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