At some point you have to cut the year off, and I've hit that. I could continue, picking up some of the movies I didn't get a chance to see (The Road, The Informant! and, most regrettably, A Serious Man) or continue rewatching and reshuffling (even though I've seen the majority of my list twice or more), but I'm stopping myself right here. If for no other reason than I have to get that decade list out there in a couple days...
But I digress... 2009 was a ridiculously great year for film. I saw quite a few films less than I normally do a year (only 56 whereas I always get in the 70-80 range), but I actually love more movies than most years. I've only had two true disappointments (Nine and Watchmen). This year yielded not only an impressive crop of movies, but a remarkably diverse haul. My own top ten list alone is runs the gamut from big, bombastic action epic to should-be-pretentious art projects.
Before the list starts, I have a few very honorable mentions. The documentary field this year is amazingly strong, so much so that I actually sought some of them out rather than being bugged for years and finally giving in. Both Food Inc. and The Cove made you want to jump out of your seat and take immediate action, which is what I look for most in docs. They empowered with their knowledge and impressed with their craft. The Brothers Bloom was a fine follow up to Rian Johnson's great, underappreciated first feature, the noir Brick. 35 Shots of Rum is an elegant, tiny wonder of a film that uses slight shifts in the character's worlds to turn the film's emotional tide in a moment, a feat that director Clair Denis should be proud of. Scoot over Hangover, political satire In the Loop was far and away the funniest 100 minutes at the theater this year, sporting both smart critique and riotous jokes. And lastly, Up once again showed that Pixar still is the studio to beat. The first 10 minutes is likely the best film of the year, though after that it does get the tiniest bit silly and disconnected (hence its exclusion from the list), but it proved a worthy follow up to Pixar's recent run of features, which is as high as praise gets nowadays.
Drum roll please...
But I digress... 2009 was a ridiculously great year for film. I saw quite a few films less than I normally do a year (only 56 whereas I always get in the 70-80 range), but I actually love more movies than most years. I've only had two true disappointments (Nine and Watchmen). This year yielded not only an impressive crop of movies, but a remarkably diverse haul. My own top ten list alone is runs the gamut from big, bombastic action epic to should-be-pretentious art projects.
Before the list starts, I have a few very honorable mentions. The documentary field this year is amazingly strong, so much so that I actually sought some of them out rather than being bugged for years and finally giving in. Both Food Inc. and The Cove made you want to jump out of your seat and take immediate action, which is what I look for most in docs. They empowered with their knowledge and impressed with their craft. The Brothers Bloom was a fine follow up to Rian Johnson's great, underappreciated first feature, the noir Brick. 35 Shots of Rum is an elegant, tiny wonder of a film that uses slight shifts in the character's worlds to turn the film's emotional tide in a moment, a feat that director Clair Denis should be proud of. Scoot over Hangover, political satire In the Loop was far and away the funniest 100 minutes at the theater this year, sporting both smart critique and riotous jokes. And lastly, Up once again showed that Pixar still is the studio to beat. The first 10 minutes is likely the best film of the year, though after that it does get the tiniest bit silly and disconnected (hence its exclusion from the list), but it proved a worthy follow up to Pixar's recent run of features, which is as high as praise gets nowadays.
Drum roll please...
#10: Bright Star
As a newcomer to Jane Campion, I can only say "wow." She took something we see A LOT around Oscar season-- costume period dramas --and made it the best it has been since Pride and Prejudice. The story of genius poet John Keats and his love, Fanny Brawn, could have easily been this year's period snoozer (The Duchess, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Young Victoria, etc.), but instead is sweet, sincere, and really stunningly feminist: completely unexpected from this kind of film. Abbie Cornish proves she belongs in the heavyweights during her "emotional" scenes which dispense with the histrionics and drip with an honesty that is rare. The main romance is the heart of the film, however, and it is sold the second the couple is put on screen together. It's a product of everything, the writing, acting, direction, but there's that added 'something' that makes this couple feel iconic in the way that Leo and Kate did so many years ago. Throw in an absolutely stunning visual design and you've got yourself a winner.
