but because of the twelve inches of snow outside, I have a whole day of time on my hands.

So, here it is! Ronald Short's twenty one favorite films released theatrically in America in 2008!

(It is to note that this is my opinion and that if you don't like it, you can suck it.)

21. The Incredible Hulk

Who would have thought that they'd take the aftermath from one of my most hated films of all time, Hulk, and make something so...good? The Incredible Hulk is one of those films that takes a great action director, gives him a great A-list cast, and lets them free to do what they do best. I loved this movie and Edward Norton as the Bruce Banner was a great move by the creative team. Now, I hope if they make a sequel and/or if the Hulk is in the Avengers movie, they bring back Ed. I know there were some creative differences, but I hope they can over come them and bring this guy back!

On top of all of that, they use the original theme from The Incredible Hulk TV show and Lou Ferrigno plays the Hulk's voice! Awesome.

2o. Snow Angels


This film really took me by surprise. I mean, I knew the cast was strong and that the director was a good one, but I didn't realize that the experience would be so powerful. It's one of those snake in the grass films, one that you'll almost pass right by without a thought until it bites you in the leg and lets you know it's there and it's damn powerful.

19. In Bruges


A comedy that's smarter than the advertising would lead you to believe. Sure, there's a midget, but unlike every other comedy that would exploit said little person based off their stature, this film actually makes him an important character to the story. Okay, they exploit him a little bit, but it's hilarious!

Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson are a fantastic comedic duo and Ralph Fiennes plays a great diabolical villain. It sums up to be a good time that mixes action and comedy flawlessly.

18. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls

I know what you're thinking and to those thoughts I say, "Fuck you!" Seriously, fuck you. This is a good movie and fits well into the original trilogy. Sure, there's aliens involved and not religious artifacts, but this is (hopefully) a new trilogy about the supernatural. I liked Mutt! I liked the Russians! And I loved Harrison Ford back in the fedora! I really really hope that Indy 5 happens. While it's not better than Raiders or Crusade, it is infinitely better than Temple of Doom.

17. Speed Racer

I'm going to go ahead and claim this as the most underrated movie of 2008. People just wanted to hate on it for no real reason whatsoever. It's fun! Lots and lots of fun! It's a Red Bull in movie form and will have you bouncing in excitement with every race. I felt like a kid again and just enjoyed the hell out of this film. Pop it in your DVD player, open up a bag of Sour Patch Kids, and buy a four pack of your favorite energy drink and prepare for the ride of your life.

16. Synecdoche, New York


Probably the most depressing movie on the list (Snow Angels is pretty close). Kaufman's screenplay, which is so strange and jumps time in the most random areas, is powerful and symbolic and can even be hopeful if you view the film with the right eyes. His direction is spot on and Hoffman, along with the supporting cast, are all at the top of their game. Most people belonging to the mainstream audience won't get it and will write it off as "weird," but I enjoyed it immensely and cannot wait to own it and come up with more conclusions on what some of the symbols mean.

15. Inside


What can you say about this film without ruining any of the horrors that await the viewer? How about this: It's probably the best horror film I saw last year (unless you count Cloverfield). It made me jump, it made me squirm, and it left me sick to my stomach.

Prepare for an experience unlike any other.


14. Zack and Miri Make a Porno


Kevin Smith was my inspiration to start making movies. The man can mix dick and fart jokes with real human drama and make it work along with making it look easy. This film is no different. It's funny, heartwarming, and just a good time. Sure, I would have changed some things about the ending, but it still works as a whole.

13. Kung Fu Panda


This film has been over shadowed by the greatness that is Wall-E. While I agree it's not even on par with that little robot, I do think this movie was well done and deserves some praise as well. This is probably the first Dreamworks animated film that isn't filled to the brim with pop culture references and adult jokes disguised well enough to go over children's' heads. It is an original enough story with awesome characters and fantastic animation. If Dreamworks continues down this path, then Pixar might possibly have some kind of competition in the future in terms of quality.

