Year of nines: District 9 was the best of the movies with that number in the title.
Maybe the ghost of Bob Fosse came and helped him out this time. Note: This film is not to be confused with 9 (the one about the rag-doll robot people) or District 9 (the one about aliens). What’s up with the “nine” titles this year? Is it because it’s 2009? I don’t remember any movies called Eight in 2008. Why can’t more movies have titles like Quentin Tarantino’s World War II epic Inglourious Basterds? First of the Best: Coraline set a high bar early in the year. Roberta: It has a twisted sense of humor that I find hysterical, ur fearless Sun Screeners tackled a year’s worth of and it’s just Tarantino all the way. His humor isn’t like other peomovies. Here, in no particular order are their top picks ple’s humor. I found myself laughing at things that were horrible, for 2009 … and the ones they wish were but not in a mean way. And it’s satisfying, because he never made. lets the bad guys get theirs. Worst runners up Brent: It’s interesting how his movies explore the The Time Traveler’s Wife, Brent: Coraline was the first movie that made mystique of movies. The image of the “Giant Face” Night at the Museum: me think, “Yeah, this is going on the Best of on the movie screen getting revenge is such a classic Battle of the Smithsonian 2009 list.” It’s a journey into a unique dream Tarantino moment. Moving on to a whole other kind world, courtesy of the fertile of comedy ... I Love You, Man is on the list, landing imaginations of author Neil there because, in addition to a lot of big laughs, it also Gaiman and Director Henry has a lot of heart. You actually care about whether or not these Best runners up Selick (The Nightmare Before two guys are going to stay friends. Star Trek, The Hangover, Christmas). Stop-motion Roberta: It’s a good concept, with two guy friends. Usually movFunny People, Julie and Julia, animation perfectly suits the ies don’t show that. It’s about the guy trying to get the girl. In The Blind Side, Cloudy with a offbeat sensibility of the film, this, he already has the girl he’s going to marry, but he’s looking Chance of Meatballs, Extract as it does for our next pick, for a best friend to be his best man. I’m still waiting for my inviFantastic Mr. Fox. tation into the “man cave” (the friend’s bachelor pad). From “Man” to “Men” brings us to The Men Films we'd like to see Brent: Who Stare at Goats, an “inspired by a true story” What’s it worth, Brent? $20.09 Sherlock Holmes, comedy about a program to develop peace-oriented What’s it worth, Roberta? $20.09 Invictus, The Informant!, soldiers with superpowers. As I said in our review, Me and Orson Welles, the film achieves a wonderful balance between letting The Imaginarium of Dr. Roberta: I really liked that, too. Again, unique you laugh at the ridiculousness of some of the things Parnassus, Up In The Air, story. The voices were excellent in both these they do, while conveying a reverence for what they Precious, The Road, An movies. So much so that when I was watchwere trying to do. Education, Public Enemies, ing it, I was thinking that they just were those Roberta: I think Avatar is my pick for the year’s best. Police, Adjective, Crazy character’s voices. So much imagination went into it. It delighted my Heart, Serious Man, The Brent: Then there’s Up. It’s Pixar. Need I say senses. The whole concept of going into the avatar, Hurt Locker more? the whole story, I thought it was pretty clever. Roberta: It’s delightful, and it stays with you. Brent: One thing that it has Brent: Particularly memorable is the wordless sequence that over Up is the variety of the Films we’d like to avoid depicts Carl and Ellie’s marriage, and the fantastic image of the creatures. Pixar’s offering had Old Dogs (Brent: the trailer house soaring through the sky, suspended by hundreds of mulone dazzling tropical bird, but alone took years off my life), ticolored balloons. The head honchos at Pixar were also instruJames Cameron’s film provided The Pink Panther 2, 2012, mental in bringing about Disney’s return to hand-drawn animaa whole alien menagerie. On Aliens in the Attic, Shorts: tion, The Princess and the Frog. the topic of aliens, how about Adventures of the Wishing Rock Roberta: I loved it, but I don’t know why I’m not dazzled enough District 9? to say it’s on my top list. Maybe I’m being unfair because I’m Roberta: That was really, really comparing it to the other Disney stuff that captured my good. I liked Avatar more, but heart, and maybe eventually so will this. I still really liked District. A little boy alien Brent: I wouldn’t put it on the list of Best Disney movies won me over. Did you like that better than of All Time, but it easily lands on my best-of-the-year Avatar? list. Classic Disney songs