The Ten Best Films of 2009

2009 was a very good year for movies in a decade that likely won't be remembered for such. In compiling my list of the ten best films of the year I joyfully discovered that, for the first time since 2003, I could have compiled a ten-best list twice whereas in several years this decade I struggled to come up with one list.

This year there were an astonishing 40 movies that were well above average or excellent. And, for the first time in my movie going lifetime, a woman directed my favorite film of the year.

The year was not without its downside. As has been the case for years the summer movie lineup consisted mostly of explosions and car chases without a moment's worth of necessary character development or adherence to a believable story. As long as people continue to make blockbuster hits of such lackluster fare of Transformers 2, you are only asking Hollywood to make more like it. Sure enough Transformers 3 is being readied for summer of 2011. Frankly, the summer movie season leaves me more than a little depressed, as I get older. Once the calendar changes to September you can almost feel the veil of mindless films being lifted and the beginnings of the serious movie season swooping in until the end of the year.

Before listing the ten best films I want to make mention of those that didn't make that list, or the top twenty, but deserve a tip of the cap and should be seen. Here are those films listed in alphabetical order:

Away We Go; Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans; Duplicity; Earth; The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus; The Hangover; The Informant; The International; Julie and Julia; The Men Who Stare at Goats; My Sister's Keeper; Public Enemies; The Shark is Still Working; Sherlock Holmes; State of Play; Taking Woodstock; Whatever Works; Zombieland.

Here are the ten runner-ups for best films of 2009. For me, the movies numbered 11-15 would have easily made a ten-best list in most other years this decade. I present them in order of preference and hope that some of you out there will seek these out in theaters or on DVD/Blue-Ray. There is nothing more exciting then recommending terrific movies to people who seek them out and, hopefully, enjoy them.

Zak Efron encounters the great Orson Welles and joins the famed Mercury Theater in New York of the 1930's in Me and Orson Welles, perhaps the best film ever made on the subject of stage work. A little boy runs away from home and finds himself in a magical land Where The Wild Things Are, a magical children's film for adults from director Spike (Being John Malkovich; Adaptation) Jonze. Another odd children's film for adults was Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox with voices by George Clooney and Meryl Streep among many about the lives of foxes and told in old style animation that looks like claymation. Precious is a downbeat but powerful story of an obese teenaged African-American girl trying to make a life for herself and child despite many obstacles including a verbally and physically abusive mother (played by the sure to be Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner Mo'Nique). Robert Zemeckis takes the same animation style he used for The Polar Express to create a new version of Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol and proved that a great, timeless story can be told just as beautifully. Watchmen was the best superhero movie of the year, an epic look at a group of people trying to save the Earth in a stark 1985. The Road was an end of the world apocalyptic tale of a man (Viggo Mortensen) and his son fighting for survival as they hit the road looking for survivors and hope. An Education is the lovely tale of a young woman's journey to womanhood when she takes up the company of a man in his 30's. Crazy Heart tells the story of an old time country singer trying to earn a few bucks to feed his alcohol addiction. When he meets a young woman who interviews him, he falls in love and tries to turn his life around. Jeff Bridges acts and sings in the lead and gives the performance that will finally win him the Oscar. I Love You, Man was the year's funniest comedy about a man (the ever dependable Paul Rudd) who realizes that now he is engaged, he doesn't have a true male friend to be his best man so he sets out to find him.

And finally here are my choices for the ten best films of 2009. It was a difficult list to compile because of my love for many of these films and trying to knock those out of the top ten was more a challenge than I expected. I hope you seek these movies out if you haven't seen them and enjoy them as much as I did.

