Up in the Air (2009)

Director Jason Reitman captures the current zeitgeist of unemployment, and George Clooney (a corporate downsizer) delivers the bad news. Clooney is at his best — charming, perfectly dressed and engaged by smart, sexy Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick.

d: Jason Reitman | imdb.com | trailer | “Charlie Rose”
Bar club cards | I’m not a tour guide. | Miles | Something real

Brittany Murphy (1977-2009)

Equipped with expressive doe eyes, Brittany Murphy played innocent in “Clueless” and forgettable romantic comedies but also found more serious work — suicidal in “Girl, Interrupted,” Eminem’s girlfriend in “8 Mile” and an abused waitress in “Sin City.”

imdb.com | The New York Times | Esquire
clips: “Clueless” | “Girl, Interrupted” | “8 Mile” | “Sin City”

My favorite movies (2000s)

1. Lost in Translation (03 Sofia Coppola)
2. Juno (07 Jason Reitman)
3. Where the Wild Things Are (09 Jonze)
4. Inglourious Basterds (09 Tarantino)
5. The 40 Year Old Virgin (05 Apatow)
6. Shaun of the Dead (07 Wright)
7. Religulous (08 Charles)
8. Million Dollar Baby (04 Eastwood)
9. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (04 Gondry)
10. Junebug (05 Morrison)

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953)

The only film written by Dr. Seuss captures the wit, whimsy and imagination of his other work with playful musical numbers and sets straight out his children’s books. In this story, the sinister Dr. Terwilliker operates a piano academy for boys.

d: Roy Rowland | imdb.com | trailer | the whole movie
“Because We’re Kids” | “Dressing Song: Do-Mi-Do Duds”

A Single Man (2009)

Fashion designer Tom Ford’s first film is a bit pretentious, but it captures the look and feel of Los Angeles in 1962 — from skinny ties to the Cuban missile crisis. Colin Firth, a gay college professor, mourns the death of his partner in a human performance.

d: Tom Ford | imdb.com | trailer | Becoming George.

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Based on the book by Roald Dahl, director Wes Anderson constructs a breezy, stop-action playland — like those old “Frosty the Snowman” specials — where his family of foxes and other furry creatures act with the imagination of a child’s favorite toy.

d: Wes Anderson | imdb.com | trailer | “Charlie Rose”
You cussin’ with me? | Whack bat | Dig. | Latin roll call

The Road (2009)

Director John Hillcoat paints the end of the world in brown and gray, a bleak terrain of cannibals and thieves, starvation and terror. But Viggo Mortensen and his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) carry the fire, their relationship a moving tribute to the last of humanity.

d: John Hillcoat | imdb.com | trailer | You never killed a man ...
Bad guys. | He’s a god. | We did good. | They are going to kill us.

The Blind Side (2009)

Based on the book by Michael Lewis, spunky Memphis mama Sandra Bullock (in a one-note performance) and her family adopt a black kid, and football success ensues in a big-budget version of a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. Michael Oher is reduced to a mute.

d: John Lee Hancock | imdb.com | trailer | New room | Lunch

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)

Nicolas Cage gives a singular performance as a wonderfully unhinged cop investigating a multiple homicide. His personal life is a high-wire balancing act — Vicodin, cocaine, prostitute girlfriend and gambling on college football.

d: Werner Herzog | imdb.com | trailer

The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)

George Clooney, Jeff Bridges (wonderful as another version of the Dude), Kevin Spacey and Stephen Lang are members of the New Earth Army, an experimental Army program centered on parapsychology in an enjoyable war comedy with little payoff.

d: Grant Heslov | imdb.com | trailer | the book | the documentary

The Fourth Kind (2009)

Milla Jovovich’s performance as Dr. Abigail Tyler — a psychologist in Nome, Alaska, who was abducted by aliens — is intercut with footage of the real Tyler and her patients’ freakout sessions. Except none of it is true, and either way, it’s not scary.

d: Olatunde Osunsanmi | imdb.com | trailer | It’s just not true.

