2009 In Restrospect - Surprise Package Of The Year

I first came to know about this movie when I saw its trailer prior to watching some other movie. My first impression, I thought the film was going to be cool, especially when it is about rock 'n' roll and music and stuff. And when I watched the DVD, it didn't disappoint me.

"The Boat That Rocked" is an independent British-American ensemble comedy starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Rhys Ifans, Bill Nighy and Nick Frost just to name a few. It was released in the UK on 1 April 2009. Since the film was a commercial and critical failure in the UK, it was re-edited and retitled as "Pirate Radio" for a release in the US and Canada on 13 November 2009. Unfortunately, that did not change its luck - the film was still commercially unsuccessful in North America.

Nevertheless, the movie was a solid tribute about a fictitious pirate radio station broadcasting from a ship to the UK in the year 1966. Superbly written and directed by Richard Curtis (whose previous writing and directing credits included "Four Weddings And A Funeral", "Notting Hill", "Bean", Bridget Jones' Diary" and "Love Actually"), the movie was a roller-coaster ride filled with many amusing moments and carefully selected tunes that clearly represent the characters' feelings and emotions in accordance with the time i.e. the sixties.

The actors playing each character were almost spot-on especially the 4 Leading Stars. Hoffman played The Count, an American Radio Deejay brought into the fray to spice up the station. His reputation as the Radio's leading broadcaster got a little tougher with a strong competition from a charming womanizer, Gavin Cavanagh, played ever so suavely by Rhys Ifans. Nick Frost played Dr. Dave while Nighy played the Radio Boss, Quentin - the man who calms things down even when they are really going down, literally.

With plenty of swaying tunes from the sixties (i.e. the likes of The Kinks, The Turtles, Procol Harum, Cat Stevens, The Hollies, The Who, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix and Cream) and a beautifully written story to support it, the movie filled up the room with plenty of emotions - high and low.

2009 In Restrospect - Sleeper Hit Of The Year

Each year, there would be at least one or two movies that would defy the odds and box office predictions, and would rake up a storm in the collections that no one could figure how and why it happened. In 2008, "Twilight" began to make its mark and did their producers more than justice when they broke all silence and appeared as the sleeper hit of the year with a box office collection of more than USD350 million worldwide. In 2007, the cleverly written "Juno" did the same albeit with a slightly lower box office takings.

Last year, an action thriller film with very little well known stars took the liberty of raking in more than USD 145 million in box office collections. Starring Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, and Maggie Grace, the movie "Taken" is based on a script by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen and was directed by Pierre Morel.

Neeson plays a no-nonsense, former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) paramilitary operative who sets about tracking down his teenage daughter after she is kidnapped by slave traders while she was traveling in France.

The movie initially started at a slow pace. Only when Neeson found out about his daughter's misfortunes that the movie began to pick up the pace. And from one sequence to another, the movie's gripping and realistic actions kept the adrenaline flowing non-stop, thanks to a good direction and strong editing.

If anything, I would remember this movie for one particular scene when Neeson was talking to the phone with one of the kidnappers, and he said (with much grit and conviction) "I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for a ransom, I can tell you I don't have the money. But what I do have is a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."

That in itself is worth sitting through the rest of the movie even if your bladder is bloatedly full.

2009 In Restrospect - Best Movie Based On A TV Series

I consider myself a Half-Trekkie. I never really appreciated the earlier TV Series (with Shattner and Nimoy). And although I am fine with the earlier movies (i.e. Star Trek 1 - VI), I'd still prefer Star Trek Generations. Be it due to Jean Luc Picard, Ryker, Data, LaForge or Deanna Troy (highly likely due to Marina Sirtis), I'd still can relate much to the latter series.

And so, I didn't really have much high hopes on this one. I heard that it's going to be a prequel. But, right from the opening sequence, I was mesmerized by the action sequence, the drama that unfolds subsequently and the solid portrayals by the new bunch of actors.

Directed by Jeffrey Jacob Abrams, or better known as J.J. Abrams, the creator or co-creator of the television series "Felicity", "Alias", "Lost", and "Fringe", the movie appeared to be sensibly produced with careful thoughts on character development. Apart from paying homage to the original TV Series, it also has more than just mind blowing and powerful action sequeces. Staying true to the source material, fans of the original TV Series would certainly appreciate this version. And for the newbies, you don't need to be a Trekkie to enjoy this movie. The screenwriters have done quite a wonderful job by developing a background and history to each of the main character, allowing the viewers to get to know them better.

Relatively young actors were lined up to play the ever-so-well-known characters - Chris Pine as James T. Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Simon Pegg as Scotty, John Cho as Sulu and Anton Yelchin as Chekov. There is also a cameo by Leonard Nimoy as the 'older' Spock and a most surprising turn by Eric Bana as the Romulan Nero.

Both Pine and Quinto did a terrific job playing the famous duo. Pine came across as a rebellious and arrogant chap quite similar to the traits of the original James T. Kirk that we've grown quite accustomed to, and Quinto would have made Nimoy so proud with his turn as the brilliant Vulcan. However, I personally felt that Winona Ryder's presence in the movie was slightly off-key and a miscast. She looked a bit young to play a mother. A slightly elderly actress would have done much justice to the character of Amanda Grayson.

Nevertheless, this is definitely a good treat for action movie fans and a remarkable effort to re-produce a franchise to move along with changing times.

2009 In Retrospect - Best Comedy Of The Year

"This is not a love story...", we were forewarned early in the movie. By gosh! How joyful was the ride all throughout the movie, as it continued to defy expectations over expectations.

