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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board  /  Movie, Television and DVD Reviews  /  Best/Worst 2009
Posted by: The boy who could fly, December 26th, 2009, 2:16am
Well it's the end of the year, so what were your favourites?

Mine are.......

10- District 9
9 -  Funny people
8 -  Watchmen
7 -  Where the wild things are
6 -  Zombieland
5 -  Taken
4 -  Drag me to hell
3 -  Star trek
2 -  Inglorious Basterds
1 -  Avatar
Posted by: James McClung, December 26th, 2009, 3:27am; Reply: 1
No worst of, dude? Here's mine.

1. Paul Blart: Mall Cop
2. The Ugly Truth
3. Push
4. Everything's Fine
5. G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra

(Dis)honorable mention: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Biggest disappointment: Funny People

I'm holding off on my best because there's still a lot of movies I need to see, namely Antichrist, Dead Snow, Avatar and Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. However Drag Me To Hell, Inglourious Basterds and Watchmen have been consistently among my top favorites.
Posted by: The boy who could fly, December 26th, 2009, 3:59am; Reply: 2

Quoted from James McClung
No worst of, dude?


I just thought I'd keep it positive :)  My new years resolution is only focus on the positive things in my life and disregard the negative! :P
Posted by: tonkatough, December 26th, 2009, 6:58am; Reply: 3
stand out movies for me this year were:

Slumdog Millionair
The Wrestler
District 9

A lot of good movies this years, but these three where the ones that made me sit up and gasp "holy shit! that was perfect!"
Posted by: Takeshi (Guest), December 26th, 2009, 7:25am; Reply: 4
Revolutionary Road
Blessed
Capitalism: A Love Story
Up
The Wrestler
Posted by: sniper, December 26th, 2009, 4:41pm; Reply: 5
Best:

10. Tyson
9.  The Taking Of Pelham 123
8.  District 9
7.  Taken
6.  State of Play
5.  Moon
4.  Slumdog
3.  Star Trek
2.  Watchmen
1.  Avatar


Worst:

10. Whiteout
9.  Knowing
8.  2012
7.  Transformers II
6.  Surrogates
5.  Friday The 13th
4.  Wolverine
3.  Push
2.  Angels & Demons
1.  Terminator Salvation
Posted by: Mr. Blonde, December 26th, 2009, 5:18pm; Reply: 6
I haven't seen all the ones I want to see yet, but here's how it stands right now.

Favorite:

1. Inglourious Basterds
2. Trick 'R Treat
3. Watchmen
4. Avatar
5. The Hangover
6. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
7. Moon
8. District 9
9. The Blind Side
10. Public Enemies

Worst:

10. 2012
9. The Taking of Pelham 123
8. Knowing
7. Star Trek
6. Friday the 13th
5. Fast & Furious
4. The Informers
3. Tranformers: Revenge of the Fallen
2. The Final Destination
1. Crank: High Voltage
Posted by: Elmer, December 27th, 2009, 2:57pm; Reply: 7
1. Avatar
2. Star Trek
3. District 9
4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
5. Sherlock Holmes
6. Watchmen
7. Fanboys
8. Up
9. The Soloist
10. Taken

Runners Up: Public Enemies, Michael Jackson's This Is It, Paranormal Activity

I imagine Peter Jackson's "The Lovely Bones" will find it's way onto this list, but it hasn't expanded to wide release yet.
Posted by: Souter Fell, December 27th, 2009, 4:04pm; Reply: 8
I used to pride myself in seeing movies, good bad, and indifferent. As I get older, I’ve seen less and less movies. Work takes up much more time and rent takes up much more of my finances. To say I’ve made a complete list is a lie ‘cause I haven’t nearly seen everything I wanted to but this is the best of what I moved my A** to see.

Watchmen – Honorable mention for making a good movie from classic, gigantic, and complicated source material.

5. The Hangover – Zack Galifianakis makes the world his oyster. Ed Helmes matches (almost) the square awesomeness of Andy Bernard. Like Old School, a movie that you went into looking for a couple of laughs and left gasping for air.

