Ryan j Budke

Despite once upon a time being a television blogger, I’ve always found it hard to write about movies. Don’t get me wrong, I love movies, I love them so much I tend to go on a roll and ramble on and my writing turns to shit. I could talk about, argue and discuss movies until I’m blue in the face, but my writing about them just sucks. On top of that, I’m much too nice, I can critique, but prefer to talk about the stuff I enjoy. If you’re looking for a balanced, well written, actual critic, look no further than Lon Harris.

All that said, 2008 was very possibly my favorite year for movies ever. Iron Man and Dark Knight both showed that comic book movies could be legitimate and amazing, and didn’t it by taking the genre in two totally different directions. Indiana Jones returned and was an awesome blast from the past (yes, I enjoyed the hell out of it). There were great surprises like Tropic Thunder and Slumdog Millionaire, and those that you could have counted on like Burn After Reading and Frost/Nixon.

I normally count the days for movies from Gus van Sant, David Fincher, Danny Boyle, Ron Howard, the Coen brothers, and Darren Aronofsky, and this year we got them within weeks of each other. Films as a whole are very much a group effort, but there have been so many individual standout performances. Again, with standards that you could count on like Clint Eastwood (in front of and behind the camera), actors like Anne Hathaway who you hoped had it in them, and those like Robert Downey Jr. and Mickey Rourke who came roaring back.

I enjoyed 2008’s movies like I remember enjoying movies when I was little. I had fun, and can’t wait to see what 2009 holds… but I’m rambling.

Don LaFontaine, “King of Voiceovers”, Dies at 68. If you’ve seen a movie trailer in the past 2+ decades, chances are you’ve heard Don LaFontaine’s iconic voice. He’s mostly known for doing the “In a world…” style of movie trailers, famously recording the voiceovers for Terminator 2 and The Godfather, but has lent his voice to everything from videogames, comedy sketches and cartoons.

He’s also been parodied by a number of comedians and in a number of skits, but probably most famously by Pablo Francisco. I had the pleasure of meeting both Don and Pablo last year, during the first time they had ever met face to face to boot, and you couldn’t ask for two nicer guys.

Don wrote me a really nice email a few days later, and it was really humbling to be in direct contact with a Hollywood legend. You’ll be missed Don.

In a world… without Don LaFontaine… everything seems a little less… dramatic.

I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Tropic Thunder a few times now, and if you were transfixed to your tv this past week watching Michael Phelps bring home the gold, I can’t recommend enough that you find the time to go check it out. It’s absolutley hilarious, and that’s coming from a guy who’s normally not a Ben Stiller fan. Rober Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise steal every scene there in, and Jay Baruchel solidifies his place in the next generation of comedy stars.

I also went to the red carpet premiere last Monday with the Mahalo Daily crew (episode here), thanks to an awesome friend at Paramount, and while I didn’t take any pictures of me there (yea, I know, dumb) I did find this little gem online. It’s of Jack Black and his wife, and barely in the background, you can see John, Leah and myself. Booyah.

Dark Knight Babies – ComicMix news.

I’m watching Evan Almighty for the first time. I heard this was a bad movie, but I was just not prepared for how bad it was going to be. I was going to write more on how Wanda Sykes is just playing a parody of herself, Steve Carrell is being typecast beyond belief, even Lauren Graham is completely phoning it in, but I can’t, it’s exhaustingly bad. This is just awful and it’s the most expensive comedy ever made.