Adam’s Top Ten Films of 2009

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Jan 082010

It wasn’t really a tough year for me to do a ten best. It was actually harder for me to trim some of it down than it has been in years past. In a year in which the amount of good outweighs the bad, i would consider it a successful year for movies. I didn’t get out to see all the movies I wanted to. There are a few that probably would’ve made this list, like The Road, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Precious, and Up in the Air. I regret not getting out there a little more, but what I still had no problem coming up with the following list.

10. Watchmen

I get the strange feeling that anyone other than Zack Snyder would’ve really mucked this adaptation up horribly.¬† Snyder seems to really understand the book and the themes and the imagery and it’s all translated in a way that is relatively painless.¬† It’s not quite as good on repeat viewings as it is that first time, and the director’s cut is actually much more rounded out and should’ve been the theatrical release.¬† I don’t care if it tops 3 hours; it was just a better movie with the extra things thrown in because Watchmen is all about the details.¬† It’s all about the little things.¬† Jackie Earle Haley stole the show here as well, and of course you can never see too many blue dongs.

9. The Hangover

I was actually pretty worried it wouldn’t hold up on repeat viewings, but I‚Äôve seen it 3 times and The Hangover is still as funny as it ever was.¬† I like how Todd Phillips took this cast of dudes who people in the mainstream didn’t really recognize, and cranked out one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen.¬† The real strength of the movie was in its writing the solid directing and the fact that it doesn’t just look like every other cheap comedy. This movie is striking and looks like a real film.¬† The ensemble cast is great, and then of course you have Ken Jeong and Zach Galifianakis stealing most of the scenes they’re in.¬† It’s also forever changed the pronunciation of the word retard for me.

8. Star Trek

I consider myself a pretty big fan of JJ Abrams.¬† However, I didn’t really have much confidence in anyone rebooting this franchise at all.¬† I just didn’t think it could be done.¬† It had gotten so stale (thanks largely in part to the totally fucking drab Next Generation films) that a successful reboot seemed unlikely no matter who was at the helm.¬† Karl Urban as Bones?¬† Chris Pine as Kirk?¬† Who the fuck is Chris Pine?? Being proven wrong in this case was so fulfilling.¬† Star Trek is easily the most fun I had at the movie theater in the summer of ’09.¬† Chris Pine IS Kirk.¬† Holy crap, that dude is the tits.¬† There’s certainly alot of fan service here, but it’s all so well done and not in an annoying fashion at all.¬† Oh, and to any of you grumpy nerds out there that didn’t like Simon Pegg as Scotty?¬† EAT SHIT.¬† Pegg can kick a can around on screen for two hours and I’d think it was great.

7. Moon

As soon as I read Dustin’s review of Moon during SXSW, I knew I had to see this.¬† It just seemed so different and fresh from most of the other sci-fi garbage that gets put out.¬† This is another one of those intricately woven character focused films that features an outstanding performance from Sam Rockwell.¬† Sadly, I doubt he will earn any sort of nod as a best actor which I believe he 100% deserves. This is a very small science fiction movie, but at the same time it has these really giant epic undertones to the story.¬† The world and the implications are so much bigger than what is happening.¬† The sets are awesome, Rockwell is dynamite and, well, you need to see it.

6. The Hurt Locker

From the extremely intense scenes of bomb disarming to Jeremy Renner just being plain awesome, The Hurt Locker ruled and totally caught me by surprise.¬† It’s a good character study and a smaller movie, which feels bigger every time these crazy bastards take apart some weird terrorist style concoction.¬† The movie is also pretty much the perfect war movie.¬† It’s very authentic in a military sense and excels in not being just a ‘good guys vs. bad guys’ picture.¬† It drills down on just who these guys are and what makes them tick and what it’s like to do what they do.¬† Amazing film.

5. Avatar

What can there really be said about this that hasn’t been said a hundred times by the Breach already?¬† James Cameron invented a brand new world in a sci-fi universe full of new exotic characters, creatures, plant life, you name it.¬† When I saw this (in 3D, twice, GO SEE IT) I couldn’t help but mutter to myself that James Cameron fucking DID IT.¬† He pulled it off.¬† I will be the first to admit that I was skeptical and thought that there was a really good chance that this movie would be flat as a fucking pancake and be a financial disaster.¬† I’m so glad that I was dead wrong.

4. Up

Absolutely beautiful.¬† A perfect blend of a good, adult oriented story and animation that you kind of forget is animation when the movie gets into full swing.¬† Pixar time and again is able to knock this shit out of the park, and this movie is really no different.¬† It will also likely strip you of your manhood and have you weeping like a little girl with a skinned knee.¬† That is assuming you are a man of course.¬† We actually have female readers out there too, I must not overlook.¬† Up will leave the female viewer weeping like…well like you do in every movie.¬† Look at that, I turned the part with the most heartwarming movie of the year into something that will garner me some hate mail.¬† Up is fantastic and if you haven’t seen it, then seriously, what the hell?

3. District 9

Wikus Van De Merwe’s story is a science fiction tale that we’ll remember for a long time, folks.¬† Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 is one of the most original science fiction movies to come along in quite some time.¬† Never a dull moment in District 9, not a one.¬† I was glued to the screen and having to keep from shouting “HOLY SHIT!!” every time something awesome happened.¬† The integration of the cg aliens alongside human characters is some of the best seen in a movie to date, if not the best and it only got prettier on the blu-ray.¬† You don’t view this movie thinking in terms of, “well there is a cg character and there’s a live character”, no.¬† You buy it wholesale and it never fucks with your viewing experience.¬† It’s also got some of the craziest (and bloodiest) action sequences in quite some time and will leave any fan of the genre extremely satisfied.

2. Where The Wild Things Are

I know, I know, I declared this my favorite movie of the year in my review.¬† Really, the only reason it slipped out of the top spot is due to my revisiting of Inglourious Basterds and coming to terms with the greatness that is that movie.¬† Wild Things–I guess that isn’t really an appropriate abbreviation.¬† I don’t want anyone to confuse this spot with the Neve Campbell/Denise Richards masterpiece.¬† I’ll just use WTWTA, how about that?¬† Alright then.¬† I’ve figured out along the way that WTWTA almost requires you to be a little melancholy and misunderstood in order to really unlock the experience of the movie fully.¬† I’m sure that quite a few would disagree with me out there, but I feel that this is a major component to it.¬† I hate saying that someone didn’t “get” a movie, I try and avoid using that terminology but in this case I think it’s true.¬† James Gandolfini is wonderful as Carol, the young boy playing Max has gone largely overlooked and ignored by critics even though his performance is actually quite moving.¬† Spike Jonze did an excellent job of¬†seamlessly blending the wild things with Max and has really done the impossible- turn a tiny little book into something grand and rather timeless.

1. Inglourious Basterds

My original review of this Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds wasn’t glowing enough. I admit this. This isn’t a movie that you see one time and understand just how well made it is.¬† It plays nicely the first time, but upon subsequent viewings it really begins to take shape and you can appreciate how much of a master QT is of cinematic storytelling.¬†¬† Normally, I can pick out favorite scenes in movies fairly easily, but this one is rather difficult because everything is just so well done and never lets your attention trail from the screen.¬† Brad Pitt’s Italian, Eli Roth’s ‘Bear Jew’ antics, Christoph FUCKING Waltz as the viciously evil Colonel Hans Landa–all brilliant.¬† This is Quentin Tarantino’s most complete film to date and my favorite movie of the year.