what are your 3 favorite movies of 2009 so far?

Emphasis on not necessarily the BEST movies, but the ones you've been personally enjoying the most.

I'm asking this question now, as opposed to in December, because I need recommendations.. I've barely watched movies in the last 3 months and withdrawal hurts.

1. Adventureland
2. Because We Were Born
3. Lymelife

well, i don't think the trailer for the first one is very good, the trailer for the second is pretty horrible given how incredible the film is (also you probably couldn't find it in english), here's lymelife:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt-YR-jDr48

sugar, crank: high voltage and i cant think of another one but i have high hopes for that g.i. joe movie

lymelife is my #1 for sure

observe & report #2

Emphasis on not necessarily the BEST movies, but the ones you've been personally enjoying the most.

classic "populist" bullshit binary

also what "you've been," like watching daily?

What have I watched this year. Errr:

Che Part 1 - yeah ok. Couldn't be bothered to watch Part 2 tho.
Milk - garbage.
The Wrestler - A+++. Would watch again.
Star Trek - meh.
Watchmen - bleh.

So yeah The Wrestler is the only thing I have properly enjoyed this year, but I'd see Star Trek again.

Goodbye Solo and Gomorrah are the ones that comes to mind immedietly.

Star Trek lol. Nothing has blown me away tbh. Quite liked In The Loop, and even State of Play was fun while it lasted.
DVD wise: Surprised how much better than expected I found The Baader Meinhoff Komplex, though that was from last year or the year before?

I will watch The Wrestler tonight.

The Wrestler
Adventureland
Star Trek

keep in mind I hardly ever see movies.

i pretty much constantly watch movies & ive been 2 a theater only twice this yr i think! -- Adventureland & Tyson, neither of which id really recommend

At cinema:
The Wrestler
Watchmen
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

dvd etc:
You, The Living
Black Narcissus
Synecdoche, New York

Intrigued by Lymelife thanks to recommendation upthread.

lol i have seen 3 new movies all year: In The Loop, Drag Me To Hell and Synecdoche, New York

all are strongly recommended

i don't think i've even seen 3 movies that came out this year. Only been to the cinema to see 4 films, they were Tony Manero (2008), Encounters at the End of the World (2008), Watchmen (2009) and Star Trek (2009).

All good apart from Watchmen.

star trek was ok, but i completely fotgot about it the minute i left the cinema

So far I've seen 25 films this year, and the only ones I'd recommend to anyone would be Up and Adventureland. Drag Me To Hell, Star Trek and Bruce MacDonald's Pontypool are all solid genre entries.

I also have a healthy respect for Observe and Report, though it's far from perfect.

Anxious to start festival season to get to the really good stuff.

Star Trek
Drag Me to Hell
Until the Light Takes US (low budget docu on Norwegian black-metal)

I think I may have seen only 2 this year. So Watchmen and Drag Me To Hell.

I haven't seen very much this year -- I am drawing a blank on anything besides Star Trek. So it wins by default I guess?

Emphasis on not necessarily the BEST movies, but the ones you've been personally enjoying the most.
classic "populist" bullshit binary
― Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 3 June 2009 12:54 (Yesterday)

Why do there always have to be complaints about this?

Oh shit, Watchmen!

>Why do there always have to be complaints about this?

Good point, and I've no idea. Some actual suggestions, rather than predictable Buzz Killington posts, might be more useful but ho hum.

Gomorrah main contender.

#1 Black Dynamite

More coming soon hopefully.

1. Inglorious Basterds
2. Black Dynamite
3. Stay The Same Never Change

could not finish StSNC

Middle of Nowhere, Paper Heart and Adventureland are holding down my top three, but there's a lot more that I love

1. drag me to hell
2. a serious man
3. inglorious basterds

i don't think i've seen more than 3 movies this year :(

u deserve to have a swastika carved into your forehead imo

my 3 are

1. adventureland
2. inglorious basterds
3. lymelife

i've seen the hangover, bruno, and inglorious basterds for sure. probably one or two more, but who knows u_u

could not finish StSNC

It's not for everyone, but I can't wait to see it again.

