Best and Worst of Summer 2009

The best and worst of the summer of 2009 from Memorial Day to Labor Day...

Great

Inglourious Basterds - Quentin Tarantino's epic war film follows a group of Jewish soldiers who take out the Nazi's one by one. Meanwhile, a Jewish survivor disguising herself as a French cinema owner plans to take out the top dog himself - Hitler - at the premiere of a war film. Melanie Laurent is mind blowing but Christoph Waltz gives the best performance of the year (so far). Not my favorite Tarantino film (that's Reservior Dogs) but definitely his best.

(500) Days of Summer - A unique take on the romance genre, (500) Days of Summer follows the relationship between uber romantic Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and the object of his affection Summer (Zooey Deschannel), who doesn't believe in love. The film jumps around between the highs (a song and dance number after they first have sex) and lows (Tom telling a post-break up date "She literally shit on my face."). It's a unique, sexy, funny film.

District 9 - The most surprising film of the year, for me, District 9 is a low budget sci-fi movie about a group of aliens who land in South Africa and the cultural impact their arrival has on the city. Set up as a documentary, it follows a man as he tries to evict them from their slum. The movie is so intense, has great action scenes and a lot of really well done surprises.

Good

Funny People - Judd Apatow's most well-rounded film, Funny People is seriously funny and seriously well done. It stars Adam Sandler as a washed up comedian who finds out he's probably dying from cancer. He befriends Seth Rogen and tries to win back the one who got away (the amazingly hilarious and so, so, so talented Leslie Mann). Jonah Hill steals the show.

Whatever Works - Woody Allen just can't disappoint me. Sure, it's not as good as Vicky Cristina Barcelona or even Match Point, but it's still very funny and very clever. Even when Woody isn't perfect, he's still so much better than everyone else. Patricia Clarkson is spot on as a redneck Southern woman who turns into a free-loving hippie artist.

The Hangover - The funniest movie of the year (and I don't think anything else will match it at this point). The plot is so simple - a group of guys have a bachelor party in Las Vegas. Craziness ensues, none of which we see. The cast is hilarious and it's so much better as a film than it has to be. It could have gotten by on the laughs alone but technically, it's a great film.

Up - Perhaps the most depressing kids movie I ever saw. That's not to say it isn't good because it's very, very good. But it is about a man who loses everyone he loves. He wakes up old and alone. None of his dreams ever came true. Now the government wants to tear down his house. So he ties a ton of balloons to the house and it takes him to paradise. There he gets chased by a creepy bird and an even creepier "environmentalist."

Public Enemies - My main problem with this film was that it went nowhere. There was no development. They cast all these amazing actors and gave them a line or two here and there. Giovanni Ribisi was lucky and got two entire scenes! Still, John Dillinger, as a rule, is an interesting character and Johnny Depp does a hell of a job recreating his bad ass swagger.

Average

The Proposal - Sure, it's absolutely your cliched romantic comedy. But The Proposal has a very likeable cast (Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Mary Steenenberger, BETTY WHITE, Craig T. Nelson) and that sure makes it easier to sit through.

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra - Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a super genius evil mastermind? Sienna Miller as a bad ass babe in leather? Channing Tatum shirtless? Sign me up. Even if it is a little cheesy, who even cares?

Land of the Lost - Danny McBride helps make this mediocre comedy worth sitting through. The scenes at the hotel were hilarious.

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 - Not nearly as good as the original, but still a decent way to kill a couple hours. Denzel Washington and John Travolta do their best with the material.

Bad

The Time Traveler's Wife - I'm not Rachel McAdams biggest fan. I could care less about Eric Bana. I thought it looked sweet and romantic. Little did I know it would be so mind-boggling-ly ridiculous.

Year One - Unfortunately, the funniest parts are in the trailer. Even Michael Cera's natural hilarity and Christopher Mintz-Plasse's adorable-ness can't save this mess.

Orphan - I'll say it again: Orphan is the perfect example of a TERRIBLE ending ruining a completely mediocre movie.

Worst

Drag Me To Hell - I might be the only one who didn't like it and that's fine. This movie was just too ridiculous and not even close to be scary or creepy or terrifying. The talking goat just completely lost me.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Just a huge mess of a movie. I have absolutely nothing nice to say about it at all.

Halloween 2 - Rob Zombie continues to make a mockery out of the single greatest horror movie franchise of all time. Donald Pleasance is rolling over in his grave right now at what they've done to the character of Dr. Loomis.