The ReelzChannel 100 began when we asked Leonard Maltin for his favorite Hidden Gems of the decade. His list led the web team into a general discussion about the best movies of the decade and — after no small amount of debate, arguing, and (we're not proud to say) some petty name-calling — we decided we'd better bring it to an end with a company-wide vote. Then it was just a matter of tallying up the votes and hoping for the best. Lucky for us, ReelzChannel is filled with a staff ranging from movie lovers to movie fanatics. What turned out isn't what you'll find on a critic's best of list — instead it's what movie fans really enjoyed.
One of the reasons for Borat's great success was how Sacha Baron Cohen completely sold it as a real Kazakh TV reporter. The gags felt real, too, and probably were, based on the number of real lawsuits filed against the comedian. In Brüno, on the other hand, every gag felt staged and everyone is in on the joke, as evidenced by the closing song featuring Bono, Slash, Snoop Dogg, Sting, and Elton John.
Dack Ragus, Contributing Writer
Speaking of big let-downs ... what happened to the Matrix series? First Neo (Keanu Reeves) was The One, then he was A One, then he was The Most Recent One. And Agent Smith? He went from being One of Them to Some of Them to All of Us! In the future, please stick to making movies and let the philosophers debate ideas (because eXistenZ and The Thirteenth Floor say what you wanted to in a much more entertaining way anyway).
John Coffman, Production Assistant
If you like your dramas to be programmatic, emotionally manipulative, and with messages delivered with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, then this is your kind of movie. Crash's 2006 Best Picture triumph (over Brokeback Mountain) is the Academy's mistake of the century.
Dack Ragus, Contributing Writer
Whoever decided to dump the fun swashbuckling nature of Curse of the Black Pearl in favor of a darker action movie deserves the Black Spot.
Kristin Elliott, Social Media and Marketing Coordinator
With way too many villains, love interests, and plot lines thrown haphazardly together, this third installment of the franchise just falls short. Although the special effects are spectacular, the character development is lacking and the story seems forced. The low point comes when Parker dons his "emo" look, black hair combed in front of his face, walking down the street with an embarrassingly awkward strut.
Mark Jackson-Weaver, Web Designer & HTML Coder
Oh, such potential. A big-budget remake of the camp sci-fi favorite, Tim Burton, an all-star cast — the movie had it all. Nevertheless, nary a redeeming quality made it into this stinker, save for the unintentionally funny.
Adam Galanter, Producer/Editor
Michael Bay has made his career out of assuming that we're all idiots who care more about violence than, say, characters or story. Which may be true, but that doesn't excuse these two pieces of excrement for being nothing more than a kaleidoscope of nonsensical explosions. What's worse, they were really, really ... really long.
Sean Gandert, Web Production Manager
The Happening was very disappointing. After The Village, I became a dedicated Shayamalan fan, and I honestly didn’t mind Lady in the Water either; thought it had some great moments. But The Happening was dull and I found it very disturbing; 95% of the gore was completely unnecessary.
Dave Ferry, Producer/Editor
I equate these movies to plastic surgery: Unnecessary, done purely for vanity, and ultimately marring what was perfect to begin with. Casting Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan is the movies' only saving grace.
Kristin Elliott, Social Media and Marketing Coordinator
The title alone should have been warning as to how bad this movie would be, but with such a great character how could Lucas and Spielberg mess up this fantastic franchise? Boy, did they find a way.
Travis Oscarson, Host, Movie Mob and Saturday Morning @ Reelz