Film 2009 at 37,000 feet

The Wrestler

Mickey Rourke's much-feted "comeback" film, directed by Pi/Requiem for a Dream's Darren Aronofsky. Moves at its own sedate pace but packs a real emotional punch, albeit one you see coming. The phrase 'Playing to Lose' springs to mind. Recommended, but only if you're in the mood for watching the pure entropy of someone's wretchedly failed life unravel.

WALL-E

Great on all levels and in all ways. My favourite of these in-flight films and possibly of the year, if not the decade or the ever. Well that might be over-stating the case, but it's really good. :)

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

I hadn't see the first installment, but I sure as hell have now - this is hilarious fare from Del Toro, a kind of post-Lord of the Rings/superhero genre piece played for laughs in modern day New York to which the term "romp" can justly be applied.

Taken

Truly noxious drama which left me wondering how Liam Neeson (as a former Jedi knight) could have agreed to star in it. I mean, really, what would Yoda have said? The whole convoluted plot seemed to be aimed at justifying post 9/11 US torture tactics and little else. Fear leads to the dark side! Even the notoriously ridiculous anti-drugs movie Reefer Madness offers a more nuanced picture of our moral choices.

Milk

This is a good, solid piece of biographical film-making that spans an interesting time and person, namely, Harvey Milk in 1970s/80s San Fransico. Sean Penn's performance, though, is strangely superior to the script and his fellow-actors - he really accomplishes something special in making you identify with and feel his character's inner world.

Slumdog Millionaire

An interesting film, and obviously a huge success story this year. Enjoyable, but puzzling too. Features M.I.A.'s extremely catchy 'Paper Planes' track.

The Reader

I was initially put off seeing this by a scathing review I read, but I found it to be an interesting, thoughtful film. I did not think, as the negative review I read had suggested, that it in any way trivialized the Holocaust. Where it was a bit weak, perhaps, was in the worthiness of Kate Winslett's performance. It felt a little over-studied - trying too hard to be that serious Oscar-winning actress a la Meryl Streep, perhaps - and therefore not quite believable for me.

Coraline

I actually watched this twice (it was a long flight) and found it equally spell-binding on both viewings. The animation is delightful. It's great to see a successful translation of Neil Gaiman's talents to the big screen, as this seems to have been hard to achieve previously.

In the Loop

I haven't seen the TV show that this is a spin-off from, but I'd now like to. It's not perfect - the two characters who lead you in to the story are not really that interesting - but the overall effect of In The Loop is a masterful piece of satire. I particulary liked the way it is clearly about New Labour and Iraq but actually never says so in explicit terms. THis may have been intended to avoid a lawsuit, but what it may also do is make the film eternally relevant. Steve Coogan's cameo as an aggrieved constituent worried that an unsteady wall will crush his mother is priceless.

The Day The Earth Stood Still

As a fan of the original, I was intrigued to see what this remake would deliver. Given the much greater peril we now seem to face, this Cold War tale of alien intervention (which must have been an inspiration for Alan Moore's Watchmen, it occurs to me now) certainly seems topical. So what clever twist, what bold new idea made them decide to update and retell this classic sci-fi yarn? It's not easy to tell. Although, big wow, they did have a girl scientist - which is pretty out-there. Sadly, this remake is devoid of any sign of original thought whatsoever and runs like a pointless, painful rehash. Easily the worst of the bunch.