A favorite pastime of New Years -- LISTS...

I really liked these three movies:

District 9 (the odd sci fi set in South Africa)

Star Trek (aw gimme a break. It was fun to watch)

Watchmen

I haven't see Sherlock Holmes, Avatar, The Hurt Locker, or UP, but I hear they are very good.

Fascinating question, but tough to answer. I'll have to use three categories: entertainment (may be vulgar or stupid, but made me smile), art (ambitious, serious films that were moving or thought provoking), and movies I haven't seen yet, but will, because I've heard things that appeal to me.

Entertainment: The Hangover, Cirque du Freak, and Watchmen.

Art: Coraline, Up in the Air, Ponyo, Hurt Locker, Gomorrah

Unseen, but want to see: In the Loop, 35 Shots of Rum, An Education, Crazy Heart

Honorable Mention: District 9 (straddles art and entertainment), Inglorious Basterds (this movie creeps me out for its gloating sadism and glorification of terrorism, but I have to concede its technical mastery and raw entertainment value).

a) 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs' -- brilliant! And such amazing 3d animation!

b) '(500) Days of Summer' -- Beautiful and silly: I loved it!

c) 'District 9' -- masterfully executed.

Avatar,

The others I have seen are just ok to good,

Star Trek and HP6

River

Don't know when it was made, but the DOCUMENTARY, not the Movie starring Tom Hanks but the DOCUMENTARY CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR was an excellent program. It gave a lot of insight into the Afghanistan situation, and how Afghanistan was left to rot after the Russians left. As you know, nature abhors a vacuum and the Taliban moved right in and took over.

BTW, Speaking of vacuums, and how they exist between the ears of some... Don't you DARE order Sarah Palin's book at 800-NEWSMAX. She is just WRONG...

I need to revise my list of movies from earlier in the thread,

the Three movies would be

AVATAR, AVATAR, AVATAR in 3D

Clearly this is the best move out there maybe the best movie in the last several years.

River

You have got to go rent "SUPER BAD" and fast-forward to the end to see all of the "PENIS AND BALL" artistry. It more than makes up for everything and makes this video worth laughing at...

I got the BluRay of AVATAR and I like the movie. It is better than most of what came out in 2009. A solid story and well told.

I had to come back here and talk about it.

It is an old sci-fi script. That's not bad and I don't mean it as a criticism... It is a 20 year old idea that required very advanced technology to be made.

Think about the 1990 movies - Robocop, The Fly 2, Star Trek #5 that everyone hated... Back then there was no technology that could approach what AVATAR uses. Jurasik Park didn't come out until 1993...

Even the completely animated movie - Final Fantasy - the Spirit's Within, which was groundbreaking animation, is ten years old since it came out in 2001. That movie bears on AVATAR in that the Spirit is Gaia is the earth as a living force. In AVATAR it is Pandora that is living.

Other novels and movies have used this idea too -- most notably SOLARIS from 2002. And to make the worst comparison but neato special effects - MARS ATTACKS was 1996 -- a movie that revels in cheesy effects but it makes you want to believe in them. Starship Troopers was 1997 (and those creatures are just not as good as anything that comes out now.)

And my last comment, old sci-fi was always preachy and environmental. Think of the radiation creatures Rodan and Godzilla. Think of the moral lesson of Frankenstein -- man can't screw with nature.

I thought District 9 was a brilliant script but I am not pulled back by the plot and the wonder of the story to watch if over and over. It is a polemic. It doesn't play in my mind as a thing of wonder.

AVATAR is so rich that I want to go back and see it again. I want to see those details because it all feeds the story.

Interesting choices, I haven't seen any movies in years.

Avatar, Avatar,, Oh give me a break.

Couldn't they do it without a 3 point perspective as shifts focus, ad nauseum!

Way too much, unneccessary CGI.

I forgive Jackson because casts of thousands of Orcs and Elves are as hard to find today as Midgets (ref. Wizard of Oz midget round-up). Even with the Avatar image basis, the focal point games were, too much. Like a cheap trick.

Now, Star Trek. They stayed true to "Trek Lore" as not to be dissed by any hard core Trekie I know.

Bravo, Star Trek. . . . <hiss> Avatar <hiss>.