12. Cloverfield


Who knew that a film so virally marketed could actually live up to the hype? This film is flat out AWESOME! It's a good fucking time and will leave you on the edge of your seat. The whole thing is just believable and the techniques used to make you believe what's happening are well done and practically flawless. The monster is creepy and I love the fact that we never get a clear picture of it. I also love the fact that most of it is left unexplained. I love mystery in movies like this! A plain great creature feature from 2008.

11. Revolutionary Road

A great movie for the Feminist movement! You just want April and Frank to have the life they deserve, but society won't let it be. The performances are mind blowing in this perfect film from one of my top ten favorite directors, Sam Mendes.

RONALD SHORT'S TOP TEN FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2008:

10. RepriseThis film has went under the radar for most people I've talked to. Hell, many people haven't even heard of it. Released in 2006 in Norway and finally released in 2008 here in the States, this little film was well worth the wait. The storytelling elements work so well and help bring this story of two friends who are also authors and deal with success in very different ways to heights no other filmmaker could have accomplished.

9. Slumdog Millionaire

Danny Boyle continues to surprise me time and time again. He has made movies about drug addicts, zombies (though not really zombies), children finding loads of money, and space missions to reignite the sun and each and every time, he knocks it out of the park. This film can be categorized as one of Boyle's absolute best. It's a heartwarming story for hopeless romantics and I fit into that category perfectly.

8. Forgetting Sarah Marshall

This is the best comedy of the year. Jason Segel's script, along with his hilarious acting, makes this movie just plain great. There's new and old faces in this Judd Apatow production and everyone his top notch and laugh a minute. It shows the world that Mila Kunis is more than a television actor and that she can hold her own with comedy greats. And that Dracula musical at the end? Priceless.

7. Iron Man

This set the trend of smart and damn entertaining super hero films of last year and it still holds up after several viewings. This is the type of movie every popcorn film should be; it doesn't treat its audience like a bunch of idiots, but is still a load of fun. Robert Downey Jr. is brilliant as Tony Stark and Jon Favreau brings in a stellar supporting cast, none of them phoning in their role in the slightest. Jeff Bridges as the super villain? AMAZING! I just wish Terrance Howard could return to the sequel, but alas...

6. Rachel Getting Married

I can't say anything more than my original review:

I thought this flick was fantastic. It's one of those slice of life films that actually feels real. These aren't performances, they're people existing in their own little fucked up reality. Anne Hathaway is uncomfortably great as Kym, but Rosemarie DeWitt, who plays the title Rachel, really shines as her performance takes your breath away. Jonathan Demme directs perfectly from this wonderful screenplay from Jenny Lumet. Sure, he makes some ballsy artistic choices in letting a few scenes that could be trimmed go on as long as they did, but that's why I enjoyed this so much. It's real and I have to respect the filmmakers for not losing their integrity.

Finally, the way the film was shot was beautiful. People were complaining about the "shaky cam" in some reviews I've read, but really, if you've seen one steady cam film, this isn't any worse. I like how it felt like a wedding video, catching all of the happenings, which is what I hear Demme was trying to achieve. It just works and makes for a beautiful piece of art.

5. The Wackness

Here's another film that seems to be getting overlooked by many critics. From what I could tell, this got really great reviews when it was released. So, what's the deal here? The story's unique, the characters are entertaining and well acted, and the art design can be entertainingly quirky. Josh Peck is certainly one to watch out for and this being Jonathan Levine's second feature film is an accomplishment (I just wish I could see his first film!).

4. Milk

All of my thoughts on this wonderful film can be found in a blog I wrote a few weeks ago. You can read that below.

3. Wall-E

While I've always held Pixar's work in high regards, this is the first I would actually consider a work of art. I would love to see a TV hanging in a museum playing this movie. It's beautiful and these fucking robots, especially the title character, are so damn endearing and adorable. How can you not love Wall-E? On top of all that, there's a story here teaching kids to lead a greener life. Who could ask for anything more?

