2009 Movies

Inspired by my friend Jake’s post on the same topic, I’ve decided to run down my year in movies.

• In Bruge – Very good, darker than I expected. Made me wish I visited Belgium during my Europe trips.
• Dexter: Season 1 – My favorite series of the year.
• La Dolce Vita – I came away not liking this one, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it all year.  This will require a second viewing.
• Man on Wire – Very entertaining.  This is someone who loves life.
• Burn After Reading – Good, not great.  Also darker than expected.
• Dexter: Season 2 – Not quite as good as the first.
• Blade Runner – It took me a long time to finally get around to this one.  It has been hyped too much and a bit too dated for my tastes.
• I Am Legend – Disappointing.  Will Smith needs to stick to the thoughtful drama category.
• The Edge of Heaven – I don’t remember this one very well, but know that I liked it a lot.  This lack of memory will be a recurring theme for the year (thanks to twins, I guess).
• WALL-E – Much better than expected.  I don’t get the controversy that surrounded the message.
• Brotherhood: Season 1 – Just OK.  We didn’t care about any of the characters.  Probably won’t pick up Season 2.
• The Duchess – No memory of this at all.
• Lust, Caution – Very good, beautiful film.  I picked it up for the NC-17 rating, and it turned out to be good for a whole bunch of other reasons.
• Love in the Time of Cholera – Did not like this, although I didn’t much like the book either.
• Slumdog Millionaire – Very good, but way over hyped.
• Step Into Liquid – Good.  I am one step closer to seeing every surfing movie ever made.
• Tsotsi – Pretty good, but I wanted to like the main character more.  Maybe that was the point.
• Milk – Interesting story, thought Penn was pretty good.
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Story was too much of a gimmick to ever make a great movie.
• The Wrestler – Painfully good.  I can’t believe Rourke looks the way he does.
• Frost/Nixon – Interesting, made me want to see the original footage.  The Nixon actor was excellent.
• The Reader – Good, but forgettable.
• Gran Torino – Great role for Eastwood.  Consistently loving his movies.
• Lords of Dogtown – Can’t hold a candle to Dogtown and Z-Boys.
• Weeds: Season 4 – This is holding up in the fourth season.  Nice twist at the end.
• Changeling – Decent but not very memorable.
• Mad Men: Season 2 – Very good, love that Roger Sterling.
• Tell No One – Have it down as a highly rated movie, but don’t remember it that well.
• 21 – Disappointing, book was so much better.
• The Right Stuff – Exact opposite of 21, very true to the book and a great flick.
• Superbad – Dumb, but was expected.
• Deep Water – Interesting, depressing documentary about a sailor.
• Flash of Genius – Pretty predictable. I think Kinnear has better roles in him.
• Jeopardy: An Inside Look – The process of creating the questions/answers was very interesting.  Would have like more on Alex.
• The Tao of Steve – Showing its age.  The main character was not at all redeeming.
• Life After People – I was disappointed in this, and also in the book The World Without Us.  Can anyone do the “world post humans” concept well?
• Revolutionary Road – Did not like this one either.  I wanted everyone to die in the end and I almost got my wish.
• Vicky Christina Barcelona – Another beautiful film.  Decent story and acting.  All round good effort, but nothing like Match Point.
• Entourage: Season 5 – I’ll keep sticking with this series even though it’s pretty predictable.
• Following – Good for those wanting to see the Nolan body of work.  He’s just cutting his teeth here.
• The Bourne Ultimatum – This has turned out to be a great series, even better than the Jack Ryan films or later Bond films.
• John Adams – An amazing performance from Giamatti.  A good format for those wanting something faster than the book.
• Dexter: Season 3 – It was a bit harder to get into this season, but it finished strong.
• The Boy in the Striped Pajamas – Interesting perspective of the Holocaust.  There are many others that are more powerful, The Pianist for example.
• The Proposal – Predictable, but better than expected.
• Julia – Hands down the worst movie of the year.  I could have watched this at 2x speed and it still would have been too long.
• Valkyrie – I was prepared to hate this because the loon Tom Cruise was in it, but I ended up liking it.
• Duplicity – Good, but I found myself needing an org chart at times.  The old brain isn’t what it used to be.
• Angels & Demons – Much better than The Da Vinci Code.  Beautiful in the Blu-Ray format.
• Tyson – A surprise, very poignant and made me feel bad for this nut job.
• Yes Man – Blah, tried too hard for the laughs, about 45 minutes too long.