My Top 10 Films of 2009

1) UP IN THE AIR
This was the movie I was waiting for all year. Simple, nuanced, beautifully acted and heartfelt. The dialogue felt was effortless and the performances by Clooney, Kendrick and Farmiga were flawless. This movie struck an unexpected chord having myself been on the road and away from my family and friends for the past 3 years. The isolation and banal routine that you somehow come to think of as normal, even comforting felt so perfectly relevant. Within the two hours I spent in the theatre I was immersed in the lives of the main characters yet forced to examine my own without even realizing it.



2) INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
In Tarantino's best turn of his career he skates through film genres and almost offensive historical inaccuracies with such hilarious ease. This film had me knotted in suspense one moment, cringing at gruesome violence another and then cheering with excitement and laughs the next. One of the most hugely entertaining films of the decade. Also, Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa was probably my favorite performance of the year.



3) FANTASTIC MR. FOX
2009 was an incredible year for children's films and FANTASTIC MR. FOX led the pack as my favorite. Wes Anderson's crafty and original stop-animation pic was truly a marvel. It was shot so much like a token Wes Anderson film with the exception of, oh right, ANYTHING REAL. It also delivered a wonderfully quirky screenplay that not even for a second talked down to its target audience.



4) UP
A amazing film that packed an unexpected emotional punch. The first 15 minutes was undoubtedly the most beautifully animated sequence I've ever seen. I was almost embarrassed at how hard I sat there just WEEPING through my 3D glasses.



5) CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY
I happen to love Michael Moore films, but I think it has something to do with the fact that 9 out of 10 times I agree with his seriously leftist viewpoints. I can totally understand why people on the right hate this man and his films but I think this one is a little harder to dismiss. In the least sarcastic of his films he shows the horrifying demise of our economic system in the past 20 years. No dramatization in the world could be as deeply affecting as the footage he uses of all these real people losing their homes and life savings.



6) (500) DAYS OF SUMMER
There's one genre I hate more than any other film genre--romantic comedy. Such is not the case with (500) DAYS OF SUMMER. Delightfully breaking all the rules of film in his debut, director Marc Webb reinvents the genre in a way that feels like our generation's ANNIE HALL.



7) WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
One of my most anticipated movies of the year, WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE was completely different from what I was expecting yet so pleasantly perfect. I kept thinking of all the little ADHD/emotionally neglected children out there and imagining how epicly fantastic it must be to watch a film like this.



8) DISTRICT 9
After romantic comedy, Sci-Fi is probably next on my list of genres that I have the least appreciation for, yet this year STAR TREK, AVATAR and DISTRICT 9 all fought to change my mind. In the best of the bunch, DISTRICT 9 felt so technically inventive and politically relevant that I couldn't help but buy into everything it was selling.



9) HURT LOCKER
Miserably real, wonderfully shot and powerfully acted, HURT LOCKER is perhaps one of the best war movies I've ever seen. I became so infuriated by my own country through it's intensely visceral screenplay and direction. What are we doing?!! We need to get our troops the #%$@ OUT OF THERE!



10) PRECIOUS
I can't say I very much enjoyed watching this movie. In fact, I was in an awful mood the rest of the day after seeing it, but there's no denying the impact of the performances and story. Gabourey Sidibe and Mo'Nique are heartbreaking and despite it's painfully depressing story, this film is a must see this year.