(19) - Movies of 2009

EDIT:: I POSTED THIS LIST A FEW DAYS AGO, HOWEVER I SAW SHERLOCK HOLMES LAST NIGHT SO I AM AMENDING THE LIST...

KNOCKED OUT OF TOP 20 - Invictus
This movie felt rushed to me. The high parts were great, but everything else was just sort of there. Could have been much better. Will probably be bumped out by Sherlock Holmes. EDIT:: Was bumped out by Sherlock Holmes
20 - Zombieland
Totally surprised me. Great laughs, and a surprisingly good story (except for the ending with the girls, which didn't make sense). Good stuff.
19 - Where the Wild Things Are
I was expecting this to be a Top 5 for me this year, and it just didn't deliver for me. It is the best movie I've seen about being a kid.  There was just nothing going on, and as much as I loved it and the soundtrack (best of the year?), I loved other movies more this year.
18 - The Princess and the Frog
Ahh Disney 2D animation, how I love you. Destined to become one of the Disney classics, but probably on the second or third tier of those classics. A new princess was born and more great songs to sing-a-long to.
17 - I Love You, Man
Paul Rudd might just be my favorite actor working today. I love everything he does, and he doesn't get old. He made this movie so uncomfortable it was absolutely hilarious. One of the best love stories of the year, and it was about two guys trying to be best friends, figure that?
16 - Coraline
Creepy good fun. Loved it in 3D, the world really came alive for me. Excellent characters.
15 - Observe and Report
I wanted this to be my favorite comedy of 2009. Coming into the year I was looking forward to this comedy the most, and it almost succeeded. It became my second favorite. Seth Rogen was perfectly cast in this, because everyone has been so used to his normal comedy, he went balls out in this one. Totally flips his personality. Loved it.
14 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
I'm not sure if this is my favorite Potter movie or if The Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite. This surprised me because it was arguably my least favorite book. Everyone knew going in this was going to be a "filler" movie for the last book and it succeeded in being a great filler story. I missed the final battle scene at Hogwarts, that should have been in the book, but I'm sure they're saving that goodness for the very final battle scene of the series.
13 - Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wes Anderson hit this one right on the head. Perfect. Great cast that really made all the characters come alive. Fantastic story thanks to Roald Dahl. Great fun.
12 - Adventureland
I hated people who disliked this movie because it wasn't funny enough. This wasn't a comedy in the strictest sense. It was a coming of age film about finding yourself through a shitty summer job. I absolutely loved this movie. It made me fall in love with Kristin Stewart, and the rest of the cast was great.
EDIT:: TAKEN AND STAR TREK SWAPPED PLACES
11 - Taken
I was surprised this stayed in my Top 10 all year long (EDIT:: JUST GOT KNOCKED OUT). Came out in Jan 2009, I was expecting this to drop out of the Top 20 by June, but it just kept hanging around in my head. I LOVED this movie. It had a tremendous amount of flaws, and it's pretty unbelievable, and the dialogue is shitty, and so on and so forth, but Liam Neeson kicked tremendous ass in this film, and I love it.
10 - Star Trek
Best fun I had at the theater this summer. JJ Abrams knocked this one out of the park. I was never a Star Trek fan, and I was immediately entrenched in the story from the get-go. I'm hoping he does the sequel so we can get more goodness out of this series with this cast.
9 - The Hangover
Surprise comedy of the year. Best comedy of the year. Todd Phillips presents another Old School breakout. Hilarious from start to finish. I didn't laugh harder this year at the movies. Good stuff.
EDIT:: ADDITION
8 - Sherlock Holmes
Just saw this last night and I totally loved it. The dynamic between RDJ and Law was fantastic. Mark Strong was fantastic as Lord Blackwood, and having Moriarty seeded throughout the movie just added to the goodness and the hope for a sequel. They explained everything just right, not leaving you in the dark and connecting all the dots in a fun, exciting way. Good stuff.
7 - District 9
Surprise movie of the year. Was this supposed to be ANY good? These guys were supposed to make the Halo film, and then that got scrapped and made this amazing alien movie. The weapons in this movie were outstanding, and I loved the way they presented the entire situation. Entirely plausible, no? And we got introduced to a new director who can really put together nice action sequences. Nice.
6 - (500) Days of Summer
This was in my Top 4 until a couple weeks ago when two films bumped it out of the Top 5. This was a real love story. Not fairytale. I loved it. Best song/dance sequence on film this year. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was great, and Zooey Deschanel, well, I can't say enough about her. I might love her, in fact I do love her. She was great.

