In THE LOVELY BONES director Peter Jackson returns to the more intimate blending of emotion and fantasy that characterized earlier films like HEAVENLY CREATURES.
Ricky Gervais & Matthew Robinson's THE INVENTION OF LYING
What a subversive little film this is. And sweet. And funny. And unexpected.
Hayao Miyazaki's PONYO
This is some of Miyazaki’s best work. It’s enchanting, touching, sentimental, funny, and occasionally, simply astonishing. Miyazaki has a gift for capturing the honesty and wonder of childhood yet he does so without sugarcoating or pandering.
Nina Paley's SITA SINGS THE BLUES
I was mesmerized and entertained by this animated film. Paley intertwines the classic Ramayana with a modern love story, old blues songs, and lively comments on Indian culture by talking shadow puppets.
Fumihiko Sori's VEXILLE
This movie has plot holes galore, the graphic concepts and technologies are derivative, and the characters are oddly un-engaging. Still, it moves along at a very fast clip, the story itself is unusual, and some of the action sequences are spectacular.
The Hughes Brothers' “THE BOOK OF ELI”
This film breathes life (of sorts) into the post-apocalyptic-road-warrior genre. Denzel Washington is one seriously cool dude as he slashes his way West on foot through a blasted landscape with his secret personal cargo.
Duncan Jones' MOON
I like movies that start out with a fake documentary describing the imaginary culture underlying the film — two good examples are Monsters Inc. and Starship Troopers.
Add Moon to the list.
Enki Bilal's IMMORTAL
Next time someone says, “Yeah, Avatar was great, but the story sucked,” suggest this film instead. The story doesn’t suck.
Nicolas Roeg's "WALKABOUT"
This 1971 movie is stunning.
Joss Whedon's “SERENITY”
The elements are familiar: Han Solo-style wisecracking captain-with-a-heart-of-gold, rag-tag crew, gorgeous babe good at swordplay and kick-boxing, evil empire, space armadas battling at close quarters, and — I kid you not — flesh-eating outer space zombies.
Noboru Iguchi's THE MACHINE GIRL
Japanese school girl goes on rampage to wreak revenge on the murderers of her little brother, gets fitted with prosthetic arm/machine gun, ensuing action consumes more artificial blood and gore than any film in recent memory.
First Spaceship on Venus
This 1964 European-produced, English-dubbed movie was cutting edge when released and even now contains elements that entertain.
Wes Anderson's THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX
This is a very funny and beautifully prouduced piece of whimsy. The characters are interesting, the story is clever, the dialog is witty, and the voice performances are superb.
Here are my favorites among all the films I saw in 2009 (not all of these were released in 2009); my top 5 are tagged with an asterisk (*):
Fritz Lang's “WOMAN IN THE MOON”
This 1929 silent film by Metropolis director Fitz Lang is quite amazing.
Timur Bekmambetov's DAY WATCH
I see elements from The Matrix, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and Resident Evil. And vampires, of course.
Sam Raimi's “DRAG ME TO HELL”
Sam Raimi’s DRAG ME TO HELL is fitfully entertaining. But it commits what I consider the unpardonable sin for a horror movie:
Mamoru Hosoda's “THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME”
At first I thought, “Uh-oh, this is another one of those interminable animes about Japanese high school kids dealing with adolescent angst.” Boy, was I wrong.
Ruben Fleischer's “ZOMBIELAND”
Need to laugh? See this movie.
Here are the movie reviews I’ve added since January 1, 2009, starting with the most recent.