My other 3 favorites are Adventureland, Coraline and Drag Me To Hell, which I will watch again but are less pumped about seeing a 2nd time than my initial 3.

My top 3:

Hurt Locker
A Serious Man
Taking Woodstock

35 shots of rum is the best.
than comes the hurt locker and goodbye solo.

I think I've seen exactly three movies released this year: The Hangover, Up, and Inglourious Basterds. I wouldn't kick any of them out of bed.

1. Hurt Locker
2. An Education
3. Moon

4. Up / Watchmen
5. Monster vs Aliens
6. District 9

Worst: Terminator Salvation / Transformers ROTF

Tetro and Silent Light are the two best. Nothing else seems listable.

cloudy with a chance of meatballs
gamer
g-force

historias extraordinarias
inglourious bs
serious man

"historias" only screened at festivals, so i don't know if it counts.

other faves: bright star, mother, parking, il divo, gomorrah, sugar, two lovers, duplicity, wendy and lucy, star trek

In The Loop, District 9...something else (surely not Star Trek arg)

hmm in the loop and district 9 were pretty good too.

(surely not Star Trek arg)

― modescalator (blueski), Tuesday, November 3, 2009 11:52 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

really? i seem to remember you going to bat for like, the matrix sequels - a decent sci-fi flick comes out and you're arging it?

oh also UP!!

really? i seem to remember you going to bat for like, the matrix sequels - a decent sci-fi flick comes out and you're arging it?

no i enjoyed it (probably more than Watchmen), just don't feel like its top 3 material. same goes for The Damned United. as usual i have only seen a handful of films in cinema.

ya i def wouldn't put ST in my top 3. top 10? maybe.

didn't realise inglorious bastads was so rated here tho - avoided it but now HMMMM

it is THE jewish film critic movie of the year imo

rated JG

IB is amazing

haven't seen much in the theater this year but it would be at the top probably (def better than Star Trek lolz - which I liked but was hampered by the lame villain)

Hunger still leads, A Serious Man (the ADULT Jewish film critic movie of the year) probably no worse than 4th.

haven't been able to get to the theater for A Serious Man yet, but looking forward to it

lol Morbz you love "ADULTS" too much and PEOPLE too little, methinks

I love 46-year-olds who grow up and stop making violent comic-book fetish movies

The Last House on the Left, Halloween II and Adventureland

I love 46-year-olds who grow up and stop making violent comic-book fetish movies

somehow I don't think the Coen Bros exactly fit this profile

did you see IBs morbs?

I love 46-year-olds who grow up and stop making violent comic-book fetish movies

somehow I don't think the Coen Bros exactly fit this profile

― I forgot my mantra (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, November 3, 2009 5:29 PM (3 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

haha totally...

lots of point-missing going on today, guyz?

did you see it?

if you can't tell the diff btwn I-won't-call-him-QT and A Serious Man (OR No Country)...

The Hurt Locker's my pick for now.

i don't think anyone is having trouble with that. pointing to the coens as an example of mature sober filmmakers is kind of ridic tho

did u actually see inglourious basterds morbius?

the hurt locker was really good, except for that last part where it sort of felt like an episode of lost

of course not; I don't spend unemployment payments on films I won't like.

so shut up about it already

you can't judge a movie from a trailer alone. needs a bit more expenditure of attention span than that.

pointing to the coens as an example of mature sober filmmakers is kind of ridic tho

Hmmm, can't think of any Americans who've made two MORE "mature sober films" than NCfOM and ASM in the last five years!

i can't think of anyone who's made a less sober mature film than burn after reading!!

I didn't watch any fucking IB trailers either

congratulations. you know next to nothing about the film you're trashing.

Burn After Reading was mature but not sober -- ie, it suggests the American government is a wasteland (you know, that view I got SB'd for)

I know next to nothing about everything. Off to an Italian neorealist film, kisses!

