Top Ten Movies of 2009 (and more!)

2009 marked the first year in my adult life where seeing films didn't feel like a mandatory activity, a reality indicated by the relative dearth of smaller independent pictures and documentaries from this list. Despite this, I managed to come up with a list of 11 very good to outright amazing movies I saw in 2009. No leaking over into 2010 on this one. All of these 2009 releases were seen by me in the confines of those 12 months. Without further adieu, let's get to a special award:

Special Jury (of one) Prize:

Adventureland (Written and Directed by Greg Mottola)

This film holds a special place in my heart because it deals with the trials and travails of amusement park workers. As many who did the Valleyfair thing for a couple summers will attest, working in a park is its own special little hell, with some bright spots that manage to shine through. So it goes with the characters of Greg Mottola’s follow-up to Superbad. Jesse Eisenberg does a good job playing awkward; indeed he comes to it more naturally than Michael Cera, his clearest contemporary at this point. Kristen Stewart is essentially playing Bella Swan again, but it's less annoying here. Martin Starr and Ryan Reynolds do good supporting work, and Bill Hader and Kristen Wigg tend to get the best lines as the amusement park managers.It’s a small film and it didn’t do very well box office wise, but I think it’ll age well.

#10 Up (Written and Directed by Pete Docter & Bob Petersen)

At this point it would be more interesting if Pixar made a bad film. They’re still batting a perfect record, though I think Up has been a little overhyped. The best emotional moments of the film happen in the first five minutes, and while the comedy is great and the animation beautiful, it has the most conventional denouement of any Pixar film to date, ending in a fight between hero and villain. The fact that both characters are geezers makes it somewhat amusing, but after back to back amazing endings in Wall-E and Ratatouille, it’s a bit of a let-down. I’d rate it in the middle of the canon, but being in the middle of the Pixar canon is like being twice as good as the best Dreamworks Animated film.

#9 Watchmen (Written by Alex Tse & David Hayter; Directed by Zack Snyder)

I’d make an argument that this was the most ambitious, challenging tent-pole film released in 2009. My original review still stands, but I’ll add that Zack Snyder’s director’s cut is the superior version of this film. Though it runs longer, it's actually paced better, with less choppy shifts of tone and more character development time. It's still the best adaptation we’re likely to get of Alan Moore’s difficult work. It’s too bad the film didn’t do better box office, but at least we can console ourselves knowing Warner Bros. won’t try to make Watchmen 2: Watch Harder.

#8 District 9 (Written by Neil Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell; Directed by Neil Blomkamp)

Neil Blomkamp is this year’s breakout star for the geek set. I’d seen ‘Alive in Joburg,’ the short film District 9 is adapted from, so I knew what Blomkamp could do with no money. Give him 30 million dollars and he made an epic. District 9 has amazing special effects, but what makes it truly special is the unique story it tells. The docudrama feel is cool, and when the film switches to a more traditional narrative structure midway through, the transition doesn't call attention to itself. Sharlto Copley gives an amazing performance, especially considering he's never acted before this. It makes me glad the Halo film fell apart; otherwise, we might never have seen this. Bring on District 10!

#7 Ponyo (Written and Directed by Hayao Miyazaki)

Hayao Miyazaki is my favorite filmmaker. Ponyo is definitely the slightest of his films (seriously, it makes Totoro look like Proust), but the animation is delightful, and especially impressive considering it is completely hand drawn. Think about that. An animated film in 2009 made without computers! The storm sequences are trippy and beautiful, and though there isn't much of a story, the characters are still likable, and the dub cast does an excellent job. Be warned though; the end credits song is the most annoyingly catchy thing you'll hear this year. And if you have kids, they will sing it to you till you go insane.

#6 Funny People (Written and Directed by Judd Apatow)

Probably the most misleading title of the year, Funny People isn't actually all that funny. It's definitely a drama with comedic elements, rather than the other way around. It's probably why the film didn't do better. People were expecting another Knocked Up, and when they realized this was a serious movie about mortality and regret, the word of mouth turned toxic. No matter, for the people who know what to expect, the film is a treat. As I said, its not very laugh out loud funny, but its full of that clever, knowing Apatow dialogue. Seth Rogen shows he's capable of playing someone other than Seth Rogen, and Adam Sandler gives his most natural dramatic performance yet. Judd atones for making Leslie Mann a lush and a bitch in his previous two movies and lets her play a genuinely nice, if somewhat mixed up, character this time around. The film drags a little in the second hour, but like other Apatow movies, you don't mind spending time with these people and their problems.

#5 Inglourious Basterds (Written and Directed by Quentin Tarantino)

Tarantino's war film might be the most irreverant depiction of the second world war since Kelly's Heroes. He continues to play off the ramshackle energy he brought to 2007's Death Proof, rather than the more formal style he brought to the Kill Bill films. For a film bearing their name, the titular "Basterds" aren't in the movie much, though that doesn't prove concerning. Tarantino continues to show his knack for creating iconic characters, most notably Christopher Walz's mesmerizing "Jew Hunter" Hans Landa. The opening sequence introducing Landa is a tightly wound suspense scene, building to a horrific crescendo which also sets in motion the events of the remainder of the film, including an alternate conclusion to the war. It's trashy and vulgar, and to paraphrase Brad Pitt's Aldo Raine, this just might be Tarantino's masterpiece.

