Here are my Top Ten Movies for 2009 based upon the ones I have seen. Also, they are ones that I enjoyed the most for various reasons which may not always include those with the highest artistic value. They are ranked in order of the best to the 10th best.


MY TOP TEN FOR 2009
1.Tie for #1 : Avatar and Up In The Air
3. Hurt Locker
4. Precious
5. Blindside
6. Julie & Julia
7. 500 Days of Summer
8. Up
9. Nine
10 Tree way tie for # 10: Inglorious Basterds ; Zombieland and Taken

HONARABLE MENTIONS ( in no particular order):
Hangover
Star Trek
Whip It
Sunshine Cleaners
Drag Me to Hell
The Proposal
District Nine
Pirate Radio
Paranormal Activity




Here are my Worst Five for 2009…again based upon those I have seen…I’m SURE there are many others that I managed to avoid…again listed in order of worstness. A short excerpt from my reviews appears below the list.

My WORST FIVE FOR 2009
1. 17 Again
2. The Box
3. Gomorrah
4. Knowing
5. Duplicity

17 Again Deja Boo: “17 Again”…NO, never again…you couldn’t pay me to see this awful movie a second time. It is a shameful take-off on the “body-swap”/ “time-travel” themes that have been so well done in some very fine movies such as “Big”, “Peggy Sue Got Married”, “Freaky Friday” and “Back to the Future”. Historically, films like this have been better (and funnier) when the tables are turned and it's the kid finding himself or herself in a older body or when there is the time travel element, neither of which occur in this film… it was neither funny nor endearing....in fact it was awkward and creepy .

The Box I went into this movie with low expectations and thus was not surprised when I was underwhelmed. The story is poorly written and the film is misdirected or, I should say, missed-being-directed. The movie is like a race horse that starts off strong but by the middle of the race is lagging behind and finally collapses way before the finish line. What a shame that the pacing couldn’t keep up with some good Sci-Fi ideas…as a result, instead of sweeping you along, The Box just sits there like something unclaimed at lost and found. Damaged goods.

Gomarrah I see a lot of movies and it's rare that one has me looking at the ceiling, at the audience, at the wall and at my watch.... but for the life of me, I couldn't find my way into this film and don’t think there was one. Billed as a "true" look at the mafia in Naples, Italy, it literally achieves the impossible by making the mafia look monotonous. A mob film that elicits yawns ?? I was amazed at how awkward and clumsy this was done. For most of the movie, I didn’t know who was who or to whom they belonged or why they were warring with each other or what was at stake. And just what did the woman with the monkey have to do with anything? It takes effort to mess up a movie that has a woman with a monkey.

Knowing Knowing what I know now, I’m not sure I’d go to see “Knowing”. But then, I already knew about Nicholas Cage and how he doesn’t know how to pick good films anymore. And, besides, I’m a sucker for numerology mystery movies…I think it has to do with my being a Math Major from college (loved those algebra equations) and my frustration with not getting the hang of those doggone SUDOKU puzzles. In any event, I went and can now say a little bit of “Knowing” goes a long way… more like way off into the incomprehensible. Knowing” is so unrealistic, so silly at times, that it not only strains believability—it shatters it and then stomps the heck out of it into infinitesimal piece.

Duplicity Unfortunately, in trying to be an adult mystery/thriller, "Duplicity" ends up being too smart for its own good. A big part of the too smart result is the repeated use of flashbacks that create more confusion than they clear up while, at the same time, destroying whatever continuity the story has…it’s like one step up and two steps back. Time jumps around so erratically that most viewers will get lost along the way. And, after a while, "Duplicity" becomes annoying, even though it boasts splendid photography, scenic settings, and slick editing. In the end, "Duplicity" is a harmless but unrewarding exercise in silliness…harmless in that it contains no sexually revealing scenes and none of the violence that it so prevalent these days….unrewarding in that it lacks the action and sensibility of other and better such films.


Clark