What was your worst movie of 2009?

And that's not even touching Voyager.

Yep. After Star Trek IV, V, Generations, and Voyager, I find it hard to believe that anyone could feel insulted by the last movie. It's a classic case of selective memory. Just like people who were surprised the dialogue sucked in the Star Wars prequels.

Ah, yes, the old let's take the worst possible examples from the old shows and use them to justify the new movie trick.

I'll say this: The new actors and production values were altogether excellent. Now, if they can just find an actual story that is a bit more than a connect the dots, generic, mindless action movie, they may have something.

Mark my words: In 10 years, 2009's Star Trek will not be looked upon so favorably by many of the people singing its praises today.

I'm curious you think 'City at the Edge of Forever' as a worst-possible example...

Well, the answer is that I don't, but at the same time I realize that the Guardian Of Forever could be classified as a "silly" plot device along the lines of the red matter in the 2009 movie. However, the rest of the story more than made up for it. Not so much in the new movie, in my opinion.

Exactly right, although he's also included some examples why he dislikes Roddenberry too, as if that justifies the argument he's trying to put forward. Which is why I said I'd been there and done that.


anyhow...


Ecky look, Roddenberry had a studio to please and he had to walk a tightrope between wanting to do the things he wanted and to do what the studio wanted. You are just looking at the superficial and trying to make out that the old shows were just that but they were not, if you can't see that then that's your right.

And there we go, you didn't like the movie. Which is fine.

What gets right on my tits is when is when some romanticized version of Trek is rolled out as justification for not liking it.

dkehler pointed out he felt the plot was silly, I pointed out other examples of trek that had silly premises. Including a classic I might add.

And having never met Roddenberry I have no actual dislike of the man, but many of his actions were that of an utter shit - and lets face it, he commercialized Trek, which appears to be an issue you have with the franchise as it stands.

I just don't get how you can deride Paramount, but not Roddenberry, for doing the same damn thing.

Oddly enough, having been handed the budget of a mid-sized African nation, JJ Abrams faced much the same issue as Roddenberry.

And handled it in the same manner.

And as someone who practically detonated over the design of the 'akiraprise', I'm not quite sure you ought to be lecturing on the superficial

Fuck Star Trek 90210.

Worst movie of 2009? Inglorious Basterds, easily.


Movies I saw in theater this past year:

Watchmen

Star Trek

Basterds

Avatar

Original Trek and the immediate two sure did, but Voyager?

Granted, it had some moments, but a lot of its passable to decent episodes were far often than not cribbed from another series, and the [-]caricaturization[/-] character development left a lot to be desired.



At any rate, if a Trek movie is going to be light on plot (which as much as I enjoyed Trek XI, it was lacking), I'd rather it be a fun ride instead of the droll mind-numbing bullshit we got along the lines of Insurrection and Nemesis. I swear, I've watched the latter twice and the only scenes that stand out is Picard on the Sand Buggy ( ) and Data biting the dust.

nuTrek was lacking a certain depth that I'm used to from Star Trek, no doubt about it... and maybe that was neccessary for the reboot. I'm eager to ssee what Abrams does with Trek XII before I decalare the new franchise void of depth... and even then, that won't mean that I don't like the franchise...

I finally got around to seeing the new Star Trek movie, and I have to say I was impressed. There were only two scenes that made me cringe a bit. The first was he allergy thing when young Kirk was smuggled aboard the Enterprise, and the second was was the silly water tube scene with Kirk and Scotty. Other than those, I thought the movie excellent. On par with Wrath, and better than any of the others, much better than most.

I maintain that that those that didn't like the movie were predisposed to do so, and absolutely nothing would have satisfied them (looking at you Stewie ).

Yeah, there was too much slapstick, but then camp has been part of Trek for a while.

What did bother me though was the casting of Scotty - he was nothing like the original character, which is a shame.

Other than that, quite a fun flick and I thought the new big three nailed their performances.

Meaning Kirk, Spock and Uhura, right?

That is where this movie completely failed.

Urban was awesome as McCoy. I certainly hope he gets a bigger role in Trek XII.

I liked Star Trek. I think it had some imperfections that couldn't be fixed due to the writers strike, but overall I thought it was great. Yeah, I cringed at the allergic reaction and the water park bit, but otherwise, I liked it.

He nailed the character.

I just saw this movie... Something one of the characters said in this movie expresses my opinion on this movie very well: RED ARE MY WORDS

" I was... (watching this movie) ... because I thought this was going to be funny, but this is actually kind of sad."

Karl Urban is an honorary southerner.

