10) Up In The Air Clooney, again, proves why heʼs so deserving of his fame. The character of Ryan Bingham, a professional firer, should be one that audiences eventually learn to love. But with Clooney in command, you canʼt help but love the dude immediately, even as heʼs shattering the dreams of employees everywhere. The scene with JK Simmons, the best in the film, really nailed the bittersweet tone of the entire movie. I wasnʼt a huge fan of Juno or Thank You For Smoking, but with this movie Jason Reitman has finally won me over. This corporatecoming-of-age tale was throwing me Jerry Maguire vibes for most of its running time. However, the final 20 minutes really sold me. The filmʼs total 180 from where it was heading was a nice twist I wasnʼt expecting. What started as a pleasant, good enough, standard story turned into a much more real, accurate depiction of the world we live in now. One where the happy endings we hope for arenʼt always guaranteed. Tuesday, January 5, 2010
9) Worldʼs Greatest Dad Dark doesnʼt even come close to describing the type of comedy on display in Worldʼs Greatest Dad. It takes a seriously twisted mind to make a movie about a dad using his pervert-sonʼs accidental death via autoerotic asphyxiation as a means to the fame that has eluded him. It takes serious balls to turn that same scenario into a hilariously sweet coming-of-middle-age tale. More than anything, it takes serious talents like Robin Williams and writer/direction Bobcat Fʼn Goldthwait to turn it into one of the yearʼs best movies. Williams delivers his best performance of the decade as the aforementioned father. Itʼs a role that reminds you why he used to be one of the funniest guys on the planet, not to mention an Oscar winner. The only downside to Worldʼs Greatest Dad is that Williams followed it up with Old Dogs.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
8) The Hurt Locker In 1987 Kathryn Bigelow directed one of my favorite vampire flicks, Near Dark. She followed that up with one of my favorite guilty pleasures, Pointe Break. Since then...not much. However this year saw her come back and make one of my favorite war movies, The Hurt Locker. This Iraq war film doesn始t succumb to all of the blockbuster BS of stereotypical jarheads and pointless, countless explosions. Instead it gives us very real characters that we actually care about and puts them in very real, very intense situations that we actually fear. It始s not a pro or anti war movie. It始s simply a very real, accurate, heart-stopping depiction of what these guys go through every day.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
7) Up In 2008 and 2009 Disney & Pixar released two films that left my jaw on the floor. For my money, the first half of Wall-E is some of the finest filmmaking and storytelling I始ve ever seen. Unfortunately, after those brilliant 45 minutes the movie stumbles into run-of-themill mediocrity. Up never hit that same level of genius that Wall-E did, but it did soar just below it, and it did so throughout its running time. The film starts with one of the most beautiful and heart-breaking openings on record (one that proves a 24-year-old guy can cry at a cartoon) and continues exhilarating its audience all the way to the closing credits. Wall-E may still rank as my #1 Pixar flick, but Up clicks in right at #1.5.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
6) District 9 The best sci-fi movie of the year. Sorry Avatar, this one始s got an actual story that we始ve not seen dozens of times before. Its also got more convincing special effects. The first time I saw the Prawns (aliens) I swore they were a combination of makeup and practical suits. The fact that they始re 100% CGI is mindboggling. District 9 has unfortunately taken a backseat recently to that other alien movie that just came out, but I始ll bet dollars-to-donuts that in 10 years Avatar will live a life relegated to reruns on USA while District 9 is examined and dissected in classrooms around the country.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
5) Observe and Report When I saw this movie in the theaters, half the people I went with thought it was great, the other half thought it was one of the worst things they始d ever paid to see. I loved it. I love how every time you think the film has pushed the envelope as far as it can go, it gives it one more nudge. I love how every time you think Ronnie Barnhardt has hit a wall, he shoots the fucker down. It始s not a movie for everyone. It始s not supposed to be. But, if you are one of the lucky ones that this film was made for, then sit back and enjoy the best comedy of the year (and one of the best of the decade).
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
4) Drag Me To Hell Sam Raimi described his return to the horror genre as a Spook-A-Blast. There really is no better way to describe Drag Me To Hell. From the moment the movie starts you know youʼre in for one of the most fun times youʼll ever have with a film. The effects are just the right balance of believable and cartoony to live in the filmʼs own perfect world. The performances are impeccable. Lorna Raverʼs turn as Sylvia Ganush is one that will be remembered for years. And Alison Lohman deserves a title belt for the ass-kicking she takes throughout the movie. Youʼll be disgusted. Youʼll be scared. Youʼll laugh uncontrollably. More than anything, youʼll sit in awe as you watch a master return to the genre he commands better than anyone else. Tuesday, January 5, 2010
3) Watchmen In this post-Dark Knight world weʼre in now, everyone wants their comic book films to be more realistic, more grownup. I think for most people, Watchmen was too much of that. The general public went into the theater expecting a Dark Knight version of X-Men. Thatʼs not what they got. Watchmen doesnʼt leave you with a happy ending. It doesnʼt leave you with everything wrapped up in a nice package. It leaves you questioning things. Youʼll question whether or not the good guys actually won. Youʼll question whether or not the good guys should even be the ones to win. The biggest question though, after viewing the film, is whether or not you really do want your comic book movies to be more realistic. I do. And Watchmen is as real and as good as the genre has gotten so far.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
2) Where The Wild Things Are I would not recommend taking your 5 year-old to see Where The Wild Things Are. This is not a children始s movie. This is an inner-children始s movie. This is a movie for every adult who has ever been a rambunctious, misunderstood kid. This could have very easily been made as a bythe-numbers adventure story about a kid and some monsters. Instead, Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers takes the purest essence of the book and craft it into a heart-wrenching search for your own place in the big, scary, grown-up world. The most emotional and beautiful (both tonally and visually) movie of the year, Where The Wild Things Are left me stunned as soon as the credits started.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
1) Inglourious Basterds Masterpiece is the first word that comes to mind when I think of this film in relation to Quentin Tarantino始s other work. This one stands head and shoulders above the rest as the most thoroughly entertaining and wellrounded of his career. No other movie this year left me thinking about it longer postviewing than this one. Everything, from the now-iconic Hans Landa to Brad Pitt as an Italian Director to the very thought of film being powerful enough to bring down the Nazis, is pitch perfect. In a year now best known for its special effects and giant alien beings, the most suspenseful, intriguing, exciting, and interesting moments on screen came from the words put on the pages by Tarantino.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010