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Oscar Picks: James's Favorite Movies from 2009
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Pick of the Week

A Perfect Getaway

This is probably my favorite movie of the summer (or at least in the top two). The acting and direction are first rate. So is the suspense, the surprises (a couple of doozies), and especially the unexpected humor.

On DVD: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Borders
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Julie & Julia

Julie & Julia is a delight that will have you leaving the theater and searching for a good French restaurant. Meryl Streep, as always, is fabulous as Julia Child—especially the touches and nuances she adds to the script. The ending disappoints, but not enough to spoil the meal.

On DVD: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Borders
On Demand: iTunes
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G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

I had read everywhere that this was truly awful, but it's just another summer popcorn movie that could have used a larger budget to make the special effects special. My eleven-year-old and I shared some Twizzlers and bonded.

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On Demand: Amazon | iTunes
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The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard

Somebody, maybe the studio, might have considered saying to the screenwriter for The Goods that his script has an incredible number of really funny lines but as a studio, they have to make money on their movies and can't give away profits for, say, Transformers, for a film aimed at about a quarter of a quadrant of the general population. Maybe the studio should have made a movie like The Life of Mother Theresa (if they wanted to make a quarter of a quadrant movie) and maybe the screenwriter for The Goods could have turned the movie about Mother Theresa into a comedy starring Tina Fey. Or, maybe something happened on the way to production and they lost Will Ferrell for the lead so the studio should have said to the screenwriter that they were going to cancel, but they wanted to see his next script so instead they said, "Seriously dude, we love you! You're funny as hell!"

On DVD: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | 
On Demand: Amazon | iTunes
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District 9

Wow—GREAT MARKETING! Plus, the story is unique and different, which will usually get the critics on your side. Plus, there's a message: it's just wrong to trample all over the rights of those who are different than you, even if they're aliens. Unfortunately, the tramplers in the real world don't really care, and the rest of us already have that message. Anyway, I was a little bored and occasionally grossed out, but I liked that somebody tried something new.

On DVD: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Borders
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(500) Days of Summer

Just in case you think I'm being particularly cranky this week—here's some good news about (500) Days. The audience was mostly couples and young girls, and they thought the movie was pretty terrific. I agree. Yahoo, Mountain Dew!

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