2009 in film. • Page 2

1. Bronson
2. I Love You, Man
3. Coraline


IDK -- probably would change my mind if I made this list in a week

 

1. Looking for Eric
2. Broken Embraces
3. Fish Tank

Looking for Eric is a Ken Loach semi-fantastical grounded drama about the sudden appearance of Eric Cantona into a middle aged, depressed man's life. It's also a Ken Loach film so it's also about class solidarity. Very funny, and Eric Cantona is brilliant as himself.

Broken Embraces is a classic Almodovar melodrama about film, that weaves multiple narratives. Another stunning performance from Penelope Cruz. A magical realist film, with moments of flair that you'd only get in an Almodovar film, and some really tender parts too.

Fish Tank is Andrea Arnold's slice of life in an Essex estate, with a starring role for Michael Fassbender, and 15 year old Katie Jarvis, a non-professional actor, cast in the film after being spotted fighting with her boyfriend. It's a poignant coming-of-age story, with plenty of tragedy, but that little bit of hope.

Honourable mentions;

A Mongolian film by the brilliant Byambasuren Davaa, Two Horses of Genghis Khan somewhere between a narrative film and a documentary about a woman looking to hear an ancient folk song that's been potentially lost. A beautiful film - well worth the effort tracking it down.

Some good Korean films, Park Chan Wook's spiralling and slightly grotesque vampire film, Thirst. Bong Joon-Ho's Mother, a brilliant film that also twists and turns about the search for justice and truth. Castaway on the Moon is a slightly kooky film about a man who ends up trapped on a "deserted island" in the middle of the Han River, and falls in love.

A bit of an oddity from Zhang Yimou, with A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop, a remake of the Coen's Blood Simple, but set in feudal China.

Some good stuff from America, the post-apocalyptic and profoundly grim The Road, the ludicrous and very silly Black Dynamite, one the best mainstream Apatow-esque comedies in I Love You Man. There's the Coen's extraordinarily dry A Serious Man, which I really didn't enjoy in 2009, but rewatched it a few years ago and thought it was brilliant. There's also the last good Tarantino film this year, Inglorious Basterds.

I really like Kore-Eda's Air Doll, a whimsical tale, a bit unlike his normal style about a sex doll come to life.

Haneke's The White Ribbon is a great and typically Haneke film about fascism, and how it can take root.

Been a long time since I've seen A Prophet, but I really enjoyed that when I saw it (probably 2009 or 2010).

Finally, In the Loop, the film version of The Thick of It, a caustic satire that's both profane and profound

 

1. Fish Tank
2. The House of the Devil
3. Thirst

Not a particularly strong year for me, although there may be a few I need to watch. Fish Tank is the only one here that would have pushed for top 3 contention in this decade so far. Arnold was able to capture the suffocation of poverty while also at times filming things beautifully, like capturing lighting through shattered glass. It was clear right away she is a special filmmaker. I’m not as high on Basterds as everyone else, it’s good but outside of the opening scene I didn’t find it exceptional.

 

Totally forgot House of the Devil came out that year. Definitely in my top 5 horror movies of the 21st century

 

1. Inglourious Basterds
2. I Love You, Man
3. The Informant!

 

1. Jennifer’s Body
2. The Hangover
3. Coralline

 

You've gone too far.

 

1. District 9
2. Up
3. The Hangover

 

Another favourite year of mine but weirdly enough one that I don't feel super strongly about any singular film as so many of them are pretty much equal in quality but my top three are -

1. Inglourious Basterds
2. District 9
3. Star Trek

The rest in bold are other favourites that no doubt on any other could take a place in that top three with the rest being notable releases I enjoy; Mother, Up in the Air, In the Loop, Up, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Coraline, Drag Me to Hell, Triangle, Black Dynamite, I Love You Phillip Morris, Moon, Zombieland, Sherlock Holmes, 9, The House of the Devil, Crank: High Voltage, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Monsters vs Aliens, The Men Who Stare at Goats, The Informant!, and State of Play.

 

Has there been a movie with greater financial success and less cultural impact than Avatar? I'm talking about "world-building" type movies like Star Wars / LOTR / MCU. It made billions over the course of a year and then no one ever talked about it again. I know they are making sequels, but I literally don't know one person who remotely cares.

 

On a separate note, I almost forgot that 2009 was the peak of the 3D movie trend lol. What a time.

 

Five Years Ago, 'Avatar' Grossed $2.7 Billion But Left No Pop Culture Footprint

Why ‘Avatar’ Never Really Managed To Take Root In Pop Culture

 

I was talking to friends about Disney world and I said “animal kingdoms kinda lame” and my buddy reminded me that Avatar land is “so sick”

I literally forgot they added a whole Avatar section to one of the parks. It’s the highest grosssing film in history and inspired a big theme park expansion at Disney and I still forgot about its existence

 

And I do like that movie

 

We spend more time talking about how it has no footprint than people spend time talking about the actual movie. The eternally delayed sequels are a big part of that.

 

In my view, the reason for Avatar being a pop culture dud is that everyone raved about the special effects and the 3D but once the hype surrounding those died down there was nothing else to latch on to especially since the characters and the plot are so dull. As bad as the Star Wars prequels are at least they had something to laugh at, Avatar is just so middle of the road it doesn't even entice people enough to mock it.

 

There's an avatar land!?

 

Another problem for Avatar is that there isn't anything really aspirational for kids in it. Star Wars has lightsabers and space ships, Harry Potter has magic and flying around, and superheroes have powers. What is Avatar? Anyone who has been camping knows how awful it is outdoors.

 

Avatar is about as interesting a script as the average MCU movie, but with a visual imagination that makes the MCU look like it was shot on a 2005 flip phone someone found in an alley

 

Hating the outdoors very on brand

 

The only short term impact on society I saw from Avatar was fans of the movie being depressed that the planet wasn’t real

The Avatar effect: Movie-goers feel depressed and even suicidal at not being able to visit utopian alien planet | Daily Mail Online

 

Avatar is a prime example of graphics being overhyped in video games the movie.

When a game has next level graphics people get super hyped over the trailer, buy it on release and then go straight back to playing lol the next week.

 

During the 3D theatrical craze 12 years ago, I liked experiencing Avatar in theaters for the novelty of it, but the story was a boring rehash of Fern Gully and Dances with Wolves.

 

The only good thing to come out of Avatar was this:

 

Inglourious Basterds wins it with 31 votes. Nothing else was particularly close. Inglourious Basterds will move on to the bracket.