FAVORITES OF 2009: MOVIES
Taking into consideration that I have yet to see Sherlock Holmes and Avatar, I submit to you my 2009 movie roundup.
Worst:
Knowing
It started out with a pretty interesting concept, but quickly descended into … another Nicolas Cage movie.Where The Wild Things Are
I know I’m in the minority here, but I really wanted to punch the kid the entire film and I got tired really quick of the endlessly whining monsters. I really wanted to like it too.
Also Receiving Votes:
Watchmen
I really need to see this again. There was a lot to absorb in only one viewing.District 9
A very entertaining, but very flawed movie that had the guts to be different and I can respect that.Terminator Salvation
This franchise is still barely treading water. I really wish this movie had a plot to go along with the excellent action and effects though.Taken
It’s like a watered down (and shortened) remake of 24: Season One!
Favorites:
11. 2012
“When they tell you not to panic… that’s when you run!”
Ever since Independence Day (which was my favorite movie in high school up until The Matrix came out), I’ve had a soft spot in my heart for disaster movies. Yes, this would probably have the title of dumbest movie of the year easily wrapped up were it not for Transformers 2 and yes, it is maybe the most excessive movie ever made, but that is why I enjoyed it. I can still appreciate well digitized eye candy and that’s all this movie is trying to be. Sure, maybe this film could have been more if they had decided to develop even one of the characters instead of introducing us quickly to about 75 new characters throughout the film, each with a relative or friend to say goodbye to tearfully and then never see again, but this film isn’t aiming for the Oscars. You should know going into this exactly what you’re getting and if you’re going to complain about “story” and “character development” you really have no one to blame but yourself.
10. Drag Me To Hell
“You’d be surprised what you’ll do, when the Lamia comes for you.”
This was a great rebound by Sam Raimi after the cluster eff that was Spider-man 3 (seriously, I hate that movie more every time I see it. I should stop watching it). This is no Evil Dead, but it has the same spirit despite its PG-13 rating. It’s not exactly going for a horror-comedy thing like Shaun of the Dead but it’s nice to see a horror movie that doesn’t take itself completely seriously and doesn’t rely completely on over-the-top gore. It occasionally veered a little bit too much towards ridiculousness (Hello talking goat!), but this was probably the most intense horror movie from beginning to end that I saw this year.
9. Inglourious Basterds
“We got a German here who wants to die for his country! Oblige him!”
Speaking of rebounds, Quentin Tarantino needed one badly after the meh-fest of Grindhouse and that is exactly what he achieved. I could be mistaken, but this might be his first film that occurs entirely in chronological order. It’s a little distracting seeing the Fire Guy and Neal Schweiber in this movie, and unfortunately neither of them have a large enough role to really break out from being anything beyond the other roles we know them in. This is my main complaint about this film actually: where were the titular basterds throughout this movie? The story is compelling, but the best characters were absent from the screen most of the time and even if I was mostly wrapped up in what was going on, a part of me was also just hanging in there until Brad Pitt showed up again.
8. Fantastic Mr. Fox
“If what I think is happening is happening – it better not be.”
Just when you thought claymation was dead comes the greatest entry to the genre since Rudolph!...except maybe The Nightmare Before Christmas and James And The Giant Peach. George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray and others voice characters in this film about a fox who quits his bird stealing job when he starts a family, but wants to launch one more “Master Plan” when he becomes restless in his day-to-day life. It’s probably too early to judge something like this, but this movie probably has the potential to become a classic. Having not seen all of his movies, I would say this is my favorite Wes Anderson movie since The Royal Tenenbaums.
7. Zombieland
“You see? You just can’t trust anyone. The first girl I let into my life and she tries to eat me.”
If you’re going to rip off another movie, it might as well be one of the best movies of the decade. Perhaps zombie movies just lend themselves to mixing horror and comedy better than other sub-genres of horror, but I have to assume that Shaun of the Dead played a major factor in this film’s existence. Replacing Shaun trying to win back his ex-girlfriend is adolescent Columbus trying to woo his first girlfriend. Replacing the crazy and irresponsible sidekick Ed is the crazy and irresponsible sidekick Tallahassee (played by Woody Harrelson). The two movies are, of course, not entirely the same but since SOTD is one of my favorite movies ever, this has to be a distant second favorite zombie romcom. I will say that the scene where they break into a certain celebrity’s house is probably the hardest I’ve laughed at any movie in 2009.
