What I Think About Movies I've Seen

I saw well over 100 different new releases in 2009. Here's a list of some of what I consider the best and the worst:

Best Movie Overall: Inglorious Basterds

The trailer made this movie seem like a war movie, which I really don't like, but when I finally got around to seeing it I was sorry that I waited. This is Tarantino's best work since Pulp Fiction, and it's a great mix of action, drama, and comedy. Arguably, it may a better movie in the theater (where I saw it twice) than on DVD because there's more French and German than English so you need to pay attention, and the very wide aspect ratio (2.4 to 1) can make the subtitles hard to read on a TV screen.

Best Action Movie: District 9

This one came out of nowhere. It has a good story and great special effects that are even more impressive when you consider the relatively tiny $30 million dollar budget. I haven't gotten a chance to see the DVD yet, but it's near the top of my to-do list.

Honorable Mention: Taken

Biggest Disappointment: Avatar

Didn't See: The Hurt Locker, Sherlock Holmes

Best Animated Movie: Up

I'm far from one of those people that think that Pixar can do no wrong, and I really didn't go for WALL-E as much as some other people. But Up was a very good movie. It had much more depth than I expected, and made excellent use of 3D technology.

Honorable Mention: A Christmas Carol

Biggest Disappointment: 9

Didn't See: Ponyo, The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Best Comedy: Zombieland

I got a chance to go to the premiere for this movie at Fantastic Fest, which was one of the best movie experiences I've ever had. I was cautiously optimistic about it when I saw the trailer, but the movie exceeded my wildest expectations, even after seeing it a second time and knowing what happens.

Honorable Mention: Fanboys

Biggest Disappointment: Adventureland

Didn't See: Bruno

Best Documentary: We Live in Public

This film covers the rise and crash of Josh Harris, a social media visionary who arrived before his time and ultimately drove himself to insanity. Now that there is a more mainstream audience for this kind of behavior and the technology is more readily available, it's interesting to consider how frequent this will become.

Honorable Mention: Hockey Night in Texas

Biggest Disappointment: Largo

Didn't See: Capitalism: A Love Story, The Cove

Best Drama: Invictus

It's not the only movie of the year with a great, heart-warming story, and it may not have been the most challenging of acting roles for either Morgan Freeman or Matt Damon, but I can't imagine how it could have been done better.

Honorable Mention: The Blind Side

Biggest Disappointment: Everybody's Fine

Didn't See: An Education, Julie & Julia, Precious

Best Horror: Paranormal Activity

I love horror movies, and this is one of the most effective that I've seen. The highest-grossing horror movie of the decade had an estimated budget of less than $20,000, and because of that it focused more on the story than on the effects (in fact, the two most obvious special effects were also some of the weakest scenes). This is great news for movie fans, because it means that we could be seeing excellent movies emerging from outside the typical distribution channels.

Honorable Mention: Drag Me to Hell

Biggest Disappointment: H2: Halloween 2

Didn't See: Jennifer's Body, Orphan

Most Over-Hyped: Avatar

I'm kind of puzzled about why so many people think this is such a great movie. It really isn't. It's not horrible, but it's definitely not great. The story has been done many times before, the dialog is inane and predictable, and the characters are unoriginal stereotypes. On top of that, I found the 3D to be pretty disappointing and largely unnecessary. For the amount of time and money spent making the movie, the result is massively underwhelming.

Worst Movie Ever: Myna Se Va

This is a movie that I saw at the 2009 Austin Film Festival. It's not a major release (at least, not yet and hopefully not ever). This is unquestionably the worst movie that I have ever seen. At least half the people in the theater had walked out by the time it was over, and I probably should have been among them. It moves at an unbearably slow pace, and some of the subject matter is disturbing on its own and the way it is portrayed makes it even more so. It's beyond the point of being so bad that it has to be seen. If you ever get the opportunity to see it, do yourself a favor and do anything else.