Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Top Ten of 2009

Addendum: These are only movies that either had a major theatrical release or I happened to catch them in the theater. I'll give my favorite DVD movie list of the year a little later, as I need to actually check on the release dates of many films I've seen. At the end of the list I'll give some honorable mentions that will include some DVD's along with some lamentations regarding the retched failures in theaters this past year.

10. Last House on the Left

I haven't been a big fan of remakes over the years. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a travesty so far as I'm concerned. Prom Night is a movie that shouldn't even be spoken of in mixed company. But sometimes, the movie is done exactly right... striking all the right notes and improving on the flaws of the original source material. The Hills Have Eyes, The Fly, and, of course, The Thing. Then, there are remakes that really don't deserve the comparison... most recently, Dawn of the Dead was such a completely different film from the original that they can't really be compared. And that's where Last House wound up falling for me. Personally, I still prefer the original film. I think it's more shocking. But I can't grumble about this effort, either... the two films aren't the same piece of work, they don't deal with the same issues, and their tones are just vastly different


9. Crank 2: High Voltage

Chev Chelios hits the ground with a sickening thump, his body broken and dying as the Chinese Poison continues to seep in his veins. Within moments, he's scooped off the pavement and wheeled away in a van to a secret location where his life is saved and doctors begin to harvest his organs. When he wakes up, he finds his heart has been replaced and he sets out to get the original Cherry Tart put back in his chest. This movie was INSANE!!! I loved every crazy lunatic moment of it as they continued to push the envelope and up the ante with one scene after another.

8.Friday the 13th (Re-Imagining)

Jason returns to his roots with a reworking “reboot” of the film series. The film boils down all the essential plot elements from the original series, including aspects from parts 2 through 4 in order to build an independent story. Derek Mears manages to shine in a largely stereotypical script, while nearly all the other performers seem to phone in several bland parts with the exception of the “token minorities”. It was a fun little jaunt through the woods, but a poor soundtrack and a lazy script didn’t give the fan base much to chew on.

7. The Collector

Far meatier than the reintroduction of Friday the 13th, this “Saw”-inspired slasher film hit all the right notes for a gore-hound and introduced a brand new villain to the horror scene. Although the story suffers through one dimensional characterizations of the “family in peril”, the cat and mouse routine between the killer and the burglar tends to keep the audience on the edge of their seat. With a little spit and polish, this movie could have easily climbed to the top of the heap and nearly accomplished just that if hadn’t been for a few random additions to the year in cinema.

6.Drag Me to Hell

Sam Raimi returns to horror! After spending the past several years with Spidey, Raimi returned to the genre that turned him into a legend with a film that throws back to the days of classic spook-shows. A gypsy curse haunts a young woman, promising to drag her to hell after three days have passed. The gags are plentiful, though low in gore. It works as an early introduction to Raimi’s new “Spook-house” subdivision of the Ghost-House brand, introducing a younger audience to the world of horror and acts as a fun ride through familiar territory for the die-hard fans.

5.

Zombieland:

Driven to cannibalistic rage traced to a bad hamburger, the world is overrun with Zombies and it’s up to a group of misfits to overcome their own fears and distrust in order to survive the new world around them. Hilarious, gory, and as over the top as it comes… Zombieland was a rollercoaster ride that hit all the right notes for me.

4.

Watchmen:

Zack Snyder brings the epic graphic novel to life. Love it or hate it, The Watchmen was probably the second biggest “event” movie of the year. This movie pretty much had it all; Amazing visual effects, a deep story, and a top notch performance from several of the films stars including a stand out performance from Jackie Earle Haley.


3.

Star Trek:

We probably won’t hear to much about the film when it comes time for Hollywood to break their hands with back patting. JJ Abrams does the unthinkable and successfully manages to reboot the Star Trek franchise with a film, story, and twist that manages to captivate the hardcore, casual, and younger generation fans. Not enough good could be said about this movie and will probably be number one on many peoples’ lists for the year.

2.

Inglorious Basterds:

Tarantino’s war epic “Men on a Mission” story finally sees the light of day. Brad Pitt is featured as Aldo Raines, but it’s the villainous Nazi investigator who steals the show. A bunch of “outlaw”-minded American Soldiers, a British Spy, and a Jewish projectionist converge in a plot to kill the Nazi High Command. Must see film.

1.

Coraline:


A modern fairy tale delivers young Coraline to a new home with her work-a-holic parents. Discovering a small door, the young girl finds an alternate world where her “Other” Mother waits to dote. The reality is that this world is a trap and a horrible creature waits to devour the children she lures in with empty promises. By far one of the more terrifying stories this past year, Coraline is based upon the book by Neil Gaiman and was a rare jewel for this year.

++++++++++++

With that said, I don't know if it's a good thing that my favorite film of the year was a family movie or if it's just a sad state for the genre film industry. My Bloody Valentine had me excited, and the first ten minutes looked like a solid delivery making good on it's expected promise... but then the rest of the film threw itself backward to the "Scream" cliche. But there were some interesting promises in the direct to DVD and foreign markets: Dead Snow gave us an old school cabin in the woods zombie feature, Hills Run Red was a good throwback to the cheap slashers of the 80's, while Raimi's Ghosthouse Releasing got their hands on some fairly brutal films for the Season. Deadgirl was an interesting story, even if I didn't really enjoy the experience and is showing that Trent Haaga is a storyteller to be reckoned with. The biggest highlight of the year to hit DVD, by far, was Trick R' Treat. Long awaited by genre fans, this anthology film manages to twine three seperate stories about the events which unfold in a small town on the eve of Halloween.

G.I. Joe, Wolverine, and the worthy Outlander round out the rest of the honorable mentions.

Now, here it comes... worst film of the year:

Where the Wild Things Are

A more wretched hive of depression and misery would be hard to find, but this film manages to sink lower than some of the more disgusting features to date. So there you go, Faceless Readers... my top ten of the year.

2 comments:

  1. It heartens me to see that F13 made your list. Marcus Nispel is directing Conan, so I hope he has the chops to make a good film. If it has a good script, that is.

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  2. You should read my review of the film from earlier this year. It's on the myspace blog. He has a good eye, paces the film well, but I didn't like his choice of soundtrack. Should be interesting to check out.

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