This time of year, we do all kinds of Top 10’s that look back at what was and, in a few cases, look ahead to what will be. Now if you’re like me, you’re addicted to these little reminiscences of the year gone by (or predictions of the year to come). They’re like time capsules and you can look back and say, “Oh yeah, I remember that [insert noun here]”
Thing is though, so many of these lists are subjective, so for my contribution to these lists, I wanted to have some numbers behind my Top Whatevers. So, I compiled the top science fiction, fantasy, horror, and animated movies from 2009, using IMDb.com’s Box Office Archive for 2009 (here). I noted the following things:
- How many weeks did the movie chart in the Top 10?
- What was it’s average Top 10 list position?
- How much did the movie earn during its Top 10 run?
So, okay, cutting off a films earnings once it falls off the Top 10 isn’t exactly fair, but as this was a rather unscientific list, I went ahead with it anyway, using the earnings only as a tie-breaker. I sorted out the films first based on how many weeks they held on inside the Top 10, then by their average position while they were on the list, and finally used the earnings in case there was a tie. And what I was left with was a look at what was the most popular during 2009.
So, running from #10 and working our way to the top, we have…
10. G-Force
Weeks on Top 10 List: 6
Average Position: 4.83
Earnings: $111,780,350
If someone had told you that Jerry Bruckheimer would be producing an animated movie, you would likely have pictured any number of story elements that could be on tap for the film. A crack team of super-agent guinea pigs, a fly, and a mole (get it?) would likely not have been on of those things. And yet, Disney pulled off yet another hit. The long and short of it is that this team of small furry animals have been secretly training for the government and, when a diabolical billionaire threatens to take control of the world, only the slightly snuggly stealthy squad may have what it takes to bring him down.
If you liked it, then you might enjoy…
Other “undercover” animated cartoons: Ratatouille or Toy Story might be fun.
9. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Weeks on Top 10 List: 6
Average Position: 3.6
Earnings: $114,854,877
One of the most popular children’s books of modern time is given the digital animation treatment in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Flint Lockwood is a floundering inventor who excels at making things that don’t work quite the way they’re supposed to, until he stumbles on a way to synthesize food from water. Sounds great, right? He’s finally found a solution to world hunger. Except that there’s a problem…you see, when it rains, there are a lot of raindrops that fall and when those rain drops turn into things like hamburgers and spaghetti, a food shortage can become a surplus in no time flat, which is what happens. As the world starts filling up with food, it’s up to Flint to find a way to prevent everyone from drowning in marinara sauce.
If you liked it, then you might enjoy…
Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit – it’s another film with an eccentric (and at times hapless) inventor, this one aided by his intelligent anthropomorphic dog, must rescue a town’s vegetable festival from a large mutated rabbit.
8. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Weeks on Top 10 List: 6
Average Position: 4
Earnings: $388,189,320
Note: Transformers: RotF also earned the honor of best opening weekend earnings, pulling in $200,077,255 of the above total on its first weekend in theaters.
I saw this movie and I’m not sure I could tell you exactly what’s going on. As near as I can figure, “The Fallen,” a Decepticon bent on, you know, world domination, is out to destroy the Autobots and everyone else. Both groups go globe-hopping, ripping each other to bolts and pieces, Sam almost sleeps with a robot before finding a former government agent in a deli, more explosions, more fighting (in the desert now), there’s a pyramid that’s nearly blown-up, then a happy-ending that leaves us open for another movie in the future.
Michael Bay + Summer Blockbuster = (Boom Boom Pow x $Cha-Ching$)
If you liked it, then you might enjoy…
The Transformers Novels – Find them here.
The new G.I. Joe movie – it was a retro kind of summer.
7. Coraline
Weeks on Top 10 List: 7
Average Position: 6
Earnings: $72,841,173
One of my favorite entries from 2009, Coraline is Neil Gaiman riffing on Alice in Wonderland by way of alternate universes. And puppetry. It’s all very cool. Here’s the idea, in a nutshell: Coraline has just moved, along with her mother and father, to a remote and rainy house in the country. She’s lonely and bored and her parents are too busy with work to keep her entertained. The neighbor-boy, Wybie, and his mangy cat aren’t exactly who she had in mind for friends (she finds him a little bit odd), so she spends a lot of time just filling time…until, that is, she discovers a door to another world where things are so much better, she has “other” parents who wait on her every need and things seem so fantastic there. But there’s a dark secret behind this place, and that mangy cat seems to be snooping around this world too. It doesn’t take long for one world to begin to unravel and Coraline has to use her wits to save herself and her parents.
If you liked it, then you might enjoy…
James and the Giant Peach – the movie and/or the book
by Roald Dahl!
Un Lun Dun
by China Mieville
Alice in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll
6. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Weeks on Top 10 List: 7
Average Position: 5.14
Earnings: $167,706,959
I’ll admit it, I didn’t see this one, though I did see the original which wasn’t as bad as I was thinking it would be. Anyway, here’s what IMDb.com says about the plot: “Security guard Larry Daley infiltrates the Smithsonian Institute in order to rescue Jedediah and Octavius, who have been shipped to the museum by mistake.”
Hmmm…doesn’t sound so bad, and as it comes in as number six on the list, it must have been decent enough to have entertained several families during its run. Did you see it? What did you think?
If you liked it, then you might enjoy…
For Kids: The Magic Treehouse series (Magic Treehouse @ Random)
For Adults: That’s a tougher one…but if we’re looking at inanimate objects coming to life, why not check out The Mummy? It’s older, but fun.
Those looking for more challenging fare might want to check out Hirokazu Koreeda’s Air Doll.
5. A Christmas Carol
Weeks on Top 10 List: 7
Average Position: 4.14
Earnings: $130,813,354
Some were surprised to find that this movie followed it’s source material as closely as it did during Scrooge’s encounters with the Ghosts (though it played a little looser with other parts, but we’ve all come to accept that will happen with book-to-movie translations, right?). Anyway, this is the popular Christmas story about a cold-hearted miser who is visited by three very differently minded spirits on Christmas Eve in order to spare him an eternity suffering in the afterlife, but only if he pays attention. The movie stars Jim Carey, Jim Carey, Jim Carey, and Jim Carey. Some other people worked on the film too, we’re told.
If you liked it, then you might enjoy…
The Polar Express
by Chris Van Allsburg
-This one comes to mind, though we may be a little late in the season for that.
Monster House – it’s thematically different, and similar only in that it’s digitally animated using motion capture from real actors, but I’m recommending it because it’s a pet cause of mine to get people to watch this movie. It’s a great time.
4. Paranormal Activity
Weeks on Top 10 List: 8
Average Position: 3.75
Earnings: $103,690,184
This one was a bit of a phenomenon, showing that you don’t have to have buckets of blood and crazed maniacs running around chopping up sequestered supermodels in order to make a horror movie. A young couple has moved into a home, but they’re being pestered at night by a restless spirit. To document the ordeal, they set up a hand-held camera, which captures their ordeal.
If you liked it, then you might enjoy…
No Doors, No Windows
by Joe Schreiber
Lost Boy, Lost Girl and/or Julia
both by Peter Straub
The Harrow House novels
by Douglas Clegg
Anyone remember The Blair Witch Project…? The first one, not the dreadful follow-up.
3. Star Trek
Weeks on Top 10 List: 8
Average Position: 4.75
Earnings: $246,331,182
The Star Trek franchise gets a complete reboot with this movie, and that’s not actually all that bad. Here we see a young Kirk, Spock, Bones, and the rest as they embark on an adventure aboard the Enterprise that opens up the venerable franchise for many more movies without needing to marry them with the future “history” found in the earlier movies (which were later in the timeline, and this is starting to feel too much like something out of a Douglas Adams novel).
If you liked it, then you might enjoy…
Serenity – It’s too easy to assume you’d like to go back to other Star Trek’s, but I think given the feeling of this movie, you’d be better off exploring the world of the Browncoats. Just my two cents.
The Mirrored Heavens
by David J. Williams
2. Up
Weeks on Top 10 List: 8
Average Position: 4.25
Earnings: $279,583,282
From IMDb.com: “By tying thousands of balloon to his home, 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen sets out to fulfill his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America. Right after lifting off, however, he learns he isn’t alone on his journey, since Russell, a wilderness explorer 70 years his junior, has inadvertently become a stowaway on the trip.”
If you liked it, then you might enjoy…
Going for great animated movies here:
Wall-E
The Iron Giant
1. Monsters vs. Aliens
Weeks on Top 10 List: 9
Average Position: 5
Earnings: $193,706,714
It was billed as the 3-D animation experience of the year…or at least the summer. This story of a group of monsters tasked with saving the Earth from an invading group of aliens was a big-time money-maker. Combine its success with the success of Avatar and it’s a good bet that you’ll be seeing more 3-D films through funny looking glasses coming to theaters near you.
If you liked it, then you might enjoy…
Mars Attacks – You remember this one right? You can enjoy it and your kids (if you’re cool with it) can discover this little gem for the first time.
The Monsterology Handbook: A Practical Course in Monsters
Written by Dr. Ernest Drake
Sea Monsters: Prehistoric Creatures of the Deep (National Geographic)
Written by Michael Everhart
Aliens Are Coming!: The True Account Of The 1938 War Of The Worlds Radio Broadcast
Written by Meghan McCarthy
-An hilarious account of Orson Welles’ 1938 radio broadcast that duped many into believing that aliens really had landed here on Earth.
Night at the Museum 2 was terrible compared to the first one. The story was boring and the stars (other than Ben Stiller) were relegated to minor roles. Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, etc. would have been better off NOT being in the movie.
Star Trek surprised me as well as Monsters vs. Aliens. Still waiting for Up to come via Netflix.
To my mind, Star Trek was THE best film of the year, bar none. Beyond the excellent acting and gripping story line, what was most important about this film as the way JJ Abrams and Co. were able to reboot a stories franchise that lately had become little more than a bad punchline…and do it in a way that satisfied both the old hardcore fans and newbies who might have been unfamiliar with it.