Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Best Movies Of 2009

The final Best Of list of the decade! Makes me a little…I dunno…nostalgic? Weepy? Excited? Something. It definitely makes me feel something. Here are my top movies of 2009. Note! I haven’t seen Avatar or The Fantastic Mr. Fox yet, both of which may very well deserve a place on this list, but we’ll all just have to deal with their absence, okay? Here we go…

10. (500) Days of Summer – The further away I got from this movie, the less I liked it. Zooey just really didn’t do it for me. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, however, rocked my world, so it makes it on my list.

9. Up – I rewatched this a few weeks ago and it’s still magical, but mostly I just like the talking dogs.

8. Star Trek – So much fun. Truly not my father’s Star Trek.

7. Precious – A tough movie about physical and sexual abuse. I saw it with my mom and nothing has ever made me feel so lucky to have her.

6. Zombieland – Funnier than The Hangover. Plus, Zombies. Hello!


5. Food Inc. – A disturbing look at food manufacturing in the US. Seriously, how scary is our food?! Can we please get back to eating things made by, like, the earth?

4. Where the Wild Things Are – Spike Jonze did a phenomenal job recreating one of the seminal works of my childhood. I don’t understand why more people didn’t check it out.

3. Up In the Air – A film for our times. Great performances, great story, great ending. Jason Reitman is well on his way to become one of the country’s great filmmakers.

2. The Hurt Locker – Another film for our times, I guess. A different slice of life in the Iraq war, packed with action and emotion. Jeremy Renner is, deservedly, finally on the radar.

1. Inglorious Basterds – I’m shocked to find this at the top of my list, really. When I saw it back in August, it blew me away, but I never thought it would be my favorite film this year. Just goes to show…QT is still a genius...and it was kind of a crap year at the movies.


Honorable Mentions: Away We Go, Julie & Julia, Adventureland, Every Little Step, District 9, A Serious Man

What you got?

13 comments:

Liz said...

Glad to see Zombieland get a shoutout. I think that was one of the most underrated movies of the year. So funny!

K and/or K said...

Zombies...who knew? Apparently not me. Love those freaks now!

I also loved An Education. And I really want to see Broken Embraces...

Dave Harrington said...

Star Trek was dope.

I gotta put in a mention for Fabulous Mr. Fox, all u Watchworders out there should go see it!

Damn, I'm like the most important contributor on this blog...

McGone said...

I was surprised to see "Zombieland" on this list. Nicely done, Red!

And I was thinking about you and I nerding out on Facebook the night "Inglorious Basterds" opened - I was watching it again on DVD and my dog didn't appreciate all the trivia I was spouting as it was playing. She doesn't pick up on the subtle (or not-so-subtle) QT nuances like we do.

I actually would have to put "I Love You, Man" on my personal top ten of the year. The obvious improv between Segal and Rudd floors me every time. I have Segal doing his Andre the Giant impersonation playing in my head all day now. "Anybody want a peanut?"

Red said...

I Love You, Man should be an Honorable Mention. Paul Rudd was perfection.

BeckEye said...

Of all of these, I've only seen Up, and that made me blubber like a baby, so I agree with its placement on the list.

And yes, how could you forget I Love You, Man? One of MY faves of the decade.

BeckEye said...

Oh, The Orphanage is probably my favorite movie of the decade. M. Night Shamalamadingdong should be required to watch that repeatedly until he learns how to make a good thriller with a completely unpredictable (and bittersweet) ending again. The Sixth Sense was good, but The Orphanage blew it out of the water.

BeckEye said...

Oh shit, third comment. I was thinking decade and this is only a yearly list. Never mind. Carry on. :)

Anonymous said...

The Blind Side needs to be on that list too....

words...words...words... said...

I can't make a list until I see a bunch of movies this week. But right now Inglourious Basterds and Up In The Air are #1 and #2 in some order.

And Beckeye is high. The Orphanage was good, but The Sixth Sense was about a hundred times better.

Anonymous said...

Away We Go was a beautiful film. The Montreal scene was amazingly poignant. I also loved how they used Alexei Murdoch, such a beautiful voice.

I loved In the Loop. "What are you a Nazi Julie Andrews?" Brilliant. It had so much cursing in the movie that I was amazed that they cut a trailer.

Red said...

Capt: I didn't love In the Loop as much as you did. Maybe it's an East Coast thing...

BeckEye said...

Saw (500) Days of Summer of the weekend. Loved it. Realized that Zooey Deschanel is probably the new #1 on my Lesbian List and that Joseph Gordon Levitt is looking more and more like Heath Ledger as he ages.

And WWW is just jealous that I'm high and that I have better taste in movies.