2009 Top Ten

Here are my 10 favorite movies of 2009 in no particular order. I saw a almost everything this year so it's a pretty informed list.

The Hurt Locker- As close as you can get to knowing what the experience of war is like for our troops. Powerful and tense filmmaking.

Sin Nombre- Seek this one out before you spout off about the immigration problem. First time director, Cary Fukunaga, does amazing work with inexperienced actors. The train sequences are some of the best filmmaking of the year.

Up In the Air- Jason Reitman is rapidly becoming my favorite new director. Funny and poignant and truthful. Clooney channels Cary Grant in all the best ways. Strong women in a strong script.

The Messenger- The Iraq war at home. All of the emotional punch of "Brothers" without the melodrama. Woody Harelson proves just how good an actor he can be when he puts the bong down. Samantha Morton as usual is stunningly good.

Avatar- Oh, shut up and see it. Certain achievements are possible only with big bucks (i.e. "Titanic") Cameron delivers on revolutionary FX and a complete and unique world. Alright, the ending needs some work.

Adventureland- What "Dazed and Confused" was to us children of the 70's, "Adventureland" is for the big-haired 80's crowd. A coming of age story for the ages. The teens here have brains to go with their flowing hormones.

Crazy Heart- It's all about Jeff Bridges. A tour-de-force performance that relies on understatement rather than histrionics.

Precious- Director Lee Daniels does the impossible. He takes marginal or inexperienced actors and pulls the performances of their lives out of them. Maybe the best of the year. You certainly won't forget this movie.

500 Days of Summer- Hands down my favorite script of the year. Single-handedly saving the entire Romantic Comedy genre.

Up- Pixar makes great films with astonishing regularity. Dug the talking dog could drive the cynicism out of a conservative talk show host.

Wish I had room for these films- "Star Trek", "The Hangover" "The Young Victoria" "Julie and Julia" "Sunshine Cleaning" "District 9"