TOP 10 OF '09

10. Nord (North) - A hilarious and touching comedy from Norway depicting the (mis)adventures of a depressed alcoholic's journey to self discovery after his place of employment burns down and he's left with nothing but a Sno-Cat and the open road.

House of Films awards: Best advice on how to get the most out of a limited alcohol supply.

9. Zombieland - Ruben Fleischer's directorial debut is a wonderful time at the movies with laughs, gore, a banjo-wielding Woody Harrelson, a piano-wielding old lady and more laughs depicting the last surviving humans and their fight for survival.

House of Films awards: Best death-by-way-of-banjo scene

8. The Box - Richard Kelly's surreal sci-fi/horror film has thrills, spills and chills as the narrative's tension rises steadily throughout as a couple race against mysterious forces and a sinister Frank Langella after accepting an offer which includes a box, a million dollars and an untimely demise.

House of Films awards: Deadliest Santa, Best facial disfigurement.

7. Antichrist - Lars Von Trier's Antichrist is a powerful look at isolation, grief, loss and hatred. The true essence of a horror film all boiled down into a film so frightening you're left on the theater floor crying, only leaving when the janitor sweeps you out into a dumpster with your fellow audience.

House of Films awards: Best way to teach children not to play with scissors, Best porno stand-in in a non-porno movie.

6. District 9 - A chilling portrayal of prejudice in the world of sci-fi. The atmosphere and entertainment value are incredible with an action-packed ending that will be sure to please

House of Films awards: Best new racial slur (For the word 'prawn')

5. Drag Me To Hell - Sam Raimi's return to form in a horror film that combines laughs and screams so effectively a whole new bodily reaction is achieved (sclaughing?)
Probably the greatest horror film of the 2000's, with thrills so frequent you can barely handle them.

-House of Films awards: Best Visual Gag (Anvil scene), Best nosebleed, Best girl-on-girl action.


4. The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans - Werner Herzog's pseudo-remake of Abel Ferrara's gritty crime drama is a rollercoaster of "I can't believe what I'm seeing" laughs and pulse-pounding suspense resulting in one of Nicolas Cage's best and a great new effort from cinema master Herzog.

-House of Films awards: Best dance sequence, Best original soundtrack

3. Watchmen - Zack Snyder's adaption of Alan Moore's loved graphic novel is an amazing exercise in neo-noir, hyper-realism and genre bending. Exciting, beautiful, endearing and brutal, Watchmen just may be my new favorite superhero film (Letter bombs are not appreciated. I'm talking to you, Dark Knight fans!) and one of the year's best.

- House of Films awards: Special PETA award for depictions of humane animal treatment

2. Inglourious Basterds. - Quentin Tarantino's World War II epic is a spell-binding picture with delicious black humor and the most tense opening of any film this year. Not to mention the great visuals, playful historical inaccuracies and sharp dialogue which make this a treat for all Tarantino fans.

House of Films awards: Best use of an Eli Roth, Best villain

1. A Serious Man/ Avatar - I have just commited the most heinous cop-out of all top movie lists. The tie. One is an excellent black comedy which surely deserves to be called a modern classic and the other left me feeling so giddy that I was reduced to the mental state of a six year old.
So now that I have ascerted my own self-disgust let's get goin'!

A Serious Man, the latest effort from the Coen Brothers is an intelligent and hilarious black comedy with excellent performances all around, subtle yet hypnotic cinematography and a villain we all have to deal with - life itself. It's an absolute masterpiece and deserves to be grouped with the Coen Brothers' best efforts

House of Films awards: Best Jewish performance (All of them, including Bird in distance #3, expertly played by Moish Finkelstein)

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Avatar is James Cameron's return to the sci-fi/action genre with a no-holds-barred motion picture extravaganza worthy of being called one of his very best. It's a great throwback to the action films of the late 80's/early 90's yet new, fresh and exciting making it a timeless and thoroughly enjoyable experience.

House of Films awards: Best use of the color blue as an acceptable skin tone.
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So, that's my list. Agree with me or not, I hope you enjoyed reading it.

Thank you!

James Cameron's AVATAR (spoiler free)

I went to see a pre-screening of AVATAR last night, my excitement which has been present for well over two years now reached a boiling point as I walked into the theater.
Let me start by saying that I'm a huge fan of James Cameron's, he's the second director whose name I learned for crying out loud, I grew up with his films and I've been a rabid fan for a large majority of my life. Nevertheless I had somewhat successfully tamed my expectations for the film.


Most of you know the story by now. In a nutshell: An earth-based mining company intends to mine a distant planet's precious mineral ('subtly' named unobtainium) and sends out 'avatars', people mentally linked with human-alien hybrid bodies to learn about the planet's population of Na'vi, a native American type society.

Now that we have that out of the way let's get on to the film itself.

The special effects are astonishing, every nuance and facial expression is perfectly captured, the CG models are completely life-like and by the end of the film you forget completely that what you're seeing is special-effect trickery and not real life action.
The planet's diverse collection of flora and fauna is amazing and incredibly fun to observe as every shot of Pandoran(?) nature is layered and layered with eye-watering beauty and awe-inspiring details.

The film itself? It's a Cameron film. A true Cameron film. I won't compare it to his earlier masterpieces as they hold a very special place in my heart as childhood favorites but I can safely say that AVATAR is welcome among them. It's the type of sci-fi/action film that we haven't seen since the late 80's/early 90's, the kind we grew up with, the kind of which Cameron was an undisputed king. In AVATAR he has upped his game but he's still playing the one we know and love him for. The villains, the protagonists, the action, the story, it's all wonderfully nostalgic yet completely new and exciting. The plot and story advancements aren't really original with some undeniable clichés, but the movie doesn't fall into them but embraces them as this really is a pure-bred classic action/sci-fi film with familiar points and development. It's like meeting an old friend again that you thought was killed at sea.
Unlike the majority of action movies today, this one has heart. It's really a fascinating story which the action serves, not the other way around.
Needless to say I loved it, sitting in the theater I felt like a small child again, really wanting to be there and feeling depressed knowing that I can't.
The 3D really is amazing, this does not have the feel of an amusement park ride like, say, Journey to the Center of the Earth (Where every other thing jumps obscenely out at the audience to showcase the technology, almost sexually harassing them in the process) but rather to serve the film and the story. If 3D is used like this in the future I have nothing but high hopes for it.

I highly recommend you go see it. Remember the first time you saw Terminator 2, Aliens and The Abyss as a kid, sitting on the living room floor, completely amazed. AVATAR is the first film in a long time to make me re-live that experience and I loved every second of it.

Thanks for bringing my childhood back, mr. Cameron. I sure did miss it.