4. Star Trek – J.J. Abrams turns what used to be Star Wars with asthma into an exciting adventure. The best tentpole film of the year. Just wish Eric Bana’s character wasn’t so cookie cutter.

3. Bruno – No it wasn’t Borat, but it was still hilarious. Bonus points for making a character I loathed on the TV show into a movie I gladly saw twice. Unfair advantage: Pretty much the last thing I did in New Zealand on the rainy day I left.

2. Inglorious Basterds – Tarantino delivers. Brad Pitt continues to be the best A-List actor around. A little too much Shosanna and a little too little Basterds keeps it from topping the list.

1. Moon – Simply a treasure. Sam Rockwell continues to show why he’s the best, most underrated actor of his generation. Too often he is relegated to being the overwhelmingly best thing in a bad movie (Choke), but this film matches him with the practical special effects that make the world real. This isolated tale of a ham and egger on the moon just trying to get through his days until he learns the truth about his situation is my best movie of the year, and almost definitely the best movie you didn’t see.

Wish I saw (So many movies, so little time, thank you for Netflix):
The Brothers Bloom, Drag Me To Hell, Up, The Hurt Locker, Public Enemies, Big Fan, The Informant!, Zombieland, Bronson, District 9, Where The Wild Things Are, Black Dynamite, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Avatar, Sherlock Holmes.
What were your favorites? What should I skip?
Posted by: Toran, December 27th, 2009, 4:13pm; Reply: 9
Best

1. Inglourious Basterds
2. Drag me to Hell
3. Zombieland
4. District 9
5. The Hangover
6. Where the Wild Things Are
7. Trick 'R Treat
8. Sherlock Holmes
9. Funny People
10. Taken


Worst

10. Transformers 2
9. Paranormal Activity
8. Halloween II
7. G.I. Joe
6. 2012
5. Street Figher: The Legend of Chun-Li
4.  Fired Up
3. Van Wilder: Freshman Year
2. Crank: High Voltage
1. The Final Destination
Posted by: Nixon, December 27th, 2009, 7:03pm; Reply: 10
Best

1. Moon
2. The Road
3. Avatar
4. District 9
5. Observe and Report
6. Star Trek
7. Public Enemies
8. Zombieland
9. Inglorious Basterds
10. Drag me to Hell

Almost made the list: The Hangover, Taken, Harry Potter 6 and Watchmen
Posted by: Tommyp, December 27th, 2009, 7:26pm; Reply: 11
Many films I haven't seen because I know they would have been shit, so they aren't on the "worst" list.

Best:

The Brothers Bloom
Bruno
District 9
Spread
Avatar
The Invention of Lying
9
Inglourious Basterds
Surrogates
Paranormal Activity

Worst:

Crank: High Voltage... ew.

Honourable mentions:

In The Loop
Funny People
Gamer
Zomblieland
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Where the Wild Things Are
The Boat That Rocked
(500) Days of Summer
Year One (very underrated)
The Hangover
Up

Well, looks like I haven't seen many bad films this year, or I am too soft on the ones I have seen.

Isn't Slumdog Millionaire 2008?
Posted by: Sandra Elstree., December 27th, 2009, 10:08pm; Reply: 12

The following list is my own preferences.

Please note that they are not a "better or worse set", but rather my personal preferences.

The following three are so very rich and I'm lucky to have watched them on the big screen.

#1 The Time Traveller's Wife

#2 The Invention of Lying

#3 A Night at the Museum

**These ones deserve a very special mention because if you watch something, and it brings tears to your eyes, then you know that it's RIGHT!!!

#1 Avatar-

I'm not a gamer and I would change things within this, but only because I'm a lady living in a world outside of "gamer world"-- This movie deserves a--

NUMBER #1

If you're a gamer or not, you have got to feel it. If you don't, then something might surely be wrong.

** I also chose:

The Transformers

and

Star Trek

Because they were solid and enjoyable movies. Period. Complain if you want, but I enjoyed them and so did many other fans; so if you have a problem with that, then write something better, sell it and say, "Shazam!"

I LOVED:

A Christmas Carol - with Jim Carey

Jim Carey is such a great joy!!! I wish him a wonderful Christmas!!!

