movies of 2009

Around this time last year, I started logging the movies I saw at a movie theater, on DVD, or on cable. Why? Because. Like the books I read, I have a really hard time keeping track of what I see. Possibly because not many movies are notable. Or maybe it's the sheer volume (apply sarcasm here) I watch. Mostly, I made the list because I like making lists.

Looking over the list, it's pretty obvious that I took the boys to nearly every kid movie in the theaters last year, a trend that will likely continue through the near future. I love taking the boys to the movies. The joy and marvel on their faces, lit by the big screen, never ceases to amaze me. Corny? Perhaps. Still. Many of these movies flat out sucked, fueling my disbelief that producers are able to con studios into shelling out money to make them.

If I had to pick favorites, aside from Life Aquatic, which is an all-time fav, I would gush my love of Julie & Julia (I wept for the power of women in transition and for the beauty that is Paul and Julia), It Might Get Loud (electrifying, the whole way through), Rachel Getting Married (Jonathan Demme, TV on the Radio, Robin Hitchcock, cinema verite at its most unnerving, need more?), G-Force (funniest movie of the year), and Charlie Wilson's War (smart and funny).

For posterity, the 2009 movies:

Mamma Mia

Hellboy 2

National Treasure 2

The Women

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Runaway Jury

Confessions of a Shopaholic

Bottle Shock

Rachel Getting Married

Race to Witch Mountain

Monsters Vs. Aliens in 3D

Me and You and Everyone We Know

Marley and Me

The Squid and the Whale

The Life Aquatic

The Visitor

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies

Gross Pointe Blank

Star Trek (twice)

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Charlie Wilson’s War

He’s Just Not That into You

Up

Land of the Lost

Revolutionary Road

Transformers 2

Then She Found Me

Princess Bride

Hancock

Ice Age 3

G-force

Weeds (all four seasons)

Burn After Reading

Julie & Julia

G.I. Joe

Shorts

It Might Get Loud

Cloudy with a Chance for Meatballs

Astro Boy

Planet 51

Turk 182

Aliens in the Attic

Angels and Demons

Australia