SUMMER 2008: Top 10 Awesome Movies

From smoking buddies to a cute robot on an outer space adventure; from curving the bullets to flying faster than jet planes, and an awesome reboot to one of the greatest sequels ever made. Summer 2008 goes down in history as one of the most awesome summer movie blockbuster seasons ever!

10. PINEAPPLE EXPRESS

THUG LIFE! Yeah! This is a hilarious ride that will take you from comedy to action and then back again. It’s a great escape, a sweet release… the dopest dope!

Awesome Moments:

* Cross joint
* Danny McBride’s character crawling quickly out of a burning building.

9. WANTED

Far-Fetched? Yes! Ridiculous? Yes! What’s your point? In the end, the word ‘cool’ still applies. It reminds me of movies like Matrix and Equilibrium… and there’s something rad about hearing Morgan Freeman say, “MothatF*cka!”

Awesome Moments:

* The beginning Car Chase Scene
* Shooting from afar in the last scene

8. TROPIC THUNDER

Which one is funnier; Tropic Thunder of Pineapple Express? Some people have been asking that since these two movies came out a weekend apart from each other. What they don’t get is Tropic Thunder’s comedy is different, it’s a satire on actors, Hollywood execs and the whole movie business.

Awesome Moments:

* Anything that Robert Downey Jr.’s character does
* Anything that Tom Cruise’s character does

7. THE INCREDIBLE HULK

They say, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Well, Ang Lee’s HULK back in 2003 was a disaster, but Marvel has fixed the mistake by bringing us this smashing reboot. When we see the green giant hero, we wanna see some destruction and incredible fights…this movie knows exactly what we want.

Awesome moments:

* Hulk kicking the bad guy like he’s a soccer ball
* The 26 Minute fight scene between Hulk and Abomination

6. KUNG FU PANDA

Skadoosh! Our hero Po the Panda knows how to use his overweight size to his advantage and give some serious beatdowns! For a Dreamworks animated movie, the jokes in this one are actually funny and the fight scenes are pretty cool. Plus, I got to meet Jack Black at the screening of this movie… awesome! Yes, I like to brag.

Awesome Moments:

* Po the Panda uses his belly to bounce the enemy all the way to the sky
* Climbing the stairs

5. THE STRANGERS

Finally, a scary movie that’s really scary. You see… when I watch horror movies, I expect to get terrified, to find myself with my hands covering my eyes but a few fingers open because part of me wants to see what happens next.

Awesome moments:

* Mistaking a friend for a foe
* Liv Tyler’s character just standing there and in the background you see the bad guy standing there too, watching her in a very stalking-ish, creepy way.

4. DEATH RACE

A movie that’s heavy metal and rock n’ roll all at once. It’s hardcore entertainment not for the faint of heart.

Awesome Moments:

* The warden’s ultimate armored truck gets destroyed
* The way each criminal dies

3. WALL-E

I remember exiting the theater after seeing the whole thing and all the children were happy and they tried doing the robot’s voice “Wooaaall-Eeee!!” Truly an amazing movie watching experience. Pixar has outdone itself!

Awesome Moments:

* WALL-E touching the little rocks that make the ring around the planet Saturn
* WALL-E stomps his foot on M-O, the cleaning robot’s face.

2. IRON MAN

The movie that makes us wish we could be just like Tony Stark. One of the most well reviewed movies of the year has scenes that will take your breath away… eat my shorts, Top Gun!

Awesome Moments:

* Iron Man goes supersonic and then deploys flares and then deploys flaps
* The hot flight attendants in Tony Stark’s private plane

1. THE DARK KNIGHT

The throne, the honor, the glory for the most awesome movie of the summer 2008 goes to THE DARK KNIGHT which also has become one of the highest grossing films of all time. Heath Ledger’s brilliant performance as THE JOKER will forever be remembered as iconic, borderline perfect, the stuff of legends!

Awesome Moments:

* The Joker’s Magic Pencil Trick
* The Joker in a nurse outfit walking out of the hospital and the remote got busted

SUMMER 2008: Top 10 Lamest Movies

From the Israel agent turned hairstylist to the action star who gets to be a science teacher, from a drunk, washed up, superhero to some of the worst sequels ever made, from sci-fi flick to another sci-fi flick, this is my list for the lamest movies of Summer 2008. I hope mistakes like these will never happen again next year. God help us all…

10. BABYLON A.D.

If genre Sc-Fi Action flick was a person, he’d be covering his face with both hands, head down and shaking in embarrassment because this movie gives him a bad name. The last time he felt this shameful was when John Travolta made that crappy movie Battlefield Earth

Lamest Moments:

* The girl miraculously gets pregnant
* Vin Diesel walking in the field with two little children

9. YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN

Adam, Adam, Adam… you’re better than this. It breaks my heart to see anybody with so much potential and talent just wasting it all away.

