2009 in Film - A Retrospective

[Starbreaker]

It's all over but Avatar pretty much, so what were your favorites from this year, what do you think is going to win a ton of awards, and what was so bad you could barely sit though it?

My Favorites

1. Star Trek - I'm majorly interested in Star Trek again, something I never thought possible. All it took was some new blood and some tender love and care. Suddenly, it's kind of cool to be a Trekker.

2. Inglorious Basterds - I'm not a huge Tarantino fan. His stuff is mostly watchable except for Kill Bill Vol. 1 which I thought was great, but this movie really is his masterpiece.

3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - a huge step up from Order of the Phoenix. There was something about the atmosphere in this film that has been sorely lacking since Prisoner of Azkaban.

4. (500) Days of Summer - I wasn't aware that this wasn't a love story or of the cleverness of the title when I started watching it. I loved it. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has the performance of his career and this is definitely going to win some awards for best screenplay and first time filmmaker.

5. Paranormal Activity - I don't normally get scared by horror films, but this one was seriously unsettling to me. And I hated The Blair Witch Project, so I think that says a lot.

6. Moon - I think it could have been a little bit longer, but I really enjoyed this film. It's nice to see sci-fi get some critical acclaim.

7. Sunshine Cleaning - I love quirky, offbeat comedies. This fits the bill. Amy Adams is gorgeous, by the way. Highly recommended.

8. Adventureland - I'm also not normally into teen flicks, but this had a good balance of drama and humor to keep my interest.

9. The Last House on the Left - I'm sure most are going to disagree with me, but I thought this was one of the better horror films in years. It's tense and unrelenting.

10. The Hurt Locker - Bomb technicians are cool. I know I wouldn't have the guts to do what they do.

Others I Would Recommend

Precious
District 9
The Hangover
Watchmen
Taken
Coraline
Zombieland
My Bloody Valentine 3D
I Love You, Man
Jennifer's Body
Away We Go
Drag Me To Hell
Carriers

Overrated Award

Up

Formulaic But Watchable

The Proposal

Stay Away
Whatever Works
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
2012
Terminator: Salvation
Crank: High Voltage
9
The Goods: Live Hard Sell Hard
Pandorum

Worst Movie of the Year

Friday the 13th - was so looking forward to this movie until the reviews came in... and I watched it anyway. At least I still have the originals.

Still Want To See

Public Enemies
Avatar
The Box
The Men Who Stare at Goats
The Road
The Last Station

 

[Kirkman1987]

not entirely sure of everything I've seen, but I really enjoyed.....

Star Trek - Trek is back, and it's a great movie

Watchmen - Really like this, even more so in the new ultimate cut.

Gran Torino -(technically 2008 I think, but it went into wide release in January.

Inglorius Basterds - Tarantino delivered yet again. That german officer (Hans Landa?) was one of the best characters this year.

Whatever Works - disagree with you here, I was laughing non-stop from this one. Larry David and Woody Allen proved to be a wonderful collaboration.

Public Enemies - this was alright, but forgetable. Good, but I wouldn't want to see it again.

Didn't like Terminator Salvation

dDon't remember what else I saw.

 

[JacksonArcher]

I'll wait 'til 2009 is over to do my retrospective. I'm still waiting to see The Road, Sherlock Holmes, Avatar and The Lovely Bones, all four might change my current standing on what was best and worst of 2009 movies.

 

[Starbreaker]

Whatever Works - disagree with you here, I was laughing non-stop from this one. Larry David and Woody Allen proved to be a wonderful collaboration.

It just didn't work for me for some reason. Larry was playing a slightly smarter version of himself and it wasn't quite the level of Curb Your Enthusiasm to me, a series he took a year away from to focus on this.

 

[od0_ital]

I'll wait 'til 2009 is over to do my retrospective....

Good point, but goin' by what I've seen, so far, here are my top ten, in no particular order...

- Star Trek (2009)
- Watchmen
- Moon
- (500) Days of Summer
- District 9
- The Horse Boy
- Pirate Radio
- Away We Go
- Taking Woodstock
- Caprica

 

[IndyJones]

The Men Who Stare at Goats

Ugh. Save your money. It has the most inexplicable ending of any movie that I can think of.

 

[Bad Bishop]

Movies I Considered Seeing (But Didn't) And Which Bombed Anyway:

• EXTRACT (Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Ben Affleck)
  Domestic Total Gross: $10,823,158
  
• WHIP IT (Ellen Page): $13,034,417
  
• JENNIFER'S BODY (Megan Fox): $16,204,793
  
• LOVE HAPPENS (Aaron Eckhart, Jennifer Aniston): $22,965,110
  
• WHITEOUT (Kate Beckinsale): $10,246,755
  
• GAMER (Gerard Butler): $20,488,579

Did everyone expect all these movies to be so unsuccessful?


