2009 Film Diary - 2009 Releases

OUTLANDER steals about 5 different ideas from the genre film vault and mixes slowly adding in pinches Vikings, Spacemen and Aliens to build a lip smacking fun guilty pleasure of an action flick. You've seen this film before in Predator, Alien, Mad Max, The 13th Warrior, Conan and on and on.. but it still is able to add the separate parts into a great flick. It CRAVES a Basil Poledouris score rather than the mediocre score that it has. There's some pretty nifty SPFX in this as well. A well rounded kick ass time will be had if you like sci-fi/fantasy.

Thanks for a big ol Cup of HELL YES !!!!
I love revenge done right and Liam Neeson is just a raging BAD ASS!! Of course from the Director of District B13 doesnt hurt either !! This is Mel Gibson calibur revenge machismo male fantasy and it works. I hate daughter stealing Albanian punks.. and so does Liam. BOOM!!! to dome.

RORSCHACH!! RORSCHACH!! RORSCHACH!!

Great 3D, the kids got a few laughs but the movie is HOLLOW. It felt extremely short as well. Even my 6 year old felt a little ripped off by this. This high concept marketing brilliance holds no water and sadly leaves you feeling like you just watched a cheesy cartoon from the 70s. This is such a cool COULDA-BEEN/SHOULDA-BEEN but it is simply a massive waste of time and cash.

I really dug this edgy almost dark comedy. I was already a Jody Hill fan (the director) for his Mucho-BadAss THE FOOT FIST WAY with Danny McBride, and seeing that he was getting to get a major film released was exciting. I love that this and his other work (including creaintg HBO's EASTBOUND AND DOWN) are non about the "lovable loser" but really about the lovable asshole. In O&R its almost more like the "Lovable PSYCHO". As a character sketch of Seth Rogen's character we really get to triumph with him as he does something that, in his mind and small world of influence, is MAJOR for him. I love how Hill uses slow motion and music. His use of montage is some of the best Ive seen in a very long time..well, at least I dig it. Hard-Hitting music wall to wall with a lot of brutal comedy that you soon won't forget. I really hope that Hill gets to continue working his magic in more R-Rated adult comedies that carry that same edge.

Dumb, boring, forgettable, LIMP - but, in the end, not as head slap moronic as XMEN THE LAST STAND, but thats not saying much.

I hated this... and it has everything to do with my Trekkie past. Sorry, you just cant refill those shoes and blaze up a new nifty remake for the UN-Trekkies and make me happy. Terrible music score. Just really left me feeling betrayed and almost like I saw a parody film.

It never reaches the level of Terminator and Terminator 2 by a mile but I still think there is enough of what makes Terminator films good to please me. Fantastic set pieces and a "guest appearance" by a previous Terminator make the film. Yes, there are some things I might do differently but overall I was somewhat pleased with how this turned out.

Meh. I will always love Tony Scott's bend on things, but ultimately this remake is hollow. I like the attempt at crafting interesting characters for Washington and Travolta, but sadly they get lost and the movie fizzles toward the end. I felt no menace from Travolta's "Ryder" as well. He did bad things, but then his dialogue felt corny and forced. James Gandolfini as the Mayor of NYC was a waste. Nice score by Harry Gregson-Williams. In the end unless, like me, you are a Tony Scott fan you may not get much more out of this than C-grade a mindless caper film.

MUCH better, in my opinion, than the HIDEOUSLY MORONIC 1st film.... but still moronic. Briillant, amazing, breathtaking CGI FX is, as usual, marred by humor only an 8 year old boy could appreciate. I have to admit I laughed a couple of times. DOH! I will talk more about this on an eventual Saloon episode, as I do have MUCH to say. I guess my most pressing issue is simply my shock at the critical destruction of this film when the first one was to a certain degree praised by many of the same critics who are killing it. More than anything it shows me how lost film criticism is in this country. Again.. Im not championing this film but its a great example of truly how OFF the majority of "film critics" are.

