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The Year in Movies

by Mark R. Leffler 

The legendary Hollywood screenwriter and novelist William Goldman once famously pointed out that when it comes to making a successful movie “no one knows anything.” The point being, that if there weren't innumerable variables constantly at play, everyone would make profitable movies. But a look at the discount bin at Blockbuster provides ample evidence that this is not the case. However, a look at the top ten grossing films so far shows that sequels and franchises still lead the pack, including recent installments of Harry Potter, the Twilight saga and animation favorite Ice Age.

Here's a brief look back at the major hits and misses of the past year:

January: With most major films released during the holiday season, there wasn't much of interest to lure moviegoers to the multiplex. Kevin James appeared in Paul Bart: Mall Cop, and Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway squared off in the predictable romantic comedy Bride Wars; while  the kidnap drama Taken had the unfortunate distinction of being the first movie released featuring Liam Neeson since the sudden and tragic death of his wife, Natasha Richardson.

February: It turned out that the title He's Just Not That into You applied to moviegoers, as neither critics or ticket buyers cared much for the star packed romantic comedy. Greed seemed to be the only plausible excuse for the unfortunate and unnecessary The Pink Panther 2 with Steve Martin donning the chapeau of the brilliant Peter Sellers. Coraline featured the voice talent of Dakota Fanning and Teri Hatcher plus the incredible gothic animated look of Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick. A reboot of Friday the Thirteenth provided the public service of warning attractive teenagers the potentially lethal dangers of summer camp. With his latest offering, Medea Goes to Jail, the cross-dressing writer/actor/producer/director Tyler Perry continued to work box office and comedy alchemy. Tweens devasted by the break up of Tyler Swift and Joe Jonas could see them in happier days in Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience as Disney reaped massive amounts of tween coin.

March: The long awaited Zak Snyder adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's legendary super hero graphic novel, Watchmen, told the tale of aging superheroes in a world that has made them illegal. Monsters vs. Aliens worked the usual Dreamworks animation magic at the box office, featuring the voices of Reese Witherspoon and Hugh Laurie, with more family friendly fare provided by the remake of Disney's Escape to Witch Mountain starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. I Love You, Man popularized the term “bromance”.

April: Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez breathed new life into the fuel-injected franchise The Fast & Furious. Hannah Montana: The Movie, not to be confused with Hannah Montana the TV series, or Hannah Montana: The Toothbrush, saw Miley Cyrus trying to inch her way into more grown up fare while not endangering her “Queen of Tween” status, as Zak Ephron tried a similar thing with 17 Again. Crank: High Voltage did not disappoint action fans of Jason (The Transporter) Stratham, or female viewers who enjoyed his many shirtless scenes. Obsessed recycled the Fatal Attraction plotline into a vehicle for Beyonce.

May: The opening week split the box office between Matthew McConaughey's romantic comedy Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and comic book geeks flocking to X-Men Origins: Wolverine with Hugh Jackman as the first of the franchise's mutant heroes to get his own movie. J.J. Abrams' creative team took over the reboot of Star Trek, winning over Trekkers and non-fans with his combination of dense brainy plotlines and spectacular effects. Angels and Demons was a prequel to The Davinci Code, re-teaming Tom Hanks with director Ron Howard adapting a Dan Brown best seller once again. Terminator: Salvation placed the series' latest installment in the hands of Joseph “McG” McGinty, director of the Charlie's Angels movies (lots of explosive effects, skimpy on the plot unfortunately). Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian proved a more successful sequel, with Ben Stiller's security guard returning for more adventures with a cast of historical characters including Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt. Spiderman director and Michigan native Sam Raimi returned to his horror roots with Drag Me To Hell.

June: The first weekend of the summer season saw perhaps the year's biggest flop as Land of the Lost lived up to its title, proving finally that moviegoers will not fork over money for just anything with Will Ferrell, especially not adaptations of Saturday morning TV shows. John Travolta and Denzel Washington appeared in Tony Scott's remake of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 and Sandra Bullock scored gold with The Proposal. Year One offered the promising collaboration of legendary director Harold Ramis and Jack Black and Michael Cera, but failed to generate laughs or box office. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen brought back teen hotties Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox as Michael Bay proved once again he knows how to put butts in the seats during the summer blockbuster season.

