2009 was a great year at the movies and, after seeing around 70 movies this year, I thought I would share My Top 10 Movies of 2009!! So let's get to it, with some quick house-cleaning to do first...
10 Potential Listbusters (some films I didn't see, but heard were good): Adventureland, Bronson, Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Informant, The Last Station, My Sister’s Keeper, Ponyo, A Serious Man, A Single Man
16 Honorable Mentions: 500 Days of Summer, Crazy Heart, Drag Me to Hell, The Hurt Locker, I Love You Man, The Invention of Lying, Julie & Julia, The Messenger, Monsters vs Aliens, Moon, Paranormal Activity, Precious, The Princess & the Frog, The Proposal, Sherlock Holmes, Zombieland
And now onto the feature presentation…
My Top 10 Movies of 2009:
10. The Blind Side
The story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family.
Many critics dismissed The Blind Side before it was released as just another sports movie, however the movie exploded into a national phenomenon driven by its amazing true story. Viewers also were drawn to the appropriateness of the film (no sex, very little cursing) and the movie did especially well in the Bible Beltway where it had multiple appeals to Southerners, college football fans, and Christians. The Blind Side has become Sandra Bullock’s biggest movie ever and rightfully so as she is the driving force behind a film that’s funny yet serious, simple yet complex, sad yet hopeful.
9. Star Trek
The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes.
When director J.J. Abrams brought his creative genius to the Star Trek franchise, he took the series from being the obsession of Trekkies to an international blockbuster that brought the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise into the view of a mainstream audience. The movie has an exciting, young cast, great effects, and is funny, action-packed, and creative. As with many science fiction movies, there are problems with the plot (especially since this movie deals with time-travel), however, the technical stuff isn’t too confusing for the average viewer and keeps us excited to be introduced to this new and exciting world.
8. Avatar
A paraplegic marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.
Everyone has heard about Avatar, so I’ll keep it simple. It integrates existing 3D technology with new motion-capture technology to create one of the most visually stunning movies ever made. Yeah, the story line is recycled from movies like Dances with Wolves and the Last Samurai, but I’m not complaining; movies reuse common tropes all the time, but none look as good as Avatar. The spectacle of it all is why Avatar is now the highest grossing movie of all time, surpassing Titanic, which - like Avatar - was also directed by James Cameron.
7. Up in the Air
Ryan Bingham enjoys living out of a suitcase for his job, travelling around the country firing people, but finds that lifestyle threatened by the presence of a potential love interest, and a new hire.
The latest movie from Jason Reitman (Juno, Thank You for Smoking) continues his run of smart, witty films. At many times the plot lacked a little drive and the ending felt too open-ended for my liking, despite a pleasantly surprising twist near the end. However, the acting was top-notch, shoutout to both George Clooney and rising stary Anna Kendrick. I also enjoyed the multitude of celebrity cameos in a movie that reflects the current national mood in the midst of our economic crisis, but still leaves us with a feeling of hope.
6. An Education
A coming-of-age story about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London, and how her life changes with the arrival of a playboy nearly twice her age.
Like Up in the Air, An Education is an artsy film that many people my age don’t bother to go see, but I came away having enjoyed this little movie immensely. Peter Sarsgaard is completely charming as the older man and we almost understand how the girl’s parents would allow their daughter to spend so much time with this adult man. Almost. Yet the shining star in this film is Carey Mulligan. Critics have compared her to Audrey Hepburn, and rightfully so. She portrays elegance and class and is truly the driving force behind this coming-of-age story. Overall, this is a film that makes us think about many things, talk about a few of them, and gives us a strong desire to see Carey Mulligan in another movie soon.
5. Up
Few would expect a cartoon about an old man to do well, yet Pixar always delivers with its films and Up is no exception. The cartoon is funny and entertaining, but -- as with many of Pixar’s movies -- can also make you cry. The opening montage of the love between Carl and his wife and their inability to have children is touching and heartbreaking. We care more for Carl than we do many real-life movie characters as he treks through the jungle with an excitable Wilderness Explorer to finally fulfill the dreams he shared with his now-deceased wife. I don’t know how the Pixar animators can project such emotion into computer-animated characters, but it’s a mystery I appreciate and look forward to every year.
4. The Hangover
Three buddies wake up from a bachelor party in Las Vegas, with no memory of the previous night and with the bachelor missing.
The Hangover, a surprise hit of the year, is definitely the funniest movie I’ve seen in the past few years. Original and creative, it featured a little-known cast that went on a big adventure. The dialogue was hilarious and the situations were even more side-splitting. (However, I don’t have good feelings about the sequel they’re trying to make.)
3. Taken
A retired CIA agent travels across Europe and relies on his old skills to save his estranged daughter, who has been kidnapped while on a trip to Paris.
After being in a lot of intense dramas like Schindler’s List, Liam Neeson finally landed a role in a big action movie. And what a big action movie it was! Taken became the first surprise hit of 2009 almost a year ago. The gritty, realistic tale of an ex-special forces agent on a mission to find his kidnapped daughter captured the attention of movie-goers everywhere. As with his other roles, Neeson gives a great performance and the action scenes were fun and intense.
2. District 9
An extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth suddenly finds a kindred spirit in a government agent who is exposed to their biotechnology.
District 9 proved to be another surprise hit of the year, utilizing a documentary feel with interviews and hand-held camera shots that made it seem to be a combination of Paranormal Activity and Independence Day. The initial exploration of the poverty-stricken alien ghetto is interesting, but the movie really takes off when the government agent’s own Kafka-esque transformation forces him to rethink his prejudices as his fellow humans turn on him and he is forced to fight for his survival. It’s an engaging, action-packed film that is one of the few movies to come from Hollywood with an original story.
1. Inglourious Basterds
Inglourious Basterds is, in every way, a fully complete movie. The action was insane, the dialogue was exceedingly intelligent, and the emotion was intense. Inglourious Basterds is a movie that takes its time in delivering a story that is, I say again, fully complete. My favorite scenes were those with Colonel Hans Landa, played by Christopher Waltz, a well-known actor in Germany. I have no doubt in my mind that he will win an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. All in all, Basterds is more than a great movie, it is storytelling at its finest.
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