The Best and Worse of 2005 (Cont.)

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The Movie that Bombed but I Loved - The Island Michael Bay has a way of bringing out the worse in reviewers. He makes action scenes that aren't believable, he seems to use devices that make no sense, and he seems to copy other directors rather than invent anything new. But saying that, The Island is one movie that can absorb all this criticism and still make for a great movie experience. More than anything, it was the story that I enjoyed. The screenplay was written by Caspian Tredwell-Owen, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci (the latter two collaborated for many projects including: The Legend of Zorro (2005), and the upcoming Mission Impossible and Transformer movies). It tells of a world where cloning is available for those who can pay for it. Pay a corporation to grow a duplicate of yourself incase you need a donor for a medical procedure. Harvest the organs of your clone to extend your life. The possible benefits are astounding, except for the clone of course. It is my prediction that the naysayers of this film will be wrong over the course of time. If we flashback to 1982 we can see an occurrence that can be directly related to The Island in the form of another film. The movie in question is Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. Harrison Ford was coming off two extremely successful movies (The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)) and moviegoers were excited about his next action film. When it turned out to be more of a morality tale than a copy of Raiders or Star Wars, people stayed away in droves and the film bombed. But over time as the memory of disappointment faded and the film could be looked at for what it was, it gained recognition. Presently, it is considered one of the best movies in sci-fi and a highlight in both Scott and Ford's career. The Island will do the same because it has a great story and at its heart it is also a morality tale.

Worse Movies of the Year (no particular order)

1. Vampire Assassins - I couldn't get through the first 15 minutes of this film.

2. Domino - I like Tony Scott so when this movie hit the theatres I was excited. Who knew it would be a 127 minute music video.

3. The Cave - a thriller with very little thrills.

4. Sky High - costumes reminiscent of the Power Rangers isn't a way for the most successful film company catering to kids to go.

5. Fantastic Four - for the excitement it garnered, it should have been better.

6. Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo - Haven't we seen enough of this with the American Pie franchise?

7. Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price - with all the great documentaries this year, this one fails in comparison.

8. Sasquatch Hunters - how this ever made it to a video store is beyond me, oh that's right Vampire Assassins lowered the bar.

9. Bewitched - Nora Ephron usually does better than this.

10. Mr. & Mrs. Smith - just because they got together off screen, does it mean we need to see them on, especially without a decent script?

11. XXX: State of the Union - let's see Mr. & Mrs. Smith and XXX: State of the Union, if this is what Simon Kinberg is made of, does it bode well for the upcoming X-Men movie since he wrote the screenplay for that too? He better not ruin one of the few successes stories for Marvel's foray into film.

12. Diary of a Mad Black Woman - why make this movie when everyone who saw Big Momma's House would be disappointed, especially when they would be the only ones in the theatre?

13. Man of the House - not everyone is going to like a movie just because there are cheerleaders in it. What were you thinking Tommy Lee Jones when you agreed to star?

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