Tags:
A Serious Man,
Anvil! The Story of Anvil,
Avatar,
Big Fan,
Black Dynamite,
Il Divo,
Inglourious Basterds,
Kathryn Bigelow,
kristopher belman,
Moon,
More Than A Game,
public enemies,
Red Cliff,
The Hurt Locker,
up,
watchmen,
Zombieland
It’s that time of year. The lists come out, people check to see if their favorite films are on the list, then complain when they’re left off. Moaning also comes when one film is placed too low or too high, and the writer is told he knows nothing of cinema. As should be the preface when reading any review, this is just an opinion and should be treated as such. Unless you didn’t like Avatar. Then you need to have your cinema-going privileges revoked. Kidding…or not?
But back to 2009, which here ranked as one of the better years in film for the decade. From my own personal standpoint, I consider this list to be a nice mix of mainstream and independent film, but that’s up to you, the reader to decide. You can tell me how wrong and stupid I am after I present the Fifteen Best Films of 2009. Let us begin:
15. ZOMBIELAND
One of the better zombie films to be released, Zombieland took the attitude of focusing on it’s characters and telling a fun story more than it did killing off characters in grotesque ways. The result was an all-around terrific time at the cinema that never let up and gleefully poked fun at conventional zombie stereotypes. The film also proved Jesse Eisenberg isn’t ‘Michael Cera 2.0′ and welcomed back a incredibly fun Woody Harrelson. First time director Rueben Fleischer hit all the right notes here, and created one of the better zombie films. It just also happens to be one of the year’s finest, fun efforts.
14. BIG FAN
A fellow critic nicknamed me “Big Fan” for a while due to my undying love of the Pittsburgh Steelers and that I wear my pride every day thanks to a certain towel. Point being that Robert Seigel pretty much nailed what it is to be a die-hard fan of a sports team in a film that’s anti-sports. Patton Oswalt’s turn as Paul Aufiero is perfect for him, as you feel bad for a guy who’s only purpose in life is to serve the New York Giants. Yet you can’t help but laugh at his misfortune that he really creates for himself. Paul’s situation is a true nightmare for sports fans, which makes the film that much more perplexing. The funniest scene in the film happens a little too soon, but that doesn’t destroy the movie in anyway. And no, I don’t act like Paul does toward the Steelers. Well, not all the time.
13. BLACK DYNAMITE
Just one of those films that lived up to everything I wanted it to be. I get a kick out of flicks like Dolemite and Black Belt Jones so it was fairly easy for me to appreciate what Michael Jai White, Scott Sanders, and Byron Minns did here. Most surprising though is that the title character didn’t end up as my favorite, and honor that went to Minns’ Bullhorn. As silly as the movie ends up becoming, it knows that it’s being so stupid and relishes in it. We as the audience do too, and laugh at how well Black Dynamite lampoons the blaxploitation genre. Truthfully, if this was based on how much fun I had with a film, this would be at the top alas, it should be proud to be considered one the year’s finest offerings.
12. WATCHMEN
If you’d told me a year ago I’d consider Watchmen one of the best pictures of the year, I’d have kicked you where the sun don’t shine and promptly slapped you. Then March came and Zack Snyder’s adaptation impressed me so much I apologized to the man at Comic Con. Bottom line here is that he did accomplish what so many wouldn’t dare and bring a great adaptation of arguably the best comic book ever to the big screen. The changes made worked, almost all of the performances did too, and everything that made Watchmen, well, Watchmen was retained. We may never get another adaptation of it, but now we don’t need it when Snyder did it so right to begin with. Hopefully with due time, this movie will get its respect.
11. MORE THAN A GAME
If I was giving out a “Best Movie You Didn’t See” award, it would go to this picture, and just so everyone knows how much I love this movie, this was directed by a Cleveland Browns fan so I should by all right’s hate it. But while he’s terrible at choosing his sports teams, Kristopher Belman makes up for it by being a great filmmaker. He wisely chose not to make LeBron James the focus of the story but more as one of the pieces in a great story. The movie hit me on a very personal level because I’ve lived through most of what Coach Dru Joyce has been through with these five players due to my own experiences with my dad as a coach. That’s likely why this movie works so well for me, or it’s also due to how Kris Belman and editor Scott Balcerek structured and pieced together the flick. The moment it hits Blu-ray, seek it out.
10. IL DIVO
Tony Servillo shines, and shows how to pull off a frozen performance, and regrettably will not be recognized for it. He just so happens to be in one of the better mob movies of the decade. Il Divo is a flick that follows the beat of it’s own drum, and pounds on that drum as loudly and expressively as it can. Director Paolo Sorrentino uses a mix n’match of old filmmaking techniques and combines them with some new ones, creating entertainment out of what should be a serious tale. The movie doesn’t define itself, nor does it really care to which just furthers its charm. The soundtrack, being one of the better ones of the year, didn’t hurt matters either.
9. PUBLIC ENEMIES
No, I couldn’t escape putting a Michael Mann film in my list and there might be more hate for this one over Watchmen being here. Fact is, Michael Mann gave us a solid 1930′s gangster film with an authentic look and two great performances from Christian Bale and Johnny Depp. The HD, grainy, video look of the film worked as it gave us a documentary sense of being there, and still captured the era well. Then of course came the bank robberies and shootouts, which no American director does better than Mr. Mann. It might not be the best film he’s done (Collateral or The Insider holds that honor) but it was one of the best movies of the summer and a true master at work.
8. ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL
Anvil! The Story of Anvil wants to be funny, and often times it really is. The trouble is, I find it tough to laugh at two gentlemen who have such a dying passion for an art form and have never achieved the fame they should have. There’s a heartbreaking scene midway through the movie where Steve ‘Lips’ Kudlow and Robb Reiner argue over their latest album This Is Thirteen where funny lines are exchanged. Problem was, I wasn’t laughing and felt absolutely terrible for both of these gentlemen. That doesn’t mean Anvil is a pity party, it means that’s how good it is at getting us on the side of Kudlow and Reiner. A lot of care went into making this film, and even more is shown by how much Kudlow and Reiner love music. Shame it took twenty-six years and this terrific documentary to do so, but it was well earned.
7. MOON
Moon really grew on me. I came out at first liking, but not loving it. Then I continued to think about it over. And over. And over, until finally I realized I’d seen one of, if not the best science fiction film of the year. Sam Rockwell has pretty much guaranteed he’ll get one of those golden men when March rolls around with his turn as Sam Bell. Rockwell handles it all flawlessly, and really outshines what’s expected of him. So does Duncan Jones, who manages to the make the most of his relatively small budget and seldom shows us he’s a first-timer. He and Rockwell had the most daunting task of any sci-fi film this year, and they both outclassed just about every other science fiction film that came down the pike.
6. UP
Pixar just continually gets better, and Up is just their finest masterpiece to date. Ten minutes in, no other film tests your ability as a human being to cry or not, and that should let you know if you’re a robot. Where Up separates itself from the rest of Pixar’s catalogue comes when the second half holds up to the stellar first half. Up also continues and strengthens the filmmakers at Pixar as fine storytellers, with said scene in question as well as the handling of Russell’s broken home. Ed Asner’s voice is tailor made for Carl, as is little Jordan Nagai’s for Russell. It’s an animation masterpiece, and with time will become Pixar’s Pinocchio.
5. RED CLIFF
John Woo returns, and boy have we missed him. Perhaps it’s fitting he had to return to China to deliver his best film since Hard-Boiled, and once again shows us why he’s still the master at action sequences. Where Red Cliff excels is showing what a solid storyteller Woo is when guns, arrows, and knives aren’t fired or thrown. Woo understands we need to care about the characters for any of this to matter, as does his cast. Tony Leung electrifies like always, with Takeshi Kaneshiro providing and equally solid performance. Hopefully, Woo will make a second tour of duty in the States and create more films like this and less Blackjack.
4. A SERIOUS MAN
It was tough to think the Coen’s could outdo themselves after already making their masterpiece No Country for Old Men, but damn if A Serious Man doesn’t come close or even surpass that movie. The Coen’s craft has never been on better display than it is here, and save their best scenes for the final half of the picture. Along the way, we’re treated to an entertaining, yet tragic interpretation of the Story of Job. The Coen’s also play with the question of if we control our own fate during the final sequences, and leave it up to us to debate the torture they put their protagonist, Larry Gopnik through. I loved the movie for this, as most of this connected with me on a personal level for what I’m currently dealing with.
3. AVATAR
I’m just going to get this out of the way: Avatar maybe shouldn’t be this high. It is because of what James Cameron was able to accomplish with all his budget and effects. Will it be game changer? Time will tell, but at this point I believe it will be because of what was accomplished on a visual level. The story itself isn’t the best scripted film ever, but it’s solid enough and carried by a man who knows how to direct these swooping, big-budgeted action films. The movie defines his career, as he’s always come out making sure we get the most of what he’s given, even if he has the best tools to play with. There still remains stuff in this film I’ve never seen before, and that’s why it will stand the test of time. This is more Abyss than it is Aliens, but that’s never a bad thing. But again, Avatar is this high on this list because of what it will do for films, not because it’s particularly better than the rest of the pack.
2. INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
I really am going to become a history professor and I really am going to teach this as what truly happened to Hitler and his thugs. Quentin Tarantino came in and stole the summer away from everyone while putting silly, stupid films like Transformers and X-Men Origins to shame. Christpoh Waltz aides Tarantino in his quest to create the greatest villain of the decade, as well as Tarantino’s best character. Brad Pitt also gives my personal favorite performance of his as Lt. Aldo Raine, and chews up the screen every time he appears. Basterds is far and away the best scripted film of the year, and keeps all of it’s stories and characters tense and exciting. Tarantino also wisely makes the words his weapons with the action hitting quick. Good thing too, or else we wouldn’t have the most quotable film of the year. “Know somethin’ Utevitch? This just might be my masterpiece.” Yes Quentin, it is.
1. THE HURT LOCKER
Kathryn Bigelow is one of the most underappreciated talents we have. She took a script like Point Break and turned it into my favorite film of all time, and here she takes the Iraq War and gives us the best film of the year, and maybe the decade. She wisely opens the film with all hell breaking loose and killing off who you’d think she wouldn’t, which only serves to make the action that much more tense. This could have been set in World War II, the Korean War, or even Vietnam and not lost it’s solid character work or themes. Bigelow’s direction is what takes center stage here, as she’s never been better. Her framing is flawless and the use of shaky cam never becomes too much or overdone. What it does do is create the absolute best action scene in any film this year, bar none. She also has three leading men who all turn in Oscar calibur performances, even Brian Geraghty who flew under the radar of the solid work Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie put on display here. I can’t recommend this film enough, and we’d better be ready for the first woman director to get the Oscar for Best Director and Best Picture. Congratulations Ms. Bigelow, you’ve deserved it far before this.
So there you have it. No District 9, no Star Trek and no Where The Wild Things Are. Tell me how wrong I am below.
you´re wrong
no just kidding… I pretty much agree with you here
haven´t seen all of those movies, though
Unfortunately MOON and Sam Rockwell's chance of a little golden man may have been scuppered by Sony Classics not sending out screeners to Academy members, so we have to try and make the Academy voters aware of MOON and Rockwell in any way we can:
http://blog.manmademovies.co.uk/rockwell-oscar/
BUT WHERE'S THE MARINE 2?!