#4 Sin Nombre (Written and Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga)

It's easy for aspiring filmmakers to feel a bit jealous of Fukunaga. He's just past thirty and has already made one certifiable classic film, this Malick-esque chase movie about a Honduran family and a penitent gangster making a run for the American border. It's an interesting movie in that it features illegal immigrants, but isn't really about illegal immigration. By not making a "message movie," and instead focusing on a character driven action film, Fukunaga arguably arrives at something stronger, a film about cycles of violence and trying to break free from expectations. The film is beautifully shot and features some tremendous action sequences, as well as the most unexpected death scene since Michael Haneke's Cache. I'm eager to see what Fukunaga does next.

#3 Coraline (Written and Directed by Henry Selick)

It was a great year for animation, and Henry Selick's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's short novel towered above all the rest. The craft and care taken in bringing this story to the screen is nothing short of breathtaking. It's hard to believe the film is the result of stop motion animation. It definitely represents a perfecting of a technique that's been used almost as long as cinema has existed. It's the first movie I've ever seen in the theater where I immediately wanted to watch it again. The story is a pastiche of tropes from many fairy tales through the years, though it's given a fresh, unsentimental spin with excellent voice work from Dakota Fanning and Terri Hatcher. I've seen this movie at least four times this year, and its still the sort of film I can go back to again and again. In fact, writing about it makes me want to watch it right now! Be back later to finish this up...

#2 Avatar (Written and Directed by James Cameron)

Avatar is omnipresent these days. I'm not sure what I can say about it that hasn't been said before. I think the most striking thing about the film is how real the world of Pandora feels, like Cameron and crew actually went there and shot this. Many movies have been made strictly on sound stages, and we've even seen several films in the past couple years set almost completely in digital worlds, but Avatar represents the first time where I completely bought the environments presented. It's a familiar story full of stock characters, but Cameron, unlike a contemporary like say, George Lucas, still knows how to get one hell of a performance out of his actors. Stephen Lang and Sigourney Weaver in particular transcend their material. And then there's Zoe Saldana. We've had all digital characters before, from Jar Jar to Davey Jones, but Saldana's Neytiri represents the first truly successful fusion between actor and effects. Cameron and company finally got the eyes, the achilles heel of motion capture, and achieved the goal sought by filmmakers ever since that goofy stain glass knight appeared in Young Sherlock Holmes; not to trick the viewer into believing the character they're watching is real, but making them not care the character isn't. To say Avatar looks like a video game is to write it off. We may have seen many of the effects and tools used in Avatar in other movies prior to this, but we've never seen them used so well. Cameron may be a terror to work with, but he still knows how to create the zeitgeist. History will tell us whether or not the film proves as iconic as Star Wars or Jurassic Park, but I think its safe to say we can now divide movies into pre-Avatar and post-Avatar. It's made a billion bucks and it'll probably win Best Picture. And yet for all its glory, it still isn't the best film of the past 365 days...

#1 The Hurt Locker (Written by Mark Boal; Directed by Kathryn Bigelow)

The Hurt Locker is the best film about the Iraq War ever made. It's a serious contender for the best war film period. From its almost unbearably intense opening through its quiet but devastating final moments, Bigelow's masterpiece portrays the contradictory tension Americans feel about war. Scenes move from adrenaline fueled exhiliration to horrified disgust and back again, with the sort of verisimilitude rarely achieved in Hollywood pictures. Bigelow, like Fukunaga, never preaches, and she makes a more powerful statement about the drug-like effects of war as a result. Jeremy Renner deserves an Oscar for his performance as the leader of an EOD squad. His performance is about tension as well, the tension between his reckless and meticulous natures. Anthony Mackie also impresses as his counterpart and sparring partner, and though their appearances are a little jarring, Guy Pierce, Ralph Fiennes and David Morse all do excellent work in their cameos. On first viewing, the film might feel a bit disjointed, but each of the set-pieces in the film show Bigelow's mastery of the craft. Her film may not win Best Picture, but if she loses Best Director, I'll be very disappointed.

Honorable Mentions (aka the rest of the good movies I saw this year):

Star Trek, Drag Me to Hell, The Hangover, The International, Duplicity, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, The Brothers Bloom, Sherlock Holmes

Films of Ill Repute (films that were either bad, or just really disappointing. also, one was kinda racist.)

Push, Knowing, Terminator Salvation, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, New Moon

In the interests of disclosure, let me list a few of the films I missed or haven't yet seen. I did consider waiting on the list till I saw some more of these, but I'm happy with the quality of the films above, so I'll just consider any of these that prove worthy will be added to the honorable mentions roll.

Up in the Air, Nine, Invictus, A Serious Man, The Road, An Education, Bright Star, The Last Station, Broken Embraces, The Blind Side, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Where the Wild Things Are, Crazy Heart, Precious, The Princess and the Frog, Brothers, Transylmania (just kidding)

Finally, here are the ten 2010 movies I'm looking most forward to:

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (August), Shutter Island (February), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Pt. 1 (November), Kick-Ass (April), Inception (July), The Tree of Life (TBA), Tales from Earthsea (TBA), Iron Man 2 (May), Clash of the Titans (March), Daybreakers (January)