Best & Worst Movies of the Year- Rented and Theatered

Here are my top 5 rented movies not seen before this year:

5. LA Confidential: A brilliant cast (Full disclosure: Guy Pearce is one of my favorite actors, all time), a great story and excellent production values make this an incredibly taut thriller.

4. There Will Be Blood: I had my doubts before I saw this: About the long running time and about the roles Daniel Day-Lewis had previously taken on (I did not enjoy My Left Foot) but this movie almost knocked me off of my couch; his performance is incredible and the movie feels about half as long as it is- it's incredibly well-paced and the score is thrilling.

3. Zodiac: Suspenseful to the point of terror, incredible actors and lighting, and it makes for a great repeat watch.

2. Baby Mama: Amy Poehler and Tina Fey have incredible chemistry and I hope to see more movies starring these two hilarious ladies. Also features two great supporting performances by Steve Martin and Sigourney Weaver.

1. Once: A musical movie starring unknowns about love can spell trouble, but considering the two actors had both known each other previously and had never acted before they did an amazing job. I can't say enough good things about this movie; just go watch it and buy the soundtrack.

Honorable Mentions: 3 Days of the Condor starring Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway, 2 Days in Paris starring Julie Delpy and Adam Goldberg and the Foot Fist Way with future superstar Danny McBride.

Worst rented movies not seen prior to this year:

5. Shoot 'Em Up: I love Clive Owen. I do not love a rabid Paul Giamatti shooting at a baby while it's being thrown through the air like a football. In the first 15 minutes.

4. Leaving Las Vegas: For the life of me, I cannot tell you why this '90s movie starring Elisabeth Shue as a hooker with a heart of gold and Nicolas Cage as an alcoholic drinking himself to death had so much acclaim. I would rather drink myself to unconsciousness than watch this movie again.

3. The Invasion: I was actually excited to see this movie before it came into theaters last year but it was pulled before I could go to see it. And now I know why- Nicole Kidman is ironically playing one of the only characters who can show emotion (at least it's funny) because she's not an alien. The alien special effects are absolutely disgusting for good measure.

2. Jumper: Hayden Christensen proves to the world yet again that he cannot have chemistry with a woman or speak above a monotone growl no matter how much he is getting paid and Sam Jackson "jumps" (that pun is funnier than the whole movie. I just saved you 80 minutes) in just in time to catch his paycheck for being more over-the-top than he normally is.

1. 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days: I would not have known that the second female was pregnant in the first 30 minutes or that it took place in the last days of Communist Romania unless I had read the summary. For all its suspenseful music almost nothing happens, except the filmmakers go way too far in showing a performed abortion and the resulting fetus. It came off as a pro-abstinence movie, and it wasn't successful because I ended up having nightmares about the fetus, not getting pregnant.

Honorable Mentions: A Star is Born (Even Barbra's gorgeous voice couldn't pull off this schlock) and Dances with Wolves (why, Kevin Costner, why? No one wants to see your bum. Least of all for three hours).

Worst Theater Movies 2008:

5. Semi-Pro: The concept of a humorous sports movie was tired with Blades of Glory, but Will Ferrell exhausts every last painful cringe out of this genre by poking fun at '70s basketball and throwing in a few curse words to try and buff up the box office by making it R-rated.

4. Get Smart: I never had high hopes for this movie, but it was even duller and dumber than I thought, and Dwayne Johnson, the best part, was barely in it. Steve should stick with the Office until he gets better material.

3. Quantum of Solace: I had The Dark Knight-esque hopes for this and man did they crash and burn before being set on fire after being dipped in oil. QoS lacked a silly thing called a plot, used odd "magic wall" technology previously seen on CNN after bragging about how the new reboot didn't rely on gadgets like the old Bonds and the main characters lacked chemistry, humor and menace. On the bright side, the fonts to indicate locations (who needs subtitles?) were out-of-this-world amazing.

2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: Step 1: Bring back the best Jones girl and barely give her any time to reinvigorate the chemistry she had with Harrison back in the day. Step 2: Invent a character that serves no purpose except to possibly lead into spin-off franchise to make money (Shia LaBeouf). Step 3: Have probably the stupidest ending of the year as if to throw mace powder in the face of your previously loyal fans who shelled out $10 to see it. Stir, ignore horrible critical reviews, revel in your international box office gross and repeat.

1. Rachel Getting Married: I almost felt as awkward sitting in the movie theater watching this as I did staring at the dead fetus in 4 months. Anne Hathaway talks fast, plays a really horrible character and says really inappropriate things so she's a good actress, scenes go on for about 5-10 minutes longer than they should and there is almost every type of diverse person known to the planet thrown in for no reason other than to drastically bring up the average number of minorities in movies. If you're going to watch it, be prepared to fast forward and have stomach cramps from the awkwardness.

Honorable Mention: Atonement (I still have nightmares about the Oscar-winning score) and Iron Man (looks silly next to The Dark Knight and Gwyneth has no role, except to run in high heels).

Best Theater Movies 2008:

5. Tropic Thunder: Incredibly inappropriate laugh-out-loud humor that has a superb quote approximately every five minutes ("They only love me for my farts;" "You never go full retard"). Even Matthew McConaughey is hilarious, and Tom Cruise grinds the memory of Mission Impossible:III away.

4. In Bruges: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes are all incredibly hilarious in this story of two hitmen hiding in the kingdom of boredom known as Belgium. Colin and Ralph do some great physical humor in it and totally 180d my perceptions of them solely through this movie.

3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: The visual effects are amazing to behold and the acting and story are both superb. It's nice to see Brad Pitt in a role that celebrates both his acting abilities and his timeless looks, and that one doesn't outweigh the other.

2. Slumdog Millionaire: It could have been just another corny underdog love story, but it is elevated by top-notch child actors and unknown to America actors that make the story more believable, and a story-telling technique that is both logical and emotional. The soundtrack (score?) is phenomenal and I can't wait to see this movie again.

1. The Dark Knight: Please see my very first blog post to read my full feelings about this movie, but in addition, having seen it four times now (3 in IMAX) I can say confidently that it holds up and makes me wish the sequel was coming out sooner than years from now. It's really nice to have something surpass your momentous expectations, and to have this movie do that makes it all the more special. It is a genre-bending action movie, and I will be rooting hard for it come Oscar night.

Honorable Mentions: Milk (probably the best acting ensemble from the whole year) and Vicky Cristina Barcelona (proving that Woody's affections for Scarlett are far from over, and that Scoop and Match Point were not flukes but rather a new Renaissance in his latter years).