2009 in Movies

WTF was Guy Ritchie thinking? He reinvents Sherlock Holmes as the James Bond of the Victorian era, completely obliterating his basic character as a detective. The worst movie I saw all year, and that's saying something.

Messing with your dreams never leads to anywhere nice. When a group of scientists try to do just that in an effort to help people with their psychological issues, things predictably veer out of control. The finale is so beautifully conceived and executed, it's worth the price of admission.

Miyazaki is the master of taking bizarre situations and making them feel completely natural. So is the case of Porco Rosso - the Red Pig, a pilot in Italy during the 1930s. A pig must fly, as the protagonist reminds us, and so must this movie.

The most hyped movie of the year doesn't disappoint visually. The 3D glasses take some time getting used to and somehow still remain a barrier between you and the screen, preventing you from completely immersing yourself into the world of Pandora. The story is cliched and political message (even one I agree with) is laid on a little too thick. Still, I wouldn't say it's not worth watching, but don't expect another Terminator 2 from Cameron.

A hat-trick of mediocrity ends with this indie sci-fi flick. I would like to tell you about the plot but honestly, I have no clue what the hell was going on for most of it. A wasted effort considering the great atmosphere they built up.

Stunning looking movie, absolutely gorgeous and absolutely nothing original in the plot. This was quite the disappointment after how good the trailer looked.

Two girls, from opposite sides of the social spectrum meet and fall in love, well not exactly. Could have been interesting and the acting is pretty good throughout but doesn't prevent the movie from being interminably dull.

A Jewish woman brings her Palestinian fiancee to visit her family. Meet the Parents with a twist.

A young woman and her daughter move into the apartment below an old widower's. Gradually, the little girl insinuates herself into the old man's life and he shares his passion for collecting butterflies with her. Heartwarming and gentle French comedy.

A sensitive lesbian falls for an older, glamourous schoolmate. The path to love is rocky, as love in movies frequently tends to be. High school romances don't come much better than this. Actually, most romances don't come better than this. A must watch.

Clearly, the set piece and central idea of the movie is the finale set in the theme park ("Adventureland"), and it works. The dry humour, tongue in cheek approach to the undead and surprising characters make the whole movie an enjoyable ride.

Rob Marshall follows up the mediocre Chicago with another visually stunning movie that leaves me cold yet again. Shooting in English but with actors whose first language is not English is a major blunder as it leaves them sounding stilted and emotionless. Japanese with subtitles would have worked better. The musical score is stunning as well. It really is a beautifully made film, such a shame.

It's impossible for me to describe this documentary with words so I am just going to point to the website for it: Girls Educational and Mentoring Services.

Jackie Chan takes inspiration from 80s Hollywood cop movies, primarily 'Beverly Hills Cop' in this comedy thriller. He also adds his trademark dose of absolutely insane stunts and slapstick humour.

Another in a long line of offbeat romantic French movies that they do so well. A man finds a woman about to jump off the bridge and tries to talk her out of it. When she jumps in, he follows to try and save her. What follows is a strange romantic drama/dark comedy as they become a cabaret act with him as the knife thrower and she as his target.

What a total waste of time this movie was. About half way through I had some home that it would be a decent movie but it just kept getting worse and worse, right down to the end, whenever it makes it there.

How do you take an epic story over two millenia old and add a dash of freshness to it? Apparently, you do it by infusing it with blues music from the early 20th century.

Old + Older + lots of creativity = Something entirely fresh and new. That's a balanced equation right there.

As franchise reboots go, they don't come better than this. By using the time honoured time travel ploy (wow, that was a nifty play on words), this movie manages to be both a continuation of the original Star Trek universe *and* a fresh beginning, all at once. Very clever, and as a Trek fan, the film makers have my gratitude.

Beautiful, funny, warm and truthful movie about the bittersweet pleasures of family life. The ensemble cast does a brilliant job, even the kids.

The movie left me dumbfounded with all the twists and turns it took. What amazes me is that it's kept very close to the actual story of the protagonist, Mark Whitacre. Steven Soderbergh deserves great credit for keeping everything so real. Matt Damon gives a stunning performance, but we expect nothing less from him.

A disappointing movie, I expect better from this filmmaker. The movie looks very good but lacks substance, much like the lives of the characters in it.

Miyazaki's best movie in ages. The story isn't terribly remarkable - a boy meets a goldfish who wants to become a human, but the master filmmaker still manages to take us on a magical journey. I haven't been so engrossed by one of his movies since Princess Mononoke.

Typically violent and gory movie from Tarantino. His style is becoming a little too familiar now, he needs to shake things up a little. This is still a solid effort though.

Not one of Ang Lee's best but an intriguing movie nevertheless. The best part is when the protagonist takes an acid trip with two complete strangers. The beautiful animation that depicts his trip followed by his view of the sea of humanity that was Woodstock is truly mesmerizing. Other than that, I applaud it from bringing all the grime and dirt and hopefulness that was Woodstock, or so it is perceived fifty years on.

The story of a pirate radio station that operated off a boat in the North Sea. This was during a time when British radio hardly played any rock and roll even though British rock and roll was sweeping the world. The director is paying homage to his favourite music. Totally awesome soundtrack, unsurprisingly.

Remake of a british mini-series, except it's set in contemporary US of A. Obviously, compressing six hours worth of drama can't be compressed into less than half that time without losing a lot of the character development. Still, it wasn't a bad attempt and I probably would have liked the movie better if I hadn't seen the original series.

