Top Movies of 2009

This is sort of late but I was busy and I also wanted to make sure I saw all the films I wanted to. I didn't get to see Crazy Heart (Well except Roger Ebert's) but it didn't make it on many top lists so I'll hold it off.

1. Inglorious Basterds - This is seriously the most awesome movie of the year by far. Tarantino can write a screenplay so good, some of the lines were whirring around in my head a week after I saw the movie. It's all so memorable and well executed. It was my #1 most anticipated movie of the year, and it delivered.
2. Up - This was also on my most anticipated movies of 2009 list. To find out what is so good about this movie all you need to see is the 5 minute "Married Life" scene about 7 minutes into the film.
3. A Serious Man - It is a brilliant dark comedy. I enjoyed Burn After Reading, but it is nothing compared to this year's offering. If you want to know the secret about what is so great about this movie you need to put it in perspective... think about it as a parking lot...
4. (500) Days of Summer - A really wonderful relationship movie this is taken an extra step up by the amazing performances by Zooey Dechenel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
5. Where the Wild Things Are - This movie captures imagination and childrens' anguish coping techniques better than any movie to come out... ever pretty much.
6. The Hurt Locker -This movie is undeniably amazing. It sets out to capture the life of this bomb squad, and it does it so extremely effectively it will blow your mind. Although its probably the best directed film of the year it is not #2 or 3 on my list because the story was a bit one note and repetitive by the end for my taste.
7. Moon - I saw this movie at the Tribeca Film Festival in April or May and I loved it back when I saw it. I find now that I can still remember most of what happens in the movie even though I haven't seen it in 8 months which is a good sign. I wish I could say the same about another science fiction film that cam out this year, Terminator Salvation, wait did that movie come out yet? Oh yeah that was that one... wait a second, was that the one with all the explosions?
8. Up in the Air - This movie isn't overrated, it is fabulous. Every performance is great from George Clooney to the amazing J.K. Simmons in a small role. The entire story is formulated so well, it's all just amazing.
9. District 9 - I really enjoyed this Science Fiction movie. It probably would be my #10 but it's just fun to make it my #9... because it's called District 9... so yeah.
10. World's Greatest Dad - I didn't review this film but I ended up seeing it a few weeks ago and loved it. I was bound to love this movie. I just enjoy dark comedies like this, and trust me this is a very dark comedy.

Honorable Mentions: Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire, An Education, Humpday, Broken Embraces, Watchmen, and In the Loop

I hope you like my list but I couldn't end this post without a mention of my least favorite film of the year. I would make a list of my worst movies of the year but no other movie I could put on the list could compare to how much I loathed this movie. It's Transformers 2, I don't even have enough respect for this movie to call it by it's full name. I simply hated every minute of it. There is no other film this year that made me feel like I was going to vomit as much as much as this one did. The worst part of it is how much money this film made and how many people liked it. It seems that modern audiences only go to the movies to see explosions and not a movie with good acting, directing, screenwriting, continuity, or editing (all of which this film lacks). The fact that this film was made and did so well makes me worried about the future of cinema. As Criswell said in Plan 9 from Outer Space, "god help us in the future."
-Zach