Wasn’t going to do a favorite films list this year since there are quite a few I haven’t gotten around to seeing yet, but I decided what the heck. I really like looking back on these lists. So of the ones I saw, these were my 10 favorites from last year:

1. Hanna
2. Super 8
3. Harry Potter 7 (parts 1 & 2)
4. The Muppets
5. X-Men First Class
6. Moneyball
7. Thor
8. Captain America
9. Kung Fu Panda 2
10. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Girl With A Dragon Tattoo would be my #11 I guess. Still sitting on that one. Also, The new Mission Impossible was a ton of fun.

Regret not catching: Drive, Warrior, Arthur Christmas, The Descendants, and The Artist. I’ll see them soon I’m sure.

Most looking forward to in 2012: Prometheus, Dark Knight Rises, The Hobbit, The Avengers, Brave, Hunger Games and Skyfall (the new Bond). The new Spider-Man as well, but mainly because it’s a new Marc Webb film and (500) Days of Summer has become one of my favorite films of all time. So I’d be excited about whatever it was he was doing next.

My ten favorite films of last year, for those of you that care about such stuff:

The Social Network

Inception

How to Train Your Dragon

The Fighter

Toy Story 3

The Town

Tron: Legacy

Scott Pilgrim vs the World

True Grit

Black Swan

It was tough choosing between The Social Network and Inception as my number one. Both are excellent films. But ultimately, Sorkin’s dialog, Fincher’s pacing and phenomenal performances from the entire cast put the Social Network on top. Movie is flawless.

I also thoroughly enjoyed Harry Potter’s lengthy deathly hallows field trip, but it felt odd only putting half of a film on my list. That Karate Kid flick was pretty great too.

And I’ll be the first to admit that both Tron and Scott Pilgrim were victims to some unfortunate script and directorial decisions, but dolgum those movies were fun. And the day I stop going to the movies for some good ol’ fashioned escapism is the day I stop drawing comics about Egyptian space girls shooting cowboys in space.

I also regret that I’ve yet to see The Kings Speech and 127 Hours, but I expect I’ll see them both before this year’s Oscars- despite how ridiculously pointless that award show has gotten to be.

Here are my favorite movies of 2009 (at least the ones I saw). Maybe not the best, but the ones I found the most entertaining, interesting or just hit me on some silly emotional or nostalgic level. Also, presented without commentary because I should be drawing and not making movie lists.

Star Trek

The Fantastic Mr Fox

(500) Days of Summer

Inglorious Bastards

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Avatar

Zombieland

Up

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Ponyo

Drag Me to Hell

Moon

Up in the Air

Sherlock Holmes

The Brothers Bloom

Adventureland

Coraline

The Princess and the Frog

The Hangover

Terminator Salvation

Movies I’m most looking forward to in 2010: Iron Man 2, Scott Pilgrim, Toy Story 3, Robin Hood, and TRON LEGACY!

was also able to catch two more summer movies this weekend that were both fantastic in each of their polar opposite ways: up, which is another pixar film in case you didn’t know, and drag me to hell, which is the best sam raimi horror movie since sam raimi directed a horror movie.

my current summer movie rankings thus far:

1. star trek
2. up
3. drag me to hell
4. terminator salvation
5. wolverine

and with that, i’m off to the gideon media arts conference, which i already blogged about HERE. wish me luck!

i always thought it was funny how no matter what planet the original enterprise crew would beam down to, it was always a desolate rocky terrain. like there are no other planets in the galaxy that look like anything else but new mexico.

anyhoo- star trek was super fun! my spoiler free review under the cut:

star trek is the refreshing sci-fi movie that i’ve been waiting for. it was just… fun. no silly politics and gray areas. just good fighting evil in spaaaaaace. with an emphasis on the characters rather than special effects (although the effects were fantastic). i wish abrams directed the star wars prequels now.