THE TOP 5
5 - Up In the Air
Great performances and a great movie. Almost predictable but not quite. Clooney, Vera Farmiga and newbie (not if you count Twilight and such) Anna Kendrick were all fantastic, as was the great supporting cast. My favorites: Jason Bateman, Danny McBride in a surprisingly dramatic role, and Sam Elliot, who is one of the great character actors. I walked out of the film with a mixture of happiness and sadness. I wasn't sure how I should be feeling towards the movie, all I know is that I loved what I saw.
4 - The Hurt Locker
The most intense 2+ hours I have ever spent in a movie theater. Gripping, edge-of-your-seat excitement all the way through. Katherine Bigelow directed a bomb of a movie (pun?). That was an awful sentence, but I wanted to get the word bomb in there. Going through the movie there were times I was holding my breath because of how intense this movie was. Every scene, not just the bomb diffusion scenes, but the barracks scenes and when he returns home, every scene is gripping. Jeremy Renner was superb in this movie, and I hope he wins some awards for this role, or at least gets nominations. They'll be studying this movie in classes for a long, long time to come.
3 - Up
The trickiest movie in my Top 20. This sat at #1 from May until last week, and then it dropped one spot, and then another. I saw Up in 3D and absolutely loved it. The story was great and the characters were great, everything was great. It was funny, touching, moving, exciting, daring, and so on and so forth. I couldn't decide which was a better Pixar movie: Wall-E or Up? Up should get nominated for a Best Movie at the Academy Awards, if it doesn't I'll scream fix. So which movies knocked it down 2 spots?
2 - Inglorious Basterds
Tarantino's masterpiece? He makes the claim with his final line in the movie. It just might be. Right now it's my third favorite Tarantino movie, but that will quickly change. Pulp Fiction is my first favorite, but that will drop behind Kill Bill at some point, and then will drop behind this with repeat viewings. In a few years time this will probably be my favorite Tarantino movie. Why not now? Because I have to let the movie sit and see how it holds up over time. But this was a killer of a movie.
1 - Avatar
I saw this movie in IMAX 3D two times in 24 hours. I walked out of the theater being in awe of what I had just witnessed, both times. I can't even tell you if that has ever happened to me before, and since I can't tell you, I must assume that it hasn't. Avatar simply blew me a way. The plot was ok and the dialogue was eh, but wow, those visuals, those action scenes, wow. Just wow. Avatar won me over. I originally placed it at #4, but I just kept thinking about it, and thinking about it, and then I moved it to #1 because I knew that it was my favorite movie of 2009.

(18) - Apologies

Hi faithful followers, sorry for the lack of updates. There's been a lot going on the past three weeks and I haven't really had a chance to update. Just wanted to let everyone know I'm still around. Some upcoming posts you can look forward to:

Favorite Movies of 2009 (both comedy & non-comedy)
Favorite Movies of the Aughts (2000's - again, both comedy & non-)
Finding LOST
The Book of Basketball
Teen Wolf - Best Movie Ever?

Be sure to check back!

(17) - Break Out the Popcorn

The baseball season is over, which means I have more time to do other meaningless things. Part I: Refine my top movies list. So here it is, refined, with no comedies included (they have their own list):

• 30. The Hurt Locker (2009)
• 29. Forrest Gump (1994)
• 28. Goodfellas (1990)
• 27. Children of Men (2006)
• 26. No Country for Old Men (2007)
• 25. Inglorious Basterds (2009)
• 24. There Will Be Blood (2007)
• 23. The Third Man (1949)
• 22. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
• 21. Back to the Future (1985)
• 20. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
• 19. The Usual Suspects (1994)
• 18. Up (2009)
• 17. Wall-E (2008)
• 16. Unforgiven (1992)
• 15. The Departed (2006)
• 14. Kill Bill Parts I & II (2003-04)
• 13. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
• 12. Casablanca (1942)
• 11. Pulp Fiction (1994)
• 10. Aliens (1986)
• 9. The Lord of the Rings (2001-03)
• 8. The Dark Knight (2008)
• 7. Stand By Me (1986)
• 6. Rear Window (1954)
• 5. The Rock (1996)
• 4. The Godfather/The Godfather Part II (1972/1974)
• 3. Gladiator (2000)
• 2. Braveheart (1995)
• 1. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Some Notes:

