Movie Roundup 2009

so this began as a summer movie roundup, but then i forgot to do that, so here is a yearly roundup for 2009.

20. Taken
You know my thoughts on this one.
19. Final destination 3
Stupid. Just stupid.
18. The International

Not thrilling, and not entertaining.
17. Planet 51
Childish but still kind of fun.
16. Fame

Rushed and slightly hard to follow. This musical remake doesn’t live to the same standards as others in recent years.
15. X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Ok, lets just get the whole cast together and do X-Men 4, none of this origins bull.
14. 9
A story that might have been told before, but still beautiful in its execution.
13. Inglorious Bastards
I do appreciate Quintin Tarentino for his creative style and was glad to see it in this movie, but this didn’t live to the hype.
12. Harry Potter 6

They continue to get better (proportional to darkness), but one can only go so far with substandard acting and mediocre storylines.
11. Couples Retreat

Hey, let’s put 6 dysfunctional couples on an island and see what happens. The result, not as funny as it could have been.
10. the Hangover
Taking stupidity to greater heights, the Hangover finds what makes the worst-best night ever
9. I Love You, Man

Fish tacos and all, the Paul Rudd stared comedy is lovable and funny.
8. Funny People
While it was billed as much funnier, the result was subtlety more fun than a stupid comedy could ever achieve.
7. District 9

Taking the fakumentary to new levels, thrilling and entertaining.
6. UP
Pixar’s contribution to this year in animation, the highest ranking comedy on the list.

5. Law Abiding Citizen
A smart movie, the likes of which aren’t seen that often, it slides in at number.

4. Star Trek

J.J. Abrams brings the old series back to life in spectacular form, I swear everything he touches is gold.

3. Benjamin Button
Three hours, but definitely worth it in the end. An emotional ride as we watch Benjamin button grow young.

2. Invictus
While I do like Rugby, it had nothing to do with the liking of this movie. Morgan Freemans portrayal of Nelson Mandela just after he took office in South Africa is brilliant. The story is tight and compelling.

1. Watchmen
The movie form of the famous graphic novel by Alan Moore. I read the graphic novel before and was truly impressed by the comparison. Though some things were changed the characters remained mostly true to the book and were wonderfully brought to life in this Zach Snyder epic.

The Watchmen - the Comic, the Movie, the Reaction

So I actually got to see this movie last Sunday, but have until this point not had a chance to go back over it and to write up a review. Easily it’s the best movie I’ve seen this year, but I’ve only seen four movies. And to put it bluntly, this desk lamp sitting next to me is more entertaining than one of them (Taken). But it does go up against Benjamin Button, which shares the category of really good (and really drawn out) movie—but they need to be to get the story told.

The Comic
As you should probably be aware, even if you didn’t see the movie, that Watchmen is based on comic book—nay graphic novel—written by Alan Moore in 1986. It’s one of the most well respected graphic novels around and even features on the Time’s 100 top novels of all time. I managed to finish the book a week or so before the movie came out, this after starting it in mid January. For me I wasn’t terribly pleased with the novel. It was good, yes, it wasn’t amazing though. There was a great story, and great characters and a set of good overreaching archetype that blended together fairly seamlessly, but it failed in certain key aspects. The Biggest was the ending, gripping as it was I didn’t like it. It may have worked back in the 1980’s but it just didn’t feel right or suitable an ending for a book I was really into at that point. Clarification: it wasn’t the why of the end, rather the how of it (without giving away any spoilers).
The Movie
So I’d read and liked the comic book, and the trailers looked amazing for this film (although I can’t help but think they marketed it wrong—a superhero movie verses a movie of the morality of people). I personally loved the movie, and got a lot of satisfaction from seeing scenes from the pages of the book recreated on the big screen with startling precision. I also loved most of what they did with the story line. Contrary to what some might think or say it wasn’t exactly page for page, there were parts that were abbreviated and done exceedingly well. The flow was done well, especially when its source is jumpy and staccato. And the new ended tops that of the comic book in my mind, much more plausible (although less gory). So for that I commend Zach Snyder. Of course there were things that I really didn’t like. One was what I just commended Zach Snyder for, and that was story modification. Who is that cat with Ozymandias at the end? Well that’s part of the story that never made it to the screen, so what point does that cat have there except to satisfy some watchmen fanatics personal contentment. Choice a storyline and stick with it, don’t include the unnecessary. Also what was up with some of the songs? '99 luftballoons', really Mr. Snyder? This is given that some of the music was very fitting (critically praised opening credits). Over all I was more than content with the movie.
"The Times They are a Changin'"
There have been so many blog posts, stories and articles over the past week about just of good/bad (circle one) watchmen really is. One of my favorites explained that every showing really had a different feeling to it depending on the audience. 'Who Watches who walks out of the watchmen', describes how many people he saw leaving the theatre during the movie.
Whether you thought it was good or bad, I think watchmen (as screen writer David Hayter says), should be admired as a one of a kind, and one of the best, (almost) literal translations from story to film. Also I think I probably liked it more than most people just because I had the prior knowledge (reading the comic) to add the necessary connectors to this monstrously long movie.

...and all of that without mentioning big blue penis...