98% of trailers are terrible

s1ocki as a canadian you will never truly appreciate the true american pastime of having strong feelings about things you know nothing about

I usually look at ceiling during em

xp

white ribbon
ingloroiousus bastardes
drag me to hell

Having seen "Inglourious Basterds" I can say that Morbius's sight-unseen criticisms of the film seem quite accurate.

maturity and sobriety are overrated fwiw

In the young, sure.

in the loop
inglorious basterds
watchmen

i think i only saw four new movies this year, though

of course not; I don't spend unemployment payments on films I won't like.

so why don't you download it off bittorrent? and don't say "it's not worth 3 hours of my time" - because it clearly is, as you've spent more than 3 hours on ilx complaining about it.

inglourious morbius

dude doesn't know how to use excel

Basterds is QT's best in over a decade, but there's no reason to think it will convert all that many w/r/t QT himself.

s1ocki as a canadian you will never truly appreciate the true american pastime of having strong feelings about things you know nothing about

― congratulations (n/a), Tuesday, November 3, 2009 5:38 PM (51 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

the tiny american part of me thinks that pastime is overrated. (see what i did there)

1. In the Loop
2. Where the Wild Things Are
3. Ponyo

the hurt locker was really good, except for that last part where it sort of felt like an episode of lost

― banned, on the run (s1ocki), Tuesday, November 3, 2009 4:33 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

always sucks when a movie (or book) tries to reach for depth and diminishes the depth you were already giving it beforehand.

hoping that white ribbon will be in my top three, but that doesn't open here for a week or so, so until then it wld prob be

antichrist
let the right one in
my bloody valentine in 3-D

also enjoyed: the wrestler, the curious case of benjamin button, gran torino, watchmen, drag me to hell, bruno, the hangover, inglorious basterds, hurt locker, district 9 and zombieland

duds: friday the 13th, paul blart mall cop, public enemies, triangle

me no do bittorrent (or theft, usually)

the hurt locker was really good, except for that last part where it sort of felt like an episode of lost

ohman i can't believe i haven't seen this yet

What is going on with trailers now a days... It's pretty much the whole movie (for the most part). It makes me sad and less excited about going to the movies.

You know what you're going to get from the studios from start to finish anyway.

why even bother leaving the house

The Hurt Locker
Drag Me To Hell
Observe And Report

No Country For Old Men was not mature, fwiw. A pulp cartoon can be dour, as this was, but not mature.

really depends on your definition of "mature," which really not such a useful term imo

typically it should be used derogatorily

It fits my definition of mature, but then again, I am a thirtysomething person who watches cartoons and plays video games.

really depends on your definition of "mature," which really not such a useful term imo

typically it should be used derogatorily

both these statements are true enough

I think this mature vs. immature thing is missing the point a bit. The problem with QT is not that he's immature, IMHO, it's that his films are shallow.

not shallow, but definitely surfacey

I'd argue that QT's films are no more shallow than your average Spielberg film.

QT ain't capable of Munich.

Why is the idea that his films are shallow a "problem"?

I think there's a lot more moral ambiguity in "Munich" than in "Inglourious Basterds" to take one example.

xpost

hurt locker
a serious man
up

moral ambiguity = depth, gotcha.

munich isn't as good as inglourious basterds, "deeper" though it may be and as good as it may be.

SS ain't capable of Jackie Brown.

moral ambiguity = depth, gotcha

It's one possible form of depth - and one that QT does not seem to understand.

yall are nuts if you don't think there's any moral ambiguity in inglourious basterds.

did you notice that scene where the nazis are watching a movie about the slaughter of allied soldiers and laughing and having a great time just before they all get slaughtered in a movie?

The part where they meet a guy and it turns out to be Ariel Sharon felt a lot like when Data goes back in time and his bellhop turns out to be Jack London.

tbh there's a lot more moral ambiguity in israel vs palestine than in jewish vigilantes vs final solution planners

did you notice that scene where the nazis are watching a movie about the slaughter of allied soldiers and laughing and having a great time just before they all get slaughtered in a movie?

