K's Top 10 Movies of 2009

1. Star Trek
2. Inglourious Basterds
3. District 9
4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
5. The Hangover
6. Good Hair
7. This Is It
8. Up
9. Pirate Radio
10. The Road

Star Trek probably won't get an Oscar nomination for best movie, but it should because it's clearly one of the 10 best movies of the year (if not THE best, as I state above in my list). Aside from the action and great special effects, it has a fabulous story that (re)introduces all of our favorite characters brilliantly acted by the entire cast. And since it starts from the very beginning, it's an open invitation to all to come join the experience. It's a wonderful movie that everyone should watch - especially those movie snobs who get to vote on the Oscars.

Sherlock Holmes

J: “Sherlock Holmes” is a thrilling, if a bit exhausting, piece of filmmaking and quite enjoyable. This is one of those movies that have been on our radar since the first trailer hit theaters some time ago, with its intriguing director, Guy Ritchie, and high eye-candy quotient in Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law. In those things this movie did not disappoint.

There can be little argument that Guy Ritchie is a “guy’s” director so one can expect A LOT of action sequences but very interestingly done and Sherlock Holmes is definitely all that and a bag of popcorn. BUT, and yes it’s a big “but”, this movie could have benefited by cutting the action back a bit and letting Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock do a little more cerebral sleuthing. The constant onslaught of fights, chases and explosions had me thoroughly exhausted at about two thirds through the movie.

The other hallmark of a Ritchie film is his always interesting and complex characters. In this film, he gets to put his spin on established literary characters and does a very good job of making both Holmes and Dr. Watson (Jude Law) flawed but fascinating figures. Particularly Dr. Watson, who in the past has gotten a somewhat dim-witted treatment – obviously to make Holmes seem even more the genius. This movie portrays them more as equals and actually gives the good doctor a love interest (played by Kelly Reilly), who is taking him away from Holmes and Holmes does not like that much. The opening scene finds the two men rushing to stop the antagonist, Lord Henry Blackwood (Mark Strong), from committing a ritualistic murder of a young woman. And they do so, in the nick of time, naturally. In a few months, Holmes is called to Lord Blackwood’s jail cell just prior to his hanging where Blackwood delivers some ominous warnings about murders yet to come for Holmes to chew on and we get to see that his cell walls are covered with strange occultism markings. Soon after, Lord Blackwell is hung, although not well (sorry about that – don’t often get to use a pun that good!) and Dr. Watson confirms his death. Ah, but apparently death does not come swiftly to Blackwell as his tomb is smashed open from the inside and his coffin contains the body of a red-haired dwarf – ironically, the same dwarf a certain woman from Holmes’ past has hired him to find. Rachel McAdams plays Irene Adler, an American con artist who is the only person to outsmart Holmes – twice in fact, which doesn’t say much for this Holmes’ ability to keep his fly buttoned.

Even though we have had a couple of fights and at least one extended chase scene by this point, the action only continues to ramp up, with fights and explosions in abundance. And this is my one issue with this movie. As I said at the very beginning, the action sequences, while well done and very exciting, overpower the film and take away what should be the true heart of this movie – Holmes and Watson cleverly observing clues and making all the correct assumptions. All of the clues that Holmes collects throughout the course of the film are explained away in a few scant minutes at the end of the movie. Rarely, really only in Holmes’ descriptions of his coupe-de-gras in beating his fight opponents, do we ever get to witness the super-human ability of Holmes to grasp and correlate the clues as he goes along in his investigations. And that is exactly what any Sherlock Holmes movie is supposed to accomplish. While I have no problems with the new takes on the characters and did very much enjoy the “buddy movie” feel in the relationship between Holmes and Watson (including some very witty repartee), Sherlock Holmes is a detective who can take the most mundane item and turn it into the solution to the crime – something that was missed by all others – and that is what this film needs to be a worthy Sherlock Holmes picture. Now, as we clearly get the set-up for the next movie in the introduction of a truly Holmes-ian character (won’t be the spoiler here) it would be well worth mentioning this small bit of advice. Hopefully, in the next installment, we will see a more cerebral Holmes that is less the pugilist and more the brilliant detective.

K: This was a fun movie and I enjoyed watching it, but it could have used about 20 minutes of editing in the middle of the movie. I would have liked to have seen more of Holmes' powers of deduction in action instead of saving it all up for the end. However, I definitely recommend it to everyone.