1) 1). THE HURT LOCKER - For me it was a coin flip for my choice of best film of the year between this and Up In The Air. I finally decided on The Hurt Locker because more than any film this year, months after I have seen it, its power still resonates. Director Katherine Bigelow who, for more than two decades, has been making solid quality action films including Near Dark, Blue Steel and Strange Days has created a masterpiece that takes a front seat as the best of all the films about the Iraq war thus far. I find it difficult to imagine another Iraq war film better than this one. The film tells the story of a band of three men in the Army whose job is to disarm roadside bombs. Jeremy Renner gives a powerful performance as the bomb dis-enabler who puts others lives on the line before his own. Bigelow directs the film so that the viewer is right in on the action and creates tension that is quite palpable in the theater more than once. Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, Guy Pearce and Evangeline Lily contribute small roles but Renner steals the show. The film is not perfect - a sequence involving Renner searching for the parents of a child who has been killed seems totally out of place - but its power is real and frightening and most of the credit must go to Bigelow.

2). UP IN THE AIR - Director Jason Reitman, following his smashing success with Juno, announces his arrival as a major director with this comedy-drama that is a character study of a lonely man who doesn't know he is lonely and, when he realizes it doesn't really mind. His family has long given up on him and only turn to him because he is still alive and out there. His apartment is sparsely furnished and he has little time for love. George Clooney stars as a man who virtually lives in the air as he flies from city to city, job site to job site, where it is his job to fire employees but still try to make them feel necessary and give them hope for the future. Anna Kendrick co-stars as the young woman who is newly hired and to be trained by Clooney. Vera Farmiga plays Clooney's love interest, another frequent flyer with little time to live much less to love. Reitman essentially creates a character study of three people instead of one and takes us on a fun journey as we watch these people evolve but sometimes never learn.

2) 3) UP - I must confess that I am not a frequent viewer of Pixar's films though the ones I have seen I have enjoyed. Then I saw UP and was so transfixed by the story and its characters I found myself wiping away tears more than once, something that has never happened to me with a children's animated movie. After having seen this I seeked out Wall-E and wished I could do my 2008 best ten list over again. Up tells the story of an old man missing his wife, the love of his life, since her death. His loneliness overcomes him and after a shocking incident involving a construction worker, decides to rig his home with thousands of balloons and lift off to another land. The only problem is he accidentally takes a neighborhood kid with him. When they land they find a land of talking dogs among other things but to say more would spoil the fun. The film has a few story flaws but I was absolutely enamored with the film and I knew I was going to be a sucker for this film when, just five minutes into the film, the entire relationship of the man and his wife is shown - the bad times as well as the good. Never has a movie moved me so early on. Usually you need more time for character development and action before I am so affected but this film did that. It is a treasure for adults and children.

3) 4) AVATAR - I must confess that the first time I saw Avatar I was absolutely blown away by the visuals and effect but less than enamored by James Cameron's familiar story and felt the pacing in the first hour was a bit slow. On a second viewing the film flowed more easily for me but also picked more on some of Cameron's clunky dialogue (Cameron has never been strong in that department - Titanic was nominated for 14 Academy Awards but one of them was not his Screenplay. I expect the same for this film). Still, when all is said and done, Cameron's mastery is in his visuals and introduces us to magic in almost every shot. A second viewing helped me discover things I had missed the first time. Judging by the box-office totals it is clear people are seeing it again and again and this is one film that almost demands it. Cameron fills each shot with imagery that is spectacular. Every inch of every frame there is a discovery to be had and it is for that reason I have rated it so highly.

4) 5) STAR TREK - Lost creator JJ Abrams did what they said couldn't be done. He took a tried and true series that had long burned out on the big screen and not only revitalized the entire franchise but, in my opinion, created the best film this series that has lasted 30 years has ever seen. Abrams decided to go back to the beginning and introduce us to the original members of the Starship Enterprise when they were still young. The early passages focus on a rebellious James T. Kirk and how he finds himself joining the Federation and soon enough meeting all of the familiar characters from the series. Abrams has cast his film perfectly as all of the performances take us back to the original cast members without feeling it is just stale imitations. Leonard Nimoy puts in a small but strong appearance as Spock and my only real complaint is that Abrams should really have made room for a brief William Shatner appearance. This was a terrific adventure film.

