TOP 10 2009

Started by modage, January 03, 2010, 10:53:58 PM

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modage



1. UP
Pixar's latest is hilarious, affecting, beautiful and also my favorite film of 2009.  The film's biggest achievement is the opening montage of Carl and Ellie growing old together and how in a few wordless minutes the film manages to tell you everything you need to know about their lives.  It also manages to make me cry uncontrollably every time I watch it, which seems to be the a common reaction.  It's also the funniest film of the year.  How do they do it?



2. INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
Quentin Tarantino's WWII epic has a great cast, a twisty plot, and a few spurts of well placed violence among the memorable dialogue.  It's a thrill to watch and had a few of the stylishly self-conscious flourishes been shaved off, it might have been his best film since Pulp Fiction.

3. WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
Spike Jonze's take on Maurice Sendak's childhood classic is a film that will hopefully become more appreciated as time goes on.  I knew there were brilliant moments in the film, but overall had mixed feelings about it.  I don't think Sendak would want it any other way.

4. A SERIOUS MAN
The Coen Bros. latest film seems built to frustrate, but that's what I love about it.  On first viewing I kept wondering where it was going and when it ends you want more answers, more explanation.  When I watched it a second time I took pleasure in knowing how the film would end and just enjoyed watching it build towards the inevitable final ---



5. ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL
My favorite documentary of the year.  You start the film laughing at the Spinal Tap-ish nature of these guys but end it really hoping these guys will succeed.  Funny, moving and a must-see for anyone who's ever been in a band.

6. THE HURT LOCKER
The opening scene is one of the most suspenseful in recent memory and for another 90 minutes the film does not let up.  Kathryn Bigelow's adrenaline soaked character study about a bomb squad unit in Baghdad is smart, committed to realism and makes you want to get inside the head of someone who gets up everyday to do this kind of work.

7. STAR TREK
Probably the most fun movie of last year, this is the reason popcorn was invented.  Without any prior Trek experience I was able to enjoy it without any baggage from the canon.  For a "sleek" and "sexy" reboot, I thought JJ Abrams reboot was still really "dorky", but also much funnier than I had expected.



8. DISTRICT 9
First-time filmmaker Neill Blomkamp emerged from relative obscurity to deliver a movie for all the geeks who grew up loving Robocop and The Fly as much as he did.  The film is unpredictable, the effects are seamlessly integrated and lead Sharlto Copley gives an amazing performance that never feels improvised (even though it was).

9. FUNNY PEOPLE
Judd Apatow's latest is not an especially enjoyable film.  The film is a bit disjointed, the characters are mostly unlikable and there are a few too many dick jokes.  But it would have been easy for him to crank out movies like The 40 Year Old Virgin, and instead he decided to make the kind of drama they don't really make anymore.  And I have to admire that.

10. WATCHMEN
A stylized adaptation of one of the most respected graphic novels of all time.  Definitely flawed, the film has brilliant sequences that can't be ignored.  The birth of Dr. Manhattan is just how I imagined it, and the opening credits are a stunning invention. The film is great to look at, but a little flat emotionally: just like a comic book.

NOTABLE: (500) Days of Summer, Avatar, Bright Star, Broken Embraces, Coraline, Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince, Il Divo, Moon, A Single Man, Up In The Air.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

SiliasRuby

#1
Here ya go...
Quote from: SiliasRuby on January 02, 2010, 12:43:56 PM
500 DAYS OF SUMMER
UP
INGLORIOUS BASTERDS
UP IN THE AIR
AVATAR
STATE OF PLAY
WORLDS GREATEST DAD
THE HURT LOCKER
FUNNY PEOPLE
DISTRICT 9

Notable: A Serious Man, Watchmen, Where The Wild Things Are, Antichrist, The Informant, The Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Beatles know Jesus Christ has returned to Earth and is in Los Angeles.

When you are getting fucked by the big corporations remember to use a condom.

There was a FISH in the perkalater!!!

