Derek Daniels (middleeasternfilms)

I wasn't incredibly interested in this movie, just kind of intrigued about it since reading the synopsis. Cubicle drone gets tired of his life and plans to kill his coworkers. When he actually gets set to do it, someone else in his office beats him to it, Slater kills the guy and becomes a hero. Then it turns into a love story before a not-at-all surprising ending. Slater is actually a great actor, so the problem isn't him. Macy seems kind of wasted somehow. The film just isn't that good. Pretty good idea, bad how it came out.

Russell Crowe and Christian Bale are both excellent actors - just incredibly awesome. So sticking them against each other in a film could either be great or become a car crash. Luckily it turns out to be the former. They play off each other so well and that's what really makes the film work. You also get to see Peter Fonda, whose own father was a major league badass. Plus, the kid who played William - Bale's oldest son - was a real asshole. Westerns today suck most of them time, so this was a real treat to watch a good one. Not too slick, but not too boring.

Paul Thomas Anderson's shining moment as a filmmaker (though most would now say it's There Will Be Blood), this is one movie that has had it's whole premise stolen over the years by such films as Crash, 11:14 and The Air I Breathe. The film follows an ensemble cast portraying characters within different stories that are all interrelated somehow and without the right casting and magnificent acting that this films supplies, it would fall flat as it relies on a lot of visuals to make it through the length. It would be very hard to pick out a best acting performance in this one, though Cruise won some awards for his role as a sexist and arrogant infomercial guru. Magnolia is just another chapter in the filmmaking wonderland of Anderson's career.

Ryan Gosling gave an Oscar-nominated performance as Daniel Dunn, an inner-city history teacher fighting his own personal demons while forming a friendship with a girl in his class. This movie, even moreso than Fracture, really showed how great of an actor Gosling really is. Combine this with incredible natural perfomances from Mackie and Epps and an almost perfect musical score by Canadian supergroup Broken Social Scene and this was certainly movie of the year quality!