6) INGLORIOUS BASTERDS - Quentin Tarantino announced with fierce vengeance and furious anger that he was back on the top of his game with his best film since Pulp Fiction. Set during WWII, the title characters are a group of Jewish soldiers whose leader (Brad Pitt) has ordered to bring back the scalps of 100 Nazi's each. Surprisingly that is only one of several story threads that run through the film including a woman who survived the tragic murder of her family and plots her revenge, an actress working both sides and a Nazi colonel out to win any way he can. As is the case with Tarantino's brilliant writing, the story threads all come together in a beautifully shot and edited final act. While Pitt has the starring role it is rather how surprising how much less screen time he has than expected. Christolph Waltz, as the Nazi colonel, has an equal amount of screen time and, in a beautifully written sequence that opens the film, guaranteed himself an Oscar nomination (for which he will win). This is a terrific action film for adults that is just as great to listen to as it is to watch.

7) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY - Most people won't agree with this selection but I hold the film in the highest regard for one reason: It scared me. During this decade this was one of only two films that genuinely scared me (the other being The Decent). Even on a second viewing, knowing what was to come, I still sat on the edge of my seat and still jumped more than once. The story is a simple one. A couple that lives together experience frightening things at night in their home and they decide to record the action as it happens. And with each night that we see the occurrences get stranger and more frightening. The film is best known for its $13,000 budget and proved to filmmakers that make movies for one hundred times that much that the one tried and true way to scare someone (especially me) is to NOT show a thing but simply imply the presence of something terrible.

8) A SERIOUS MAN - The Coen Brothers continually make strong, original American movies and this one is no exception. The film tells the hard luck story of a Jewish college professor having a bad time of it. His wife wants to leave him, his daughter steals money from him for a nose job, his son is preparing for his Bar Mitzvah by constantly running from a bully he owes money to, one of his students tries to bribe him for a good grade and someone is sending nasty notes to the dean about him in order to stop him from getting tenure. All of this misery is told in a delightfully comic tone that only the Coens could master. I have heard complaints that you have to be Jewish to better enjoy it but I disagree. You could replace the Bar Mitzvah with an important birthday, a Catholic communion or even a wedding. Another complaint is that it is hard to enjoy watching another's misery and I can accept that but add that the Coens present it in such an entertaining manner that you should simply sit back and enjoy the show. The film's ending was a sore spot for me when I first saw it. How could the film just end with an event coming that was obviously going to be cataclysmic for the characters? However after reflecting for a few days it finally dawned on me that the Coen Brothers rarely offer an easy solution and much prefer the viewer to figure things out for themselves. There is nothing wrong with having to think about a movie once it is over.

9) THE MESSENGER - This is another modern war drama only told on the home front and tells the story of two men, one a veteran and one a newbie (Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster) whose job it is to tell families that their loved ones have died in the way. Foster is the new guy trying to get used to the manner that Harrelson works and to try and not get personally involved (one of Harrelson's strict rules is to "never touch the person.") but finds himself drawn to a woman (Samantha Morton) whose lost her lover and father of her child. This is a powerful drama about trying to move on it the face of hopelessness and the men doing a difficult job and trying to remain neutral. It is not a feel good movie but one that should be seen if only to respect these soldiers and what they sacrifice even more.

10) (500) DAYS OF SUMMER - Not only the best romantic comedy of the year but the best I have seen in many years tells the story of five-hundred days in the romance of a young couple of whom the woman (Zooey Deschaniel) is named Summer. The twist to this delightful film is that the film is not told in order. We may see day 430 to start and then it switches to day 123 to day 1 to day 50 and so on. We know right from the start this is a doomed romance so it is a pleasure to watch this all unfold and see what goes wrong. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as the male half of this romance and is fast becoming one of our best young actors. There are many delightful scenes including a music and dance number and a great moment where the two reunite and, in split screen, we see two versions of the same scene: One version is how the man hopes it will go and the other is how it really goes. Who among us hasn't thought out a scenario and then when it really happens it goes completely opposite? This is an original and lovely film and worthy of viewing from anyone who is romantic or has loved and lost. You are not the only ones.