Daniel Melnick (1932-2009)

As a producer and studio executive, Daniel Melnick made the classics “Straw Dogs,” “Network,” “All That Jazz” and “The Goodbye Girl.” But coolest of all, he hosted monthly poker games that included Johnny Carson, Steve Martin, Neil Simon and Chevy Chase.

imdb.com | The New York Times | Los Angeles Times | Martin Short

Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

Director Spike Jonze creates a world so fantastic that it honors a child’s imagination yet so realistic that Max, King of the Wild Things, can’t solve life’s complicated emotions even in his make-believe world. Jonze has made a little piece of joy.

d: Spike Jonze | imdb.com | trailer | featurette
What’s your story? | This is our family. | Dirt clod fight

An Education (2009)

Carey Mulligan recalls the wit and charm of Audrey Hepburn as a high school student who is seduced by the sly, older Peter Sarsgaard. Set in suburban London in 1961, the coming of age tale is as fun and charming as the French pop records Mulligan adores.

d: Lone Scherfig | imdb.com | trailer | Interest or hobby
I never did anything ... | You have taste. | Hard and boring

The Damned United (2009)

The film catches soccer coach Brian Clough between triumphs — during his 44-day run as coach of Leeds United. Michael Sheen is excellent as the complicated Clough, a trash-talking impresario obsessed with first division fame and rival coach Don Revie.

d: Tom Hooper | imdb.com | trailer | Brian Clough
Don Revie | New players | Management | Leeds United

Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2009)

This is not Spinal Tap. This is a touching documentary about influential heavy metal band Anvil, led by lead singer Steve “Lips” Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner, and how their love of music has carried them through 30 years of obscurity.

d: Sacha Gervasi | imdb.com | trailer | I love to entertain.
We missed our train. | Jam fucking packed | “Thumb Hang”

A Serious Man (2009)

Joel and Ethan Coen’s most personal film is an adaptation of The Book of Job — except darker and funnier. A Jewish physics professor (Michael Stuhlbarg) in suburban Minnesota suffers an endurance test informed by Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody to Love.”

d: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen | imdb.com | trailer | I’ve tried ...

Capitalism: A Love Story (2009)

Michael Moore’s shtick can grow tired, but his documentary about the end of the American economy presents revelatory material, including stunning unearthed footage of Franklin Delano Roosevelt calling for a “second bill of rights” in 1944.

d: Michael Moore | imdb.com | trailer | Speed it up.
Return to GM | Tim Geithner | The bank of you | Taking it back

Whip It (2009)

First-time director Drew Barrymore knows how to have a good time — roller derby, trash talk and food fights. Ellen Page (in a Stryper T-shirt) delivers the pathos as a 17-year-old at odds with her mom. Kristen Wiig and Juliette Lewis are great in supporting turns.

d: Drew Barrymore | imdb.com | trailer | Being judged | Food fight

Zombieland (2009)

The comedy is about all the fun parts of living in Zombieland — firearms, Escalades, vandalism, amusements parks and finding out Bill Murray isn’t dead yet. Woody Harrelson drives the Escalade and the movie, looking for his next kill and a Twinkie.

d: Ruben Fleischer | imdb.com | trailer | the rules | prospecting

The Invention of Lying (2009)

Ricky Gervais’ first film isn’t as smart or funny as his HBO series “The Office” and “Extras,” but he fashions a clever premise — a world without lying — into some great moments and a gentle commentary on religion. Louie C.K. is especially good.

d: Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson | imdb.com | trailer
Any messages? | You’re fired. | birthday coupon for sex

The Other Man (2009)

Liam Neeson discovers his dead wife Laura Linney had an affair with Antonio Banderas (of course) and flirts with revenge for about five minutes. Then the movie becomes a series of boring, melodramatic chess matches (literally) between the two men.

d: Richard Eyre | imdb.com | trailer

Jennifer’s Body (2009)

Director Karyn Kusama (“Girlfight”) and screenwriter Diablo Cody (“Juno”) craft a knowing, feminist take on the teenage slasher film with Amanda Seyfried as the tough, vulnerable heroine and Megan Fox as the body. Cody’s hip kid-speak is satiric fun.