2. The Wrestler

I've compared Darren Aronofsky to Stanley Kubrick, who is my favorite director of all time and is probably the biggest compliment I could give to the man. With this film, Aronofsky cements that comparison even more. That, plus Rourke's amazing, amazing, AMAZING performance, makes this the second best film of the year. Sure, it's about wrestling, something I have absolutely no interest in whatsoever, but the filmmakers make you care and the film's more about the characters and the story than the "sport" itself.

1. The Dark Knight

I know I know I know. Whodathunk? It has almost become cliche' at this point, but that should show you just how good this film is. Almost everyone in the film community has named this film as one of the best films of the year, if not one of the best in the last few years. Everything is spot on and perfect. Ledger deserves all the praise he has received, dead or not, and I'm royally pissed that Nolan and company got snubbed by the Academy. At least I know that this was the best film of the year and that I can watch it over and over on Blu-Ray. That's all I need.

Whelp, there you have it. Here's to another year of great cinema!

This Blog Will Be Legen...wait for it...DARY!

It has been a while since I've posted, but I haven't thought of anything that could really follow up my last blog. It's hard to follow up a blog you feel so adamant about with something having little to no meaning. I refuse to do that.

This, however, has profound meaning to me and to everyone who has seen it or will see it.

BEHOLD!



I am a huge fan of Neil Patrick Harris and not because of those mediocre Harold and Kumar movies, but because of his awesome work on How I Met Your Mother and his constant good nature when poking fun of one of my favorite shows as a lad, Doogie Howser M.D. Of course, NPH starred in that television series and while most people are ashamed of their child star roots, Neil embraces it and uses it for its comedic gold.

Not only is NPH a part of the awesome sitcom How I Met Your Mother, but he has also taken part in one of the best Internet series I have seen in a good while, Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog. It was created by Joss Whedon, the man behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly, and co-stars Nathan Fillion. It is pure hilarity spread across three, well balanced acts that, though only 15 minutes long at most, feel epic and more fulfilling than some of the films Hollywood is shitting out nowadays.

Here's the first episode for your viewing pleasure (for some reason there's no embedded version...sorry):

http://www.hulu.com/watch/28327/dr-horribles-sing-along-blog-act-one

Aren't those songs fucking catchy?

I just think Neil Patrick Harris is a really funny guy who's not only charming, but down right awesome. He deserves the success he's receiving because he's just so talented. I hope I see him in more stuff in the future and that I'll get to work with him one day.

Until then, here's some of his best stuff from How I Met Your Mother:

My Name is Ronald Short and I'm Here to Recruit You!

This past Friday I saw Milk at my local art house theater. It tells the story of California's first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk, a San Francisco supervisor who was assassinated by fellow supervisor Dan White. The film is directed by Gus Van Sant, written by Dustin Lance Black, and stars Sean Penn as the titular Harvey Milk.

Where do you start with a film like this? I'm sure a lot of (homophobic) people out there will be turned off by the subject matter purely based off the lead being a gay man. If it were about a lesbian, a lot more (male) movie goers would be okay with it, seeing that there would be hopes of seeing the lesbian lead kiss the lesbian co-star love interest, or maybe have soft-core sex with her (keep those fingers crossed)! A gay man just scares the living hell out of a lot of heterosexual men and women (though I believe the percentage is a lot lower) and I'll never figure out why.

Lets come back to that.

My Official Review

Technically speaking, the film is brilliant. The direction flows perfectly and it feels like we're actually watching a documentary, the camera in the background capturing these real people as they plan this revolution. This is the type of technique this movie needed for it to be told properly. Van Sant meticulously focused on the smallest details, from how big Emile Hirsch's glasses were to the design of the buildings to fit the decade this tale of hope is from. Gus Van Sant brought everything he has learned up to this point to this feature presentation and it benefited the film greatly.

The editing is near flawless. I only noticed one or two continuity errors and these were small things that really don't matter and I couldn't specifically note if asked about. The way the editor integrated real footage from the time Mr. Milk lived with the footage the filmmakers filmed worked greatly. Allowing music, especially operatic selections, tell the story instead of dialogue was beautiful. It all blends wonderfully and if any other editor was working on this it might not have worked, but it does and it makes the film that much better.

