The Best Films of 2009

Honorable mentions:
Julie & Julia, Bronson, Il Divo, Away We Go, The Road, State of Play, Brothers, The Baader Meinhof Complex, Adventureland, Watchmen

25. Entre les murs (The Class) - An 2008 Oscar nominated foreign language film that is filled with personality and beautifully written characters.

24. The Blind Side - While lacking in much artistry, this film has a lot of heart and is anchored by Sandra Bullock at her best.

23. Bright Star - Not exactly fast-paced... but extremely lush. The cast is excellent, but the true stars are the beautiful costumes, cinematography and music.

22. Duplicity - A very smart screenplay is made a lot more accessible by the fun cast.

21. The Boys are Back - Don't let the lame name keep you from seeing this. A beautiful color palette and a great performance from Clive Owen make this worth a watch. I'm a sucker for melancholy bereavement movies.

20. The Informant! - Absolutely one of the best screenplays of the year. Matt Damon is the best he's ever been. Hilarious.

19. Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire - Very hard to watch, but this movie is layered with a ton of emotional depth. A great lead performance by Gabourey Sidibe and a super-strong supporting cast.

18. Up - While I prefer Ratatouille and even Wall-e, this movie is beautiful. Perhaps the most emotionally weighty animated film ever made.

17. Public Enemies - Michael Mann is an excellent filmmaker.

16. Where the Wild Things Are - I love when films have their own sense of style, and this one certainly does. A rich adaptation.

15. District 9 - Sharlto Copley completely owns this film. A surprising summer hit with a lot of technical merit.

14. Up in the Air - Not as deep as I wanted, but there is no denying the achievement of both the cast and the filmmakers. Really well put together and very relevant.

13. In the Loop - Probably the funniest movie of the year. The screenplay is so crude, but it is undeniably clever.

12. Avatar - The most successful movie ever, the most ambitious movie ever, an undeniable technical marvel. I loved it... but lets not make it more than it is.

11. That Evening Sun - I saw this at the Atlanta Film Festival last April and was hooked immediately. Hal Holbrook was robbed of his second Oscar nomination and the supporting cast should have scored some nods too. A truly gritty Southern film with a lot of soul.

10. Moon

In a strong year for sci-fi film, Moon stands out, thanks to an incredible performance from Sam Rockwell and a haunting visual vibe reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

09. Gomorra

Not much is explained to you, but you are taught a lot about the modern Italian mafia in this razor-sharp film. It is unnerving how real Gomorra feels.

08. Crazy Heart

Not an overly complex film, but Crazy Heart is full of charm. Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal are wonderful and the music is fantastic. This was one of the best times I've had in the theater lately.

07. Inglourious Basterds

Quentin Tarantino put his eccentric, gory sensibility aside... well, partially... and made Inglourious Basterds a classy film that is supremely entertaining. A score full of old Ennio Morricone standards doesn't hurt matters.

06. Fantastic Mr. Fox

Wes Anderson's aesthetic transfers just as easily to animated film. A superb screenplay, voice-cast and art direction make Fantastic Mr. Fox easily the best animated film of the year.

05. Star Trek

Leave it to J.J. Abrams to not only reboot a tired, old franchise... but to make it into one of the best popcorn movies ever and one of the absolute best films of the year. Star Trek got everything right.

04. The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker is both visually and emotionally engrossing. Kathryn Bigelow's hand is all over this sharp war film. Great cinematography is highlighted by great editing.

03. (500) Days of Summer

As if seeing this at the Atlanta Film Festival and having my one true love in it weren't enough to make me crazy over this film, (500) Days of Summer is also really fresh, funny, innovative and... well... great. This film will follow around my generation much like Annie Hall did to its.

02. A Serious Man

The Coen Brothers once again prove themselves to be masters of dark comedy. A Serious Man is layered and almost poetic in how well it flows. This film has one of the best ensembles of the year to execute one of the best original screenplays of the year.

