Best Films Of 2009

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Top Ten (12) List.

Inglourious Basterds
A Tarantino masterpiece and an ode to film and filmmaking. Hilarious, tragic, and beautifully violent. Great acting, brilliant score, superbly written. Tarantino alters history. Great King Kong conversation. This film should easily win all awards in my opinion. Hands down.

Where The Wild Things Are
A Spike Jonze Masterpiece about the complexities of being a child. Visceral. Haunting. Amazing. I saw this with my mom. We both cried. Beautiful music. Karen, I love you.

Hunger (Technically 2008, but US release 2009)
True story of IRA hunger strike in the 1981. Michael Fassbinder starves himself to death for this role. The real Bobby Sands refused to eat for 66 days and died at age 27. Brutal. Powerful. I also had the privilege to see Steve McQueen's video art installation at the Venice Biannale which was amazing too.



Julia (Technically 2008, but US release 2009)
Tilda Swinton acts so well in this independent film. She plays an alcoholic that kidnaps a child and holds him for ransom. They eventually develop some kind of twisted relationship while traveling through Mexico being chased by gangsters. Extremely dark to the point of cringing and hard to watch, but really really great. Kind of like something of a Cassavettes film, but with more kidnapping, murder, and insane plot twists. Do not I repeat, do not confuse this with Julie & Julia by mistake.

The Girlfriend Experience
Porn Star actress and a simple story directed by Steven Soderberg showcasing Lower Manhattan. Shot on a Red Cam for extra sexiness. Elegantly blending pornography into feature film.

Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wes Anderson's painstaking detailed stop motion animation film. Amazement for the whole family. No one will ever say anything bad about this movie. It is pretty cussing good.

Sugar
Really awesome small movie about sports and immigration. Another gem by the folks that brought you Half Nelson.

Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans
Wernor Herzog and Nicloas Cage go way too far. I mean way too far. So over the top outrageous that I enjoyed every minute of this movie. Hysterical. Ridiculous. Great shots of iguanas and alligators. Horribly bad to the point of being good. Til the break of dawn. What you don't have a lucky crack pipe?

Up In The Air
Hard times and comedy. Clooney kills it. Really kills it. You are right there with him and his empty backpack. Additional highlights include: Vera Farmiga wearing nothing but a neck tie around her waist, Zach Galifianakis and Danny McBribe cameos, cool opening credits.

District 9
One of the better science fiction morality films I've seen. Aparthied metaphor. Really well acted and directed too. Neil Blomkamp wrote it when he was 13 about personal apartheid experiences. In my opinion it becomes more of a film about physical transformation and doing the right thing while facing oppression. I guess some people see it as stereotypical to Nigerians, but it is quite clear that the filmmakers never had that on their mind. It is actually a really well done movie.

Anvil! The Story Of Anvil
Great documentary about a band making it or never making, but keeping it going.

The Hurt Locker

A good little film about having the most dangerous job in the world and owning it. Really well acted and shot. Explosions. Suspense. War without blah blah blah politics. I dug it. Pretty good all around until the ending with the heavy metal music chiming in as our hero returns. That was unnecessary. Is it something to see? Yes. Is it a best picture kind of movie? No way. Is it directed by Katherine Bigelow (the same director of one of my all time favorite films called Point Break)? Fuck yes. Way better than Avatar? In my opinion.. absolutely yes.

The Worth Watching List:

Two Lovers
Antichrist
The Carter
Sin Nombre
Gomorrah
Che: Part 1 and 2
Tyson
The Cove
The International
The Hangover
500 Days Of Summer
Public Enemies

The Big Budget Popcorn Eye Candy Flawed List:

Watchmen
I liked this better than most comic adaptations. Zach Synder is an idiot though. Worst musical pairings ever. Ruined the movie for me. Otherwise it could have been really good. It was visually solid. The animated comic is much better. And of course so is the real graphic novel.

Avatar
Overall I really didnt like it. I do respect the production value though and it is an experience. I heard this movie was made by unicorns with laser guns. It is cool to see this 3D stuff though I suppose. Or you could just watch Dances with Wolves on Mescalin while wearing Raybans and reading the New York Times.

Star Trek
Not a fan of JJ Abrams or Star Trek at all, but it was fun for chuckle I guess. There are worse ways to waste 2 hours and $12.50 at the Arclight.

The Didnt See Yet List:

Precious
The Messenger
A Serious Man
A Single Man
A Prophet
Crazy Heart
Bright Star
The Road
An Education
Broken Embraces
The Box
Moon
Cold Souls
Capitalism: A Love Story
The White Ribbon
The September Issue
Nine
Big Fan
Food Inc.

The Next Year List:

Enter The Void
Voyage Of Time and The Tree Of Life
Mesrine: Part 1 and 2
The Fighter
Arrested Development

I am also working on a best films of the decade list.

#1 Film of Decade 2000-2009:

There Will Be Blood.

Superior acting, direction, and score. A complete Paul Thomas Anderson masterpiece. A beautifully dark and important film based on Oil! by Upton Sinclair. Regilion vs. Capitalism. Capitalism prevails. Paul Dano (Religion) gets beat to death in a bowling alley by Daniel Day Lewis (Capitalism).

"I'm finished."

Everything else is a distant #2.