Summer Movie Season 2009 Awards

These are my awards for the best and worst films of the 2009 Summer Movie Season.

5. Most Awesome Visual Effects
Winner: District 9
I'm still in awe of how incredible the cgi in this film turned out on such a modest budget. Not only did the cg aliens blend in with the real world environments and people, but their movements and facial expressions was arguably the best acting in the film.

4. Funniest Comedy
Winner: The Hangover
I actually did enjoy Funny People a little more, but mainly for its script and acting. In terms of how many times I laughed, The Hangover wins. It was crude and sometimes gross, but always hilarious. Definitely worth watching.

3. Most Badass Movie
Winner: Inglorious Basterds
Its Quentin Tarantino directing a movie about Jews killing Nazis in WWII-era France. What more do I need to say?

2. Best Family Film
Winner: Up
I must confess, I only saw two family films this summer, Up and Harry Potter. Regardless, I have a hard time believing that any of the other family flicks could be as good as Up was. Pixar's standard for quality in their stories and animation continues to go unsurpassed. Up wasn't Pixar's best imo, but still an excellent film worthy of the Pixar reputation.

1. Greatest Movie of the Summer
Winner: District 9 (w/ Inglorious Basterds a very very very close second)
A great story, excellent special effects, convincing performances, and tight pacing made this the best movie of the summer.

The Crap

5. Worst Special Effects
"Winner": X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Not all the cg sucked, but I remember seeing a scene where Wolverine was staring at his new adamantium claws that looked like they were Photoshopped on. A few more scenes like that added to the mix, made this movie qualify for this distinction.

4. Worst Comedy
"Winner": Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Of course this movie was a comedy, there was no way the filmmakers actually figured the public would take this piece of shit seriously. Every performance in this movie came off as a half-assed comedy act. When the film was trying to be funny (and it often was), it wasn't. When it was not trying to be funny, it almost was... either way it sucked.

3. Least Badass Movie
"Winner": Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
A toy car/gremlin transformer, an aging and senile Decepticon, and Autobots with racist depictions... need I say more?

2. Worst Ending
"Winner": Angels & Demons
I won't spoil anything, but rather just say the ending was incredibly predictable and that the director and actors tried way to hard to sway you from the supposed "twist." No luck though.

1. Worst Movie of the Summer
"Winner": Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Just read my review for this film on the flixster app. I feel like I've dissed this movie enough for now.

The Unmentioned

Star Trek was pretty awesome, Bruno was disgusting but funny, Harry Potter set up for the seventh, Terminator Salvation had Batman fighting robots, Public Enemies had Batman chasing Jack Sparrow, Funny People was more touching than funny, and the Hurt Locker was surprisingly good.

Never did see G.I. Joe, so I don't know if it was good or not, even though knowing is supposed to be half the battle.

Overall review: What started off as a fairly disappointing movie season was ultimately redeemed in August.