I've seen practically no movies this year. Partly it's being a parent, partly it's watching TV in the evenings, partly it's cocooning. What have I missed? What are the best movies you've seen in the past year (or 18 months) that might be out on DVD by now?
20 comments:
The Hurt Locker
I would say the best films I've seen in the last 18 months, and in no particular order:
Star Trek, Taken, The International, Burn After Reading, Ninja Assassin, Transformers 2, Inglorious Basterds, and I'm drawing blanks for more titles now.
Those were all great NEW films I've seen this year. Hope that helps.
I'll second The Hurt Locker. Also: Wall-E, Up, Ponyo, Let the Right One In, Frost/Nixon, In Bruges, In the Loop, Moon, Gran Torino, Where the Wild Things Are, The Wrestler, and Harry Brown get my votes for 2008/09's best movies.
I third The Hurt Locker. Also, Up and District 9.
Don't watch Transformers 2 unless you enjoy feeling lobotomized.
In The Loop. And if you happen to enjoy that, the BBC series it was spawned from (The Thick of It) is very much worth a look
I absolutely second 'In The Loop'. Also , while not necessarily the best I thought 'The Brothers Bloom' had a very fascinating tone that it pulled off well.
You know, I haven't seen much love for the film, but 'Funny People' was a great film.
The Hurt Locker. Adventureland. Inglourious Bastards.
1) Friday the 13th remake was a pretty good go around that combined the first 3 films from the original franchise into one well told Brother protecting his sister story. Much better than many pass it off to be.
2) Gran Torino - It's eastwood, can't fail...ever. Well, sans his singing at the end but at least it's during the credits.
3) JJ Abrams Star Trek. Again - excellent storytelling that works in conjunction with the previous franchise. Actually quite original in how they did that if you ask me.
4) Bruno - I'm sorry, but Sacha Baron Cohen is an extreme comedic genius.
5) Watchmen - a great adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel. It's a story about Superheroes dealing with society and not fighting a villain to save the world. Not what anyone expected it to be but still a great work.
6) Red Belt - David Mamet's martial arts film is somewhat complicated in it's story. It's almost rocky-ish. But not in having the supporting characters shape the main character, but more of the numerous circumstances shaking a man of his moral code.
7) Paranormal Activity - makes Blair witch look like a straight to dvd movie. Definitely with scare the crap out of you.
8) The Hangover was a great comedy.
9) The hurt locker - yeah, it was damn good.
10) Moon - if Rockwell doesn't win an Oscar, I'm gonna be pissed.
This year, there've been five movies that have stood out for me:
500 Days of Summer was great. My favourite so far.
Up, I'm assuming you've seen.
Zombieland was a complete surprise how much I enjoyed it. Just a fun movie.
The Hangover was also another big surprise for me. Probably the funniest movie I've seen this year.
Star Trek was really the only blockbuster that stood out this year. The rest were, at best, so-so.
As for the end of last year:
The Reader and Frost/Nixon were excellent, I thought, but I love history (and Kate Winslet)
Another one I enjoyed from last fall was Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist.
It's full of story holes, and is set in grim Joburg, not the beautiful Cape you visited, but you've got to see District 9 - even if just to be reminded of all those wonderful Seffrican accents you once had to deal with.
Up. ... gee that's the only 2009 movie i've seen this year.
but if you haven't seen these already, i'm exhorting people to watch Stephanie Daley, Rambo, The Lives of Others, Dan in Real Life and No Country for Old Men.
2009 has been very much a TV year with much love for Generation Kill, Mad Men, Better of Ted, Nurse Jackie and Glee.
ehhh, Glee started out strong but has become a structural mess since. There's no definitive good guys or bad guys. You can never know if Quinn or Rachel is the heroine. That makes it a bit more real, yes, but as a viewer it's frustrating.
That, and they break the suspension of disbelief a lot more. Before they would have practice and rehearse dances and then perform on stage. Now they pick up sheet music and have everything worked out or they just randomly sing in the halls. The show turned into one big hour long commercial for a high variation of "Kids Bop."
Also - Up and (500) Days of Summer were both great as mentioned above.
AN EDUCATION - might be my favorite
UP
500 DAYS OF SUMMER
FROZEN RIVER (if you didn't see it last year)
PUBLIC ENEMIES - I really liked this though it didn't get much buzz
popcorny but fun:
THE HANGOVER
STAR TREK
I would definitely add Coraline. I'll second (or third) Watchmen, District 9, Star Trek, Moon, and Up. If you're following Harry Potter, don't skip the latest installment. And if you like retro monster films, check out Monsters vs Aliens. After you see all those, you can watch Transformers 2 and Terminator Salvation.
I'd advise not putting Bruno on your shortlist. It's nowhere near Borat's "genius." Second that for Ninja Assassin. That was a very long and boring experience. It's nowhere near V for Vendetta's quality.
The Proposal
Time Traveler's Wife
Whip It
Fantastic Mr. Fox
I'll second "Fantastic Mr. Fox". And also throw in "Star Trek". Much of what has already been mentioned is worth a look, so I'll not add more to the list. :)
"The Brothers Bloom" I'd second. It was a well layered, well executed film that got - generally underplayed.
Star Trek, as everyone has mentioned, was definitely the landslide blockbuster this year.
The Proposal
The Reader
Star Trek
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