d: Karyn Kusama | imdb.com | trailer | Kissing scene | Evil

Patrick Swayze (1952-2009)

Patrick Swayze used good looks and a background in ballet to become an iconic romantic lead as bad boy Johnny Castle in “Dirty Dancing” and a tortured soul in “Ghost,” while also starring in the cult action films “Red Dawn” and “Point Break.”

imdb.com | Time | Los Angeles Times | The Washington Post
Nobody puts Baby ... | the pottery scene | “Road House” rules

Larry Gelbart (1928-2009)

Comedy writer Larry Gelbart was funny in every medium, writing the Oscar-nominated films “Tootsie” and “Oh, God,” the Broadway musical “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” and most famously the landmark television series “M*A*S*H.”

imdb.com | The New York Times | Los Angeles Times | “Tootsie”
Archive of American Television | “M*A*S*H”

Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Bumbling scientist Cary Grant and adorable socialite Katharine Hepburn lose a tame leopard (Baby), a dog and a dinosaur bone in a classic screwball comedy. They prove an excellent slapstick duo, especially when the back of Hepburn’s dress is ripped off.

d: Howard Hawks | imdb.com | trailer | Get behind me.

His Girl Friday (1940)

Newspaperman Cary Grant schemes to win back ex-wife and ex-reporter Rosalind Russell in the most delightful sort of romantic comedy — a world where love is expressed through verbal sparring and faster, faster dialogue that overlaps at the seams.

d: Howard Hawks | imdb.com | trailer | the whole movie

Extract (2009)

Mike Judge (“Office Space”) captures more mundane workplace moments, but there isn’t enough smart satire to sustain the film. Jason Bateman owns an extract flavoring company and resides in a sexless marriage (to Kristen Wiig). Ben Affleck plays his druggie pal.

d: Mike Judge | imdb.com | trailer | Brad Chavez | Stupid Brad
“Film Forum with Beavis and Butthead”

Cool Hand Luke (1967)

The prison guards are sadists, and Cool Hand Luke is their masochist. Paul Newman’s anti-hero endures severe punishment — the film’s Christ-like imagery is well-documented — and in one classic scene, eats 50 eggs: one for every prisoner.

d: Stuart Rosenberg | imdb.com | trailer
50 eggs | A real cool hand | Failure to communicate | Car wash

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Quentin Tarantino’s World War II epic isn’t fact. It is pulp fiction — a viscerally satisfying tale of scalping, spies and Jewish revenge in four languages. Christoph Waltz (the Jew Hunter) is evil and charming and ironic in a powerful performance.

d: Quentin Tarantino | imdb.com | trailer | “Charlie Rose”
Jail break | The vet | Interrogation | Hans Landa

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009)

Jeremy Piven — a real American badass who loves Bob Seger — leads a group underachieving car salesmen in a Will Ferrell-style farce with Ving Rhames, strippers, alligators and a 10-year-old in a man’s body. Ed Helms steals a few scenes, too.

d: Neal Brennan | imdb.com | trailer | I have a $44 haircut.

Grace (2009)

Jordan Ladd gives birth to Grace, who is only satiated by blood in a disturbing but often effective horror film about undying motherhood and isolationism — and both are Ladd’s undoing. Warning: Do not see this film if you are pregnant or breast feeding.

d: Paul Solet | imdb.com | trailer

John Hughes (1950-2009)

Director John Hughes captured the zeitgeist in the 1980s with tales of teen angst in suburban Chicago — the Molly Ringwald trilogy, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “Weird Science” — and made stars of Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall and Matthew Broderick.

imdb.com | Richard Corliss | Top 10 John Hughes moments
The Breakfast Club | Sixteen Candles | Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

The Nutty Professor (1963)

In a loose adaptation of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” Jerry Lewis plays nerdy professor Julius Kelp and swinging Buddy Love. In the dual roles, Lewis transforms himself — his posture, his voice, his attitude — with fake buckteeth as the only prosthetic aid.

