Movies of 2009

So everybody that has ever read this knows that I am a music guy. But somewhere below that I am also a movie guy (a poster in my bathroom of 100 movie quotes, going crazy over getting a blu ray player for Christmas last year, spending way too much money at the theater). So here are a few lists to remember the year of 2009.

First, a few clarifications and stats.

1) These movies are in no particular order (except for the last list -- the favorites)

2) I understand I am going to catch some hate for some of the names on some of the lists, but hey, everybody's got an opinion. This is just mine.

3) One movie had the audacity to make in on TWO lists. That's how much it hurt me.

4) Most of these list titles are self-explanatory... but I will try to explain the ones that aren't.

With that said, let's get the hate out of the way:

Movies I Had No Interest In Seeing This Year:

Twilight: New Moon
Angels and Demons
Year One
Jennifer's Body

Most Disappointing Movies of the Year:
(these movies were disappointing in a sense in that I was personally looking forward to them and they let me down. Whether it was a sequel to a movie that I had loved the original or just thought it was going to be good)

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen
I Love You, Man
Night At The Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian
Wolverine
Observe and Report
Couples Retreat
Funny People

Worst Movies of The Year:

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen
District 9
Adventureland
Inkheart
My Bloody Valentine
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
The Watchmen

Movies I Missed in 2009:
(For whatever reason, these are movies I wanted to watch but didn't make it to the theater or didn't get a chance to rent them. Hopefully getting Netflix next month will change all that)

Where The Wild Things Are
This Is It
Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs
Sherlock Holmes
Whip It
The Blind Side
The Princess and The Frog
Zombieland
Coraline
Gamer
The Invention of Lying
Pirate Radio
Up In The Air
Ninja Assasin
Notorious
The Brothers Bloom
Management
Land of The Lost
Away We Go
Planet 51
GI Joe
Terminator
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Taken
A Christmas Carol
Law Abiding Citizen

Honorable Mention:
(These were movies that I thought were good, but just missed the mark of being called great or "favorites" or stated in another way, these were 3 or 4 star movies)

Public Enemies
The Proposal
Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Monsters vs Aliens
Madea Goes to Jail
Last House on The Left
Obsessed
Next Day Air
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
The Taking of Pelham 123
Saw VI
Race To Witch Mountain

Top Ten Movies of 2009:
(Truth be told, I really didn't set out to make a top ten list. It just so happened that when going through the 2009 movies and setting out my favorites, it came out to ten. 10-6 and 1 were easy to rank, but 5-2 were a struggle because they were all so good. So allow me to give them a little more attention that just a list)

WARNING: SOME SPOILERS WILL BE MENTIONED

#10: Star Trek

So earlier in this post, you saw my most disappointing movies, but Star Trek appears because of the opposite reason. I was sort of dragged to it as my dad always wants to go see all the Star Trek movies that come out, but I really enjoyed this one. It had a great cast where I was constantly going "hey, it's that guy/girl from that movie." Also, seeing Zachary Quinto's performance as Spock made me decide to give Heroes a shot (trust me, there is a post on that coming up)

#9: Sunshine Cleaning

I thought this movie looked like it was going to be alright, but I had no idea how good it was going to be. It made me a) fall even more in love with Amy Adams b) discover and come to like Emily Blunt and c) pay attention during the whole duration of the movie. It was one those that afterward I just said to myself "Wow."

#8: Paper Heart

For those unfamiliar, this movie was a "documentary" about a girl who doesn't believe in love (Charlyne Yi, who I was only familiar with as having the couple one-liners in Knocked Up). She interviews different people about their experiences with love and ends up falling for Micheal Cera in the process. It is actually Micheal Cera as the movie is billed as a documentary but you can clearly see where it becomes a film. Even still, it played out great and it was just a rare combination where happy+sad=deep.

#7: The Soloist

I was already a fan of Jamie Foxx so I knew what he could do, but I was just beginning to embrace Robert Downey Jr, who had been around for a good while but had recently reached success with Iron Man and Tropic Thunder so I was interested to see how everything played out. I think, just as when you listen to a cd, you even remember where you were when you saw a great movie. And I remember we were on our cross-country road trip and the couple days we were in Monterey we decided to see a movie and the best one playing that night was The Soloist. Maybe it was the feeling we were getting from taking a road trip from Alabama to California and back on our own, but that movie really hit me. I also felt as if I was watching a boxing match of two of the greatest in the sense that it was just Downey and Foxx doing their best. After that movie, I said to myself that any movie that has Robert Downey Jr in it I would be down to see (hopefully, Sherlock Holmes will be seen when I get back to Bama)

#6: Paranormal Activity

The little movie that could. I've heard so many different stories about when the movie was made, when it actually came out, how it was made and all of it doesn't even matter when you watch it as you realize it was just a great movie experience. Scariest movie of all time? I'm not sure. But I can tell you I was damn sure jumping at the end and sort of checking the room before I went to sleep. I think more than scary, it was fun and a sort of twisted way. I compared it to a rollercoaster in the sense that you anticipate when the drop comes in the same way anticipated something crazy happening every time they showed them going to sleep. And everytime they did, my sister and I slouched in our chairs just a little bit more as the movie got more and more intense as time went on.

#5: Up

Easily the best animated movie of the year and I would go so far as to say one of the top 5 animated movies of all time. I think one of the best things they did was not give anything away. All they showed in the previews was a floating house with balloons. But in the first ten minutes, you know you are in for a ride. They had the perfect balance of telling a story adults would get (missed pregnancies, dying of old age) but presenting it in a way kids could love as well. But the story was fun too, watching the innocence of the young kid and the hilarious things they did with the dogs. Only one way to end this paragraph: SQUIRREL!

#4 Inglourious Basterds

I don't mean to be lazy, but this movie was such an experience that I dedicated an entire blog post to it and would rather direct you to that post. I recently watched it again and it is still an experience.

#3 (500) Days of Summer

I honestly put off posting this blog because I had to see this movie first. And it shows because I literally watched it a few hours ago and it not only cracked my favorites, but it hit the top 3. It was just not your typical love story (as they clearly tell you at the beginning). It is the saddest movie that has ever made me smile. I loved all the uniqueness to it like a) the things he loved turning around and being the things he hated b) the expectations/reality part and c) the ending. I really really liked the ending. "Chick flicks" or love stories barely crack 4 stars, but this is one I immediately gave 5 stars to.

#2 The Hangover

I don't mean to be on this movie's nuts like everyone else, but dammit I liked it and I liked it for my own reasons. One, it was funny as hell. However, my main laughs came from the bearded guy (I know his name, but I'm too lazy to google exactly how to spell it). The speech at the beginning is classic and still has me rolling everytime I see it. But more than just crazy antics, this movie was, dare I say, smart? The way it progressed from beginning to end, slowly unwinding the details of the night was great. The actors represented and the directors did a great job. Now, I just look forward to the inevitable sequel.

#1: Avatar

Before I get started, I must say that you HAVE to see it in 3D. To any haters, I will give you this: the story is nothing you haven't seen before. It was predictable, but you still found yourself enjoying it. But what made this movie #1 is that you still felt the story, you felt (most of) the characters and dammit, the visuals. At times, I just sat in my chair open mouthed staring at the screen. The world was beautiful and the colors were so vibrant and the 3D made everything from scattering flowers to bullets pop up and fly on the screen. Really, anything I say cannot do it justice. If you haven't seen it, just trust me on why this movie was #1 and go see it for yourself.