Top 10 Films of 2009

Well folks, the year has come to an end, and considering I’m only going to go see Avatar over and over again (current viewing count: 4!) I’ve seen all the movies in 2009 that I’m going to see, which means it’s time for my top 10 of the year!  This year, which contained a lot of great movies, ended with a bang, and then another bang, and frankly this was the toughest top choice I’ve had in a while!  But with the good must come some bad, so there’s also a list of those ones to avoid.  And finally rounding out with some random awards that should totally start being award by the Academy, because these are what really matter in a film!  So here they are, those films from 2009 that you just gotta see (well, at least in my oh so humble opinion):

The Good:
10. Black Dynamite
9. The Princess and the Frog
8. Paper Heart
7. Precious
6. Fantastic Mr. Fox
5. The Hurt Locker
4. (500) Days of Summer
3. Inglourious Basterds
2. Up in the Air
1. Avatar

The Bad
10. New Moon
9. Nine
8. The last 10 minutes of Old Dogs
7. The Ugly Truth
6. Hannah Montana: The Movie
5. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
4. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
3. 2012
2. The Lovely Bones
1. The Time Traveler’s Wife

The One(s) That Got Away: The Brothers (A Serious Man and A Single Man) and The Young Victoria shared Broken Embraces under a Bright Star at The Last Station in Zombieland.

The Honorable Mentions: District 9, Star Trek, Sunshine Cleaning, The Hangover, Watchmen, Up, He’s Just Not That Into You, Coraline, Sherlock Holmes

Best Opening Credits Sequence: Watchmen

Best Closing Credits Sequence: Tie - Pirate Radio and The Hangover

Best Mutilation of Historical Fact: Inglourious Basterds

Best Pairing to Spawn a Demon Child: Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) of Inglourious Basterds and Mary Lee Johnston (Mo’Nique) of Precious

Best Pairing to Spawn a Smurf: Netyri (Zoe Saldana) of Avatar and Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) of Watchmen

Best Online Marketing Campaign: Paranormal Activity

Best In Theater Marketing Campaign: District 9

Best Movie to Scare the Shit Out of Your Kids While Simultaneously Entertaining Them: Coraline

Best Lack of Dialogue: The first 15 minutes of Up

Best Use of Dialogue: The first 15 minutes of Inglourious Basterds

Best Alternate Name for Unobtanium: Black Dynamite

Summer 2009 Wrap-Up

Well, it’s been a good season.  And while technically summer doesn’t end until September 21st, in the wonderful world of Cinema, September 1st marks the end Blockbuster Summer season and the beginning of the We’re-Not-Good-Enough-to-Get-a-Best-Picture-Nod-By-All-Means-We’re-Gonna-Look-Like-We’re-Trying Fall drought.  So here is a list of the top 10 and the bottom five of a very exciting summer season:

The Good:
10. Public Enemies
9.  The Final Destination
8. Every Little Step
7. District 9
6. The Hangover
5. Up
4. (500) Days of Summer
3. Paperheart
2. Star Trek
1. Inglourious Basterds

The Bad:
5. Taking Woodstock
4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
3. The Ugly Truth
2. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
1. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

The One That Got Away: Hurt Locker

Well, can’t wait to see what the fall brings!  With such releases as Where the Wild Things Are and Jennifer’s Body the next couple months should be a nice entertaining ride on the way to AWARD SEASON!  HOORAY!  But in the meantime, I leave with this summer gem: