The Good, the Bad, and 'Knowing'

2009 surprised me. I was expecting a fairly weak year of movies, especially considering the relative dearth of superhero movies when compared to 2008. After being incredibly pleased with last year's releases, I don't think I lowered my expectations, but I definitely steeled myself for some awful movies. And while those movies most certainly did arrive as planned, overall I think 2009 was a good year to visit a movie house.

Below are you incredibly brief reviews of the films I saw in 2009.

Defiance - Heavier than I thought it was going to be... although I should've guessed since it was about Jews living in the forest to escape persecution. B+

Paul Blart: Mall Cop - Epic fail. F

Inkheart - Rachael dragged me to this. And then it was playing on my flight to LAS F-ING VEGAS. D

Watchmen - Loved the graphic novel (read: "grown-up comic book"). Well-executed. A-

Race to Witch Mountain - Someone at Disney must have some good dirt on the Rock. He's clearly being blackmailed into doing sub-par movies. C-

Knowing - Not really sure what I was expecting... but I can tell you I was NOT expecting lame aliens. F

Adventureland - That Eisenberg kid is good. And the skinny girl from the Twilight movies was decent, too. A

Wolverine - I wanted to like this so much, but it let me down. C-

Star Trek - Exciting, fun, and not at all nerdy. A-

Angels and Demons - I was told it'd be better than DaVinci Code. Liars. D

The Hangover - Loads of fun. Unfortunately, it's also very quotable. A-

Terminator: Salvation - A slightly different side to the Terminator franchise. Sam Worthington was solid. B

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - Okay, not as good as the first one, but still fun. Especially the Einsteins. B

Up - Solid gold. A

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Loud noises, fancy robots, corporate sponsorship, and Megan Fox. D

Public Enemies - Not for everyone, but I loved it. Johnny Depp became Dillinger. A-

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Draco Malfoy was the best part of it. B

GI Joe - Ice floats, you idiots. F

Inglourious Basterds - Without a doubt, best film of the year. Tarantino's best since Pulp Fiction. A

Couples Retreat - Brief flashes of humor surrounded by some serious disappointment. F

Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day - Entertaining, violent, funny, but not nearly as cool as the first. B-

Avatar - Visually stunning, but overambitious. Felt kind of cookie-cutter with some seriously thin dialogue at parts. B-

Sherlock Holmes - An absolute blast. A-

Well, there you have it. Grades are final and no extra credit is accepted.