Um, that might be irony - but it's not moral ambiguity.

The part where they meet a guy and it turns out to be Ariel Sharon felt a lot like when Data goes back in time and his bellhop turns out to be Jack London.

― Philip Nunez, Thursday, November 5, 2009 1:57 PM (17 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

LOL

"that man will be a great leader one day..."

QT's films are fuckin' CHOCK-full of morally ambiguous characters and situations. it's like his main thing!!

the hurt locker was really good, except for that last part where it sort of felt like an episode of lost

― banned, on the run (s1ocki), Tuesday, November 3, 2009 4:33 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

always sucks when a movie (or book) tries to reach for depth and diminishes the depth you were already giving it beforehand.

― bnw, Tuesday, 3 November 2009 23:40 (2 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this is mega otm - as much as i was into the majority of it i don't know if i can let the denoument slide. lol i was pretty furious afterwards actually.

shoshanna isn't even meant to be an entirely likable character imo, she's so single-minded that she's a little crazy and scary

qt himself is morally ambiguous!

QT's films are fuckin' CHOCK-full of morally ambiguous characters and situations. it's like his main thing!!

I disagree. I think QT's films are almost entirely amoral - or that morality exists only as another audience expectation to be toyed with.

you guyz shore discuss a lotta different filmmakers

what do you consider a "moral" film xp

nate your problem is qt isnt taking u seriously enough

you guyz shore discuss a lotta different filmmakers

― Your Favorite Saturday Night Thing (Dr Morbius), Thursday, November 5, 2009 2:01 PM (14 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

isnt spielberg your big thing?

and u morbs HOW DARE YOU yr like the #1 qt troll

"why is everyone talking abt jud aptow so much la la la la la"

also whoever nominated MOON i will pray for you, worst thing i've seen in years no joke

oop, sorry 4 getting in the way here

moon was ... ok

so hard to get worked up one way or another about that movie tbh

what do you consider a "moral" film

My point is not that films need to be "moral" or need to be about morality at all. But since QT seems to think it's one of his strong suits, he spends a lot of time on it. Which ends up making his movies feel kind of hollow.

wanna see the hurt locker so bad

Tarantino's hollowness comes more from unrepentant poaching of scenes from his favorite movies rather than any moral consideration.

dudes qt is what he is is the thing u dont understand

the problem here is you think QT is being totally disingenuous with his morality in films. to me it's pretty obvious that he believes in it 100%. there are no dimly lit philosophical conversations in a stairwell between nazis and basterds, i realize but...

you guys the movie is called 'pulp fiction'!!!!11 it's almost like he's not trying to make deep movies!!!

no come on moon was utterly inept from start to finish!! having pretty much banished it from my mind since it's obv a bit useless me not having much other than rabid obloquy for the thing but i was grimacing on a frame-by-frame basis, like it honestly scares me how it even got made.

Tarantino's hollowness comes more from unrepentant poaching of scenes from his favorite movies rather than any moral consideration.

That's really the best part, though. The climax of Basterds cribs pretty liberally from the prom scene in Carrie, which to someone like me ramps up the morality rather than diminishing it. It's parallels another movie of surprising empathy within a violent, horrific genre.

I generally don't have any problem with the "hollowness" of Tarantino's sampling any more than Public Enemy does to construct beats, but ripping the coffin burial scene from Spoorloos kind of made me mad -- if I hadn't by accident seen Spoorloos first, that really would have ruined it, and it kind of even ruined it still. I'm sure he put it in because he loved Spoorloos, but he is killing the thing he loves.

it's almost like he's not trying to make deep movies!!!

I agree! I don't think he is. Stylish, smart, snappy, knowing, shocking even - but deep? I doubt he cares.

anyone consciously trying to make "deep" movies is doing it wrong imo

but deep? I doubt he cares.

so why should we be arguing about it?? unless you think every good movie needs to be deep, why would it matter?

