10 Movies That Made My 2009

In 2008, I talked about my favorite movies of the year. It's only apt that I continue in that vein this year and talk about the 10 movies that were my favorites of 2009. The following movies are ranked based on multiple factors like how much I enjoyed the movie and how good I thought the movie was.

Also, it's important to bear in mind that I'm making this list without having seen many movies that would make this list if I had seen them. If that even makes sense. For example, I have yet to see Up, Avatar, A Serious Man, Crazy Heart, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call- New Orleans, Precious, Up In The Air and (500) Days Of Summer. I will eventually watch those movies but until then, shall we get started on the movies I did watch last year? Let's go!

The following content contains spoilers.

#10. The Hangover

The Hangover has definitely got to be the comedy of the year. It may be a little bit stupid but it’s amazingly funny as hell thanks to a good plot and a great cast. If you have not seen this, you have to see it.

 

#9. Star Trek

What made Star Trek such a good movie was the fact that it not only was a film for the Trekkies but also for the general public. Also, I thought the performances by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto were top notch. Has this movie turned me into a Star Trek fan? No it has not. But it definitely makes me anxious to catch the next J.J. Abrams directed Star Trek. Check out my Star Trek review right here.

 

#8. Knowing

This film might not be on many people’s lists, but it’s on mine because I was too blind to see the twist at the end of the movie. In the end it really took my by surprised and gave me all the more reason to love this movie. This may not be a very good movie, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you want to check out my full review of this film, click here.

 

#7. Moon

2009 was a year for sci-fi lovers with movies like Star Trek, Avatar and District 9. Another sci-fi gem to come out of 2009 was Moon. This is a one man show and is carried on the shoulders of Sam Rockwell and his incredible performance. I really believe he deserves an Oscar nomination. Seriously, check this film out.

 

#6. Adventureland

Adventureland is really sweet and funny in parts. But the best thing about the movie is how it hit home with me and how it has the ability to connect with you on so many different levels. Unfortunately, Kristen Stewart’s performance was no where up to par with the rest of the cast, especially Jesse Eisenberg’s and Martin Starr’s. But that doesn’t take much away from an excellent movie.

 

#5. District 9

What Neill Blomkamp did with District 9 blew minds, mine included. The visual and sound effects in the movie were just incredible considering the budget for the film. Not only do the visuals hit you really hard but the story is so compelling it drags you in emotionally and you start to really feel for the main character Wikus van der Merwe along with the Prawns. Check out my review of District 9 here.

 

#4. The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker was, without a doubt, the most intense and riveting film I saw in 2009. Everything, right down to the nerves and danger, felt so real. Ultimately, in a war movie, that’s what you want. And The Hurt Locker definitely delivers in that regard. Also, great performance by Jeremy Renner. Check out my short review of the movie here.

 

#3. Watchmen

I’m not a comic book fan so I had never heard of Watchmen before the movie. So I had no expectations coming into the movie. I absolutely adored the movie and am glad I watched the movie without having read the graphic novel. If I had read the novel first, I would not have enjoyed and appreciated the movie for how good it was. I was also glad the movie was rated R because it would not have worked any other way. All in all, Watchmen had an awesome gritty and compelling look to it. I got so much satisfaction from watching it. Check out my review of the movie here.

 

#2. Zombieland

Producing so many laughs and also delivering satisfying zombie gore and violence makes Zombieland one hell of a zombie movie. That aside, the performances from Jesse Eisenberg, Abigail Breslin and Woody Harrelson only made this movie better. The cameo by Bill Murray was amazing. 2009 could have very well been Jesse Eisenberg’s break out year with his success with the two ‘land’ movies and landing the role of Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network. At the end of the day, Zombieland proved to be the most enjoyable and entertaining movie of 2009.

 

#1. Inglourious Basterds

I simply adored Inglourious Basterds. Everything about it was right. The opening sequence to the movie is just about the best opening to any movie out there. And I loved how the film had few action scenes but had plenty of controlled, intense one-on-one conversations scenes. Brad Pitt did an excellent job, as usual, but not as excellent as Christoph Waltz who made such a believable and epic villain in the film. This film, I think, is Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece and will last for a long time.

 

Special Mentions

The following are a few movies I liked but could not find space for in my top 10.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The 6th installment to the franchise was arguably the best of all 6 so far and one of the best movies of 2009. Tom Felton gives a stand out performance and the plot of the 6th book really gets transformed well for the silver screen. Read my review here.

