Films I think
would probably have made my list had I seen them are Nick Hornby’s An
Education, The Coen Brothers' A Serious Man and Pedro Almodovar's
Broken Embraces; but, alas, I'll have to wait to see them on DVD, and
curse my lists limitations.
Indie Film of the Year
(granted, small scale films were slim pickins’ this year)
(500) Days of Summer
This
film is an example of why I refuse to call my movies list, The Best
of... Because, (500) Days of Summer is not one of the best films of
2009, frankly, its not even a great film at all, but, it was one of my
favorites.
For whatever reason, (500) Days of
Summer stuck with me for a long time; I thought about it; I thought
about the characters; I re-played certain scenes in my head; it was
memorable; and I liked it, a lot.
As one who absolutely
despises the romantic-comedy genre; and feels films that romanticize
romance and elevate fairy tales about knights on white horses and snow
white beauty, are as dangerous as any graphically violent horror show,
I was pleasantly surprised by an unsentimental (to a point anyway) love
story that pulls very few punches.
(500) Days of Summer is a
lovely remedial Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (which was
itself Annie Hall transmogrified through the portal of Charlie Kaufman).
Animated Film
Ponyo
I
liked Up, but, after having watched it a couple of times, I think it
might be a bit overrated. I think I’m going to like Wes Anderson’s
stop motion take on Roald Dahl’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox, but, there is
nothing like a Miyazaki film.
Every film Hayao Miyazaki has made
presents something surprising and unexpected; the man’s imagination is
boundless. From Castle in the Sky to Spirited Away, he’s not just my
favorite maker of animated films, but, one of my favorite film makers,
period. Ponyo is beautiful and subtly moving.
Documentary
Food, Inc.
Food,
Inc. is a compelling and disturbing film about the corporatization of
America's farms, and the damage done to America's food safety and
personal welfare. It’s also one of the most potently emotional films I saw all
year.
Science Fiction
Moon
What
makes Moon so refreshing (ugh, did I just say that), aside from the
fact that first-time director Duncan Jones resists the amateur's urge
to dazzle the audience with technique, is the fact that this is a
Science Fiction film, in the old-fashioned, Issac Asimov-Arthur C.
Clarke sense of the term (as opposed to most so-called Sci-Fi movies
today, which are actually just action films that happen to be set in
the future; See Star Trek).
Moon is a character study, wherein
our hero's emotional and physical fate will lie at the mercy of
technology and some form of scientific magic that we may not
understand, but will relate to, because of a fantastically construed
dilemma that challenges our preconceived notions of what it means to
die alone.
Action
Star Trek
Even
Trekker purists `fessed-up to being thoroughly entertained by Star Trek
2009, with a caveat: the actual Science Fiction part of the film left
a bit to be desired.
Arguably the best-looking movie of the year
(all due respect to Avatar), the film literally glows, as witnessed by
a shiny new Starship Enterprise zipping through space with an equally
shiny new cast of actors. The guy who played Kirk was good, and the
guy who played Spock was good, but, the guy who played Bones McCoy,
Karl Urban, was awesome; his performance was a nice homage to the late
DeForrest Kelley.
Comedy
Whatever Works
Once
again I've found myself in the position of having defend my beloved Mr.
Allen against charges that he can't deliver the goods; but, aside from
the fact that I happen to know a good Woody Allen film when I see one,
Whatever Works is funny as hell; and I have a pretty good pair of film students to back me up, Quentin
Tarantino and John Waters.
Horror
Drag Me To Hell
Sam
Raimi returns home with a kick-ass horror film with all kinds of
beautiful allusions to his most cherished work, Evil Dead. Drag Me to
Hell is a pitch-perfect fright flick that shows the young bucks out
there making those ridiculous torture porn films that with the right
mixture of suspense, intrigue, and yes, gore, there’s only a razor’s
difference between something good and scary, and something bloody awful.
The Film of the Year
Inglourious Basterds
Quentin Tarantino’s best film since Pulp Fiction.
Inglourious
Basterds is an embarrassment of riches; providing the viewer with
countless scenes of action and drama, spiked with black humor, all
equally compelling; perfectly balancing bloody, red meat action
sequences with rich, full-bodied, red wine conversation pieces.