Did I yet mention:

Harry Potter

and

The Proposal


Maybe I mentioned Harry already. I'm not sure. Irregardless, this is a story, (forget about film for a moment, that you don't want to miss). Harry's movies are something that you need to feel. Please don't wander about and wind up aimless in one of the caves or something.

Luvya,


Sandra
Posted by: James McClung, December 27th, 2009, 10:56pm; Reply: 13
BEST:

1. [Reserved]

2. Inglourious Basterds

3. Drag Me To Hell

4. Watchmen

5. Thirst

6. The Road

7. Moon

8. World's Greatest Dad

9. Avatar

10. (500) Days of Summer

Honorable mention: The Lovely Bones
Posted by: Zack, December 27th, 2009, 10:58pm; Reply: 14
Best

1.- Avatar
2.- Watchmen
3.- District 9
4.- The Hangover
5.- Friday the 13th

Other Good Movies- Star Trek, Inglorious Basterds, The Blind Side, Monster VS Aliens, Battle For Terra, Drag Me To Hell, 9

Worst

1.- Dance Flick
2.- Knowing
3.- The Unborn
4.- White Out
5.- Couples Retreat

~Zack~
Posted by: Takeshi (Guest), December 27th, 2009, 11:09pm; Reply: 15

Quoted from Tommyp
Many films I haven't seen because I know they would have been shit, so they aren't on the "worst" list.




I hear, ya, Tommy. I'm actually old enough to know what I like and don't like, so I'm pretty good at avoiding films I’ll hate.  Although Wendy and Lucy, Disgrace and What Just Happened? didn't live up to my expectations in 09.

As for the Oscars, I’ve got a feeling that the movie Nine is going to figure very strongly. On paper it has all the necessary elements required for a film to take out Best Picture. Here’s a look at some of films that are predicted to be in the mix come Oscar time:

http://www.killerfilm.com/articles/read/2010-oscars-13976


Posted by: Heretic, December 28th, 2009, 1:26am; Reply: 16
Best:

1.  Antichrist -- Bold, unique, captivating.
2.  The Wrestler (wide release in 2009, dunno if this one counts)
3.  Drag Me To Hell  --  The perfect Friday night movie.
4.  Thirst -- A beautiful and mature horror film.
5.  The Brothers Bloom -- Extremely uneven but when good, great.
6.  Taken (2009 release in Canada) -- At least there was one real action movie this year.
7.  Coraline -- Fun, different, and great to look at!
8.  Whatever Works -- A fairly uninspired effort from Woody Allen is still better than most filmmakers can do; I'm not sure if I'm happy or unhappy that this was my favourite comedy of the year.
9.  Inglourious Basterds -- All style and no substance never seems to work...unless Tarantino does it.  How does he do that?
10.  Knowing -- Extremely uneven, occasionally awful, this was still a real sci-fi film with unique, thought-inspiring ideas, and for trying to be a good, real movie, I applaud it.


Worst:

10.  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince -- Points for cinematography and overall look.  Sooooo borrrrrringgg.....
9.  Street Fighter:  The Legend of Chun-Li -- The least boring of my ten worst, if only because of some reasonably well-staged and well-shot kung fu.
8.  9 -- Great concept, looked great, total lack of storytelling ability on director's part.  Also, music sucked.
7.  Star Trek (or, as I prefer to call it, Generic Space Action Film) -- JJ Abrams called this "Star Trek for people who don't watch Star Trek".  In fact, it isn't Star Trek at all.  As cookie-cutter space action flicks go, this wasn't bad, and at least moves at a quick pace.  As films go, at least its by-the-numbers plot is well-structured, and there is a vague attempt at some kind of character arc for Spock (his arc appears to be to realize that logic is wrong and America Is Great, but at least it's an arc).  As Star Trek films go, it is a repulsive, moronic, despicable embarrassment to a franchise which has always worked to uphold the highest standard in thought-provoking, intelligent, morality-based storytelling.

Sorry -- I won't complain about that one any further.  Nimoy, Urban, Pine, Greenwood and Bana all turned in quite enjoyable performances even if their lines sucked.    

