Best Movies of 2009

Documentary - Dear Zachary

I watched 11 documentaries throughout the year and this one stood out in my mind for its impact and story.  It follows a mother and father who after the murder of their son try to gain custody of their grandchild from whom they think is the murderer.  It's quite a story and one not to be missed.

A second choice in this category would be The King of Kong, a story of a man trying to break the high score record on the video game Donkey Kong while having to deal with the douche who currently holds the record.  Sounds silly, and it is, but it's hard to stop watching the soap opera of events in this film.

Action - Inglorious Basterds

With only 5 movies to choose from in this category, Quentin Tarantino's revisionist history of WWII gets the nod with only a 3 star rating.  There are some compelling reasons to watch this film.  It contains some of the best composed scenes and dialogue in recent memory and one great performance from Christopher Waltz as Col. Hans Landa.  Beyond that it's typical Tarantino with elaborate setups to get to the massive and bloody shoot-em-ups.

Musical - none

I've never been a fan of the musical genre and this year I didn't see a single one, so nothing to choose from this year.  And no, I won't be going to see Nine or Mama Mia, so don't bother telling me how great they were.

Drama - Doubt

This is probably my favorite category with 25 movies to choose from this year and 6 of those films got a 4 star ratings.  It made it very difficult to choose, but what put Doubt over the top was the acting.  Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Viola Davis all did excellent jobs making this film wonderful.  It doesn't get 5 stars as I probably wouldn't want to own it or watch it again and again, but it's a movie that will stay with you long after you've seen it.

With so many films to choose from, I thought I would just list the other 4 star movies in this category:  Milk, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Frost/Nixon, Gran Torino, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.  All are worth watching.

Indie - The Visitor

This is another favorite category for me with 10 movies to choose from.  But The Visitor stands out as the clear winner with an excellent performance by Richard Jenkins as a man who has to reconnect with the world when he finds squatters in his New York apartment and he becomes drawn into their lives.

A close second would be Saint Ralph, a movie I reviewed back in February.  As I said then the combination of humor and underdog story worked for me and the background of a Catholic school made it all the more memorable.

SciFi/Fantasy - Star Trek

Another category I love, but only 5 films to choose from.  Star Trek is the clear winner in this category since it's the only movie I rated 5 stars this year.  J.J. Abrams reinvigorating take on the franchise was pure gold.  Just don't look for hard science as you won't find it.

Foreign - Osama

Only 4 films in this category, but this films depiction of the life of a young girl under the Taliban in Afghanistan is haunting.  To imagine a religion and/or society that would condone such treatment is beyond comprehension.

An honorable mention goes to Let the Right One In, a Swedish vampire movie that was enormously more enjoyable than the Twilight movies and with much more depth of emotion.

Animated - Up

With an 11 year old daughter in the house we tend to watch a few animated movies, so this year I have 8 films to choose from.  But Up is the clear winner with the touching story of an old-man finally living his adventure of a lifetime.

A close second goes to Porco Rosso, a Miyazaki film from 1992.  I finally got around to some of his earlier works and this one is up there in quality with many of his more well known films.

Comedy - Choke

This is a new category this year to let me highlight a genre I wish there were more good films in.  And more specifically, I'm talking about Dark Humor or Black Comedy films.  Choke is based on a book written by Chuck Paluhniuk, the guy who also wrote Fight Club, which was adapted into a film that is among my top 20 of all time. Choke isn't as good, but has a great off-beat story and a wonderful performance by Sam Rockwell as the lead character, Victor Mancini, and his best bud Denny played by Brad William Henke.  Rounding out the cast is Angelica Huston as Victor's mom.

Biggest Disappointment - Religulous

I like Bill Maher's show, Real Time with Bill Maher.  I don't always agree with him, but he's fun to watch.  I expected more from this film given Bill's vocal take on religion.  Instead what we got was good questions asked of people who had no idea how to answer them.  I know he's going for comedic effect, but I was hoping for a deeper discussion of the topic.  It's not the worst film of the year, it's just that he lost an opportunity to really discuss the issues he wanted to address and instead we're left with a caricature of the opposing side.

Worst of 2009 - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Looking back on it now, I'm not sure why I gave this film 2 stars.  I must have felt pity and decided to be generous.  To resurrect this franchise with this appalling heap is criminal.  Jones had his equivalent of "Jumping the Shark" when he survived a nuclear test blast by hiding in a refrigerator, only to have it hurled clear of the blast area.  If you haven't seen it, avoid it at all cost.  Spend the time doing your taxes, it will be much more enjoyable.

Honorable Mention - TV - Dead Like Me

I don't watch much regular TV, but I did find this long canceled series available to stream on Netflix.  The combination of dry wit and ensemble cast had me watching multiple episodes a night.  Too bad it was canceled after just 2 seasons.  Mandy Patinkon was exceptional as the leader of the band of grim reapers and Ellen Muth was perfectly cast as the recently deceased rebellious new grim reaper.

So there you have it and the slate is now clean for 2010.  It's already 3 days into the new year and I've only seen 1 movie.  I need to get cracking.