Best Movies of 2009: The Halfway Report

Photo Credit: Disney Pixar

by Guest Contributor Brian Robinson

Well we are just about halfway through the year of movies for 2009. Anybody excited? Yeah, me neither. Its certainly been easy to find the past few years of movies lacking, but so far this year, its been particularly bleak. Although the best argument for a justification is that many of these movies may be “Strike Babies” in that they were rushed in the script phase (more than usual) to get in before the Writers’ Strike of 2007/2008. Movies in general seem half to three-quarters baked as it is, and with the rushed strategy many are barely one-quarter baked right now. But, as always there are some bright spots!

Below is my list of the five best movies of the year thus far. Now, I should note these are only the ones that I have found to be particularly entertaining so far and most likely will NOT end up on many year end Top Ten lists, including my own. We all know the movie industry back loads all of the “award worthy” films for the fall and holiday season, so there is a high probability there will be at least five more films more exciting than the ones I list below and then another five or so beyond that. Also, the five listed below are in no particular order.

‘Up‘ – Definitely the best time I have had at the movies so far this year. Pixar is plainly the gold standard for digitally animated movies these days. Its become a cliche, but they seem to raise the bar in some way with every successive release; if its not in terms of story, at the minimum its in terms of technological invention. Its been mentioned in many of the reviews of this film that the first few minutes includes a silent portion that tells the life story of ‘Up’s main character to the point where we meet him. Its strong enough to win an Academy Award if it were released as an animated short subject, its that good. In this moment you realize that the filmmakers at Pixar know the language of film so well, not just the language of animation. I saw the film in the Disney Digital 3D and I wasn’t disappointed; they don’t just go for gimmick here and have things flying at you every 30 seconds, but they create the most realistic of sets and use the depth that 3D offers. As they say, you will laugh, cry and sit on the edge of your seat. Go, with or without a little one in tow.

‘Tyson’- Whether you love or hate Mike Tyson, this movie will hold your attention for its full running time. He is a fascinating person to learn about, even if you find him despicable. Mike Tyson fully knows you may hate him, yet he opens up without reservation anyway, possibly giving you all new reasons to hate him. The film is one of those rare bio-docs where the only voice you hear is the subject’s. Here Tyson is given wide berth and long rope. But, through it all the viewer really doesn’t want him to to use that rope, as it would deprive you of learning about one of the most fascinating lives of the 20th century. I walked away from the movie believing that Tyson’s childish sounding voice is the voice of a man who never recovered from being a broken child. While it was an entertaining and engrossing movie, it could have been better with a true documentarian running the show; there are times where James Toback (the director) is just too in love with his buddy to not ask the really tough follow up questions that you will be asking as you watch this film.

‘The Hangover’- This is one of those “buddies in Vegas make a bad situation even worse” movies. If you have seen one, you have seen a hundred. The difference here is that there is a real script with real characters, not just beers, shots and breasts….although it has all of that too. There are no really big names here, but there are faces you will recognize for sure. The two winners out of this one will be Ed Helm and Zach Galifianakis. Galifianakis in particular finds a very subversive way to spin the old John Belushi ‘Bluto’ bit into a new realm; this is a slob that you actually feel sorry for, repulsed by and fascinated with. He builds some real character here and that makes it just that much funnier and relatable. The only negative I must mention was the ugly Asian stereotyping — it was just not funny. I think the only reason Hollywood keeps coming up with characters like this is because the Asian lobby just isn’t as vocal or well-known as the ones for other American minorities.

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Photo Credit: Warner Bros.

‘Away We Go’ - This movie probably has the potential to be the most divisive one on this list as I think people will either like it or hate it. Some will love it. I can’t say I ‘loved’ it, but I certainly fall strongly on the ‘liked’ side. Its an independent style film made by Sam Mendes (‘American Beauty’, ‘Revolutionary Road’ and others) who is working in a completely new genre for him. This movie is not as slickly made as his better known movies and its co-written by the well known and idiosyncratic writer Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) and his wife, Vendela Vida. Its an episodic movie about a couple (John Krasinski from TV’s ‘The Office’ and ‘Leathernecks’ along with Maya Rudolph from SNL) about to have their first child and find out the only living parents they have left (his parents) are leaving the country before the baby is born. So they realize that they are truly rootless and can raise this baby wherever they like. So they go on a series of trips to different cities where they have some friends to see where the best place to raise a family might be. Idiosyncrasy ensues. I have a pretty low tolerance threshold for movies that insist their characters have ‘quirk’, but his movie stayed right below my maximum levels of tolerance. (Wish I could say the same for Wes Anderson’s last two movies, but I digress…) And, it must be said, almost ANY movie is better when Allison Janney is on screen. This amazing character actress can do so much with so little its like watching a magician. Here she takes a clearly annoying, alcoholic, boorish character and gives her just the right amount of humanity in her very last shot. Her section of the movie would make a terrific short film of its own.

‘Star Trek’ - I was never a major fan of this franchise, and maybe even a bigger sin is being a fan of the ‘Next Generation’ over the original series, but I enjoyed the hell out of this movie. It was simply fun and didn’t require a ton of foreknowledge to really get into the ‘reimagination’. The movie contains some of the best digital effects I have ever seen in a sci-fi movie and manages to dazzle an effects critical viewer like me. If you have avoided the movie because you are not a fan of the series and feel you will miss a lot of the specifics, don’t worry, it will be the ride of summer regardless.

Honorable mentions:

Drag Me to Hell – Always fun to see Sam (SpiderMan) Raimi get back to his roots with no holds barred. The most fun PG-13 horror film in years.

Gomorrah – Italian docudrama about the REAL ‘mafia’. No ‘Godfather’ glam, no ‘Goodfellas’ jokes. A scary world.

Duplicity- Very clever, deceptively light and dialogue rich throwback by one of the best writer/directors around (Tony Gilroy of the great “Michael Clayton”).

Notorious – a better-than-expected biopic of The Notorious B.I.G. Fine acting and surprisingly touching movie.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil – a documentary on the real life Spinal Tap. Touching, sad, pathetic and inspirational at the same time.

Sugar – A well done independent feature about a Dominican baseball player and his journey to the US. The story behind all those ‘Cinderella’ baseball stories we see.

State of Play- considered a make or break movie for adult themed fare in the US, this movie was better than average, but not the best anyone who worked on it has ever done. BUT, more than anything, you get a funny, bitingly satirical performance from Jason Bateman. His 10 minutes of screen time make the movie worth watching. And sometimes, in the summer, all I can hope for is 10 good minutes!