The rest are in no particular order because in my opinion all of them have absolutely nothing whatsoever to offer a viewer.

Dance Flick
Twilight Saga: New Moon
I Love You, Beth Cooper
Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen
Fast & Furious
Dragonball: Evolution

Haven't seen:

Avatar
Lovely Bones
The Hurt Locker
Moon
Posted by: Toran, December 28th, 2009, 12:24pm; Reply: 17
Hm. Yes,  I forgot one on the worst list.
This is now my number one:

Dragonball Evolution.

No more is to be said.
Posted by: Scar Tissue Films, December 28th, 2009, 1:36pm; Reply: 18
Best:

1. Avatar/ District 9
3. Looking for Eric
4. Triangle
5.  Anti-Christ
6. Tsar


Can't separate the rest.


Worst:

2012.

Can't think of any really poor films I've seen this year.

Thought Broken Enbraces was a charming in places, but a bit boring.
Posted by: michel, December 28th, 2009, 2:14pm; Reply: 19
Best:

Alien Trespass
Star Trek


Worst:

Surrogates


(I haven't seen much this year. Sorry)
Posted by: Elmer, December 28th, 2009, 7:17pm; Reply: 20

Quoted from Heretic
Best:

7.  a franchise which has always worked to uphold the highest standard in thought-provoking, intelligent, morality-based storytelling.


hahahaha. Sorry, it's just that when I think of Star Trek--at least the one I remember watching on TV and the films--I never think of "highest standard" in any shape or form.
Posted by: JonnyBoy, January 2nd, 2010, 11:59am; Reply: 21
Okay, now that 2010 is underway - I've already been to the cinema once this year, to see Nine yesterday - I can look back at the Best/Worst of 2009. I've got a few extra categories I wanted to suggest for everyone, but I'll just fill them in for myself!

I. THE BEST AND WORST

BEST:

1. The Hurt Locker - film of the year for me. Intense, gripping, simple but hugely effective.

2. Up - I say this with every new film they release, but this is the best Pixar yet. Touching and funny, beautifully animated.

3. Moon - I didn't fully appreciate how much I liked this until a while after I'd seen it. Simple, engaging sci-fi, more about real emotion than jazzy CGI.

4. Star Trek - for sheer cheekiness, if nothing else. It's just enough to reboot the franchise; you have to erase the rest of Star Trek history as well?! Sharp and action-packed.

5. Public Enemies - it's not Mann's best film, but it's still darn good. A really strong performance from Johnny Depp, a great evocation of the period, and an emotional but satisfying finale. Under-rated.

WORST:

3. The Taking of Pelham 123 - Confused, miscast, clunky thriller that stumbles through a fairly straightforward plot before lumbering into an anticlimactic final sequence. Pointless and mediocre, really.

2. Bruno - SO disappointing. Not only was it not as good as Borat, but it made you wonder if Borat was actually at all decent in the first place (by the way, I rewatched it on DVD, and it is). It's impossible to tell what was authentic and what was staged. The whole thing feels like a big in-joke that you're supposed to just accept without question. Sorry, Sacha - I didn't.

1. He's Just Not That Into You - not actually that bad, but not very good, either. Lots of talented people, very few good performances. A dull plot, but what else would you expect from an adaptation of a self-help manual?! I just wasn't that into it.

(My girlfriend is here next to me as I type this, and she insists I mention her Best and Worst.

BEST: Up
WORST: District 9 - "such a man film! But the baby prawn was cute")

SPECIAL MENTIONS:

- Avatar: technically stunning, and with a plot that's still affecting despite being well-known. A landmark, despite its flaws.
- I Love You, Man: comedy of the year, for me. I laughed at almost anything Paul Rudd said. I know it's probably not as a good as I think it is, but I don't care.
- Watchmen: I actually felt this was given a too-harsh reception. It's stylish and well-made, and a better adaptation of the source material than I thought it would be. The opening credit sequence is one of the best of the year.

II. THE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: Bruno. No question.

III. THE ONE I WISH I'D WRITTEN: [500] Days of Summer as I mentioned in the review thread, I thought this was so well-written, structurally if nothing else.