Pirate Radio

J: It’s the feel good movie of the year! No, not some stupid, sappy chick-flick, I’m talking about “Pirate Radio” – a groovy trip back to the 1960s and the difficult birth of freewheeling British rock & roll. It has a terrific ensemble cast that features Philip Seymour Hoffman as an American expat DJ, The Count and Bill Nighy (geez, what CAN’T he do!) as Quentin, the boss of the ship called Radio Rock that serves as the offshore radio station of the title. The rest of the motley crew of DJ’s work around the clock to send out the trippy vibes of fledgling rock the BBC, and British government, apparently cannot abide by.

This is truly the Swinging Sixties and Young Carl (Tom Sturridge), Quentin’s godson has been sent by his mother, played with great humor by Emma Thompson, to spend time on the Radio Rock to get “straightened out”. Of course, this is the worst place for that and quite expectedly, hilarity ensues. Not surprisingly, the crew sets out to make sure Young Carl loses his virginity, but he is stymied at each turn, mostly by the man trying the hardest to help with the task, the DJ Dr. Dave (played by Nick Frost, normally a foil for Simon Pegg). Dr. Dave somehow manages to end up in bed with the very “chicks” destined for Carl, most notably, Quentin’s niece, Marianne (a charming Talulah Riley) who does eventually succumb to Carl’s modest charms.

Enter the Evil Empire in the guise of the British government. The mission of shutting down pirate radio falls to a completely, but typically, tight-assed Brit, Minister Dormandy, played with brilliant buttoned down maliciousness by Kenneth Branagh – complete with slicked down hair, dorky glasses and a decidedly unfunny family. Clearly, if he can’t have any fun in life, then neither can anyone else. He is aided in his quest by – get ready for my PIC to break out laughing – Dominic Twatt (explanation – she inexplicably cannot keep from laughing at this particular Brit euphemism, but who can blame her really) played by Jack Davenport of Pirates of the Caribbean fame. They conspire to shut down Radio Rock, which proves to be not only very hard but very unpopular as well – but that never stopped a mid-level British government functionary. More hilarity ensues.

Ok, cut to the chase. I’ve read a few reviews about this film, both from the UK and the US, and I have a question. Why is it so difficult for people to just sit back and have a good time at a movie? Why does every movie need to have a deeper meaning and loads of pathos? The simple answer is – it bloody well does not! I know I’ve launched into this rant before, but too many good movies have been sunk by this kind of thinking. I personally had a ball watching this flick. It had terrific actors that I enjoy watching whether they be vampires, petit authors or zombie best friends and terrific music to which I boogied along with in my seat. I shed a tear as the boat started to sink with all aboard and cheered when all were rescued – even The Count, which looked dicey for awhile. I had, in short, a terrific time. Too bad there are so many critics that can’t seem to do the same thing and in doing so, rob people of some potentially good natured fun. So, if this movie is still showing at a theater near you, blaze new trails, be a renegade worthy of Pirate Radio and go see this movie. You won’t regret it, Baby and you’ll be feeling groovy!

K: I agree with my PIC. This is a great movie that was fun to watch, and when you left the theater you were whistling the tunes. Definitely rent this movie when it comes out.

The Road

J: Well, in the past two weeks I have seen the spectacular Apocalypse in “2012” and now the very bleak Apocalypse in “The Road”. I can certainly tell you which one I would most like to be involved in but the brutal reality is that The Road is far closer to the truth.

The cataclysm that reduces the Earth and civilization to ash is never clearly defined, leading us students of Apocalypse to speculate a life-ending meteor. The Man as Viggo Mortensen’s character is known, wakes up in the middle of the night to see far off flames engulfing the countryside outside of the home he shares with his pregnant wife, The Woman, played by Charlize Theron. After this flashback, we catch up with The Man and his son, The Boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee) many years later as they travel weak and starving down The Road, which they hope will lead them to the coast and “other good people” like themselves. The flashbacks continue during the first part of the movie and we learn that The Boy was born in the darkness of the post-Apocalyptic world. We also learn that The Woman is no longer in the picture because she has given up hope for the family and also apparently bears guilt for allowing the boy to be born at all. She simply takes off most of her clothes and walks out of the house into the nuclear winter to die.