Sci-fi at it's best this year. Takes the typical alien invasion movie that we've seen umpteenth times and puts it's own unique take on it. What prevents the movie from really soaring is the unfortunate decision of the director to shoot in a faux documentary style throughout. The grand scale of cinema is one of the things that differentiates it from television and the camera confines the movie and robs it of drama and grandeur. For large swathes of the movie, I felt like I was watching a made for television movie. Still, it's originality makes up for a lot of it's shortcomings.

How is that Edward Norton is the scene stealer in the movie despite never showing his face? The rest of the cast is nothing more than competent. This is another one of Ridley Scott's superficial movies that could have been much more but isn't in the final analysis.

Took me a while to get to this movie but I wasn't disappointed. A good balance of character development and action which brings some freshness to an iconic character.

Hmm, maybe the Foreign movie Oscar raised my expectations but this was a rather disappointing movie. It's a very conventional Japanese popular movie, quite dull in parts and sappy. It is uplifted only by the graceful funeral scenes (of which there were too many by the end).

This is was marketed as a comedy but it's actually a thoughtful romantic movie with flashes of comedy but never an out and out comedy. James goes to work at Adventureland during his summer between college and grad school and meets an interesting cast of characters including the Emily, who is still recovering from her mother's death. A gentle yet complicated romance ensues.

"This is not a love story... it's a story about love." goes the narrator at the beginning of the movie, and he's right. It's still a romantic comedy and an awesome one at that. Basically, a guy loves a girl, but she doesn't love him. A great script puts a fresh spin on an well worn idea.

Well made, well acted but unoriginal spy thriller that works as a spy thriller and just as a spy thriller despite any allusions of depth. It's a fun ride but don't take it too seriously.

An extremely well written satire about events leading up the declaration of war by the US and Britain on a country that is never mentioned (but is clearly Iraq). The political maneuvering and squabbles between different govt officials is brilliant and the wit is razor sharp. This is a movie that would be worthy of the Coen brothers.

Harry Potter in Year 6 at Hogwarts. No real surprises, either from the actor or directors as the series settles into the home stretch.

Relies too much on gratuitous and pointless violence that leads the plot nowhere. I gave up trying two-thirds of the way into it. It's too self-important for it's own good and the voice narration got on my nerves. Alan Moore was right to disown this piece of garbage.

Cute action adventure comedy. The scene where the old man flips through his wife's album one last time is especially sweet. Pixar hits another home run with this one.

A faux documentary shot almost completely in a soul-less manner, it still manages to retain a certain rawness that makes it compelling, at least in parts. I'm not sure what Steven Soderbergh was aiming for here, I don't think he does either. Ultimately, it feels like an excuse to put Sasha Grey on the big screen to see what could come of it, and that, it does succeed at.

Despite the ridiculous title, this is an interesting movie. The only problem is that in an attempt to capture the woodenness of the sexual encounters they're filming, the film makers end up with a rather wooden film too. A wasted idea, one that could have been made into something really good.

Has it's moments. Jennifer O'Neill looks stunning. The movie feels bizarre though, like the characters exist in some kind of vacuum with no other people around them. The film feels empty because of that.

Superb little romantic comedy about a teenage boy and girl who run away from their homes in Paris to have a kiss in kiss in a gondola in Venice. This was Diane Lane's debut movie, and she along with her relatively unknown French co-star (he only made two movies) really light up the screen with their very charming performances. Director George Roy Hill (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting) paces his movie perfectly and cuts out the sappiness that infects the large majority of movies in the this genre.

Add this film to the list to never-ending list of disastrous sequels to good movies. WTF was Kevin Smith thinking? The movie coasts along on references to the first one without coming up with anything new or original. 90 mins better spent elsewhere.

Trashy horror fun with a religious bent. Follows all the conventions of the genre to a 'T'. From Hilary Swank, I usually expect better but this will do.

Documentary about a Sex Surrogate and her involvement in the therapy of two men. The complete honesty of all involved makes for an interesting documentary, whatever your personal opinions about her acts may be.

A snapshot in the lives of a family going through rapid changes after several years of a peaceful existence. The story is focused on, but not confined to the youngest daughter. She is pressured by the family to finally get married to a man proposed by her boss but has ideas of her own, something almost unheard of in a traditional Japanese family of the time. The real charm of the film is that it paints a peaceful but realistic portrait of family life with it's subtle pulls and pressures without resorting to melodrama. The ending is almost bitter-sweet, as all change in life always is.

Japanese soft porn from the 60s, released as part of the "Grindhouse Sexploitation" DVD collection. It's not earth shattering but erotica that aspires to be a decent film is rare to come by.

Surreal French dark comedy about a group of people who are constantly interrupted as they try to sit down for dinner at a party. From start to finish, this is one of the more bizarre cinematic experiences I've had.

A sweet little short film that is so beautifully animated, you won't be able to take your eyes away. It is about a man who lives in multi-level house. Each level was built after the last one went under the rising water. One day he takes literally takes a dive down memory lane by going down into the lower levels and reminiscing about the time he spent in each of them. Won the Oscar for Best Animated Short.

A man who loves women, many many women but can't be happy with any of them. I like the movie for the honesty of the protagonist. He relates everything about his life and not all of it is flattering. Very very intriguing movie.

Outstanding movie about a counter-terrorist police officer who is traumatised by the death of a female suicide bomber who dies in front of his eyes. He gets involved with the sister of the bomber, but romance with someone from the other side of the fence is always fraught with danger, especially with intrigue and betrayal added to it. The story winds it's way to a surprising, even shocking denouement which is either sad or cynically realistic depending on how you feel about it.