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The Best Films of 2009...
CatrelStevens
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
... according to me, of course. 2009 was a pretty fucking good year for film. Anyone telling you differently just hasn't been looking hard enough. I'm just gonna give my short commentary. Plots you can watch the linked trailers for or look up your damned selves. Feel free to add your lists.
My Top 20:
20. Adventureland - A surprisingly heartfelt and compelling movie. The characters and their relationships feel real and believably developed, and while the comedy isn't as constant as Superbad, it definitely highlights the story of maturity quite well. Great pacing too.
Trailer
19. Castaway on the Moon - A much wider-reaching film than you would expect, given its sharp narrative focus. The parallels between the two Kim's lives are explored really well. Quite funny too. While one Kim struggles through humanity's past development towards the achievements of modern life (black bean noodles), the other wrestles with the tech and ease of modern fantasy she has completely replaced life with. (Life overlooked is life unlived?) The ending is too dragged out and cliched, unfortunately.
Trailer
18. The Hangover - There are a lot of jokes douchebags'll like in this film. But behind that are also some pretty damn good, meaty laughs as well. Zach Galifianakis carries his role really well, and brings a quirkiness that is at times endearing, and at times seriously dark. Ken Jeong is great as always in his small role. Some of the writing can feel a bit forced at times, but, like Role Models, the film shines in the acting.
Trailer
17. The White Ribbon - Tension and suspense of a much different sort than The Hurt Locker. A long running time of people being horrible to each other, which certainly isn't a bad thing when handled by a director like Haneke. The acting is awesome, the contrast... unsettling, and the mysteries of the plot reminded me of a darker, wider-reaching, and more sinister version of The Draughtsman's Contract. The length did, unfortunately, start to wear on me, though that may have been a circumstance of the viewing (festivals are hectic).
Trailer
16. The Hurt Locker - Excellent directing and acting. The tension and suspense in several scenes are thick as hell. Does really well to show how this type of combat situation wears on soldiers' minds. Best Iraq War film hands down, and probably the best war film, period, I've seen in quite a while. Yes it's unrealistic. It's a hyperbolized character study, and a great one at that.
Trailer
15. Bruno - The social commentary this project makes seems more effective than in Borat. Some obviously staged scenes and story development are more than made up for with the painfully authentic pieces. While there's a lot of shock for shock's sake, it's all handled in a blatantly comedic fashion. Those driven blindly by fame are equally as lampooned as homophobes in this. Bruno's TV pilot test screening and baby photoshoot are phenomenal.
Trailer
14. Precious - A powerful, ambitious, and blunt film. Mo'Nique puts on a very brave and strong performance, but the star, Gabby Sidibe is even more impressive. This movie deals with very painful issues in a very raw manner, but offers reprieves in some good jokes and Precious's own escapist dream sequences. (Although, her fantasies become more devastating when they are rooted in the real events of her life.) The story is well-scripted, save for the occasional reliance on narration. While overall uplifting, the film will take you through incredibly rough scenes to demonstrate the indomitable human spirit. Loses points for some heavy-handedness and cliches in places.
Trailer
13. Cow - This dark comedy has a pretty blunt message: war is dehumanizing. How it goes about telling you this, however, is really entertaining. Like most East Asian dark comedies, the humor and emotion are thoroughly interwoven through the story. The acting is really good, and the director makes excellent use of a gray-dominant color scheme. At one point, they do have the biggest cliche in animals-in-movies-history:
Trailer
12. District 9 - A really effective and affective sci-fi piece and blunt social commentary... sometimes too blunt. The film's three acts seem pretty disjointed from each other, like each a different genre, but you are intrigued and enjoying almost every minute of it. The CGI is excellent, and the violence/gore surprisingly refreshing. Not perfect, but really, really good. (The plot and action in the third act is really formulaic, but fun to see unfold.)
Trailer
11. A Prophet - A mix between Pusher and The Godfather. The acting and directing were superb, especially in the action/violent scenes, which can often be jarringly realistic and suspenseful. I'm pretty sure there were more metaphorical, thematic overtones that I missed because it was another long-ish film in a long day at the festival, but the actors' performances and some of the directorial choices still really stick with me.