trek fans are going to love it. there are so many nods to the original series and movies. lots of easter eggs. what’s great is abrams didn’t really change much at all. all of the themes and designs and silly accents- even their outfits are left intact. they were just enhanced for today’s audience- and it works really well. i thought this was going be more of a reboot, but it honestly felt more like a giant hug to the original series. it’s like everything that was great about it without the ham. all it needed was to be taken seriously, and everyone involved did a great job of that.

my only nitpicks weren’t necessarily with the movie itself but with the design of a film like this. like all prequels (which this sorta is and not i guess- to be a bit cryptic for those who don’t know anything about the plot), you never feel that the characters are in any real sense of danger, because, well, you know they are important to later films. and with such a large ensemble cast, you don’t really get to spend a lot of time with some of the more minor characters. although honestly, i was never tired of seeing kirk and spock on screen. pine and quinto did an excellent job of making those characters their own. and i suppose that’s what we have sequels for too. lastly- i would have liked to see more backstory and motivation behind the films villain, nero, although again- it wasn’t HIS story- it was kirk and spock’s.

i also have to say that i loved michael giacchino’s score. it’s similar to how he scored speed racer with integrating little snippets of the show’s theme into his own cues, saving the more familiar overtones for the moments that really call for it. he didn’t overdo it, which was awesome. he’s definitely become one of my favorite composers over these past few years (his next film is Up!).

so yeah- i highly recommend this. don’t go in wanting to be particularly challenged. just go in expecting to be entertained and having a really fun time. its playing on a few imax screens here in town, so i might go try to see it again this weekend. woohoo! summer movies are here!

for today’s ninja topic on drawergeeks. :)

i know this blog has been kind of barren lately, but there has been a lot of stuff i’ve been up to. i’ve posted some of this on cow & buffalo, but for those that only follow this here buffalog:

• attended megacon (as always). jen posted some pics she took at the show here.
• particpated in a webcomics panel while i was there. it’s up now on the gigcast (i don’t start babbling nonsensical until about 30 min in).
• there was an interview with me about cow & buffalo’s new book (among other things) on newsarama.
• speaking of cow & buffalo, i’ve still been updating the strip each and every week.
• saw watchman. i really enjoyed it, although i’m looking forward to the directors cut in july.
• and here are some bands i’ve been into lately: handsome furs, animal collective, the pains of being pure at heart, ra ra riot, the weepies, and strangely enough- the fray.

hopefully it won’t be quite so long till my next post!

i’m totally excited for tr2n! looks like it’ll be in safe hands too.

also, some of you may already know this, but this friday i’ll be traveling to europe for a couple of weeks. because i probably won’t be spending any time at all on a computer while i’m there, this’ll likely be my last blog post for a while. hopefully i’ll have some drawings to post when i get back though!

you can click on that first one for extra screen-sized fun. and in no way do i condone this habit. it was partially inspired by the genius of chris schweizer but mostly inspired by my pal matt putting the image of abe smoking a bubble pipe in my head. :)

also- a reminder i’ll be at sdcc this weekend.  you can find me at various times fri-sun signing tori books over at the image booth (#2729).  mainly i’ll just be walking around though.

also- i realized i forgot to post my current summer movie rankings in my last post. so if you care, you can view those behind the cut.

1. the dark knight
2. speed racer
3. iron man
4. kung-fu panda
5. wall-e
6. hellboy II
7. incredible hulk
8. narnia: prince caspian
9. get smart
10. indiana jones: kotcs

honestly, indiana jones is the only movie on that list i didn’t like (even if i was still kinda entertained).  and those top six are all very close. i’ve missed a couple (hancock, center of the earth), but this really is the best summer in movie history.  i guess x-files is the next one up…

haha. yeah right. the dark knight opened this weekend.

after watching flugtag we went over to the imax theater to watch what made me jump out of bed like it was christmas that same morning. and it didn’t disappoint. my spoiler free review behind the cut.

i’m  going to copy and paste what i already wrote on the flight forums if that’s okay:

this is my favorite film of the year. even the small complaints i’ve heard don’t affect my love of this film, and i think it all boils down to my absolute love of batman- and not just batman, but gotham city- and how perfectly nolan handled this world. every last bit of the dark knight felt like this is how batman is. this is how things should be done.

