My top 5 2009 films

the smoke monster · 01-16-2010, 10:28 PM

5.Watchmen

I really enjoyed this film. It gives a really dark look on humanity while having some really complex characters. Jackie Earl Haley returned to the film business as Rorschach and owned the screen whenever he was on. Though his character wears a mask most of the movie, the best scenes are when he's not wearing it. Jefferey Dean Morgan is another fantastic actor that gave us a fantastic look at The Comedian. Unfortunately the film was brought down by the poor acting of Malin Akerman who had a tough time portraying more than one facial expression and the mediocre acting of Patrick Wilson who just didn't sell his character well enough.

4. The Hangover
Every year is filled with tons of bad comedies that are more stupid than funny. The Hangover is a perfect example of what a comedy should be like. The plot telling device they use to tell the story is unique and hilariously interesting. It had fantastic break-out performances by Bradley Cooper who played the cool high school teacher Phil, Ed Helms who played the nerdy husband Stu and of course, Zach Galifianakis who played the always ridiculous Alan. The character of Alan was so stupid and obnoxious but it actually worked. His lines were hilarious, the actors look was funny... throw in a man-crush on Phil and you have a funny character.

3. District 9
After seeing District 9, one word came to mind and that was "Wow." The documentary style the used to introduce the main character, Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley) was risky but it helped give us a realistic view on what the world may be like if aliens did come to earth. The film dealt with very serious themes such as racism and just how evil Corporations can be which ultimately resulted in a very powerful and moving film. The performance given by Sharlto Copley was fantastic. He portrayed a perfect hamartia, which was surprising saying as being an actor isn't on the top of Copley's priorities.

2. Star Trek
I was never a fan of the original Star Trek films or television series so my expectations seeing this one were low. Hell, if it wasn't directed by J. J. Abrams I may not have even seen it. I can't tell how glad I am that I did though. Everything about it was great from the acting, to the music, to the special effects to the acting. Zachary Quinto owned his role as Spoke and even Chris Pine, who I just saw as a pretty boy at first did an incredible job playing James Kirk. Michael Giancchino is such a great composer. His music gave so much more emotion to the movie and helped make it what it is: amazing.

1. Avatar
Avatar came late into the year, but turned out to be one of the greatest movies of all time. Though it had a very retro plot, it was the perfect way to display the special effect and world they created. I had no problem with the acting whatsoever. The main role, given to Sam Worthington was the perfect old-school hero. The rest of the characters were great, especially the villain played by Stephen Lang. What really made Avatar a great film were the special effects. Ten years from now the movie may not seem as great as it is now but it's definitely a big step forward in the world of films.

schmedes2 · 01-17-2010, 01:53 AM

I pretty much agree with the list except watchmen. I read the comic, liked the movie, but it wasn't that great. It was made primarily for readers of the comic, which was ok, but they dumbed down the plot for a broader audience. What they got was a movie that didn't do either; it wasn't true to the comic and the broad audience didn't like it. Double fail

And that sex scene with the flamethrower?? UGH! I'm just glad Jackie Earle Haley got to flex his cinematic muscles. He completely nailed Rorsach

The last one for me would be sherlock holmes or law abiding citizen. Sherlock was really well played out and the way they showed how truly brilliant sherlock was in it was pretty unique. He didn't throw around what he knew and instead silently collected evidence to bust open the plot at the end. His arrogance and poor social interaction was a nice touch to his genius

Law abiding citizen had a pretty sweet plot that left you wondering what the hell was going through the mind of gerard butler's character's mind as the movie progressed. Really good thriller but as I write this, I think I realize that my vote is for sherlock holmes for 5.

Just an aside for Avatar, I think what made the movie so great was how well executed it was. The story is old and contrived, we've seen it a million times, but everyone played their parts excellently and really nailed down their roles. The script wasn't bad, but everyone knew exactly how the movie was going to end. The fact that they kept me interested through the entire movie speaks volumes about how well they did. Combined with the crazy cinematography and you have a really great movie. I also think Stephen Lang was the best bad guy I've seen in a while. He was just so....in character. I really believed he was a Colonel focused on completing his mission. Awesome job

the smoke monster · 01-17-2010, 02:03 AM

Ha ha yeah, the sex scene in Watchmen was just... not very well done. The music wasn't fitting at all and the flamethrower part was stupid. Most of the scenes without Rorschach or The Comedian weren't even very good but my fanboy side tells me to rank this movie as one of the best. So a little biased? Yes, but it was at least a GOOD movie, great or not.

I still haven't seen Sherlock Holmes so no comment there, but I agree 100% with you about Avatar. The plot was so obvious but the world they created was just so great it kept you entertained the whole 3 hours.