Solonor's Inkwell

We couldn’t have picked a better film for our New Year’s Eve midnight movie. This is Sherlock Holmes as he was written, not the boring dude from the previous incarnations who figured out everything with a smug “Elementary, my dear Watson” (which he never said in the books).

Ok, so maybe it was a little over-the-top with the ‘splosions. And I would have liked to have it slowed down just a teensy bit in order to actually process Holmes’ revelations of his deductive reasoning. But for once the use of the Matrix-like super slow mo to highlight action is put to good use.

I loved the fact that Jude Law’s Watson wasn’t some bumbling goof that just followed Holmes around in amazement. He’s an active partner, and he keeps Holmes from spinning off into either depression or depravity.

I can’t wait for the sequel.

Whiny the Elder and I went to see Avatar today, and I have to say that my Top 5 of 2009 remains intact. This is not going to knock any one of them off the list.

It’s not that it’s a bad film. It’s just that they spent so much money on special effects and CGI (which are spectacular) that they apparently didn’t have any left over for a decent writer…or director…or actors… The story is so full of cliches I thought the ghost of James Fenimore Cooper was going to turn up and sue us just for watching it. It’s not a stretch to say this is simply Disney’s Pocahontas in Space (and a little less singing).

That said, it really is an amazing piece of work. Until now, the best 3D movie I’d seen (one where the 3D was used to enhance the story rather than as a bunch of cheap “comin’ atcha!” tricks) was Coraline. But Avatar took it to a whole new level. It actually envelops you inside the world and makes the surround sound even more effective. With very few exceptions, it’s hard to see the blue-skinned alien Na’vi as completely CG and not actors whose blue body paint might rub off. They were the best CG creatures since Gollum (not surprising, since WETA was involved in their creation).

I don’t think this is going to be a movie that people will return to again and again. The characters were not compelling enough to care about…even the Na’vi, who are supposed to be the sympathetic natives don’t bring many tears as they are ruthlessly slaughtered by the money-grubbing (or in this case “unobtanium”-grubbing) humans. There are zero (and I mean zero) surprises.

The three best things about the movie (for me) were:

• excitement at the prospect that someone would take this technology and use it for a really awesome science fiction story someday
• the realization that the South Park episode Dances with Smurfs was even more awesome than I thought it was
• increasing the humor quotient of the Bones episode The Gamer in the Grease, since I now know that the guy that plays Fischer is in Avatar (if you watch Bones, you get it, otherwise never mind)

So, as far as Avatar goes, I guess I’m glad I saw it, but it’s not going on my Blockbuster list.

There were some pretty good movies in 2009, and it being the season for lists, I’m going to present my own Top 5.

I’m not counting the ones I haven’t seen, yet…Inglorious Basterds, The Informant, A Serious Man, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Avatar, Up in the Air, The Princess and the Frog, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus or Sherlock Holmes…any one of which could wind up being my favorite of the year. But we work with what we’ve got. So, here’s my run down of 2009 movies, along with my Top Five. Plus, I found a cool site called Teaser-Trailer.com to help me with my memory.

The first movie of 2009, chronologically by release date if not in viewing order, was Inkheart. That was a fun little fantasy film starring Brendan Fraser. It wasn’t Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter or anything, but it was decent enough, and Andy Serkis is nice and wicked in it.

Taken came out at the tail end of January, but I didn’t see it until some plane ride I took this year. It was really just an excuse to watch Liam Neeson kick ass (not that there’s anything wrong with that) and not much else.

Then in February came Coraline. As my review at the time said, “This has got to be the most brilliantly detailed stop-motion animation picture ever. Even if you don’t enjoy the story (because you have no imagination in your rotten, twisted soul), you should go just to be wowed by the awesomeness of Mr. Selick’s work.”

Hot on the heels of Coraline was Watchmen. I devoted a ton of virtual ink to that one. Sadly, its ruined ending has preyed even more on my mind these last months, and I’m not sure I really want to go back and see it again. Maybe in a few years I’ll come back and forgive it.

Monsters vs Aliens was fun and funny, especially with Stephen Colbert as the President and Hugh Laurie as Dr. Cockroach.

