Top 10 Movies of 2009

Well, the Oscars have come and gone and I still have yet to post my Top 10 movies of 2009.  Better late than never I suppose.  I only saw seven out of the ten films nominated for Best Picture (I have yet to see The Blind Side, Precious, or A Serious Man), but I thought they did a relatively good job with the nominations.  Six of my top ten matched up with the Academy's choices and I have a feeling that if I had seen A Serious Man and Precious, they may have bumped out The Road and Adventureland.

10. The Road - I had very high expectations going into this movie because I absolutely loved the book, and while it didn't quite live up to those expectations, I still thought it was really well done and was very faithful to the source material.  This is definitely a very bleak and depressing story and is probably not for everyone, but I thought Viggo Mortensen was excellent as usual as was Kodi Smit-McPhee as the boy.  There are several absolutely heart-renching scenes, but the one that still sticks with me is between Viggo and his wife played by Charlize Theron when they see each other for the last time.

9. Adventureland - I have a feeling that this movie will gain momentum over time and become a cult classic.  Especially now that Kristen Stewart is known the world over as Bella from the Twilight movies.  The film does a great job of capturing the nostalgia of the '80's (including a fantastic soundtrack) but is also universal in it's themes of aimlessness after college and young love.  It also has some really funny moments.

8. Up In the Air - While I wasn't as high on this movie as most critics, I still thought it was very good and the acting was impeccable.  All three of the leads were deserving of their nominations, especially George Clooney who gives perhaps the best performance of his career (although I think I still might lean towards Michael Clayton for that distinction).  I also enjoyed Jason Bateman and Danny McBride in their smaller comedic supporting roles and of course that cameo by Young MC was fantastic!

7. Fantastic Mr. Fox - This was a really enjoyable movie and even though it was animated, it still had that quirky, oddball feel of a typical Wes Anderson movie.  Many Wes Anderson regulars provided voices for the film including Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, and Owen Wilson.  George Clooney and Meryl Streep did great voice work as the title character and his understanding wife.

6. Up - Once again, Pixar proves that they can basically do no wrong.  The montage sequence showing Carl and Ellie's life together was brilliant and absolutely heartbreaking.  I don't think I've been that close to tears watching an animated film since Grave of the Fireflies.  The story was on point as usual and several memorable characters will be added to the Pixar legacy, particularly Dug the "talking" dog.
  
5. (500) Days of Summer - A highly original take on the romantic comedy, with a unique approach to the boy meets girl story.  The story is told in non-sequential order and jumps back and forth among 500 days of a relationship.  A few fantastical scenes, such as a musical number set to a Hall and Oates song and the main character being transported into a Frech existential film add to the charm.  It is also really witty and well-written and Zooey Deschanel is absolutely adorable.  It's easy to understand why Joseph Gordone Levitt would fall so hard for her.

4. Avatar - I had to admit that I had my doubts about this film after seeing the trailer.  I really didn't udnerstand what all the hype was about, but after seeing this film in the theater in 3-D, I was as blown away as everyone else.  From the opening moment where the main character is waking up aboard the spaceship, I knew that this film was visually like nothing else that had ever been done before.  The story is of course pretty predictable and oversimplistic with a lot of the characters basically just playing types such as the corporate suit who just cares about making money and the prejudiced military man who only cares about wiping the alien race off the face of their own planet, but the visual effects alone put this one in the top 5.

3. District 9 - Now this is what a sci-fi movie should be!  Inspired by the events that took place around Apartheid in South Africa, this film tells the story of an alien race who basically broke down on our planet and now they can't leave so they are confined to a refugee camp.  The message is a bit heavy handed, but the story is very original and keeps the tension ratcheted up.  I was particularly impressed with the acting performance of relative newcomer Sharlto Copley as we watch his transformation from a seemingly dimwitted, happy-go-lucky bureaucrat to a man pushed to the brink and forced to fight for his life.  I was pleasantly surprised to see this among the ten films that the Academy nominated for Best Picture.

2. The Hurt Locker - I was extremely happy that the Academy actually came through and bestowed Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing upon the Hurt Locker.  This film was just non-stop intensity as the three leads went from one harrowing situation to the next.  The editing was extremely brilliant and kept you on the edge of your seat the entire time.  It really allowed the audience to feel the uncertainty along with the characters of whether the random Iraqi observer was just filming the latest viedo to put up on Youtube or was getting ready to activate a detonation device at any time.  I loved how the film stayed out of the politics of the war in Iraq and just focused on these characters and how they coped with performing a seemingly impossible job.  Jeremy Renner was simply fantastic as Staff Sargeant James, the leader of the three man crew with the cowboy approach to his job and if it wasn't for Jeff Bridges finally getting the Oscar that he definitely derved, I think Renner would have been a shoo-in.  I'm excited to see what else he can do in future films.  This was also, as everyone knows by now, the first time that a female director has won the Best Director Oscar and it was well-deserved.  Kathryn Bigelow was once married to James Cameron.  Talk about sweet revenge.  Her little movie trumped the highest grossing film of all time!

1. Inglourious Basterds - I usually love everything that Quentin Tarantino does and this film was no different.  I was slightly disappointed with Grindhouse, but I still enjoyed it and I knew that Basterds was somewhat of a labor of love for Quentin as it had been in development for quite some time and I thought it delivered big time.  While the movie may not have been as cohesive as some people would have liked (most of his films are very episodic in nature anyway) the brilliance of several individual scenes left such an impression on me that I had no choice but to name this my top movie of 2009.  In particular, the opening sequence and the scene in the tavern were two of the most intense sequences ever captured on celluloid.  I also didn't think that his rewriting of history detracted from the film in anyway.  This was just Quentin being Quentin and having a blast while doing it.  Also, what more could be said about the performance of Christoph Waltz that hasn't been said already.  It was simply one of the best screen performances of all time.