The Star of Tomorrow Award

Give this award to Kristen Bell. She's had two successful comedies in a row:

• FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL (2008): $63,172,463
• COUPLES RETREAT (2009): $107,284,955

Best Supporting A-List Actor Award

This award goes to Christian Bale for 2009's PUBLIC ENEMIES, where he was billed behind Johnny Depp. In previous years, Bale was in 3:10 TO YUMA (billed behind Russell Crowe) and THE PRESTIGE (billed behind Hugh Jackman). Maybe someday, in a movie where he's not playing Batman, Bale will get top billing over other big stars.

 

[23skidoo]

I didn't get a chance to see as many films in the theatre as I had planned. Fortunately the ones I did see I chose wisely:

Watchmen. I know it isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I liked it. I thought it worked well, considering it was supposedly based on an unfilmable book.

Star Trek. I'm glad the film worked out so well. I'm still soured on Trek fandom over how Enterprise was treated (to the point where I no longer call myself a Trekkie). But I'm happy to see Trek has returned, even if it's made a few people upset because certain actors aren't coming back.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. So what if it didn't make any sense and got it's history messed up - it was just a fun movie, with some good jokes, and Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart. Honestly, what more do you want?

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This was my first time seeing a Potter film in the theatre (I was only introduced to the DVDs a couple years ago). I thought it was an OK film, but understood that it was very much a middle-chapter and not intended to be any sort of standalone (even more so than the other films). So I really can't pass judgement on it until the two Deathly Hallows films come out and see how this trilogy fits together.

There were a number of films I wanted to see but never got around to, such as Men Who Stare at Goats and the "blink and you missed it in the theatres" Time-Traveller's Wife. Moon, likewise, never got any play in my neck of the woods and I was quite looking forward to that one. I'll get the DVD.

I'm told Up is a good film, but I never really had the urge to see it in the theatre. I did want to see Monsters vs Aliens because it appealed to my goofy side, but stuff always came up.

As for current/coming soon films, I am interested in Avatar. I am skeptical that it will "change the world" because it really doesn't seem to be as groundbreaking as it might have appeared 5 years ago. But the story sounds interesting and it does look good. I just hope I don't have to put on any silly glasses in the theatre to see it properly - my eyes have a slight astigmatism that renders 3-D glasses inoperative on me. I'm also interested in the Robert Downey Sherlock Holmes movie, but I won't be seeing it till after Christmas most likely. I have a sporting interest in The Road (to see if it comes off anything like the book), but that one I'll save for DVD. Doesn't strike me as a fun time at the flicks.

Alex

 

[Harvey]

I don't think it was as good a year as 2007 or 2008, but there are a lot of Oscar contenders that I haven't seen yet, so we'll see.

My favorites so far: Moon, Adventureland, Inglorious Basterds, The Hurt Locker, and Star Trek.

 

[Kirkman1987]

I really need to see Moon.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

36 Movies I've Seen in 2009:
(12 in each category, in no particular order)

Good:

- Star Trek
- Moon
- District 9
- Inglorious Basterds
- Zombieland
- Watchmen
- Up
- The Hangover
- Public Enemies
- State of Play
- Gran Torino
- The International

Mediocre:

- GI-Joe: The Rise of Cobra
- 2012
- Law Abiding Citizen
- Angels and Demons
- Monsters Vs. Aliens
- Carriers
- Surrogates
- Terminator Salvation
- Funny People
- The Taking of Pelham 123
- Knowing
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Bad:

- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
- Observe and Report
- Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
- Ninja Assassin
- Gamer
- Pandorum
- Push
- Race to Witch Mountain
- Fast and Furious
- Land of the Lost
- Whiteout
- Year One

Best Picture...

... Actual Best, and If I Want to Sound Intellectual:

- Moon

... If I Substitute "Favorite" for "Best":

- Star Trek

Worst Picture

Gamer (Seriously, WTF?)

Most Pleasant Surprises:

- Moon
- District 9
- GI-Joe: The Rise of Cobra (not good, but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be from the trailers)

Biggest Disappointments:

- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
- Land of the Lost
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Movies That Might Have Rated a Little Higher if I Could Actually See What the Hell Was Going On, But Still Sucked:

- Ninja Assassin (Yeah, we get it, ninjas disappear in the shadows, but that's not exactly the best quality for a movie unless your audience has night vision)
- Pandorum

Best Actor/Actress:

- Sam Rockwell in 'Moon'

Best Supporting Actor/Actress:

- Christopher Waltz in 'Inglorious Basterds'

Best Supporting Accent/Sound:

- Wikus' fookin' South African accent in 'District 9'
- Clint Eastwood's frequent groan-grunt in 'Gran Torino'

