The Best Films of 2009

Greetings amigos! Another year has come and gone, and a crap-load of movies have been released upon us. Someone a long time ago was once kind enough to give me a forum to review my opinions of these films, and share them via the glory of the interwebs with all you wonderful readers. I've been at this for quite some time, now, and going back over the year I realize I waste a lot of my time watching movies.

But I love what I do, so I don't care! Here I present to you my picks for the best and worst of the year. Now keep in mind, due to the current economic crisis I wasn't able to attend as many movies as I usually do this year, and I haven't caught a whole bunch of movies that are supposed to be good. The specific titles I had highest hopes for are Up, The Road, and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, so there's a chance that when I finally get to view them, they'll be alongside. Still, from what I've seen, I give you my picks for my favorite movies of the year, with some justification for my picks.

Moon My favorite movie of the year. It had everything I loved about movies. There's a robot, it takes place in space, it has terrific special effects, great performances (Two of them provided by Sam Rockwell), a smart script that's not hung up on gimmicks, and a thrilling score. The movie transported me, and that's what the best movies do.

Up In The Air Maybe it was losing my job this year and relating to the odd tale of a man who fires people for a living. Maybe it's because I'm a sucker for smaller indie flicks that proudly wear their heart on their sleeve. Or maybe it's that damn Clooney! Either way, I loved this movie, and it truly is one of the best of the year.

District 9 When looking back upon 2009, you can clearly see it was a banner year for sci-fi flicks. District 9 kicked an obscene amount of ass and delivered the goods, with a budget that's equal to the "Dr. Pepper"  budget of Avatar. Proof that ideas can work with spectacle effects. And did I mention how much ass it kicked?

Coraline If there is justice in the world, this dark masterpiece from Henry Sellick will win the Best Animated Movie Oscar this year. It will also win best score, because the music is top notch. And while I'm swimming in my utopian dream, Coraline merchandise will stock the shelves of Hot Topic, knocking that ridiculous Team Jacob crap to the garbage bin. Ah to dream...

The Hurt Locker This movie deserves every award and bit of praise it has and will ever receive. Taut filmmaking that grabs you by the groin and doesn't let go. Kathryn Bigelow has crafted a terrifically tense movie about the war in Iraq that's not about the politics, but about the danger. 

Inglourious Basterds Quentin Tarantino tones down his fetishes for films about films, but he still managed to turn his WWII movie into a spaghetti western. As a result, we get Inglourious Basterds, one of the best films the man has ever made and a damn fun time at the movies.

Gentleman Broncos I'll admit it, I may have gone a little hyperbolic in my initial review of the movie. And apparently, I am the only person aside from select members of director's Jared Hess' family who seemed to enjoy the film. But I still stand by it as a fun, quirky flick about idea theft and interpretation, that features one of the funniest performances of the year with Jemaine Clement's Dr. Ronald Chevalier.

Crank 2: High Voltage One of the more inexplicable motion pictures of the year, Crank 2: High Voltage is on here for sheer audacity alone. It resurrects the hero who died in the first film and proceeds on a rampage that destroys almost everything you know about cinema. It is either the dumbest or the smartest movie ever.

Zombieland It's the American "Shaun of the Dead", but it doesn't rest on laurels. It works hard to kick the ass it does. I want to see more movies set in Zombieland. I want to see more of Woody Harrelson like this. And thank you for giving me something to like Jesse Eisenberg in. I've wanted to like him, but just couldn't do it until now.

Black Dynamite This movie managed to get right what others have tried and failed: It managed to be a witty send up AND a loving homage to the style of films it was parodying. It also has the highest laugh-per-minute ratio I had in a theater all year. DY-NO-MITE! DY-NO-MITE!

THE NEXT TOP TEN (in Alphabetical Order) These were also very worthy films that I liked completely, flaws and all. I have a feeling that more viewings of Avatar will push that up in my rankings over time, but for now, it remains here. I don't feel like explaining these choices.

• (500) Days of Summer
• Avatar
• Away We Go
• Fantastic Mr. Fox
• Funny People
• Not Quite Hollywood
• Observe and Report
• A Serious Man
• Star Trek
• Watchmen (Director's Cut)