I'm done arguing about that. I find it's hard to convey why I don't think his movies are the best of a given year. Maybe my tastes just don't align with what he does.

depth often comes from style and throwaway lines, not intellectual content

style is depth in action - cant really have one w/o the other

Are you guys telling me Styles from Teen Wolf Too was deep?

these guyz are defining 'depth' as whatever a tarantino movie inherently wouldn't be doing and then complaining that a tarantino movie isn't doing it.

criticize him for not being entertaining if you don't like him! that's an honest way to criticize tarantino, cause yes, he is actively and openly trying to make something that's very entertaining. but 'depth', especially
'depth' as most of you are gonna selectively define it...

i just don't like qt cos i think his jokes r dumb and he doesn't seem like anyone i could ever hang with

Moon wasn't amazing but I will not complain about a film with multiple Sam Rockwells.

be careful, you're setting yourself up for a "multiplicity" remake there

lol i'd totally see that if sam rockwell starred

plus they can't bring back andie mcdowell or anything

My 4th place would be The Wrestler.

Did Wrestler release in 2009 in other countries or something?

According to IMDB, it released on Jan. 30, 2009 in the US.

Though apparently it was shown at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival.

Huh! Didn't realize that.

If Wrestler counts, it's my #1.

a serious man
revanche
basterds

The Wrestler doesn't count, it was released in the cities that matter in '08

I'm going to go with Gomorra, A Serious Man, and The Girlfriend Experience. Haven't seen a million this year, though.

Gomorra is another movie I thought was 2008.

I wouldn't dare to define a "mature film" in an era when men in their 30s ride skateboards and read superhero comics.

But I know Kung Fu Hustle is one, and The Lives of Others is not.

The Wrestler doesn't count, it was released in the cities that matter in '08

Hunger also came out in '08.

In America, only in LA for a week. THAT doesn't count.

Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
Star Trek

And I have to admit to liking Brothers Bloom even though I logically shouldn't have.

1.Broken Embraces
2.Limits Of Control

sugar, crank: high voltage

― Lamp, Wednesday, 3 June 2009 07:05 (5 months ago) Bookmark

YES
the second one is a masterpiece of wtf

since my favorite movies tend to be the ones I've seen most recently:

This Is It
Zombieland
The Hangover

honorable mention to Star Trek and GI Joe; also wanted to list Inglorious Basterds but late night + excessive drinking caused me to pass out halfway through

I wouldn't dare to define a "mature film" in an era when men in their 30s ride skateboards and read superhero comics.

But I know Kung Fu Hustle is one, and The Lives of Others is not.

― Your Favorite Saturday Night Thing (Dr Morbius), Thursday, November 5, 2009 9:08 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

see shaolin soccer if you haven't already. it beats kung fu hustle's front-loaded ass around the block. (also you may revise your position on its maturity when you see what a backward slide KFH was)

I can only hope KFH was a backward slide. Big disappointment (though certainly nowhere near the mediocrity of Lives of Others).

very similar movies tho

I wasn't the one who first compared them, but I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't argue that Others is more "mature," or whatever, than Hustle.

wouldn't argue AGAINST

i wouldn't argue that either of them were particularly mature tbh.

I liked "The Lives of Others" but I haven't seen "Kung Fu Hustle" so I can't compare. I don't think that what I liked about it had anything to do with maturity though - just a decent thriller about an interesting period of history (with a few contrived plot devices, perhaps, but nothing too awful).

yeah if only lives of others was like a half-hour shorter

If it was only half an hour, more like.

and had a laugh track

and was set in China

Or if Jack Handey read the Rilke verse in voice-over.

Wow - you guys are harsh. I thought it did a good job of dramatizing life in East Germany in those years - showing the corrosive effects of totalitarianism and how people psychologically adapt. The ending may have been a little squishy but that doesn't undo the things the film does well.

haha, i just flashed back to how horrible that ending was.

I said in its respective thread: I didn't accept that this apparatchik had a soul amenable enough to the healing effects of poetry.

