2009: Year Of Movies - My List

What a great year for movies and what a bleak watch I had. Sincere apologies for not posting much in this blog! As I had mentioned before, work & personal life is pulling me in different directions and I have no time for movies. But anyways, what has become a regular tradition in Silasram, I am going to post the best movies of 2009 from what I have watched so far. This list is NOT gonna include all the gems that came out later in the year, which means almost all the best of this year. Let’s jump right in……

Star Trek – probably the most entertaining sci-fi flick ever?! Not exactly, but close. J.J.Abrams rejuvenated the legendary series for the new generation of Trekkies. Let’s be honest, it was like Star Wars. That’s why it worked and there is nothing wrong with it. It brought all the nerdy Star Trek elements to a big budget sci-fi extravaganza and voila, we had a winner – both critically and financially. Chris Pine and Zachary Pinto got in to the skins of Captain Kirk and Spock. While we wonder about the closeness of the plot to Star Wars sequels and how the space-time continuum went berserk in the last moments, the movie was still entertaining and pure fun. Knowing the flaws, the second viewing was more satisfying (Yes I watched this in theater twice). Can’t wait to grab a copy of DVD and definitely can’t wait for the sequels. BTW I loved the lens flares. Glad to have the Trek back on track!

Inglorious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino) – Any film which was in the development for more than 2 years always raises eyebrows. QT was playing with his fans about Basterds for years and it was about time. I had very low expectations for this movie, especially after Death Proof. Though I adore Death Proof for its Grind House flavor, it was far away from the smart scripted world of Tarantino. Basterds was announced, developed and completed in a swift phase for Cannes ‘09. But, early buzz from Cannes was not tremendous either. In the movie halls, it was a whole different experience. Basterds was a sweet surprise and it directly went in to QT’s masterpieces with just few minutes in to the movie. This rough, bloody, messy and historically incorrect version of WWII, as told by Tarantino, is what one can call as “f&*(ing brilliant!”. A nod to Spaghetti Westerns and WWII epics, this movie crosses all boundaries. Never have I seen audience kept on applauding for violence on screen and never in a movie, the final payoff was extremely rewarding. Basterds is an instant classic. The one to own and the one which will stand for multiple viewings. QT is back, baby!

The Hangover (Todd Phillips) – Old School being the Classic it is, Hangover should be considered as an achievement. Every freaking frame in this movie is pure comedy gold and it does supersede Old School in few places. With end to end LOL moments, Zach Galifianakis entered the big league with this one. Like Old School, this one is gonna stay with us for a long time. “There is a jungle cat in the bathroom…..” still is side-splitting.

Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow) – Pure edge-of-the-seat thriller about a bomb defusing squad of American Soldiers in Iraq. Kathryn Bigelow reaches her pinnacle with this one. A raw display of physical and psychological casualties of the war with crucial action set pieces, this movie stays away from the politics of the Iraq War. Almost present in all the top ten lists of 2009, it has already swept most of the critics’ top honors. A solid movie of 2009. Now all it needs is an Oscar to seal the deal!

Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli) - A small tiny film which can scare the bejesus out of ya! In a way, it could be the scariest movie ever, provided you watch it alone in the movie halls. I still get the flashes of the movie often, it literally f&*(ed me up for a while.

District 9 (Neill Blomkamp) – Ah! What can I say about this one. An instant sci-fi epic. Heavily borrowing from Alien Nation, it goes beyond our expectations. With an exceptional performance from Sharlto Copley, the movie touches the issues of discrimination from the eyes of Aliens. An alternate reality which is as compelling as the real life, it is bound to put you in awe and make you cry. With a less than average budget of 30 million $s, D9 looks spectacular and feels like a 100+ mil movie. Neill Blomkamp enters the game with an immediate touchdown. Masterpiece? it is!

Watchmen (Zack Synder) – This may raise few eyebrows. But we cannot forget the fact that what has been achieved is still significant. With a complex, convoluted and non-linear literature as the Alan Moore’s graphic novel, this is the finest version feasible. We all know, this movie cannot be better than the book. Watchmen is one of the must-read books of all time as per the TIME magazine and generally regarded as "unfilmable". With such a heavy baggage already in the shoulders, I think Zack definitely pulled this off successfully. I dig this movie completely.

Drag Me To Hell (Sam Raimi) – Second next to Star Trek on the most fun I had at movies this year. Glad to see Sam Raimi back to his forte. Cheesy jump scares and B-movie feel, revamped horror comedy with a kick-ass ending.

Public Enemies (Michael Mann)– With names like Michael Mann, Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and story of John Dillinger, this film is bound to be a quality work. It received better than average reviews but I did enjoy this film on par with “Heat”. That’s why this is on my list. You can check my love for this crime saga here.

(500) Days of Summer (Marc Webb) - if any of you is wondering about the ill-fate of romantic comedies qualitatively, we had some sign of relief with Summer. A sweet little flick about a guy moving away from a girl. It is finely tailored drama with great pepped up performances from Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel. A must-watch for everyone!

As you can see, I have missed a huge frame of big guns. Starting from the obvious Avatar, Lovely Bones, Education, Up in the air, Fantastic Mr.Fox, Where the wild things are, Precious, The Road, Serious Man, The Brothers Bloom, Moon, Tetro, Whatever Works, In The Loop. Antichrist, The Box, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans etc. The list is massive! I will post my comments as soon as I check them out next year. But for now, this is my list.

Hoping to type in more posts while I’m in my vacation. Happy Holidays, folks! :)