Movies Seen in 2009

[Starbreaker]

What movies have you seen this year, new or old?

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) [A] It's barely an A, mind you, I think it could have been trimmed by about 30 minutes
2. Hancock [C] I really enjoyed the first half of the movie, and then the script just falls apart.
3. The Ex [C] It's unbelievably corny.
4. Blue Velvet [B] I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. It was very weird.
5. The Visitor [A] One of last year's sleeper hits.
6. My Best Friend's Girl [C] Watchable, but corny.
7. Winter Passing [B-] Does Will Ferrell even try to play other characters?
8. Zack and Miri Make A Porno [B] I laughed all the way through this movie.
9. Crank [B] It's stupid, but It's fun stupid.
10. Pulse [F] One of the worst films I've ever seen.
11. Saw V [C] The last 20 minutes or so are cool. Most of it's a drag.
12. Pathology [B] I highly recommend this. Despite some bad acting, it's a really cool story.
13. Dazed and Confused [B-] Nothing happens, but it's pretty good.
14. Fast Times at Ridgemont High [D] Overrated.
15. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist [A] I usually don't like stuff like this, but this was one of the best movies I saw from last year.
16. Changeling [B+] Good movie, needed some major editing
17. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas [B] Depressing, but not very effective overall
18. Blindness [B-] Could have been so much better, I'm interested in seeing the book
19. Elegy [B-] Too long in parts, but worth watching
20. Slumdog Millionaire [A+] By far the best movie of last year. Great film.
21. Mojave Phone Booth [B] An interesting little film. Highly recommended.
22. X-Men Origins: Wolverine [C] Kinda boring, honestly
23. Star Trek [A+]
24. The Executioner's Song (TV) [C] Tommy Lee Jones won an emmy. I think it's mostly silly
25. Taken [B] Solid film. I'd probably rewatch it.
26. The Alphabet Killer [D] Eliza Dushku couldn't even save this crap.
27. Prince of the City [B] Too similar to Serpico, another film directed by Sidney Lumet.
28. Helter Skelter (TV) [B] Enjoyable
29. The Last Emperor [A] One of my new favorite films
30. Valkyrie [A] I had heard a lot of negative buzz, but I enjoyed it
31. Twilight [B-] I was shocked I liked it. I know I know...
32. Serpico [B] Pretty good film
33. Appaloosa [B-] Not as good as 3:10 To Yuma, but I'm glad to see the Western genre back
34. Revolutionary Road [C] Overrated
35. Frost/Nixon [A] loved it

[Turd Ferguson]

Let's see, I've seen a bunch, but here's what I remember right off:

Star Trek
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Valkyrie
Terminator Salvation
The Hangover
Hellraiser
Hellbound: Hellraiser II
Sixteen Candles (don't ask, I just never got around to watching it)
Weird Science (same predicament)
Collateral Damage
Commando
Observe and Report
Caprica
Innocent Blood
Feast II: Sloppy Seconds
The X-Files: I Want to Believe
The Day the Earth Stood Still (Keanu Reeves)
Evan Almighty
The Invasion
A View to a Kill
The Rundown
Red Heat
Legend
Pineapple Express
W.

[Starbreaker]

Oh yeah... I forgot about The Hangover [B]. I would also like to add Friday the 13th (2009) [F] to this list. I'm such a fan of most of the original films, but boy this movie was boring.

[CaptainCanada]

I keep all my movie tickets, so I can be pretty precise about this:

Gran Torino
Slumdog Millionaire
The Reader
Watchmen
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Star Trek (twice)
Up

DVD:

Elephant Man

[Mistral]

Star Trek. Enchanted. a Kevin Pollack movie about nuclear war that I can't recall the title of. The Replacements(whenever I can). Major League. We Are Marshall. American Gangster.

[Starbreaker]

Mistral wrote:

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Star Trek. Enchanted. a Kevin Pollack movie about nuclear war that I can't recall the title of. The Replacements(whenever I can). Major League. We Are Marshall. American Gangster.

Deterrence!

I saw American Gangster for the second time this year. It was the extended version, which I thought was ever better.

[Harvey]

In the past five weeks--there's been a few more films in theaters before this...

Jury Duty
In the Heat of the Night
Harold and Maude
Persona Non Grata
Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian
Terminator: Salvation
The Royal Tenenbaums
Dark City (Director's Cut)
Star Trek (2009)
Drag Me To Hell
Hellraiser: Bloodline
His Name Was Jason
My Name is Bruce
Half Nelson
Chalk
The Hangover
Land of the Lost (2009)
Woody Allen: A Life in Film
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters
Night of the Living Dead (1990 remake)
Fido
Spielberg on Spielberg
The Boondock Saints
Capturing the Friedmans
You, Me, and Dupree

[bigdaddy]