d: Jerry Lewis | imdb.com | trailers | Alaskan Polar Bear Heater

Rio Bravo (1959)

Howard Hawks directs a classic Western — a leisurely character study starring John Wayne, with great supporting performances by Dean Martin (Dude), Ricky Nelson (Colorado), Walter Brennan (Stumpy) and Angie Dickinson (Feathers). There’s even a sing-along.

d: Howard Hawks | imdb.com | trailer | sing-along | interview

Repulsion (1965)

In the Roman Polanski thriller about the psychosis of sexual repression, it’s difficult to say what is most scary: its isolationism, the rape scenes played without a soundtrack or that the woman gone mad is the beautiful, doe-eyed Catherine Deneuve.

d: Roman Polanski | imdb.com | trailer | the whole movie

Not Quite Hollywood (2009)

Mark Hartley affectionately directs this documentary about the Australian exploitation films of the 1970s and 80s — full of sex, violence, gore, car chases and tales of Dennis Hopper. Quentin Tarantino steals the show with his enthusiasm for the genre.

d: Mark Hartley | imdb.com | trailer

Funny People (2009)

Director Judd Apatow’s most mature work mines the dark world of stand-up comedy for dick jokes followed by moments of pathos. Adam Sandler plays a movie star — a meaner, lonelier version of himself with a leukemia-related death sentence — and he’s very good.

d: Judd Apatow | imdb.com | trailer | Kill me. | “Charlie Rose”

In the Loop (2009)

Based on the sound bites and cooked intelligence leading up to the Iraq war, the beautifully profane political satire skewers the U.S. and British governments. Peter Capaldi, playing a British press secretary, steals the show with the most inventive insults.

d: Armando Iannucci | imdb.com | trailer | The wall
Your swearing does not impress me.

The Answer Man (2009)

Irascible recluse Jeff Daniels, who wrote the definitive spirituality book “Me and God,” is bothered by lost souls who bother him for life’s answers but charmed by chiropractor Lauren Graham and her son in a formulaic yet enjoyable romantic comedy.

d: John Hindman | imdb.com | trailer

G-Force (2009)

Jerry Bruckheimer produces a movie that mixes life action — and too many extreme close-ups of Zach Galifianakis — with CGI guinea pigs who are super spies. Unfortunately, it has all the elements of a Bruckheimer production and homage to “Transformers.”

d: Hoyt H. Yeatman Jr. | imdb.com | trailer | need for speed

Shrink (2009)

After his wife commits suicide, Hollywood psychiatrist Kevin Spacey self-medicates with marijuana. Spacey brings his usual gleeful cynicism, but his patients are a depressing bunch of show-biz clichés who are all too-neatly interconnected — another movie cliché.

d: Jonas Pate | imdb.com | trailer

Orphan (2009)

Peter Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga are nothing but props in a standard child-possessed horror film. But Isabelle Fuhrman, who plays their newly adopted daughter Esther, is charmingly creepy, and her secret isn’t possession but something much more frightening.

d: Jaume Collet-Serra | imdb.com | trailer | She needs patience.

(500) Days of Summer (2009)

A realistic (un)romantic comedy told out of order: Joseph Gordon-Levitt falls in love with the adorable Zooey Deschanel (Summer), but she doesn’t believe in love. Both give charming, natural performances, and there’s even a musical number.

d: Marc Webb | imdb.com | trailer | Sid and Nancy | Stalking
“You Make My Dreams Come True” | They used to call me anal girl.

The Great Escape (1963)

Based on a true story, Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough and Charles Bronson lead 250 soldiers out of a German POW camp in World War II. McQueen is the heart of the epic, his cool under duress a symbol of the men’s indomitable spirit.

d: John Sturges | imdb.com | trailer | The Making of ...