Movies I saw this year on film:

Die, Monster, Die! - A Lovecraftian horror film. **/****
Jumper - , just *1/2
Timeline - ***
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure - Be excellent to each other. And party on, dudes! ***
Boy and His Dog, A - This film didn't have good taste. **1/2
Fire Maidens from Outer Space - For some reason I don't remember this one. Judging by the summary, **
Iron Man - ***
Mouse on the Moon, The - Sequel to The Mouse that Roared. Now THIS is how to do comedy. ****
Paprika - Er... What? *** anyway.
Scanner Darkly, A - Whoa. ***
Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams - Why? I don't know. At least it had Antonio Banderas * 1/2
Star Trek: Nemesis - Full power to phasers. Target this film! Fire! - * 1/2
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan - MUCH Better. ****
Universal Soldier - Strangely, I'd never seen this. As full of tropes as it is, it's fairly well-done. ** 1/2
World, The Flesh and the Devil, The - The last 3 people on earth. Well done for 1959, if a little cliche by today's standards. ***1/2
Burn After Reading - Hilarious and strange. ***
Enchanted - A well-done twist on a classic formula. Strangely, the animated parts are in 1.85:1 at the beginning, and 2:35 later. ***
Princess Mononoke - Unfortunately, this was the dubbed version. Billy Bob Thornton sucks at voice acting. ****, ***1/2 for the dubbed version.
Juno - It was good, but I can see why people don't like it. ***
Catch Me If You Can - Leonardo diCaprio vs. Tom Hanks. EPIC. ***1/2
Dark Knight, The - Need I say anything? ****
Flash of Genius - Never Give Up, Never Surrender! ***1/2
Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, A - Comedy tonight! ****
I Love You, Man - Oh geez... could have been a lot worse though. **1/2
Quantum of Solace - Didn't like it as much as Casino Royale - ***
Iron Giant, The - Decent movie, even if the ending is a little saccharine. **1/2
Pursuit of Happyness, The - aka Will Smith's Lifetime Original Movie. ***, barely
Beauty and the Beast - From back when Disney was still good. ***1/2
Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The - Never read the book. Movie was lacking... a certain je ne sais quoi. **1/2
Zack and Miri Make a Porno - One of the better modern sex comedies. ***, almost +1/2
Godfather, The - They made me an offer I couldn't refuse to rate this ****
Wanted Yawn. **
Slumdog Millionaire - a nice feel-good story, with great cinematography. ****
Silence of the Lambs, The - a not-nice, feel-bad story, with great cinematography. ****
Casablanca - We'll always have Paris. ****
Star Trek - Yes, the new one. ***1/2
Robin Hood: Men in Tights - Mel Brooks' classic. ***1/2
Taken - Good suspense/thriller/action flick. ***1/2
10 Things I Hate About You - I'd never seen this before. Were teenagers really like this in the 90's? ***, enthusiastically.
Angels & Demons - Ah, the eternal question: which Robert Langdon film was better. I'd say this one. ***, almost +1/2
Pulp Fiction - You wouldn't think the big screen helps with this one, but it does. ***1/2, almost ****.
Informant!, The - Matt Damon. ***, loses 1/2 for ridiculous stache.
Speed Racer - Go Speed Racer! Go Speed Racer. Go Speed Racer GO! ***1/2
Captain Blood - Now THAT'S a pirate movie. ****
Bourne Ultimatum, The - I just don't get into these all that much. Not a stinker though. ***, maybe **1/2
Snatch - Very odd and very funny. ***, maybe +1/2.
Invention of Lying, The - I get the hate for this movie, but I don't share it. ***
Bedtime Stories - Adam Sandler does a kids movie, sort of. Cringe-worthy in parts, but ok overall. **1/2.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day - He's back. ****
Milk - didn't really like the jumpiness back and forth. Tape recordings should bookend, not appear multiple times. ***
Forrest Gump - 'Nuff said. ****
Coraline - best stop-motion film to come along in a long time. ****
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Snoozer. I did like that the best way to cover Shia le Boef's broken hand was to say that he actually broke his hand. *
Rocky Horror Picture Show, The - Let's do the time warp again! *1/2
V for Vendetta - The only verdict is awesome. One of my favorite movies. ****
Up - A good successor to WALL•E. ****
Night at the Museum - Not nearly as bad as Ben Stiller usually is when he's the straight man. **1/2
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Could have been better. **
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead - I'd seen the play before. It works better onstage, IMHO. ***
Gangs of New York - Bloody and violent. **1/2
Mary Poppins - I hadn't realized before just how much they marginalized Julie Andrews in favor of Dick van Dyke. Wow. *** anyway.
Watchmen - I this movie. ****
The Maltese Falcon - Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, and the black boid. ***1/2
Birds Anonymous (Tweety/Sylvester) - Yes, all of these are on film. ***
Brotherly Love (Popeye) - A classic but Popeye just grates on me. **1/2
Draftee Daffy (Daffy Duck) - Instills a healthy fear of the draft guy. ***
Electronic Mouse Trap, The (Mighty Mouse) - What was the point of this? *1/2
Fix-It Magoo (Mr. Magoo) - A 1962 Magoo not found on IMDB. I hated Magoo as a kid, but now it's a bit better. **1/2
Goonland (Popeye) - See above. ***
Horton Hatches the Egg (By Dr.Seuss) - An elephant's faithful one hundred percent. ****
Hot and Cold Penguin (Chilly Willy) - Hadn't seen this one before. ***1/2
How to Ride a Horse (Goofy) - Meh. Not terrible, I guess. **1/2
Lend a Paw (Mickey Mouse/Pluto) - A good one. ***1/2
Million Dollar Cat, The (Tom And Jerry) - Classic Tom and Jerry. ****
Night Before Christmas, The (Tom And Jerry) - The first Tom and Jerry. ***1/2
Pink in the Clink (Pink Panther) - This one's not on that 5-disc collection on Woot a while back. ***, almost +1/2.
Plane Daffy (Daffy Duck) - Looks like Daffy Duck got over his fear of the draft after all. *** barely.
Playful Pelican, The (Andy Panda) - The last Andy Panda cartoon. **1/2.
Rabbit Seasoning (Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck/Elmer Fudd) - Duck Season. Rabbit season! Rabbit season. Duck season SHOOT! *bang*. ****
Scarlet Pumpernickel (Daffy Duck/Porky Pig) - Another one with Daffy. Not as good though. ***
Señor Droopy (Droopy) - Droopy fights a bull. ***
Ski For Two (Woody Woodpecker) - Woody is a menace. And with the music matching his voice, it's hard to tell whether it's the film or the sound equipment that sounds so horrible. **
Steamboat Willie (Mickey Mouse) - Thank God there were no projector problems on this one. I would NOT have wanted to burn a hole through one of the last prints of Steamboat Willie on 16mm. **** for historical value.
Technology, Phooey (Ant And The Aardvark) - [spolier]It's a toaster.[/spoiler] **1/2.
There They Go-Go-Go! (Road Runner) - The one that ends with Wily Coyote poking at a bunch of rocks from below with a stick. "What in heaven's name am I DOING?!" ****
Up a Tree (Donald Duck/Chip'n'Dale) - I never knew about this crossover. ***
What's Opera, Doc? (Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd) - Kill da wabbit! ****
Wild and Woolfy (Droopy) - Meh. **1/2.
District 9 - I didn't have no fookin' relations with no fookin' prawns! ***1/2
(500) Days of Summer - Fairly well done. Less predictable than I would have expected. ***
9 - I don't get the hate for this one. ***, almost +1/2
The Hangover - Pretty ridiculous. ***1/2
Inglorious Basterds - Pretty ridiculous. ***1/2, barely.
Avatar - Shiny. ***1/2
Zombieland - So it's not actually zombies. Who cares? ****
Funny People - The other Adam Sandler movie. Overrated. **
Sherlock Holmes - Good everything but directing which was terrible. **1/2
The Fantastic Mr. Fox. - Wes Anderson's best film, IMHO. ***

