Deleted Scenes 09.10.09: Looking Back - Summer 2009
Posted by Robert Sullivan on 09.10.2009
This summer ruled, and I'll prove it. Come on in.
Hey, everybody. I'm Rob, this is Deleted Scenes, and welcome back to another week here. I've been hearing a fair deal of complaints that summer 2009 was a weak year at the movies, and for the life of me, I can't seem to understand why. The product was there - the only further elements needed were Yahoo! Movies for showtimes and Mapquest for directions. But before we get into what movies in particular deserved your gas money, first we gotta do a little bit of the business.
And after you read all that content, go ahead and make 411Mania YOUR official homepage. You're good people, I know you will.
The Column
So yeah. Complainers a-plenty this September, asking where was the cinematic beef this summer season? As if my monthly Looking Ahead columns weren't fair warning enough on what you should be seeing, I'm going to be an even nicer guy this week and take a look back at what movies actually delivered on their promise. After all, it's a long way from "I'll give it a shot" to first day Blu-Ray purchase, and all of these films made the leap. We've got 11 films from this summer to go through - one specially highlighted as the best of the season and ten more in no order other than purely alphabetical which also deserve their due and proper. Everyone clear? Let's go.
2009 Best Picture...thus far
Longtime readers won't be surprised by this selection, as I've been singing The Hurt Locker's praises ever since seeing this brilliant film over three months ago. That being said, after many false hopes and preachy message movies, the Iraq War finally found its masterpiece this summer. Jeremy Renner will richly deserve his trip to the Kodak next spring as a first-time Oscar nominee for his haunting portrayal of a bomb tech who might be literally addicted to war. Excellent support came from Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty as soldiers making up the rest of his squad who find fault with Renner's practices. While a lesser film might go the predictable route with such a story, The Hurt Locker twists and turns the narrative inside out in its search for why these brave men choose to do what they do. Any judgment about the war itself is done silently, never dominating the frame yet hanging over the proceedings all the while. An absolute stunner and worthy of your attention. Ignore at your own peril.
The 10 Highlights of Summer 2009
One of those movies that you love coming out of the theater, and only grows in affection the more you think of it. (500) Days of Summer drew a lot of comparisons to a twentysomething version of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and while it does not live up to that film's quality, it's upon further reflection that you figure out the comparison shouldn't have been made in the first place. Sure, they're both quirkily romantic/anti-romantic gems, but they're telling opposing stories - one about a couple that was once totally in love and is no longer, and the other about a couple where one partner never fully had her feet in. Joel and Clementine fit together, while Tom and Summer never did. Both stories are worth the telling.
Famously, Andy Dufresne wrote to his BFF Red the following words - "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies." Even Andy might think the journey of Steve "Lips" Ludlow and Robb Reiner was pushing it, however. Anvil!: The Story of Anvil is a hilarious and heartbreaking look at what it's like to know you just barely missed fame and fortune, and why you keep going despite it all. The film is the rarest of beasts - a movie about prototypical "losers" that doesn't hypocritically hold up its subjects for mockery and end on a note of "HOW DARE YOU LAUGH AT THESE PEOPLE!" by its end. It's not only one of the best documentaries of the year, it's one of the best films of the year.
I fucking love the Crank movies, and fuck all of you people who didn't go see it, thus putting the possibility of Crank 3D in serious jeopardy. This is the movie that stands as firm as the closing middle finger Chev Chelios gives the audience to close to all those who say "It's a popcorn film!" or "It's not SUPPOSED to be an Oscar winner, come on!" when they're defending why Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is an epic piece of garbage. It just got released on Blu-Ray (along with "Fringe," which should give you all opportunity to catch up before its second season premiere next Thursday), so go and check out this work of anarchistic genius.
What an experience. "Experience" seems to the one word truly befitting the whirlwind District 9 took through theaters this August, as certain audiences thrilled to its ideas and wonders while some chose to badmouth the film to their friends, leading it to a big Week 2 drop. Assholes. District 9 is proof that you don't need the budget of a small African nation's GDP to create a singularly exciting dramatic action experience in movie theaters. All you need are some good ideas and Hell, if you happen to have a buddy who is a wonderfully talented actor despite never acting previously...that always helps too. Basically, have some balls, AMPAS. District 9 is easily one of the best films of 2009, complete with a thinking mind and a beating heart.
