Mid-Year Check In: Best Of The Year . . . So Far

Best Movie Of The Year . . . So Far-

How To Train Your Dragon:

Dreamworks struck gold with what is without a doubt the best animated film they’ve put out to date. The characters, the story and the movie overall is fantastic. The production values are also amazing. From the design of the dragons to the lighting and CGI. Roger Deakins was a visual consultant much like he was on WALL-E so the animated cinematography is fantastic. It’s without a doubt the most well rounded experience I’ve had at the movies so far in 2010.

Best Score Of The Year . . . So Far-

How To Train Your Dragon:

John Powell’s score to the film is about 51% of what makes the experience so great. Not only is it his best work to date, but it’s such an emotional experience that you will cherish it forever. The themes and variations create an awe inspiring and inspirational tale of friendship and rising above yourself when everything else in your world weighs you down. It’s beautiful.

Worst Movie Of The Year . . . So Far-

Legion:

Paul Bettany’s rogue angel movie is one of the biggest pieces of trash I’ve ever seen. It’s “Ultraviolet” bad. It all takes place in one location (truck stop in the middle of the desert?), has static one dimensional characters, and the climax is something to laugh at because in the end nothing really happens. It’s terrible.

Worst Score Of The Year . . . So Far-

Legion:

I hate to match my score picks with my film picks, but it’s true. John Frizzel’s score to Legion is terrible. It’s a mash-up of terrible arrangements, headache inducing vocals and no real thematic variation.

Biggest Surprise Of The Year . . . So Far-

Kick-Ass:

Matthew Vaugn’s superhero flick at first looked like a comedy or a parody in a way. The trailers did a terrible job marketing it, but it looked interesting enough to check out. It’s not a parody and while it has its comedic touches it ended up being a very intense emotional experience at the end. The characters are great, the story is too. It has a high contrast look and feel to the whole film. It’s also one of the best things Nicolas Cage has done recently.

Biggest Surprise Score Of The Year . . . So Far-

Robin Hood:

Everyone was waiting to see what Marc Streitenfeld would do with something like this. He’s only ever composed for Ridley Scott, but Scott’s last period epic was Kingdom Of Heaven and that was done by Harry Gregson-Williams. After a series of smaller dramas it was time for Streitenfeld’s first true test, and he passed with flying colors.

Biggest Disappointment Of The Year . . . So Far-

Alice In Wonderland:

Tim Burton has lost his touch. What once made him a unique talent in the film industry has now almost become a joke. While I did enjoy Sweeney Todd I did feel that Charlie & The Chocolate Factory was awful. Alice In Wonderland is along those lines. It’s short, uninspiring and overall quite boring. I felt nothing for any of the characters and Helena Bonham Carter just became annoying by the end of it all. Then when Johnny Depp does that ridiculous dance at the end it makes you plant your face in your palm. Mostly because of the dance beat music that comes out of nowhere. Bring me back to the days of Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands please.

Biggest Disappointment Score Of The Year . . . So Far-

Iron Man 2:

It was expected that Ramin Djawadi would get dumped off the project even though he said he would love to continue. Favreau’s regular John Debney stepped in, and guess what? He did the exact same thing Djawadi did except he dropped any sort of thematic identification for the character. So, no theme, no amazing action cues, no nothing. It’s a plain and boring score that made Iron Man 2 the lackluster experience it was.