It's Complicated
I'm not the first person to say that Meryl Streep can pretty much nail any type of role she puts her mind to, but somehow managing to make me enjoy a Nancy Meyers rom-com full of people twenty years my senior? Truly a remarkable feat. Streep tarts it up more than we're used to, playing a divorcee backsliding into a romance with her loudmouthed ex(Alex Baldwin). Steve Martin is the potential guy of her dreams though, as a recently divorced architect on the rebound. Not normally my cup of tea, but a ton of fun and the one time I actually liked John Krasinski.
Tombstone
The Western that turned me into a diehard fan. Before Tombstone, I would walk out of the room everytime my dad had on one of John Wayne's old standbys. It was the slick combination of Kurt Russell, Sam Elliott, and Val Kilmer that turned me into a believer, starring as the famed Earp brothers and gunfighter Doc Holliday. Pretty much a must buy on Blu-Ray.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Sad that Heath Ledger's final work is such a jumbled, confusing mess. The actor tragically died while filming this latest fantastical tale from Terry Gilliam, about a travelling theater troupe that makes a pact with the devil. Ledger is actually very good in his brief scenes, but his passing clearly affected story's momentum. Jude Law, Colin Farrell, and Johnn Depp do their best to pick up the slack but the transitions are just too jarring.
Five Minutes of Heaven
The age old moral dilemmas of revenge and justice come to a head in this low key tale featuring Liam Neeson(Taken) and James Nesbitt(Milions). Neeson plays a convicted murderer, recently rehabilitated and released from prison. Nesbitt is the younger brother of the man that was killed , and still trying to figure out the best way to cope with his building anger and need for retribution.
The Descent: Part 2
Still a little bitter that this didn't get a theatrical. The original Descent took some time to win me over, but eventually I was thrilled by a bloody horror flick with a strong female cast. This one picks up right where the other left off with Sarah Carter trudging back down into the caves to help her friends. It's going to take some pretty nimble mental gymnastics for me to wrap my brain around that considering all she's done, but I'm up for seeing how they make it plausible.
District 13: Ultimatum
The original District B13 ranked at the top of my list of best action movies ever a couple of years ago for a darn good reason. It combines the frenetic Olympian level martial arts style reminiscent of a young Jackie Chan with badass gunplay, all delivered in a neat little package by writer Luc Besson and director Pierre Morel. That's a hard combination to beat. The sequel brings a new helmer, but Besson is back handling the words, so I expect more of the same. My homie John gives it his seal of approval, and that's good enough for me. Bought and sold.
Transylmania
I don't remember if we did a worst films of 2009 list or not but if I left off Transylmania then it was a major oversight. As if the world was clamoring for a third installment of the brutal National Lampoon's Dorm Daze "franchise", they decided that not only would we get more but that it was a good idea to tap into the current vampire craze as well. That's right. The idiot students have gone abroad for a semester at a Transylvanian university. Bad vamp jokes and lame Twilight riffs abound. So bad it can't even be enjoyed on a "so awful it's good" level. A pockmark on the rear end of comedy.
