Now That I've Watched All of the 2009 Best Pic Nominees

Cafe Society
1

I’m ranking these on personal preference alone and not which ones I think ‘deserve’ to win. Justifications are based on I like what I like.

  1. Inglorious Basterds –no question

  2. A Serious Man-the only other film I would give a thumbs-up rating to

  3. The Hurt Locker

4-7 The Blindside / Precious / Avatar / An Education – No particular order. Felt all of these were a solid ‘meh’

  1. District 9-a definite thumbs-down for a film that tried but didn’t work on any level.

  2. & 10. Up / Up in the Air didn’t bother to finish watching

On preview, looks like I could give Mr. Cranky a run for his money on the didn’t-like-anything o’meter.

2

That would be close to my rankings in terms of movies I liked versus movies I couldn’t care less whether I had seen them or not, although The Hurt Locker would rank behind The Blindside / Precious / Avatar / An Education as I felt it was less than “meh”. I much preferred The Messenger as a statement about war. Better script, better performances, a truckload less cliche.

3

So I assume that this means that you think that only a couple of films last year were pretty good. Or are there others that weren’t nominated that you liked pretty well? Why do you bother to see movies at all? If that small a proportion of them are above the level of “meh,” what’s the point of seeing films at all?

4

That is true, but I thought that last years movies were the weakest bunch in living memory as soon as award season started. The fact that they, IMHO, were ordinary doesn’t bar me from watching movies ever again does it? I hope not because the stuff coming out for the last few months has been awful as well.

Some movies I really like last year were The Secret in Their Eyes, A Prophet, Still Walking and Goodbye Solo.

5

Damn dude, I know it’s Monday morning and all but how about toning down the snark a notch or two.

In answer to stupid question number four, I see movies to be entertained. I consider myself to be a something of a movie buff and catch almost of all of the mainstream hits once they are available on Blockbuster online. I follow reviews; I am open-minded about independent and foreign films.

Looking over my rental history I guess I would give most films two stars (out of five) or worse. I do consider myself a somewhat harsh critic but in no way view myself as a film snob.

That being said, I liked “Facing Ali” but that’s because I’m a boxing fan. I wouldn’t recommend it uncategorically since I know it’s not everyone’s cuppa. Also you realize that Oscar nominees and personal top ten’s rarely match up point for point. I was just critiquing these since I’ve now seen/rented them all.

6

Nothing wrong with your ranking, but do you mind me asking how old you are?

The reason I ask is that I really liked Up in the Air, which you had at the bottom. Basterds was probably my #2, and Hurt Locker was somewhere in the middle for me.

I just wonder if connecting with Hurt Locker vs. Up in the Air is an age-related thing. I can easily identify with a middle-aged business traveler, but twenty-something military detonation specialists are about as alien to me as the creatures in District 9 (which I also liked).

7

Same here, I really liked Up and Up in the Air – both of those movies felt very close to my own life – while *The Hurt Locker *meant nothing to me.

8

Arghhh. I don’t want this thread to be about me.

I’m 42 and a half to answer Skammer’s question.

I know we’ve done threads like this during Oscar season. I only wanted to revisit it since all of the films are now out on DVD. The last of the ten I personally watched was Avatar and I stand by my rating.

Also I don’t want to have to justify my choices (I actually did so in the OP) and I don’t want to post mini-reviews of each film. But,

for Up in the Air, I liked the premise and the three lead performances were all o.k. Didn’t at all get how/why Clooney’s charcter was a motivational speaker or something. But for me, if I am half-way through a movie and genuinely don’t care about any of the characters nor have any interest in how the plot resolves, I stop watching. I was drifting off when the three crash the corporate party and had intended to finish it the next day. I never did. Maybe I’ll give it another go when it comes out on cable but my wife already told me how it ended and she assured me I didn’t miss much.

9

Not sure what you want this thread to be about if not your view of the movies since most active movie watchers probably talked this out a few months ago.

The thing that surprises me (not that it is wrong, as you said you like what you like) is having A Serious Man and Up in the Air at completely opposite ends of the list in that order.

And while I know many who didn’t agree that Up was the best thing ever I haven’t met anybody before who would put it in the “not worth finishing” category.

Anyway, for me, at this remove (I can’t promise it would be the same as anything I said in February):
The Hurt Locker - Best combination of story, acting, and presentation
Avatar - The best pure cinematic experience

Would have been fine with either of those winning.

Then a cluster of Inglourious Basterds, Precious, Up, Up in the Air

Then District 9, An Education and The Blindside all enjoyable solid movies.

Finally A Single Man which was well acted and filmed but ultimately left me not caring and

10

Well we’re the same age (I’m 41) so there goes that theory.

I’ve only seen seven of the movies, but as of today I’d rank them:

  • Inglorious Basterds
  • Up in the Air
  • Hurt Locker
  • District 9
  • Blind Side
  • Up
  • Avatar
    although there is not a movie there that I didn’t think was pretty good. I’ve no real desire to see Precious, although I might get around to the other two some day.
11

I have seen them all, too. My rankings would be:

  1. A Serious Man. The most thought-provoking movie of the bunch. I expect no less from the Coens. Not for everyone, and definitely on the dark side of dark comedy. I’ve only seen it once, but I have a feeling that this is a movie that will reward repeated viewings (much like No Country for Old Men, which I didn’t like much at first, but like better with each viewing).

  2. Up. Best children’s movie in some time, and a memorable opening sequence that gave the movie a lot of heart. This will be an enduring children’s classic.

