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!

Watchmen Posters

As requested by one of DoctorPopcorn’s most faithful reader, Eka, here are some amazing Watchmen posters. I hope you enjoy. I made them extra big but you can always click to make them even bigger.

Which was your favorite? Let me know.

When WALL-E Meets Watchmen: The Trailer

Ever wondered what a mash-up between WALL-E and Watchmen would look like? Nope, neither have I. But some guy wondered. And he made this brilliant mash-up trailer. Take a look. Gotta love the music.

Who Watches the Watchmen?

This review is spoiler-free.

We all do. Before 2008, I had never heard of Watchmen, ever. This year, all I'm reading about is how the graphic novels were one of the greatest in history. From all the buzz surrounding the movie, I also got that the original novels written by Alan Moore had such intricacy and depth in the plot that it could and should never be translated onto the silver screen. 23 years after the first issue of Watchmen was published, Zack Snyder defied that. You know what, thank god he did. Bear in mind, I have not read the novels (but I want to so bad now), so this review will be written solely based on the quality of the movie and no comparison will be drawn to the novels, which in my opinion, completely spoils a movie review.

Watchmen is set in an alternate 80's America with the murder of The Comedian aka Edward Morgan Blake who was part of the defunct vigilante group aptly named the Watchmen. The group is defunct because of the Keene Act, passed in 1977 that outlawed all vigilante activities. Rorschach, one of The Comedians old colleagues, continues on his vigilante duties, sweeping the streets of criminals and throwing them in prison. When he learns of Blake's murder, Rorschach theorizes that the Watchmen are being hunted down and is determined to uncover the plot that turns out to be of global proportions.

Watchmen. Aaaah. Where to start? From the beginning, literally. God forbid, if you were to miss any part of this movie, do not, under any circumstances, miss the opening 15 to 20 minutes of the movie. To put it simply, it blew my mind right to the back of the theater. Right away you could see traces of Snyder's work, bringing back memories of the ever so awesome 300. Although filled with many similar aspects, Watchmen and 300 could not be more different. 300 very clearly was about 300 Spartans that were incredibly alike in character and physicality (packs, 8 of them), uniting in one voice, sacrificing their lives for their country (with style, might I add). Watchmen, on the other hand, had more than one definitive character that took charge of your mind and imagination while on screen. It was like a bunch of different personalities with vastly opposing backgrounds and history being meshed together to great cinematic effect.

Snyder did such a bang up job in seamlessly integrating the individual stories of each character with the main narrative storyline. 90% of the people who have talked to me about the film have told me they thought it was dreary and draggy with too much talk and too little action. Firstly, whats wrong with that? If the talk is great, there is less need of great action scenes. Which was the case in this movie. The story was so compelling and exhilarating at the same time. Which brings me to my second point, the movie was so incredibly far from being dreary and draggy. All I can remember from the film was high octane action from start to end. Maybe that's what I saw in the film or maybe I was so sucked in, I was really feeling it. This film, as I've read, is deemed as a 'Love it or Hate it' kind of film. I totally loved it and I think the only way people can love it is if they really get drawn into the story and feel it. Then they'll start to see that every scene is packed with action.

Even if one hates the film, one has to be in admiration of the out-of-this-world effects that only complimented the amazingly adapted script. Everything that needed to be visually enhanced completely fulfilled my expectations, and then some. The mixture of the swift fight scenes and the brutal, gory scenes were done magnificently well and to good taste. I am so grateful that this was done as an R-rated film. A PG-13 rating would be so condescending to the storyline and would have done it no justice.

Along with amazing visual effects came a somewhat baffling selection of songs played in the background. Instead of scratching my head in bemusement, I was nodding in appreciation of the absolute genius incorporation of the songs in specific scenes. The music was so significant I actually realized that music was playing in the background and sometimes found myself pulling back from the movie, indulging myself in the music (in fact I'm listening to the soundtrack as I'm writing this). Seriously speaking, the music played a huge part in making the cinematic experience of this film so spectacular.

