2009 HONOR ROLL
As with my listing from the previous year, I will first place my attention upon the films of 2009 that I feel warrant one more round of applause. And even though they did not make my personal final Top Ten listings, please do not let that speak to any levels of quality. All of the following titles have much to their merit and they all made me happy to purchase my tickets for a seat in the darkened theater.
“(500) DAYS OF SUMMER” Directed by Marc Webb
Now despite some problems I did have with this film, this highly original, honest and at times painfully resonant romance was light years ahead of all other romantic comedies released this year. Consistently inventive while perceptive about memory as well as the ways we fall in love and fool ourselves while in its clutches, the doomed unrequited dance between Tom Hansen (an excellent Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and the elusive and almost ethereal Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel) hit a bit too close to home in the best possible way.
“CRAZY HEART” Written, Produced and Directed by Scott Cooper
Jeff Bridges completely embodied his role of fading country singer Bad Blake in Cooper's highly effective, savvy and emotionally resonant debut feature. The screenplay, controlled direction and that great performance (along with Maggie Gyllenhaal's equally great performance) make this overly familiar material sing and feel completely fresh.
“DISTRICT 9” Directed by Neill Blomkamp
When I exited this brutal science-fiction, South African apartheid allegory, I thought to myself, “James Cameron has a lot to live up to with ‘Avatar’.” And for my money, this film has “Avatar” beat on all counts. "District 9" is far and away the better film. It is a deeply profound experience with its depiction of a complete nightmare of inhumanity. Not only does it feature some of the very best photo-realistic CGI special effects I have seen to date, it contains a flat-out sensational leading performance by first-time actor Sharlto Copley who compellingly shifts from officious, to snivelling, to cowardly, to duplicitous, to heroically tragic effortlessly.
”AN EDUCATION” Directed by Lone Scherfig
Carey Mulligan gives an exquisite performance as a 16-year-old in a sleepy London suburb having an affair with a shady, attractive middle aged Peter Sarsgaard. It was a quiet yet strongly perceptive and knowing film that mirrored Mulligan’s youthful restlessness and yearning with the cultural revolution Britain was just about to undergo. Alfred Molina gets a great special honor for his terrific performance as Mulligan’s class conscious and status obsessed Father. It reminded me and even rivals Paul Dooley’s classic performance in the eternal “Breaking Away.”
“FANTASTIC MR. FOX” Co-Written and Directed by Wes Anderson
For his first foray into animation, Anderson made his most playful film to date, while not dumbing down his material for children or sacrificing the detail, empathy, sly and sardonic humor of his previous films. If only most children's films were pitched at this level.
”FUNNY PEOPLE” Written and Directed by Judd Apatow
This sprawling comedy drama, which begins as a character study of world famous comedian who becomes terminally ill and stretches itself into a cautionary tale about Hollywood itself, was a artistic leap for both Apatow and star Adam Sandler. Unfortunately, the film died a quick death at the box office this past summer and it is not difficult to see why as it is not an easy film to classify and sell to a mass audience. While darkly funny, it is a melancholy affair that may have been better served during the 1970s, but regardless, I found it to be a deeply rewarding experience and greatly appreciate Apatow and Sandler for not resting on their creative laurels.
“THE HURT LOCKER” Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
While its fragmented nature did not swell into a resonant whole for me, Bigelow has achieved a dynamic experience with blistering direction and a pitch-perfect leading performance by Jeremy Renner. It accomplishes three challenging feats simultaneously: it is a war film, action thriller and psychological drama all in one and many sequences, especially the first two are excruciating in their tension.
“I LOVE YOU, MAN" Co-Written and Directed by John Hamburg
Like "(500) Days Of Summer," this slight, yet very enjoyable comedy hit a bit too close to home as it depicted the budding male friendship between female friendly Paul Rudd and man's man Jason Segal. Their charm carries this film while also providing a strong window into the inner world of male relationships.
