2009 of Movies
A year ago I threw imaginary darts at an imaginary wall of movies as I imagined them. Let's see how I did. I saw 35 of 2009's releases, according to IMDB. (Edit: Should be more like 40 for the year, since IMDB lists Hurt Locker, Ponyo, Taken, Brothers Bloom, and Anvil! as 2008s) I'm pretty sure reposting last year's lists and breaking them into ratings and thumbs and stars isn't an interesting thing to do, but in broader strokes, every A-list pick I saw I liked, I liked more of the B-listers than I didn't, and I was delighted to find three I bet against on my top list for the year.
Top list for the year? Well okay. Since this is the year that we got the results of the writer's strike, it felt kind of thin on the ground to me. Maybe I just missed out, since it seems I only saw, say, 5 of Ebert's 21. If I have to pick ten you should take a look at, I'm going with: Anvil!, Brothers Bloom, District 9, Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, The Informant!, Moon, Sherlock Holmes, Star Trek, and my favorite movie of the year, Up (along with it's two companion shorts, Partly Cloudy and Dug's Special Mission).
Also likable enough: Avatar, Coraline, Drag Me to Hell, Taken, Up in the Air, Ponyo, Watchmen, Banlieue 13: Ultimatum, Night at the Museum 2.
Didn't particularly like: Crank 2, Friday the 13th, Funny People, It's Complicated, Push, The Girlfriend Experience, Wolverine, Zombie Girl, Terminator 4.
Hated: Zombieland, Ninja Assassin, Monsters v. Aliens.
I still need to track down and make time for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, This is It, In the Loop, Tyson, Big Fan, World's Greatest Dad, Julie & Julia, A Serious Man, Whip It, The Road, Princess and the Frog, 9, The Cove, and just maybe The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Public Enemies, and the Hangover. That's a list borne of things I might've picked on my own, and titles I wouldn't've expected if not for some emphatic positive reviews.
Of the 2008s I missed in last year's post, I was underwhelmed by Man on Wire and Let the Right One In (victims of their own hype?) and Timecrimes. I liked Dear Zachary and In Bruges and Zach & Miri, and I never got to Counterfeiters, Appaloosa, or Boy A.
2010 Picks are on the way!