List of 2009 movies - quality and money

Well it's that time of year again. The time when everybody creates a top 10 or best of list for 2009. And of course I will throw in my thoughts to the mix.

In terms of movies there isn't a lot to say. Most of the drivel from Hollywood is what we have been getting for quite some time now. Half thought out revisioned remakes of ideas done far better in the past. That goes for the revisioned comic books, movies, television shows and books that all hit the silver screen this year. But, against all odds there were a few movies that were actaully worth the money.

1. Watchmen - How could you not see this film? It was the rare exception of Hollywood taking a great story (from a comic graphic novel) and not revisioning it. The result was a beautiful and shocking twist on the concept of what is a superhero.

2. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - the kids are almost all grown up. The film continues the saga of Potter and friends, and it's still an interesting fresh movie several films into the series. The acting continues to improve and the story is modeled well after the books.

3. Angels and Demons - How can you go wrong with Tom Hanks and Ron Howard in a movie based on a Dan Brown book? It wasn't the DaVinci Code, but it sure beat the flood of films this year.

4. Sherlock Holmes - Yes I know it's not out yet. But I'm willing to bet on the acting ability of Robert Downey Jr. In addition his choices of films has been among the best in the industry. movie trailers can lie (and often do) but I'm willing to go with the talent and say this will make the cut.

And those are my top movies of 2009. But if you were wondering, here are the movies that made the most money (which has nothing to do with the quality of the film):

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - a movie only matched in its stupidity by the amount of CGI onscereen at any time. This is proof that hype can overwhelm quality if you throw enough money at a marketing campaign. $402 million

Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince - Number 2 on my list, it brought in $301 million. Proof that quality can make money too.

Up - Parents love to take kids to animated films. This one happened to be worth the time as well. $293 million

The Hangover - the surprise hit of the year. I never saw it, it seemed to sophmopric to me. But it brought in $277 million so there must be something to it. Likely to produce a sequel of some sort next year.

Star Trek - This revisioned make-over of the classic original television series was lauded long before it hit a single screen. But after seeing the film I found it more stilted than Shatner doing poetry. If this is the future of sci-fi I feel really bad for the next generation. $257 million. Revisionist sequel guaranteed.

A couple of other notable film revenues for the year:

Twillight: New Moon - just a question, has anyone over the age of 25 seen this film? No one I know over 25 has. $256 million and another film sure to come.

X-men Origins: Wolverine - Destroyed a great idea and character for big money. The only thing good about this film is the payday it made for Hollywood. But a sequel will happen to continue the pain. $179 million

Fast and Furious - Even Vin Diesel can't save a bad idea. Though it did make enough to guarantee Deisel will continue to star in a few more films. $155 million

GI Joe Rise of Cobra - Hype wins again. An insulting film that makes you want to see Wolverine again. Only exceeded in stupidity and boredom levels by Transformers. Sequel will happen even though anyone above 6 will cringe. $150 million

Angels & Demons - It made a respectable $133 million. Not bad for a sequel, though more was expected.

Terminator Salvation - Not the best continuation of the series. Christian Bale made a good John Connor, but the rest of the film was lazy and as bleak as the future it redises in. But the story ain't over yet. $125 million

Watchmen - Number 1 on my list only made $107 million. Perhaps it was just too much for audiences to take in. Especially compared to the low-brow low-quality films that topped the money list.

Tyler Perry's Madea Goes To Jail - Love or hate Perry 2 things are true. He is the biggest boost to getting Black actors in movies since Sidney Poitier and he makes money. What will Madea do next? $90 million

Michael Jackson's This Is It - The last tribute to the King of Pop. $72 million and it really isn't even a film.

Land of the Lost - People went to see this? $49 million

Notorious - The worst thing about this film is it probably made enough money to spawn equally bad expoitive cash grabs. $36 million and I have to wonder how doing anything (including sleeping) wasn't better than the film.

