Happy new year! Every year has its highlights and challenges, and 2008 was no different. Lets see what 2009 has in store for us, and may it be better than last year.

I went 6 months since my last post and I resume once again with the movies Amie and I saw in 2008. We didn't get to see as many movies as we wanted, but there were lots of good ones, and a few that we should have skipped. Here's our list:

Jason's 2008 rankings

Amie's 2008 rankings

The Dark Knight Slumdog Millionaire Wall-E Juno Iron Man The Curious Case of Benjamin Button There Will Be Blood Cloverfield Quantum of Solace Forbidden Kingdom The Incredible Hulk Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist Tropic Thunder Forgetting Sarah Marshall Sex and the City Kung Fu Panda Twilight Star Wars: The Clone Wars The House Bunny Vantage Point Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Get Smart Bedtime Stories Eagle Eye Hancock The Other Boleyn Girl Hitman I am Legend Step Up 2 the Streets Pineapple Express 21 Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay Mamma Mia! 10,000 BC No Country for Old Men The Assassination of Jesse James National Treasure: Book of Secrets Leatherheads The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 Sydney White In the Valley of Elah Jumper

Sex and the City Twilight The Dark Knight Juno Slumdog Millionaire Definitely, Maybe Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist Iron Man Wall-E I am Legend Forbidden Kingdom Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Tropic Thunder The House Bunny Forgetting Sarah Marshall Step Up 2 the Streets The Incredible Hulk Sydney White Kung Fu Panda Mamma Mia! National Treasure: Book of Secrets Get Smart Wanted Quantum of Solace The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Spiderwick Chronicles The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 Bedtime Stories Vantage Point 21 Eagle Eye Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian 27 Dresses Jumper Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay Hancock Pineapple Express 10,000 BC Leatherheads Speedracer

We made it back to the theater this month to see some entertaining movies. I even got to see some other recent movies while Amie skipped on those so she could read her book instead. And now that I got a lot of the Oscar flicks out of the way, I can't wait to see and blog about the movies that come out in May!

• Forbidden Kingdom
  Entertaining factor: 4 / 5
  Plot factor: 3 / 5
  Overall: 3.5 / 5
  Comments: Every kung-fu movie fan has to see this because its the first time Jackie Chan and Jet Li appear in a movie together. I was hearing bad things about the movie before seeing it, but it was a lot better than I expected. Its not the best kung fu movie, but its entertaining enough to recommend. The fight scene between Jackie and Jet was the best part.

• Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
  Entertaining factor: 3 / 5
  Plot factor: 2.5 / 5
  Overall: 3 / 5
  Comments: I think you'll only appreciate this movie if you liked the first one, like me. It was just as silly as you watch the title characters go from one preposterous scenario to another.

• Forgetting Sarah Marshall
  Entertaining factor: 3.5 / 5
  Plot factor: 3.5 / 5
  Overall: 3.5 / 5
  Comments: This was a fun and hilarious movie and I was really surprised with the smart and witty dialogue. I was expecting dumb and crude humor but instead it was smart and crude humor. There's only one thing I want to forget about this movie, and people who have seen (or heard about) this movie will know what I mean.

• I Am Legend
  Entertaining factor: 3.5 / 5
  Plot factor: 3 / 5
  Overall: 3.5 / 5
  Comments: I had the urge to know how Will Smith saved the world this time. This movie is best enjoyed for what it is and can't be looked into deeply because the plot is ultra-thin and barely held together. The directing/editing made up for it and kept the movie intense.

• There Will Be Blood
  Entertaining factor: 4 / 5
  Plot factor: 4 / 5
  Overall: 4 / 5
  Comments: I had to make sure I saw this movie and I'm glad I did because this was a really good and interesting movie. And now I know what "I drink your milkshake!" means. Daniel Day-Lewis was excellent and I also thought Paul Dano was great. I think this movie is better than No Country For Old Men.

• Hitman
  Entertaining factor: 3.5 / 5
  Plot factor: 3.5 / 5
  Overall: 3.5 / 5
  Comments: After There Will Be Blood, I was in the mood for a movie that was less serious and had action scenes. And this assassin movie, which is based on a video game, did the job (pun intended). I thought the action scenes were well done and that the dark humor made it amusing. I don't know anything about the game, so fans of the game may think otherwise.