The International - Will Watch this weekend.
What Just Happened? - HORRIBLE MOVIE!
Quantum of Solace
Bolt
Doubt - Great movie
Changeling
Lakeview Terrace
Frost/Nixon
The Caller
In the Electric Mist
The Tale of Despereaux - Bad Movie
Seven Pounds
Body of Lies
Hancock
Babylon A.D.
Behind Enemy Lines 3
Miracle at St. Anna
WALL-E
Blindness
Spartan
Burn After Reading
The Dark Knight
Eagle Eye
Righteous Kill
Batman Begins
Traitor

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

I almost never watch films theatrically anymore. I watch them on Blu-ray and/or Sky Movies HD instead. I keep track of the films I watch as I see them for the first time. So far this year I've seen 97 films that I hadn't seen previously:

Mr. Brooks (2007) - very effective film; unexpectedly funny in a very dark sort of way

Run Fat Boy Run (2007) - a good light comedy

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) - I was a bit disappointed with it on first viewing, but it grew on me when I watched it again later; great production design

Wedding Daze (2007) - awful

Black Sunday (1977) - pretty good

Hoodwinked (2005) - a decent storyline is undermined by cheap, lousy animation

Nancy Drew (2007) - pretty good

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) - beautifully filmed and well acted, but overlong; there have been a lot of Jesse James films but none have really stuck to the historical record

The Dark Knight (2008) - the greatest superhero film made to date

Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007) - reasonably entertaining with some cute moments, don't see why so much hate was aimed at it

Them (2006) - a very effective French horror film, although the claim that it's based on a true story doesn't hold up to scrutiny

In the Land of Women (2007) - a good film, and it was nice to see Meg Ryan looking more like her old self again

Breaking and Entering (2006) - a good film

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) - good, but not quite as good as its reputation

Cloverfield (2008) - a good idea, but the extent of the shaky cam was too damned annoying for it to be enjoyable

McLintock! (1963) - rousing good fun, although it'll give feminists fits

The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982) - very cheesy and low budget, but kinda fun

The Good German (2006) - pretty good in parts, but too self-conscious

The Goonies (1985) - lots of fun; I'm a child of the 80s, but somehow this one slipped through the net and I only got around to seeing it now

A Bridge Too Far (1977) - a good film, but the outcome of the battle doesn't make for a good cinematic ending

The Darjeeling Limited (2007) - pretty good, but not as good as Wes Anderson's previous films

Edison (2005) - awful

St. Trinian’s (2007) - even more awful

The Great McGinty (1940) - a good film

The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) - a very good film, much better than the remake

How to Steal a Million (1966) - a charming film with Audrey Hepburn looking especially great decked out in mod fashions

House of Bamboo (1955) - interesting to see all of the location shooting in 1950s Tokyo, but a dull film overall

The Duellists (1977) - Ridley Scott's first feature film and a fine one at that

Definitely, Maybe (2008) - pretty good

Derailed (2005) - pretty good

1408 (2007) - good, but not quite as good as I'd heard

A Clockwork Orange (1971) - great film, worthy of its status as one of the classics of science fiction cinema

The Wicked Lady (1983) - crap, but cheesy fun; lots of nudity, including from Marina Sirtis

Howard the Duck (1986) - awful, even worse than its reputation

The Virgin Suicides (1999) - pretty good, but doesn't amount to much

Frenzy (1972) - latter day Hitchcock with some very dark comedy; London and its inhabitants never looked grubbier

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958) - a good film

Mama’s Boy (2007) - pretty bad

The High and the Mighty (1954) a decent film, a prototype of the disaster genre

Battleship Potemkin (1925) - interesting for its place in cinema history as a film that advanced the art of editing and screen composition and fascinating as a time capsule; the plot is pure commie propaganda

Fairy Tale: A True Story (1997) - a good film

The Cotton Club (1984) - great production design and the young Diane Lane is ravishingly beautiful, but the plot meanders around and doesn't amount to much

Southland Tales (2006) - awful

Zulu (1964) - a very good film, although the battle scenes have dated somewhat (the stabs with spears and bayonets are very obvious in how they were faked)

Blow Out (1981) - an effective chiller with an unsettling ending

The Front Page (1974) - pretty good Lemmon/Matthau remake

True Grit (1969) - rousing good fun with John Wayne in great form; "Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!"

