2009: FILM

Yeah, I'm planning on getting a bit listy for the rest of the year.

And I'm starting with my favorite films of the year. It's an easy one to start with on account of not having seen a lot films this year.

I find it takes a lot to get me off my ass and into a theater and to gamble on an overpriced ticket. Anyone who knows me knows that I believe the really good shit is on TV.

Many movies, however, made me say out loud "I want to see that." Very few actually got me in the seat. Of those that did, these are the ones that stick with me and why. In no particular order.

THE HURT LOCKER
Proof that a movie can be smart and emotional and have things blow up a lot and be awesome.

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER
I have never written anything remotely like a normal romance. No boy-meets-girl, they fall in love, lah-de-dah. I usually write about why it's never going to work out - about how it will end in blood, bullets, mind control drugs, or surveillance. So I liked this story of boy-meets-not-quite-the-right-girl. It made a fairly dreary point of view fun.

STAR TREK
Wheeeee!!!!!!! I grinned like I was ten years old for two solid hours. My face hurt when it was over. Also the only case I can think of where the reboot is still in original continuity (not including comics).

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY
I don't think I have ever enjoyed a horror movie other than Candyman. They are not scary. They're too unreal to be scary. The best a flick can hope for, I think, it to creep me the fuck out. This flick, however, all kinds of realness to it. From the first swaying of the open door to the...thing that happens at the end. Not to one with the cops. That ending sucked. And it was creepy, indeed. So creepy, it made me smile. I still think about those footprints in the flour.

WATCHMEN
I will never, ever recommend this as a movie. Nor will I recommend it to someone who hasn't already read the Watchmen. But I thoroughly enjoyed Watchmen in the context in which I regard it: as a supplement to the original comics. It's cool to see it come to life, and in many respects it was well done, but as a movie in and of itself, it doesn't work. It only served to prove that Watchmen is not adaptable in this form. This is jsut an alternate way to gain additional enjoyment from the comic. And the alteration of hte ending doesn't present some thematic problems.

Remaining to be seen this year. Up in the Air...maybe. Sherlock Holmes....mos def.

Nothing this year, however, broke into the lifetime top five, which remains (also in no particular order) Fight Club, The Dark Knight, The Great Escape, A Few Good Men, & Blade Runner.