2009 was a pretty good year for movies. Then again I was super selective of what I saw, so I didn’t catch too many duds. I did miss Anvil: The story of Anvil, Inglourious Basterds, and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
Anvil was a 2008 movie, so that wouldn’t be included in the top 10 of this year anyway, but it was a 5/5. Basterds would be my number 3 movie of this year if I saw it in the theatre. Transformers was ok, but wouldn’t make my top 10 anyway. So basically, here is a list of all 2009 movies I saw in the theatre that are up for debate:
PAUL BLART: MALL COP
UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS
PUSH
FRIDAY THE 13TH (REMAKE)
STREET FIGHTER: THE LEGEND OF CHUN LI
WATCHMEN
12 ROUNDS
KNOWING
DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION
FIGHTING
WOLVERINE
STAR TREK
TERMINATOR SALVATION
THE HANGOVER
PUBLIC ENEMIES
BRUNO
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE
G.I. JOE: RISE OF COBRA
DISTRICT 9
9 (ANIMATED)
LAW ABIDING CITIZEN
MICHAEL JACKSON: THIS IS IT
SAW 6
NINJA ASSASSIN
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
AVATAR
Since I didn’t see very much this year, I will give you my top 5 of the year, in order.
1. Watchmen.
With all that could’ve gone wrong, with an epic story almost un-filmable, and against all odds Zack Snyder and his team pulled it off. A great film worthy of comparison to 2001: A Space Odyssey in terms of depth and storytelling. This is one of the finest films ever made and is my 3rd favourite film of all time, never mind this year. This is what movies are all about. This is what storytelling is all about. Characters, themes, music, dialogue and atmosphere come together to present a great message, several themes, and many in depth looks at the human mind, body and soul and finally admit that human life is a miracle itself. Great job to all who worked on this masterpiece of film making.
2. Avatar.
James Cameron creates another great film. Avatar is nothing short of amazing. Story and visuals come together in this masterpiece of film making that doesn’t overuse its technology just to show you it can. Instead, effects are utilized to create a new world. A world of well thought-out creatures and animals and of a culture not unlike our natives, who depend upon the forest and their environment. They are one with the land in ways that we can never understand. They interact with trees and with animals and have a sense of spirit. The film itself has this same sense of spirit. We are taken in by these people just as the characters in the film are. A great movie that is more than the sum of its parts. Yes the effects are great, yes the 3D is the best to-date, and yes the story is good, but it’s more than just that, there is a magic in this film you don’t find too often, if ever.
3. District 9.
This is a great science fiction film. Science fiction was made to tell this story of how humans treat those who are different. If this film had been shot with humans, instead of ugly aliens, it would be banned in all countries. The film makers here have a great understanding of storytelling, sci-fi and humanity. The lead character goes through a transformation of body and of mind. We know that this has to happen in a movie about a man who treats others like crap, then becomes one of them, but for some reason it never feels forced, and the documentary style of this film really adds to the story. Usually documentary style of shooting annoys me, but here it made the movie feel real. We are totally in the world of this movie and it’s pretty realistic in it’s portrayal of how we would treat visitors to our planet. Good stuff.
4. Fantastic Mr. Fox
Based on the children’s classic by Roald Dahl, Wes Anderson takes this story and does something special with it. Firstly, he uses stop motion animation, a personal favourite of mine, and one that we don’t see too often. Stop motion creates a world of tangible animals that act like people, but are still animals. I know that sounds like a bunch of Dreamworks crap, but it’s really not. The story is amazing (as are Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach and Matilda – other works by the same author), and there is a lot of cute and dry humour in it as well. To me, this is the film of the year for children and a great movie for adults. Thank god they stayed away from pop-culture references and adult humour – which makes it timeless! A real fun movie with some good themes too.
5. Terminator: Salvation.
If you love the Terminator series, then you should like this movie. It continues from the others and still manages to come up with something new. I hate people who drop a franchise just because they feel like it, or when they claim that the latest instalment is not as good as the one that came before it. It’s still good on its own. Is it better than T2, no, is there many movies that are better than T2, NO. So what the hell do you want here? The action is heart-pounding and the story is pretty good. They introduce Marcus – whom I immediately hated, then 5 minutes later, I loved, and he is the new type of terminator – one who doesn’t know he is one! That’s an interesting concept. Skynet keeps sending out machines, but they fail because they think like machines, but Marcus thinks like a man, so it’s man versus man (to an extent, Marcus still has cybernetic parts). I just think it’s a great idea, and that coupled with the action and with so many different style of robots and with Arnold making a CGI guest appearance is enough to say that this movie is worthy of the Terminator franchise. If you truly like the Terminator series, then you should pick this up.
Well that about wraps it up. I could go on and do the next 5 movies in detail, but I wont. The remaining 5 of the top 10 are (in no particular order):
Saw 6, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, 12 Rounds, Knowing and Wolverine.
Other really good ones were 9 and Paul Blart. G.I. Joe would’ve almost made it, but just not good enough.
The big disappointment was Star Trek. If this film wasn’t called Star Trek I may have liked it more, but calling it something that it’s not just doesn’t fly with me and more often than not I was pissed off during the movie. It looks good and its not that bad, but under the name Star Trek you have to do better than that.