6. Star Trek
“Your father was captain of a starship for twelve minutes. He saved 800 lives, including your mothers and yours. I dare you to do better.”
Let me preface anything I’m going to write on this topic by saying that prior to this movie’s release I kind of prided myself on knowing very little about Star Trek. I have my areas of geekdom where I thrive but this was not one of them and when they announced they were rebooting the franchise I kind of groaned because I was completely cool with Star Trek being dormant. Then came the reviews calling it a “Star Trek movie for people who hate Star Trek,” and of course this Onion story. I figured it was a risk worth taking and it was. It felt good to watch a fun summertime movie without feeling like it was rotting my brain.
5. Trick R Treat
“Wait, there’s another tradition. Always check your candy.”
Every year in October I have a Horrorthon of movies that I watch. It’s not something that I do for any other holiday except the usual Christmas staples. I love Halloween movies, but it’s not so much because I love “scary” movies but because I love the fall ambiance. It’s why Sleepy Hollow is a Halloween staple for me every year and The Exorcist isn’t. Trick R Treat isn’t the scariest movie out there (although it has its share of intense scenes), but it completely nails the fall/Halloween feeling that I love. It seems designed to be a love letter to the holiday with its four interweaving storylines and I would be surprised if it doesn’t end up being a Halloween classic for me.
4. Up
“Thanks for the adventure. Now go have a new one.”
After creating a new classic year after year I should not be surprised at how good a Pixar movie is, but I always am. This one is probably my favorite since The Incredibles. While most Pixar movies reach your inner child, this one reaches your inner old man. The opening following the entire life of Carl Frederickson and his wife Ellie (complete with a “not able to have children” scene and ending in Ellie’s death) is a little shocking in how dark it is. It grounds the movie early in that dark reality and it makes some of what comes later more out of place than they would in the usual Pixar film. While the talking dogs were a little odd, by the end of the film I was thinking that this is exactly what movies should be about. It takes you to a different place with a completely original idea. Unfortunately, that is a rare thing from Hollywood these days.
3. (500) Days Of Summer
“This is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know upfront, this is not a love story.”
When I like a romantic comedy, you know it has to be exceptionally good. I don’t necessarily hate the concept (pretty much every movie has a romantic element to it, right?), it’s the formula that I find infuriating: boy and girl fall in love; boy does something a-holish (in the worst examples the dickish move is completely justified); boy grovels on his hands and knees and tells the girl what a worthless piece of trash he is and she mercifully accepts him back. The quote above kind of says it all about this movie and that’s why I loved it. Not to necessarily say this movie is of the quality of Swingers (another favorite of mine), but it follows that pattern of the ending not being what you expected, or what you were even rooting for for the entire film, but you’re still completely satisfied by it. The soundtrack is superlative as well. It even manages to rip off the worst thing in Spider-man 3 and make it awesome. In all honesty, if you asked me to rewrite this list a year from now, I could see this being at the top of the list, but I just saw it last week. It’s the kind of quality you’d expect from the chick in Elf and the kid in Angels in the Outfield.
2. The Hangover
“You guys might not know this, but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a one-man wolf pack.”
This is the only movie I saw twice in the theaters this year. Easily the best comedy since Superbad for me. Umm, yeah that basically sums things up doesn’t it? This movie was so random that it’s difficult for me to latch on to one specific thing that I liked about it, but I guess that’s what makes it so great. Anyone who’s had a wild night out can relate to the next morning conversation of, “I did WHAT? I don’t remember that happening at all!” This film (obviously) takes that to an absurd degree, and even though the unpredictability of the movie is a major strength it still held up on the second viewing, which will probably be the second of many.
1. The Hurt Locker
“Colonel Reed: What’s the best way to go about disarming one of these things?
Staff Sergeant William James: The way you don’t die, sir.”
War movies that actually portray the troops as the heroes that they are in real life are so rare these days that I can’t think of a single example since Black Hawk Down. That standard may be a bit high so in general I’ll settle for one that doesn’t portray them as scoundrels and/or psychopaths. The Hurt Locker portrays soldiers in Iraq in 2004 that are certainly flawed (i.e. human beings) fighting heroically which is a miracle in and of itself, but even better it is an endlessly intense action flick that instantly puts you in the shoes of a Baghdad bomb squad at the height of the Iraq War. If there were any justice in the world, Jeremy Renner (who played a somewhat similar role in 28 Weeks Later) would have become a star from this role. For now though I’m grateful to have a great, non-political war movie to enjoy for the next decade until the next one comes out.