Pink Panther 2, Old Dogs, Halloween 2 (revisioned remake), SAW VI, Fame (revisioned remake) - I'm just amazed that none of these films, though all bad, did better than Notorious. I really hope that doesn't mean a trend of dead rapper movies.

Well that's my list, what do you think? Did I miss anything?

The summer movies of 2009

Written by Michael Vass

The season is upon us, and Hollywood is ready. Well they hope they are at least. Because this year the summer season of blockbusters and mega-hits has consolidated into a morass of retreads, prequels, and revisioned ideas. And the timing is perfect, since this is also a summer of layoff and economic peril.

Hollywood is not known for the chances it takes, at least not in the last decade or so. Rather than risking truly entertaining the masses (or creating unimaginative embarrassments) we will be getting more of the same. But that is not always a bad thing.

So I will list, in order of my preference from best to worst, the movies that will hit a theater near you.

Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince



The series has been solidly entertaining. It’s stayed mostly true to the books, and has kept an edge that both adults and kids can enjoy. The actors have grown in their abilities and the storyline. This may be one of the best of the series.

Angels & Demons



Dan Brown can write. There is no question about that. Ron Howard can direct slugs and make them a spectacular adventure. And Tom Hanks has become the leading actor of our generation. The combination was a phenomenal hit in their first collaboration. There is nothing less that I would expect in this second showing.

The Taking of Pelham 123

I already discussed my thoughts on this remake starring John Travolta and Denzel Washington. This should be a tour de force. Definitely a must see, from what I can tell.

The next few films start the trend of either big hits or complete failure. The stories that these films are based on are well loved and rich in history. Because of fan devotion they will either get it right and we all will love them, or they will be so bad that DVD sales won’t even help them break even.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine



As I have said before, a revisioned story, lots of action and glitz. Will it work? Iffy. The trailer has its good and bad points. As does the plot it seems. Will it be what fans have waited for? Time will tell.

Star Trek



Even more action and glitz, the word to describe this film is revisioned. Normally that spells doom for movie-goers. And if the Spock in this movie is any indication there will be an uproar of despair. But then again, it could be like Transformers and keep everyone’s eyes so busy their brain won’t notice if it is bad or good.

Terminator: Salvation



Can this work without the Governator? Will Christian Bale improve on the John Connor role? Will this revisioning live up to the story we all have come to love? There is just no way to know right now.

As for the rest of the films of the summer, well the list gets really dicey from here on.

Public Enemies

I already previewed this film. Johnny Depp is careful in picking his roles, so this should be good. The question is will anyone care about a gangster from America’s past?

Inglorious Basterds

Another film I previewed. Quentin Tarrantino means this will be a curse driven film. Brad Pitt means that it will draw women. WWII should mean that guys will want to see it. But the combination still leaves me with doubts. This may not work, at least not in any way that a fan of any of the above will enjoy.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

They aren’t American heroes anymore. They aren’t cartoons. And there is little hype behind the film. Either it’s been so revisioned that no one wants to talk about this film, or they did a great job of keeping expectations down. Likely this will be a failure. There really isn’t much left of what fans loved about this to see on the big screen. But the volume of explosions and slow motion Ninja fights should be distracting enough for even the least MTV loving among us.

Transformers 2

I didn’t like Shia Lebouf in the first film. I hated the first film in fact. It was stupid, filled with plot holes, and revisioned to death. This second film intends to take all those things and amp them up to the nth degree. Last time I waited to see this on DVD, this time I’ll wait for it to be on free cable.

But as always, there is a wildcard in the summer movie season. This year it may well be

District 9



Based on the above video you can tell a couple of things. Like this is clearly about Apartheid. It’s a way of telling a story about human suffering in a format that is unusal at best. It’s kind of like the movie (and television show) Alien Nation, but without the American sensibilities and imagined democracy. This may be a sleeper film. It’s not action packed, or filled with explosions. But it has a message, and it is hands-down the most original film of the summer season. Plus the director is Peter Jackson. Which means it will be visually captivating if nothing else.