"It is not beyond the realm of imagination that the President of the United States would be a fighter jock and would be willing to return to active duty to do battle with invincible alien bad guys."

we're half-way there, LOL!

Best destruction of a movie cliche:

In Dumb and Dumber, Jeff Bridges gets shot, then later reveals the FBI agent set it all up and gave him a bullet proof vest. Jim Carrey says "What if they shot you in the face?" FBI agent: "That was a risk we were willing to take!"

I knew Ace made the right decision, to hire you, when I saw "Meet the F*ckers" on your worst movie list. It's probably a radical oversimplification that I think comedy lovers can be divided into two groups; Those that loved MTF and those that loved Napoleon Dynamite ... Yin / Yang... Predictable Slapstick vs Clever Nuance... I hope he's paying you a lot of crazy blog-money.

A few additional thoughts:

-- WHOA! I missed that Oscars failed to nominate Paul Giamatti as best actor. THAT is the criminal oversight of these nods.

-- Another oversight, this time in Best Documentary: no nod for "Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster."

Man of Substance,

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I don't take crap, or crappy movies, from nobody.

Alas, I *still* haven't seen Napoleon Dynamite, a state of things I am eager to correct soon.

Cheers,
Dave at Garfield Ridge

Don't underestimate the number of uncredited cameos Carrot Top has performed. The dude is everywhere.

I found 'Napoleon Dynamite' and 'Meet the Fockers' both uncharming. The latter has 'the first one made a ton of money for no good reason so we gotta do it again' and the former just seems like mocking the Special Olympics past the point of tedium. The character isn't merely a nerd, he's seriously impaired. I've known high-functioning autistics who were less annoying than five minutes of that character.

Dave

Good lists. Here are my Worst of 2004

Jeff--

Huh. I guess I was a bigger fan of Open Water than you, although I can see your point about it being snuff.

Personally, I found it pretty inventive in how it could deliver such a feeling of dread with minimal effects. It took something incredibly mundane and turned it into real horror.

Kind of like my meals at Old Country Buffet.

As for Hero, I debating mentioning it in my lists, but decided against it. Aside from the always beautiful Zhang Zhiyi, I didn't get much out of it. Sure, it looked purty, but the Rashomon-like structure sucked me out of the film. How many times do I have to watch the same story over and over-- within the same film, mind you-- before I get the point?

Oh, and yeah, the movie is also barely disguised Chinese communist propaganda, but you knew that.

Cheers,
Dave at Garfield Ridge

Two nominations for Jamie Foxx, in both leading and supporting actor roles. I always thought it was a crime that he was passed over for his work in "Booty Call."

Ebert's got a pretty comprehensive list of movie cliches on his site; some are his (e.g., in every car chase there has to be a fruit vendor's sidewalk cart upset by one of the cars, with oranges rolling away afterwards); some are submitted by readers (e.g., if the first car barely misses the fruit cart, the second one has to crash into it for comedic effect). Think he's published a book or two of them also.

i see that eternal sunshine made your list but you didnt have a review of it. Is it anything like Adaptation or Being John Malkovich?

Also i heard that Metallica may have edited dave mustaines segment to make him look like a puss in "some kind of monster". is that true.

I would have asked this over at your blog, but i cant seem to post a comment there...

I dunno if Ebert's done a separate book on the topic, but I know he's interspersed those cliches in his other books from time to time.

The cliches are always entertaining, because they're true.

Cheers,
Dave at Garfield Ridge

Nothing -- not even a song nom -- for Team America.

Amish--

Eternal Sunshine is better than Adaptation, but not as good as Malkovich. However, while it shares the oddity of both films, it's definitely a unique piece. Much more introspective, if you can believe it.

That, and Jim Carrey is actually good in it (although the rest of the cast is much, much better).

As for Some Kind Of Monster, the whole band comes off looking like pusses. But that's what's cool about it-- there was a lot of access given to the filmmakers, and it shows.

As for my site, sorry about that; Blogger sucks eggs.
I can't get over how nice Moveable Type is in comparison.

I now hate Ace for a whole *slew* of reasons.

Cheers,
Dave at Garfield Ridge

Dave

I started Open Water with high hopes. Decent build-up and character development. But once they got in the water, is was both boring and cruel at the same time. It had all the tension of a death row inmate's last meal.

As for Hero, some of it comes down to taste, but there were aspects of the universally tedious as well.

I was intrigued by your inclusion of Kill Bill Vol. II. I thought Volume I was awful.

Jeff--

Huh. I thought Volume 1 was great.

I guess we're like ebony and ivory, you and I.

Cheers,
Dave at Garfield Ridge

-- It's criminal that Collateral didn't earn Michael Mann a directing nod, nor a cinematography nod. Blinding oversight.

Yeah, I just watched it last night and was amazed at his talent. Always did like his innovations on Miami Vice.