while vainly compiling my best of music lists has been a tradition for at least one year, throwing together a bunch of movie titles is a new one for me. so cut me some slack.it's telling that my list of movies to-see is way longer than those i did watch in 2009. i probably should just go ahead and delete this post altogether. luckily for you, i've got some time to kill.
movies i loved, '09:
district 9--i can't get over how awesome this movie is. no, it wasn't the first to pair a plot with visually stunning science fiction and exploding pigs, but it might be the best.
up--yes, we all cried in the opening scene. damn you, pixar. this is a children's movie! it maybe one of pixar's best. which is saying quite a bit.
where the wild things are--beautiful and sad. jonze captures childhood in all it's adventure, loneliness, confusion, and imagination. watching it can be wrenching and joyful often in the same minute.
avatar--yes, you've read/seen this story arch about billion times, and it was probably delivered better than cameron in avatar. but you can't get past how much fun this movie is to watch. seriously, it's worth seeing. and in 3d.
julie and julia--whoa, left field. my wife made me watch and it was fantastic. both the ladies are excellent. the food looks pretty good, too.
coraline--a dark children's movie? was tim burton involved? as far as i know, no. but coraline is fantastic. visually stunning, scary, and with a compelling story. who knew a kids movie could deal with mother/daughter relationships so well? nothing is more visually arresting than the mother-spider threatening to consume her child. excellent, weird stuff.
movies i want to see, '09:
up in the air--the book left something to be desired, but i think the story will translate well into a movie. as an added plus, apparently every critic is in love with it.
the informant--this american life did an actual episode on this guy a few years ago. they replayed it around the release of the movie and i was sold. sounds like an awesome character study and bit of corporate history.
fabulous mr. fox--wes anderson and stop motion? i feel like he should have been doing this long ago. it's a shame i haven't seen this yet.
sherlock holmes--guilty pleasure. i'm banking on the fact that it's been several years since i got obsessed with conan doyle, so hopefully i won't mind as much that downey jr. is butchering the character as well as the bad guys.
invictus--i love clint eastwood. gran torino was easily the best movie of '08. though i'm intsted to see how he'll do "feel good," i recently heard a friend complain that it was "too historical." that made me really excited.
moon--again, a shame that i haven't seen this yet. it has all the earmarks of great science fiction.
the road--the book rocked my world. i'm preparing for a let-down, but hoping for something that gets in the ball park of what made the story so amazing--love and despair amidst chaos and death.
a serious man--this is mainly on the principle that the cohen brothers make good movies. even if burn after reading was disappointing, i've heard some good stuff about this one.
the hurt locker--a good war movie about iraq? judging from about every other non-documentary film that referenced the war, i didn't think it possible.
zombieland--the only surprise here is that i haven't seen it yet.
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