Lamest Moments:

* Suggestive sex scenes with the elderly
* Singing in loud tenor voices to defeat the bad guy

8. HANCOCK

It’s decent but for a guy like Will Smith who, through his star power alone, can draw lots of box office money for each of his movies, he should’ve been able to do more than just decent.

Lamest Moments:

* Will Smith’s character flying along side an eagle
* The moon painted on with a logo.

7. MAMMA MIA!

Thank God the music is catchy! ABBA’s great classic music is the only thing bearable about this movie version. If the songs weren’t around, then we could imagine the worst case scenario

Lamest Moments:

* The dance choreography
* The Greeks keep popping up and they’re not funny

6. STEP BROTHERS

Not a very entertaining follow up to their previous collaboration in Talladega Nights. After Semi-Pro and Step Brothers, you begin to wonder if Will Ferrell’s hilarity is slowly going downhill. He’s gonna need to come up with ANCHORMAN 2 just to redeem himself

Lamest Moments:

* Balls on the drum set
* The job interviews

5. MEET DAVE

Remember Eddie Murphy back in the days of Beverly Hills Cop and Coming to America movies? When he used to be funny. Remember those days? Good times!
All I can say is… at times, history does not repeat itself.

Lamest Moments:

* Dancing in the club
* The crew walks out of Dave’s mouth

4. INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL

There were times when I was watching this movie that I just wanted to walk out of the theater and not finish it at all. I was feeling disappointment, upset, anger, all at once. I’m surprised I didn’t turn into a Hulk and tear the screen apart. I couldn’t bear seeing my hero Indiana Jones ruined like this.

Lamest Moments:

* Shia LaBeouf’s character swinging from one tree to another like a monkey
* Alien Spaceship

3. THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR

Even Brendan Fraser would probably go “what the hell was I thinking?”
Wanna put the blame on somebody? Blame it on Director Rob Cohen, writers Alfred Gough & Miles Millar, and the casting of Maria Bello instead of Rachel Weisz … not a smart move!

Lamest Moments:

* 3 Yetis slide down from the mountain to help them out
* Jet Li’s character’s shape-shifting ability

2. STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS

When will this madness end? I doubt that Star Wars fans would classify this as one of their favorites. Why the hell did it even have to hit the big screen? Damn you, Lucas!

Lamest Moments:

* Obi Wan Kenobi stalling time by having tea with the enemy
* Anakin Skywalker and his apprentice crawling inside a box

1. THE HAPPENING

M. Night Shyamalan used to be one of my favorite directors. Now I’m not so sure anymore. Has he lost his mojo? What was he smoking when he came up with the idea of plants making humans commit suicide?!

Lamest Moments:

* Mark Wahlberg’s character talkin’ to a plant
* The epidemic hits the second time around in the last scene

All work and no play makes the Young & Successful feel unbalanced! To rescue our overworked   souls, YSN member and movie aficionado Rama Tampubolon discusses the latest hot topics and  movie reviews every other Thursday on the YSN Blog. He runs the movie review and discussion blog, Rama’s Screen, and was featured in “United 300,” which won for “Best Spoof” at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards.

I’ve always wanted the movie School of Rock 2 but I never expected it to appear in this form. THE ROCKER isn’t original but it is entertaining. It’s another story of a middle aged man who wants to feel young again. He’s been wanting a second chance because he didn’t get it the first time around but then he learns something valuable along the way. THE ROCKER has enough humor to make you laugh and leave you smiling at the end of the movie. Look in your rear view mirrors comedy movie stars everywhere, because Rainn Wilson is drawing near and catching up.

Fish was in a band called VESUVIUS back in the 80s but his band mates decided to cut him out of the deal in order for them to get fame and fortune. Years later Fish is still wondering ‘what if’ until his nephew invites him to join his band for prom night. He accepts the offer and eventually sees his opportunity to be a Rocker again. The question is will his pride and grudge get in the way?

