9 Films to See in ’09


Here’s a list of 9 films (in order of release date) I’m anxious or curious to see in the remainder of 2009.  Click on the thumbnails to view the trailer.

1.  Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince — July 15, ’09

Having not read any of the books, I have to rely on the films to keep me up to speed in the world of Hogwarts.  While David Yates left me a little disappointed with The Order of the Phoenix, the early reviews for Half Blood Prince are pretty strong, and I get the feeling that he’ll have some more exciting material to work with as we venture forth into Harry’s world and learn more about you know who.

2.  (500) Days of Summer — July 17, ’09

One of the big hits from the ‘o9 Sundance (yay) Film Festival, (500) Days of Summer fills me with great hope for a fun and quirky romantic comedy for the summer.  I also think that Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanell are two very talented actors that are in the beginnings of very terrific careers.

[youtubehq PsD0NpFSADM]

3.  District-9 –  August 14, ’09

When I saw the first trailer for District-9, I was very excited.  It has mixed elements of sci fi and a Documentary feel, which suggest a very intriguing look into the nature of interspecies relations.  Then I saw the second trailer, and it blew my face off while punching me in the kidneys.  I liken the feel of the first trailer to the movie Alien and the second trailer to Aliens.  Both deal with essentially the same material, but in extremely different ways, and both are amazing.  And make sure that you watch the first trailer BEFORE you watch the second one.

[youtubehq fXsofxwU7Xs]
Trailer 1

4.  9 — September 9, ’09

Finally an animated film that isn’t afraid to be dark.  Shane Acker (UCLA Alum) takes his Oscar nominated short film to feature lengths, and shows us a very unique, post-apocalpytic world of stitchpunk characters and engaging visuals.

[youtubehq a6v4Ln6HJIk]

5.  Zombieland — October 9, ’09

Zombieland just looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun.  Hopefully it can rise to the levels of Shaun of the Dead, and provide some great laughs and fun mixed in with the zombie survival genre.

6.  The Road — October 16, ’09

Critically acclaimed novel from Cormac Mccarthy (No Country for Old Men) + post apocalyptic visuals = me purchasing a ticket.

[youtubehq grSrSXL3izk]

7.  Where the Wild Things Are — October 16, ’09

If you don’t see this movie, you have no heart.  Plus it looks like it will be visually amazing, and I expect some great storytelling from Spike Jonze.

[youtubehq 655-y5IJBt8]

8.  2012 — November 13, ’09

Hopefully this will be the end of Roland Emmerich’s end-of-the-world movies, and hopefully he does it as good as he can.  It looks ridiculous, and like it’s going to be jam packed with earth destroying eye candy,  but count me in.

9.  Avatar (3D) – December 18, ’09

No trailer yet, but there is already so much hype about this film.  I’m hoping for one of the most visually amazing spectacles that I have ever seen.  You can read all about it over at /Film.

So there you have it.  9 films that I’m looking forward to seeing, and hopefully now, you are too.

*EDIT: Some trailers have been removed from this post because they were taken down from YouTube.

  1. #1 by harry potter on July 9, 2009 - 10:28 pm

    great list! now read my books!

  2. #2 by adam rrrrrrr on July 13, 2009 - 2:48 am

    2012 ? really ? no inglorious basterds, or shutter island, or even the box looks interesting.
    im stoked for the rest though.

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