Absurd, ridiculous, over the top and pure fun!! Get ready to howl out loud at this farce. Bruno is more brutal than Borat in that it really piles drives the "hard-R" humor to a new level.. seriously.. I'm talking full c*ck shots filling the entire screen. The movie exists to offend anyone and everyone.. and thats what makes it gold. My favorite part of the film is more in line with how Bruno was played when he was a recurrent sketch on DA ALI G SHOW, when Bruno interview's people and in the line of questioning makes them look like complete jack-asses, unbeknownst to them. I think Baron Cohen is a master comedian beyond the normal stated sense though in that his films are more of a social experiment/statement on the state of prejudice and other issues. GLAAD has come out against this film which I think is a ridiculous mistake. This film, more than any Ive seen, really displays open prejudice in a way that cannot be denied. Funny yet with a statement and NOT stereotypical... ITS A JOKE FOLKS !!! lighten up. The Camp scene is killer!

A comfortable and small film about an expectant couple looking where to set down roots. Nice performances all around. If you like Krasinsky (from the Office) you'll like him even more after this. On one level the film is about WHERE to live but on a deeper level it's about WHO you are going to be to your children. A definite smaller and quieter film for Sam Mendes, who is obviously more interested in digging deeper into character than in to plot. Some of the folksy music got on my nerves after awhile but not enough to kill the comfortable slice of life quest that these 2 soon-to-be parents are on.

They steal everything from Christian theology, suck anything having to do with God out, recast Angels as nice ( but creepy) Aliens.. and POOF you have your self the Secular Rapture. Even only the "elect", ie chosen ascend from doomed Earth in the end. Pathetic. I also found the movie rather brutal in going full bore to show people suffering and being killed in a series of disasters. For the plot we didnt NEED to see the suffering.. but becauise they wanted us to see people BURN and BRUN and BURN again they felt it necessary to force you to absorb as much human suffering and destruction as possible. What a let down from Alex pryas.. but yet another flamming turd from Nick Cage on his continued path of garbage movies.

MUCh bad-assery here! Great all around and probably close to the top of my 2009 best of list. Suck it Hollywood you just got spanked.

Had a total blast with this. lots of good laughs. A higher quality comedy than most of the moronic crap we see today. Loved that we never saw the actual events of the night until the photos in the closing credits. great tip of the hat to Rain Man as well. MUCH FUN !!!

QT is in rare form here. Very different, almost tame, for him. A great fantasy revenge movie. The way that Christoph Waltz played with the people he was interrogating was fantastic. Pitt was hilarious in full hick mode. "AND I WANT MY SKALPS". and fell in love with Melanie Laurent. The devil is in the details with this film. It's in the slight extended pause as Waltz would drink milk and smile before going in for the kill. Very tight script. My ONLY complaint would be that I didn't buy the LACK of heavy and tight security around Hitler and the Nazi Command. But then again.. this is a fantasy.

A PERFECT movie..... if you are 8 years old. Hot chicks for the teens (and me). A complete vapid experience of CGI and Hollywood toy-rific excitement. This is THE golden example of THE Hollywood film, perfect in all ways for marketing, promotion, sequels, etc etc, on and on. Whats not to like? SAD.

While I appreciate Raimi's return to "sillier" days (ala Evil Dead series) I didn't feel very compelled by this story. I hate when ideas based in Biblical theology (such as Demons and Hell) are abandoned to be fought with Un-Biblical methods (New Age BS stupidity)/ When the chick is told to INVITE the demon IN TO HER SOUL??? What?? Whatever.. my reasons are personal and won't effect others. Overall I was just bored. Allison Lohman is lam.. sorry. Cute but empty.

Ahhhhh.... a return to real movies. Real chracaters, a believable story. I really needed this fresh breath of goodness to fight against most of the garbage that continues to rain down on us via Hollywood. I really fell in love with Kristen Stewart here. Another great role for Martin Starr as well. In the end I just loved this film. It felt like real life, no BS "romantic" crap. Real people have real issues coming together and aims true rather than trying to create some sort of silly cliche garbage. Great use of 80s music. Maybe I dug this becasue I was in High School in the 80s and I remember the vibe. I will be very interested to see what Greg Mottola does next.

"I SLAPA DA BASSA".."City SLACKA".. Again Paul Rudd is my comedic hero in a blast of a comedy. The chemistry between Jason Segel and Rudd is great (once again) and keeps paying off through the whole flick. Great small roles for Jon Favreau and Jamie Pressly. Great fun all the way through.

Loved the story, loved the atmosphere, loved the music, loved the whole sci-fi thing.... but man, it SUCKS to be a clone. This is a damn depressing movie, so get ready to sulk.