#9: The Fantastic Mr. Fox
I'm an unabashed Wes Anderson fan... some might even say apologist (The Darjeeling Limited was awesome, I don't care what you all say). That being said, I think the absolute joy that this film filled me with is fairly universal, thanks to a really, really great script penned by Anderson and buddy Noah Baumbach (one of my top 10 filmmakers this decade, easily). The characters could be such cardboard figures, but they emerge as hilarious, three dimensional portraits instead, perhaps thanks to its absolutely stellar cast (Clooney again, fantastic again, Streep, and Murray to name just a few). It functions as Anderson did at his previous best: a heist film... and I say previous only to say that Fox bests the entire catalog of a true American-classic of a director. That there should be enough to compel you to see it now.
#8: Up in the Air
I almost put this and the other critical darling of the year together as a tie, but I can't cheat like that on something as sacred as a top ten, so The Hurt Locker can just be happy with 11th place, because Reitman and company deserve this. No, it's not Juno, but after living with it for a month, Up in the Air feels like its own brand of classic. A perfect, timely way to send off 2009, not because of the match of the economic downturn and subject matter (Clooney fires people for a living in case you missed it), but rather because this past decade, if nothing else, has been the decade of snark, sarcasm, and emotional detachment; Reitman takes these things, throws them in the brilliant stew of a man that is Ryan Bingham and then proceeds to take him apart piece by piece. It's a great character study, but when applied to the nation as a whole, it cuts deeply. It also features three of the finest performances of this decade in the holy trinity of Clooney, Anna Kendrick and my personal performance of the year, Vera Farmiga. Together, they make Up in the Air hang around in your head for a long time.
#7: Precious
I was really convinced that I was going to hate this film. If not because it was overly sentimental and seriously manipulative (always a danger when Oprah and Tyler Perry appear on your poster), then because it pulled too many tricks out of the poverty porn bag. Well, this is where I have to eat my crow because, straight up, Precious is a damn miracle of a movie. Not only are the actors absolutely jaw-dropping (Mo'nique is as good as you've heard, newcomer Gabourey Sidibe is even better), but the film feels like someone switched a camera on and followed this girl around. The tiny details of the script and the perfect set decoration sell it 100%. It's heartbreaking to the max, but it's also quite funny, thanks to some side characters. It's horrifying, it's sad, it's uplifting, it's sweet, it's cruel, it's great... basically, Precious just contains the entire scope of life. Impressive.
#6: Away We Go
Another of my favorite directors, Sam Mendes, continued his roll this year with this tiny little indie about a couple searching to find where they belong and who they are. It got raked over the coals by angry critics who have had enough of the "cutesy" little independent films, I suppose, but don't be fooled: Away We Go a great time. It's both hilarious and sweet (the inverse of his offering last year, the brutal, stunning Revolutionary Road), thanks to the surprising chemistry between Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski, both of which prove that they're, in fact, fantastic actors in addition to being great comics. A wonderful, personal film that continues Sam Mendes' obsession with American families... and his hot streak of films. That's 5-0 now, I can't wait to see what's next.
#5: Antichrist
A shriek of sorrow and darkness from one of the most fascinating artists to ever grace the silver screen. Lars von Trier, director of such happy larks as Breaking the Waves, Dogville, and Dancer in the Dark, is a polarizing genius. Now, he has made possibly his most polarizing film in this simple little psychological horror film... a psychological horror film that includes a talking fox, on-screen, unsimulated intercourse, and testicle smashing (and this is not even CLOSE to the worst image in the film). It's impossibly hard to watch at some points, but you can never look away. It's a touching, harrowing, thematically rich portrait of parental grief and madness, none of which would work without the absolute stunner of a performance from Charlotte Gainsbourg. It left me disgusted, slightly terrified, and completely, utterly shaken. If you measure cinema by how strong a reaction it provoked in you, this would be the best by a mile and a half. Gargantuan.