Trailer
10. Mother - A very effective murder mystery that delves deep into character and carries a lot more emotion than you would expect. Typical of Joon-ho Bong: the cinematography is great, overt and subtle comedy is peppered throughout, and a lot of characters do strange or over-the-top things out of grief. The theme of ignorance, both willful and otherwise is looked at pretty closely. Hye-ja Kim does incredibly well in the titular lead role. Her concern for her son is believable and palpable, making the final act of the film all the more crushing.
Trailer
9. Tales from the Golden Age - Several short films by several Romanian directors adapted from popular urban myths in the terrible, final years of the Chochescu era of the Romanian Communist regime. The official website summarizes the stories the best:
Teaser Full Trailer
8. Moon - Superb acting. After the first act gets the reveal out of the way, the film gets much more engrossing watching the personal interactions and introspection. To quote theficionado "existential paranoia and Cartesian horror... sanctity of memory" are issues you will be faced with, and not bored by, in Moon. Some really cool shots and GERTY is way too compelling. Very impressive for a debut film.
Trailer
7. Bronson - A wonderful method of exploring such a fascinating persona: give him the receptive, empathetic audience he's always wanted. Terrific, nuanced acting, and I loved everything about the character. The score also ensures that you feel what Bronson wants you to feel as you watch his tale unfold. I want to use the term "nihilistic revelry," but that lacks the seemingly "good-natured fun" aspect Bronson finds in his violent antics. Just a great film.
Trailer
6. Brothers Bloom - Cons are stories. A film is a story. A film about cons and story-telling is a story about stories, or maybe it's a con about story-telling. But that's been done, hasn't it? What if the story itself is a con? Who's the mark? Regardless, this is an impressive film. Johnson's crafting of narrative and character, on multiple levels, is very skilled. The acting is at the least adequate, but the characters are definitely lots of fun. Production design is great, and pushes the film's themes even further. Ask yourself, every scene, whose narrative you're watching, and who's being conned, because I think it changes and evolves as the audience's understanding does.
Trailer
5. Antichrist - Incredibly allegorical. This is a story of ambiguous and ancient archetypes. It actualizes traditional, and maybe even esoteric, Christian teachings about the female body and condition, that the creative power of woman is to be feared as much as revered. "Nature is Satan's church" is an apt summation of this film's themes, extending Satan's poisonous touch from nature through to Mother Nature, to the mother herself. A lot is going on in this film, and the cinematography is beautiful and haunting. The digital camera is occasionally jarring, but you quickly forget about it with what's happening on screen.
Trailer
4. Black Dynamite - Somewhere in the middle of this film, it drags a little. Now that I've made that clear, fucking forget it, because this is a magnificent genre parody almost on the level of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. If you ever liked ANYTHING about Blaxploitation films, you owe it to yourself to see this. A lot of hilarity and meta-ness throughout, and the final scenes are just incredible. I won't spoil the main showdown, but it fucking works on a lot of levels.
Trailer
3. Thirst - Park is still in amazing form. I loved everything about this film. His visual composition, music, and sound design are all superb yet again. The main characters are existentially tortured and desperate in their own ways. Religious and moral bargaining, faith, vengeance, redemption, humanity, and sacrifice are all explored with alternating humor, repulsion, and indulgence. Funny, beautiful, suspenseful, deep, violent, and fulfilling. See it. Forgetting for a second that it's an adaptation of Emile Zola's Thérèse Raquin, America doesn't know what the fuck a vampire movie is.
Trailer
2. Inglourious Basterds - Tarantino returns to the top of his game in this epic, WWII-transplanted pseudo-western about the power of performance and cinema. There are a few missteps peppered throughout (narration or a soundtrack choice here, slow-mo shot there, maybe a tasteless insert), but almost everything else is crafted with surprising, acute attention to thematic, metaphorical, and cinematic detail. This is Tarantino's dissertation on the rhetorical strength film, as a medium, holds in society, and it is FILLED with exquisite filmmaking to drive the point home.
