Osiris3657

From EW:

Author Stephen King sat down with Entertainment Weekly to share his top ten list of favorite movies of 2009. He gave the entire year a "B" rating and called Leonardo DiCaprio's "Revolutionary Road" the biggest disappointment.

King explained: "It's true that I found only nine straight-A's when I looked back through my movie notebook (No. 10 on this list was an A–), but there wasn't a single F, and that's a first in my years as an EW columnist."

His list shows some bizarre choices, but King offers a brief explanation. Check it out below.

10. 2012: "Throwback to the great disaster movies of the '70s."

9. FANTASTIC MR. FOX: "Both the kids and the grown-ups in my audience screamed with delighted laughter."

8. THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3: "This makes Public Enemies look pretty tame."

7. LAW ABIDING CITIZEN: "Script is wound tight and clever enough to draw blood."

6. DISTRICT 9: "If 2012 is good cheese, then District 9 is a fine wine."

5. THE READER: "Kate Winslet's Hanna Schmitz was the best performance I saw all year."

4. DISGRACE: "The scenery is gorgeous, and the story is hypnotic."

3. THE ROAD: "It's often painful to watch, but Viggo Mortensen's performance as the dedicated father is Oscar bait."

2. THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT: "Easily the most brilliant remake of the decade. This film is on par with The Silence of the Lambs."

1. THE HURT LOCKER: "Perfectly honed drama that speaks to the addictive attractions of risk and violence."



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That #2 is an absolute joke, it was one of the worst of the year.

AnonomusBob15

On par with The Silence of the Lambs? I found it alright, but come on....


He's automatically discredited for including Law Abiding Citizen, Pelham 123, AND 2012. Very subpar taste in films Mr. King.

MrSmearkase

Agreed, The Last House on the Left was almost unsalvagable, except for Garret Dillahunt.

Also, surprised to see The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 on here. Nearly forgettable flick, in my opinion.

Also, why even mention Revolutionary Road and The Reader? They were 2008 films, regardless of when King got a chance to see them.

MrSmearkase

I enjoyed Law Abiding Citizen and 2012 for what they were, but they are in no way amongst the 10 best offerings of this past year. If I were to compile a list of 2009 Guilty Pleasures, they would certainly be seated towards the top, though.

Heat

You have to remember that he is looking at movies through the eyes of a horror writer. "The Ruins" made his Top 10 list last year.

fumanstan

Stephen King has lost all my respect!

RichC2

This is the director of Maximum Overdrive, what did you really expect?

islandclaws

I love his list because it doesn't veer toward common territory. Aside from his obvious literary prowess, he's just a regular guy without a critic's mind; kind of refreshing.

fumanstan

Just poking fun at all the criticism over Ebert's list.

Dr Mabuse

Never explain!

Tarantino

Eh...everyone has opinions. That's why we all have the ability to write our own lists.

DonnachaOne

People who didn't appreciate The Last House On The Left need to give it a second viewing. It wasn't one of my favorites of the year but by no means was it a bad film.

islandclaws

Agreed, somewhat. The first 2/3 was very good, but the stalk-and-slash ending with the parents was too ridiculous. The score by James Murphy, though, was fantastic. One of my favorites of 2009.

Jaymole

Now I know why so many films based on Stephen King's work suck...the directors must have asked him for advice.

Deke Rivers

aside from a couple on that list i think Mr King needs to stick to what he does best...writing fiction

Michael Corvin

I thought that's what this list was.

DonnachaOne

At least you went into it with an open mind. I thought Dillahunt was a very good villain, and I thought the photography was beautiful. The rack focus shots through the trees were gorgeous.

maxfisher

I enjoy Stephen King's books and have always thought he seemed like a good guy, but he's a writer. This 'best of' list is no more relevant than if some actor listed their favorite books from the last year. For his fans, it's probably interesting to see what he enjoyed, but it's stupid to compare his list to something by a professional critic.

jmu878

I thought it was pure shit...this whole "shock factor" rape scenes in horror movies are getting real old. Its not enjoyable to watch, and is a sign of talentless hacks who think making viewers uncomfortable is quality film making. Its not scary, just disturbing. Would you really want to take a date to this movie? More often than not, its more effective if its just implied and not shown. I'm not super conservative, but I found this entire movie sickening, and not in a good way.

Ghostface180

Last House is a thriller, not a horror film. Its intention is to disturb rather than scare.

Nice to see the movie getting some love from King. It was one of my favorites of the year as well, and definitely one of the better recent remakes.

jmu878

Since when?? North by Northwest is also classified as a "thriller", but doesn't have a chick taking it forcefully from shithead hillbillies. If this is one of your favorite films of the year, your either pretty disturbed or just don't see much quality cinema.

Numanoid

Indeed. What's next, Donald Trump's top ten?

CloverClover

But it's not like an actor talking about books, because all movies start with their writing, and King is maybe the most successful writer of all time. He has also contributed to movies as we know, The Shawshank Redemption is the #1 movie on imdb ever made, based on his idea/story.

Some of his choices suck but as "Stephen King choices" they are great. I usually look forward to his end of the year movie list. He is always walking the line between trash and class with his work, and his movie tastes are no different, it is interesting going through the list because I can imagine each of his choices as a King book (except Mr Fox).

Chet Desmond

King wrote a piece for the latest "Fangoria" praising "Last House" (also listing his favorite horror flicks of the last 10 years) and I was shocked he liked it so much. It was well acted and photographed, but reeked of soulless cinematic grave robbing. The original is a pretty bad flick, but at least it had some purpose. The remake just seemed bland and uninspired.

dino88

Remember, this is the same guy that didn't like Kubrick's adaptation of The Shining, so he set out to correct it with his own tv mini-series version.