The Man will not accept defeat so easily. It is his mission to save his child, find those other good people, and “carry the fire” presumably of civilization. This is no easy task because, after what seems to be about 10 years judging from the boy’s age, food is scarce and those not able to find food have turned to cannibalism to survive. Well, of course they would and probably pretty quickly too. The Man carries a pistol with two bullets in it – not so much for defense as for ending both of their lives and he takes great pains to instruct his son in the importance and necessity of suicide if things go REALLY bad, although I can’t really imagine how much worse it could get! As they travel, they do meet some survivors, the cannibals, those just trying to survive and the dead and dying. We soon realize, however, that The Man is so intent on his mission that he forgets his humanity. The Boy is the one who wants to trust and help, and goads his father into helping even when The Man tries to refuse. After stumbling into a large abandoned home, they discover that cannibals have taken up residence in the house and are hording a group of starving and dead humans in the basement, some of whom have had limbs removed while alive – stew for dinner? Once again, they manage to escape and soon find another empty house (they all seem to be empty and we are never sure what happens to those former residents) but this one has a treasure. They find a bunker stocked with food, water and beds. They find sanctuary for a time but the sound of an animal’s footsteps (almost all animals have died by this time) spooks The Man and, despite his son’s protests, they pack what they can and flee. But we are starting to see another problem as The Man starts each day coughing up blood – we know instinctively that The Man is going to die, as does he.

They finally do reach the coast of the Atlantic Ocean but there are no good people and the same gray desolation blankets the beach – not the blue their tattered map teases The Boy with. And so it is here that The Man lies down to die. But, as The Boy grieves, a man approaches him and, after saying all the things The Man would expect him to, The Boy finally knows he has found the good people they were looking for in the family this new man is also protecting. Could mankind actually prevail? Boy, I sure hope so because this is truly the bleakest movie I have seen in a very long time. But, as I said, this is the scenario that is most close to the truth of what would happen in a post-Apocalyptic world. And as frightening as this movie is, the most horrifying part is that profiling is alive and well in this devastated world. The gun toting rednecks are going strong by eating their fellow human beings and the one person that is "accused" of a crime is black. I don't know about you, but I don't hold out much hope for civilization if we have to rely on such a shallow gene pool. So, which Apocalypse do I want? Well, truth be told, I would much rather float around in an arc with very rich, smart people and John Cusack. But, as I consider the possibility of the end of the world (who isn’t these days?), I know in my gut that Viggo Mortensen (vestigial tail and all) is who I want running around my home filling bathtubs with water as the nuclear winter sets in.

Now some may think that I have seen the perfect movie in The Road - but, you would be wrong. It's the timeline I have a problem with. Presumably, this is a natural disaster such as a meteor or super volcano eruption followed by a nuclear winter. But The Boy looks to be in his early teens and two things would have happened by this time; either the Earth would begin to rebound and the global temperature would moderate or everyone would be dead of starvation, no matter how many cannibals survived. Yeah, you're right. I've given this far too much thought. Maybe I should just relax and see a Disney movie. Ha - that really would herald the end of the world!

K: First let me point out to my PIC that Viggo no longer has the vestigial tail, just a scar where it once was. And don't worry fellow movie goers, you have two chances to see it.

As grim as this movie is, it's incredibly well made and well acted. As my PIC stated, the point of this movie is about keeping your humanity. The father loses sight of his along his journey. He knows he's dying and his determination to do everything he can to ensure his son's survival is the only thing he can focus on. The son, even after seeing all the same horrors as his father, has kept an open heart and continuously fights with his father to do the right thing instead of the thing that will only benefit themselves. Always there is hope in the next generation, and hope is the theme of this movie. Definitely see this movie, but brace yourself for a bumpy ride.

2012

J: Forgive the hyperbole but “2012” is THE best movie of 2009! Despite what some erstwhile critics may think, this is a nearly perfect movie. It has everything those of us who are completely devoted to this genre want in a film with a bonus of compelling and well acted characters, too.

I think by now most everyone is familiar with the Mayan long count calendar and the concept that it ends on the winter solstice of 2012 with a celestial alignment that occurs once every 26,000 years – those cleaver Mayans! However, because the calendar ends on that date the speculation about what might happen after has run amuck. Enter “2012”. As the film begins, Adrian Helmsley (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) American geologist and Presidential advisor has just been told that drastic solar flares have caused runaway heating of the Earth’s core. His message to President Thomas Wilson’s (Danny Glover – Morgan Freeman must have been busy) Chief of Staff, Carl Anheuser (Oliver Platt) is that it can’t be stopped and it’s only a matter of time before we are toast. What happens next is exactly what one would expect to happen, everything is kept secret and a plan is put into effect to save the brightest – and richest – people on the planet. That amounts to about a fraction of a percent of the Earth’s population. Unfortunately, his timetable is a bit flawed and the end is nearer than he thinks.

