Movies of 2009

1. Slumdog Millionaire – Tim and I are perhaps the only people who did not enjoy this movie. I really liked the concept, and I thought it was clever to tell his story by flashing back to the times when he knew the answers to the questions on the game show, but I didn’t find the movie as a whole to be particularly praise worthy. I felt that they didn’t develop Latika enough – We knew he was in love with her and would do anything for her, but she didn’t seem wonderful enough for all of his feelings. And I really could have done without the dancing in the credits.

2. The Wrestler – One of the best movies I’ve seen in awhile. Even though it was so well done, I don’t think I could watch it again because it was so depressing. However, the fact that it was depressing made me like it, because it felt very real. Mickey Rourke was amazing and I still maintain that he should have won the Oscar over Sean Penn for Milk. I liked Milk a lot, but I wasn’t a huge fan of Penn’s acting.

3. Coraline – I can’t believe this is a kid’s movie, but I really enjoyed it. I saw it in bits and pieces that added up to seeing the whole movie, but sometime I need to sit down and watch it straight through (it was playing on tv while we were on the cruise). Dark, twisted and visually interesting to watch.

4. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – I think it says something that I knew exactly what was going to happen, yet I still found myself crying like a little girl when Dumbledore died. The special effects were beautiful, the directing perfection and every scene played out exactly as I hoped it would. Makes me very eager to see the next two movies.

5. District 9 – I went into this expecting just an action movie, and I was very pleased when it wound up being more than that. I thought some of the character choices were stupid (I’d give examples, but I don’t want to spoil it) , but I’m willing to overlook it. Once again, it was a movie that was difficult to watch, but well done.

6. Whip It – Disappointing. Most of the characters were underused and underdeveloped, and I still feel like Ellen Page is playing a little too close to Juno. There are a million love stories out there, but there aren’t too many about groups of women who kick ass and take names. I wish the movie would have focused on the latter and skipped the former altogether.

7. Away We Go – It was predictable, but ultimately a good movie. I thought both of the leads were very good and gave performances very different than what they typically do (The Office, SNL). John K. was quietly hilarious and loved the running gags of him trying to elevate the baby’s heart rate. The music was also quite good.

8. Up in the Air – I was not impressed in the least. Going into it I kept hearing how wonderful the writing and acting were, but I was underwhelmed by both. I thought the actors were well-cast and they did their best with the material that was given, but I didn’t really enjoy the film. I’d go into more detail, but I don’t want to ruin it for anyone.