The Red Circle

By Tom Nix

Look, I am going to level with you. I am not out here to argue the fact that a year that made Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen its number one release is an astounding year for the art of cinema. What I will be supporting is that this year, unlike a lot of previous years, did something kind of remarkable. And that’s when 2009 got it right, it got it damn near perfect. This year saw some stinkers. Every year sees some stinkers. But what this year saw a little more of was defining moments. This was the year that the Harry Potter franchise shook off its family roots to give us an honest to god movie. This was the year that Sam Raimi shook off his franchise boots and gave us Drag Me To Hell. This is the year that Katrhyn Bigelow delivered on her promise of Near Dark, and this is the year that Quentin Tarantino sealed his name in an envelope with the best filmmakers of all time. Duncan Jones, Michael Daugherty, and Neill Blomkamp made their first movies ever, and all three are touchstones in their respective genres. J.J. Abrams even managed to make the best Star Wars movie in the last 25 years with Star Trek.

Hell yes this is a year that matters.

It’s a mixed blessing that the Oscars have expanded to ten best picture nominees this year. For one, there are certainly ten films worth honoring. For seconds, this is the Academy and there is no way it won’t be an embarrassment. But, in no uncertain terms, UP, Inglourious Basterds, District 9, The Hurt Locker, Watchmen: The Director’s Cut and Where the Wild Things Are are films that deserve consideration as films of the decade, let alone these most recent 365 days.  And those are just the classics.

Let’s throw in movies like Observe and Report, one of the most brutal comedies of the year. In fact, it may be tied only with World’s Greatest Dad as the most mean spirited comedy I have seen in an unbelievably long time. Both feature a loose, crazy, and nearly unlikeable performance by an otherwise aloof actor (Seth Rogen and Robin Williams, respectively). Both also feature penises, and one belongs to Mork. Or lets take a look at The Hangover, the highest-grossing R-Rated comedy ever. More so than any comedy in recent memory, The Hangover managed to capture perfectly the spirit of the waning 2000’s decade. This is a movie that people my age will be watching when we are 80 and saying “Man, we used to dress so stupid back then.” The movie is so good, and so rewatchable, that it singlehandedly erases all of the bad juju that Transylmania will bring in December.

We had a great year for the insane people, as Stephen Sommers brought the onslaught of GI JOE: The Rise of Cobra kung-fu-gripping all our faces apart. Add to that the crack-cocaine-cum-cinema that was Crank: High Voltage, and we’ve already got a potent mixture for a perfect shot of over-the-top. Oh yeah. Let’s not forget to add a dash of Spook-A-Blast. Drag Me To Hell is the best PG-13 horror film made. Ever. In history. It opens up with a nine-year-old getting burned to death, and manages to keep that level of kah-razy for the next 80 minutes. You’ve already forgotten about The Uninvited, haven’t you?

The Basterds tell you to forget about The Uninvited, you nat-zi scum.

2009 brings us films from Francis Ford Coppola, Wes Anderson, Chan-Wook Park, Jim Jarmusch, Werner Herzog, Richard Curtis, Peter Jackson, Pedro Almodovar, Hayayo Myazaki, Michael Mann, The Coen Brothers, Rian Johnson, Sam Mendes, Mike Judge and two films from Guy Ritchie. One of which brings back Jude Law from his self imposed screen exile. YES.

YES.

Watchmen was a good movie on its release. It was a great movie when it came to DVD and Blu-ray. Zack Snyder has thus far proven himself to be a flawless filmmaker (he’s 3 – 0 in my eyes), and it is astounding that one of the most nuanced, non-commercial, violent movies of the year came out of the studio system. I sincerely hope that the Blu-ray sales have convinced WB that it was a risk worth taking. The reinserted Hollis Mason death scene is my vote for the best two minutes of film in all of 2009.

At the risk of overstaying my welcome, I’d simply like to wrap up with the fact that 2009’s highest highs far outweigh its lowest lows. Unfortunately we have a system in place in Hollywood that seeks to churn out the dumbest crap imaginable for a profit. It is the nature of the beast for now, and saying that a year is bad because it contains terrible films is simply not understanding the way commerce works. There’s always going to be more McDonalds in a neighborhood than there will be Ruths Chris’. But the integrity of the art that rises above the garbage is how a year will truly be judged. 2008 had an almost embarrassingly low quantity of truly great films.

Not only does 2009 topple most recent years in this area, it topples many years for producing some of the near pinnacle films in a genre. UP is the best family film in a decade. District 9 is one of the greatest sci-fi films of the modern era. The Hurt Locker finally gives the War on Terror a statement worth saying. Where the Wild Things Are will be remembered as a film that took audience involvement and understanding to a totally new level. It and Watchmen prove that there is still true art to be squeezed out, kicking and screaming, from big budget filmmaking.  Inglourious Basterds is simply one of the best films to be released in America in years. 2010 has quite a lot to live up to.

I will fully stand by 2009 as one of the good years to be a film fan. I can say this despite having seen New Moon in a theater. What else is there to say?

Well, besides this:

HELL. YES.

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