  3. The Hurt Locker. Very good, but not great.

  4. An Education. Nice screenplay from Nick Hornby, and very nice performance by the lead actress.

  5. Inglourious Basterds. Wildly overrated IMHO, but still a fun revenge fantasy with an entertaining performance by Brad Pitt.

  6. Up in the Air. Also overrated, but still a worthwhile movie.

  7. Avatar. Rated this high for mind-blowing 3D imagery.

  8. District 9. Just OK. A decent sci fi movie with a not-so-timely message.

  9. The Blind Side. Movie-of-the-week material. A very good movie-of-the-week mind you, but I was put off by the immasculation/juvenilization of the athlete at the center of the story. I kind of wonder how he feels about how he was portrayed.

  10. Precious. Good performance. Not a great movie.

12

Yeesh. I was just putting the topic back out there since by this time, with everything available on DVD, maybe some folks had gotten around to seeing all of the nominees.

I’m o.k. with letting this thread fizzle unceremoniously to its end.

Skammer, you might want to give Precious a go. I thought I would hate it, had no desire to see it, hated the book when I read it some fifteen years ago. Anyway, I put it in my queue, it came, I watched and it wasn’t anywhere near as terrible as I thought it would be but I remain steadfast in my rating of ‘meh’.

13

Crap. When I said I was surprised to see A Serious Man at the top of a list that had Up in the Air at the bottom I was actually thinking of A Single Man.

A Serious Man is still at the bottom of my list (I didn’t much like it at all) but with the proper movie in mind I’m no longer surprised to see them ordered that way.

14

So the only movies you saw last year that were above the level of “meh” were A Serious Man, Inglourious Basterds, Facing Ali, and maybe The Hurt Locker? Three or four movies out of how many that you saw last year? Or are there other films that you saw that you liked better? That’s the question I’m asking you. What films do you see last year that you considered better than “meh.”

I saw perhaps 50 movies last year. (I’m counting those that I saw for the first time, which includes some old movies.) I don’t consider more than about 10 of them to be “meh.” I read at least 50 books last year. I don’t consider more than about 10 of them to be “meh.” If only three or four of the 50 or so movies were about the level of “meh,” I would give up moviegoing. If only three or four of the 50 or so books I read last year were above the level of “meh,” I would give up reading books.

15

O.K., mea culpa. I need to clarify my definition of ‘meh’ and my personal rating system.

For me, in order for a film to be truly good, it has to be the type of film that can withstand a second or multiple viewings, it has to be something original and one I could recommend others to see. I suppose to use the common stars system of film rating, this type of movie would have to earn at least a three out of four stars.

‘meh’ falls below this and can still mean decent, entertaining film but one that is not original (The Blindside), not particularly thought-provoking (An Education) nor one I would stake my reputation by enthusiastically recommending (Precious –thread 12 aside, Avatar which I admittedly saw only on DVD).

Now then, I wouldn’t consider these to be bad movies per se but I wouldn’t consider them particularly good either. Entertaining for a couple hours? Sure. But since these also carry with them the OSCAR-NOMINATED-BEST-PICTURE clause, one can’t help but expect a bit more.

I watch a lot of movies too. With youngling now in the mix we have to wait for them to come out on DVD though.

Pulling up my rental history from Blockbuster, of the last twenty-five movies I watched, I consider the following at least passably entertaining:

Shutter Island
Revanche
The Messenger
Avatar
Invictus
The September Issue
Crazy Heart
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (recommended here on the Dope no less)
Sherlock Holmes
An Education
Good Hair
Bad Lieutenant Port of Call: New Orleans
Defiance
The Blind Side
More Than a Game
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
The Informant
The Cove
Zombieland

And now that I’m at it and since thread is now all about me, I’ll give a hearty thumbs-down to:
Nine
Disgrace
Armored
The Men Who Stare at Goats

Fantastic Mr. Fox I didn’t like personally but I wouldn’t give a thumbs-down to. (I commented on this one in previous threads.)

And now kind sir, since I’ve more than answered your question, I’m curious to hear your take on the OP inre the ten Oscar nominees or just your personal top ten from 2009. And hey, no offense inre snarkiness from earlier. I blame Monday.

16
  1. The Hurt Locker - The closing image made the whole thing worth it.
  2. Inglourious Basterds - Just watched it again and loved it. Tarantino’s characters are gold.
  3. Precious - So emotionally raw. Direction doesn’t always work, but it’s audacious at least.
  4. Avatar - Cheesy, but engrossing.
  5. An Education - Smart little movie that turns on itself by the end.
  6. Up in the Air - Loved it at first, but it’s eroding in my memory. Worst part: Clooney reaching his mileage goal. Wtf?
  7. District 9 - Had promise to be a smarter action movie than it turned out to be.
  8. The Blind Side - Effectively executed for what it was.
  9. Up - Manipulative, derivative, silly, morally suspect, etc. I know this is a hugely minority opinion, and it does have good aspects, but I got nothing.
  10. A Serious Man - Purposely obtuse- and I know there’s something there, but I got nothing out of it.

I think Where the Wild Things Are, The Road, and A Single Man would have all made the top 5 if they were nominated, but on the whole, this is a pretty good bunch of movies.

17

I would rate the nominees (and any other 2009 films I can remember offhand) that I saw as follows:

  1. The Hurt Locker
  2. Up in the Air
  3. An Education
  4. (500) Days of Summer
  5. Crazy Heart
  6. The Young Victoria
  7. Julie & Julia
  8. Avatar
  9. A Single Man

All of these are above the level of “meh.” I saw a lot of older films last year. I also saw some 2009 films that I just don’t remember very well. Last year wasn’t a very good moviegoing year for me. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the movies I saw very much. It’s just that I was so busy that I didn’t have a lot of time.