The World is a Vampire

Almost forgot that I saw Daybreakers the other day. Despite my bitterness over them stealing my idea (you'll pay, Hollywood. One day you'll pay) it was actually pretty good. It was refreshing to see real vampires that explode in the sun instead of sparkling, and the action was cool. It also has a surprisingly good cast (you can't go wrong with Sam Neill and Willem Dafoe). I also liked that the good vampire in the movie is called Edward.
I would have liked more satire on how similar the vampire world is to our own, and the ending is way too neat, but overall it's one of the better vampire flicks of recent years.

2009 Imaginary Cinema Awards

It was a pretty amazing year. I became a father and we got to see such long-awaited films as Watchmen and Avatar. There were also pleasant surprises, such as District 9 (which examined many of the same themes as Avatar from a very different perspective). Here is the best of the best:

Best Movie: Up. Runners-up: District 9, Avatar, Watchmen, Inglourious Basterds (hey, alternate history counts as fantasy), Star Trek, Coraline, Where the Wild Things Are, Paranormal Activity, Drag Me to Hell.
Best Screenplay: Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell (District 9)
Best Director: James Cameron (Avatar)
Best Actor: Sharlto Copeley (District 9); Runners-up: Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds), Jackie Earl Haley (Watchmen), Zachary Quinto (Star Trek), Michael Sheen (for almost single-handedly making New Moon watchable)
Best Actress: Zoe Saldana (Avatar, Star Trek), Katie Featherston (Paranormal Activity)
Best Music: Michael Giacchino (Up)
Best Visual Effects: Avatar (duh)
Best Makeup: District 9
Best Production Design: Watchmen
Best Costumes: Watchmen
Best Opening Credits: Watchmen (the times they are a-changing)
Best Foreign Movie I Didn't See Until Last Year: Let the Right One In
Best Straight to DVD Release: Trick R Treat
Best Guilty Pleasures: My Bloody Valentine and The Final Destination (3D horror rules)
Biggest Pile of Steaming Dogshit: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen