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The Best and Worst Movies of the Year - Agree or Disagree?

So here are the best and worst movies of 2009 according to Mr. Tom Charity of www.cnn.com. I do agree with some of his choices while some I have yet tosee. When are they going to show Coraline here? Hurt Locker?

So do you agree or disagree with Mr. Charity?

The best and worst films of 2009

By Tom Charity, Special to CNN

(CNN) -- Over the past week, "Avatar" and "Sherlock Holmes" sealed another record-breaking box-office year for Hollywood, with a little help from a trio of singing chipmunks.

The economy may not be back on its feet yet, but at least the movie business is recession-proof, right?

Not so fast. Blockbusters are attracting huge audiences, but size doesn't come cheap, and this year -- like last year -- the studios continued to cut back on the middle ground: the low- to mid-budget films that are rarely enormously profitable but that have nevertheless formed the bedrock of America's love affair with movies for the best part of the last century.

In a society proud to place a high value on independence, movie culture seems increasingly stratified and programmatic. Moviegoing is no longer habitual for most adults; the gamers who flock to "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" -- the biggest grosser of the year in more ways than one -- are impatient with character and nuance, and are simply looking for maximum bang.

So long as Hollywood keeps upping the ante, audiences will repay the compliment. But sooner or later, something's got to give. If film production costs keep escalating, it will be the audience who pays, not only in higher ticket prices, but in reduced choice.

"Avatar" deserves to be a hit, but I have a strong suspicion that in setting out to save cinema, James Cameron has only made things worse. If the housing market bubble can burst, so can the blockbuster business.

"Avatar" didn't make my top 10, though I liked it well enough and much better than most in what was, by and large, a dismal year for Hollywood movies.

There were a few bright spots: J.J. Abrams reinvigorated the "Star Trek" franchise ... Pixar ("Up") and Disney ("The Princess and the Frog") contributed to a banner year for animated films ... there were adventurous commercial films from Steven Soderbergh ("The Informant!"), Spike Jonze ("Where the Wild Things Are") and Michael Mann ("Public Enemies") ... and Francis Coppola returned with his unapologetically esoteric and personal "Tetro."

The year will also be remembered as a watershed year for female filmmakers: Kathryn Bigelow, Jane Campion, Nora Ephron, Nancy Meyers, Rebecca Miller, Christine Jeffs, Anne Fletcher, Mira Nair, Karyn Kusama, Lone Scherfig, Lynn Shelton and Drew Barrymore, for starters. (And that's ignoring the French: Agnes Varda, Claire Denis and Anne Fontaine all had films on the arthouse circuit in recent months.) Of course, not all these films were hits, but the success of female-driven movies such as "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," "Julie & Julia" and anything at all to do with Sandra Bullock should put an end to that old Hollywood canard that those movies don't open.

And now, the top 10:

1. "A Serious Man"

It's bizarre that the Coens' best movie in a decade isn't getting the respect (or the audiences) it deserves. On the surface, "A Serious Man" seems to be a modest venture -- it doesn't feature any stars, and it appears to be a relatively banal story about a physics professor, Larry (Michael Stuhlbarg), barely coping with the news that his wife is leaving him just as a work promotion hangs in the balance. Yet from these domestic tribulations, the Coens have fashioned a movie that is, on the one hand, a probing examination of mortality, faith and guilt; and on the other, a bitingly acidic black comedy about middle-American Jewish mores in the late 1960s.

2. "Ponyo"

There may never have been a better vintage for animated feature films. Three made my top 10, and two more came close. The best came from Japan: Hayao Miyazaki ("Spirited Away") has long been held in high esteem in America, though he's never had a box office hit here. "Ponyo" is a strange and beguiling fantasy film about a sea spirit. It's an odd eco-fable, but illustrated with such beauty and imagination, it transports entirely into another world.

3. "Inglourious Basterds"

Quentin Tarantino's outrageous and brilliant war movie is the ultimate in revisionism. For 2½ hours in the dark, the cinema is everywhere and everything.

4. "Two Lovers"

Eclipsed in the zeitgeist by lead actor Joaquin Phoenix's mysterious behavior on Letterman, this is probably the most underrated movie of the year, not least for the actor's consummate portrait of a man desperately in love with the wrong girl (Gwyneth Paltrow).

5. "Coraline"

This was supposed to be the year of 3D, and with the arrival of "Avatar," I suppose it was. But nobody used the third dimension more creatively than Henry Selick in this dark and disturbing animated feature about a young girl momentarily tempted by a glimpse of an idyllic other life.

