Stephen King picks his favorite films of 2009

Stephen King obviously loves movies, and that means he obviously has some favorites...

Stephen King picked his 10 best films of the year 2009, and I bet you will be surprised by some of the the flicks he put on that list. EW posted his picks with some thoughts from King himself, and here's what he liked the most in 2009:

No. 10 on his list is "2012," which despite awesome effects and some hilarious sequences would never make my best of list. "Fantastic Mr. Fox" is his No. 9, and I admit that's one of the films I agree with him about. It is truly a fantastic animated adventure.

Moving on, he picked "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" as No. 8, "Law Abiding Citizen" as seventh, and "District 9" as No. 6. Okay for "District 9," but the other two? "Citizen" was pretty entertaining, sure, but I admit I was really disappointed by "Pelham."

"The Reader" made it to No. 5 on King's list, and "Disgrace" is his No. 4. "The Road" is No. 3 (couldn't agree more), and the big shocker comes in at No. 2: "The Last House on the Left." Come again? Well, I'm glad he's among those who loved that flick.

Click to read more ...

National Society of Film Critics Awards 2009

The National Society of Film Critics liks 'Hurt Locker;' 'Up in the Air' nowhere to be seen

The 2009 awards season is not over yet. The National Society of Film Critics picked their winners for the year that is now history, and the big winner is "The Hurt Locker," which won best film and best director for Kathryn Bigelow.

Jeremy Renner also won best actor for his strong performance in "Locker." Yolande Moreau was voted best actress for her role in "Seraphine." Meanwhile, Mo’Nique was named best supporting actress for "Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire."

Christoph Waltz ("Inglourious Basterds") tied with Paul Schneider ("Bright Star") for the award for best supporting actor. Joel and Ethan Coen won the best screenplay prize for "A Serious Man."

Also, Christian Berger was voted best cinematographer for "The White Ribbon," while Nelson Lowry took home the award for best production design for "Fantastic Mr. Fox." "The Beaches of Agnes" won best non-fiction film.

Click to read more ...

Roger Ebert picks best animated films of 2009

Roger Ebert posted an entry on his blog about his 10 favorite animated films of the year. Ten is quite a big selection for this genre, which is why it's quite hard to leave some out. Still, he managed to do just that.

He picked: "A Christmas Carol," "Coraline," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "Sita Sings the Blues," "9," "Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," "Ponyo," "The Princess and the Frog," "Up" and "Waltz with Bashir."

I can't comment on "Ponyo" and "Sita Sings the Blues" because I haven't seen those, but the one film I disagree on with Ebert is "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs." I would never call it the best of the three.

Click to read more ...

Utah Film Critics pick 'Air' as year's best film

The Utah Film Critics Association picked Jason Reitman's drama "Up in the Air" as the best film of 2009. The film beat runners-up "The Hurt Locker" and Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds."

Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox" was voted best animated film, and Anderson and Noah Baumbach also took home the award for best screenplay. "Basterds" and "(500) Days of Summer" were runners-up.

In the best actor category, Viggo Mortensen took home the top prize for his stunning performance in  John Hillcoat's superb drama "The Road," a film I believe deserves much more recognition in the award world.

Click to read more ...

Las Vegas Film Critics Awards 2009

The Las Vegas Film Critics Society picked its best of 2009 this week, and Kathryn Bigelow's war drama "The Hurt Locker" was vited best film of the year. Bigelow also won another best director award.

I already lost count on how many awards the film has been taking home recently, but "The Hurt Locker" also won the best actor award for Jeremy Renner, and the best cinematography prize for Barry Ackroyd.

It doesn't end there though, because "Hurt Locker" also won best editing for Bob Murawski. Meanwhile, Gabourey Sidibe was voted best actress for her role in "Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire."

Click to read more ...

San Diego Film Critics Society 2009 Awards

Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" emerged as the big winner when the San Diego Film Critics Society picked the best films of 2009. "Basterds" started off by taking home the award for best film.

Tarantino was also voted best director, Christoph Waltz was named best supporting actor, and Tarantino also took home the award for best original screenplay. The film also won best production design.

But wait! That's not it. "Basterds" also won the award for best ensemble cast! Now that's what I call winning big time, and to be honest, Tarantino deserves it. "Basterds" is not my No. 1 flick of '09, but I sure loved it.

Click to read more ...

San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards 2009

The city by the bay has voted: the San Francisco Film Critics Circle picked Kathryn Bigelow's acclaimed war drama "The Hurt Locker" as the best film of 2009. Bigelow was also named best director.

Quentin Tarantino took home the award for best original screenplay for "Inglourious Basterds," while Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach picked up the best adapted screenplay for "Fantastic Mr. Fox."

Colin Firth won the award for best actor in "A Single Man," while Meryl Streep picked up the award for best actress for "Julie & Julia." Christian McKay was named best supporting actor for “Me and Orson Welles.”

Click to read more ...

New York Film Critics Circle Awards 2009

The New York Film Critics Circle today announced its 2009 film awards, and Kathryn Bigelow's war drama "The Hurt Locker" was named best film of the year. N.Y. critics also named Bigelow best director.

In the best actress category, Meryl Streep took the top award for her extraordinary performance in "Julie & Julia." George Clooney won best actor for "Up in the Air," and in my book, he totally deserves it.

Christoph Waltz was named best supporting actor for his amazing role in "Inglourious Basterds," and Mo'nique picked up yet another best supporting actress prize for her powerful performance in "Precious."

Click to read more ...

American Film Institute picks 10 best films of 2009

The American Film Institute picks the 10 best films of the year each year, and the 2009 list isn't that surprising: acclaimed dramas "The Hurt Locker," "Up in the Air" and "Precious" all made the cut.

In my book, there is one surprise though: "Coraline." The AFI also picked "Up," but it looks like they weren't that impressed with Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox," which I clearly preferred to "Coraline."

Also, you won't see James Cameron's "Avatar" on this list. Instead, the selection includes "The Hangover" (which I adored as well), "The Messenger," "Sugar," "A Serious Man" and "A Single Man."

Click to read more ...

Box Office: 'New Moon' reaches $230M!

Weekend of November 27 – 29, 2009: 'New Moon' & 'Blind Side' deliver superb results at b.o.

Chris Weitz’s “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” prevailed at the North American box office for the second consecutive weekend with a solid $42.5 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The sequel to “Twilight” scored a superb average of $10,515 per theater at 4,042 locations, lifting its domestic total to an incredible $230.6 million after a little more than one week in release.

Following closely in second place was Sandra Bullock’s surprise drama “The Blind Side,” which bagged another $40.1 million for a cumulative gross of $100.2 million.

Click to read more ...