Ben here. I took an unplanned break from the internets last week. Many apologies to the four people who read this blog. To make it up (or maybe just because the material is ready to go…) I’ll be posting most everyday this week (OMG, that’s like 4 posts!). But I won’t be alone. This week marks two new additions to The Movie Advocate.
First off, Justin Couch has been a good pal and fellow movie advocate for ten years now (scary). Justin will be popping in here from time to time to help out with the new column (more on that second addition tomorrow) and whatever else he feels like writing.
Dis is Justin:
As an introduction of sorts, Mr. Couch has written up a much-belated top five movies of 2009 list. Sort of a movie-geared ‘getting to know you.’ Though I would never peg this dude as a ‘kids movie’ guy (just ask him what he thinks of Wall-E sometime), his list does justice to the abnormal amount of high quality kids and family fare that was released last year.
Take it away, Justin:
Justin’s Top 5 of 2009
I saw a lot of movies in 2009, but there are also a lot I wanted to see that I didn’t make it to. So, of the movies I saw in 2009, these are the ones that I liked more than the others.
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
In a year of unstoppable kids movies this was my favorite. The handmade feel of the movie was unbelievably cool. The story was classic and iconic. I think that this movie will age the best of all the movies I saw this year. I had the most fun watching this in the theater. I’m not sure how this ranks compared to the other Wes Anderson films, I think that time will help it find it’s place.
Magic Moment: Everyone knows bloodhounds can’t resist blue berries.
Star Trek
This movie was way better than it had any right to be. The most entertaining Star Trek movie since Khan. With a cast of young simulacra, there’s no way this should have worked on paper. I went into this preparing to be disappointed and instead was thrilled from one end to the other. But I don’t need to tell you, if you’re here, you’ve already seen this.
Magic Moment: Finally getting to see the Kobayashi Maru test
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call: New Orleans
Usually when Nicolas Cage is in a movie and acts like he’s in a totally different movie as everyone around him it’s a total failure. In Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant, it’s like he shot the moon or something. This movie is totally mad and under appreciated. I wish Cage played this character in National Treasure too…
Magic Moment: Cage interrogates the old ladies
Coraline
I’m a Neil Gaiman fan. Sandman is my favorite long-running comic series. Coraline epitomizes the Gaiman aesthetic while making it accessible to a broader audience in a way that Mirrormask couldn’t because it was too goth, and Stardust couldn’t because the audience was very poorly defined. So yeah, I’m married to a wonderful woman that’s basically Coraline grown-up, so maybe I’m a little biased, but Coraline is a very special, once in a generation type niche movie. Coraline will be remembered as the aughts’ answer to Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal.
Magic Moment: The mouse circusPonyo
I was just as surprised as you that my top 5 movies list had 3 kids movies on it. Beyond that, my 6th movie is Up. Ponyo narrowly edged it out because I felt more transported by it. More than any other movie this year, I was less conscious of being in a theater when I watched Ponyo than at any other movie – a surprising feat because the theater was also full of kids. My favorite Myazaki themes were all here: bad guys that are 3-dimensional and not all bad, the ability to make me feel like a child, sentimental but non-manipulative feel goodery, and a realistic portrayal of childhood. It goes without saying that the art was absolutely amazing and it should make Disney take a long, hard look at the goals of their conventional animation division – is it to market toys or tell compelling stories?
Magic Moment: HAM!
Ben here again. I’m very happy to see that Ponyo made Justin’s list. It is more unique in Myazaki’s filmography than most give it credit for. The color palate and environmental design are strikingly different than anything Myazaki has done, at least in the 2000s. The central family is heartbreakingly three-dimensional and believable. The familiar and the fantastic are blended in an entirely original way that puts the tired old Alice in Wonderland/Wizard of Oz/Neverending Story fantasy formula to shame.
Cool! Justin will be back tomorrow with the premiere of a new weekly column, so see you then!