 

Drag Me To Hell

Drag Me To Hell was not only scary and terrifying but also quite good fun. The sense of humor meshed in with the terror did great for the movie. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a fun movie. Check out my review here.

 

Paranormal Activity

Paranormal Activity was probably the success story of the last year, if not the decade. It was so simplistic, yet genuinely scary. A well made movie considering it was made for only $11,000.

 

Let The Right One In

OK so this movie might not have been made or released in 2009 but I saw it in 2009, so sue me. I was so impressed with this Swedish movie about 12-year old kids, one of which is a vampire. If you’re looking for brilliant child acting, Let The Right One In is the movie for you. This movie takes you on an emotional ride among other things and I implore you to get your hands on this movie before Hollywood remakes it and releases Let Me In this year.

So that’s that. I hope all of you had a great 2009 and here’s to hoping 2010 will be even better, both in the movie world and otherwise.

Happy New Year!

Drag Me To Hell Review

[This review may contain a slight spoiler.]

Yesterday I said on Twitter that I loved the movie. Thinking of it now, I’m not sure if I did love it. I definitely liked it a lot, no question about that. But not too sure about loving it. I’ve never seen any of Sam Raimi’s pre-Spiderman work but I have read that Drag Me To Hell is a return to the genre that got his career off the ground. So I was excited to see a movie that director Sam Raimi was famed for.

Drag Me To Hell, as you have probably seen in the trailer, is about a bank loan officer, Christine Brown, who is up for a promotion to assistant manager of the bank. Her boss tells her that she has a better shot at the promotion if she made more tough decisions on her own. When an old lady comes into the bank asking Christine for an extension on her home loan, she denies it and rejects the old lady. Later on, the old lady, Mrs. Ganush attacks Christine in the underground parking garage and puts a curse on her. The curse brings upon an evil spirit that haunts Christine and looks to eventually drag her to hell.

There is something about some of the films released so far this year. Quite a few of them have had very strong, hard-hitting and emotional opening sequences. Watchmen and Star Trek to name a couple. Drag Me To Hell is no different. Right off the bat, the audience is thrown straight into a movie that is truly terrifying. It got a couple of jumps out of me. I’m not even going to lie. Believe me when I say that this is not like any other horror movie you’ve seen, unless you’ve seen some of Sam Raimi’s early works, of course. Its frightening, suspense-filled, unpredictable and also, wait for it…funny and enjoyable. Wait. What? Yes, this horror movie has a slight pinch of slapstick comedy thrown into it.

I have a feeling many people would find this off-putting, which is a shame, because I thought what Raimi did was close to genius. The humor was incorporated into the movie very well and each gag was timed quite appropriately. But again, when it mattered, the movie was horrifying. I am just afraid many people will think the movie is a joke and will not appreciate it. This might be the reason why the US box office numbers were pretty low for this movie, although it was very well reviewed all-round.

The only problems I have with this film is that towards the end, certain aspects of the movie start to get a little fake. The effects aren’t exactly mind-blowing but decent. The colors of the movie really did engulf me and gave me a much better experience. It makes the movie seem very dark and scary but in a strange way, light on the eyes.

All in all, Sam Raimi’s Drag Me To Hell is a genuinely scary movie but it will also get a couple chuckles out of you. It has a very straightforward plot that isn’t too heavy, if you will. This movie is a good horror flick that is ultimately quite a lot of fun. I strongly recommend it if you wan to get a few screams and laughs in.

I give Drag Me To Hell 7 out of 10 Popcorns.

Opening This Week: State of Play Fired Up to be Dragged To Hell

This week in theaters, its all about diversity. Not the British dance group, but how good were they right? In cinemas this Thursday, we have a horror flick, a comedy and a highly acclaimed political thriller. Let's get into it, shall we?


State of Play (2009)
Starring: Ben Affleck, Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren
Director: Kevin Macdonald
USA release: April 17
Msia release: June 11
USA box office: $36,651,540
Worldwide box office: $55,300,427
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Runtime: 2 hours 7 mins
Rated in USA: PG-13 for some violence, language including sexual references, and brief drug content
Rated in Msia: PG-13
IMDb User Rating: 7.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 85%

When the assistant of a Congressman is murdered, a team of investigative journalists delve deeper into a conspiracy that is just waiting to happen. This movie deals with the issues faced by journalists when dealing with political figures. Probing deeper into the issue, veteran journalist, Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe), starts to figure out how far he is willing to go to get the ultimate scoop. Is it worth risking his life?

