Our Favorite Films of 2009

2009 was a great year for cinema. We were confronted with amazing takes on classic children’s tales, and blasted with stunningly original stories.

We’ve decided to to count down our top 10 favorite  films of 2009.We hope you enjoy our take on the year that was in picture shows. Also, we encourage disagreement and criticism on our grammar skillzzz and film choices.

So go ahead, aim your weapons of diction and high brow cynicism we are ready! (If any of that seemed confusing or out of place please scroll down and just view the trailers, I guess there really isn’t any need for the words around them.)

Here we go..

10 Zombieland

I loved 28 days later and Shaun of the Dead, so Zombieland was right up my alley. I wasn’t prepared for the genuine comedic genius that ensued. The “rules” were a great feature throughout.

This movie is perfect if your looking for a fun zombie movie that tries not to take itself to seriously (fails a little). The Bill Murray cameo basically completes the “awesomeness” of this film, go rent it just for those scenes!

9 Where the Wild Things Are

Spike Jonze creates a little visual portal into the vast possibilities of a childs imagination. We follow Max through a emotional gauntlet full of overcoming fear and overflowing joy. The visuals are something to behold, scenes that you dream of seeing on a exotic vacation.

Sendaks classic is perfectly represented here and deserves your attention. A Must BUY. (also the young actor Max Records pulls off the most convincing performance of the year)

8 The Informant!

(via the nytimes)”…a deadly serious comedy about corporate malfeasance, consider the title’s exclamation point. Like that unexpected mark of exuberance, which hints at fun times (yippee!),.. “ click here to read full review on nytimes.com

I first heard the story of Mark Whitacre and his romp at ADM on the PRI program “This American Life”. I was intrigued to say the least. The film pulls this ridiculously truthful story together in a … well, honest way.   A subtly shot comedy centering around the mounting cost of  lies about lies to cover lies that only made sense in the mind of Whitacre himself.

What films used to be and should be. Please give this story a hour or two of your time, don’t worry its okay to smile and think at the same time.

7 District 9

Far and away the film I most viewed. ( I honestly don’t know how many times I saw this picture) I was completely blown away by the originality of the setting, and the story. District 9 takes bits and pieces from a spectrum of genres, leaving you with a sensory overload with just enough room left to ponder the possibilities.  Rarely do you find yourself cheering for the alien in this type movie, but it happens here.

Nothing is certain in Neil Blomkamps world. It seems as if literally anything could and will happen. Make sure to sit on a chair with a comfortable edge! If you dont hate the MNU by the end of this movie, then you my friend have no heart.

6 Brothers

A heartbreakingly tense film built on the assumptions each character makes. The audience is left just outside the full knowledge of each characters actual deeds. Torn between siding with the” thought to be” widow, the prodigal son, the innocent children, or the jaded war hero. All involved contribute their share of errors and missteps, but who’s to blame?

(Also.. Tobey Maguire pulls off a scene that could go down as the greatest  of his career. Just saying)

5 Inglorious Basterds

The fantasy daydream of all Nazi haters. The story is brilliantly spun around the tribulations of a young Jewish girl. We enter at the most horrific time in her life and are lead to her blood thirsty revenge.

The “Basterds” are just a part of this grand dream. They weave in and out of the plot, leaving they’re indelible mark throughout.

The role of Col. Hans Landa is deftly played by relative unknown Christoph Waltz. His performance alone catapults this film into our top 5.

The only down side seems to lie in  Tarantinos obsession with gruesome violence, casting overactor Eli Roth to carry out much of the carnage.

Despite Quentin’s best efforts I still enjoyed this film…

4 Up in the Air

The most poignant film of the year, directly commenting on the financial situation we find ourselves in.  Never has a movie lead me to hate the lead character, love the lead character, deride the lead character, and ultimately feel sorry for the lead character.

Clooney plays a unflinchingly steady role throughout the troubles surrounding him, self inflicted or not. His smooth way doesn’t lead him to happiness, as shocking as that is for a Clooney character. You get this nagging feeling of ” Wait, wait.. that can’t happen to him, he’s freaking George Clooney”.

I wont give to much of the story away, but his job is to travel around the US firing people…  Not exactly my dream job.

(also the music and cinematography in the movie are top notch, much better than expected)

3 The Hurt Locker

“An over-the-shoulder look at a month in the life and work of a bomb disposal expert in Baghdad in the summer of 2004.

What makes Locker a masterpiece of the action film is the quiet motives behind the men who inhabit these stories and in the surprising stillnesses between the explosions.” (Quoted from http://www.flickfilosopher.com/blog/2010/01/011310the_hurt_locker_review.html)

2 Fantastic Mr. Fox

For the love of Wes Anderson I love this film!

“Uses a deceptively childlike idiom and woodland creatures to explore human nature in most profound and piquant fashion.” – Andrea Chase

1 A Serious Man

Sy Ableman??

“The Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan, are getting personal. They shot their new film in suburban Minnesota, where they grew up as sons of Jewish academics. But if you’re expecting something warm and fuzzy, circa 1967, you don’t know the Coens, and A Serious Man is no country for you. This seriously funny movie, artfully photographed by the great Roger Deakins, is spiritual in nature, barbed in tone, and, oh, yeah, it stings like hell.” – Peter Travers on RollingStone.com