Jason's 2008 rankings	Amie's 2008 rankings
Juno There Will Be Blood added Cloverfield Forbidden Kingdom added Forgetting Sarah Marshall added Hitman added I Am Legend added Step Up 2 the Streets No Country For Old Men The Assassination of Jesse James National Treasure: Book of Secrets Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay added In The Valley of Elah Jumper	Juno I am Legend Forbidden Kingdom added Step Up 2 the Streets Forgetting Sarah Marshall added National Treasure: Book of Secrets Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay added Jumper 27 Dresses

This may have been a first for me and Amie - we went through the month without going to the movies. I still saw some movies, on my laptop, but not at the theater. Amie decided to pass and read her book instead so I only have my rankings to update.

• No Country For Old Men
  Entertaining factor: 3.5 / 5
  Plot factor: 3.5 / 5
  Overall: 3.5 / 5
  Comments: Its definitely a unique and interesting movie. But is it worthy of Best Picture? I think Atonement and Juno are better. But Javier Bardem was really spooky and he probably deserves his Oscar.

• In the Valley of Elah
  Entertaining factor: 3 / 5
  Plot factor: 2.5 / 5
  Overall: 3 / 5
  Comments: Another heavy movie to watch. It was slow paced but the writing and cast were interesting enough to keep me in it through the end. But after I told Amie what happened in this movie, she was glad she skipped it. Of the three this month, this would be the one to skip.

• The Assassination of Jesse James...
  Entertaining factor: 3.5 / 5
  Plot factor: 3.5 / 5
  Overall: 3.5 / 5
  Comments: This movie fits in between the previous two movies. Its not as captivating as No Country, but definitely more than Elah. Brad Pitt was quite good (did I just say that?) but I was really impressed with Casey Affleck's performance.

Jason's 2008 rankings	Amie's 2008 rankings
Juno Cloverfield Step Up 2 the Streets No Country For Old Men added The Assassination of Jesse James added National Treasure: Book of Secrets In The Valley of Elah added Jumper	Juno I am Legend Step Up 2 the Streets National Treasure: Book of Secrets Jumper 27 Dresses

February flew by for us and we didn't go to the movies as much as we hoped but we did get to see Jumper and Step Up 2 the Streets. We were planning to see some of the Oscar-nominated movies but looks like we'll have to catch up through rentals.

• Jumper
  Entertaining factor: 2.5 / 5
  Plot factor: 2 / 5
  Overall: 2 / 5
  Comments: This one was a big flop to me. Maybe it was the geek in me that wanted a more plausible movie but it didn't make sense and it wasn't fluid. And Hayden Christensen was not good at all. Great concept, poor execution. I blame one of the writers, David S. Goyer. The only movie I like from him is Batman Begins but Christopher Nolan should get the bulk of the credit for that movie.

• Step Up 2 the Streets
  Entertaining factor: 4 / 5
  Plot factor: 3 / 5
  Overall: 3.5 / 5
  Comments: I like hip hop music and dance, so I found this movie extremely fun and entertaining. The plot was suprisingly decent, and even tied in to the first movie.

Jason's 2008 rankings	Amie's 2008 rankings
Juno Cloverfield Step Up 2 the Streets added National Treasure: Book of Secrets Jumper added	Juno I am Legend Step Up 2 the Streets added National Treasure: Book of Secrets Jumper added 27 Dresses

Here's the movies we've seen to start off the year: National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Cloverfield, Juno.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Entertaining factor: 3 / 5
Plot factor: 2.5 / 5
Overall: 3 / 5
Comments: This one had its moments but it just wasn't as exciting or as witty as the first one. I also thought the villain wasn't developed as well either. Nothing against Ed Harris.

Cloverfield
Entertaining factor: 4.5 / 5
Plot factor: 4 / 5
Overall: 4 / 5
Comments: Amie passed on this movie because she was worried about getting sick from the shaky camera movement. So she saw 27 Dresses instead. And I was worried about getting sick from watching that chick flick. haha
I thought this was a great monster movie and I was immersed in it the whole time.

Juno
Entertaining factor: 4.5 / 5
Plot factor: 4 / 5
Overall: 4.5 / 5
Comments: This is a really great comedy / drama. Ellen Page was really funny and cute. This movie definitely deserves the attention and acclaim its getting.

Jason's 2008 rankings	Amie's 2008 rankings
Juno added Cloverfield added National Treasure: Book of Secrets added	Juno added I am Legendadded National Treasure: Book of Secrets added 27 Dressesadded