Summer '09 Review (Best and Worst)

Top 10 Countdown: Top Row (Left to Right)-Star Trek, District 9, The Hangover, Up and Julie and Julia. Bottom Row (Left To Right)-Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, The Taking of Pelham 123, The Proposal, Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

With the Fall Movie Season upon us, Reel Revue will now breakdown the best and worst of the Summer '09 Season. (Keep in mind, these are movies that I saw during the Summer).

Best Movie: Star Trek

This was a close call, District 9 was a remarkable film, but Star Trek had it all this year with rocking action sequences and stellar performances. Sure the story, is a little off base with the time travel storyline, but it is fun from beginning to end, and as of now is still my favorite for Best of the Year.

Worst Movie: Night at The Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

If ever there was a case of working for a paycheck, it's Ben Stiller who should have regretted starring in this sequel. The first movie was okay at best, but Night 2 was even more cartooney and silly for it to be believable. I would say if anything stood out in the film was Amy Adam's portrayal of Amelia Earhart, other than that, Night at The Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is clearly the worst movie of the summer, ask Triumph the Insult Comic Dog who ribbed Stiller about the film during the 2009 MTV Movie Awards.

Best Actor: Sharlto Copley, District 9

This category was again between Star Trek and District 9, mainly between Chris Pine for Star Trek and Copley, but Copley who is unfamiliar to the American audience, turns in a Academy Award worthy performance as Wikus van der Merwe, a government operative who is tasked to move the alien race that inhabited Johannesburg, South Africa. But in doing so, der Merwe comes in contact with an alien chemical and slowly transforms into one of the aliens. While der Merwe was transforming, he must rely on the race or "Prawns" to help him find a cure.

Best Actress: Meryl Streep, Julie and Julia

Streep who in the film co-stars with Amy Adams who were both nominated for Academy Award's for last year's "Doubt", strongly delivers with her portrayal of the legendary TV cook Julia Child.

This selection is an easy pick for me, as it would have either been Megan Fox for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Leslie Mann for Funny People or Zoe Saldana for Star Trek, but clearly Streep turned in the best performance this summer.

Best Comedy: The Hangover

A bachelor party gone wrong, that is the premise, for quite possibly one of the funniest movies I have ever seen.

Most of the movies, I saw this summer were comedies (Funny People, Bruno, The Goods: Live Hard Sell Hard), but The Hangover is in a class all by itself.

Todd Phillips, who directed another classic, Old School, directs a B-Level cast of characters through a crazy story of lost friends, a stranded baby, a stolen tiger and an air-drumming Mike Tyson.

Note-The best casting or ensemble has to go to the Hangover, the pairing of Bradley Cooper (Yes Man, All About Steve), Justin Bartha (National Treasure), Zach Galifinakis (Out Cold) and Ed Helms (formerly of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) had the best chemistry, make that comedic chemistry.

Best Action Movie: Star Trek

Some may say GI Joe, or some may say Transformers, but a film that opens with a mind blowing battle sequence of the USS Kelvin's destruction was epic and that was just the beginning of the film.

Summer Disappointment: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

At first, I would have picked X-Men, but Hugh Jackman delivered a strong enough performance that in the end I decided on Transformers for this category.

This film was highly too long, ala Spiderman 3 last year, also the film often used some irreverent toilet humor, which was a little off base when your focus for this movie is young kids. At the end of the first film, the clue was there for a sequel with Starscream escaping back to Cybertron, but maybe Transformers was better off with the first movie.

Best Animated Film: Up

A film that was the "Wall-E" of 2009, Up delivered a humerous and moving story of Carl Fredrickson (voiced by Ed Asner), a 78 year old balloon vendor who pursues his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America, a dream that was made by possible by his lost love Ellie.

Top 10 Best Summer Movie Countdown

1. Star Trek

2. District 9

3. The Hangover

4. Up

5. Julie and Julia

6. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

7. GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra

8. The Taking of Pelham 123

9. The Proposal

10. Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Top 5 Worst Summer Movies

1. Night at The Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

2. The Ugly Truth

3. Funny People

4. Bruno

5. X-Men Origins: Wolverine