“JULIE AND JULIA” Written and Directed by Nora Ephron
The film that gave me one of the biggest pushes to even begin “Savage Cinema” was initially a film I was not interested in seeing. But, what a pleasant surprise it was and I still think that Amy Adams' performance received a raw deal from critics as I even enjoyed her sections even more than Meryl Streep’s terrific sections. Again I must heap praise upon Stanley Tucci’s completely subtle and loving performance.
“The LOVELY BONES” Co–Written and Directed by Peter Jackson
I have now seen this film twice. I have now read the novel from which this film was based. And I proudly stand by my original review which praised this strange, dark film for its restraint as well as it's enormous empathy. While a completely different film could have been made from the same material--something less visually dazzling and much grittier like "House Of Sand And Fog" -Jackson's interpretation was more than faithful. It was inventive, mournful, creepy, soulful, and completely original and as heartfelt as any love one can have for the protected purity of a child's innocence.
“MOON” Directed by Duncan Jones
This debut science fiction feature, which contains an especially effective and tricky performance by Sam Rockwell as the lone human occupant on a lunar base, represents the kind of science-fiction film they used to make: one with ideas at the forefront, not explosions and destruction.
“SHERLOCK HOLMES” Directed by Guy Ritchie
An adrenalized and brawny update of the classic characters and adventures from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novels was highly entertaining and exciting. The pairing of Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Holmes and sidekick Dr. Watson was beyond perfect!
“UP” Directed by Pete Doctor
The folks at Pixar have done it once again with this absolutely wonderful and beautiful to the point of tears fantasy. Whimsical enough to feature a pack of hilarious talking dogs and heartbreaking enough to honestly depict loss, aging, and mortality, "Up" continues Pixar's golden reputation as the best of American animation.
“WHIP IT” Directed by Drew Barrymore
It still stuns me to think of how much I enjoyed this film and especially coming from an actress I just cannot stand! But, I will always give credit when it is due and Drew Barrymore in her debut feature as a Director, takes the extremely familiar material of the "coming-of-age" formula and finds nearly all of the right notes--from performances, writing, editing, to even the wall-to-wall soundtrack, with this warm and energetic presentation. Ellen Page's rich performance proves that "Juno" was no fluke.
THE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS OF 2009
Like the title of this section states, these are the films that disappointed me the most, the ones that let me down in one way or several but these are not the ones I just hated. That will be saved for the next section...
"THE HANGOVER" Directed by Todd Phillips
Yes, this was one of 2009's biggest box office hits and yet, I was sadly underwhelmed. While I did enjoy the comic mystery within the story of three men attempting to piece together the events from their drunken bachelor party the night before, as well as locate the missing groom, I just didn't find it funny. It felt like a bad throwback to a 1980's styled raunchy comedy in its tone as well as its characterizations, from the three completely unlikeable members of the leading trio to its awful depiction of every woman in the cast as either passive, bitchy or worst of all, the hooker with a heart of gold.
"PUBLIC ENEMIES" Directed by Michael Mann
Michael Mann remains one of my favorite filmmakers of all time and this film, featuring the crime story and pursuit of John Dillinger, set in Mann's native Midwest and starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, should have been a slam dunk. Unfortunately, it was a sluggish, muddled, unfocused, unmotivated and poorly paced mess.
"AVATAR" Written and Directed by James Cameron
If "Public Enemies" should have been a slam dunk, then Cameron's science fiction epic and return to film after 12 years should have been a Michael Jordan slam dunk. But, I am so sorry to say that it just wasn't. It wasn't. It wasn't!! I know that I have been really hard on Cameron and this film which has earned more than 2 BILLION dollars at the box office worldwide. I will say again that I did not hate this movie and I do not think it is necessarily a bad film. But James Cameron, a MASTER filmmaker of his status and caliber has done better time and again. Because of his filmmaking history, I know that he can do better than present to us a visually dazzling film set to a derivative, predictable and poorly executed story set to the worst dialogue of the year. All of the forward thinking special effects cannot rescue a weak story and revolutionary 3D technology cannot make your dialogue sound better. His actors were just stranded and the characters contained sub-standard and questionable motivations (For instance, in a sequence featuring the Na'Vi, a tree and and an ailing Sigourney Weaver, why would the Na'Vi even care?). There was no film this past year that disappointed me more as it really could have been one for the ages.
