2009 films ranked

Submitted by ephender on Tue, 02/24/2009 - 07:30
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  1. ***½
  2. Tetro (Francis Ford Coppola) [* tipsy, ridiculous, but believably obsessive. Didn't expect to get drunk off it, but I never expect to get drunk.]
  3. Silent Light (Carlos Reygadas) [* far removed from the film it owes an obvious debt to; heavy and earthy where the 1955 film was ethereal.]

  5. ***
  6. 24 City (Jia Zhangke) [* hard to concentrate on the stories and subtext when there's all that sumptuously ruined imagery.]
  7. The Beaches of Agnès (Agnès Varda) [* mildly prefer Cinevardaphoto's disguised autobiography, but this one's charm rarely lapses into precocity.]

  9. **½
  10. Coraline (Henry Selick) [* imaginative without being fussy, but Selick don't really seem to believe in the domestic angle.]
  11. Public Enemies (Michael Mann) [* uneven as hell, but enjoyed bits like the telephone switchboard-as-inner cosmos.]
  12. Rebirth of a Nation (DJ Spooky) [* remix almost seems beside the point until you reckon DJ means to REPLACE the text, not explore.]
  13. Star Trek (JJ Abrams) [* brains focus on inheritance and procreation. Translation: the franchise is finally trying to get laid! ... which is why I'm overrating it a tad now; that and I'm almost certain dumber reboots are coming down the Pikard.]
  14. Up (Pete Docter) [* caper stuff is better handled than in WALL*E, but this one doesn't even come within miles of its predecessor's pathos.]

  16. **
  17. Back Home Tomorrow (Lazzaretti/Santolini) [* high-contrast images and failproof content, but only one of the two stories builds.]

  19. *½
  20. Bruno (Larry Charles) [* lacks both the rage and larffs of Borat, but major LOLs over "Stevie Wundebar."]
  21. The Limits of Control (Jim Jarmusch) [* the tedium of routine, the asymmetry of humans, the sound of yawns ... Still, the Tilda of Swinton.]

  23. *
  24. Sherman's Way (Craig M. Saavedra) [* don't know when the last time I hated every major character in a movie so much as I did here so quickly ... probably not since Sour Grapes; the feeling wore off, but was only replaced by tedious indifference.]
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