Brüno (2009)

The second film from satirist and provocateur Sacha Baron Cohen doesn’t hit its mark as squarely as “Borat,” but as Bruno — a gay Austrian fashionista desperate for fame — Cohen nails enough of his targets, including stage parents, the South and Paula Abdul.

d: Larry Charles | imdb.com | trailer | stage parents

The Hurt Locker (2009)

Director Kathryn Bigelow expertly builds tension with each wire cut by bomb specialist Jeremy Renner in an Iraq war picture refreshing void of ideology. Renner gives a superior performance, his character part reckless artist, part John Wayne.

d: Kathryn Bigelow | imdb.com | trailer | “Charlie Rose”
opening sequence | Die comfortable. | cell phone

Chéri (2009)

Still sexy and regal at 51, Michelle Pfeiffer plays a courtesan in waning and in love with the much younger Rupert Friend (Chéri). Pfeiffer fights her age and Friend his arranged marriage in 1920s Paris as their charming love story turns to one of longing.

d: Stephen Frears | imdb.com | trailer | Haven’t I been worth it?

Away We Go (2009)

John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph search for the perfect place to raise their expected baby in a sweet road picture, and both deliver unaffected comic performances. Allison Janney, Jim Gaffigan and Maggie Gyllenhaal provide wonderful satires of bad parenting.

d: Sam Mendes | imdb.com | trailer | You got lucky, sister.

Whatever Works (2009)

Woody Allen directs Larry David, who essentially plays Allen — a neurotic, cynical genius who falls in love with young runaway Evan Rachel Wood. He’s fun to watch, and Wood’s naiveté is adorable, misunderstanding David’s world view, then co-opting it.

d: Woody Allen | imdb.com | trailer

Year One (2009)

Harold Ramis returns to writing and directing with a sophomoric prehistoric effort. Jack Black plays Jack Black and Michael Cera his straight man. The movie has been made before — “Life of Brian,” “Wholly Moses” and “History of the World: Part 1.”

d: Harold Ramis | imdb.com | trailer | Holy of holies | Stoned

The Proposal (2009)

Sandra Bullock forces assistant Ryan Reynolds to marry her, so she won’t be deported to her native Canada in a throwback to the romantic comedies of the 1930s. But there’s too much sentiment and not enough chemistry or comedy between Bullock and Reynolds.

d: Anne Fletcher | imdb.com | trailer | We’re getting married.

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)

In a remake of the 1974 thriller, Denzel Washington plays the dispatcher in charge when John Travolta hijacks a subway train, demanding $10 million in an hour. Tony Scott’s direction can be distracting, but the performances are top-notch.

d: Tony Scott | imdb.com | trailer | Hostage | First one to go

The Hangover (2009)

Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis play guy archetypes — the frat boy, the neurotic, the child — and make them funny anew as three groomsmen who wake up in Las Vegas with no tooth, no groom and no memory of what happened the night before.

d: Todd Phillips | imdb.com | trailer | “In the Air Tonight”

Land of the Lost (2009)

Typical of recent television series adaptations, the movie changes the main characters and goofs on the original work, alienating any leftover fans of the cult children’s show. This version stars Will Ferrell, flanked by sexual innuendo and shit jokes.

d: Brad Silberling | imdb.com | trailer | Meet Chaka | I’m so tired.

Up (2009)

The animated film’s pathos is present early — a wordless four-minute montage that touchingly recounts an old man’s life with his wife and the home they built together. The old man and a young boy go on a new adventure full of talking dogs and a fallen hero.

d: Pete Docter | imdb.com | trailer | Russell | Kevin | Dug

Drag Me to Hell (2009)

Alison Lohman denies an old gypsy woman a mortgage extension, which results in a curse — a sentence to hell after three days of hell on earth. Director Sam Raimi revels in a return to his horror genre roots, and Lohman is perfectly innocent and tough.

d: Sam Raimi | imdb.com | trailer | the curse | bad dream

The Girlfriend Experience (2009)

Steven Soderbergh goes experimental — casting adult film star Sasha Grey as an escort set against the 2008 presidential campaign and impending economic doom. The film contains no sex, just business transactions. The result is empty but fascinating.

d: Steven Soderbergh | imdb.com | trailer

Management (2009)

