2009 - best of and worst of

2009
Best:

1) The Wrestler
Brilliant, I cannot fault it. Mickey Rourke delivers the best performance I have ever seen, truly heartbreaking. The movie is sad, well written, true to life, wonderfully acted, very funny in places and has a bittersweet ending and Bruce Springsteen! Perfect length too. Wins this list HANDS DOWN.

2)Religulous
Documentary looking at the ridiculous nature of religion, hence the title. It is HILARIOUS, easily the funniest film of the year and very intelligent.

3) Star Trek
I loved this, I really was not expecting to, I went in a bit like a spoilt teenager. Oh well, the team behind Lost really pulled it off. As a non trekkie, it was a perfect introduction to the interesting world. It didnt take itself too seriously, it kind of reminded me of Firefly/Serenity in that way. Great performances especially from Spock the younger. Not so sure about Eric Bana though.

4) 500 days of summer
Very sweet, and kooky...but in a good way! I know I gave Juno a hard time, but I much prefered this. It didnt obsess with using annoyingly cute dialogue (homskillet) or props (HAMBURGER PHONE) and I think perhaps because Tom was a realistic character and Joseph Gorden Levitt is bursting with charisma and comic timing. A bit iffy about Zoooey deshahahah, but never mind. The script is original, funny and touching. There is no chase scene at the end! A first for a rom com?

5) Drag me to hell
The movie equivelant of a rollercoaster, it is sooo much fun. Sam Raimi really got his act together after Spidey 3. Not being limited to a 12 certificate, Raimi can push the boundaries of horror that Spidey 3 needed for the exploration of the dark side. Drag me to hell is gross, far fetched, silly but great fun. What horror should be, I jumped out of my seat and laughed in equal doses. Brilliant ending.

6) Slumdog Millionaire -
What can I say that hasnt been said? Very enjoyable, brilliant performances, perfect balance of humour and sadness. Lovely seeing the underdog beat the crap out of Benjamin Button at the awards season! Jai Ho!

7) Revolutionary Road - The book is better, but I think this is Mendes return to form after the dull misfires of Road to perdition and Jarhead. Leo and Kate share electrifying chemistry and deliver great performances (especially Kate, better here than in the overrated Reader), even when they HATE each other. Creepy ending, lovely score by good ol' Thomas Newman. Not the best film to see on a first date or after a wedding. It is sad to think that this may have happened if Jack Dawson survived the sinking, oh well, he died so it doesnt matter.

8) District 9 - ahhh, Michael Bay and Roland Emerich, bloody well take note! An action movie with special effeects that horror of horrors does not completely focus on fighting and explosions!! (Michael is drooling as I type this) A brilliant debut performance from Copley, who is the tragic hero Vikus, truly shocking and a great political commentry on race and humanity. Perfect length too. The budget was something ridiculous like a few million yet managed to create brilliant alien creatures without shoving them in our faces every 2 seconds, the film focuses more instead on Vikus and his bodily transformation and his desperate attempts in survival.

9)Moon - Lovely little film, really took me by surprise. It starts off strangely and it really keeps you guessing, I had no idea where it was headed. Nice touch of the Hal ripoff robot with Kevin Spacey's voice.

10) Paranormal Activity - nice to see a horror movie when less is more, I wasnt as scared as I hoped to be, but the atmosphere was intense, the use of sound was incredibly creative and the last 15 minutes certainly made the old palms sweat. I dont like sleeping with my foot out of the bed now though, dooo.

Worst:
I highly doubt these are the worst in the year, I have avoided a lot of films, but alas, I got caught out. I unfortauntely did not catch the applauded Hottie and the nottie, hes just not THAT into you, Marley and Me, Crank 2, Gamer, Dance Flick and of course Transformers etc.

1) Knowing
Jesus Christ this was horrendous. I think this tops the list as I didn't expect it to be THIS bad. Nicholas Cage delivers a shocking performance, he is half asleep with his hand laid out waiting for that saaweet paychecque. Knowing doesnt know what it wants to be - a horror? an action adventure? a philisophical look at life on earth? a sci fi? That's right, it goes all George Lucas on you and a bit of Narnia thrown in.

2) 2012
Arrghhh, awful. Every damn action sequence has the main carboard leads escape the tornado/earthquake/laver by 1 second. EVERY scene. They also appeared to run out of money by the end, the cameras quickly changed to the ones used in Dr Who/Power Rangers. Roland Emerich - nearly as bad as Michael Bay?

3) The Final Destination
I enjoyed the 3D opening credits, they flew right into my face! the entrails on the other hand, hmmm...not scary, just stupid. I'm not a fan of the series, but this rivals the original film in levels of badness. The hairdressing scene crossed the line as did the use of 'it's only a dream! being used TWICE.

4) Bride Wars
How does Kate Hudson get work? This was shocking, and I thought SATC was too materialistic and shallow - it looks like it was produced by the peace hippy nature loving society in comparison to horrible bride wars. Women do not act like this! Also, men also have personalities!!! And why does Candice Bergen get wheeled out to do every chick flick under the sun as 'stern older woman?'

5) Watchmen
Oohh controversial choice. It has a fresh rating on rotten tomatoes, quite well received and I can admire a lot of things about it. However, all of that can't change that when I was in the cinema I was praying for it to end. I was unbelievably bored, disengaged and wondering what the fuss was about. The novelty of the Guy Ritchie sloooooowwwfast! camera work was ridiculous, OTT violence that seemed to be added as an after thought, about 45 minutes too long and the worst sex scene ever perhaps? How can a sex scene involving lovely Patrick Wilson not be enjoyable?? Damn you Zach Snyder. Perhaps if I read the 'graphic novel (i.e. comic book) it might make more sense. I like Jackie Earle Hayley though.