• Shawshank has sat atop my list for about 10 years now
• Inglorious Basterds has serious potential to rise up in the ranks, I've only seen it once so upon future viewings it could overtake KB & PF as my favorite QT movie
• Kill Bill will probably overtake Pulp Fiction, just not right now, sometime in the near future
• Pulp Fiction dropped from #3 to #11 - I just like the movies currently ahead of it more
• Wall-E and Up are too good to separate, but right now I have Wall-E ahead of Up but that could change
• I was surprised to find The Dark Knight crack the top 10, but then I realized it had to, I don't expect a new movie to crack the top 10 for a long time to come
• I consider The Godfather and The Godfather Part II as one movie even though they are not, my list my rules
• Movies just missing the cut:
• Jurassic Park
• Raging Bull
• Donnie Darko
• Reservoir Dogs
• Slumdog Millionaire

Comments??

(16) - Theeeeeeeeeee Yankees Win!

So the Yankees took the 2009 World Series in 6 games, making this their 27th World Series Championship. They opened the new Millennium with a championship and closed out the first decade with a championship. They were runner's up in both 2001 and 2003 losing to the Diamondbacks and Marlins, respectively. They went to another ALCS in 2004. They are the team of the decade, hands down. Let's take a look back at my 5 game changers for the World Series and see how they held up:

1. A-Rod - Games 1 & 2: 0-8 (.000), 6 K's. Ruh-oh! Games 3-6: 5-11 (.456), 6 RBIs, 1 HR, 5 runs, 4 BBs, 2 K's, 1 game winning 2B in the 9th inning of game 4. Series Average & Total K's: 5-19 (.263), 8 K's. Throwing out games 1 & 2, the shock factor of the World Series, and after he got plunked by Cole Hammels in his first AB of game 3, A-Rod tore up the rest of the series, unlike his counterpart Ryan Howard, who set a new WS Record with 13 K's.

2. Starting Pitching - Cliff Lee was outstanding, and had he pitched every game, the Phillies may have won the series. Unfortunately for them he only pitched 2, but those 2 were wins, including his game 1 complete game, 10 K, not allowing an earned run performance, which has to be one of the greatest pitching performances I've ever seen in my life. CC was very, very good (not as good as Cliff Lee), but didn't let the Phillies not named Chase Utley do much against him - he didn't earn a W in the series. Burnett showed just how good he can be in game 2 out dueling Pedro with 7 innings of 1 run, 3 hit, 9 K ball, and then just how bad he can be in game 5, giving up 6 runs in 2+ innings. Hammels, given a 3-0 lead, imploded after 3 masterful innings, and within 8 batters was losing 5-3 and then the game 8-4, he also gave up a hit and RBI to Andy Pettite...Andy Pettite. Joe Blanton pitched a great game 4, just not great enough to earn the Phillies a win. The game changer was Pettite, earning a win in game 3, and then on three days rest a win in game 6 going 5 1/3 innings. He battled, didn't have his best stuff, but didn't let the Phillies beat him and stuck in the game.

3. Base Running - Four words: Game Four, Johnny Damon. In what has to be one of the greatest heads-up plays in World Series history, Johnny Damon stole two bases...on one pitch. I repeat: 2 bases, 1 pitch. This was the turning point of the series. Game is tied 4-4 and Brad Lidge comes in to pitch the 9th inning and gets two quick outs, including a nice strikeout on Derek Jeter for out #2. Johnny Damon comes to the plate and falls behind 1-2, proceeds to work the count full, fouls off a few pitches, and then gets a fastball up over the plate and pokes it to left center field. A nine pitch at bat that showed the peskiness of the Yankees. Damon didn't miss a beat, and on Lidge's first pitch, a slider, took off for second base. Now is where it becomes interesting: the Phillies were in a defensive shift because Teixeira was up at the plate, batting lefty against Lidge. Tex has been pulling almost everything when he bats lefty, so the shift made sense for that reason. However, a shift, like its name, shifts everyone out of position. Rollins was now playing where Utley would normally play, and Feliz, the third baseman was playing where Rollins would play. So on Damon's stolen base, Feliz covered the throw from Ruiz (who shouldn't have thrown it in the first place). Damon beat the throw, immediately noticed no one was covering third, and raced to third, recording his second stolen base in a matter of 10 seconds. This apparently unhinged Lidge. His slider, one of the best in the game, gets in the dirt a lot. With Damon on third base now, if his slider gets in the dirt and gets away from Ruiz, that would give the Yanks a 5-4 lead in the 9th. Well, Lidge decided to stay away from his slider. Second pitch to Tex, a fastball that hits him. A-Rod is up now, first pitch is a fastball inside for a ball, the second pitch is a fastball a little more over the plate and A-Rod crushes it for a double to left field, scoring Damon. Posada is up next, and hits a single in the gap, scoring Tex and A-Rod and giving the Yanks a 7-4 lead. Yanks bring in Mo, game over, 3-1 series lead. Effectively, series over.