The script from writer Dustin Lance Black is exactly what it should be. With other bio-pics, the creative teams make sure to tell the entire story of their subject (person the movie is about) from birth to, occasionally, their deaths. Black makes sure to start where the story that needs to be told starts. Not from Milk's troubled childhood, but from the point in his life where he decided to make a difference. Unfortunately, it does end with his death, but it's possibly the most important part of the whole story. On top of that, Black is not afraid to show the intimacy between Milk and his boyfriends in a realistic fashion. Sure, most of this could be credited towards Van Sant, but some of it had to be on the page and I applaud Black for his work.

Finally, we come to the acting. What can I say that hasn't already been said about Sean Penn's work as Harvey Milk? Personally, I'm glad to see him performing in a role where he can be, generally, a happy character instead of his usually brooding and angry characters that he's attracted to. He crawls into Harvey Milk's skin and becomes him. He just loses himself in the role and when you see him in his love scenes with James Franco and Diego Luna, you actually believe you are watching a gay man. He's damn good and deserves whatever accolades he receives.

James Franco is the best he has ever been in this film (at least in a drama, seeing he was damn funny in Pineapple Express earlier this year). Much like Penn, he also loses himself in the role, becoming Milk's first true inspiration to do something more and playing it to a T. Emile Hirsch is one of my favorite young actors working right now and this is my favorite performance he has ever given. Is Hirsch a homosexual? If not, he plays one perfectly and it's going to take him a few roles after this to convince me differently. Sadly, Diego Luna's character is the weakest, and most annoying, character in the film. It doesn't so much have to do with Luna's performance, but the character itself. He's just annoying and seems to me as if he hindered Milk by being with him.

Josh Brolin plays the low-key, but very troubled, Dan White the way Josh Brolin plays every character; top notch and to his very best. Brolin presented White as a man with layers. On the outside, he's a man of tradition and on the inside, who knows what's going on? And when he pulls that gun on Harvey Milk and you see that look on Sean Penn's face as White shoots four or five bullets into him...I can admit that I wept. It seemed so real and if it wasn't for Josh Brolin playing that evil person I don't know if I would have had the same reaction.

Overall, the film is damn brilliant and you would be doing yourself a disservice by not seeing it. It's probably one of the most important films you'll see in your lifetime, especially seeing what happened in California this year.

I give it a well deserved 10 out of 10.

What You Need To Take From This Film

Now that we have the technical aspects out of the way, it's time to address the message of the film itself.

Why is homosexuality a problem?

Many people are afraid of homosexuality. They fear the idea of a man making love to another man. Many also fear a woman making love to another woman...unless those women are sexy blondes with big tits. Then, we support that tenfold (well, at least the men do).

Why is this?

Many would point to the bible, seeing that followers of this piece of literature pull out obscure lines and tidbits that make them believe God hates homosexuality and that it's a sin. Others say it goes against tradition. Love and marriage is traditionally between a man and woman and some believe that that's the way it should stay. Again, this argument just stems from the bible and those obscure lines and tidbits. So, why are we taking those obscure lines and tidbits and using them against individuals who just want to love who they want to love and would like the same rights as everyone else? The bible tells its readers that a lot things are sins and should be avoided, but many Christians still do them (eating shell fish, for example).

Why do followers of the bible want to promote hate and do not want to encourage love?

This is a question I ask myself daily. Why in God's name would any mortal being try to do the Almighty's judging for Him? You are not God! You should not be condemning people for the way they want to live their lives. Any GOOD Christian would not be trying to fix someone or bad mouth someone or hate someone because of the person they are. They should be welcoming them into their home and treating them like they are their brother or sister, be them gay or straight or bi or trans gendered or black, yellow, white, brown, red, or blue. They should be accepting of every one's differences because that's the way God intended.

What if God was one of us?