Fun yet forgetabble. I almost wouldnt even consider this a Zombie movie as it's mostly certered on the humans. Nice comedy.The Bill Murray stuff was fun. Emma Stone = HOT. Jesse Eisenberg does 2 "Land" movies in one year. Loved all the "rules", but again not much amounted to anything. Loved the SLOW MO. intro., although I would have enjoyed more of an explaination and how the world plunged into the Zombie Apocalypse.

A weird comedy? Drama? Dramady? Thats not really that funny. An obvious vanity project for Apatow who insisits that his Wife become a movie star. Sandler's character is a nasty sort of fellow who apparently doesn't learn from his mistakes and a near death experience. While there are enjoyable moments the overall vibe is just BLAH. Skip this.

Worst Title. What is it about pregnant women? Interesting premise but completely unbelievable in anyway. Our society at large would never go in the direction of this technology. Bad pacing, dumb "murder mystery" that is obvious all the way through and sadly, the most embarresing performance of Ving Rhames career. Get ready for this to be on a lot of WORST lists this year. Corny.

As usual per Will Ferrell movies we again have a TERRIBLE movie that has a few nice laughs to it. This one, however, is reeeeaaallllyyy bad. Headslap moronic jokes populate this thing with only a rare bit of improved humor. Always love seeing Danny McBride in anything, but he is mostly wasted here. They spent of money to make this big dumb terrible movie. Its too bad really. I loved this TV Show growing up and to see Sid and Marty Krofft actually involved is fun. Too bad their efforts are flushed here.

Well now I know. Megan Fox is NOT a star. Yes, she's gorgeous, but appaerently has very little ability as an actress. Once the next hot chick shows up to steal her crown she will disappear in to even lower grade teen horror flicks or a weak ass sitcom. Not that this movie isn't well made, as I have always respected Karyn Kusama's work, but it is just empty and hollow. I like the smart twist of making the guy's like "meat" as a referance to all the other horror films that have ever been. Sadly though just making me give a shit about anyone involved seemed too difficult for them to accomplish. Empty, dumb, not funny and mostly just annoying. Ya gotta love the ridiculous, pointless and long passionate Lesbian makeout session that was obviously only injected to titillate us. Sure it's sexy, but out of nowhere and pointless. You will hate Megan Fox more than you did before after seeing this.

Pixar does it again. While I still really enjoy it I wouldn't put it above many of the other Pixar films.

I was completely mesmerized with this film. Yet again Steven Soderbergh reminds me why he is on of the finest working directors today. This is a character sketch film which has deeper routed meaning about men and what they really might want from an Escort, which is usually not sex. Theres also something being said about our economy and business in general. What we do for money, how we do it. Consider this a multi-layered film that has much more going on that what is simply at the surface. Sasha Grey is beautiful and sadly lost as she drifts from on client to another lying to herself that she doesn't feel anything for them or about her situation. While I thought she played the role to perfection I wonder how she would do with a Director OTHER than Soderbergh. It helps to have one of the best guiding you. One of the best of 2009 for me easily.

Dumb, Dumber and Dumberer... This is WORSE than I thought it was going to be. An absolute chore to get through. Yes, the FX guys who hammered together this should be commended, but its all bailed together with a cheap-ass chicken wire script. I am blown away and the sheer amount of brain death in this thing and Emmerich's complete ability to run face forward in to every cliche you have ever seen with dealing with Disaster/Mega-Event films. He's mostly ripping himself off, which I guess is fine, you are paying to see a Roland Emmerich film. Why was George Segal in this film? A Cruise Ship? etc etc.. worthless time fillers looking for some sort of cheap heart strings to pull? I wished I would have kept count with how many times I rolled my eyes as far back in to my head as possible. UGHHH.

A technical marvel to behold. Brilliant in many ways. Sadly, however, I feel the story and "hit you in the face" message muddies the waters of Pandora. There is so much to say, so much to consider and so much to digest. I may need time and more viewings to truly grasp what Ive seen, but after my 1st viewing I felt I saw a true masterpiece, on a very grand scale within the world of TECH (3d, facial motion capture performance, etc etc) but there are things that bug me. Still processing.. still processing...

What a big steaming pile of MEH. A couple of funny bits but mostly a waste of time. Skip it.