Anyway, see you next year.
J-Man.
Anvil was a 2008 movie, so that wouldn’t be included in the top 10 of this year anyway, but it was a 5/5. Basterds would be my number 3 movie of this year if I saw it in the theatre. Transformers was ok, but wouldn’t make my top 10 anyway. So basically, here is a list of all 2009 movies I saw in the theatre that are up for debate:
PAUL BLART: MALL COP
UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS
PUSH
FRIDAY THE 13TH (REMAKE)
STREET FIGHTER: THE LEGEND OF CHUN LI
WATCHMEN
12 ROUNDS
KNOWING
DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION
FIGHTING
WOLVERINE
STAR TREK
TERMINATOR SALVATION
THE HANGOVER
PUBLIC ENEMIES
BRUNO
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE
G.I. JOE: RISE OF COBRA
DISTRICT 9
9 (ANIMATED)
LAW ABIDING CITIZEN
MICHAEL JACKSON: THIS IS IT
SAW 6
NINJA ASSASSIN
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
AVATAR
Since I didn’t see very much this year, I will give you my top 5 of the year, in order.
1. Watchmen.
With all that could’ve gone wrong, with an epic story almost un-filmable, and against all odds Zack Snyder and his team pulled it off. A great film worthy of comparison to 2001: A Space Odyssey in terms of depth and storytelling. This is one of the finest films ever made and is my 3rd favourite film of all time, never mind this year. This is what movies are all about. This is what storytelling is all about. Characters, themes, music, dialogue and atmosphere come together to present a great message, several themes, and many in depth looks at the human mind, body and soul and finally admit that human life is a miracle itself. Great job to all who worked on this masterpiece of film making.
2. Avatar.
James Cameron creates another great film. Avatar is nothing short of amazing. Story and visuals come together in this masterpiece of film making that doesn’t overuse its technology just to show you it can. Instead, effects are utilized to create a new world. A world of well thought-out creatures and animals and of a culture not unlike our natives, who depend upon the forest and their environment. They are one with the land in ways that we can never understand. They interact with trees and with animals and have a sense of spirit. The film itself has this same sense of spirit. We are taken in by these people just as the characters in the film are. A great movie that is more than the sum of its parts. Yes the effects are great, yes the 3D is the best to-date, and yes the story is good, but it’s more than just that, there is a magic in this film you don’t find too often, if ever.
3. District 9.
This is a great science fiction film. Science fiction was made to tell this story of how humans treat those who are different. If this film had been shot with humans, instead of ugly aliens, it would be banned in all countries. The film makers here have a great understanding of storytelling, sci-fi and humanity. The lead character goes through a transformation of body and of mind. We know that this has to happen in a movie about a man who treats others like crap, then becomes one of them, but for some reason it never feels forced, and the documentary style of this film really adds to the story. Usually documentary style of shooting annoys me, but here it made the movie feel real. We are totally in the world of this movie and it’s pretty realistic in it’s portrayal of how we would treat visitors to our planet. Good stuff.
4. Fantastic Mr. Fox
Based on the children’s classic by Roald Dahl, Wes Anderson takes this story and does something special with it. Firstly, he uses stop motion animation, a personal favourite of mine, and one that we don’t see too often. Stop motion creates a world of tangible animals that act like people, but are still animals. I know that sounds like a bunch of Dreamworks crap, but it’s really not. The story is amazing (as are Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach and Matilda – other works by the same author), and there is a lot of cute and dry humour in it as well. To me, this is the film of the year for children and a great movie for adults. Thank god they stayed away from pop-culture references and adult humour – which makes it timeless! A real fun movie with some good themes too.
5. Terminator: Salvation.
If you love the Terminator series, then you should like this movie. It continues from the others and still manages to come up with something new. I hate people who drop a franchise just because they feel like it, or when they claim that the latest instalment is not as good as the one that came before it. It’s still good on its own. Is it better than T2, no, is there many movies that are better than T2, NO. So what the hell do you want here? The action is heart-pounding and the story is pretty good. They introduce Marcus – whom I immediately hated, then 5 minutes later, I loved, and he is the new type of terminator – one who doesn’t know he is one! That’s an interesting concept. Skynet keeps sending out machines, but they fail because they think like machines, but Marcus thinks like a man, so it’s man versus man (to an extent, Marcus still has cybernetic parts). I just think it’s a great idea, and that coupled with the action and with so many different style of robots and with Arnold making a CGI guest appearance is enough to say that this movie is worthy of the Terminator franchise. If you truly like the Terminator series, then you should pick this up.
Well that about wraps it up. I could go on and do the next 5 movies in detail, but I wont. The remaining 5 of the top 10 are (in no particular order):
Saw 6, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, 12 Rounds, Knowing and Wolverine.
Other really good ones were 9 and Paul Blart. G.I. Joe would’ve almost made it, but just not good enough.
The big disappointment was Star Trek. If this film wasn’t called Star Trek I may have liked it more, but calling it something that it’s not just doesn’t fly with me and more often than not I was pissed off during the movie. It looks good and its not that bad, but under the name Star Trek you have to do better than that.
Anyway, see you next year.
J-Man.
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