The Best Films of 2009

A bit late, but here it is, I saw most of them and it was a damn good year for movies. Any one of the top ten could have been a number one in a lesser year. Thus...

1. The Hurt Locker

An electrifying, compelling, alternative way to view war, the Hurt Locker is a timely film filled with metaphor and blunt fact. The way that director Kathryn Bigelow takes all that we know and turns it upside-down makes the film original--even though it's genre and action is one of the oldest things in film. From the first scene to the last, the film is constantly captivating and tense.



2. Goodbye Solo

The most tender film of the year, a view at pure goodness in the light of depression. The end shot is one of the best I've ever seen. Goodbye Solo transcends the foolish buddy picture and exhibits what's at the heart of relationships. Not only is the film grounded in reality, but its insights and ability make it a wholly American film.


3. An Education

A film whose ideas ring as true today as they did in the time of the characters, An Education exemplifies with a fair and understanding hand what it's like to grow up when everyone seems against you. The way that it does not fall into stereotypes and yet exhibits them as true at other times is wonderous. Carey Mulligan is especially a revelation. Here is a film that allows the viewers to reach a conclusion based on what we've seen instead of plowing a message into our heads.


4. Moon

A gorgeous and eerie sci-fi film that ranks with the best of them all, Moon is a compelling film about what it means to be ourselves. It is immediatley clichéd and trite, but that does not make what it has to show us any less interesting and true. It's a given that there are hidden demons in a sci-fi film, but when it is executed so well and mysteriously, it becomes great entertainment. The ideas presented in Moon are ones that are more intelligent than the revered Isaac Asimov.


5. A Serious Man

The Coen Brother's epic about the meaning of life and the cruelty of life. Beautiful, caustic, and devastating.


6. Up in the Air

A perceptive, funny, and kind-hearted comedy that is realistic while being trenchantly hopeful.
Up in the Air so perfectly captures it's time and the mood that accompanies it--one of those comedies that has a depressing undertone.


7. Bad Lieutenant

A holds-back-no-punches thriller that perfectly delves into madness and obsession. A film that solidifies Nicholas Cage's worth as an actor and an achievement for master-director Werner Herzog--it steams with lust and evil.


8. Brothers

The other great war film of the year, a movie about family more than anything else. Wonderfully acted and architectural, Brothers delves into dualism with perfect pace.


9. Sin Nombre

The steamy and captivating tale of evil within Central America, and how we're doomed to see history repeat itself. The realistic nature of the film and its de-romaticized nature mark it as a great film about immigration and leads to questions about the entire subject and its civility.


10. Broken Embraces

A scintillating and slow spanish film by the master Pedro Almodóvar, Broken Embraces embraces all aspects of life and plots them all out. The colors in Almodóvar's film seem allegorical for the sides of his characters: their desires, shame, and depression.


11. A Single Man

A devastating and façade ridden portrait of life, acted wonderfully by Colin Firth and with the feel of a ticking time bomb. The beauty that director Tom Ford brings to the film makes it unique.


12. Antichrist

The most effective horror movie ever. Director Lars von Trier evokes wonderful performances from his actors and allows for long, contemplative scenes of absolute evil.


13. In the Electric Mist

Noir in Louisiana, exemplified by the pen of James Lee Burke and the voice of Tommy Lee Jones


14. Drag Me To Hell

The other great horror film of the year, it leaks its ridiculousness out into the audience. The dualism of horror, comedy and a disgusting ending exhibit the worth of director Sam Raimi.

15. Inglorious Basterds

For it's non-basterds scenes, its a sharply written and sexy revenge tale. The power given to the women in Tarantino's film is admirable, and so is Tarantino's big joke on all of us: that the real basterds in his film are the americans.

Also these (alphabetically):

(500) Days of Summer

Probably the only good romantic-comedy of the decade.

Avatar

A groundbreaking (though pretentious) masterpiece on the visual level--on the scale of Star Wars in its vision.

The Cove

A hopeful documentary about the evils within Japan's dolphin industry and how we helped that to occur.

Crazy Heart

A great portrait of a man, exhibited by the great Jeff Bridges

Disgrace

A John Malkovich vehicle about racism and letting go.

Gomorrah

A brutal picture of the mafia in Italy.

The Informant!

A hilarious and odd film about a man with no actual ideals.

The Messenger

For it's solid portrayals.

Ponyo

A dreamy and sweet fable that is as simple as can be.

Public Enemies

Michael Mann's overwhelming epic about 1920's gangsters--highly romanticized and all the better for it.

The Road

A bleak and disgusting movie that is done so well and raises such primal questions that it must be mentioned.