Charley Varrick (1973) - pretty good crime film with Walter Matthau playing against type

Romeo and Juliet (1968) - a very well-staged adaptation; the most accurate and complete cinematic adaptation of the play ever made

To Catch a Thief (1955) - Hitchcock in fine form in one of his lighter outings; Grace Kelly is at her most radiant in this

October Sky (1999) - a very good movie, very straightforward and sincere in its drama

Custer of the West (1967) - mediocre

Torn Curtain (1966) - a mostly boring Hitchcock outing with a scene showing how difficult it is to kill someone in a hand-to-hand fight being the sole standout

Barefoot in the Park (1967) - a funny, effective comedy; the producers of Dharma and Greg obviously thought so, too

The Killers (1964) - a decent crime drama

Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) - a very good biopic with Genevieve Bujold in fine form

The Enemy Below (1957) - an entertaining submarine versus destroyer World War II film that shows both sides in a humane fashion

Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) - reasonably entertaining followup to The Robe

Sunset Blvd. (1950) - a great film; it stands up extremely well

Cries and Whispers (1973) - an Ingmar Bergman masterpiece with one of the most realistic and harrowing depictions of someone dying of cancer ever put on film

Indiscreet (1958) - reasonably entertaining

West Side Story (1961) - I'm not usually one for musicals, but this one is great

The Big Country (1958) - rousing western with a great cast

Viva Zapata! (1952) - a good film, nicely directed by Elia Kazan

The Night of the Hunter (1955) - good, with some very memorable moments, but not quite as good as its reputation

The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954) - a reasonably effective, if somewhat humdrum, war drama; I can't imagine a studio film having a downbeat ending played in such an abrupt and matter of fact way these days

Burn After Reading (2008) - pretty good, but a lesser Coen Bros outing; John Malkovich is the highlight

Speed Racer (2008) - a great film, very underrated

Wanted (2008) - crap

WALL-E (2008) - a great film

Kung Fu Panda (2008) - very funny

Juno (2007) - pretty good, but overrated

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) - crap

Get Smart (2008) - mediocre

The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008) - better than its reputation, it stands as a more fitting wrap-up than the awful series finale

Wonder Woman (2009) - a very good film from the DC Universe DTV line, best one yet in fact

Appaloosa (2008) - an effective western with Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen in fine form; Renee Zellweger lets the side down, though

My Best Friend’s Girl (2008) - a few funny moments, but mediocre overall; Jason Biggs now looks pretty bad playing increasingly lame versions of his American Pie character

27 Dresses (2008) - reasonably entertaining

Jumper (2008) - dull

Panic in the Streets (1950) - pretty good Elia Kazan drama

Cat People (1982) - cheesy, but fun; Nastassja Kinski and Annette O'Toole are both gorgeous in it

Silent Running (1972) - a hokey hippy trippy sci-fi film

Outland (1981) - an entertaining sci-fi take on High Noon

The Omega Man (1971) - dated, but still rousing entertainment

The Thing (1982) - a great film, John Carpenter's best and one of the best of the genre

Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) - a great adaptation of Orwell's novel

THX 1138 (1971) - I saw an edited version of this on television when I was a child, but this was my first time seeing the full director's cut; it's a very effective low budget dystopian sci-fi outing from the young George Lucas (with some scenes spruced up a bit with modern FX in the director's cut)

10,000 B.C. (2008) - mediocre, dull

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) - good production values for its time, nicely made and acted

The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) - so-so at the start, but it ended up being a good film

Brazil (1985) - at first it seems like it might be one of Gilliam's cacophonous, messy endeavors, but it comes together and hits the target, ultimately living up to its good reputation

Bedtime Stories (2008) - mediocre

Australia (2008) - seems like it's going to be awful in the early going, but ends up being reasonably entertaining

Quantum of Solace (2008) - a step down in quality from Casino Royale, in fact a couple of steps down

The Black Swan (1942) - mediocre

The Black Hole (1979) - some dated FX and production design (particularly regarding the robots and the visible wires), but good fun nonetheless and generally better than its reputation; the model work for the spaceships holds up well

[Starbreaker]

Just watched Let the Right One In [B]. It's good, but I definitely think I deserve to give it another go when they release the new version with the updated subtitles. Apparently these are "turkey subtitles." The dialogue is reasonably bad in places due to it.

[bigdaddy]

These are some very small movies that peoples should watch.

Noise (2008) It's a really cheap movie about a NYC man who get's sick of useless car alarms so he decides to break the car alarms out.

Cashback - It's about an early 20 something guy who gets dumped by his girlfriend and can't sleep. So to pass the time he takes up a job working for some grocery store overnight. He hates the job so to make it go by faster he pretends he can stop time. You can see it for free with Netflix Viewer.

[Starbreaker]

I'm glad to see someone recommend Noise. I had been debating on whether or not to get it.

[Ensign_Redshirt]

I think I only remember the movies I've seen in cinema. And those were (in chronological order):

1) Milk
2) Frost/Nixon
3) Watchmen
4) Star Trek
5) Star Trek
6) Terminator Salvation

[Worf2DS9]

Here's what I've seen this year so far (in order of viewing):

Burn After Reading
Vantage Point
Appaloosa
Doomsday
Passchendaele
Quarantine
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
Twilight
Earth (@theater)
Layer Cake
The Incredible Hulk
Star Trek (@theater, twice so far)
Eagle Eye
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
Seven Pounds

[bigdaddy]

Starbreaker wrote:

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I'm glad to see someone recommend Noise. I had been debating on whether or not to get it.

It's fun, the leader actor, whose name I can't remember, is good. I saw it On Demand for free somewhere.