01. An Education

While the complexities of An Education might not be as obvious as those in other films this year, they are definitely present in Carey Mulligan's stunning performance, as well as in the performances of Peter Saarsgard, Alfred Molina, Cara Seymour, Rosamund Pike, Dominic Cooper, Olivia Williams and Emma Thompson. This film boasts one of the best ensemble casts in recent memory. Nick Hornby's screenplay is really great and Lone Scherfig and her crew really created a lavish look at early 1960s London. The soundtrack, costumes, set design and cinematography are all top notch.

7 Reasons why "Ajami" could upset the Best Foreign Language Oscar

1. Israel is now the most nominated country without a win.
   This year's nomination gives Israel a total of nine. It is now the eighth most nominated country ever. Only France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Japan and the Soviet Union/Russia have more nominations. Arguably, each of these countries got an earlier start on building up their film industry. Israel didn't get its first nomination until 1964, the 37th year the award was handed out. Ironically (or perhaps not), it went up against France, Italy, Sweden and Japan that year.
   
   
2. Israel is on a roll.
   Perhaps this doesn't mean too much, since Israel has already been in a three-year nomination streak before (1971, 1972, 1973)... but Israel has now been nominated for the last three years. "Beaufort" in 2008, "Waltz with Bashir" in 2009, "Ajami" in 2010. "Waltz with Bashir" was considered the likely winner for much of the campaign last year, only to be bested by the Japanese film "Departures."
   
   
3. The Academy loves upsets.
   Not that they all get together and decide to give the award to the film no one was expecting, but those individual cases can add up and make a difference. Last year was a perfect example. Most Oscar-watchers expected Israel to get its first award until an upset was smelled in the eleventh hour. With "A Prophet" and "The White Ribbon" basically being year-long favorites and "The Secret in Their Eyes" being the film most are predicting to win, an upset seems possible. Three films to split the popular vote, and two to feast on the remains. "The Milk of Sorrow" seems to polarizing to have a chance, but anything can happen.
   
   
4. 'The Jew factor.'
   The Academy has a large Jewish population and while it obviously doesn't have a bias in favor of Israeli cinema, Jewish cinema does hold a special place in its heart. Just look at the sheer amount of Holocaust films that go on to do very well at the Oscars. Is it because they are all good? Maybe. Two years ago when "Beaufort" lost, "The Counterfeiters," an Austrian Holocaust film won. This isn't an exact science by any means... but this might lead to an edge here or there in certain years.
   
   
5. Israeli-Palestinian love.
   Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani, the co-directors, are a perfect showcase of something the Academy is sure to like... one is Arab, the other Jewish. With foreign language entries from Palestine, Jordan and other Arab nations being submitted in recent years, we are getting more of a taste of Arab cinema. We already know the Academy loves Jewish cinema. Add to that the fact that it is the first film Israel has submitted that is mostly in Arabic and this film now looks great on paper. Progressivity is always a key factor to watch out for.
   
   
6. The Academy likes honesty.
   This film is along the same lines as other films that the Academy has liked in recent years. "Crash" is what it is compared to most. I can see that. This is about people of different ethnicities and religions (Jewish, Arab-Muslim, Arab-Christian) all living in Ajami, a distressed neighborhood in Jaffa. Yes, sounds a bit like "Crash." The Academy liked "Crash." "City of God" has also been brought up. It's also a bit like "Gomorra," which the Academy didn't show much affinity for (I still can't figure out why not). While "Slumdog Millionaire" was shiny and happy, it also had plenty of color and grit that Academy definitely pats itself on the back for noticing. My point is, this film is very honest and very striking. If people take time to sit down and watch the screeners of all of the films, they just might be gripped by how truthful and incendiary this one is.
   