The one and only part of the movie that could have been done better was the acting by Malin Ackerman in her portrayal of Silk Spectre II aka Laurie Jupiter. Her performance in my eyes was not up to par with the rest of the cast with standout performances from Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian and of course, Jackie Earle Haley as Walter Kovas aka Rorschach. Overall, the acting in the film was close to flawless, Ackerman being the only letdown for me.

I have something to say that may make me quite a bit less popular. I'll go on record and say I sincerely feel that Watchmen is on par, if not better than last summer's The Dark Knight. There I said it. So shoot me. The Dark Knight was all about The Joker and Heath Ledger. Without him, the film would not have gone close to breaking the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box-office like it did. I'm not saying Watchmen will have similar success. I'm just saying I appreciated it better than last year's Batman. And I am very saddened that Watchmen will get less recognition and appreciation than it deserves. Having said that, I wouldn't ever trade worldwide acclamation for one of the best visual, perceptual and even spiritual movie experiences of my life.

After all that's been said, only one person should deserve the appreciation and credit for this insane adaptive masterpiece. Quoting The Comedian, "The Superman exists, and he's American". He's Zack Snyder.

Popcorn-O-meter
8.5 out of 10 popcorns

Opening This Week: Marley Reading Watchmen At A Jo Bros Concert

Just as the title suggests, this week will be another jam-packed week of movie releases. Marley & Me, about a dog, The Reader, about the holocaust, Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience, about tween girls screaming and finally the long-awaited, much-anticipated Watchmen about superheroes in 1985 starring a Robert Downey Jr. lookalike.

In my opinion, all the movies except the Jo Bros movie is worth watching. Unless you are female and between the ages 8 and 16. But if you're male and 45 years old and you wanna see the Jo Bros movie, go ahead. If that's what you're into, I won't judge.

Enough talk, lets get straight into things.

Marley & Me (2008)
Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson
Director: David Fankel
USA release: 25 December 2008
Msia release: 5 March 2009
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family, Romance
Runtime: 111 mins
Rated in USA: PG for thematic material, some suggestive content and language
Rated in Msia: U

Based on a best-selling book by John Grogan, Marley & Me tells the true story of a badly behaved Labrador Retriever that brings love and the true meaning of life home to John (Owen Wilson) and his wife Jennifer Grogan (Jennifer Aniston).

Definitely a film for dog lovers. This may be a funny comedy but it is also heart-wrenching so be prepared for waterworks. Tissues at the ready!

The Reader (2008)
Starring: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross
Director: Stephen Daldry
USA release: 10 December 2008 (limited), 9 January 2009 (wide)
Msia release: 5 March 2009
Genre: Drama, Romance
Runtime: 124 mins
Rated in USA: R for some scenes of sexuality and nudity
Rated in Msia: N/A

After a young Michael Berg (David Kross) is cared for by a stranger, Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet), they fall into a passionate love affair. One day, Hanna disappears with no explanation or goodbye leaving Michael confused and heartbroken. Eight years later when Michael is observing the Nazi war crimes trial, he is reunited with Hanna who is a defendant at the trial. He finally learns of her secret past.

Regardless of its interesting premise, this is a must-see film just for the fact it got nominated for Best Film at the Oscars. It didn't win though but Kate Winslet did bag the Best Actress award for her performance in this film.

Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience (2009)
Starring: Kevin Jonas, Nick Jonas, Joe Jonas, Taylor Swift
Director: Bruce Hendricks
USA release: 27 February 2009
Msia release: 5 March
Genre: Music, Documentary
Rated in USA: G
Rated in Msia: U

Jo Bros equivalent to Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour.

Watchmen (2009)
Starring: Billy Crudup, Carla Gugino, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Malin Akerman
Director: Zack Snyder
USA release: 6 March 2009
Msia release: 6 March 2009
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Superhero
Runtime: 163 mins
Rated in USA: R for strong graphic violence, sexuality, nudity and language
Rated in Msia: N/A

After the Watchmen are shut down by the government, one of the masked vigilante is mercilessly murdered. Set in 1985 in an America different from the one we know, the Watchmen reunite to bring the murderer of their fallen colleague to justice. In the process of saving themselves and investigating the murder, they uncover a deeper and darker plot.