My Collection

samsong

1. 35 shots of rum
2. a serious man
3. up
4. (tie) the sun & still walking
5. treeless mountain
6. tony manero
7. tulpan
8. bright star
9. the bad lieutenant: port of calls - new orleans
10. cloudy with a chance of meatballs

honorable mention: two lovers, summer hours, the box, in the loop, tokyo sonata, julia, moon, julia, public enemies, la danse, extract, antichrist

Gamblour.

#3
Updated: Precious knocks out The Informant!

The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Star Trek
District 9
Inglourious Basterds
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Know1ng
Zombieland
An Education
Precious: Based on "Push," A Novel by Sapphire

Notables: Antichrist, 500 Days of Summer, Harvard Beats Yale 29-29, Coraline, Drag Me to Hell, Brothers Bloom, Moon, Anvil, The Informant!
Disappointments: Bright Star, Up, The Hurt Locker, Up in the Air, A Serious Man, Duplicity, Away We Go
Haven't seen: Avatar, A Single Man, 35 Shots of Rum, Where the Wild Things Are
WWPTAD?

JG

#4
Top Ten of 2009
1. A Serious Man
2. Treeless Mountain
3. 35 Shots of Rum
4. Tetro
5. District 9
6. Tulpan
7. Up
8. Two Lovers
9. The Informant!
10. Summer Hours

Honorable Mentions
In The Loop, White Ribbon, Star Trek, Fantastic Mr. Fox



Captain of Industry

FILM COMMENT'S END-OF-YEAR CRITICS' POLL

BEST FILMS OF 2009
(Released theatrically in the U.S.)

1. The Hurt Locker Kathryn Bigelow, U.S. 772 points
2. The Headless Woman Lucrecia Martel, Argentina/Spain/France/Italy 762
3. Summer Hours Olivier Assayas, France 745
4. 35 Shots of Rum Claire Denis, France/Germany 605
5. Fantastic Mr. Fox Wes Anderson, U.S. 552
6. Police, Adjective Corneliu Porumboiu, Romania 542
7. Inglourious Basterds Quentin Tarantino, U.S./Germany 499
8. A Serious Man Joel & Ethan Coen, U.S./U.K./France 472
9. The Beaches of Agnès Agnès Varda, France 404
10. Lorna's Silence Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Belgium/France/Italy/Germany 382
11. 24 City Jia Zhangke, China/Hong Kong/Japan 379
12. The White Ribbon Michael Haneke, Austria/Germany/France/Italy 347
13. The Limits of Control Jim Jarmusch, U.S./Japan 284
14. The Sun Aleksandr Sokurov, Russia/Italy/Switzerland/France 278
15. Bright Star Jane Campion, U.K./Australia/France 277
16. Two Lovers James Gray, U.S. 273
17. In the Loop Armando Iannucci, U.K. 237
18. Tulpan Sergey Dvortsevoy, Germany/Switzerland/Kazakhstan/Russia/Poland 235
19. Coraline Henry Selick, U.S. 231
20. Antichrist Lars von Trier, Denmark/Germany/France/Sweden/Italy/Poland 218
21. Public Enemies Michael Mann, U.S. 213
22. Where the Wild Things Are Spike Jonze, U.S. 200
23. Up Peter Docter & Bob Peterson, U.S. 199
24. An Education Lone Scherfig, U.K. 190
25. Night and Day Hong Sang-soo, South Korea 177
26. Still Walking Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan 172
27. Liverpool Lisandro Alonso, Argentina/France/Netherlands/Germany/Spain 168
28. Up in the Air Jason Reitman, U.S. 161
29. Of Time and the City Terence Davies, U.K. 155
30. Broken Embraces Pedro Almodóvar, Spain 141
31. Me and Orson Welles Richard Linklater, U.K./U.S. 139
32. Adventureland Greg Mottola, U.S. 138
33. The Maid Sebastián Silva, Chile/Mexico 133
34. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans Werner Herzog, U.S. 132
35. The Informant! Steven Soderbergh, U.S. 125
36. Duplicity Tony Gilroy, U.S./Germany 124
37. La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet Frederick Wiseman, France/U.S. 120
38. Beeswax Andrew Bujalski, U.S. 116
39. The Messenger Oren Moverman, U.S. 115
40. You, the Living Roy Andersson, Sweden/Germany/France/Denmark/Norway/Japan 114
41. District 9 Neill Blomkamp, U.S./New Zealand 113
42. Hunger Steve McQueen, U.K. 112
43. Frontier of Dawn Philippe Garrel, France 111
44. Tokyo Sonata Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan/Netherlands/Hong Kong 110
45. Drag Me to Hell Sam Raimi, U.S. 107
46. Treeless Mountain So Yong Kim, U.S./South Korea 102
47. A Single Man Tom Ford, U.S. 97
48. Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire Lee Daniels, U.S. 96
49. Ponyo Hayao Miyazaki, Japan 94
50. Goodbye Solo Ramin Bahrani, U.S. 93

