Top Movies of ’09

Sun, 3 Jan 2010 21:37:02 -0800

This evening I was sitting around, reading blogs online when I realized it’s January 3rd and I haven’t even made my Best Of ’09 movie list yet! So I immediately get online and see what everyone has has chosen. Not because I’m going to copy there lists, I just wanted to make sure I didn’t leave off anything from earlier in the year. After that was done, I pulled out my ticket stubs for movies (yes, I’ve been “collecting” my movie stubs since around 2001--hmm gives me an idea for another post “Every Movie I’ve Seen In Theatres For the First Decade of the 2000s”...) for further refreshments. There were a lot of great movies released this year, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see all of them, so this is is for only the movies I saw. Let me know what you guys think!
#10 Brothers Bloom
I was fortunate enough to catch this movie at the AMC Main Street theater, in Kansas City, MO, before it opened in early May. They gave local bloggers and podcasters a behind-the-scenes look at the landmark new theatre. Originally they were going to show us a screening of “Valkyrie”, which I had seen already and wasn’t impressed with. Then we were told the movie was switched last minute to Brothers Bloom and man, how lucky was I! It turned out to be an incredible movie, with amazing performances from Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel Weisz. A truly original story with fresh characters.
#9 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
I never really got into the Harry Potter-mania until I saw the trailer for “Order of the Phoenix,” that’s when I first gave the movies a chance. I caught up on all the other movies beforehand, and I came out loving the story about the “boy who lived” and then immediately read all the books. The latest movie did a fantastic job adapting the 6th in the series, with a standout performance by Jim Broadbent as Prof. Slughorn. The only reason this movie is further down on my list is because, like the book, this volume is just setting up the pieces for the last chapter. If they keep the quality up for the last two movies, then expect to seem them higher up next year on my list.
#8 Up
Pixar does it again, only this time they’ve outdone everything else they’ve done in the past. Not only the best Pixar film yet, it’s one of the best films ever. Every bit of this movie is put together with such care and love, and it’s noticeable in the animation, the cinematography, and the characters. Heck, even the first ten minutes will make you misty-eyed! A must-see.
#7 Star Trek
To make this clear, I’ve never cared to watch any version of the tv shows, nor seen any of the movies (who’s Kahn?!), but I LOVED this movie. I’ve been a fan of J.J. Abrams since Alias, his movie directorial debut MI: III was decent, but he really grew with this film. It was the first movie of the year that was really fun for me in the theatre. I’ve since seen it two or three times on blu-ray and I’m enthralled with it every time. If it were ever to be made into a new series with this cast, I would tune in every week!
#6 District 9
I remember watching the first trailer for this movie and going “what is this movie about??” I had no preconceptions with this movie going into the theatre (something that’s almost impossible to do nowadays), but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. One of the best sci-fi movies I’ve seen in a while, it was refreshing to see a different background setting for a movie (South African slums) that’s seldom seen in movies. The CGI, courtesy of WETA, is perfectly blended into the live-action shots, with the most life-like alien creatures I’ve yet to see that wasn’t actually on the set. Great story, characters and the use of special effects to support the story, not overshadow it makes this one on the list.
#5 Inglourious Basterds
Quentin Tarantino had been trying to make this movie for quite some time. A good thing it was put on hold, because the stars aligned for this one. Some have been calling this movie he masterpiece, and I may have to agree with them. Kill Bill to me was too much and Death Proof, I honestly kinda forget about that one. Inglourious Basterds came off as a WWII bloody, shoot’em up from the trailers and tv spots, and that would have been a good movie, but everyone was surprised to find out it was more about a young jewish woman getting vengeance than anything else. And I think that’s part of what makes this movie so great. A terrific bad guy, maybe one of the best ever, Hans Landa played by Christoph Waltz will no doubt receive an Oscar nomination, if not the Oscar for his performance. With an unpredictable, twist ending (won’t give it away) it dares to change history. And does.
#4 Watchmen
This may have been the movie I was anticipating the most this year. I’ve read the comic, watched all the trailers, behind-the-scenes video blogs (even made my own trailer spoof!) I won tickets to catch an early screening of it and sat anxiously for the lights to dim. When it was all done and over, I had to pick my jaw up from the floor. I went in with high expectations and most of them were met (there were several song selections in the movie that made me almost laugh and took me out of the movie). However, it’s painstakingly attention to detail and images pulled straight out of the comic made any geek shrill with delight. Not to mention, it’s a great story with it’s “realistic” “heroes.”
#3 Where The Wild Things Are
Unlike a lot of people going in to see this movie, I barely remembered reading the book, let alone calling it my favorite book as a child. It was my admiration for Spike Jonze (Adaptation, Being John Malkavich) and the brilliant cinematography of Lance Acord to first drew me in. Althought the book is aimed at children, the movie, however did not feel like it was for the same group. at all This was a movie that was aimed instead for adults, reminding them of the childhood. It may be less of a movie and more of an experience, a journey to different time for its audience and feeling the sense of adventure and imagination all over again. And how can I forget performances by everyone from young Max Records, Catherine Keener, Chris Cooper and James Gandolfini? Brilliant jobs.
#2 Drag Me To Hell
What a movie! It didn’t get the mass appeal that it deserves, but then again, I don’t think it was ever meant to. This was a movie for Sam Raimi to rinse his mouth out of Spider-Man 3 and get back to the basics. Drag Me To Hell is a very simple, in approach, horror film. I’ve watched it several times on blu-ray, and everyone I’ve seen it with seems to come away feeling like it wasn’t that scary. It’s not supposed to be. It’s a movie that has fun torturing it’s main star Alison Lohman with a demon from hell, with everything from slime, bugs and an anvil right out of Looney Tunes. Perhaps you have to get (and maybe love) Raimi’s approach to horror in order to appreciate this one, but I do. And that’s why it’s #2.
#1 Avatar
I was at first apprehended to put this movie so high on my list because of how recently I’ve seen it. Normally my opinions are never as strong when re-watching a movie months later. But I dare to live life risky, so here it is.
Building up to the Avatar release I kept myself from being caught up in the hype-machine (happened with Star Wars Episode 1, wasn’t a good feeling). I believe I did a pretty good job of keeping my expectations where they should be (right about in the middle). James Cameron has never made a terrible movie, I doubt he was going to start here. Because the movie was imagined for being on IMAX 3-D, that’s where I went to see my first viewing of it opening day (real IMAX mind you). Even though I had crappy seats, I was blown away. The use of 3-D didn’t feel like a gimick (I felt cheated seeing Up in 3-D), but used to aid the utilization of depth perception. I know a lot of people call it “Dances With Wolves in Space,” (I kinda agree), but it’s the characters, the world and the imagination that pulled me into the world of Pandora. I didn’t believe anything was “game-changing” as some claimed it would be, but I was very impressed with the CGI, my mind actually believed the Na’vi were actually filmed on camera at times. I’ve seen the movie twice now and I could easily go see it again. The score is one of my favorite parts, I’ve re listened to the album several times now. This is our second Sam Worthington movie (of three) within a years’ time (Terminator: Salvation and then upcoming Clash of the Titans), and I think he may be the next best thing since sliced bread. He’s no Marlon Brando or Anthony Hopkins by any means, but I think he’s a great actor for the types of movies he’s doing. This may be a movie that does better in the theatre than at home, but damn if it wasn’t the best movie theater experience I’ve had all year.