I've read so many great things about this movie. I've been wanting to watch this film for at least a month and a half now. Finally, its coming out here in Malaysia. If you're in for a serious and gripping movie, I believe State of Play is for you. Its definitely not a film for the family, unless you want to put your kids to sleep.




Fired Up (2009)
Starring: Eric Christian Olsen, John Micheal Higgins, Nicholas D'Agosto, Sarah Roemer
Director: Will Gluck
USA release: February 20
Msia release: June 11
USA box office: $17,231,291
Worldwide box office: $18,001,045
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 1 hour 29 mins
Rated in USA: PG-13 for crude and sexual content throughout, partial nudity, language and some teen partying
Rated in Msia: N/A
IMDb User Rating: 5.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 28%

The story is focused on two sex-obsessed teen boys who ditch football camp to attend a cheerleading camp in order to score some girls. (Cinema Online)

Just another low budget comedy that got panned, with no big names in it whatsoever. More than three months after its American release, the film still hasn't recovered its $20 million budget. I can't say whether it will be funny or not, but I doubt many Malaysians will go out to see this movie with blockbusters like Terminator Salvation sill in cinemas. Also, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is coming out in a couple of weeks. I see Fired Up's stay in cinemas to be a very short one. Not a film for the kids and the family.




Drag Me To Hell (2009)
Starring: Alison Lohman, Justin Long
Director: Sam Raimi
USA release: June 4
Msia release: June 11
USA box office: $28,534,000
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Runtime: 1 hour 40 mins
Rated in USA: PG-13 for sequences of horror violence, terror, disturbing images and language
Rated in Msia: 18PL
IMDb User Rating: 8.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 93%

Mrs. Ganush casts a curse on Christine (Alison Lohman) after denying her a home loan. Christine is haunted by an evil spirit and at the same time receives little support from her skeptical boyfriend (Justin Long). She seeks help from a supernatural expert to rid the curse and save her from being Dragged To Hell.

Sam Raimi returns to his horror roots after a stint of directing the Spiderman trilogy. This is another movie I've read a lot about and it's highly rated on Rotten Tomatoes- 154 fresh and only 12 rotten. You know this is going to be good and scary. No, scratch that, great and terrifying. I cannot be more excited to see it. Definitely not for the little ones.

Source: Cinema Online, IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Box Office Mojo

2009 Summer Blockbusters: Part 2

In part 2 we'll cover movies set for release in the month of June. Strangely enough, there aren't many big movies coming out in May. So I've added some movies that aren't actually summer blockbusters, but are worth a watch. With only 6 movies to go through, lets get to it.

Land of the Lost
Msia release: June 5
USA release: June 5
Will Ferrell's remake of the classic 1974 TV series.
If he's at his best, this should be very funny.


State of Play
Msia release: June 11
USA release: April 17
Great cast with Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams and Helen Mirren.
Reviews have been good for this movie.


Drag Me To Hell
Msia release: June 11
USA release: May 29
Directed by Sam Raimi (Spiderman franchise) this could potentially be good.
Never thought we'd see Justin Long in a horror flick though.


17 Again
Msia release: June 11
USA release: April 17
This is far from a summer blockbuster but I think this would be a popular movie among Malaysians. I'm sure a lot of people out there like Zac Efron. I must admit, even I do.
This is his first non-musical film if I'm not wrong.


Departures (Okuribito)
Msia release: June 18, 2009
Japan release: September 13, 2008
USA release: May 29, 2009
The reason why this Japanese film is on the list is because it won an
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year. And we get to see it in June.


Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Msia release: June 24
USA release: June 24
I think I don't need to say anything about this film, except BOOM! Oh, and that Linkin Park have teamed up with Hans Zimmer to score the movie. Oh yeah!

Drag Me To Hell Poster

Check out this awesome poster for Sam Raimi's latest work, Drag Me To Hell. Written by Sam Raimi and his brother Ivan, this film is said to be a damn good horror flick. The film is set for release in America, 29 May 2009, and in Malaysia, 4 June 2009. Seriously excited about this film.

Sorry to everyone who got pranked on April Fools. To those who missed it, you were the lucky ones. I've removed the prank now. So this time, feel free to click to enlarge and download with no worries of getting pranked.