After a one-afternoon stand in a motel, night manager Steve Zahn follows Jennifer Aniston across the country twice in a winning road picture-romantic comedy. Woody Harrelson plays Aniston’s ex-boyfriend — a former punk rocker, now a yogurt mogul.

d: Stephen Belber | imdb.com | trailer

Star Trek (2009)

The 11th movie based on the cult television series re-starts the franchise — a perfunctory but well-executed exercise complete with childhood backstories. But illogically, this Spock is an unlikable, vengeful Vulcan, and Leonard Nimoy’s appearance feels forced.

d: J.J. Abrams | imdb.com | trailer | Kirk meets Uhura | and McCoy

Crank: High Voltage (2009)

Jason Statham is back from the dead, Amy Smart is a stripper and they screw on a horse track (during a horse race) in a big-budget exploitation action-comedy. The movie is an assault on the senses, good taste and filmmaking — and it’s great.

d: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor | imdb.com | trailer | Juice me.

State of Play (2009)

Russell Crowe is a journalist investigating congressman and old college buddy Ben Affleck in an implausible political thriller and an unrealistic homage to newspapers with too many twists. Jason Bateman is the highlight as a sleazy public relations man.

d: Kevin Macdonald | imdb.com | trailer | questioning Domenic

Observe and Report (2009)

An R-rated version of “Paul Bart: Mall Cop,” Seth Rogen is a bipolar shopping center security chief with a violent streak, Dirty Harry without a clue. The movie, Rogen and love interest Anna Faris aren’t afraid to be unlikable in the dark action-comedy.

d: Jody Hill | imdb.com | trailer | Are you OK, Brandi?
Is there really a pervert here? | You should do that again.

Adventureland (2009)

Recent college graduate Jesse Eisenberg falls in love with Kristen Stewart and smokes pot with the other dead-end kids at an amusement park in 1987. Eisenberg and Stewart are so natural together, and the film never plays the period for broad laughs.

d: Greg Mottola | imdb.com | trailer | Hired | Date with Lisa P.

Sugar (2009)

Former baseball player Algenis Perez Soto plays a sensitive Dominican pitching prospect adjusting to life in the minor leagues and America — just one of the many realistic touches in an objective film that deserves a place on the shelf next to “Bull Durham.”

d: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck | imdb.com | trailer | car-boat
French toast | Welcome to America. | No chicas in the bedroom.

Goodbye Solo (2009)

Souleymane Sy Savane plays a taxi driver in Winston-Salem, N.C., an African immigrant and American dreamer. Red West is his passenger, an old man ready for his last ride. They form a knowing relationship, and both actors deliver quiet, masterful performances.

d: Ramin Bahrani | imdb.com | trailer

The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)

Virginia Madsen violates a real estate rule: If the rent on a house, which used to be a funeral home where séances were held, is too good to be true, don’t move in. The film’s grisly images aren’t enough to outweigh every horror movie cliché.

d: Peter Cornwell | imdb.com | trailer | Dishes | Shower | Birds

Duplicity (2009)

Clive Owen and Julia Roberts are rival corporate spies and lovers, except they have no sexual chemistry and Roberts looks old. The caper tale — told in flashbacks and in exotic cities — isn’t nearly as clever as it thinks it is. The film outsmarts itself.

d: Tony Gilroy | imdb.com | trailer | How do I know you?

I Love You, Man (2009)

Engaged but friendless, Paul Rudd looks for a best man and finds fellow Rush fanatic Jason Segel in a poor man’s version of a Judd Apatow film. The movie is so precious, so sweet that it needs a shot of adrenaline — maybe a bar fight or Steve McQueen.

d: John Hamburg | imdb.com | trailer | Open House | Rushified

The Last House on the Left (2009)

In a remake of Wes Craven’s 1972 revenge tale, Tony Goldwyn and Monica Potter exact punishment against a family of degenerates for raping their daughter, becoming just as canny as the criminals with the use of a garbage disposal and microwave.

d: Dennis Iliadis | imdb.com | trailer | ready to do anything