Public Enemies (2009)
[3] Michael Mann, the great director of movies like Heat and Last of the Mohicans, here gives us his take on the legendary '30s gangster John Dillinger, played by Johnny Depp. Depp can be brilliant in the right role, but…
Carriers (2009)
[5] Chris Pine, Lou Taylor Pucci (Thumbsucker), Piper Perabo (Coyote Ugly), and Emily VanCamp (Everwood) roam the empty western United States after a plague has killed most of the population. They do their best to avoid desperate stragglers, but have…
The Shortcut (2009)
[5] After his little brother discovers a dead dog and a scary old man on a wooded shortcut, a new-teen-in-town (Drew Seeley) invites his friends to investigate the trail and the legend behind the mysterious old man who patrols it.…
Valhalla Rising (2009)
[7] Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive, Only God Forgives) serves up this meditative drama about a mute, one-eyed, pagan strong man (Hannibal's Mads Mikkelsen) who fights for the entertainment of his Norse captors way back around the year 1000 AD. He…
The Lovely Bones (2009)
[3] Maybe Alice Sebold's novel is a different and more worthwhile experience. But not having read it, I'm pondering what the hell I'm supposed to take away from Peter Jackson's film adaptation of The Lovely Bones. The movie is about…
The Fourth Kind (2009)
[5] Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Element) stars as a psychologist in Nome, Alaska, where patients begin telling her about terrifying experiences in the middle of the night -- all of which start by seeing an owl in their bedroom window.…
Antichrist (2009)
[8] Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg star as a man and woman who retreat to their cabin in the woods to grieve the death of their young son. Dafoe's character is a therapist and tries to offer techniques to help…
An Education (2009)
[6] Carey Mulligan gives an outstanding performance in this adaptation of Lynn Barber's memoir. Mulligan plays a sixteen-year-old in 1960s London, pushed by her father to study hard so she can get into Oxford. When she falls in love with…
Zombieland (2009)
[7] A zombie apocalypse road trip movie with amusement park overtones? Oh, hell yeah. With its strong character humor and plenty of sight gags, Zombieland is a joyously exploitative horror comedy that deflects any serious criticism. Jesse Eisenberg and Woody…
The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)
[6] This screwy comedy about top secret military psychics is based (to questionable extent) on truth. While the ramifications of the subject matter is provocative, the film wisely overlooks them to revel in the absurdity of it all. By its…