4. Bullpen - Outside of Chan Ho Park, each Phillies reliever gave up at least one run. Hughes was ineffective in this series for the Yanks, again. Joba pitched great in game 2, was great in game 4...until he gave up the game tying home run late in the game. But he came back and pitched great in game 6. Mo, again pitched brilliantly. Rollins after game 2 said they "saw some things," and Charlie Manuel said that they "can get to Mo." Well, 4 1/3 innings later, they hadn't scored Mo. They made him pitch about 90 pitches, but even with bad ribs, Mo continued his postseason dominance and did not let up a run. The real hero out of the bullpen for the Yanks: Damaso Marte. Unhittable. His best performance game in game 6. He came in for two batters, both lefties, the Phillies 3 and 4 hitters. Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. Chase Utley had came to the plate with 2 men on base and 2 outs. Marte - three pitches, three strikes, one strikeout, getting Utley to commit on a check swing. Howard up next inning, three pitches, three strikes, one strikeout, getting Howard to commit a record 13th strikeout. 6 pitches, 2 strikeouts, perfect.

5. Experience - Although the experience favored the Phillies, it was the experience of the "core four" for the Yankees that won them the series. Jeter batted .440, they couldn't get to Mo, Pettite showed his grit with 2 huges wins and a game tying single in game 3, and Posada, although had a less than great series, put game 4 out of reach with his 2 run single in the 9th. Johnny Damon hit .364 in the series including the series changing moment, Pedro pitched very well for 6 innings and 3 innings in games 2 and 6, respectively, but not for a 7th inning or 4th inning. Do I even have to mention Matsui? Batted 8-13 (.615) with 3 HRs, and won the MVP as a DH. Pretty incredible. Chase Utley and Carlos Ruiz were the only two Phillies who realized they played in the World Series last year (and Joe Blanton). Howard did nothing, Werth had one great offensive game, Lidge in his only appearance imploded, Hammels was awful in a stretch of 1 1/3 innings that lost his game. The guys with no experience: Cliff Lee was amazing, CC was great, Burnett was two sides of the same coin, Tex had two big hits, Marte was (almost) perfect (1 hit), Swisher was pretty bad, except for game 3 when he broke out of his slump, only to go back into it for games 4-6.

I must say, I picked the 5 defining game changers of the World Series, not to float my own boat or anything. I was at Game 6, I saw the Yankees close out a World Series, one of the greatest events of my life. I won't soon forget it. Go Yanks.

(15) - A World of Series

And then there were 2. Phillies vs Yankees. A matchup of mammoth proportions. Let me be frank: I really hate the Phillies. After the Red Sox, they're my next most hated team. However, they are good. And they matchup with the Yankees very well. This series will be exciting. My five items to look for:

1. A-Rod - First things first, I literally just tried to spell his last name and failed miserably, so I'm sticking with A-Rod. This postseason he has been otherworldly, clearly putting his past failures behind him. Will the pressure of his first World Series get to him?

2. Starting Pitching - Game 1 features 2 lefties who have gone a combined 5-0 with 40 K's, 6 BBs, and an ERA around the 1.00 mark. Unreal. After Lee and Sabathia though, you have Burnett who arguably has the best stuff in the game but is often wild, Hammels who has looked nothing like last year, Pettite who has been pitching great all year, and Pedro Martinez, who could be the ace in the hole. If we have a turn back the clock moment from Pedro, this series could be heavily tipped in the Phillies favor.