Easily one of the most anticipated movie of 2009, Watchmen may live up to everyone's expectations or it may falter. The Hollywood Reporter definitely thinks so in this painful review, calling it "the first real flop of 2009". Regardless of bad reviews, this comic book-adapted movie should be watched just because of the anticipation leading up to its release. You be the judge of its quality after you've seen it. Watch this if you liked Hellboy and 300.




That's it for this week's 'Opening This Week' post. Be sure to share and comment. Oh and if there are 45 year-old guy who wants to see the Jo Bros movie, no offense intended. I was only joking. =)

Why Do The Japanese Get A More Awesome 'Watchmen' Trailer?

Check this out. If you understand Japanese, good for you. If you don't understand Japanese, just watch it and enjoy.

2009 Must-See IMAX Movies

Sorry to interrupt the ongoing '2009 Must-See Movies'. I still have Part 4 pending. Last part. Hopefully will be posted tomorrow. Latest by the weekend. Been quite busy today so real short post. Another 2009 Must-See list. Keeping up the spirit of that. So I hope you enjoy this list if it doesn't excite you first.

If you didn't know before, Warner are re-releasing the dark favorite of last year, The Dark Knight. If you caught it in regular cinemas last time and didn't get the IMAX experience of The Caped Crusader, seriously consider doing that this time round. Re-release happening on the 23rd of this month. Hope it reaches Malaysia on that day too. Not sure. Will keep you guys posted. Enough talk already. Here's the list in no particular order.

1. The Dark Knight
2. Under The Sea (3D)
3. Watchmen
4. Monsters vs. Aliens (3D)
5. Star Trek
6. Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian
7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (3D)
8. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
9. Avatar (3D)

This great list was found at Premiere.com

2009 Must-See Movies Part 1

<all dates are USA release dates>

January 9

The Unborn

February 6
Fanboys
(click here for trailer)

Pink Panther 2
(click here for trailer)

Push

February 13
Friday The 13th

March 6
Watchmen
(click here for trailer)

March 13
Race To Witch Mountain

March 20
Knowing
(click here for trailer)

March 27
Monsters vs Aliens

Check back tomorrow for part 2. You don't wanna miss it.

Part 2 covers summer blockbusters in 09.

Terrific Trailer Treat

Sorry i havent posted since...when ah? Wednesday? Yeah. Been busy. Not to mention stupid internet acted up yesterday. Didn't get to post the Heroes recap this week. I'll do that maybe tonight or tomorrow. But to end this mini hiatus of mine, here's a trailer treat. Not 1, not 2 but 3 brand spankin' new trailers for you to check out. Sorry if they load slow. I just couldn't resist posting all three at once.

First one is....WATCHMEN.

I didn't know of this movie til quite recently and when I did, I thought 'oh boy, another comic book movie'. Like we haven't been swamped with those lately huh? But since then I've been waiting for the trailer to be released. And I was not disappointed. So, Watchmen is based on a DC "graphic novel" (just a fancy-schmancy name for comic book). The movie is from the director of "300" and you can definitely see that is very apparent in the trailer. There are some awesome shots where the effects are so 300-ish. But something is so so wrong. The superheroes in this look so lame and stupid. The costumes look horrible. Especially the Batman wannabe dude. But overall, the movie looks like its gonna be soo good. Cant wait til it comes out on 5 March 2009 in M'sia and a day later stateside.

"The world will look up and shout SAVE US. And I'll whisper...No."

The Half-Blood Prince

This is a brand new trailer. Different one from before. Promise.

"But I am the Chosen One". Hahaha.

Dance Flick

Being a Wayans Bros. movie, you can count on this one to be stupid but funny. I think this is a spoof on previous dance themed movies like "Step Up" and "You Got Served" but I'm not sure. It is, however, definitely a dance themed stupid comedy. Look out for this one in February of next year.

"Mommy loves you, pumpkin."