It is a funny movie. Don’t get your hopes up and don’t have low expectations either, because one way or another you’re going to end up liking this movie. The jokes aren’t that raunchy but some are borderline. Some scenes are cute and sweet and will make some audiences go ‘Aww’. The self-realization moments are not cheesy or too sentimental. I’m glad the movie is determined to stay cool and rock ‘n’ roll throughout.

Here you can definitely see the drastic difference from what the 80s thought was awesome and what present day thinks is awesome – as far as music, hairstyle and clothing go. It’s about knowing when to grow up but at the same time knowing not to let go of things that make your spirit feel alive. It’s about what it means to be in a band and have each other’s back. It’s about appreciating oneself, not letting what others say mess with your head and what it means to rock! All that and more has already been covered in Jack Black’s School of Rock but instead of kids, it’s geared toward teens.

I like how this movie promotes The Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame museum in Cleveland, Ohio. Despite the fact that I’ve been to Ohio twice in my whole life, I have yet to visit the site. It will be my purpose for living.

I really want to emphasize that THE ROCKER wouldn’t have been what it is without Rainn Wilson’s excellent performance. His charm and persona is what gives this movie its soul. His comedic timing is as on the target as his ability to endure slapstick physical humor and to change moods and expressions from a careless immature adult into a compassionate and responsible team player. Maybe Will Ferrell could’ve done the gig but I don’t think he would do as good a job.

My Grade for this movie: 4 out of 5

All work and no play makes the Young & Successful feel unbalanced! To rescue our overworked souls, YSN member and movie aficionado Rama Tampubolon discusses the latest hot topics and movie reviews every Thursday on Waste Time Wisely. He runs the movie review and discussion blog, Rama’s Screen, and was featured in “United 300,” which won for “Best Spoof” at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards.

TROPIC THUNDER is one of the craziest most hilarious comedy movies out there. It will make you laugh and then cry from laughing so hard. If you don’t dig silly, over the top scenes, ala SNL sketches, then you would probably find this movie very annoying. This is a comedy with a bang! Explosive and uproarious! Writer/director Ben Stiller and his fellow screenwriter Justin Theroux have made
an awesome finale to the 2008 summer movie season.

The story is simple and ridiculous, but I don’t mind. It centers on a bunch of actors with personal issues who must face actual trained enemies. None of them have careers with good reputations in the eyes of the public and yet they think they’re all that. They make a living out of pretending and in real life the act continues.

This real battle in the jungle will bring out the hero in them; no matter how outrageous the process and outcome will be. To a certain extent, it’s a spoof on Francis Ford Coppola’s classic tale Apocalypse Now. Let’s just say that TROPIC THUNDER makes its own version and blows it up to the third degree with CG, props and pyrotechnics.

It’s a good thing Ben Stiller has so many A-list friends who are willing to appear in this movie; even for a cameo. The cast is people who know comedy by heart. From Jack Black and Steve Coogan to Bill Hader and Matthew McConaughey. The surprise show stopper is Tom Cruise as the bad-tempered, bald, fat producer. Say what you want about the guy, but you would not wanna piss him off. Tom Cruise knows how to cuss up a storm and he looks hella funny when dancing to hip-hop music.

If The Dark Knight has Heath Ledger’s great Joker performance, then TROPIC THUNDER can proudly claim Robert Downey Jr as its champ. His role as the Platoon’s African American sergeant is priceless. You have never seen him like this. His accent and mannerism might be exaggerated a little, but he does not sound like Robert Downey Jr. at all. He’s got the slang down and his looks will forever crack me up. What a talented actor.

This movie is not for those of you who are looking for clever comedy. Nope, this is for those of us who, from time to time, don’t mind comedy that targets audiences with short attention spans. This movie’s humor only works for those of us who just wanna sit back and enjoy some major kickass entertainment. “Mother Nature just pissed her pants suit!”

My Grade for this film is: 4 out of 5

All work and no play makes the Young & Successful feel unbalanced! To rescue our overworked souls, YSN member and movie aficionado Rama Tampubolon discusses the latest hot topics and movie reviews every Thursday on Waste Time Wisely. He runs the movie review and discussion blog, Rama’s Screen, and was featured in “United 300,” which won for “Best Spoof” at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards.

This weekend a great little movie called SIXTY SIX may open in a theater near you. Click here to read my review on the movie . A few days ago, thanks to special ops media, I got the opportunity to interview the director whose real life childhood story was the basis for this movie. His name is Paul Weiland.