Best Supporting CGI Actor:

- Christopher the Prawn in 'District 9'

Best Unsupported CGI Actor:

- Dr. Manhattan's Glowing Blue Penis

Worst Supporting Accents/Dialects & CGI Actors:

- The Stereotype Twins in 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'

Spoiler: Best Action Sequences:

- Wikus/Christopher Assault on MNU & Final Battle of 'District 9 (one long sequence basically)
- Guggenheim Shoot-Out from 'The International'
- Destruction of Los Angeles in '2012'
- Attack on Decepticons in Shanghai from 'Transformers' (it went downhill from there)
- John Connor vs. T-100 Arnie Model in Terminator Salvation
- Boarding the Narada & Flight of the Jellyfish in Star Trek
- Snake Eyes vs. Storm Shadow (two fights as adults and one as kids)

^^^ (From District 9, The International, 2012, Transformers, Star Trek, Terminator, and GI-Joe)

 

[JacksonArcher]

Best Supporting A-List Actor Award

This award goes to Christian Bale for 2009's PUBLIC ENEMIES, where he was billed behind Johnny Depp. In previous years, Bale was in 3:10 TO YUMA (billed behind Russell Crowe) and THE PRESTIGE (billed behind Hugh Jackman). Maybe someday, in a movie where he's not playing Batman, Bale will get top billing over other big stars.

He was the top billed actor in Terminator Salvation, but I'd understand if you missed that.

I guess I'll do my Top Five at least until the year is over. Tentatively, they are: Moon, Star Trek, Where The Wild Things Are, District 9 and (500) Days of Summer. I'll hold off on the top ten until the year is over, since I suspect I'll at the very least add The Road and/or The Lovely Bones to that list.

 

[Bad Bishop]

Best Supporting A-List Actor Award

This award goes to Christian Bale for 2009's PUBLIC ENEMIES, where he was billed behind Johnny Depp. In previous years, Bale was in 3:10 TO YUMA (billed behind Russell Crowe) and THE PRESTIGE (billed behind Hugh Jackman). Maybe someday, in a movie where he's not playing Batman, Bale will get top billing over other big stars.

He was the top billed actor in Terminator Salvation, but I'd understand if you missed that.

Terminator Salvation didn't have any major stars besides Bale (and I'm not counting Arnold's digitized appearance in the film).

 

[IndyJones]

Best Supporting A-List Actor Award

This award goes to Christian Bale for 2009's PUBLIC ENEMIES, where he was billed behind Johnny Depp. In previous years, Bale was in 3:10 TO YUMA (billed behind Russell Crowe) and THE PRESTIGE (billed behind Hugh Jackman). Maybe someday, in a movie where he's not playing Batman, Bale will get top billing over other big stars.

He was the top billed actor in Terminator Salvation, but I'd understand if you missed that.

Terminator Salvation didn't have any major stars besides Bale (and I'm not counting Arnold's digitized appearance in the film).

In '87 he was billed before John Malcovich, Joe Pantoliano, Ben Stiller, Miranda Richardson, and Nigel Havers in Empire of the Sun.

 

[Kegg]

Eh, too early yet. I haven't see Bad Lieutenant or that Avatar flick. White Ribbon, A Serious Man, Inglorious Basterds, there were some great times at the cinema to be had.

I'd go so far as to call it a banner year for genre films - District 9 and Star Trek were damn good, and I do hope that Cameron's latest effort doesn't disappoint (though I'll concede it very well might).

My best time was, of course:

I really need to see Moon.

Yes.

You do. I don't mean to hype it overmuch, but it's at least fairly good.

 

[JacksonArcher]

Moon was just phenonemal. I've rarely seen a film so embraced by fans and critics. I really hope it nabs a Best Picture nom, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Greg Cox]

It's all over but Avatar pretty much,

Don't forget SHERLOCK HOLMES . . . .

 

[JacksonArcher]

It's all over but Avatar pretty much,

Don't forget SHERLOCK HOLMES . . . .

What he said. I'm really looking forward to Sherlock Holmes.

 

[DonIago]

I already have pencilled-in plans to see both. I proposed a double-header, but my friend doesn't possess my stamina.

 

[Kegg]

Moon was just phenonemal. I've rarely seen a film so embraced by fans and critics. I really hope it nabs a Best Picture nom, but I'm not holding my breath.

Snowball, hell, and so on.

I've seen people seriously air Star Trek, District 9, and the as-of-yet unreleased Avatar, but that's basically it. Too sci-fi for a token indie nom and too indie for a token sci-fi nom, Moon probably fallen through the cracks and landed in the uncomfortable position of cult classic.

Let's see how Duncan Jones's subsequent films do. Or are; I hope they live up the promise of this spectacular feature.