2009

   Last year seemed to me to be a year without a movie. I had no great anticipations for awesome films, and the films that I looked forward to flopped in my mind. There were, however, several surprises: films that either I knew nothing about, or that I poo-poohed after reading the title.
   All-in-all, I went to the theater 28 unique times to watch films, a few short of 2008's personal record of 35. And similar to a post created last year, I can say that I've seen several of the films more than once in theaters, and some of the films again when the came to blu-ray and dvd.
The complete list of 2009's films that I watched (both in theater or at home) follows, the blue being on blu-ray, the red being in the theater, and white on DVD:

Watchmen

Sunshine Cleaning

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Bella

Star Trek

Terminator Salvation

Angels and Demons

Up

Return to Tarawa

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Moon

Public Enemies

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Riff Raff

(500) Days of Summer

District 9

Inglorious Basterds

Zombieland

Paul Blart: Mall Cop

Coraline

Where the Wild Things Are

Paranormal Activity

The Men Who Stare At Goats

2012

Avatar

Up In The Air

Julie & Julia

The Road

Invictus

  The films that stood out among the others were Invictus, Up In The Air, Where the Wild Things Are, Up, Star Trek and Moon. Oddly, the movies that I found the most unique are the independent and drama films, not the action films. For me, a moviegoer who is big into action and adventure, This year was surprisingly better in the drama department. Although Star Trek stood out as one of my favorite films of the year, I can say that Public Enemies was not as good as The Road, nor was Avatar as moving as Where the Wild Things Are. They all have their own unique properties, no doubt, but for a person who owns 99% action films, 2009 was an odd year.
  Gran Torino, one of the years first films (with a limited release in December 2008, and a wide release in January 2009) is comparable to Clint Eastwood's Invictus, starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. There are some issues with poor acting on behalf of some minor characters, the editing was at times confusing in jumping from story to story, and the story itself was riddled with side-stories that helped explain what was happening, but didn't really further the story in any other way.
  This year's sci-fi films, including Star Trek, Watchmen, District 9, and Avatar were a slew of amazing effects put together with some great (and some not so great) stories. JJ Abrams Star Trek revival was a surprisingly fast-paced character and action-driven film, abundant with lens flares. Watchmen was nothing short of 2 Hours and 42 Minutes of story and character development, where the story and characters remained static (a feat worthy of recognition). And District 9 and Avatar, with their similar stories of learning to understand Alien cultures and live with the Aliens both used outstanding visuals to propel both a unique story (in the case of District 9) and a not so unique story.
  Moon and Where the Wild Things Are, two rather outstanding low-budget films, really stood out as some of the best films of the year. Both the cinematography and the acting went hand-in-hand with the beauty of the story and the visual effects for both films.
  George Clooney made his appearance in three mainstream films just in the last 2 months of 2009, in Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Men Who Stare At Goats, and Up In The Air. Unfortunatly I was unable to catch Fantastic Mr. Fox while it was still in the theaters, but I only heard good things from it. Also unfortunate was the lack I felt upon leaving the theater from The Men Who Stare At Goats. But Reitman really showed that he has what it takes in his third film Up In The Air, coming directly from Juno and Thank You For Smoking before it. And Clooney, of course, proves that he has the ability to be more than Ocean from Ocean's Eleven.
  Overall, 2009 was a new year with new movies, and a new appeal for my appetite. Action films have tried hard to maintain their Blockbuster appeal, and although Avatar is looking to be the highest grossing movie of all times (and in record time I might add), the Oscar will go somewhere else as usual this year.