Some of you might be familiar with the romantic comedy titled Made of Honor starring Patrick Dempsey and Michelle Monahan. Well, Paul Weiland directed it. I interviewed Paul about Sixty Six which centers around a Jewish kid whose Bat Mitzvah party happened to fall on the same date as The World Cup Finals of 1966.

Understanding a British accent has always been a challenge to me. That’s why I have to use subtitles whenever I watch Harry Potter movies on DVD. Director Paul Weiland has a very thick British accent but I was willing to try an understand every word he said.

Our conversation was done over the phone; he in London and I in sunny Southern California. How cool is that! He was nice enough to give me 15 minutes of his time.

The movie is said to be based on your real life childhood experience, how much of it is accurate and how much of it was added into the storyline?

“Everything was accurate, absolute story… the people were based on those I grew up with, some things and some of the names were changed for theatrical purposes and to protect the family. It’s an accurate sort of period movie. The whole room, the paintings; we even used the same original props. The place I got picked on when I was a kid and the same synagogue I got my Bat Mitzvah in”

What motivated you to take your childhood story and turn it into a movie?

“It happened at my 50th Birthday Party. I made a speech and in the speech, I included the story of how when I was a child, my Bat Mitzvah happened during the World Cup finals. Afterwards one of them came up to me and said that I should make a movie out of it….I didn’t want a Jewish writer to pen the script because I didn’t want it to be too cartoony.”

Let’s talk about the cast. How did Gregg Sulkin, the kid who plays the character Bernie who is supposedly a representation of you when you were a kid, get the role?

“I grew up in a working class environment. The neighborhood now is filled with different cultures and ethnics but there were many working class Jewish people back then… we were looking among hundreds of possible child actors. I knew Greg’s father and when his boy came in he was kinda handsome so we knew we had ‘geek’ him up a bit.”

How did Helena Bonham Carter and Eddie Marsan get involved in this? I’m asking this because Helena is used to starring in Tim Burton’s big budget movies. How did you convince her to play the role of the mother?

“Helena and I are good friends, she was at the birthday party, the one I told you about. When she heard that we were planning to make a movie about it, she said she wanted to play my mum Now anytime we meet, she’ll say to me ‘hello, son!’ and I’ll say to her, ‘hello, mum!’ Eddie Marsan is a wonderful, talented actor who was great in the movie Vera Drake. We wanted him to play the father but there was some scheduling problem because he was set to star in an HBO pilot but something happened and the series didn’t happen. We were lucky to have him play my father”

This movie was released in the UK back in 2006 and then it went from one film festival to another and now it will hit select theaters in the U.S. this weekend. Why did it take such a long time to finally be seen by audiences here?

“I think it was mostly the studio’s decision…. back in 2006 when the movie was released, we went up against a big blockbuster movie called Borat. The whole situation was just like my Bat Mitzvah going against the World Cup finals. The movie did all right. Jewish people embraced it and adopted the movie very well…. and now we believe that it will find audience in the U.S. as well.”

What do you hope for people to get out of watching this movie? What lesson would you want families and kids who are growing up to learn from this heartwarming, surprisingly inspiring story?

“We can choose our friends but we can’t choose our family. The movie actually has an alternate ending but the point remains. Things don’t have to stay bad, you can make things better if you’d just believe in yourself.”

In the past, you were associated with the popular comedy series Mr. BEAN, but you did not direct any of the BEAN movies. Would you direct the third movie?

“No…I mean, I’d love to work with Rowan Atkinson again, we did the movie Backadder Back and Forth, I’d love to work with him again.. but not on the character ‘Bean’”

What is your next project and can you say something about it?

“My next project will be a sequel called 69… I’m joking” (laugh)

Arsenal FC or Manchester United FC?

“I would have to say… Manchester United, they have so many trophies.”

All work and no play makes the Young & Successful feel unbalanced! To rescue our overworked souls, YSN member and movie aficionado Rama Tampubolon discusses the latest hot topics and movie reviews every Thursday on Waste Time Wisely. He runs the movie review and discussion blog, Rama’s Screen, and was featured in “United 300,” which won for “Best Spoof” at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards.

This type of stuff has been discussed in the movie world before. But so what! We all know that the beginning of the movie is just as crucial as how the movie wraps itself up.