The $200 million phenomenon that just kept going and going this summer, The Hangover was a middle finger in its own incredibly funny way - a giant fuck you to all moralizing writer-director hypocrites out there who allegedly "revolutionized" comedy in the movies this past decade. Under a certain person, Zach Galifianakis' character would've met a harpy shrew who "taught him how to be a real man" and that would've been presented as a happy ending. Not here. No hugs, no one learns shiat, and it's glorious. Which reminds me -
(per Box Office Mojo)
$272,281,640 vs. $51,697,440.
Take your preachy bullshit elsewhere, sir. Actually, wait, that's just domestic, let's go worldwide for some real fun -
$440,581,640 vs. $52,906,126
Eat a dick. Zach Galifanakis is now the comedic version of Kings of Leon, as they're now both favorites of fratboy douches everywhere after being tirelessly promoted by others for years. No problem, of course. They both richly deserve all the success they're now getting. Now to find a way to stop the 14-year-olds from going "whoa-OH-OHHHHHHHHH" every time "Use Somebody" comes on...
Hilarity of a different sort, In the Loop contained nothing fouler than its amazingly salty language, and it still left audiences breathless from riotous laughter this summer. An examination of the buildup to the Iraq War cast through a Strangelove-ian eye, this movie also pulled off the difficult task of making an audience think at the same time it was wiping the tears from its painfully smiling cheeks. Plus it showed us that Vada Sultenfuss is hot now. That can't be wrong. It's too bad "difficult difficult lemon difficult" wasn't the catchphrase of the summer, alas. Would've looked wonderful on the T-shirts.
While I still don't think the absolute online spoogefest that has surrounded Inglourious Basterds is entirely warranted, the movie has actually become like (500) Days of Summer to me in the way that I'm only liking it the more I think of it. And yeah, that's probably the only instance of comparison between those two films you're likely to see anywhere on the Internet. It's another instance of Brad Pitt showing his acting talent has been unfairly overlooked just because of his big win in the genetic lottery, and Inglourious Basterds also contains certainly the best portrayal of a villain this year. Christoph Waltz's rocket ride to stardom shouldn't be just a one hit wonder, and we should also be seeing Melanie Laurent for some time to come. After years of bullshit and delay, Inglourious Basterds proves Quentin Tarantino had a great film post-Pulp Fiction in him after all.
No, the Kill Bills don't count, nerds.
It came and went with nary a notice, but Moon was an enthralling bit of cerebral sci-fi in a summer full of robot balls. Sam Rockwell will be overlooked for what should be his first Oscar nomination to date for this, and it's really a shame. Sitting in his LEM and the full Earth in front of him at the edge of the moon, Rockwell's shattering "I wanna go home" near the end of the film should be seen in some highlight reel next February (and really should've been the ending proper, but that's neither here nor there). Kevin Spacey finally shook off the Robinwilliamsitis and got himself into something good, which was wonderful to see. Hopefully his work in The Men Who Stare at Goats will continue that streak. As for Moon, pick up the DVD and feel bad you missed it.
A release slate so maddening it could drive someone up a wall, Outrage was still worth the odyssey. Kirby Dick's followup to the great This Film is Not Yet Rated, this documentary took a look at my favorite people to actively loathe - closeted politicians who advance the anti-gay agenda of the Religious Right. Yes, Jim McGreevey is included in the movie, stop whining. A fascinating look into the lives of people who hate themselves so much they'll wreak havoc into the lives of others unafraid of who they are, Outrage deserved better than it got.
Perhaps the true miracle of this summer's releases - a Star Trek movie for everyone. A movie about Kirk, Spock, and the whole gang that everybody could enjoy. So, of course, there was a bit of backlash from the nerds. Fuck them, Star Trek also stands as a marvelous example of a popcorn flick that somehow doesn't piss all over its audience. While this has been a divisive issue, I still maintain the opening of the film contains the best starting sequence in any movie this year. J.J. Abrams made me get all emo at fucking Star Trek, and oddly I love him for it.
Or maybe this is the delivered miracle - Robin Williams, captured on film, actually being funny again. Glory be! As it turns out, when he's not in festering shit like the upcoming box office megahit (you know it will be) Old Dogs, Williams has still got it. Foul, crass, and totally hysterical, the release of World's Greatest Dad only gained in hilarity and real world resonance when the entire world acted after the death of Michael Jackson in the same way this film's small town and high school behaved once its disgusting pervert had perished. It's still out in some markets, so get on out there.
All right then, readers. This proves it - summer 2009 ruled. It rocked the damn casbah, in fact. The trick was looking.