IV. FILM MOMENTS / SEQUENCES OF THE YEAR

One of these five:

- Dillinger in the Biograph, from Public Enemies: the gangster watches a Clark Gable gangster film as the cops form up outside. We know what's about to happen, he probably knows what's about to happen...but to him, it's still all one big game.
- the final battle sequence in Avatar: it takes nearly three hours to get there, but it's worth the wait. Bone-shaking action that ends with a excellently-orchestrated final showdown between Sully and Quaritch. One of the best final showdown sequences since...Terminator, funnily enough.
- the opening credit sequence from Watchmen: as I've mentioned before, this is probably the best bit of the film. A complete history of the 'heroes' in this world in a few wonderful minutes, all with Bob Dylan playing in the background.
- Carl-Ellie's life montage from Up: similar to the previous one, this. Years of history condensed into a few minutes, managing to tell us everything we need to know. Really, really sad, and once again probably the high-point of the film.
- the closing credits in The Hangover: when was the last time almost the entire audience stayed to watch the closing credits, AND laughed throughout? A really good idea, and one I was genuinely impressed by; I can't remember seeing that before. Perhaps the closing song of School of Rock would be a good comparison; an inventive use of the most neglected bit of a film.

V. PERFORMANCE(S) OF THE YEAR

- Johnny Depp and Marion Cotillaird in Public Enemies
- Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker
- Sam Rockwell in Moon
(- Special Mentions for: Robert Downey Jr. in Sherlock Holmes, Zach Galifianakis in The Hangover)

VI. FILMS I WISH I'D SEEN

- The Invention of Lying
- Inglourious Basterds
- In the Loop
Posted by: Bruce3456, January 24th, 2010, 4:53am; Reply: 22
BEST
1.     Star Trek
2.     Inglorious Basterds
3.     Moon
4.     Up
5.     Drag Me to Hell
6.     (500) Days of Summer
7.     District 9
8.     Zombieland
9.     Fantastic Mr. Fox
10.     Trick R Treat

Honorable Mentions
: Watchmen, The Hangover, Whip It, The Brothers Bloom, Paranormal Activity,

Disappointing (Not really that bad, just really underwhelming)
1.     Bruno
2.     The Invention of Lying
3.     Funny People
4.     Jennifer's Body
5.     Terminator Salvation
6.     Fanboys
7.     The Lovely Bones
8.     Observe and Report

Worst
1.     Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day
2.     The Haunting in Connecticut
3.     X-Men Origins: Wolverine
4.     Miss Match
5.     Halloween 2
6.     G.I. Joe
7.     Transformers: Revenge of the Falle
8.     Twilight: New Moon
9.     Dragonball: Evolution
10.     Friday the 13th


Favorite Scenes/Moments:

1.     The opening interrogation scene in Inglorious Basterds
2.     Sam Bell finding the video diaries in Moon.
3.     The Seance scene from Drag Me to Hell.
4.     James finding the body bomb in The Hurt Locker
5.     The entire "Mystery Guest" sequence in Zombieland.

Worst Scenes/Moments
1.     Every single moment from Boondock Saints 2.
2.     The Paris Battle in G.I. Joe. It's basically Team America without the humor or irony.
3.     "You pooped yourself" scene from Miss March.
4.     The White Horse scenes from Halloween 2.
5.     Building Fire from Jennifer's Body.

Best Performances
1.     Christoph Waltz, Inglorious Basterds
2.     Sam Rockwell, Moon
3.     Zoe Saldana, Avatar

Worst Performances
1.     Megan Fox, Jennifer's Body
2.     Zach Cregger/Trevor Moore, Miss March
3.     Moon Bloodgood, Terminator Salvation


Posted by: kurisuborosen, August 28th, 2010, 2:01am; Reply: 23
Best
1) Where The Wild Things Are
2) An Education
3) The Hurt Locker
4) Adventureland
5) Coraline
6) Up
7) Up In The Air
8) In The Loop
9) (500) Days Of Summer
10) District 9

Worst
1) Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen

I didn't watch any other movies I particularly hated. (I avoid crap cinema)

Most Fun
1) Zombieland
2) The Hangover
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