Fast-forward to the year in question and we find Jackson Curtis (played by John Cusack – where HAS he been?), a cast-off father and struggling novelist who makes ends meet as a limo driver. He awakens to realize he is late to pick up his kids’ for a camping trip – not something that will endear him to this ex-wife, Kate (Amanda Peet). Of course, there is also a new boyfriend on the scene, Gordon (Thomas McCarthy) – he’s a plastic surgeon who drives a Porsche and the kids love him. So, basically, he may as well have an ensign’s red shirt on (sly reference to Star Trek) because you just know he’s not going to see the end of the movie. When the happy campers finally get to Yellowstone, they run into the requisite crazy person, beautifully played (type cast?) by Woody Harrelson. He’s a talk radio DJ that knows all about the Mayan calendar and has a ready conspiracy theory for the government cover-up. Just so happens, he’s right this time and has a map to the location of the secret arks.

At this point, you might as well put a sign up that says “If the Earth’s rockin don’t come knockin” because director Roland Emmerich is about to do what he does best – destroy things in a spectacular fashion. I didn’t think it would be possible to hold one’s breath for an entire hour but I swear I didn’t breathe from this point onward. Yes, the special effects are mind boggling and that’s just the point. This is where I part company with most other critics because said critics consistently harbor the notion that if a movie doesn’t have heartfelt meaning and award winning performances, it isn’t worth putting keyboard to paper. Posh, I say. I could drone on about the plot but you know what’s going to happen. And, yes, there are most definitely some excellent performances in this movie – most of them, in fact. And that’s what sets this movie apart from even, dare I say it, this year’s “Star Trek”. But the government does what we would expect it to do – hide things – and the good people do exactly what they are supposed to do – be better than that and help those around them. Along the way, we get the ride of our lives and some white knuckle moments such as the plane ride out of LA – oh yeah, the boyfriend can fly so he is useful after all – and THAT’S what we go to the movies for. I have one question for those critics, even the ones who struggled to give this movie what it deserved – three stars. When you go to an amusement park and get on a rollercoaster, do you critique the skill of the motorcycle gang member that’s operating the coaster or do you just sit back and enjoy the ride? Well, this movie is the ride of a lifetime so please just sit back, hold your breath and enjoy the ride! It’s worth every minute!

New Moon

K: New Moon, the second installment in the Twilight saga, was a fairly decent movie. It hit all the high points in the book and told the overall story pretty well. It was fun to see the Cullens again, and I'm glad Jasper got a line in the movie so we could hear his southern accent. I like that Rosalie got a couple lines to explain a bit about why she doesn't want Bella to turn into a vampire. But I'm sure the back stories of Jasper and Rosalie will never make into the movies, nor will those of Esme, Emmet and Alice. Carlisle's was at least hinted at in this one.

The best thing about this whole movie was the Volturi, the ancient and powerful governing body for vampires. The Volturi are led by Aro, expertly played by Michael Sheen. Sheen stands out as a seasoned professional among the entire cast of amateurs. He is deliciously evil and power hungry and I'm bummed that the Volturi won't be making an appearance in the next movie.

The second book was all about the wolf pack and I was a little disappointed that they didn't go into more detail about it. They could have spared a minute or two to explain the pack mentality and how they're all connected all the time (and that they all hate it). They very briefly mentioned that a pack member has to (i.e., physically cannot do otherwise even if they want to) follow the Alpha's orders. I was most surprised that they left out the imprinting since it has a huge impact on the ending of the last book. But I guess they're going to follow the pattern of the Harry Potter movies and just chunk it all into the last movie.

My complaint about the special effects is that when the sun hits Edward he radiates light like a light bulb is inside him and shooting out of his pores. The effect is worse than a disco ball. I much preferred the low budget sparkle of the first movie which happened to match perfectly how I imagined Edward in the sun.

Overall the movie was decent. It's a must-see for Twihards, but for the mere Twi-curious you might want to avoid the movie theater chaos and wait for the DVD.

J: Ah, "New Moon", a little movie about vampires, werewolves, and zombies. Zombies, you ask? Well, certainly not the George Romero variety and I'm not sure even those would help this movie as much as they improved Pride and Prejudice. I'm referring the to zombie-like performances of pretty much the entire cast. Now, I will be the first to admit I'm NOT a Twihard, nor even a fan - more like a Twi-not. I was, however, highly motivated to join my PIC because of the presence of Michael Sheen as Aro. It struck me as a little odd at first that an actor of the caliber of Mr. Sheen would want to be involved in a trifle of a film like this until I realized that his daughter is probably about the right age to be a Twihard and, if that's the case, I applaud any father willing to make that kind of sacrifice for his daughter! The bonus of that altruistic act is that we get treated to about 15 minutes of a great performance and the rest of the cast gets a master class in the craft of acting. How did I like the rest of the movie, you ask? Beats the hell out of me - I slept through the rest! Thanks, Michael, for letting me enjoy at least a few minutes.