I guess the film is kind of a victim of its own success - it succeeds so well at envisioning the drab, soul-sucking world of East German communism that one balks at the politically obligatory ending themes of redemption and reconciliation.

the healing effects of poetry

wasn't it a novel? seriously can't remember now, blocked it out

Sin Nombre
Star Trek
Soul Power

o ya.. soul power!

not a bad year for movies tbh

Not maybe the thread for this, but An Education was terminally dull imo.

i saw the Weinstein cut (right?) of Shaolin Soccer, didn't reach KFH's level.

anyway, 35 Shots of Rum is at least in this year's top ten right now.

What about the scathing critique of capitalism that was "All for the Winner"?

im w/ morbs, KFH way superior to SS, imho - this isn't meant to be snark or anything, but i wonder if Shaolin Soccer plays better in America/Canada rather than in Europe?

God of Cookery is better than either of them.

God of Cookery had a disturbing number of parallels with Happy Gilmore (including giant face ghost at the end in triumph).

i can't see how SS is superior to KFH in any way, honestly.

also, hating on Lives of Others? really? sad.

that great performance from ulrich muhe, and his personal history and the sadness of his death, temporarily made me ignore how fucking awful lives of others was

I don't feel like I've seen enough movies this year to pick three. Three out of ten or twelve seems a little too generous.

Dislike or disappointment isn't "hating on" -- I reserve my hate for something stupid/offensive like Frost/Nixon or something.

I did like A Serious Man. A whole movie about the William H. Macy character in Fargo!

except he didn't try to kill his wife

or have her kidnapped

and he was a physics professor not a car salesman--but you're right other than that, same movie

I keep forgetting what a literalist you are.

A whole movie about the William H. Macy character in Fargo!

I thought that was Wild Hogs.

haven't seen alot of films this year but i guess it'd be:
1 - District 9 (easy)
2 - Up
3 - Zombieland (i guess)(hmmm maybe Watchmen)

A whole movie about the William H. Macy character in Fargo!

yeah there was a pretty unmistakable (and probably deliberate) jerry lundegaard vibe to that performance

wait what the hell, we're not talking about the informant! are we...

ASM has depths that Fargo never touched

I'll stand for Moon, regardless of r|t|c.

Its the first space sci-fi in 20 years truly in following the lead of early 70s classics like 2001 and Silent Running. I have problems with the plausibility of the plot, but supporting the rare sci-fi film about ideas rather than explosions supercedes any reservations.

District 9, another low budget sci-fi flick, also deserves some praise, but in general, I find my canon never solidifies before the Asian market films arrive on DVD.

oh wow, i kind of adore THE BOX, though it took me two viewings to come close to understanding it.

Haven't quite locked it down yet, but so far:

Ing Basterds
Let the Right One In

3rd choice between:
(Moon
Bronson
Star Trek
Hurt Locker
District 9
Bright Star)

Saw Let the Right One In last year, but that was definitely a favourite.

No order,

Inglorious Basterds
Il Divo
and probably Pranzo di Ferragosto

but, enjoyable as that last film was, it's probably there because this year has been a real low one for films for me - haven't yet seen Bright Star or Moon. Hated District 9.

This year has been difficult for me because I'm in South Korea, and so much great stuff gets released late here (if at all). I haven't loved anything this year without reservations, but the standouts so far have been:

Moon
Public Enemies
The Hurt Locker

I guess Star Trek and District 9 get honourable mentions.

Ignoring the pre-Oscars 2009 stuff, and allowing for the fact that I haven't seen any new releases since August, here is my top 5 from the always-great-for-cinema March-August period:

Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
Drag Me To Hell
Public Enemies
The Hangover

(in that order)

My film year runs Oscars to Oscars not because I think they're important, but because once the Oscars arrive, all the studio films that have come out in the U.S. have also come out in the U.K., which is not true on 1 Jan.

My final 3 for '09...

Inglorious Basterds
Black Dynamite
Fantastic Mr. Fox