Now, here's a movie that was never too assuming nor self-conceited. This is a movie that relies largely on a well told tale of a 'relationship' between two human beings longing for companionship, outlayed and narrated in a non-linear style, beyond the norms of a normal mainstream Hollywood quickies.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Tom Hansen, a hopeless romantic, who could have been an Architect but opted to become a Copywriter instead because he just figured, "why make something disposable like a building when you can make something that last forever, like a greeting card".

One fine day, Tom met "the girl of his dreams" when he meets Summer (played by the beautiful Zooey Deschanel). Good thing for Tom, he fell head over heals with Summer. But unfortunately for him, Summer's feelings for him was not reciprocal. Therein lies the twists, turns and emotional upheavals that made the movie uniquely different from the rest of the other comedies.

Director, Marc Webb, did a wonderful job by truly capturing the feeling of an innocent and naïve romance, and blending them with some depressing and heart-wrenching moments, with underlying humoristic tones. Bottomline, he's telling us not to take love so seriously, especially wehen we are young, until we decide to really, really be with someone for the rest of our lives. Anything can happen along the way.

The movie's strengths are expounded through the emotional scenes, with very little dialogues between the two main characters, played so endearingly well by Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel. Thanks to their chemistry, there were some truly, truly wonderful and subtle moments of love and tenderness that were so real and never came across as corny and untactful.

It's been a while since I last came across a Romantic Comedy of this nature.

2009 In Retrospect - Best Animated Movie Of The Year

Pixar has so far been successful in their animated ventures ever since John Lasseter started a daring trend with "Toy Story" in 1995. Ever since then, and 10 movies later, they have continued to enlighten us with myriads of movies with strong messages about life for both kids and adults, and they have progressed even further in terms of technical wizardries with beautifully crafted animation techniques and craftsmanship.

There were stories about bugs (i.e. 1998's "A Bug's Life") and monsters (i.e. 2001's "Monsters, Inc"); they made us laugh through an honest journey of a Dory Fish (i.e. 2003's "Finding Nemo"); and they even made us fall with our hats off in respect of a Cooking Mouse (i.e. 2007's "Ratatoille"). Over the years, they have made us laugh, and they have made us cry.

But nothing beats their latest spectacle of an animated adventure called "Up" - a tale of an elderly widower named Carl Fredricksen (effectively voiced by Edward Asner) and a young overeager "wilderness explorer" named Russell (voiced by Jordan Nagai) who flew to South America in a floating house suspended from helium balloons, in search of a place called Paradise Falls. Along the way, they met an elderly explorer, Charles Muntz (voiced by the veteran, Christopehr Plummer) and a host of other quirky charcaters. Rest assured, plenty of typical Pixar action movements and sequences trnaspired along the way with a rather interesting ending.

What's different about the movie is the Opening Sequence when Carl met Ellie in her Clubhouse, discovering that they both had a similar common interest i.e. they both adore the famed explorer Charles F. Muntz. And when Ellie dreams of wanting to go to Paradise Falls, what's usually done at the very end of a story happened right at the beginning of this movie. A series of montage-like character development were shown from the point Carl and Ellie fell in love, got married, bought a home, grew older together, saved some money for their planned trip to Paradise Falls, to the point of Ellie becoming sick and soon later indulged herself in a long deep sleep.

Carl's undying love for Ellie only meant that with or without Ellie, he must fulfill Ellie's promises and dreams of reaching Paradise Falls, by hook or by crook.

To me, the opening sequences were the best part of the movie. It set the tone and the mood of the movie for me. And another great thing that came out of the movie was the beautiful soundtrack produced by Michael Giacchino. It deservingly won an Oscar for Best Original Soundtrack.

This one clearly ranks as one of the Top 10 Best Animated Movies of all time.

2009 In Retrospect - The Biggest Movie Of The Year

It is only fair that if I were to carry out a review of all the films I've watched in 2009, I would start with the biggest of the lot. And last year, there was no other movies bigger in scope and greater in anticipation other than James Cameron's "Avatar".

What was so special about this movie is that it brought us back to the spirit and cinematic grandeur of great movies like Titanic and Lord Of The Rings Trilogy - typically brilliant in terms of technical and cinematic achievements yet intertwined with simple storytelling that managed to capture the hearts and minds of various stratas of viewers.

Once again, James Cameron, after a long hiatus of almost 11 years since producing and directing "Titanic", has come up with a movie worthy of its epic billing and almost at par if not better than its predecessor.

Much has been said about the movie, and I'm pretty sure there are tonnes of reviews on the movie. So, let me just list down the 10 Things I Like About The Movie: -

1. I got to see Sigourney Weaver again in a James Cameron movie (the last was Aliens).

2. The special effects were out of this world. Brilliantly done.

3. And PANDORA really, really came to life. Cameron always have this endearing vision of a world truly beyond our normal thoughts.

4. Sam Worthington was an unknown before this. But he's definitely a superstar now. Although his Jake Sully will not be remembered as much as Leonardo Di Caprio's Jack Dawson, it was a good effort from this newcomer.

5. Zoe Saldana played Neytiri, a Na'vi in the movie. She is supposed to be a Computer-Enhanced creature. But without her hearty emotions and vigorous movements, Neytiri would have been soulless.

6. Stephen Lang (who played the evil Colonel Miles Quaritch) reminded me of one of the characters from Small Soldiers (i.e. the one played / voiced by Tommy Lee Jones).

7. The movie was so engrossing that it didn't feel like a 160-minute movie (i.e. 2 1/2 hours long).

8. Just like "Titanic" earlier, Cameron got James Horner to produce the Soundtrack for "Avatar". Great job. The music enhanced the movie to greater heights.

9. Gorgeous cinematography by Mauro Fiore.

10. Of all the movies nominated for the Best Picture (Oscar), and with all dfue respect to "The Hurt Locker", this will be the one remembered most by many.

Enough said.