Best 10 Movies 2009

[ghouldrool]

1. UP
2. The Hangover
3. MOON
4. Coraline
5. District 9
6. 500 Days of Summer
7. CRANK 2
8. Frost/Nixon
9. Hush
10. Inglorious Basterds

[mamawaldi]

Ok I realise some of these are really 2008 films, but I only saw them this year so there !
In no particular....

Not Quite Hollywood
Star Trek
Taken
JCVD
Drag Me To Hell
Antichrist
The Good, The Bad and the Weird
The Children
House of the Devil
Mother

Worst: Definitely Pink Panther 2 !!

[Grindhouse]

1 Watchmen,many subsequent dvd viewings makes this my film of the year,each viewing shows me something new.
2 The Wrestler,touching and superb
3 Let The Right One In,amazing
4 Terminator Salvation ,great action and a good popcorn movie
5 UP
6 Trick r Treat
7 District 9
8 Zombieland
9 My Bloody Valentine 3D,greatfun if you get the 3D
10 New Moon

My worst of the Year
Transformers 2
Max Payne
Friday The 13th
The Final Destination
Inglorious Basterds
Staunton Hill

[voor]

Here's my top 10 and worst 10 in no particular order.

Best Of 2009 -

1) White Ribbon

Michael Haneke constructs perhaps what is most comprehensive and self-contained look at fascism the screen has ever seen - set on the cusp of World War I, a small Austrian village is beset by strange events which are somehow linked to the children of the place. Haneke creates a place so real and displays an understanding of the way of life so well that it almost feels like a documentary at times. Simply brilliant.

2)Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call: New Orleans

Werner Herzog re-invents the Abel Ferrara classic - starting with an outrageous scene set during the New Orleans floods, Herzog creates a neo-noir world touched by the Mad Hatter - Nicolas Cage's lieutenant is a brilliant creation: the physical and vocal transformation Cage gives the character throughout the movie makes one think as if he is channelling Olivier and Mckellan in their Richard III role.

3)Inglorious Basterds:

Tarantino rocks. That's all one needs to say about his tribute to World War II action-exploitation films which starts with what is perhaps the most perfect 20 minutes in any film this year. Christoph Waltz's Hans Landa steals the film as a memorable, well-crafted villain with the best lines in the whole script.

4)A Serious Man:
The Coen Brothers craft a comedy that is clearly inspired by their own life in the suburbs as children. A great cast give life to a series of off-beat characters who try to make sense of the mysteries of life.

5)Up In The Air:
George Clooney makes this modern re-telling of 'The Flying Dutchman' aided by a terrifically intelligent script. Jason Reitman is proving himself to be an expert craftsman of satirical movies with heart.

6)Accident (Yi ngoi):

Pou-Sou Cheang finally fulfills the potential he has showed in his previous two pictures: 'Accident' is a modern masterpiece - a character piece that is so low key and beautiful that it becomes a heartbreak just to watch it. Louis Koo gives the performance of a lifetime as the assassin who is obsessed with finding out who is destroying his perfectly-controlled life. A gesture he makes towards the end of film encapsulates the entire script in one small move: a near-perfect film in every way.

7)Vengeance:

Johnny To continues his excellent streak with a tale of revenge starring none other than French rock'n'roll icon Johnny Halliday. Yes, the film might falter near the end but by that point To and his screenwriter Wai Kai Fai have painted the screen with so much inventiness that you are willing to forgive them anything. One to watch over and over again.

8 )Nefes Vatan Sagolsun:
Out of Turkey comes this mind-blowing exploration of the army and the war against terror. Courting controversty before even its' release, Levent Semerci's Nefes is an even handed exploration of the soldiers and their mentality - through some terrific actors, he explores each man with an unflinching eye and finds some universal truths about what war does to people. On a par with Aleksandr Sokurov's 2007 masterpiece 'Aleksandra' , 'Nefes' is a film that deserves to be seen on a much larger scale.

9)A Prophet:
Jacques Audiard creates a prison drama that simply turns the whole genre upside down. Terrific character-work and an amazing evocation of the claustrophobia of prsion gets mixed with Eastern religious myths and creates what is going to remembered as one of the most seminal films of not only 2009 but of all time. Special mention must go to lead actor Tahar Rahim whose transformation on screen from a small time nobody to an extraordinary maniupulator is a sight to behold.

10)Pontypool:
The most outright intelligent horror film of the year. Nothing can compare to 'Pontypool' when it comes to re-inventing the horror film as a verbose game - an amazing script brought to life by an amazing cast. The thinking horror fan's new champion.

Worst of 2009

Special mention: Zombie Women Of Satan: I can't honestly add this to the list because I never finished watching it. After 20 years of watching everything, Zombie Women of Satan was the film that broke my limits of patience and I walked out after 20 minutes. To call this a film is an insult to cinema in general.