THE FILMS I HATED IN 2009
Here's my chance to take one last swipe at the time-wasters of the year...
"THE PROPOSAL" Directed by Anne Fletcher
A film that has already earned a spot on my least favorite films of the past decade, this alleged and awful entry is the latest nail in the romantic comedy coffin due to extremely lazy writing, tepid direction, and possessing no sense of romance or comedy whatsoever. And Sandra Bullock, who was this film's Executive Producer, should be ashamed of herself for being behind yet another film that depicts a horribly sexist view of a 21st century career-woman. I'm not trying to make this film more serious than it is but really, dear readers, this film was a failure at its most basic level. I just didn't buy even one minute of this badly conceived cotton candy fantasy and if you re-watch the climactic sequence where Ryan Reynolds struggles and arrives at his inevitable feelings towards his sociopathic boss, you can easily see that he didn't buy it either. Terrible!
"THE INFORMANT!" Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Arriving 20 years after his groundbreaking debut feature, "sex, lies and videotape" and seven years after the conclusion of his unbelievably brilliant Directorial streak which featured no less than "Out Of Sight" (1998), "The Limey" (1999), "Erin Brockovich" (2000), "Traffic" (2000), "Ocean's Eleven" (2001) and "Solaris" (2002), Soderbergh's latest effort was a smug, self-congratulatory exercise in arrogant irony--displayed cloyingly in the film's title with that stupid exclamation point. While this film, about a corporate whistle blower who just may be a pathological liar, contained a great performance by Matt Damon, Soderbergh operated above this material and not inside of it, as if he was just condescending to making a studio picture. If he didn't believe in his own material, then why should we? As a mater of fact, I felt that the people responsible for creating the film's coming attractions trailer made a better film than Soderbergh.
"DUPLICITY" Written and Directed by Tony Gilroy & "THE INTERNATIONAL" Directed by Tom Tykwer
This is a plea for Clive Owen to speak with his agent and quickly as he starred in two putrid so-called thrillers this year that both lacked any thrills, charm, energy or excitement. Very surprising and extremely disappointing as both directors are ones who have made extremely compelling material in the past; Gilroy wrote and directed the excellent corporate thriller "Michael Clayton" (2007) while Tykwer directed the astonishing "Run Lola Run" (1998). Unfortunately, none of their consummate skill was present whatsoever in these two films which wasted Owen's considerable talent.
"ANGELS AND DEMONS" Directed by Ron Howard
Talk about waste of talent, time and energy as this film managed to be even worse than "The DaVinci Code." The lack of thrills and excitement in this picture was so mountainous that it made "Duplicity" and "The International" look like "Raiders Of the Lost Ark." Speaking of our favorite archaeologist to which the character of Prof. Robert Langdon has been compared, let's face it, Langdon is an insufferable egghead bore and not even the mastery of Tom Hanks can breathe effective life into him. I beg Howard and Hanks to please not inject another ridiculous adventure like this into our cinemas.
THE WORST FILM OF 2009
"BRUNO" Directed by Larry Charles
The talent, dedication, commitment and skill of provocateur Sasha Baron Cohen cannot be denied and I strongly feel that it should be applauded. That said, I was not a fan of "Borat" (2006) and this new faux documentary/social comedy experience was simply awful. Aside from its self-congratulatory odes to "shocking" material, of which none was actually funny, the film seemed to be overloaded with sequences that were obviously staged, which then depleted the film of any comedic energy or opportunities. If everyone is in on the joke, then where is the comedy? It was a looooooooong 82 minutes and I don't believe I laughed even once.
Coming up next...my TOP TEN FAVORITES OF 2009!!!
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