I think that's everything I saw on film this year, plus or minus a half dozen or so. Also I found a single reel of Tomorrow Never Dies, reel 5 (the one with all the action, pretty much), and watched that several times. Yes, I watch a lot of movies. No, I didn't pay to see most of them (I think I paid to see 14 of them). The worst of that list is definitely Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen.

Watch it again. Follow the butterflies (a symbol of freedom) and look at every painting they show. There's a LOT of tiny details in this move that greatly enhance it, but you have to watch it more than once to catch them all.

I've watched it twice, but I'll see it again, now that I know to follow the butterflies. Have you seen Perfect Blue? If so, what did you think of it?

I see a ton of movies, at least one every Sunday night with friends I've known forever and we generally skip the ones the look retarded from the onset, but I few stinkers sneak in every so often.

I love Woody Allen and count Annie Hall, Banana's, and Manhattan amongest my all time favorites. Even recent flicks like Vicky Christina, Match Point and even Scoop were enjoyable, but Whatever Works was one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time. Larry David is amazing in Curb, but the whole movie was a disaster and he can't really play anything but a bigger version of himself.

The Box shows the Donnie Darko was a fluke (even more so since Richard Kelly ruined his one good movie with his horrible expanded director's cut)

Pandorum was so forgettable I can't even remember why it was so bad.

Taking Woodstock had potential, Ang Lee is awesome and the story about the background of the event is interesting, but it was pretty boring. Allthough Liev Schribber has a Tranny was great, showing that like in Wolverine he can rise above the material. In a better world Sum of All Fears would have been a big hit and his CIA character would have been spun off into a series of movies!