6. "The Headless Woman"

Lucrecia Martel's Argentine enigma spoke volumes while spelling out nothing. Martel demands attention; she may be the finest filmmaker on the continent.

7. "The Hurt Locker"

The best-reviewed American movie of the year is an intense, unflinching suspense film about a bomb disposal expert in Iraq (a career-making performance from Jeremy Renner). Why did it bottom out at $13 million at the box office? The distressing scene in which Renner cut into the corpse of a booby-trapped dead child may have had something to do with it. That kind of courage is rare in movies, but there's a smaller market for honesty.

8. "Bright Star"

Another box office under-achiever, Jane Campion's most assured film in a long time deserves to find a wider audience on DVD. The story of John Keats and love of his life Fanny Brawne, this is a sensual, immersive, deeply passionate movie.

9. "Fantastic Mr. Fox"

I enjoyed "Up in the Air," too, but if I had to pick one George Clooney movie this year, it would have to be this. Taking Roald Dahl's story as a starting point, Wes Anderson reconceived the reckless red fox as another of his irresistible, incorrigible and tragically immature alpha males. Mr. Fox's bravado has potentially terrible ramifications for his family and friends, as he ruefully comes to admit, yet this is his nature, and he cannot be otherwise. The same is true of Anderson, yet the switch to stop-motion has inspired his most visually lovely film and freed up his comic imagination.

10. "La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet"

Veteran documentarian Fred Wiseman trains his camera on the rehearsals and inner workings of the venerable Parisian ballet company for 2½ hours -- roughly the time it took for Michael Bay to destroy one of the seven wonders of the world. Movie audiences thrill to destruction, but the art of creation can also be enthralling.

And the worst films of the year, with No. 1 taking the dishonor as worst film of 2009:

10. "Year One"

9. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine"

8. "The Ugly Truth"

7. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"

6. "The Time Traveler's Wife"

5. "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past"

4. "Couples Retreat"

3. "New in Town"

2. "Nine"

1. "Miss March"

photo of the day 5: tall trees

Taken in Camp John Hay in Baguio. More about that trip in the coming entries.

Photo of the Day 4: fireworks!

happy new year everyone!

Movie Review: Baby Mama

Thanks to HBO, I've been able to watch flicks I've missed in the past couple of years due to work, social life or simple indifference. The other night I got to watch Baby Mama, starring Amy Pohler and Tina Fey.

I like Tina Fey and Amy Pohler. I enjoy watching them on SNL when they were still cast members. I perticularly like Ms. Fey, she's obviously very smart. She's the first female head writer for SNL, she writes and stars in the critically acclaimed 30 Rock alongside Alec Baldwin. She's can be a poster girl for the feminist movement. She's strong, beautiful and sexy.

If that's the case, her roles on screen might be a commentary on how society views strong women. In 30 Rock, she's made fun of by her coworkers,she's made to look sad and ridiculous. In Baby Mama, her character Angie, is at the top of her game: she's vice-president, she lives in an expensive apartment and, gasp!, she wants to have a baby on her own, without a husband. And here, once more, she's made to look lonely until she finds a man. But that's another discussion meant for another blog entry.

In Baby Mama, Tina Fey is her old awkwardly funny, witty self. And when paired up with Pohler, comedy ensues. However, like your typical SNL sketch some scenes fall flat and feel forced while others are comedy gem like that sequence where Pohler is getting fertilized.

What's refreshing about this flick is that it's a comedy targeted at women that's not a romantic comedy. It's not very often that that happens.

Baby Mama has its moments, but it's not enough, not even with Fey in it, to drive me to watch it again.

I give this movie a C+

From the Bookshelf: Amsterdam

To start off the new year, I'm going to put a new section on this blog: From The Bookshelf. This is where I recommend books I've recently read. Although I must remind you that I won't be doing any book reviews since I don't feel confident enough to do one. Maybe someday. But for now, I'm just telling you , these are the books I've read and go read them if you can take my word for it. Okay?

I know, I know, I'm no Oprah and the books I recommend won't suddenly become instant bestsellers, but what the hey. Just sharing okay?

One of the best books I've read in 2009 is Amsterdam by Ian Mc Ewan. It's quite short, but McEwan brings so much life to his character, to their passions, to their desires, to their will that it feels so epic.

Amsterdam is about the rise and fall of two men, bestfriends who make a pact that will lead to both their inevitable doom. In the hands of an amateur the story could have ended up preachy, especially with its ending. But in the deft hands of Mc Ewan, Amsterdam is becomes an irony filled satire that is both funny and sad. Although one would sometimes get a sense that McEwan has thought more about the story than its characters as in his other book, Atonement.

It also seems that McEwan often has troubles with his endings. His stories and characters become so big, that it is hard to find a satisfying ending. In Amsterdam some might find the ending ridculous. But given the tone of the narrative which borders on fable, I'd say that the funny, justice-filled ending is well-justified.

Official UP Adidas Jacket

I'm no U.P. student but I want this one for Christmas. U.P. friends, please don't hate me if I go around wearing this one.

It's now available in Gateway and SM North for around 2500php.

It's who you spend Christmas with...part 2

So here's the continuation of my marathon Christmas (continued from here)parties with great friends and the loveliest of people.

After one of the Simbanggabi masses at the Gesu, I was able to catch up with the Genboys Christmas party in Sta. Mesa. We played Pinoy Henyo and Christmas Carols match up.

We also had a party for the kids of Hillcrest in Cubao. We usually go to Hillcrest one Saturday to have a merienda, story telling, games and songs with the kids. For the party, we played assistants to Rene who cooked his California pasta. Rene works for Royce chocolates so you can believe how good his pasta is even with just a few ingredients.

Here are the other volunteers preparing the gifts for the kids.Ceska and I hosted the program. Half of the time we were trying to get the kids to sit still for 5 minutes, to stop running around, and basically to not destroy the venue. Hahaha.

There were about a hundred kids cramped into a very small space. But it was all good since Ceska's a pre-school teacher and she's very good with kids. She even sings a song to get them to pray. She also made these cool puppets for our story telling.
Ofcourse we told the story of the first Christmas, from the Angel Gabriel announcing Mary's pregnancy to the arrival of the 3 wise men. It was all impromptu but we pulled it off.

After the story telling, we have little quiz to check if the kids were listening. Too bad we didn't have any prizes. A lot of the kids were really very competitive and enthusiastic in answering our questions. We also played other games and let me tell you, these kids are out for blood. I kid, I kid. Before leaving, we gave the kids some gift packs containing some school and art materials. It's not much but it will go along way for these kids. It was a very tiring morning but we were all very happy afterwards to have pulled off a partywith our measly resources. Here are the other volunteers trying to look, uhm, untired.After the Hillcrest party, I slept a bit to recover. Then it was time for the party in Pittsburgh Cubao. For a couple of years now Nikko and I have been spending some of our weekends with several of the older kids in Hillcrest, talking about the challenges they face, reading Bible verses, singing songs and really just trying to be good kuyas to them. Not that we're, okay I'll speak for myself, I'm the perfect role model. But hey, we try.

Here's Nikko with Archie and Obeng looking all sorts of Ghetto.


We also played games with the kids. This one's a bit challenging. It can be difficult to get them to socialize with other kids. Some are shy, some are aggressive, some don't like being constrained by rules. But they're good kids. They just need to some sort of guidance. I pray for them everyday. Here are our kids with some of the boys from Pasay. Can you spot the hidden Santa?
We plan to raise some funds for our boys so they can go to PICC next year and see Emmaus, the new head of the Focolare Movement. We also plan to use the funds for their transportation and merienda during our weekend meetings. We plan to sell some of our books and clothes. Help us out ha!

Finally, we went back to Sulyap to give away some Noche Buena pack for some 400 families around the areas. I thought we were just supposed to hand them the packs, pose for some pics and leave. But no, they asked for another impromptu program. And guess who hosted that one? Hahaha. Ceska and I, again. This time we had prizes to give away for some Bring Me. We also told the story of the first Christmas sans the puppets. Some of the kids danced the ever popular Nobody, TWICE. hehe. Then we sang Christmas carols.

Here's me looking very, uhm, stupid. haha. Clouds darken but hearts brighten. hehe
We also helped out in packing the goods. Each pack contained a kilo of rice, a bar of cheese, a kilo of pasta, a pack of sauce and coffee.



This is me, thinking of Christmas carols to sing with the kids.
Here are the volunteers distributing the goods.
Most of the parties I've attended this year are simple in terms of food, activities and gifts compared to last year when I worked for a corporate company. But this year's gatherings are for me an affirmation of what Christmas should be. It brings me back to my image of the first Christmas, when Christ entered the world in silence and simplicity, without fuss, without flashy parties. He came into this world surrounded by the people he cared for and the people he would soon serve.

His very birth is service. One that benefited the poor, the forgotten, the unloved - us. Why shouldn't we do the same? Why shouldn't our very lives be a birthing of Christ to those who need Him the most?

Merry Christmas!!!