1)Outlander:
How can someone make an idea so cool as 'a spaceman amongst vikings' so dull? So to find out, you have to watch the million hour long snoozefest called 'Outlander'

2)The Proposal:
This should be subtitled 'How Not To Make A Romantic Comedy'. Take two leads with zero chemistry, throw in the worst possible pedestrian script and the result will still be nowhere as bad this 'thing' that played cinemas only a short while ago.

3)Terminator Salvation:
Just plain stupid.

4)Angels & Demons:
A film that is as clunky as the books - but there's no doubting its' success at the box office.

5)Friday the 13th:
A remake so dull that by the third act you want Jason to step out of the screen and smash a hatchet into your head.

6)The Fourth Kind:
Re-invents how badly made a movie can be: indecisive, schrizophrenic plotting is aided by actors who are sleep-walking through the whole thing.

7)Lesbian Vampire Killers:
Sets back the comedy-horror genre by about 50 years. Infantile humour, grating characters and the sort of innuendos not seen on the screen since the demise of the Carry On series - and at least those had some terrific actors in them.

8 )Passengers:
Anne Hathaway does Sixth Sense - awfully.

9)The Spirit:
Proof that Frank Miller has lost his mind. Ugly, offensive and completely unbearable. Will Eisner is spinning in his grave so fast he might actually come out.

10)Public Enemies:
Hello - my name is Micheal Mann and today I'll show you how to suck the charisma out of an enigmatic gangster story. Mann's dullest work is not helped by a script that simply does not know where its' sympathies lie. The film ends up being drag all the way to the end simply because you do not care about a single character in it. Wasted opportunity by a greatly talented team.

That's it.

AMENDMENT:

I can't believe I forgot 'Thirst'. I apologise profusely. It's one of the best of not only this year but any. It blew my mind. I love it so very, very much.

[soulmining]

My personal top ten for 2009:

1. Cyborg She
2. Moon
3. Anvil! The Story Of Anvil
4. Heartless
5. Dogtooth
6. Enter The Void
7. Avatar
8. Zombieland
9. Inglourious Basterds
10. Love Exposure

(Slumdog Millionaire, Let The Right One In, Mesrine, Martyrs and The Wrestler would be in the list except I saw them all in 2008...)

Worst five:

1. Observe & Report (the only film I walked out of)
2. Pandorum
3. G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra
4. Surrogates
5. Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen

[Melvin Junko]

The Human Centipede!

also, in no particulair oder:

Frankenstein girl vs Vampire girl
Samurai Princess
The Horseman
Moon
Black Dynamite
Pontypool
Let the right one in (though I saw it in 2008)
Dead girl
Dead Snow

[philwheat]

I thought I'd do something different to the typical best movies list. So here's my Top 10 "Straight to DVD" films of 2009:

10. Deadgirl
9. Boogeyman 3
8. 100 Feet
7. Cradle Will Fall
6. Necromentia
5. Staunton Hill
4. Babysitter Wanted
3. Infestation
2. Trick 'r Treat
1. The Hills Run Red

[MaxRenn]

It's a tie my top spot between...

1: Where The Wild Things Are (just loved this film)
1: The Hurt Locker (if you have fingernails left by the end credits, turn up the heating because you're wearing gloves)

And the rest...

2: Mother (excellent Hitchcokian thriller from S.Korea)
3: The Wrestler ("I'm just a broken piece of meat, and I deserve to be alone, I just don't want you to hate me" wahhhhhh!!!!!!)
4: Moon (yes, yes, cried again)
5: Star Trek (if you only took in one summer blockbuster this year, and you made it Terminator Salvation, boy you made the wrong choice)
6: Millenium: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
7: In The Loop (lubricated horse cock!)
8: Red Cliff (only seen the truncated UK version, still awesome. Features the John Woo dove shot to end all John Woo dove shots)
9: Anvil – the story of Anvil (crap, I cried again. I blubbed a lot this year)

Almost made the cut: Public Enemies; Shifty; Up; Valhalla Rising, Trick r Treat

Worst film of the year:

Giallo (no more kissy kissy Dario)

Worst film anyone who wasn’t at FrightFest might have seen:

Friday the 13th (utter, utter gash from beginning to end)

[giles edwards]

Look for some noughtie musings in the near future from a new column of sorts. But until then, my year’s spirits were raised mostly by:

1. Inglourious Basterds
2. Not Quite Hollywood
3. Anvil
4. Trick 'R Treat
5. Watchmen
6. District 9
7. Away We Go
8. An Education
9. Knowing
10. Drag Me To Hell

Alfred Molina FTW!

Fantastic Mr Fox slunk just outside the Top 10. Thoroughly lovely as it is. The use of The Beach Boys toward the start is just sublime and my favourite moment in an Anderson picture thus far.