3. Base Running - So far this postseason, base running blunders have killed teams, especially opponents of the Yankees. If the teams are smart on the base path, they could manage some extra runs that could give them the win. The Phillies were ranked first in the MLB in stolen base percentage (81% - including Chase Utley who was 23-23, outstanding), and the Yankees were tied for 2nd (80%). Curious to see who makes the blunders in the World Series.

4. Bullpen - The Yankees came into the postseason with one of the best bullpens of the 8 teams, while the Phillies bullpen had failed them multiple times this season (hello Brad Lidge). But coming into the World Series it's been somewhat reversed. Joba and Hughes for the Yanks have been very hittable, with Hughes the best setup man in the MLB since becoming one in June. Lidge has reclaimed the slider he had lost throughout the season, and has given up 1 hit in three games. And Mo, well he's been Mo. Still a slight edge to the Yanks, but not a massive edge.

5. Experience - Again the experience lies with the Yan....oh, no it doesn't. Wow, for the first time in what seems like forever, the experience is going AGAINST the Yankees. They have 8 players who have played in the World Series (four of those eight winning a championship), whereas the Phillies have 18 players who have played in the World Series. They've been here before, they've won before, they know what to do. With first timers such as CC, Burnett, A-Rod and Tex, I'm curious to see if the level of play gets to them.

My pick: Yankees in 7. Split at home, lose 2 in philly, and then win games 6 and 7 at home. So far my picks have been far from correct. So we'll see.

Now or Never

(14) - The Second Third Man

I read an interesting tidbit this morning.  For those of you who don't know I'm a big movie fan.  Since Freshman year in high school I've had an interest in not only watching movies (something I've always had an interest in), but in making them and what goes on behind the scenes.  I've taken numerous film courses through high school and college and keep up on my current movie news every day.  Well the tidbit I read has to do with my 23rd favorite movie of all-time (this list fluctuates from time to time, but the top 10 is pretty unbreakable).  I read this tidbit on Joblo.com - http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=29230.

The Third Man by Carol Reed was made in 1949 and it starred Orson Welles. It should NOT be remade.  I repeat: NOT be remade!  This movie is a classic, and although Hollywood is in love with remaking classics, this is one of those that shouldn't be touched.  Much like Casablanca, Citizen Kane or The Godfather, this movie is too good to even attempt anything as dumb as this.

For those of you who haven't seen this classic, here is the plot summary courtesy of IMDB.com: An out of work pulp fiction novelist, Holly Martins, arrives in a post war Vienna divided into sectors by the victorious allies, and where a shortage of supplies has lead to a flourishing black market. He arrives at the invitation of an ex-school friend, Harry Lime, who has offered him a job, only to discover that Lime has recently died in a peculiar traffic accident. From talking to Lime's friends and associates Martins soon notices that some of the stories are inconsistent, and determines to discover what really happened to Harry Lime.

See the trailer at IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2214265113/.

The two leads apparently attached are Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio (I presume DiCaprio would play Welles's character Harry Lime).  And while I like both of these actors, the latter especially has become a great fun to watch on screen, this movie is too good.  They don't have a director yet.  The screenplay is to be written by Steven Knight who wrote Eastern Promises. I'd be curious to see who the director is, but at the same time not because this movie should just go through time without even being discussed as a remake.

But what do I know, I'm not a doctor.

(13) - Live Boss

My buddy from college got tickets to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on Tuesday. Wow can they put on a show. Bruce just goes out there and does it. He knows how to perform. The concert was slated to begin at 7:30, the band finally came out at 8:30. No opening act so we were just waiting. Usually when this happens the band then plays for about an hour and a half then leaves. But not the E Street Band. They played for three hours....STRAIGHT! No breaks at all. It was incredible. The concert featured the "Born to Run" album, as they played that in succession in the middle of their set, but they had songs from all over the place. They began the concert with Seaside Bar Song, which I later found out they haven't played live since 1973! They ended the concert with Rosalita, my favorite song by them. All in all, everything was outstanding. If you can, manage to see Bruce in concert at some point. It truly is a thrilling experience. Below I've attached a video of Jungleland live performed at MSG in 2001. Check it out.



BOSS