I Love You Beth Copper was one of the funniest books I've ever read (seriously go buy it!) but the movie just drained the life out of the book and things that were hilliraous to read about don't work as much on screen.

Wolverine was blah. Not good, not horrible, just there.

And the Reader should get an F cause it was dreadful, but it had some fine acting.

A shout out to Paladian and Order2Chaos for being fellow movie addicts!



In the Loop
A+ Summer Hours
A+ Rachel Getting Married
A Coralline
A Up
A Hurt Locker
A An Education
A Fantastic Mr. Fox
A Inglourious Basterds
A- The Informat
A- A Serious Man
A- Moon
A- Star Trek
A- Funny People
A- Up in the Air
A- Away We Go
A- Adventureland
A- Toy Story Double Feature
A- Where the Wild Things Are
A- Bad Lietenant
A- The Hangover
B+ The Wrestler
B+ Drag me to Hell
B+ Me and Orson Wells
B+ Taken
B+ Food Inc.
B+ Gran Torino
B+ Adam
B+ Zombie Land
B+ Parnormal Activity
B+ This is It
B+ The Road
B+ Invictus
B+ Brothers
B+ Frost/Nixon
B Watchmen
B State of Play
B Two Lovers
B Hunger
B Public Enemies
B 500 Days of Summer
B Time Travellers Wife
B Julie and Julia
B District 9
B Extract
B World's Greatest Dad
B Blind Spot
B Precious
B Collapse
B Sherlock Holmes
B The Imaginarum of Dr. Parnasus
B Revolutionary Road
B- I Love You Man
B- Sunshine Cleaning
B- The Soloist
B- The Great Buck Howard
B- Brothers Bloom
B- Jennifer's Body
B- The Men Who Stare at Goats
B- Good Hair
B- Duplicity
C+ The Taking of Pellam 123
C+ GI Joe
C+ The Invention of Lying
C+ 2012
C+ The Stone of Destiny
C Observe and Report
C Bruno
C The Goods
C The Reader
C- Wolverine
C- I Love You Beth Cooper
C- Taking Woodstock
C-
Pandorum
D
The Box
D
Whatever Works
F

Ditto. I should have known better than to think Clooney could make a movie that wasn't about making the USA look bad, but he couldn't do it. That guy needs to wise up.

Alright, my list of best and worst movies of 2009, in order.

Best Live Action:

The Dark Knight
Public Enemies
Inglorious Basterds
Star Trek
Sherlock Holmes
The Men Who Stare at Goats
The Informant!
Zombieland
The Hangover
Angels and Demons

Worst Live Action:

Drag Me To Hell
My Bloody Valentine
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
New Moon

Best Animated:

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs

Worst Animated:

Ice Age, Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Honorable Mentions of Interest:

Transformers: I enjoyed that action, thought it was better than the first.
Astroboy: Not great, but quite nostalgic.
Law Abiding Citizen: Was quite enjoyable.
Terminator Salvation: Looked like it was going to be amazing, ended up being alright.
Dragonball Evolution: Terrible, but Chow Yun Fat was hilarious.

How does Jennifer's Body rate with everyone? Thinking of renting just so I can spank it to some Megan Fox-ey goodness.

I give it a 9.

[action=Nocturne of Vladimir Jazz]looks down.[/action]

Uh...make that a 12.

I saw more movies this year on the big screen than any other year.
I graded them as follows:

Star Trek - I just thoroughly, wildly enjoyed this movie, from the opening sonar ping to the end of the closing credits. I wanted to have fun with characters I remembered with great affection, and I did. [A+]

Zombieland - I went into this movie not expecting much, but was hoping to be entertained. That happened easily. Some moments were a bit cringeworthy, but there were many times where I laughed hard. Bill Murray playing himself automatically gets a boost in grade, also. [A]

G.I. Joe - On a whim, a friend of mine took me to see the movie. Lots of action, lots of explosions, some great zingers in terms of dialogue. CGI needed some polishing, and some points of the movie made absolutely no sense. However, still fun and more than I was expecting. [B-]

Ninja Assassin - I went in hoping to see a great Ninja story, having not seen the trailers (it was a last second decision to see the movie with a friend). Didn't get the great story, saw some children get the shit whipped out of them, didn't really like that. Loved the choreographed fight scenes and the Ninja in the shadows, didn't like all the explicit gore. Overall, decent, but not what I hoped. [C-]

I went into this movie not expecting much and I found it quite entertaining. Totally worth a rent, IMHO. Me, I bought it for the lesbian kiss... Hottest one I've ever seen. Bar none.