July: The Independence Day weekend, the biggest of the summer, launched Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, the third installment in the hugely successful animated series. Between that and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (which went on to make about a billion dollars worldwide) Michael Mann's Dillinger biopic with Johnny Depp, Public Enemies, went largely unnoticed. Judd Apatow, currently the man with the Midas touch with comedy (Knocked Up, 40 Year Old Virgin, Superbad) gave Adam Sandler cancer in Funny People, leaving audiences confused whether the film was a comedy or a tragedy.

August: G.I Joe: The Rise of the Cobra scored well with fans of the animated series, but didn't do well with critics or general audiences. Julie and Julia was well received as Meryl Streep played famed chef (and WW II secret agent) Julia Child. And Rob Zombie brought his slaughterhouse wit and charm to a second installment of his remake of John Carpenter's horror classic Halloween. But the summer's biggest treat came with Quentin Tarantino's long awaited WW II epic, Inglorious Basterds, featuring a scalp hunting Brad Pitt and Christoph Waltz as a simultaneously charming and menacing Nazi officer. Clocking in at almost three hours, Tarantino delivered his most stunning and original work since Pulp Fiction showcased his mastery of quirky and dazzling wordplay.

September: The back to school season began with a hit and a miss: the remake of 70's TV series Fame went mostly unnoticed even with the involvement of dance whiz Debbie Allen while Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was the sleeper hit of the year for families, adapting a much loved children's book.

Academy award winning screenwriter Diablo Cody (Juno) attempted to pull off a slasher film high school satire with Jennifer's Body, but the Megan Fox movie was dissected with glee by most critics and didn't draw crowds. But the story that had Tinseltown accountants buzzing was the unprecedented financial miracle of Paranormal Activity. Shot over a weekend with video camera and improv actors on a budget of $15,000, it rode a Blair Witch Project-like tsunami of media and online buzz to more than $100 million box office. Rest assured that every studio in Hollywood as well as every low budget would be auteur is dissecting that success for a formula that can be duplicated. (See Mr. Golding's maxim for the futility of that quest.)

October: Michael Moore trained his style of documentary mockery and political advocacy on the story of the year, the financial collapse, in Capitalism: A Love Story. Another film connected to our state: the Drew Barrymore roller derby chick flick Whip It, filmed downstate, did well. Couple's Retreat was the romantic comedy hit of the season. Saw VI appeared to prove that you couldn’t make too many installments of a horror franchise (see Nightmare on Elm Street 9, 10 and 11). Spike Jonze and novelist collaborator David Eggars brought Maurice Sendak's beloved children's classic Where the Wild Things Are to the screen in special effects live action form. Michael Jackson's This is It allowed the fallen King of Pop's fans worldwide to say goodbye with film shot during rehearsals for his ill-fated British concerts.

November: Donnie Darko writer/director Richard Kelly's third film, The Box, failed to connect with an audience, receiving a savaging from the critics. Robert Zemekis, who dazzled audiences with the animated The Polar Express, returned to that form featuring Jim Carrey in multiple roles in A Christmas Carol. John Cusack starred in the blockbuster disaster epic 2012 and Wes Anderson's animated Fantastic Mr. Fox scored well with family audiences, using voice talent from his usual cast of actors such as Bill Murray and Owen Wilson. The Twilight Sage: New Moon brought throngs of series fans (mostly female, mostly school aged) to the movies. George Clooney got rave reviews for his high flying H.R. “hitman” in Up in the Air.

December: Perhaps the year’s biggest, most anticipated film of the year opens this month: James Cameron's Avatar. Over a decade in the works, costing an estimated $300 million to create the IMAX 3D effects, it could match the spectacle and box office performance of Titanic. Other major films coming this month are Chicago director Rob Marshall's musical Nine, Sherlock Holmes (starring Robert Downey Jr.) and the much-anticipated Terry Gilliam movie The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Gilliam's film features the final performance of Heath Ledger, whose part was completed by Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell.

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