2009 Movielist

Well it has been a while since I last did this. But I think it is a worthwhile to note the passage of time. So here are all the movies from 2009 that I watched, thrown into four categories with reviews/explanations when required. Please tell me what I missed out on, and what I have all wrong.

Group A: The Cream of the Crop

Inglorious Bastards: The opening scene just rips you into the movie. Also, I loved the scene when Shoshanna is getting ready for the premiere with “Cat People” by Bowie rocking in the background.

Up in the Air: Great themes, rather important to think about at this point in my life. The three leads all develop throughout the movie, and they are all awesome.

Let the Right One In: While this Norwegian movie was released in 2008, it came out in the US last year. Really fun coming-of-age/vampire story.

Avatar IMAX 3-D: While I don’t want to put this movie here, the 3-D IMAX experience really did feel different than other movies. The effects were (for the most part) not distracting. Also, I really like Sam Worthington. He was playing the same role he played in Terminator: Salvation, which will appear later in this list (much later).

Group B: Enjoyable Movies

Star Trek: While I’m not a big trek nerd, I certainly enjoyed this movie. The whole time travel thing is a bit absurd, but oh well, everything else was just great fun.

District 9: Setting this movie in South Africa certainly hammers home the theme. I really enjoyed the look and feel of everything for the first 30 minutes or so, but then as the movie went on, it just seemed a bit off. Maybe it was just my dislike for the lead, Sharlto Copley.

The Hangover: I saw this movie a bit late, so for me it was a bit overhyped. Then again, it was with one Chris Goodson and a bottle of blended whiskey, and it was certainly the funniest movie I saw this year, but I don’t see many comedies. Mike Tyson!!!

Up: I found the opening sequence about the main character’s life, love, dreams, and death, was completely gut wrenching. Maybe too much so, because everything else that happened in the movie not involving his wife just seemed irrelevant to me.

Revanche: Some people are suckers for coming of age movies, but I’m always game for a revenge movie. This is not losing all rationality, scorched earth revenge movie, but more your exploration of all sides of revenge and how we handle the consequences of our previous actions. Ms. Link you are missed here in DC as an E Street movie partner.

Moon: This is just a well done SciFi movie. Sam Rockwell was great in the lead. Short and to the point taking some interesting twists on well trodden ideas.

Group C: Just Missed the Mark

Bruno: Going to see this with Lukas, Alex and the other PARC folks at IJCAI was certianly a fun interruption of the confernce proceedings.

Watchmen: The opening scene was good fun, and I really like the look and feel of the movie. But the story did not work for me as comic, and it did not work for me on the big screen.

The Internationalist: My “End the Fed” friends were jokingly calling about this movie, a documentary, well before it came out. But if we are working with Clive Owen and banks, I’ll take “The Inside Man” any day.

Public Enemies: Katrina and I’s first blu-ray movie at home. I loved the shots of Chicago, and there is never anything bad about Michael Mann doing bank robberies and shoot outs. But as I watch the movie, I really didn’t feel connected to any of the characters (one could say that was because I knew the outcome, but I don’t think that is the whole story).

Thirst: Chan-wook Park’s take on a vampire movie with a touch of religion thrown in for good measure. I had high hopes, but if you are going to see one of Park’s movie (and you really should if you have not), start with J.S.A., then get into his revenge trilogy (Old Boy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, and Lady Vengeance)

Rain: Saw with Alex and Katrina at the DC film fest. A good coming of age story dealing with Caribbean island culture and poverty. I just felt like the filmmaker was trying to throw as many contemporary local issues as possible taking away from the story.

Food Inc: This documentary attacks the food supply of the United States. While an issue I care about and follow from time to time, I just felt that this was such an agenda movie that did not really get to much in the realities of the world.

Fast & Furious: Got to see this one down in Atlanta leading off a double feature like old times. Certainly, better than the third installment in this series, but below 1 and 2. Listening to Bill Simmons and Adam Carolla’s review of this movie enhances the experience.

Group D: Utter Disasters

Terminator Salvation: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is better than this piece of garbage. Sam Worthington playing a robot has more depth and character Christian Bale playing John Connor...

X-Men Origins - Wolverine: Aside from the opening sequence which used the same time and music transitions as Watchmen, this was a complete train wreck of a movie. I think was Chris from Scene Unseen who pointed out, you are making a comicbook movie about Wolverine, you have to get 1 special effect right: his claws. HIS CLAWS were terrible almost as bad as the movie!!!

Underworld – Rise of the Lychen: the 3^rd vampire movie on this list. Why do I continue to see movies in this series. Because the first one at least was completely unapologetic about what it was, and that works. Now I have no idea what happened in this movie or the last one, and I really don’t care.

Movies from 2009 at the top of my Netflix queue:

Hurt Locker

Aimee and Jaguar

Pandorum