THE NETFLIX ATE BLOCKBUSTER: 2009 MOVIE RECAP BOWL

Wow. Okay. Here we are again. Another year, another hour, another list.

Star Trek - The Most watched film of the year. 6 Times! 6 Times! Nice Work from the JJ Abrams factory and ILM. Really has a chance to be the beginning of a great great thing, ala, Batman Begins. We'll see how it ends.

Avatar - 4 Times. Most Wow Film of the year. The movie that turned everyone into Keanu Reeves saying "Whoa..."

You know in 15 days, it almost passed Transformers 2 for the highest box office of the year.

I have deemed Avatar a modern day Kurosawa film. No one is making epic movies like Cameron. Not right now. Peter Jackson did it, but he had a source world, and he hasn't nailed it since. The scale of it, the bigness of it is like incredible. I don't want to say it's the best movie ever, because it's not, not even close, but it's definitely awe inspiring and makes everyone have to raise their game, everyone in the action, epic field. I have to wonder how many filmmakers who have a movie coming out next year, saw Avatar and just went "FUCK!" hehe. I bet there's a lot.

Zombieland - Funnier then the Hangover. And deeper too. What a good movie. I love the Woody Harrelson renaissance.

The Hangover - Awesome the First time. And awesome 6 months later. But do I feel like I want to see it again, maybe in six months. Kind of like a hang over.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Great Adaptation of a great book! Yeah, it could've been more awesome, but it would've had to have been like 3 & a Half hours long.

2012: A great film experience, with some awesome guys, watching this big monster of a film, that I can't say is good, but totally entertaining!

District 9: Bold filmmaking here. I hate the ending, but I loved it. An out of nowhere experience that lived up to it's marketing and hype as a great experience. Frightening, fascinating and awesome.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Most fun I've had after watching it. Thanks to all of you who hate it and amused me with your hatred/mock hatred as I gleefully embraced this terribly fun movie.

I love You, Man - The movie everyone tells me to see, which makes me not want to see it. Totally illogical of me. I need to rent it and have fun.

(500) Days Of Summer - What a movie! Some people weren't sold on it, I was sold in the first 30 seconds with just a little bit of perfectly timed text. You KNOW what I'm talking about.

Drag Me To Hell - Sam Raimi makes up for Spider-man 3 to his fans by giving them what he's great at. Blood, guts, gore, comedy, and zany hijinks. Drag me to Hell is a great time!

The Brothers Bloom - Good Movie. Good Times. A deceptively deep, comic gem of a movie that knew what it wanted to do and did it perfectly. TOO BAD NO ONE WENT TO SEE IT! Gets the award for "Best Male Costumes." I wanted to own every outfit those guys wore, well not the whiteish cream suit. But EVERYTHING ELSE. The Runner up for "Best Male Costumes" was Sherlock Holmes.

The Hurt Locker - I never need to watch this movie again, but while I did, I was fricken mesmerized. Serious On Your Seat Suspense. A great war movie that took you into the head of damaged soldier, and while you didn't understand him too well, you experienced what he did. Well. Well. Done. And thank you Kathyrn Bigelow for making the comeback you needed and solidifying your place as a filmmaker again. Now if I could just get people to go back and rewatch Strange Days. What a good year for you and your ex hubby James Cameron! And speaking of Strange Days, that movie, co-written by James, is another pointer to Avatar. Anyway...

Up In the Air - What did you think of Up In the Air? Did you like it? Did it make you feel bad? Did you talk about it after it was done? Filmmaking, as in all forms of Art & Entertainment comes in multiple types and has a million different intentions. Up In The Air, wanted you to think about life and talk about it. And in that way it was successful. YOU are given the opportunity to think about what is going to happen to the lead character after the events of the movie. This is a funny, sad film, that hems closer to life then a lot of people feel comfortable, more then I feel comfortable with, but in that way, it holds power over the viewer. I'm rambling right now. I liked it. I related to it. I was bummed that it didn't have a nice neat bow on it. But I think it made it a better film.

One more thing on this film, how many Adult movies did you see this year? Movies that weren't trying to bring in that big teenage cash. On this list I have, maybe The Hurt Locker, Brother's Bloom, kind of (500) days, but not really. This was one that held it's grownupness on it's sleeve and declared itself for Adults, looked like a film for adults, and a had message that people who have had a few years under their belt as adults could really relate too and take in. Hell, I might even be too young for that movie.

Nice Fluffy Animated Kids Fair

Ice Age 3 - Lots of fun. Simon Pegg can make it anything fun! Not good, but fun!

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - Fun for everyone. Great Mister T supporting role.

Not Fluffy Animated Kids Fare

Where the Wild Things Are - WTF? Is it good? Probably. Did I enjoy it? For about 30 minutes. Not for children younger then 8. I repeat. Not for children under 8. And if they are sensitive. Just skip it.

Disappointing Films

Terminator Salvation - What a terribly plotted film, bad storytelling, nice effects, too much 1 dimensional screaming. Thanks Christian, but it's really McG's fault. I mean for real, Christian brings nuance behind a mask. He should be able to do it as John Conner.

GI Joe - It was fun, but I'm not sure if it was just fun because it was marginally better then Transformers, or well, just because it was seen after Transformers. I think in the long run, Transformers is a better movie. Like GI Joe is a 1.5 and transfers is a 2.

Public Enemies - Blah. Blah. Blah. God I thought this movie could have been good. Maybe if I rewatch I'll understand, and maybe that is a load of crap. 1 out of 10 people like it. It gets the award for "Fell Asleep the Most Times"

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - So bad, I didn't even want to see it. Didn't even want to see it.

The Time Traveler's Wife - Blah! Less said on this movie the more. Not the best year for Rachel McAdams.

Notorious - Not a bad movie, well it would've been a good VH1 Movie, but Biggie deserved more. I mean they let Tupac upstage him in his own movie. HIS OWN MOVIE!

Inglourious Basterds - Any Tarantino movie I don't love, or uniformly believe is awesome is a disappointment. And I don't feel that way with this one. I'm sure it's great, and it has great great scenes, but overall it didn't connect to me, and that makes me sad. I guess we just can't predict what we are going to love and what we don't love which leads me to---

THE Ronald McDonald's Snack Wrap - WRAP UP

The big budget money making machines win! Little films got stepped on. I mean, look at what's going on right now, all the talk is Avatar, while some supposedly (not seen by me movies) like Precious, A Single man, An Education, are really really well reviewed, no one's going to see them. It's like that whole A Tree in the Forrest, if it gets knocked down, but no one hears it, did it really happen. And the list below of films I still want to see, the Dramatic Ones didn't ride up a storm. Nope. The only one that did was Up In The Air, and that movie hasn't made the kind of money people were hoping it would. Nope, it's all Avatar all the time. And like it or not, Avatar hands down represents the money making machine. What will this signal for the future? Will the Studios keep trying to cut down on it's low budget, medium budget films, so they can continue to make bigger and bigger films, that for the most part don't mean anything to people (Transformers, Terminator & GI JOE) but make pretty good money? Let's hope not. Let's hope that a balance can be struck, because I think the movies are best when there is something for everyone. Even if that means Sandra Bullock just became the first leading lady of a leading lady led film, to have her film gross over 200 million. What a year!

A few films that premiered before the end of the year that I'd like to see, like: Invictus, Nine, Away We Go, The Fantastic Mister Fox, Jennifer's Body (Don't hate me, I'm just being real) The Road, The Informant!