It's been an interesting year. One particulary strong in documentaries. The usual assortment of sequels. And the obligatory re-imagining of an iconic character (one year it was Batman. Another it was James Bond. This year was Sherlock Holmes' turn. However, I wound up liking that film better than I thought I would). It's also been an incredibly strong year in Science Fiction what with MOON, DISTRICT 9, STAR TREK and AVATAR (fantastic, absolutely mind blowing visuals. But the story/script wasn't strong enough for my tastes. It's as if all the energy was expended on realising the world of the movie and there just wasn't enough energy to come up with a complex enough script -- a script worthy of the world Cameron created).
So here we go with my top ten. They may not be the best films of the year but they were my favorite. Thus, in no discernable order:
MOON dir. Duncan Jones (with an Oscar worthy performance by Sam Rockwell)
BRONSON dir. Nicolas Winding Refn (think: Trainspotting meets Clockwork Orange meets Chopper. Another Oscar worthy performance... this time by Tom Hardy)
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE dir. Spike Jones
THE COVE dir. Louie Psihoyos (not your typical endangered species-in-harms-way documentary. Surprisingly entertaining and witty... it works like a caper flick. But it's real)
DISTRICT 9 dir. Neill Blomkamp
THE HURT LOCKER dir. Kathryn Bigelow (best movie of the year, imho)
IT MIGHT GET LOUD dir. Davis Guggenheim (good year for documentaries. Any fan of rock music must see this now)
IN THE LOOP dir. Armando Iannucci (didn't get a lot of press and it's release was extremely limited. But one of the funniest/smartest political satires I've seen in a very long time)
THE ROAD dir. John Hillcoat
STAR TREK dir. J.J. Abrams
Films I missed that were well received (and could've been on my list):
PRECIOUS
INVICTUS
A SERIOUS MAN
500 DAYS OF SUMMER
AN EDUCATION
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
Most overated films of 2009:
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
AVATAR
I've seen literally none of these. I'm really eager to see District 9, particularly. Oh wait, I saw Star Trek, which is probably the best franchise reboot I've seen.
ReplyDeleteI agree with pretty much all of those. The one I can't understand the praise for though is "Moon". I mean is it just me or was it very amateurishly written (that or badly edited)? By the time of the "accident" sequence in the film, the remainder is pretty predictable I thought. Very good performance from Rockwell though and the film had a nice look to it. "The Hurt Locker" I'm rather iffy on as well, but I share you're enthusiasm for "District 9" and "The Road".
ReplyDeleteINGLOURIOUS BASTERDS was a tad bit overated I guess. But it was a good film.
ReplyDelete