Damned United

J: “A soccer movie? Are you kidding me?” Yes, a film about soccer (well, football movie to be perfectly correct) & yes, we quite enjoyed it. “Damned United” came up on my entertainment radar several weeks ago. I have always been intrigued by soccer – after all, its hockey without the skates & I can relate to that. But when we realized Michael Sheen was playing the lead, well, Team Michael had to represent!

Damned United concerns one of the great football managers (English-to-American dictionary translation: soccer coach) in England & apparently a native hero of sorts. However, he had one serious downfall, one I can completely understand; he couldn’t keep his mouth shut! Brian Clough (played brilliantly, as one would expect, by Michael Sheen), by all accounts, was a serious & passionate man, who took the sport of soccer seriously. But that lead him to take slights from other managers & dirty play (from one team in particular - Leeds United) personally. He made vendettas for these transgressions a matter of conscious & damned the consequences. And those consequences & the team most often guilty of them – Leeds United - comprise much of the drama in this film. I felt it important to do a little background research before writing this review & one account related a story about Michael Sheen’s consideration for this part. It said, basically, that he launched into a perfect imitation of Brian Clough when asked what he felt about playing the part. He also gets to show off his football prowess & instill some of his own passion for the sport into the part.

If there’s one thing everyone can seem to agree on it’s this movie is either completely accurate or completely bogus. In other words, there is no middle ground. Some of those involved say the book upon which the movie is based, The Damned Utd by David Peace, is a work of fiction at the very least & that many of the incidents portrayed never happened. Indeed, it would seem the falling out between Brian Clough & his longtime friend & assistant manager Peter Taylor (played by Timothy Spall of Wormtail fame in the Harry Potter films) is “reimagined” in order to give the movie a more uplifting ending. Kind of sappy, but I wasn’t really troubled by it during the movie, only after my research clarified the timeline of the incident. I guess everyone is entitled to their redemption, even if it didn’t happen in “real life”. One thing is certain, though. The animosity between Brian Clough & Don Revie (played by Colm Meaney), the manager of Leeds United, is very real. Clough shepherded his basement dwelling team, Derby County, up the ranks of English soccer teams, until he finally finds himself facing Leeds United, a team with a reputation for dirty play & their manager, Don Revie, who allegedly encourages his team to play dirty because, frankly, that’s how they win. Clough goes to great lengths to show Leeds that his team is worthy of a place alongside them, but Leeds beats Derby soundly & quickly leaves the stadium without a word. Clough is horrified & spends seemingly the rest of his career railing against Leeds & Revie every chance he gets both publically & privately. When Revie takes the position of English Team Manager for some reason that wasn’t really apparent (unless I was distracted by Michael Sheen’s rippling muscles in those short soccer pants & missed it – very possible!) he encourages Leeds to choose Clough as his replacement. Clough takes the position & proceeds to alienate just about everyone he comes in contact with. He tells the Leeds players that all the awards they have won are crap because they didn’t win them honestly, which really endears him to them! They refuse to play for Clough & Leeds stops winning, which then endears him to the Leeds fans. He lasts all of 44 days before he is sacked.

I suppose this movie could have easily become sappy & trite (indeed, it comes perilously close to it) but the performances by those mentioned & those not, such as Jim Broadbent as the Derby chairman, make Damned United a very entertaining film whether you are a soccer fan or no. It’s a wonderful indie film that will be enjoyed by a few with extreme good taste (like my PIC & I) & then go completely unnoticed & underappreciated. So, do yourself a favor & be one of the sophisticated cool people & see Damned United, damn it all!

K: This was a very well made film full of great actors. I like that this wasn't your typical story arc where the protagonist starts from nothing and ends on top. That would have been predicable, and this movie probably would then have never gotten made. Many of you probably aren't planning to go to the theater to watch this one, but please put it in your rental queue. You won't regret it.

OK, now I have to turn into a stupid little five year old. For some reason there is nothing funnier to me than to watch grown men call each other twats. I giggled every time someone called someone else a twat. TWAT! I told my PIC that I'm going to start working twat into my regular vernacular to which she replied that nothing would make her happier. So don't be a twat; watch this movie!