Wolverine was very disappointing. I love Hugh Jackman in the role, but the story left a lot to be desired (and some of it was just plain wrong). If you want to get my son wound up, just mention the cgi of this movie.

Finally, in May we had Star Trek. I’m going to give it all away right now and tell you that this was the most fun I had at the movies all year. I’ve seen it five times (so far), and I haven’t even bought the DVD, yet!

The next blockbuster was Terminator Salvation (aka, Terminator 4). Lots of ‘splosions, but not much of a plot. I really loved seeing the Arnie bot, though.

I didn’t really expect much out of Up before I saw it. I basically went on the “Pixar is batting 1.000” plan, and boy did they deliver. I think Ed Asner deserves an Oscar, even if his character was animated. And, seriously….SQUIRREL!

Moon wasn’t quite the awesome science fiction flick I hoped it would be. I was thinking that it might turn out to be another Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but that’s a high bar to reach. As it was, it’s a nice little sci fi movie with the awesome Sam Rockwell, so no big complaints.

Public Enemies would have been great if it hadn’t wandered around so much. It could have been a bio of John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) or a hunter-prey film (with Christian Bale as agent Pervis) or a study of the machinations of J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) or a love story between Dillinger and Marion Cotillard’s character, but it tried to do all of the above while being saddled with the “I know how this ends” limitation of history.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was awesome despite a couple of nits I had to pick at the end. It doted a little too much on the teen romance aspect, but I can forgive that since we’re going to get all super dark with the last two films. I’m still just annoyed by the ending (not enough to hate it), but there was no reason to make the changes.

I avoided District 9 a bit for some reason. I can’t remember why anymore, but I’m glad I saw it. This is definitely one of the most intriguing movies of the year. I really hope there’s a sequel.

I know that not everyone loves Mike Judge’s work, and I’m fine with that. However, beyond Beavis and Butthead, he’s made three really good (if uneven) movies. Office Space and Idiocracy will continue to be quoted by this household as long as we live. Extract doesn’t have that kind of quotability, but it’s actually a better movie than the other two.

The animated 9 was a complete letdown. I thought this was going to be brilliant, and the animation was, but the story…meh.

Surrogates with Bruce Willis was an ok romp. It didn’t stack up to be as good as it looked, though.

Zombieland was an amazingly funny surprise in the fall. There’s nothing bad about this movie…especially not the awesome cameo. Two severed thumbs up!

Robert Zemeckis’ Christmas Carol was surprisingly good, considering that the trailers made it look like a farcical version of the classic. Instead, Jim Carrey was great in several roles, including Scrooge and all the ghosts.

So, considering that this is really the “Top 5 of the Movies I Actually Saw This Year”…here is my list:

1. Star Trek
2. Up
3. District 9
4. Zombieland
5. Coraline

I’ve done something that few of you all have done, I’ll wager. I’ve been to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz on an actual movie screen!

It’s not for naught that this is the movie at the top of my list of favorites of all time. There’s nothing I like in movies that this one doesn’t have, short of zombies. But even at that, what is the scarecrow after? Braaaaaaains.

The music is fantastic. The songs stick in your head like blood sucking leeches. There’s awesome dancing and slapstick comedy. Wordplay and puns. A tornado with a flying cow. Dark magic. Two creepy forests (one with spooks). Drug references (poppies, poppies, poppies) and flying monkeys. An animal star. A child star. One guy playing five roles. Explosions. And, right off the bat, they put the show stopper right up front. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” would have been the highlight of any other movie, but they toss it in at the beginning like it’s just another song. For some strange reason, it always makes me cry (I don’t have a clue why).

As you can guess, I’ve seen this movie a hundred times. It was the springtime staple for us as kids. Watching it on the big screen with the newly remastered film (HD as the host, Robert Osborne of Turner Classic Movies introduced it), I was amazed to see so many details that I had never noticed. And as soon as I saw the opening credits in front of that black-and-white cloudy sky, I was transported back to that time.

So, if you ever get a chance to see this movie in HD on a big screen with big sound and I hear that you skipped it on purpose, you’re getting your membership in the cool kids club revoked. I just may come to your house and rip the medal off your chest, reclaim your testimonial and tear up your diploma.