were the soundtrack to my Brent: I liked them both. It was just very childhood, and this score is a fresh addition to that different, even though the concepts were tradition. I just start humming these tunes, and I’m so similar. With District 9, I really liked instantly happy. Animation fans of all ages should give the combination of gritty realism and scithis film a try. fi intrigue. I actually had a dream recently Roberta: I was surprised that Nine, being a musical, about seeing a huge spaceship floatwasn’t one of your picks for Best of the Year. ing silently over the city, which goes to PHOTO COURTESY movieweb.COM Brent: Not quite, but it had its moments. Maybe some show what a memorable image that was. Lame! Fame was a totally of the best moments of the year. Speaking of memorable imagery, check Roberta: I guess I liked the main character, filmmaker unnecessary remake. out Where the Wild Things Are. Director Guido Contini (Daniel Day Lewis), because he was Spike Jonze took the sparely worded clasItalian. sic picture book and expanded it into an emotional and psychoBrent: (Mom’s from a New York Italian-American family.) logical cinematic experience that was more aimed at adults. Roberta: I also enjoyed being able to hate him for cheating on Roberta: It was really fun to see this one, because I used to read his wife all the time. And the costumes and the sensual dancing the book to Brent when he was a kid. were great. Brent: I don’t recall seeing that many outright bad movies this Brent: I was surprised that Director Rob Marshall (Chicago, year. Most of them fell somewhere in the middle. But when they Memoirs of a Geisha) was able to convey that kind of sensuality. were bad, they were really, really bad. Transformers: Revenge
O
PHOTO COURTESY movieweb.COM
PHOTO COURTESY movieweb.COM
PHOTO COURTESY movieweb.COM
Best and worst
Sun Screen
Lofty heights: Pixar continued its knockout animation and storytelling with Up.
of the Fallen—I’m aware a lot of people liked this movie. Its defenders (I’m looking at you, Steve Miller of SLO’s New Times) often say they enjoyed seeing giant robots beating each other up (or in Steve’s case, Megan Fox posing). But nobody ever seems to stick up for whiny “Chosen One” Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf), or the Fallen’s convoluted backstory, or the unfunny “ethnic relief,” all of which took up a pretty big chunk of the movie. Cap it off with a cacophonous, drawn-out climatic battle, and it just wasn’t worth it for me, awesome robots and all. The Transformers sequel and The Twilight Saga: New Moon are like “his and hers” bad movies. Again, I admit New Moon delivers on what it promises: shirtless supernatural boys (doesn’t appeal to me, but I’m not the target audience). There were some atmospheric moments, but far too much screen time was devoted to the pouty face of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart). Roberta: I can’t stand that kind of melancholy. Here she has this sexy boyfriend, and she’s making him depressed. I don’t know PHOTO COURTESY 20TH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION
Eye-popping end: James Cameron closed out the year with the much anticipated Avatar, which literally leaps off of screens in 3D.
if the actress is a genius and this is how they’re telling her to act, or if that’s just the way she is. I don’t want to pay to see that on a screen. Bella’s so depressed, maybe she should go watch a movie like I Love You, Man to cheer her up. Brent: Brace yourselves, folks, we’re about to go down to a whole other level of bad films. Biblical Times period comedy Year One made cinematic history by being the first movie to get a double zero rating from us. Jack Black eats poop. Roberta: He might as well have eaten the movie. Michael Cera has the same dumb expression throughout the whole thing. Oh, don’t even get me into it. I don’t even wanna talk about it! Brent: Wow, you’re this distraught and we haven’t even gotten to Fame yet? Roberta: I can’t say anything good about it. The entire movie was annoying. The only reason I stayed to the end was so I could write the review. Otherwise, I would have just left. Brent: I’m a theater fanatic, but this depiction of a performing arts school was utterly uninspiring. You told me you thought this was the absolute worst—but what about, I Love You, Beth Cooper? Roberta; Oh, God! That’s even worse! Brent: Geeky high-school graduate Dennis Cooverman supposedly spends the “night of his life” partying with cheerleader Beth Cooper. If this was the high point of his life, I’d sure hate to see what the rest of it looked like. Roberta: The whole story was so stupid and farfetched, and they didn’t know what to do with it. Nothing’s romantic or sexual ...
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