Trailer
1. A Serious Man - The Coen brothers are incredible storytellers. There are layers upon layers in this hilarious, simultaneously bleak, yet life-affirming parable. When I say parable, I mean it. Themes of perspective, abstract wisdom vs. applied knowledge, action/inaction, god's plans, possibility, acceptance, religious bargaining, and much, much more are deftly explored through a myriad of awesome scenes. The acting throughout is absolutely incredible, and, as usual, the Coens' cinematography is impressive. If you like anything Coen, see this ASAP! Schrodinger's cat. Think about it, people! </Andy Kindler>
Trailer
Honorable Mention:
Grace - A smarter, more developed, layered, and exploratory version of À l'intérieur [Inside]. What that film did for wince-inducing violence/gore and advancing parallels of the home and womb, this film does for metaphors of the act of mothering, giving/sustaining life, and dealing with loss. Every character in this is quite creepy, dealing with loss in their own flawed way, yet they all think they strive for what's best for everyone. Great for a debut film.
Trailer
Taken - The script is ridiculous. There, I said it. But Liam Neeson, despite his age, is a damn charismatic hardass death-dealer. The cinematography is effective, the sound design visceral, and Neeson's lines too damn quotable (probably just because of the voice). It's fun, like a "more serious" version of Crank.
Trailer
Observe and Report - Don't go into this looking for a comedy; it's a dark, bleak, spiraling character piece ala Taxi Driver that has some solid jokes thrown in. Though the humor is few and far between, the absurdity and intensity of Rogen's character while he plays one of the biggest assholes in cinema history is a good bit of funny. An uneven piece for sure, except that almost all of the characters are pretty despicable.
Trailer
World's Greatest Dad - Very formulaic structure (except for a major end of act one twist,) and somewhat hollow, tacked-on ending. That being said, the dark subject matter and emotional honesty are refreshing, and Goldthwait is a competent director. The humor is uneven, but the unfunny parts generally carry enough emotional weight to keep you interested. Williams and Sabara are both pretty good, and the comedian cameos are fun to spot if you're in the know. Goldthwait's cameo is under-stated and surprisingly hilarious (to me). Don't spoil this one before seeing it.
Trailer
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - A joke flies at you every few seconds. They certainly aren't all funny, but there's enough of so many types that you're bound to laugh at a good chunk of them (including somewhat meta-jokes about the genre as a whole). The story is as straight-forward as they come, but for a children's movie that's expected. The voice actors bring a lot to their roles, making jokes with their delivery alone from time-to-time.
Trailer
Ninja Assassin - This is a modern ninja action B-movie to end all modern ninja action B-movies. A writer was hired six weeks before shooting to completely rewrite the script, and he did in 53 hours. The result is the most cliched piece of action cinema ever. If you accept from the beginning that none of the plot or dialog can be taken seriously (which is very easy to do), this instantly becomes a ridiculously gory and violent ninja action romp, complete with ninja magic, impossible weaponry, and super rare, story-relevant anatomical abnormalities identical in multiple people. A lot of fun with young adult friends and intoxicants.
Trailer
Knowing - Some great visual compositions and directing by Proyas. Cage does fairly well in the role. Heavy religious imagery, but everything is ambiguous enough that viewers can draw several conclusions if they want to. Unfortunately, not everything was left myserious enough, and the denouement ruins a lot of the roomy ambiguity. Proyas needs more work with better scripts. This is almost worth the price of a rental just for the plane crash sequence.
Trailer
Police, Adjective - This is a really challenging film. It is very minimalist and very slowly paced. That said, the more the dialogue scenes play with meaning, intent, focus, perspective, roles an duties, etc. the more it seems like the quiet, voyeuristic, surveillance bits were gaining meaning. What that meaning was, I'm not sure. The scene near the end where the protagonist finally has a meeting with the chief and his partner had me almost crying with laughter and many others walking out of the theater in a confused, agitated huff. There's definitely something in this film, but I'm afraid to revisit it, thinking I might just end up hating it.
Trailer
Hunger - Ok, technically this is a 2008 film, which is the only reason it's not in my top 20 above. But Criterion is only now getting it a DVD/Blu-ray release next month. This is an intense, emotional, beautifully shot and acted film. There's very little dialog save for a 20 minute, one-take scene in the middle. Dedicated, powerhouse performances and excellent, under-stated storytelling and character development.
Trailer
This certainly isn't a comprehensive list, as I didn't get around to everything that was (allegedly) supposed to be good, hehe. What are your guys' opinions or favorite films from '09?
My Top 20:
20. Adventureland - A surprisingly heartfelt and compelling movie. The characters and their relationships feel real and believably developed, and while the comedy isn't as constant as Superbad, it definitely highlights the story of maturity quite well. Great pacing too.
Trailer
19. Castaway on the Moon - A much wider-reaching film than you would expect, given its sharp narrative focus. The parallels between the two Kim's lives are explored really well. Quite funny too. While one Kim struggles through humanity's past development towards the achievements of modern life (black bean noodles), the other wrestles with the tech and ease of modern fantasy she has completely replaced life with. (Life overlooked is life unlived?) The ending is too dragged out and cliched, unfortunately.
Trailer
18. The Hangover - There are a lot of jokes douchebags'll like in this film. But behind that are also some pretty damn good, meaty laughs as well. Zach Galifianakis carries his role really well, and brings a quirkiness that is at times endearing, and at times seriously dark. Ken Jeong is great as always in his small role. Some of the writing can feel a bit forced at times, but, like Role Models, the film shines in the acting.
Trailer
17. The White Ribbon - Tension and suspense of a much different sort than The Hurt Locker. A long running time of people being horrible to each other, which certainly isn't a bad thing when handled by a director like Haneke. The acting is awesome, the contrast... unsettling, and the mysteries of the plot reminded me of a darker, wider-reaching, and more sinister version of The Draughtsman's Contract. The length did, unfortunately, start to wear on me, though that may have been a circumstance of the viewing (festivals are hectic).
Trailer
16. The Hurt Locker - Excellent directing and acting. The tension and suspense in several scenes are thick as hell. Does really well to show how this type of combat situation wears on soldiers' minds. Best Iraq War film hands down, and probably the best war film, period, I've seen in quite a while. Yes it's unrealistic. It's a hyperbolized character study, and a great one at that.
Trailer
15. Bruno - The social commentary this project makes seems more effective than in Borat. Some obviously staged scenes and story development are more than made up for with the painfully authentic pieces. While there's a lot of shock for shock's sake, it's all handled in a blatantly comedic fashion. Those driven blindly by fame are equally as lampooned as homophobes in this. Bruno's TV pilot test screening and baby photoshoot are phenomenal.
Trailer
14. Precious - A powerful, ambitious, and blunt film. Mo'Nique puts on a very brave and strong performance, but the star, Gabby Sidibe is even more impressive. This movie deals with very painful issues in a very raw manner, but offers reprieves in some good jokes and Precious's own escapist dream sequences. (Although, her fantasies become more devastating when they are rooted in the real events of her life.) The story is well-scripted, save for the occasional reliance on narration. While overall uplifting, the film will take you through incredibly rough scenes to demonstrate the indomitable human spirit. Loses points for some heavy-handedness and cliches in places.
Trailer
13. Cow - This dark comedy has a pretty blunt message: war is dehumanizing. How it goes about telling you this, however, is really entertaining. Like most East Asian dark comedies, the humor and emotion are thoroughly interwoven through the story. The acting is really good, and the director makes excellent use of a gray-dominant color scheme. At one point, they do have the biggest cliche in animals-in-movies-history:
animals cry tears when their human friends are in trouble!
But everything else with the cow is really enjoyable.Trailer
12. District 9 - A really effective and affective sci-fi piece and blunt social commentary... sometimes too blunt. The film's three acts seem pretty disjointed from each other, like each a different genre, but you are intrigued and enjoying almost every minute of it. The CGI is excellent, and the violence/gore surprisingly refreshing. Not perfect, but really, really good. (The plot and action in the third act is really formulaic, but fun to see unfold.)
Trailer
11. A Prophet - A mix between Pusher and The Godfather. The acting and directing were superb, especially in the action/violent scenes, which can often be jarringly realistic and suspenseful. I'm pretty sure there were more metaphorical, thematic overtones that I missed because it was another long-ish film in a long day at the festival, but the actors' performances and some of the directorial choices still really stick with me.
Trailer
10. Mother - A very effective murder mystery that delves deep into character and carries a lot more emotion than you would expect. Typical of Joon-ho Bong: the cinematography is great, overt and subtle comedy is peppered throughout, and a lot of characters do strange or over-the-top things out of grief. The theme of ignorance, both willful and otherwise is looked at pretty closely. Hye-ja Kim does incredibly well in the titular lead role. Her concern for her son is believable and palpable, making the final act of the film all the more crushing.