   
7. It's really good.
   Some might say it is too intense, too violent. That hasn't stopped the Academy before... especially in recent years. No one said "The Departed" and "No Country for Old Men" were too intense and violent to win. Some say it's too confusing. You certainly have to be paying attention, since it's structured into different chapters that don't play out in order and there are a lot of characters going in and out. The fact of the matter is, the filmmakers spent seven years putting this together and it shows. It's very good.

My life according to Sufjan Stevens

To sum up ones life using all the song titles and lyrics in the world would be pretty difficult to say the least. To have said compendium made up solely of the song titles of only one artist or band would be even more of an accomplishment. A friend of mine recently did this using REM song titles. I liked it and decided to give it a go using, who else, Sufjan Stevens. It's, uhh, pretty accurate.

Here are the rules:
Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Try not to repeat a song title. It's a lot harder than you think!

Pick Your Artist:
Sufjan Stevens

Are you male or female?
"A Good Man is Hard to Find"

Describe Yourself:
"Out of Egypt, Into the Great Laugh of Mankind, and I Shake the Dirt from My Sandals As I Run" ...or "Wolverine"

How do you feel:
"Joy! Joy! Joy!"

Describe where you currently live:
"No Man's Land"

If you could go anywhere, where would you go:
"Sleeping Bear, Sault Ste. Marie" ...or definitely, "Pittsfield"

Your favorite form of transportation:
"Majesty Snowbird"

Your best friend is:
"SuperSexyWoman"

What is life to you:
"A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, But for Very Good Reasons"

Your fear:
"They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!"

What is the best advice you have to give:
"All Good Naysayers, Speak Up! or Forever Hold Your Peace!"

How I would like to die:
"The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience but You're Going to Have to Leave Now, or, 'I Have Fought the Big Knives and Will Continue to Fight Them Until They Are Off Our Lands!'"

My Motto:
"Enjoy Your Rabbit"

The Best Movies of 2008

Click Here for the Best Movies of 2008

Enjoy.

Where are these films?

A great website for both Oscar watchers and film fans in general, Movie City News, compiles hundreds of critic's top ten lists every year. At last count, this year's scoreboard is a compilation of 286 lists and 265 films. Many films, 106 to be exact, got only one mention. I've studied the list very carefully and I am shocked to see no mention of three films: O Ano em Que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias (The Year My Parents Went on Vacation), Beaufort and Body of Lies.

"O Ano em Que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias"

This was Brazil's entry for last year's Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. It didn't make the final five in the category, but it did make the final shortlist of 9 which is still a pretty high honor. Originally made in 2006, it didn't get a US release until early 2008. I was lucky enough to see a screening of it and while I enjoyed it while I was watching, it grew on me even more as time went on. I've looked on both the 2006 and 2007 scoreboards just to make sure, but it's nowhere to be found. I'm shocked that more people (critics especially, who have the opportunity to see very limited release movies like this) haven't included this among the best. I'm not sure where it will finally place on my list... but I'm guessing it will be pretty high up.

"Beaufort"

This film was also an official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar last year. It did end up with a nomination, although it didn't take home the prize. Like most Foreign Language Film nominees, this didn't get a theatrical release in the United States until after the Oscars. I wasn't able to see it until much later when I watched it on DVD. I fell in love with the realistic nature of the film and the relatable characters. Lead actor Oshri Cohen could have walked away with a Best Actor nomination had the film received more exposure.

"Body of Lies"

Body of Lies was a fairly big budgeted and well-marketed action drama from Ridley Scott. Most people heard about it and saw the trailers but it got lost in the fall shuffle at the box office and quickly disappeared. Russell Crowe is always good but he was the best he's been in a couple of years here. I thought it was a great film and although I doubt it will make the top ten on my list, it might make my top twenty. That said, I'm surprised it didn't make anyone's top ten list.


Here is the 2008 scoreboard. And if you are interested, the scoreboards for 2007 and 2006.

The Best Movies of 2007

Click Here for the Best Movies of 2007

Enjoy.