#4: Inglourious Basterds
Quentin Tarantino is my favorite filmmaker. Period. A lot of people downright don't get him (Kill Bill Vol. 2 is better, if you disagree you're watching them wrong) or just don't like him (Death Proof separated the true fans from the pretentious film fans who just like Pulp Fiction). Inglourious Basterds, however, is his first film since Reservoir Dogs to capture the public zeitgeist as perfectly as he's done with Basterds. I guess I shouldn't be so shocked, Basterds is a ton of fun on its own, but it also features Tarantino regulars like 20 minute dialogue scenes (the scorcher of an opener), very obscure film references, and long stretches where 'nothing happens'... and yet, I've got my populist roommate telling me that it might be his favorite film of all time? I personally can't separate what makes this so much better than, say, Jackie Brown. All I know is that it's another Tarantino feature stockpiled with lacerating wit and overflowing with genius. See it.
#3: Avatar
Queue the first teaser of Avatar: it sucked. It looked CGI-ed all to hell, simplistic, and more than a little dumb. Now on the other side of the film twice over, I'm beginning to think it was a diabolical plot by James "JC" Cameron to catch everyone off guard with perhaps the biggest movie to land since he last set sail in '97. Make no mistake, Avatar is giant, but it's also revolutionary, thrilling, emotional, and ah-mazing. You've no doubt heard, at this point, that the 3D visual design is a "game changer" and is "unreal" and likely heard the script maligned. It's true that it's more than a bit familiar (it's basically a mashup of Star Wars and Pocahontas), but the screenplay quietly builds its characters as you're busy marveling at Pandora and its sights, and ends up packing quite the 3rd act punch. Some of the dialogue is clumsy? Sure. Some of the themes spelled out? Yes, it's true. But where it counts-- the visuals, the characters, the action (Avatar sports the best action sequence since T2 easily) --Avatar is not just great, it's revolutionary. One for the history books.
#2: A Single Man The more I think about it, the more these last two are distant favorites. The craft involved in Tom Ford's mesmerizing directorial debut here is entirely impeccable, but that's not what makes this small film rank so high. No, that would be the dance that director Tom Ford and star Colin Firth do to insert you so firmly in George's head that you literally cannot move. At times, it almost feels like you could suffocate... and then you realize its because that's exactly how George feels in this scene. I still am reeling from the heady, emotional trip that it is (not to mention just how unreal the entire film looks, aiding the dreamy quality)... be it Firth or Ford's triumph, I can't tell, but either way, it's something that bowled me over and something, despite its grim subject matter (and, at times, execution), I absolutely cannot wait to revisit.
#1: Where the Wild Things Are
Disclaimer: I reserve the right to swap this and A Single Man at any time. Both, funny enough, have quite a bit in common with each other in the way I reacted to them: they're both incredibly sad, lonely films, both put you in the headspace of the main character remarkably well, and both are singular, original films that I've never seen anything like. In the case of Spike Jonez's Where the Wild Things Are, you haven't ever seen something like this because, quite simply, Hollywood likes its kids movies a very specific way: cute, colorful, and happy. Jonez takes the script (also penned by him) as a license to let the cat out of the bag on this subject. Basically, being a kid can be wondrous and magical, but it's also the pits sometimes. Anyone who was ever lonely for any amount of time as a child should connect with the emotional core here with ease. Jonez conjures that tone so masterfully that you are swept away by it. It's the one film this year that had me weepy through parts, angry through others, and completely absorbed through all of it. I didn't feel as much collectively through all year at the movies as I did watching Where the Wild Things Are. It's as simple as that.
Discuss (3 posts)
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Top Ten Movies of 2009
Jan 10 2010 01:34:19 Uwe Boll movies > Where the Wild Things Are. Seriously? Avatar? Number 4? The best movie of the year was without a doubt, a tie. Avatar and 9 were masterpieces.
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Top Ten Movies of 2009
Jan 11 2010 05:38:16 ...Antichrist...might just possibly be the reason why I might never get married.
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