Special: 2009 in Movies

When this past year started I set out to make this my "year of the movies." I kept every ticket stub from my trips to the movies and restarted up my Netflix and in order to not only see the big and important theatrical releases, but to catch up and finally get to see those movies I should have seen a long time ago.

A personal highlight of the movie seeing year was seeing every movie nominated for the Oscars in the Best Picture, Actress, Actor, Supporting Actress and Actor, and Best Director categories. I never had attempted to that before and I always feel uninformed when it comes to the Oscars, which hail as one of the most important nights of the year to me, likewise to a normal person liking the Superbowl. Seeing all those movies was an expensive achievement, and one I don't think I'll be able to replicate this year. Not because I don' t want to, but because most Oscar movies don't seem to get released up here in the glorious Berkshires. I certainly will try to see them all and I'm already on my way with another two-ish months left!

Now: because I LOVE making lists, I'm gonna make one for my favorites and not favorites of 2009. This is not counting any movie I saw twice or any movie that I've seen before. I saw 28 new movies in the theaters this year, as well as an even 50 movies on DVD.

My Top 10 Movies of the Year:

1) Up

I can't recall a movie that has made me sob within the first 10 minutes, (well maybe except for Wall-E, and that was more because of the brilliance of that opening and not the actual story itself.) Recently rewatching Up, I might love it even more. Brilliant story, impressive animation, and three of the most entertaining characters in Russell, Dug, and Carl Fredricksen.

2) Avatar

This movie was my first 3-D movie going experience and it blew my mind. If Star Wars and Lord of the Rings and Titanic mated, then Avatar would be their love child. Sure the story was a little cliched, and the script might not have been totally original, but that didn't botherme one single bit. Maybe if the the story was more complicated on top of the ridiculous visuals, the average audience member's brain would be overloaded and combust. We'll have to see how this movie holds up into the future (and not in 3-D) but I loved it and think I will for a while.

3) The Princess and the Frog

The glorious return to the classic animated form by Disney. I think it is in my nature to love this movie, evenif it wasn't good, which I thought was not the case. It certainly lived up to every expectation I had and maybe even surpassed some of them. Shoutouts to Mama Odie and the best villain song since Ursula screamed "Body language!" And Tiana and Naveen might be my favorite Disney couple ever. Sorry Aladdin and

Jasmine.

4) Milk

Now here is a movie I think every American needs to see right NOW!For real, if you haven't seen it yet, get out there, watch it, be moved, and tell everybody else about it. I think America's attitude about what it means to love another person would change if everybody watched Milk. Besides the powerful message of the movie, Sean Penn was incredible as Harvey Milk, and maybe even better was Josh Brolin who gave a layered and complex performance as Milk's political opponent.

5) Precious

This movie ripped out my heart and stomped on it, then put it back, ripped it out again and then stomped on it some more. It's one of those movies that I have a hard time saying I liked, like Schlinder's List or Monster, because the events that transpire during the movie are awful, but the films the

mselves are excellent. Plus Mo'Nique was terrifying as Precious' mother. I couldn't believe this was the same woman who I watched host Showtime at the Apollo on UPN on Saturday nights at 1:00AM. Yes I really watched that show.

6) Away We Go

This one kind of slipped under the radar this year, but I rented it on DVD and loved it so much. I laughed, I cried, it was fantastic. Who knew Maya Rudolph was a fantastic actress and John Krasinski, aka Jim, can do no wrong. The movie feels so real in every way.

7) Star Trek

A complete surprise to me as I never thought I'd like, nay WATCH a Star Trek movie, but this one had me hooked from the beginning. I needed no prior knowledge of the Star Trek-verse to like the movie, but the small bits I did know helped me appreciate homages thrown in. Well done, JJ.

8) Doubt

Please, Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams are fantastic. I believe when told people what I thought of this after I saw it I said I wanted to "Lick the screen because Meryl Streep is that good."

9) District 9

I was definitely intrigued with the concept of the movie, and after I saw it, loved the mashup of science fiction with a realistic parable. A totally unique vision that had me alternately squirming, cringing, and getting all riled up.

10) This Is It

How did the Michael Jackson concert film make my top 10!? Seriously, I'm not sure. I didn't know what to expect, but it was beyond anything I thought it could be. To see the genius this man was, and to watch him in action and love it, it made me realize how much the world lost with his death this past summer.

And because I couldn't choose just 10, here's the runner ups.

11) Nine

12) Sunshine Cleaning

13) Watchmen

14) The Proposal

15) Taking Woodstock

Favorite movies that I saw in 2009 but weren't released in 2009:

- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

- Love Me If You Dare (Thank you Mallori for introducing me to this French film with one of my favorite actresses, Marion Cotillard)

- On the Waterfront

- A Streetcar Named Desire

- The Laramie Project

- E.T. (Yes it’s the first time I had actually seen the entire movie!)

- North by Northwest

- All About Eve

- The Silence of the Lambs

- White Christmas


Biggest Surprises:
- Zombieland (I thought this one was hysterically awesome. Very Grindhouse.)
- Ghost Town (Ricky Gervais made this movie. I love his humor.)
- The Duchess (I don't really like period dramas very much but liked this one a lot. Keira Knightly was fantastic.)
- 17 Again (So the 12 year old girl in me loved this movie. So what? I don't care.)


Biggest Disappointments:
- Where the Wild Things Are (Fell asleep and was bored. Sorry.)
- Nine (I wanted so much more from this movie. The acting was good, the songs were amazing, but the movie itself just lacked...something, but I still liked it a hella lot.)
- Revolutionary Road (Kate and Leo in a movie directed by American Beauty's Sam Mendes?! Should've been knock your socks off awesome. But the sadness of the movie just weighed me down. Unlike Precious, where awful things happen to this person but that person overcomes it all, the couple in this movie just let the bad things destroy them and the movie ended miserably.)

Least Favorites:
Inkheart
Confessions of a Shopaholic
The Informant!
Where the Wild Things Are
Knowing
Coraline
Seven Pounds (One of the worst movies I've seen of all time.)
Changeling
Frozen River
The Searchers


And that's my little list from 2009, my year of the movies. We'll see how 2010's movies stack up. :)