Well, he certainly wouldn't be an Evangelical Christian who says, "I'm right and you're wrong," that is for damn sure. If Jesus was around today, do you really think he would be condemning these individuals (the answer is no because, like it or not, if Jesus was alive today, he would be a liberal, not a conservative)? If homosexual individuals go to hell, so be it, but let them live the life they want to live while on this big rock. Let them love who they want to love without persecution. The Beatles sang it best with their line, "Love is all you need."

And for anyone who tries to say that if we allow homosexuality to co-exist with us we should go ahead and allow beastiality and pedophilia as well, you are way out of line. We are talking about grown adults being allowed to love whom they want to love, marry whom they want to marry. An animal or a child does not have the type of mental capacity to participate in such acts and those types of ideas are not similar in the slightest. Plus, that argument is just fucking dumb and is only brought up by unintelligent cowards who are afraid of progression in society.

Oh, and if homosexuality is wrong and evil and we are the only beings on the planet with free will and thought (according to the bible), then why is it that scientists have found homosexual behavior in the animal kingdom, beings who do not have free will or thought? Why have there been recorded instances where two male penguins have formed a bond similar to that of the usual male and female mates and are together for life? Hell, I've seen two male dogs try to fuck before with my very eyes. If these creatures are free of free will and are only supposed to fuck creatures of the opposite sex, then why do these acts occur? These types of things go unnoticed by followers of God too often and need to be discussed.

Why do we have to know someone who is a homosexual before we accept it?

I can admit that when my best friend came out of the closet, I was shocked and apprehensive at first. "Why me?" I would ask myself. "Why my best friend?" I don't know why it seemed like the end of the world at the time, something I didn't want to really talk about when I was around him, but it did. Nowadays, I'm, obviously, more open to the idea and fully support him in everything he does. In fact, he has totally changed my perspective on the whole thing and I thank God every day for placing him in my life and for making him who he is. It took me knowing my friend was gay for me to fully understand and accept homosexuality. I was an immature idiot before knowing and with him coming out, it gave me the chance to grow up.

That's what homophobic heterosexual men need to do. Grow the fuck up. Realize that just because you see two men kissing across the restaurant doesn't mean it's the end of the fucking world. You're still a heterosexual asshole who's going home that night and, fingers crossed, having sex with a female. The way they live their lives should not effect how you live yours. And if it really bothers you, just divert your eyes. If they want to show affection in a public place, they have the right to do it. You have the right to make out with a female with them eating across the restaurant. It's only fair.

This film should have been released sooner.

This film could have helped a lot of people sitting on the fence in California when it came to election day and voting "yes" or "no" on Proposition 8. The fact that Prop 8 went through is a total blow to everything Harvey Milk fought for. In California of all places! How could this happen? How could they give these people right to marriage, something they've deserved for a such a long time, and then just rip it away from them? How could people in their right minds and conscience vote for this ridiculous proposition and take these human rights away from them? Why do these people want to continue to promote hate?

In short...

What I would like anyone reading this to take away from my overblown soapbox rant would be that love is love. Who are we to say that Adam can only love Eve and not Steve? Why do we as a society want to continue the promotion of hate and not the promotion of love? Hopefully, we will all realize that it's not that big of a deal and that we will finally learn to separate church and state properly. We need to fix our society as a whole and this, I believe, should be one of our first steps, along with giving women the equal rights they deserve (now that's another blog all together).

LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED!

How Do You Start This Crazy Thing?

God, a blog. Whodathunk? Not me, that's for damn sure. Blogs are for idiots who purely want a soapbox so everyone can hear their idiotic ramblings. Some blogs hold a little merit and intelligent thought, but seeing that anyone can obtain one, they're mostly useless, with their dip-shit and dumb fuck authors trying their damnedest to ruthlessly murder the English language.

No one gives a shit.

So, why am I doing this?

Well, I wanted an outlet for my rants, ramblings, random thoughts, lists, political tangents, creative writings, and just a place where anyone who cares can read a blog written by me.

That's right...I think I'm pretty important and it's about time I got a blog.

Plus, I wanted to do my part in murdering the English language. LOL!

(That is the last time you will ever see me type "LOL" in a public forum seeing how much I FUCKING HATE IT!)