Top 10 Best/Worst Movies of 2009 (in progress)

[dalmatianjaws]

Yarp, cause it was officially released this year. I'm dying to see it.
Fantastic list. Here's mine, based on what I've seen so far. These might be bumped around once I've seen Bloom and Avatar:

10. Star Trek
9. District 9
8. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
7. Drag Me to Hell
6. Moon
5. Up in the Air
4. The Hurt Locker
3. (500) Days of Summer
2. UP
1. A Serious Man

[dnwilliams]

cool - i'm still dying to see parnassus and hurt locker! adding Fantastic Mr Fox to my list, rounding off the ten. Also haven't seen Where The Wild Things Are or Nine...

My Worst:
Year One
Bright Star

[dnwilliams]

Shouldn't we be doing one of these for the whole of the noughties?

[Sheridan Passell]

I'm already working on 3 other lists for the end of the year. It's a sizeable challenge, to try and have something 'correct' for that.

[dalmatianjaws]

We could do "best movie of each year" for 2000 - 2009. Some dude and AICN did a "best 100 of past ten years" and it's absolutely impossible to do something like that here I think. For instance, my number one would be The Fountain, though most folks wouldn't even include that in their list. Too many factors and opinions. But if we had a different take on it ...


Hmmm ... top ten movies that got the future wrong? Like, 2010, the year we make contact?

[dnwilliams]

We could still make contact...

I love The Fountain, by the way.

[ad4m22]

Watchmen in best and worst? Awesome. Make sure that happens.

[ad4m22]

When is the deadline for this? I'm going to see Avatar wednesday night (hopefully, if it's not sold out again...) and want to hold off just in case it changes my life.

[Sheridan Passell]

I've sent an e-mail out to everyone now, so just complete it as soon as you can.

There's seemingly no room at the IMAX this Christmas for this baby Jesus so I'll have to put Avatar number one on my list anyway, it'd have to be seriously disappointing not to beat its weakass competition this year. I think that breaks every critic rule there is...

I'm getting quite tempted to put Knowing on my list, I really did enjoy the grand stupidity of it...

[dnwilliams]

Ebert liked Knowing. But seriously Sheridan, you're putting a film you haven't seen at #1?! DJaws hasn't eve added t to his list now he's seen it! As if you're 'Best' list wasn't confused enough with Terminator: Salvation and Watchmen on it... 

Just adding a few comments to my picks (8 of which are Original Movies, not adaptations, remakes or sequels, of which I'm quite proud!):

Best
(500) Days of Summer - See my review
The Brothers Bloom - See my review
District 9 - It just feels so much like a defining 21st century movie. Like The Bourne Supremacy and Cloverfield before it, it took a fantastic premise and imbued it with an immediacy and a pathos the likes of which we haven't seen before.
The Fantastic Mr. Fox - Wes Anderson. Roald Dahl. Stop-Motion. If ever there was a winning formula...this film was everything I wanted to be and more!
Moon - Sam Rockwell nailed it in this movie. And it's such a simple premise so perfectly executed by Duncan Jones that it made me really excited to see what he does in the future.
A Serious Man - The Coen Brothers' Magnum Opus. And it just snuck in there. Quiet like. Accept the mystery.
Star Trek - Pyoom-pyoom-pyoom! Seriously, it's that simple.
UP -  A heartbreaking, fun-filled, buddy comedy, road trip action-adventure movie about an old man with a floating house strapped to his back and a boy scout with daddy issues? I don't think-- SQUIRREL! --Pixar have made a movie that breaks the mould like this since waaaaay back when they made Wall-E.
Up in the Air - See my review
The Hangover -

Worst
Year One - Tragic. See my review.
Bright Star - Good leads and a scene stealing performance by Paul Schneider, but this film was boring as hell, with a plot so slight it was anorexic.
Night at the Museum 2 - See my review.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine - As a comic book reader and a fan of good movies I'm offended by this garbage! (I haven't seen it but, according to The Boss, that's okay...Which also means Twaddington must put Moon on his 'Best' list nao )

[Sheridan Passell]

Woh woh woh, there's only one pass for 'haven't actually seen it', and I've got it.

[dalmatianjaws]

Just watched Avatar again and doesn't hold up as well on repeat viewing. The visuals really are amazing, but that damn story is even more boring the second time around.

[dnwilliams]

Just watched Avatar again

Wouldn't it have been easier to just send James Cameron a cheque?

[twaddington]

haha. Yeah Moon will be in my list despite having not seen it.

Watched Avatar at the IMAX yesterday. I'm still slightly unsure of how good I think it is as I just had so many expectations and preconceptions it's hard to judge it. Visually it was really impressive, the 3D was good when it was used to emphasise perspective, I actuallly got a bit of vertigo a couple of times. Still not sure that 3D as a whole enhances the experience though, it makes it hard to even judge this as a movie because I actually think that this is a new medium when 3D is involved as instead of judging it by things such as script, direction, narrative etc, you start judging it completely on a visual and technological level and that for me is not cinema. It is more like the other things they show at the IMAX in 3D or those 'virtual reality' rides they have at theme parks. In Lord of the rings, for example, the effects are spectacular but they are there to assist the narrative but in Avatar the narrative is there as an excuse to show off the special effects, that is why I am confused about it.

As a film the script was pretty lame and the story was so formulaic that you knew exactly what was going to happen, but Cameron is a good Hollywood director and storyteller and he knows how to entertain so I admit I was enthralled throughout despite the shortcomings.

also Zoe Saldana is still sexy even when she is a 10 foot blue thing

I'm going to watch it in 2D at a normal cinema so I can work out how I really feel about it.

[dnwilliams]

I'm going to watch it in 2D at a normal cinema

LET'S JUST EMAIL CAMERON OUR PIN NUMBERS

[dalmatianjaws]

DEADLINE!

I'll be compiling the list around 8am (Los Angeles time) on Monday the 28th!  Get all your votes and and quotes to me ASAP!

[Sheridan Passell]

Let me know if there are any gaps in quotes and I'll add my thoughts.