Tops of 2009: Fandom Edition I

Posted by Araceli on Feb 18, 2010 • (0)

��For me, the cinema is not a slice of life,
but a piece of cake.”
~Alfred Hitchcock

Welcome to my Tops of 2009: Fandom Edition I. Complete with my favorite movies, tv shows, and episodes new and old of 2009. Here are my favorite visual stories both long and short:

+Movies
+TV Shows
++Episodes

Movies:

Star Trek (2009)
Directed by J. J. Abrams

I’ve been a Star Trek fan for a long long time: through The Original Series, The Next Generation, Voyager, Enterprise, etc. So, of course, I was excited to see the fandom brought back and by J.J. Abrams nonetheless. Still, if the movie had been a flop, then it might have been a guilty pleasure and I would have moved on. But thankfully, it was awesomesauce.

Hard Candy (2005)
Directed by David Slade

When David Slade was announced to film Twilight: Eclipse I knew I had to see the other two films he’d directed, Hard Candy and 30 Days of Night. Visually, Hard Candy is a beautiful film with intense performances by Ellen Page and Patrick Wilson. Underneath, it’s a movie that really unnerves you as it makes you think.

Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Directed by Edgar Wright

A nice blend of comedy and drama. In that way it’s very reminiscent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer when at its lightest. Essentially, it’s just my cup of tea.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
Directed by David Yates

Yes, the Harry Potter movies are not as great as the books. It’s a fact that I’m sure we all realize by now. But sometimes you have to take things for what they are and not as what they could be. And ‘what it is‘ is 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, so I know I’m not the only one who enjoyed it. Visually, it’s rich. Emotionally, the love, anger, frustration, and drama prepare us for the end: the last two movies.

The Fountain (2006)
Directed by Darren Aronofsky

I think a lot of people don’t like this movie because they don’t understand it. Because it’s not just one story told linearly from beginning to end. Instead it’s comprised of three stories, each set in a different time, each with their own two characters. But then where the movie really gets complicated is when these stories begin to intertwine. Then, you begin to realize that it’s all part of a larger whole: about a man and a woman and life and death.

Runners Up:
Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 30 Days of Night, Contact,
Sunshine, Changling, New Moon, About a Boy, Caroline,
Sherlock Holmes, Push, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

TV Shows:

The Vampire Diaries (2009-present)
Created by Kevin Williamson

2010 People’s Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama

“But in addition to being a solid hit, the supernatural drama is a first-class production, featuring an insanely gorgeous cast, sharp scripts and a brooding vibe that is hard for even the most levelheaded adult to resist.”

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008-2009)
Created by Josh Friedman

“It turned out to be intelligent, complex and consistently operated on a deeper emotional level than anyone could have expected. …Creator Josh Friedman and his cast did terrific work here and this was a great season of television –no matter what the future holds.”

Firefly (2002-2003)
Created by Joss Whedon

“Firefly is an absolutely brilliant show, perhaps the best sci-fi show on television today — and certainly the one with the most potential for future brilliance.” Other shows “burst onto the scene with slick pilots and quickly deteriorate into mediocrity…’Firefly’ is on the opposite creative journey.”

The X-Files (1993-2002)
Created by Chris Carter

“Chris Carter, the originator of the The X Files, first sat down with executives from 20th Century Fox to propose his idea for what was to become one of the greatest cult shows in modern television. “There’s nothing scary on network television any more. Let’s do a scary show,” he told them. And so began a process by which The X Files combined themes such as conspiracy theory, government cover-up, biological terror and decapitation to captivate a global following for almost a decade.”

Jack & Bobby (2004)
Created by Greg Berlanti

“Thus, what could have been a simple coming-of-age story gains the heft of a political biopic, or a clever mystery: What choices and influences land this kid in the White House? What kind of boy becomes a president? In our deeply analytical world, the series is resonant in another way: On a grand scale, ”Jack & Bobby” reflects the American obsession with picking apart our childhoods ad nauseam for clues to the adults we become.”

Alias (2001-2006)
Created by J. J. Abrams

“J.J. Abrams has a gift for working with actresses. With Alias, Abrams has fashioned a beautifully conceived espionage drama around star Jennifer Garner, complete with moments of light wit and deep emotion running beneath action sequences of stirring derring-do.”

Episodes:

Dollhouse, 1×04 Belonging
Written by Maurissa Tancharoen & Jed Whedon
Directed by Jonathan Frakes
Original airdate October 23, 2009

Sierra: This secret we have… can you keep it?
Topher: I can keep it, but I don’t know if I can live with it.
Sierra: I know I can’t. But I don’t have to.

The Vampire Diaries – 1×07 ‘Haunted’
Written by Julie Plec & Kevin Williamson
Directed by Ernest Dickerson
Original airdate October 29, 2009

Elena: Part of me wishes that I could forget, too. Forget meeting you, finding out what you are and everything that’s happened since.
Stefan: That’s what you want?
Elena: Yes, it is. Because I don’t want it to be like this. I don’t want to feel like this. But I can’t. With everything that’s happened, I can’t lose the way I feel about you.

Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles – 2×22 ‘Born to Run’
Written by Jeffrey Hunt
Directed by Josh Friedman
Original airdate April 10, 2009

Cameron: He upset you.
John: Me? I think he upset you.
Cameron: You know that’s impossible.
John: Is it?
Cameron: You said it yourself, John, I’m just a machine.

Fringe – 1×20 ‘There’s More Than One of Everything’
Written by Jeff Pinkner & J.H. Wyman
Directed by Brad Anderson
Original airdate May 12, 2009

Olivia: Where am I? Who are you?
William Bell: The answer to your first question is… it’s very complicated. The answer to your second… I’m William Bell.

Stargate Universe, 1×05 ‘Light’
Written by Brad Wright
Directed by Peter DeLuise
Original airdate October 23, 2009

Greer: I can’t think of a better way to move on from this world into the next or whatever comes, then to fly into the most powerful thing in creation: a star. Out in a blaze of glory. I like that. That’s beautiful.

Jack & Bobby, 1×01 ‘Pilot’
Written by Greg Berlanti & Vanessa Taylor
Directed by David Nutter
Original airdate September 18, 2004

Sable: If we could see into his boyhood years, and watching him become the man he became, would we have known then we were in the presence of greatness? Could we have seen it?

Runners Up:
The X-Files – ‘Ice’, ‘Anasazi’, ‘The Blessing Way’, ‘Paper Clip’
Dollhouse – ‘Epitaph One’, Stargate Universe – ‘Time’, Fringe – ‘August’
FlashForward – ‘The Gift’, ‘Believe’, Gossip Girl – ‘The Debarted’, V – ‘It’s Only the Beginning’