BEST UNRELEASED FILMS OF 2009
(*Currently without U.S. distribution)

1. Wild Grass Alain Resnais, France/Italy 137
2. A Prophet Jacques Audiard, France/Italy 101
3. Everyone Else Maren Ade, Germany 100
4. White Material* Claire Denis, France 89
5. Eccentricities of a Blond Hair Girl* Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal/Spain/France 78
6. Around a Small Mountain Jacques Rivette, France/Italy 73
7. To Die Like a Man* João Pedro Rodrigues, France/Portugal 70
8. Vincere Marco Bellocchio, Italy/France 69
9. Ne Change Rien* Pedro Costa, Portugal 59
10. Trash Humpers* Harmony Korine, U.S./U.K. 50
11. Bluebeard Catherine Breillat, France 49
12. Mother Bong Joon-ho, South Korea 48
13. Like You Know It All* Hong Sang-soo, South Korea 46
14. City of Life and Death Lu Chuan, China/Hong Kong 44
15. Ghost Town* Zhao Dayong, China 39
16. Life During Wartime* Todd Solondz, U.S. 34
17. Sweetgrass Ilisa Barbash & Lucien Castaing-Taylor, France/U.K./U.S. 34
18. In Comparison* Harun Farocki, Austria/Germany 29
19. Min Ye* Souleymane Cissé, Mali/France 28
20. Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench* Damien Chazelle, U.S. 26
21. Hadewijch Bruno Dumont, France 25
22. Lebanon Samuel Maoz, Israel/France/Germany 25
23. Le streghe, femmes entre elles* Jean-Marie Straub, France/Italy 22
24. Father of My Children Mia Hansen-Løve, France/Germany 21
25. Fish Tank Andrea Arnold, U.K. 20
26. Helsinki, Forever* Peter von Bagh, Finland 19
27. Tales from the Golden Age Hanno Höfer, Razvan Marculescu, Cristian Mungiu, Constantin Popescu & Ioana Uricaru, Romania/France 18
28. Let Each One Go Where He May* Ben Russell, U.S. 17
29. Prodigal Sons Kimberly Reed, U.S. 16
30. Soul Kitchen* Fatih Akin, Germany 15

http://www.filmlinc.com/fcm/jf10/best09.htm

Sleepless

I still have much to see, but here are six I've really enjoyed:

Where The Wild Things Are
Two Lovers
The Soloist
My Sister's Keeper
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Avatar
He held on. The dolphin and all the rest of its pod turned and swam out to sea, and still he held on. This is it, he thought. Then he remembered that they were air-breathers too. It was going to be all right.

cinemanarchist

10) Wendy & Lucy
9) Up In The Air
8 ) Up
7) Anvil! The Story Of Anvil
6) Funny People
5) In The Loop
4) Where The Wild Things Are
3) Inglourious Basterds
2) Avatar
1) Antichrist

Honorable Mention:
-The Informant!
-Away We Go
-Duplicity
-The Brothers Bloom

Haven't Seen (need to)
-The Fantastic Mr. Fox
-A Serious Man
-A Single Man
-The White Ribbon
-Me & Orson Welles
-35 Shots Of Rum
My assholeness knows no bounds.