Trailer
9. Tales from the Golden Age - Several short films by several Romanian directors adapted from popular urban myths in the terrible, final years of the Chochescu era of the Romanian Communist regime. The official website summarizes the stories the best:
This is a wonderful rendering of interesting tales. They are all loaded with metaphors for various aspects of the contemporary failing communist regime. The first (... Official Visit) is easily the best: tightly directed and edited, with a lot of humor and fun character. ... Party Photographer and ... Greedy Policeman are almost as great in their own styles. The remaining two meander and are paced much slower, with less to keep your attention, but certainly aren't bad.On the occasion of Ceausescu's working visits, countryside mayors ended up hanging fruit in trees to make sure their villages would be noticed, obeying even the strangest orders from the ferocious Party activists.
Communist Party secret regulations stated that in official pictures President Ceausescu couldn't take his hat off in front of the representatives of the rotten capitalistic world, President d'Estaing included.
A professional driver decides to open his sealed truck for the first time in his career and discovers the connection between eggs, Easter and marital love.
A policeman gets a live pig as gift before Christmas and decides that gas poisoning would be the best way to kill the animal silently amongst his hungry neighbors.
In the 80s Romania, Bughi and Crina play Bonnie and Clyde, robbing people of bottled air.
Teaser Full Trailer
8. Moon - Superb acting. After the first act gets the reveal out of the way, the film gets much more engrossing watching the personal interactions and introspection. To quote theficionado "existential paranoia and Cartesian horror... sanctity of memory" are issues you will be faced with, and not bored by, in Moon. Some really cool shots and GERTY is way too compelling. Very impressive for a debut film.
Trailer
7. Bronson - A wonderful method of exploring such a fascinating persona: give him the receptive, empathetic audience he's always wanted. Terrific, nuanced acting, and I loved everything about the character. The score also ensures that you feel what Bronson wants you to feel as you watch his tale unfold. I want to use the term "nihilistic revelry," but that lacks the seemingly "good-natured fun" aspect Bronson finds in his violent antics. Just a great film.
Trailer
6. Brothers Bloom - Cons are stories. A film is a story. A film about cons and story-telling is a story about stories, or maybe it's a con about story-telling. But that's been done, hasn't it? What if the story itself is a con? Who's the mark? Regardless, this is an impressive film. Johnson's crafting of narrative and character, on multiple levels, is very skilled. The acting is at the least adequate, but the characters are definitely lots of fun. Production design is great, and pushes the film's themes even further. Ask yourself, every scene, whose narrative you're watching, and who's being conned, because I think it changes and evolves as the audience's understanding does.
Trailer
5. Antichrist - Incredibly allegorical. This is a story of ambiguous and ancient archetypes. It actualizes traditional, and maybe even esoteric, Christian teachings about the female body and condition, that the creative power of woman is to be feared as much as revered. "Nature is Satan's church" is an apt summation of this film's themes, extending Satan's poisonous touch from nature through to Mother Nature, to the mother herself. A lot is going on in this film, and the cinematography is beautiful and haunting. The digital camera is occasionally jarring, but you quickly forget about it with what's happening on screen.
Trailer
4. Black Dynamite - Somewhere in the middle of this film, it drags a little. Now that I've made that clear, fucking forget it, because this is a magnificent genre parody almost on the level of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. If you ever liked ANYTHING about Blaxploitation films, you owe it to yourself to see this. A lot of hilarity and meta-ness throughout, and the final scenes are just incredible. I won't spoil the main showdown, but it fucking works on a lot of levels.
Trailer
3. Thirst - Park is still in amazing form. I loved everything about this film. His visual composition, music, and sound design are all superb yet again. The main characters are existentially tortured and desperate in their own ways. Religious and moral bargaining, faith, vengeance, redemption, humanity, and sacrifice are all explored with alternating humor, repulsion, and indulgence. Funny, beautiful, suspenseful, deep, violent, and fulfilling. See it. Forgetting for a second that it's an adaptation of Emile Zola's Thérèse Raquin, America doesn't know what the fuck a vampire movie is.
Trailer
2. Inglourious Basterds - Tarantino returns to the top of his game in this epic, WWII-transplanted pseudo-western about the power of performance and cinema. There are a few missteps peppered throughout (narration or a soundtrack choice here, slow-mo shot there, maybe a tasteless insert), but almost everything else is crafted with surprising, acute attention to thematic, metaphorical, and cinematic detail. This is Tarantino's dissertation on the rhetorical strength film, as a medium, holds in society, and it is FILLED with exquisite filmmaking to drive the point home.
Trailer
1. A Serious Man - The Coen brothers are incredible storytellers. There are layers upon layers in this hilarious, simultaneously bleak, yet life-affirming parable. When I say parable, I mean it. Themes of perspective, abstract wisdom vs. applied knowledge, action/inaction, god's plans, possibility, acceptance, religious bargaining, and much, much more are deftly explored through a myriad of awesome scenes. The acting throughout is absolutely incredible, and, as usual, the Coens' cinematography is impressive. If you like anything Coen, see this ASAP! Schrodinger's cat. Think about it, people! </Andy Kindler>
Trailer
Honorable Mention:
Grace - A smarter, more developed, layered, and exploratory version of À l'intérieur [Inside]. What that film did for wince-inducing violence/gore and advancing parallels of the home and womb, this film does for metaphors of the act of mothering, giving/sustaining life, and dealing with loss. Every character in this is quite creepy, dealing with loss in their own flawed way, yet they all think they strive for what's best for everyone. Great for a debut film.
Trailer
Taken - The script is ridiculous. There, I said it. But Liam Neeson, despite his age, is a damn charismatic hardass death-dealer. The cinematography is effective, the sound design visceral, and Neeson's lines too damn quotable (probably just because of the voice). It's fun, like a "more serious" version of Crank.
Trailer
Observe and Report - Don't go into this looking for a comedy; it's a dark, bleak, spiraling character piece ala Taxi Driver that has some solid jokes thrown in. Though the humor is few and far between, the absurdity and intensity of Rogen's character while he plays one of the biggest assholes in cinema history is a good bit of funny. An uneven piece for sure, except that almost all of the characters are pretty despicable.
Trailer
World's Greatest Dad - Very formulaic structure (except for a major end of act one twist,) and somewhat hollow, tacked-on ending. That being said, the dark subject matter and emotional honesty are refreshing, and Goldthwait is a competent director. The humor is uneven, but the unfunny parts generally carry enough emotional weight to keep you interested. Williams and Sabara are both pretty good, and the comedian cameos are fun to spot if you're in the know. Goldthwait's cameo is under-stated and surprisingly hilarious (to me). Don't spoil this one before seeing it.
Trailer
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - A joke flies at you every few seconds. They certainly aren't all funny, but there's enough of so many types that you're bound to laugh at a good chunk of them (including somewhat meta-jokes about the genre as a whole). The story is as straight-forward as they come, but for a children's movie that's expected. The voice actors bring a lot to their roles, making jokes with their delivery alone from time-to-time.
Trailer
Ninja Assassin - This is a modern ninja action B-movie to end all modern ninja action B-movies. A writer was hired six weeks before shooting to completely rewrite the script, and he did in 53 hours. The result is the most cliched piece of action cinema ever. If you accept from the beginning that none of the plot or dialog can be taken seriously (which is very easy to do), this instantly becomes a ridiculously gory and violent ninja action romp, complete with ninja magic, impossible weaponry, and super rare, story-relevant anatomical abnormalities identical in multiple people. A lot of fun with young adult friends and intoxicants.
Trailer
Knowing - Some great visual compositions and directing by Proyas. Cage does fairly well in the role. Heavy religious imagery, but everything is ambiguous enough that viewers can draw several conclusions if they want to. Unfortunately, not everything was left myserious enough, and the denouement ruins a lot of the roomy ambiguity. Proyas needs more work with better scripts. This is almost worth the price of a rental just for the plane crash sequence.
Trailer
Police, Adjective - This is a really challenging film. It is very minimalist and very slowly paced. That said, the more the dialogue scenes play with meaning, intent, focus, perspective, roles an duties, etc. the more it seems like the quiet, voyeuristic, surveillance bits were gaining meaning. What that meaning was, I'm not sure. The scene near the end where the protagonist finally has a meeting with the chief and his partner had me almost crying with laughter and many others walking out of the theater in a confused, agitated huff. There's definitely something in this film, but I'm afraid to revisit it, thinking I might just end up hating it.
Trailer
Hunger - Ok, technically this is a 2008 film, which is the only reason it's not in my top 20 above. But Criterion is only now getting it a DVD/Blu-ray release next month. This is an intense, emotional, beautifully shot and acted film. There's very little dialog save for a 20 minute, one-take scene in the middle. Dedicated, powerhouse performances and excellent, under-stated storytelling and character development.
Trailer
This certainly isn't a comprehensive list, as I didn't get around to everything that was (allegedly) supposed to be good, hehe. What are your guys' opinions or favorite films from '09?
CatrelStevens on
0
Posts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-cIjPOJdFM
Woody Harrelson is so awesome in this, and so is the unlisted guest appearance.
Up - Its main strength lies in the opening ten minutes, but it's strong overall. Good humour and mind boggling pretty.
Trailer
Coraline - Quite different from what's provided by Pixar and their ilk, and all the more refreshing for it. Well crafted animation and set building, while darker than the usual animated fare of Hollywood.
Teaser Trailer, because the main trailer spoils a big plot point
The Secret of Kells - From Irish studio Cartoon Saloon. Stuffed with scenery porn, and an important exploration of the importance of culture in times of darkness.
Trailer
Fantastic Mr Fox - I had all the Roald Dahl books as a child, and have gone to see every movie about them. This is perhaps the most different to the original source, but definately good in its own right by expanding the secondary cast a lot, as well as adding more to the story.
Trailer
Princess and the Frog hasn't come out here yet, so I can't comment.
Brief Interviews With Hideous Men (competent adaptation of some of the best short stories ever written)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfdMQJ_BevM
Where The Wild Things Are (strong portrait of a child character, though the script is a little heavy-handed and, well, novelistic)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01-PqqifyjA
Also, it's worth mentioning again that in addition to everything else Antichrist is incredibly disturbing and violent. I couldn't watch it through.
Let's not forget Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea. A heartwarming film with similarities to Miyazaki's older masterpiece My Neighbor Totoro. With a magnificent cast consisting of Liam Neeson, Tina Fey, Matt Damon and Cate Blanchett, it's apparent that Disney isn't underestimating the appeal of Studio Ghibli.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BfNtYF94cQ
Oh, and another honorable mention I forgot: Bart Got a Room - This is a pretty refreshing independent, PG-13 "teen" comedy. It's got Alia Shawkat (Maeby from Arrested Development), half of the comedy-folksinging duet Garfunkel & Oates, a comedy actor that got noticed with his movie reenactments filmed in his mom's basement (Brandon Hardesty), and William H. Macy in a Jew-fro. Using elderly, retired, Jewish Florida as a backdrop for a coming-of-age story was almost brilliant in-and-of itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVUboTt_lfk
go see broken embraces if you can, it's one of my absolute favourites from 2009 along with up in the air, the road, hurt locker, the last station, zombieland, the basterds, and moon. me and orson welles wasn't too bad either!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IApuTyhNW_E
I'd add these to the fairly comprehensive list you've created
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWkx9m3x-ak
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUQbmFAE5WI
If it isn't nominated, someone will die.
Avatar - looked incredible, even if some other aspects weren't done as well
Zombieland - hilarious, and I like zombie/end of the world movies
District 9 - great sci-fi movie (another thing I'm a sucker for!); I dunno what exactly I liked about it, it was just all good.
Taken was good, too, but I liked those three more. I wanted to put Gran Torino on the list, but I guess it came out in 2008; I only saw it 2 or 3 months ago. Also, I haven't seen a few popular movies from 2009 yet, like Hurt Locker.
Yeah, this has been a pretty good year.
I think I'll see if I can find Castaways on the Moon and Thirst too.
I'm sorry, no This movie was awful. Awful awful awful awful awful.
Here's the message it sends to children: be a dick, have an adventure, realize everything is awful everywhere, go home to mom, get cake.
Terrible.
I tell people this and they say it's not a children's movie, to which I reply, who the fuck is it for then? It's not whimsical, it's angry and sad and mean and everyone in it hates one another.
There are people who are obsessed with this movie and book like there are people obsessed with Harry Potter. I'm all for a little fandom, but jesus christ, at least pick something a little more substansive than a fucking 17 page book. There were people howling. HOWLING in my theater, dressed as the 8 year old boy in the movie. At least four or five of them.
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sometimes it's scary to be a kid. you're angry and sad and ecstatic at the flip of a switch but you don't really understand why. adults are fascinating and scary, because they seem to know everything you don't.
really, it's an extremely profound film about childhood and I really think you just completely missed the point of it. yes, it is angry and sad and mean, because that's what kids are sometimes. it's also full of love and hope and craziness, because kids are those things too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWkx9m3x-ak
Is exactly the way to make a trailer. Some great movies have bad trailers, some bad movies have amazing trailers. Star Trek is a great movie with the best trailer.
Hurt Locker and Inglorious Basterds for me. honestly shocked to see Taken called "fantastic" but whatever everyone has their own taste.
I missed a lot this year.
Where the Wild Things Are was easily my biggest disappointment. If Hostel and its ilk are torture porn, WtWA was neurosis porn. There's no purpose or structure to it except to plumb petty anxieties. I imagine that if I were to take a severely depressed and suicidal teenager, lock both of us in Sartre's No Exit, and then eat some mushrooms, the experience would be comparable in fun and charm to WtWA.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
I heard it was horrible even my friends of mine who are action B-movie fanatics.
Watchmen needs to be on the list...
That's Spike Jonze for you.
I'm really conflicted on Up. It was great at eliciting emotion, but I was bored for a good portion of the movie and it only had two interesting characters, one of which was not there for 90% of the movie.
You and HamHam need to hang out sometime.
Where the Wild Things Are was definitely a disappointment. But, Up, while boring in a few places, was still a pretty good movie.
The thing about Taken is that it knows exactly what it is, and it delivers what it is very well.
It was definitely highly entertaining, and pretty satisfying.
hahaha oh my god.
I liked Watchmen because I liked the comic. not nearly deserving of that list.
I'm inclined to believe Adventureland deserves a spot without having seen it because of reviews I've heard.
Bruno I didn't really like, felt too staged when I was in it for the reality hidden camera type stuff but that's just me.
It was okay, I thought. It did a lot of things I've wanted to see done with ninjas and modern special effects, but it missed a lot of chances to really be spectacular.
but it is still very basic, simple, takes no chances what so ever... it's one thing to like it and have fun with it, I don't see how it deserve being considered best of the year.
It's a competent action movie, but with Alan Moore's story and characters to flesh it out.
That said, there are a lot of movies I haven't gotten around to seeing yet.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
No, it's really awful. So bad I had to shut it off.
Well it depends on what we're talking about.
If we're talking about films that are actually "good", then no, Taken definitely doesn't make the list. If we're talking about what we personally found entertaining, it would definitely be on my list.
I really liked the way they filmed Watchmen, so, the cinematography. I enjoyed the story and was thoroughly engrossed.
I stopped watching Adventureland after the first 20 minutes. Too many cliches. I became annoyed and sh*t on the DVD.
I didn't feel I could really understand Bruno without having a dildo shoved up my a**. Since there were no dildos available, I thought it was too crude and artificially sensational.
I don't know that I can separate it from how much I love the book, which is why I said what I said. so many people thought it was bad or just decent that I'd be hesitant to praise it so highly.
but that's just how I look at things. I had a lot of fun with it and have watched it several times on cable already. granted I haven't seen enough movies this year to make a list of 25 and not include watchmen so maybe I just spoke to soon
on watchmen, I agree I actually liked it, my post right above this explains my position and I definitely may have spoken like a silly goose.
I haven't seen adventureland so I can't speak to that, but I've heard great things from people I trust so I want to check it out even still.
don't quite get the Bruno statement there but, allllright, I didn't really like it either.
It's pretty great after that though.
@Nova: I don't think the end was about saving the world...so much as the lengths heroes will go to do so. And in a sense what it means to be a hero.
At the end of a day, how good I consider a film to be is going to be how much it entertains or moves me. Anything else just seems dishonest to me.