Honorable Mentions
These were movies that were on my long list, but didn’t quite make the grade. Here they are in no particular order.
(1) Days of Summer
The Box
Zombieland
Terminator: Salvation
The Hangover
Adventureland
Away We Go
Whatever Works
New Moon*

* Yeah right!

A New Horizon is Approaching

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 15:52:29 -0700

The past couple of week or so has been kinda busy (in a great way!) and I think it’s safe now to talk about some of them. First off I still haven’t found a (paying) job yet, so if you or anyone you know can help me out with that, that’d be great (hint hint).
A couple of weeks ago I met with a local filmmaker about a horror film he’s putting together. I found the posting on craigslist looking for some crew, I figured, I don’t have a job, I WANT to make movies, perfect timing. Met the director, he was real great, definitely knew what he wanted and seems to know how to get it done. So during production I will be a key grip on set. Should be a lot of fun. Today we actually had our first table reading and met most of the cast. I’m also going to be editor on this project. I will definitely keep everyone posted on this project. I think it has great potential.
The second big thing I’m excited to announce is that I have officially joined V01d, an upcoming web show that’s about modding tech, geek culture and more. It’s being put together by Neha Twirai and Colleen Kelly. I will be one of the video editors on this show, and after the meeting/interview I had a few days ago with them I’m incredibly psyched about this project, there are going to be great things in the future with this one.
I’ve been in California almost two months now, crazy how fast time goes by. I’m really loving it here (though there are some things I do miss about Kansas). I seem to be meeting with the right people and now things are starting to just fall into place. And if you haven’t noticed, I played an Amazon Wishlist button on the front of site, you know, just in cause you guys want to buy me something (no pressure or anything, but I am jobless :p).

Aronofsky on Writing

Mon, 1 Jun 2009 16:24:18 -0700

Thanks to @jpgardner on twitter I saw this great interview with writer/director Darren Aronofsky(Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler) on MakingOf.com. Some really great stuff if you’re writing a screenplay, or any form of storytelling.
I’ve been a big fan of Aronofsky’s since Requiem for a Dream. But it’s his 3rd film, The Fountain that has had the greatest emotional reaction on me. And I don’t toss this around lightly by any means, but The Fountain is my favorite film of all time. Coming from me, that should mean a lot, because I never say that (unless I’m talking aboardut this movie). If you haven’t seen it, it’s a must watch, though it may take a couple viewings to truly get it.

About Me:

Top Movies of ’09

A New Horizon is Approaching

Aronofsky on Writing