i think it’s similar to how speed racer (my favorite movie of the year up until dark knight) really hit home to fans of the series- because the wachowski duo payed such special attention to what fans of that series really loved about the show. that’s how i felt while i was watching the dark knight.

what i don’t agree with is how i keep hearing how this is the best superhero movie or how nolan has taken the superhero mythology and reinterpreted the genre. i’ve never once in my life thought of batman as a superhero. batman is a crime fighter (yes- there’s a difference)! and nolan made a wonderfully executed crime drama with gotham city as it’s star. it’s the batman/gordon/dent story i always wanted to see on screen and yet still managed to show me comparisons to those characters i hadn’t even thought of before. as for the pacing- couldn’t get enough of it. it started making my heart thump from beginning to end. zimmer and howard’s relentless score couldn’t have been more fitting. and yes- heath’s joker? best joker ever (sorry hamill!).

also- make sure you see this on IMAX if you haven’t. totally worth it. my fear of heights was all too present watching those souring shots on that giant crystal clear screen. i’m so glad i’ve seen my two favorite films of the year in this format so far. i wonder if i can still go catch kung fu panda again…

so yeah.  that was awesome.  but we still had the series finale of avatar the last airbender to look forward too (except for the whole “it’s gonna be over!” part). anyhoo, we watched it last night.  and…

I CAN”T BELIEVE IT’S OVER! i have never been so completely in love with a show in my entire life.  i’ve never been in to a show where i could never decide who my favorite character was because they were all great.  ALL of them.  and the show completely delivered on what it’s been building to for three seasons (or.. *ahem*  books). it was just fantastic.  the choreography on those final battle scenes was incredible (i want to see those storyboards).  the music was exceptional (i want a score for avatar SO bad). and the relationships? the relationships?? everything was resolved so well. i couldn’t have more respect for the people responsible for this show. they were able to create something that is going to inspire me to create and tell stories and make art for the rest of my life.  well done guys!  bravo!

now i can’t help thinking, how in the heck is shyamalan going to even come close to the scope, action and humor of avatar in live action? i have huge doubts.

new art tomorrow! or wednesday! i promise!

i saved some of my steps for that first one. so if anyone’s interested in seeing those, let me know and i’ll see if i can’t find some time this weekend to post them.  and that’s all i really have to say about that.  time for more important matters:

2008 SUMMER MOVIE RANKINGS!

i feel it’s important for me to keep my list updated for this, the most entertaining summer movie summer in recent history.  hopefully it helps hollywood out. anyhoo, saw wall-e and it was really, really good.  not my favorite pixar film (cough*incredibles*) but it still held to the high quality standards we’ve come to expect from each new pixar offering.  the first thirty minutes or so is fantastic.  some of the  best thirty minutes i’ve seen in an animated feature. and, being the romantic that i am, i’m always a sucker for a good love story. and robots. my only complaint is that the movie sorta switched gears half way through.  not necessarily in a bad way, but in a way that kinda made me have to reinsert my brain a little bit.  the wall-e and eve centric love story just kinda became less wall-e and eve centric which, to me,  kept the film being really awesome and just being really good instead.  but that first thirty minutes is probably my favorite thirty minutes of the summer.  and a beautiful score as usual by thomas newman definitely contributed to this.

and so my 2008 summer movie ranking is as follows:

1. speed racer
2. iron man
3. kung-fu panda
4. wall-e
5. incredible hulk
6. narnia: prince caspian
7. get smart
8. indiana jones: kotcs

still gotta see wanted.  and can’t wait to see how hellboy 2 and dark knight place!

i might put a pause on these cleo posts for a little while until i can catch up on some pages. hopefully it won’t be too long of a break- there are some fun scenes coming up!

also- saw the incredible hulk last weekend and thought it was great. a really fun action flick with some essential comic geek out moments.  it’s not perfect but who cares.  HULK SMASH!  plus, i love this whole marvel universe that’s being built on the screen right now.  talk about early avengers movie hype!

my summer movie ranking thus far:

1. speed racer
2. iron man
3. kung fu panda
4. incredible hulk
5. narnia: prince caspian
6. indiana jones: kotcs

drawergeeks topic this week was the joker, and i thought i’d draw somewhat of a companion piece to my batman/catwoman that i drew way back in 2006.  by 2016 i hope to have an entire bat-band!

has everyone seen kung fu panda yet?  what an awesome movie. it’s right behind surfs up as my favorite non-pixar cgi animated film, and definitely one of the best blends of action and comedy i’ve seen in a while. anytime po came on screen and did anything i was cracking up.  everything from the character designs to the animation to the backgrounds to the music was all top notch in this film.  this is really shaping up to be one of the best movie summers ever!

for those keeping track at home, here’s my current order list of summer movies i’ve seen so far, from awesome to not-so-awesome:

1. speed racer
2. iron man
3. kung fu panda
4. narnia: prince caspian
5. indiana jones: kotcs

sorry- i skipped sex and the city that week.  saw speed racer again instead. :)  looking forward to wall-e now!

still- yesterday i went to go see speed racer again (i know- i should be drawing cleo instead…), this time on imax, and loved it just as much the second time as i did the first. maybe even more. i can honestly see this movie becoming one of my all time faves, which is crazy since i almost didn’t even go see it at all. folks- don’t miss it on the big screen while you have the chance! especially the big, big screen. man, imax is cool.

i saw two movies this past weekend (actually three, but two in the theater)- indiana jones 4 and speed racer. and you know what? speed racer blew indy out of the water in terms of awesomeness. why is this movie not doing better?? i had so much fun and felt like i was watching something really special. the script was great, the characters were super developed, and the car racing was the coolest car racing i’ve ever seen. i don’t think i wanted to go home and play mario kart so badly in my life. there was just so much to love about this movie, all the way from the visuals to the message it was trying to tell.

unfortunately, in contrast, indy fell victim to a really bad script and a super, under-developed story line- and honestly- should never have been made. it was like an indiana jones movie for the sake of an indiana jones movie and just didn’t work on so many levels. i don’t want to go into the details, because they’re fairly obvious and most of you have either seen the movie already or will be seeing it soon. but i think this was a rushed project that was fun only in the sense of nostalgia for how much we all enjoyed its predecessors. i didn’t think it was all bad, but i went in with very low expectations and this movie met those.

the funny thing about the two films is that there are so many “wha–?” moments in both of them. but with speed racer those “wha–?” moments are instantly followed by a “haha! awesome!” while with indy they just leave you with your mouth hanging open wondering how someone thought that was good idea.

so- i know speed racer isn’t for everyone, (believe me- from the trailers, i thought it looked just as horrible as the rest of the world seems to think) but if you go in with an open mind- i think you’ll find something you haven’t really seen before. something fun and unique. something for kids and adults. something for artists and people just wanting to see some great action. something meant to be seen on the big screen. something raiders of the lost ark accomplished 27 years ago.

so, with june fast approaching and more movies on the way, here’s my ranking for favorite summer movies so far:

1. iron man
2. speed racer
3. narnia: prince caspian
4. indiana jones: kotcs

well, not entirely. i did stay pretty busy. first off, me and all of the lunchbox funnies guys were asked to provide some guest strips for scott kurtz of pvp fame. and because we at lunchbox all think scott is a super great guy, most of us said yes (that and the promise of increased traffic to our sites is always a good bribe). click here to read mine!

also- i worked on the parable site a bit. the book is completely done, so i thought a little revamp of the site would be nice while we scout for publishers. especially since i won’t have much to update on it till we actually have one.

also- i added my current seed blog comic panels to comicspace in an effort to get more use out of a great community that i rarely ever visit (but should!). once i get around to drawing more of those, i’ll update them on there as well as here.

also- i started playing zelda: twilight princess on wii finally! and it was so worth the wait.

also- i saw the simpsons on friday and thought it was hillarious. and before going to the theater i simpsonized myself!

jen and i are seeing travis tonight in orlando. before the concert we’re going to try to visit one of those 7-elevens they turned into kwik-e-marts. :)

music- i’m really in to sufjan stevens right now. i can’t get his song chicago out of my head. i’ve got to thank my friend jeff denton for introducing me to him.

movies- saw snakes on a plane this weekend and it was every bit as bad as i hoped it would be. i was hysterical. now i’m ready for the fall crop of films, which are usually a big breath of fresh air after the ridiculous and over-the-top summer ones.

comics- my new favorite web comic is zip and li’l bit by trade loeffler. the story is just getting started but i already love it. the art is amazing (love his linework) and there are plenty of sheep. lots of sheep is always a good reason to read a comic.

on the paper side of things, i’m really into the x-men books again after suffering through many, many bad issues (except astonishing of course). mike carey and chris bachalo are a big part of my recovering interest but ed brubaker and billy tan are doing an awesome job as well. and, it’s not really x-men related, but everybody who’s into superhero comics should check out nextwave by warren ellis and stuart immonen. it’s absurdedly awesome.

speaking of x-men, i created a new x-character! she’s got magical mutant pixie powers and there’s even an ‘x’ in her name! i call her piXie! (i’m so lame..)

at one point, something in the movie got me thinking about star wars, since being a “chick flick” my male mind needed to take a deep breath every now and then. i thought, if this movie had gone a different direction, it was exactly the type of relationship that would have worked between anakin and palpatine instead of the awful mess that it was. this is just good praise on how prada staged andy (anne hathaway)’s gradual character change. you can still trace it back to one moment- but with anakin, it was like, BAM!, i’m evil now. an audience is just not going to buy that.

speaking of chicks, friday’s drawer geeks went up, uh.. friday. this was one of the best weeks ever so check it out. it was for some obscure radio show superhero called “chickenman”, so there was no real visual refference for the character. the result is a lot of fun stuff from the artists’ imagination. i ended up doing a couple. being chickenman, i thought it was important to take the character as serious as he ought to be so i came up with this take…

…and then i drew this one specifically for my good friend matt, who’s past facination with chickens will forever make me think of him as the one true chickenman.

since the theater going didn’t work out, we decided to stay at home and rewatch the curse of the black pearl instead. after watching it again, i really don’t see how the next two films can be any better then this one. strictly from a story telling standpoint it’s just so well structured and i don’t think there’s a single character i don’t find interesting. my big hope is that johnny depp doesn’t become a parady of his jack sparrow character. there was such a lovely balance between his lunacy and cunning that i would hate to see brushed aside to revisit certain familiar charms. i do have a lot of faith in verbinski though who managed to make the only movie that ever scared me.

my good friend matt did manage to quench some of my pirate cravings by sending me a link to yet another wonderful short film from some ridiculously talented students from the gobelins school of image.

as silly as it sounds, i really felt like i was on a separate planet for a few days. unable to communicate with anyone until i saw the film for fear that they’d give something away or spoil my enjoyment in some annoying critical manner. that wasn’t the case of course, as all my friends felt the same as i did after making my phone call rounds after seeing it. i think the fact that i waited as long as i did, letting anticipation build up and up, and still walking out of the theater with a big smile on my face says a lot about the film. the directing was great, the story well thought out, casting was perfect (yes, i believed kate bosworth as lois lane), the cinematography was gorgeous, the kid didn’t annoy me and the music- the music was awesome. i think everyone that was a part of this film was filling some pretty big shoes, but they all played enough homage to their original counterparts to satisfy nostalgia while still entertaining you with their original takes.

i don’t want to spoil anything for anyone though. the only thing i’d like to deter people from is seeing it in 3d. the imax was cool. very cool. i think the larger screen just increased the scope of everything. but the 3d scenes were few and very poorly done. not only did it distract from the movie with blinking glasses at the bottom of the screen and a rush to put them on, but the double imaging caused me to be a bit lost during some of the action scenes. in fact, i was actually starting to get dissapointed everytime i had to put the glasses on. still, i walked out loving this film.

i can’t wait to see it again on wednesday. :)