Summer blockbuster movies need to catch the audiences’ attention right from the start. With a bang! In a Blaze of Glory! The hero has to make a grand entrance! The opening scene determines whether or not the audience will be curious enough to want to see what’s going to happen next and stick around until the last part.

One of my favorite opening scenes of all time is from X-Men 2 where Nightcrawler attacks a bunch of Secret Service agents to get to the President. And who can forget the hilarious dialogue in the opening scene of Pulp Fiction?!

Last December in IMAX many of us saw the amazing 7 minutes of The Dark Night prologue (the bank robbery scene) before the prints of the movie I Am Legend. Now that THE DARK KNIGHT is opening tomorrow what do you think about other opening scenes from this summer’s blockbuster movies? Which one is your favorite?

Let me refresh your memory…


IRON MAN
The scene opens with Tony Stark in a military humvee. You can hear AC/DC music in the background and the soldiers with him wanted to take a picture with the playboy billionaire/weapons manufacturer. Then Boom, the humvee in front of them gets blown to pieces, a rocket launcher hits the one behind them too and the soldiers to his left and right are shot and killed. He gets out of the car and the next thing you know he’s laying on the ground with shrapnel as a souvenir.

SPEED RACER
You see Speed Racer in a locker room with his right foot itching to hit the gas pedal. Then it flashes back to when he was a kid in the classroom, distracted because all he could think about was racing against cartoon character race drivers. His brother Rex picked him up from school and off they go to drive on the race track. Just when they make the first jump, the scene goes back the present and Speed Racer finds himself in one of the most challenging tournaments of his career.

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN
Doctor Cornellius wakes Prince Caspian up from his sleep as danger is approaching. King Miraz’s wife just gave birth to a son, so he will have to kill the rightful heir. Prince Caspian goes into the closet and hides. The soldiers force their way into the room and he sees their failed attempt on his life. The closet leads to a secret tunnel which brings him outside the castle and he rides away into the forest while dodging arrows at the same time.

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
The opening scene takes us to Nevada in the 1950s. A bunch of free-spirited teenagers are in a car trying to entice military convoy to a quick race. Then the soldiers arrive at a secret base known as Area 51 where they shoot and kill all the guards posted at the entrance. They take a man out of the back of a vehicle. They throw him onto the ground; he stands up, walks, and picks up his big hat and puts it on his head. There he is; none other than the one and only, Indiana Jones.

THE INCREDIBLE HULK
It shows biological elements, cells and green mutations along with introducing credits of the main stars, the title and the director. You see blurred vision flashbacks of that fateful day when Bruce Banner tries his experiment that suddenly goes haywire. You see things through the eyes of Hulk. The laboratory gets wrecked and destroyed, General Thunderbolt gets hurt and Betty Ross is left unconscious as Hulk runs away.

WANTED
Mr. X visits an office and talks to the woman about an interesting bullet. The woman gets shot in the head and from across the street, on another building, a bunch of construction workers start firing at Mr. X, so he runs to the elevator. He prepares himself, counts his seconds, and bam! He runs as fast as lightning toward the window and jumps through the glass. Everything happens in slow-motion; he’s in mid-air and he shoots everybody on the other building. On target too I might add. He kills the last victim and receives a phone call from a stranger who reveals that this has all been a decoy. A bullet goes through Mr. X’s head and the sequence rewinds back to the shooter.

HANCOCK
Hobo Hancock is sleeping on a bench; drunk and careless. A kid is watching the TV screen, the news is showing a high speed chase between LAPD and a gang of Asian gangsters packing heat. The kid approaches Hancock and wakes him up. He points to the screen and implies that there are bad guys. Hancock makes fun of the kid by asking if he wants a cookie, so the kid calls him an A-hole. Hancock flies into the sky and heads toward where the action is. He hits some street signs and almost hits an airplane along the way. He lands in to the bad guys’ car and even though he politely asks them to give themselves up, they open fire and the bullets destroy his whiskey bottle. Furious, Hancock takes the car with him and flies all around Los Angeles to scare the hell out of them. He kicks the car and it lands on top of the Capitol Records tower.

My favorite opening scenes: Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Hancock.

All work and no play makes the Young & Successful feel unbalanced! To rescue our overworked souls, YSN member and movie aficionado Rama Tampubolon discusses the latest hot topics and movie reviews every Thursday on Waste Time Wisely. He runs the movie review and discussion blog, Rama’s Screen, and was featured in “United 300,” which won for “Best Spoof” at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards.