Top 10 Best and Worst Movies of 2009…So Far
So its 4th of July weekend and I thought it appropriate since we are at the basic midpoint of the year that I list the Top 10 Best and Worst movies of 2009…so far.
Now bear in mind there are a lot of movies I have just not been able to see yet, being I don’t cover Sundance, there are a lot of films I missed out on early in the year. 500 Days of Summer is an example of one that I was expecting to be good and would make the list on other sites but not here since I haven’t seen this yet its not on this one.
I hope there are some good surprise films on this list and that you share with us your thoughts an even your lists of faves and non-faves.
The Best…
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#1 – UP Personifying a wonderful adventure mixed with a tale about life and love, Disney/Pixar’s magic of storytelling continues bringing us the most unlikely hero combination, a 9 year old boy and a 76 year old man. Memorable characters in the form of the lovable Dug and Kevin, the rare bird, are just some of the reasons why UP is the best film of the year. The 3D presentation wasn’t gimmicky, which is good but it wasn’t immersible either. A testament to the film is that it works in both formats equally as well, a testament to its brilliance as a story. Dug is the best thing ever and he should have is own movie. |
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#2 – STAR TREK What seems like an easy number 2 pick, this reboot, revision by director JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof, was something that marveled in terms of entertainment mixed with classic Trek. Chris Pine’s portrayal of the classic Kirk was great but the idea of giving the classic crewmates something more to do throughout the film was wonderful. Zachary Quinto benefited from Leonard Nimoy’s tutelage for Spock and the dramatic score by Michael Giacchino packages the film as an entertaining space opera that has revamped the timeless franchise for another 40 years. |
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#3 - AWAY WE GO Adam paid this movie the highest complement he could give saying he’d take his wife to see it (she hates movies). Directed by Sam Mendes, this film is an ironically funny and sad tale of an expectant couple trying to find their place in the world. It is quirky but also charming revolving around John Krasinzski and Maya Rudolph as they seek to find a home to start a family. Finding old friends and relatives along the way the movie is as much a misadventure as it is a film about connection. The movie’s soundtrack by Alexi Murdoch is as equally important to the film as the story. |
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#4 - TAKEN An intense and gripping drama starring Liam Neeson as a loving father with some kick ass skills he learned as a spy, this movie basically explores the idea of James Bond as a dad and what would happen if his daughter was taken. Great fight scenes and one-liners this movie directed by Pierre Morel was a complete surprise as a global hit. Note to self, learn martial arts, develop underground contacts in Europe and never let my daughter leave the country. We had to make this movie one the best films so far. |
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#5 - CORALINE Based on the story by Neil Gaiman and following the inspiration of Tim Burton’s classic Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline is great visual film with an equally great story. Gaiman’s “Becareful what you wish for” tale is one that was as visually stunning as it was entertaining. Dakota Fanning’s voice talents were a perfect way to bring the classic kid’s character to life. Its remarkably imaginative as it is creepily sinister. A deeply felt tale that ode’s itself to Gaiman’s imagination. |
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#6 - I LOVE YOU, MAN A twisting romantic comedy about a budding “bromance” between Paul Rudd and Jason Segal. I loved this movie as it was different in terms of romanticizing a friendship between 2 males as that can always be humorous. Not to mention the addition of the power band, Rush in the film made it awesome! Jason Segal’s laid back character was different from his usual uptight aggressive ones and that combined with a bumbling guy in Paul Rudd who has had no clear male influence in his life made for an interesting buddy film. |
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#7 - THE HANGOVER Another buddy comedy with a twist, Todd Phillips returns to his Old School roots to bring us a bachelor party gone bad when 3 friends wake to find their buddy groom missing in Vegas with no memory. A hilarious mystery of tigers in bathrooms, crying babies, Mike Tyson and the magic of Vegas partying, this movie was funny as hell. The cast was perfect as well with Bradley Cooper poised to be a star soon and Zack Galifiankis bringing some new edgy, Belushi-esque comedy to the screen. |
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#8 – GIGANTIC There is probably some better movies that could go here like 500 Days of Summer (haven’t seen it yet) but something about Gigantic hit me. After doing a focus piece on the film I had to see it and when a kind reader sent me a copy of film, I was pumped. Zooey Deschanel has some massive charm which gives her a sexy quality and cuteness that’s hard to find with actresses today. Also Paul Dano’s performance is great and is an actor we need to see more of. |
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#9 – PUSH I know what you are thinking, why? However there is something I liked about this film much like Jumper last year. Push stars Chris Evans and Dakota Fanning and places them in a future where telekinetics and psychics are in almost Blade Runner fashion. The premise and backstory I think is what I dugg most about the film being that is was very comic booky with sort of an Unbreakable feel to it. Not to mention Dakota Fanning is maturing as an actress as was entertaining in the film. |
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#10 – TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN I do not care what anyone says this movie was so much damn fun. A great follow-up to 2007’s hit film this movie was a special effects extravaganza with as many memorable comedic moments and thrills as the first film. Some wasted effort on characters like Skids and Mudflaps but the movie still felt like a Transformers film and that is all I need. |
The Worst…
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#1 – WOLVERINE I’d have to say this movie was pretty disappointing. It got a lot of things right but more stuff wrong. The ensemble cast was bland and Hugh Jackman doesn’t do anything new to the character. The movie is in the same boat as it doesn’t give us anything we didn’t already know. Action was okay but the visual effects were just pitiful and tired. Ultimately this film was to set the tone for the summer blockbusters and it failed. Truly disappointing in every way this movie is definitely one of the worst movies of the year. |
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#2 - THE BATTLE FOR TERRA This movie should have probably been number 1 but the disappointment of Wolverine bumped it to 2. Lionsgate’s attempt at bringing a sophisticated animated film this year was met with a boring tale of a preachy storyline and no interesting characters at all. The film was boring, the animation poor and the concept weak. The voice acting of Justin Long, Luke Wilson and others had promise but it wasn’t enough to save this reverse Independence Day from being a crapfest. |
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#3- PAUL BLART: MALL COP An absolute crapfest is this movie. How it was so sucessful I will never know. Some say marketing blitz, others say people love Kevin James. Ultimately i found the movie weak in all areas, the comedy uninteresting, the movie idea over done and the cast sucked. I found myself smiling at times but this is a movie that fits with films like Deuce Bigalow and The Animal. A comedy created for James and his 12 fans. Definitely one of the worst movies of 2009 so far. |
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#4 - FRIDAY THE 13TH This is a remake that I thought would be good and while its tension is better than the original the impact of the original was much better for the time. Call it desensitization to horror and violence but this movie sucked. I mean kids in horror movies are so stupid, you could kill them by strangling them with a cordless phone. This is a movie that had an opportunity to be off formula like Rob Zombie’s remake of Halloween, instead it had the same teen characters, same sex scenes, same gruesome stuff. |
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#5 - DONKEY PUNCH So a movie based on a gruesome,degrading sex position? whats to say than this is Britain’s attempt to mirror American teen horror and suspense. I can’t explain how uninteresting this film was and how shitty the acting was. The movie was just visually acceptable film that had hard to understand dialogue from its characters with weak suspense. Like Friday the 13th, the teens are stupid and their decision making probably creates suspicions in people’s minds such as “Am I that dumb?’ |
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#6 - WATCHMEN A travesty of a film in my opinion I couldn’t help but wonder after seeing it what the big deal was with the graphic novel. Zack Snyder proved once again he could make a pretty film but all the gruesome violence and sex just annoyed me rather than made me interested in its mature themes. I am sure the novel is better but really Patrick Wilson was the only actor besides Jackie Earle Haley who showed any range in the movie. For such a hugely buzzed film this movie should be up there with Wolverine for biggest disappointment. |
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#7 - KNOWING As much as I liked this movie when I first saw it, even giving it a positive review, thinking about it over the past few months, I realize how bad it was in terms of scale and that Nicolas Cage couldn’t act his way out of paper bag. Alex Proyas showed so much prowess with films like The Crow and Dark City but has yet to give me a mainstream film that is as good as his cult stuff. |
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#8 – DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION Arguably the worst film of the year by far but certain things didn’t bother me. Justin Chatwick picked a bad role but he made the most of it. James Marsters had nothing to do and Emmy Rossum was just awful. Ultimately the promise of live action Dragonball is there it just needs to right artist to bring it to light. |
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#9 – STATE OF PLAY Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams and Helen Mirren was a promised cast but this love letter to the newspapers was boring, predictable, preachy and just not thrilling or interesting. The movie was boring a majority of the time and it nothing about it except Jason Bateman was entertaining or even gripping. |
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#10 – PUBLIC ENEMIES Just released this movie fits the disappointing theme in this list with Johnny Depp teaming up with Michael Mann, how could this movie be bad? Well 2 hours and 40 minutes of long drawn out dialogues and uninteresting character development or lack thereof made this movie such a waste of a good story and a good character. Seemingly 2 tales put together it was convoluted and confusing. |
