My Top 09 Films of ‘09
Before I give my list, here are some well-reviewed films that came out in 2009 that I didn’t get to see: Public Enemies, 9, The Road, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, An Education, The Informant, A Serious Man, Coraline, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Precious, World’s Greatest Dad, The Messenger, Ponyo, and the documentaries The Cove, Anvil, Food Inc, This Is It, Earth, Tyson, and The September Issue.
1. Star Trek - A
I own the first 8 Star Trek films and all 7 season of Star Trek: The Next Generation on DVD. So, yes, I’m a Trekker. The other Trek TV shows never really connected with me and I pretty much gave up on the franchise after the last two films—as apparently Paramount Studio execs did because they gave director J.J. Abrams carte blanche to “re-boot” the franchise. Brilliant! This 11th film in the franchise is both a prequel (showing how Kirk and crew first come to be on the fabled EnterpriseNCC-1701) and a “re-boot” (a Star Trek plot staple—time travel—plays a part in creating an alternate timeline). And the film makes good on its promise to be friendly to non-Trek fans as it’s basically a non-stop sci-fi action extravaganza. Trek fans, sci-fi fans, and action fans alike should be very pleased with this film.
2. UP - A
Pixar again achieves a masterfully crafted blend of emotion, entertainment, and originality in a beautiful CGI animated package. The first twenty minutes of the film is nearly void of dialogue (much like last year’s Pixar hit WALL-E) yet it never fails to hold your attention. The film begins on a bit of a sad note, OK on a VERY sad note, but that just endears the audience all the more to the characters. Ultimately UP is uplifting.
3. (500) Days of Summer - A
This film reminds me of High Fidelity in a lot of ways. It has random guy humor, fantasy sequences, pop culture references (mostly musically influenced), an excellent soundtrack that integrates music into the plot, and speaking of plot—a timeline that jumps randomly yet never leaves you confused on what’s going on with the characters. Unlike High Fidelity though, the protagonist, played by possibly the next John Cusack—one Mr. Joseph Gordon-Levitt—takes a much different journey through love found and lost. The journey is both entertaining and touching.
4. Inglourious Basterds - A-
A quintessential Tarantino film full of genre-meshing violence and airy, dialogue driven scenes. There are several scenes where the tension is so thick you could cut it with a bayonet. My major complaint is that this film doesn’t feature the titular “Basterds” enough—they’re practically guest stars in their own film! However, when the Basterds are on screen they're mesmerizing and the supporting characters and subplots Tarantino creates (a Nazi "Jew-hunter" and his prey) are equally engaging.
5. Watchmen - A-
This film based on the acclaimed comic book by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons has to be one of the most faithful adaptations of a comic book ever realized on screen. Thus my biggest problem with the film is the same problem I had with the comic book—the ending. Other than that, Watchmen is a well paced, violent, adult comic book film that uses extraordinary characters and situations to explore some of the darkest and most basic aspects of humanity.
6. District 9 - B+
This solid science-fiction film is Alien Nation meets The Fugitive lightly covered with a fun amount of gore-n-violence and topped with a dollop of social commentary. It blends a lot of familiar elements from other films and ends up coming out as something fairly original. The story has a great ending, and it begs for a sequel.
7. Avatar [Imax 3D] - B+
Avatar is the kind of film where you can see the ending coming from a mile away; however, that doesn’t ever stop the audience from being completely riveted to what’s going on the screen. James Cameron has created a photorealistic alien world and somehow managed to not make 10 foot tall Smurfs and bioluminescent trees laughable. I enjoyed the characters and action so much that part of me really wants to give this film an “A-“ grade, but I doubt the film will hold up as well outside of the theater’s IMAX 3D moviegoing experience.
8. Zombieland - B+
At its core, like most good zombie flicks, this film is about more than just the end of the world via zombies. It's ultimately about four characters learning how to connect with their own humanity. And if I may channel my inner Kanye for a moment: "Look, Hangover. I'm happy for your Mike Tyson cameo and ima let you have dat. But Zombieland had one of the greatest cameos of all time. All time!"
9. I Love You, Man - B+
Don’t let the title fool you, this is a very couple-friendly film and at its core it is essentially about relationships in general and not just those Platonic bonds formed between men. The last scene is a bit of a chore to sit through since you know how it’s all going to turn out and the film is HEAVY on the Rush music, but it has a plethora of great characters that deliver solid laughs throughout the film.
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