Because everybody cares–if you state something as fact it is automatically true–here are my favorite movies of 2009, in no particular order:<\/p>\n
Star Trek<\/strong><\/p>\n We planned to see this with friends, but on a whim I took the afternoon off work on opening day and caught a mantinee.\u00a0 No, I don’t mind going to the movies by myself.\u00a0 I’m there for the movie, not to talk to you.\u00a0 Anyway, the opening was utterly fantastic, and the rest of the movie did not go downhill in any way.\u00a0 My only real exposure to the original series being the theatrically-released movies, I know very little about the origins of the characters and what went on during the TV series in the ’60s.\u00a0 Whatever happened then, I loved what happened now.<\/p>\n My previous exposure to Zachary Quinto was as Sylar on Heroes<\/em>, a villain I adore even though many say he has more than worn out his welcome.\u00a0 Watching him as Spock and then as Sylar is great.\u00a0 I love when I feel like I am not watching the actor play a character, but rather I am watching the character.\u00a0 It’s like Ian McKellen in X-Men<\/em> vs. Lord of the Rings<\/em>.\u00a0 Also great was Simon Pegg as Scotty, though as a disclaimer I must say that anyone with a Scottish accent nearly automatically wins my full approval.<\/p>\n The movie was so great that I enjoyed it just as much, if not more, the second time I saw it, that time with aforesaid friends.\u00a0 I did secretly hope that Nero would spontaneously turn into the Hulk, but that was really my only let-down.<\/p>\n (500) Days of Summer<\/strong><\/p>\n I had read good reviews about this movie when it premiered at Sundance last year, but I never got around to actually seeing it until I got it from NetFlix, and really I did that primarily because it stars Zooey Deschanel.\u00a0 What a fantastic, fantastic movie!\u00a0 As soon as this one is under $20 on Blu-ray, I am all over it.\u00a0 It also introduced me to a song that I cannot get out of my head, “Quelqu’un m’a dit” by Carla Bruni.<\/p>\n Up<\/strong><\/p>\n What the world needs is yet another person proclaiming the brilliance of Pixar, so here I am.\u00a0 I usually just skip the theater and buy Pixar movies on DVD since they have such an astounding track record, but I had a free ticket for Up so I went to a matinee one day.\u00a0 The opening was wonderfully moving, and the rest of the movie was pretty great, too.\u00a0 I’m still waiting for Pixar to top The Incredibles<\/em>, but I suppose Up is a good try.<\/p>\n The Princess and the Frog<\/strong><\/p>\n I took my daughter to see this movie around Christmas time, and we both had a great time.\u00a0 Some of my all-time favorite movies are good old-fashioned 2D animation from Disney, and I’m glad that they are again putting out such movies.\u00a0 One particular sequence when Tiana imagines her future restaurant featured animation that was simply a joy to watch.<\/p>\n \ufeffCloudy With a Chance of Meatballs<\/strong><\/p>\n This was another one that I read good reviews about and watched via NetFlix.\u00a0 It’s a non-Pixar CG film that is enjoyable!\u00a0 (Okay, DreamWorks has some stuff that I liked, too.\u00a0 But Pixar FTW.)\u00a0 This one wasn’t hurt by the wonderful voice cast, either.<\/p>\n X-Men Origins: Wolverine<\/strong><\/p>\n Yep, I’m the guy that liked it.<\/p>\n Wonder Woman<\/strong><\/p>\n I’m not a huge Wonder Woman fan, but I have enjoyed the previous direct-to-DVD DC titles, including Superman: Doomsday<\/em> and Justice League: The New Frontier<\/em>, so I watched this one.\u00a0 It was fun enough that I didn’t mind adding it to my DVD shelf with the other DC movies, something for which I can not the same of Green Lantern: First Flight<\/em> (but I’ve never been a Green Lantern fan.\u00a0 At all).<\/p>\n Superman\/Batman: Public Enemies<\/strong><\/p>\n Another direct-to-DVD adventure, and it was easy to enjoy.\u00a0 Almost anything starring Batman will go over well enough with me (except for you, Batman and Robin<\/em>.\u00a0 You are a crime against humanity).\u00a0 When Batman is voiced by Kevin Conroy, the chances of success are astronomically higher.<\/p>\n Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel<\/strong><\/p>\n My family has a tradition of going to a movie on New Year’s Eve for my brother’s birthday, and this year was Alvin and the Chipmunks.\u00a0 It was Not As Bad As I Thought It Would Be, though I think it’s really only on my list because Chuck is in it.<\/p>\n G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra<\/strong><\/p>\n Another movie that was Not As Bad As I Thought It Would Be, and had an enjoyable chase sequence through Paris.<\/p>\n Watchmen<\/strong><\/p>\n Meh.<\/p>\n Terminator Salvation<\/strong><\/p>\n It didn’t really seem like a Terminator movie to me.<\/p>\n Land of the Lost<\/strong><\/p>\n It had a few moments, but meh.<\/p>\n Avatar<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, the effects were pretty.\u00a0 That is all.<\/p>\n Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen<\/strong><\/p>\n Seriously.\u00a0 Why on earth did I watch this?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Because everybody cares–if you state something as fact it is automatically true–here are my favorite movies of 2009, in no particular order: – My favorites – Star Trek We planned to see this with friends, but on a whim I took the afternoon off work on opening day and caught a mantinee.\u00a0 No, I don’t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grassmonk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grassmonk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grassmonk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grassmonk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grassmonk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grassmonk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grassmonk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grassmonk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grassmonk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}– Other movies I enjoyed –<\/h3>\n
– Movies that made me say “meh” –<\/h3>\n
– Movies that made me say “Why on earth did I watch this?” –<\/h3>\n