And I'll point out that due to unforseen circumstances I haven't seen:

Antichrist
The White Ribbon
Zombieland
A Serious Man
or
A Prophet

yet.

[streetrw]

10. Deadgirl

hock:

6. Necromentia

hock: hock: hock: hock:

100 Feet was kinda nifty, though.

[sherbetbizarre]

Stephen King's Top 10 of 2009...

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,2032635 ... 16,00.html

hock: to some of them...

[feggie]

What it doesn't actually mention is that he only saw 12 movies this year and the other 2 were Heartless(he thought it was a bit cliche, a bit like a ITV produced Saturday night show) and Zombie Women of Satan(2012 just edged this out for a place in the top 10, apparently the dwarf shitting scene lasted about a minute too long).

[Geishagirl]

1. Inglorious Basterds
2. Anti Christ
3. Drag me To Hell
4. Dead Girl
5. Let The Right One In
6. Paranormal activity
7. The Hangover
8. Nine
9. Doghouse
10. Orphan

[Marlin]

Best films I've seen this year...some are older but none of the older ones are widely available yet...

10. Zombieland - Sorry, but I loved this. It's all about the little things. Including Bill Murray!

9. Header - Ed Lee finally makes it to film and after eternal festival showings, rocks up on R1 courtesy of Synapse. Flawed? Massively, but possibly the most gutsy independent since...well...probably since Tom Six rocked up in the summer...

8. Millenium - Loved the books and, for once, the film was great. not an accurate translation, but still by far the best FF film of the main festival. Nod also goes to Trick R Treat though, which just missed out on a slot as the FF entry on this list.

7. Star Trek - I really really wanted to hate this. Soooooo much. I'm not a trekkie and the muppet behind Lost irritates me immensely, but this reboot was superb fun. A proper blockbuster.

6. Taxidermia - Many won't have heard of this. It's hungarian and it's seriously odd. Suffice to say, the most shocking and surreal ending I've seen in donkeys. Utterly bizarre.

5. Love Exposure - Ok, so it's four hours long and is so convoluted you'll need to see it twice. But for my money the best film to come out of Japan in a long time.

4. Moon - It won't happen, but Rockwell, Mansell and Jones for Oscars. And be honest, who thought Gerty was going to be a bad guy?

3. Life and Death of a Porno Gang - I had high hopes this would be an FF film but perhaps it's not quite the right forum for it. Utterly bleak Serbian film that pushes the boundaries way beyond anything else I've seen in a long time. A sad indictment of the state of post war Serbia. Plus snuff, bestiality and other fun subject matter. Not a happy film.

2. Up - Come on, tell the truth. If you saw it, you loved it. Pixar amaze me, they get it right almost every time (I put the Cars debacle down to their then ongoing dispute with Disney) and the humanity that flows through their best work is quite frankly astonishing. Extra points for the wonderful "Cloud Mother" film at the beginning. Their best trailer film since the birds on the telegraph wire.

1. In The Loop - Fuckety Bye! Just sublime in every sense - Peter Capaldi's best performance, a superb script and Gandolfini playing with the calculator...the wittiest film in years. I wish I could see it again for the first time. Granted, it has an extra appeal if you have a predeliction for politics, which may explain it being at my number 1, but regardless, I'd challenge any educated viewer not to laugh their arse off.

Worst:

1. Antichrist. By a country fucking mile. And I actually like Von Trier's stuff. Just pathetic.

2. Summer's Moon. The worst independent ever to get a dvd release, if only for delusions of grandeur. Incomprehensible gubbins.

3. Umbrage. Dear god. Surely the director realised we were laughing at him, not with him?

4. Wrong Turn 3. Hey, fuck the inbred family, let's just keep three fingers blokey and come up with a trite escapee plot. No. Just no.

5. Enter the Void. I was sooooo looking forward to this. T'would appear Noe has finally disappeared up his own Club Rectum though. Utter bollocks.

Most wanted 2010: Amer, Wolfman (anyone else worried this is going to be shit?), Lake Mungo, Tony and Amer. Oh, and Amer.

Least wanted 2010 or ever: A Nightmare on Elm Street. Please god, make Michael Bay leave my memories alone. The trailer raised hopes when Clancy Brown appeared...5 seconds later I had my head in my hands.

[maxmum]

Excellent, got some good suggestions here that I will be finding and watching

My faves fr the year:

La Horde
Moon
District 9
Drag me to Hell
Star Trek
Antichrist (wierd one this - hated all the porn but the bugger stayed with me, some beautiful cinematography)
Paranormal Activity
This is it
Taking of pelham 123
Repo the genetic opera
The horribly slow murder with an extremely inefficient weapon


*came back to edit my awful spelling of beautiful

**came back again to add La Horde, my fave of FFX and damn it's still not out