2009 was an interesting year. I won't call it good or bad, just interesting. It would've been a far better year without movies like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and New Moon, but that's a different conversation. Time to reflect back on the biggest money making year in film history with the films that are truly worthy of being called one of the best of the year.
1.) AVATAR What makes Avatar stand
out is how Cameron uses groundbreaking technology to further
storytelling, not just action. The story is more than just a good vs.
evil fight, it creates a whole new world physically and emotionally. With some of the best action sequences in the history of cinema, Avatar is a pure adrenaline
rush. Good luck finding a better film in 2009.
2.) Where the Wild Things Are A close runner-up to Avatar for 2009's best film, Spike Jonze's adaptation of the classic children's tale is something I've never seen before. Here is one of America's most
innovative auteurs crafting a children's book that only has ten
sentences and a handful of pictures, yet somehow a film emerges that
expresses more honesty and perception about being a child than any
other sugarcoated tale ever made. Finally, there is a film out there
that treats children like people, and not the other way around. For any
parent out there who believes Where the Wild Things Are
is too dark for their child, you are wrong. We were all children once,
and after viewing this masterpiece, not only will you remember what it
was like, but you will truly feel it. There is a nine-year old inside
of all us, and I hope that will never change.
3.) (500) Days of Summer This movie is a wonderful experience, one so magical, so absolutely delightful, and so in-touch
with human emotions, you’ll swear it’s like witnessing your own life. The
tagline for this film is a phenomenal one: “This is not a love story. This is a
story about love.” Oh how true this tagline is. Because what is the first thing
you think about when someone tells you a film is “a love story?” Hmm, let’s
see. Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy tries to get girl, boy
eventually gets girl, boy somehow loses girl, boy magically gets girl back, and
boy and girl live happily ever after. Pretty standard stuff right? What makes (500) Days of Summer so original is how
brilliantly it plays off that basic formula. This movie is a story ABOUT love.
4.) Capitalism: A Love Story
Michael Moore has been one of the most fascinating filmmakers of the 21st
century. His passion is so strong and universally known that his reputation
almost precedes the actual topics his films cover.He is in his prime with Capitalism: A Love
Story, a hilarious and powerful experience you will never forget.
5.) Inglourious Basterds
Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious
Basterds is a brilliantly unconventional piece of cinema that is
absolutely one of the best films of the year. It dares to take huge risks only
Tarantino is capable of taking. Whether you're looking for an antidote from
this summer's ridiculously loud and noisy movies, or want to experience
two-and-a-half hours of untamed, breathtaking cinema, this is it. In the midst
of what is usually a quiet throwaway month for movies, this August has two of
the best films of the year (this and District 9). It's the refreshing cleanse
of fine filmmaking we desperate moviegoers ever so needed.
6. It Might Get Loud It Might Get Loud is a fascinating entertainment. A simple film, in which
director Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) understands its
simplicity, and uses it towards his advantage. Featuring Jimmy Page (Led
Zeppelin), The Edge (U2), and Jack White (The White Stripes, The Raconteurs),
this riveting documentary captures three fantastic musicians from three
different backgrounds who meet to discuss the history of the guitar, their
experiences of rock stardom, and to share a well-deserved jam session. A
delightful, moving experience.
7. Up Up is Disney Pixar's
tenth film. Any signs of fatigue in their latest feature? Not-a-one. Pixar is
the only studio that can call itself critically and commercially perfect. You
would think that the studio's much deserved bragging rights would distract its
filmmakers from their initial intent (telling an original story), but if
anything, they just seem to get better and better. While I'll admit Wall-E is still their strongest
entry, Up is easily
worthy of being hailed as a cinematic masterpiece.
8. Moon Sam Rockwell is a fantastic actor, and
he does nothing but provide proof to that statement with his outstanding
performance in the new independent science fiction film Moon, an
absolute mindblower from director Duncan Jones that will stick with you long
after you've left the theater. Whether it's Sam's robot friend voiced by Kevin
Spacey, or the feeling of complete isolation, you will feel Moon
lingering in your head for some time. This could very well be one of the most
subconsciously thought-provoking sci-fi films this side of 2001: A Space
Odyssey. What's even more impressive? The film's $5 million budget.
9.
Up in the Air There is a moment in the most timely film of the
year, Up in the Air, whereGeorge Clooney, playing a man who fires
people on the road for a living, gets up and makes an annual speech about the
physical act of moving. "Make no mistake, moving is living" he says,
with that jaunty grin that proves just how much of a movie star he really is.
He plays Ryan Bingham, a man whose life is his job. He fires people, but his
life consists of living up in the air and on the road. He travels all over the
country, building up enough flyer miles to earn himself gold status for the
rest of his life. That is until his work decides to ground him after creating a
new way of firing people. How? Yes, you guessed it. Over the Internet. Clooney
gives the performance of his career in one of 2009's best offerings, a movie
whose time and tone are perfectly aligned. This is Jason Reitman's third
feature (Thank You for Smoking, Juno)
and his best work to date. If there is one film out there that can be
considered a lock for a Best Picture nomination, look no further. Up in the Air is a moving ode to life.
And make no mistake, moving is living.
10.
Star Trek Star Trek is the perfect summer movie, perfect in its understanding of
being purely fun and exhilarating and perfect in its ability to avoid reducing
itself to cheesy melodrama. Action, humor, story, visual effects, Eric Bana,
excitement, and Leonard Nimoy? Star Trek works for everyone. J.J
Abrams’s reboot of the historic science fiction franchise is one of the best
times I’ve had at the movies all year.
